The Thoroughbreds

Pedigree Foundations

The Thoroughbreds

Hoofbeats from the past....

The Thoroughbreds!

In our "Pedigree Foundations", you'll have come across several Thoroughbred stallions &/or their get in various Quarter Horse lines. In the 1940s, when the AQHA was formed, many of these horses were inspected & considered of acceptable "type". Consequently, they or their offspring were registered in the newly established American Quarter Horse registry.

Although no magic wands [that I know of] were employed to erase their TB heritage, many people today seem to have forgotten their animals' genesis. With the advent of the Foundation Quarter Horse groups [and these registries do play a wonderful role in promoting QHs] it has become faddish for people to speak of their QHs as having little or no TB blood. They refer to horses like Leo as being 100% foundation QH blood as if to deny the fact that well over half his ancestors were registered Jockey Club horses. I believe these folks are terribly mistaken. Barring divine intervention or alien abduction,- where do they think these bloodlines came from? The vast majority of American Quarter Horse lines come from "short" [ie - short distance runners as in sprinting] Thoroughbreds. Nothing will ever change that.

Consider conformation. A thoughtful study will show that the American Quarter Horse & the American Thoroughbred have much more in common than the American Thoroughbred & his European relatives. [If you ever have the opportunity to go to the races in Europe, you'll see exactly what I mean!] Bloodlines are like branches on a limb. The same source that gave us those who run for the roses is also responsible for the Quarter Horse.

Below are some additional Thoroughbred stallions who, in my opinion, have had a major influence on our breeding programs, today. If not for the likes of Domino, Hyperion & Himyar what would we have?

On ther previous page, you viewed Three Bars & a few of his get. Originally, I'd included him on this page but it soon became apparent that Three Bars deserved one of his own. In my opinion, he had just as much if not more influence on the modern QH than any other stallion in history. Undoubtedly, Three Bars would be considered a "foundation Quarter Horse" stallion [sans TB] if he'd simply been born a decade or two earlier. I truely believe that if you eliminated Three Bars from the QH equation, there wouldn't be much left!

Carrara Marble [TB]

Coldstream - Bull Dog X Georgia Marble - Royal Minstrel

1945; JC

Carrara Marble had LTEs of $64,098.00 from 14 wins in 40 starts. He was used successfully in the Rutland Ranch breeding progam & is an AQHA All Time Leading broodmare sire. I was recently told that Carrara MarbIe was still siring foals well into his 30s.

Bulldog (Tb)

Teddy [Fr] - Ajax [Fr] X Plucky Liege [GB] - Spearmint [GB]

1927; JC

Bulldog was bred in France, then exported to the US. He had LTEs of $7,802.00. He sired many runners including the stakes winner, Coldstream. Quite a few Quarter Horse, Paint & Appalossa pedigrees trace back to Bulldog.

Custus Rastus [TB]

Requested - Questionnaire X Slim Rosie - Tryster

1948; JC

With one start taking home a grand total of $20.00, Custus Rastus earned his keep as a noted sire of Quarter Horses. His foals went on to earn ROMs, AQHA Championships & one AQHA Supreme Championship.

Native Dancer [TB]

Polynesian - Unbreakable X Geisha - Discovery

Taking home LTEs of $785,240.00 [a sizeable piece of change for the 1950s!], Native Dancer was the 1953 Champion 2 yr old & named co-Horse of the Year. He was the 1954 Champion 3 Year old male. He was also named Champion Older Male & Horse of the Year. He sired 44 TB stakes winners as well as three champions. Many of his foals were quick & niched particularly well on QHs. It's not unusal to run across the 'Native' name in modern running QH pedigrees.

Prince John [TB]

Princequillo - Prince Rose X Not Afraid - Count Fleet

A stakes winner of $212,818.00, Prince John is thought to carry the 'X' factor. I've found that Prince John in a pedigree often adds a bit of class to a horse's looks & way of going, particularly in the hunter classes.

The Pimpernel [TB]

Pavot - Caseace X Chalara - Challenger

1949; JC

The Pimpernel set a new world record at Belmont Park by running 4.5 furlongs in 0:49.4. A stakes winner, he had LTEs of $26,525.00. The Pimpernel sired several AQHA arena & race ROMs as well as two AQHA Champions, Scarlet Imp & Scarlet Pickup.

Cloughrinka Stables