The decade of the 1990s experienced an explosion of interest in the so-called foundation Quarter Horse. From the formation of the Foundation Quarter Horse Registry in the early part of the 1990s to the birth of the World Foundation Quarter Horse Alliance only several months ago, no less than five associations have sprung up to "preserve and promote" the foundation Quarter Horse line. Their goals go beyond preservation and promotion. They also see their efforts as an attempt to stop the destruction of the American Quarter Horse, as it was originally intended to be, before its too late.
What is a foundation Quarter Horse and why do these Quarter Horse owners think they need a registry apart from the AQHA? Apparently, it can be summed up in one word: Thoroughbred.
According to all the registries, the less TB blood in a horse's background, the more pure Quarter Horse the animal becomes. As Dillon Shook, head of the Foundation Quarter Horse Registry, wrote several years ago, "we have nothing to gain by further crossings and using Thoroughbred blood. The facts show that in the last few years the continued use of Thoroughbred blood has been costly."
Of course, there's another side to that claim. It can be argued that the Quarter Horse is an amalgamation of several breeds and types, including TB, and that a little more TB blood isn't going to make that much difference. Besides, look what the Thoroughbred Three Bars did for cutting, pleasure and halter. He gave those fields Doc Bar, Zan Parr Bar and Impressive, three enormously influential sires. Throw in what TB crosses have done for the running Quarter Horse industry - horses able to run longer sprints - and a good case can be made for continued TB infusion into the breed. The foundation Quarter Horse counter is that with the TB has come a host of medical problems and a dilution of what the Quarter Horse was originally.
The 1952 ruling by the AQHA executive committee allowing TB blood to be mixed with Quarter Horse blood was a saddest day in the history of the breed, according to these associations. Although they can't reverse nearly 50 years of history, they aren't going to ignore reality, which is that a significant number of Quarter Horses have some identifiable TB blood. Instead of registering only those horses with no TB, the foundation groups allow a certain percentage of the pedigree to contain TB blood. For most of the associations, it's no more than 25 percent TB blood, although at least one is more strict, calling for only 10 percent TB blood.
The foundation associations are opposed to more than just TB blood. To these groups, it's also a matter of form and function. They want the Quarter Horse to return to its ranching roots, to the days when it was a solid, all-around, using cow horse. Up until the late 1960s, that was generally the case. Take the example of Poco Lena. During her halcyon years in the mid 1950s, the great mare was frequently shown at halter in morning at Quarter Horse shows (she eventually earned a Superior in halter with 174 AQHA points) before saddled up and judged on her cutting ability later in the day. Poco Lena was not a ugly horse, but it's doubtful she would win a single halter point today, given the specialization rampant in show classes.
According to these groups, the last 30 years of specialization, embodied in the showy reining spins and slides, is too far removed from the Quarter Horse's ranch background. A ranch horse would never be asked to bore a hole in the ground in blurry spin, nor would it be run down to a 30-foot slide. On a ranch, that would put you past a cow when going down the fence and have the ranch hands hooting in derision.
What follows is a listing of the five foundation associations out there and some background information on their philosophy and definition of what constitutes a foundation Quarter Horse.
Foundation Quarter Horse Registry
Lead by Dillon Shook and based out of Sterling, Colo., the FQHR is the oldest of the five registries, with a claimed 10,500 horses in its database. For a membership fee of $20 annual and a $10 research fee, it will research your horse's pedigree back to six generations.
Their mission statement is simple. It seeks to "preserve, protect and perpetuate the working cow horse bloodlines of the Foundation Quarter Horse by the individuals the FQHR deems as Foundation bred."
According to its rulebook, a foundation Quarter Horse can have no more than 25 percent TB blood. The fourth generation is closely observed. No registered Thoroughbred may be closer than the fourth generation. Of that generation, the rulebook states, "75 percent should descend from or run to Foundation blood." No lines that are known to carry HYPP are eligible for registration.
Since the original intent of the AQHA was to preserve what was then all foundation horses, the FQHR recognizes all horses listed in the first five stud books (the first 27,000 horses registered) as foundation bred.
The association holds shows that although similar to AQHA shows, are closer to chores a ranch horse would be required to perform. The cutting is more a contest of moving and penning a cow, rather than holding one, while the reining pattern doesn't call for flashy moves and big stops.
Foundation Stock Horse Registry (www.foundationhorses.com)
This group is unique, in that it recognizes Three Bars as a foundation Quarter Horse, something other groups would consider heresy.
According to Jim Averill, the president of the FSHR, "Three Bars was born before the formation of the AQHA. If they would have wanted to, they could have registered him. He's in a third of the Quarter Horse pedigrees. You know, Joe Reed was by a Thoroughbred and Oklahoma Star was by a Thoroughbred. Three Bars is the only Thoroughbred we make an exception for and we don't take Impressive horses."
The registry defines a foundation quarter horse this way: "Take your horse pedigree and trace it back to all ancestors born prior to January 1, 1952. All registered Quarter Horses on the pedigree born prior to that date are considered Foundation Bred. Then check to see if since that date your horse has more than 20 percent Thoroughbred blood added. If not, the horse is eligible for a permanent number. For purposes of computing Foundation blood, Three Bars is considered Foundation, as are all lines that come to an "unknown" ancestor."
To join costs $20, while it's $20 per horse. Unlike the other foundation groups, it follows AQHA rules for its shows. At last count, the registry has 2,700 horses. The FSHR also takes Paint Horses and it recognizes the FQHR and the National Foundation Quarter Horse Association as eligible for its shows.
National Foundation Quarter Horse Association (www.nfqha.com)
Like the other groups, the standards by which it measures a foundation Quarter Horse are fairly simple. NFQHA believes the if the only added blood is taken out, what remains is the original foundation stock. It also states that the more TB in a horse's pedigree, the more TB attributes that horse will likely exhibit, and the more Quarter Horse attributes will be lost.
According to their website, the maximum allowable Thoroughbred blood is 20 percent.
"It does not matter what generation the TB appears in as long as the total does not exceed the allowable amount. In order to figure the TB percentage, the amount contributed by the first TB ancestor encountered on each line is added together to come up with the total Thoroughbred blood.
To establish the TB in a pedigree, the NFQHA researches the pedigree back ten generations, or back to the parents of the first registered horse, whichever comes first on each line. Each time a TB is encountered, it is added to the total. The only two exceptions to this rule are Joe Reed and Oklahoma Star. They were honored by the AQHA because of their important contributions to the breed as Founding Sires. Because of this, NFQHA does not look at the TB in their parents, and they are considered 100 percent Quarter Horse blood."
The group holds shows for its members, with a limited number of classes. According to its website, "the emphasis is at all times on versatility, and no English events are sanctioned. The horses are to be shown in working condition, with natural manes and tails, and in serviceable tack. Silver, glitter and sequins are not allowed, and only the horse is judged, not the handler or rider. Because NFQHA promotes the using horse, blemishes and scars resulting from injury are not penalized."
Foundation Quarter Horse Association (www.bhfqh.com)
This group exists as a magazine, entitled Buckskin & Foundation Quarter Horses, and not a registry. However, according to managing editor Theresa Ann Warden, plans are underway to start a registry. It will require its members to hew to a strict definition of a foundation Quarter Horse, based on TB percentage. Besides being registered with the AQHA, a FQHA horse can have no more than 10 percent TB blood after the formation of the AQHA in 1940.
According to research Warden has conducted, the reason the FQHA standards can't go higher than 10 percent is because the average Quarter Horse is 85 percent foundation blood, which means 15 percent TB. She says that if foundation groups want only the most "pure" Quarter Horses in their registry, they have to have smaller TB percentages than the 15 percent found in the general Quarter Horse population.
The group's website includes a listing of 242 horses and their percentage of foundation blood. Only horses whose pedigrees are 90 percent foundation are listed.
This group is the only non-profit foundation registry.
World Foundation Quarter Horse Alliance
We didn't have much information on this group, other than that it is made up of ex-Foundation Quarter Horse Register owners. Apparently, its wants to set a limit of 80 percent foundation blood, and hold shows and market foundation horses. Like the FQHR, it considers the first five studbook horses to be 100 percent foundation horses.
