quarter horses
A personal observation: Some folks figure that if a horse is a 'fancy' colour, then that's all we care about and are breeding for. But to paraphrase an old adage - ‘a good
colour ain't necessarily a bad horse’. Breeding for colour is not a new idea - back in the day, King Ranch bred for sorrels over bays, which is one of the reasons why today
there are more sorrels than bays in AQHA despite the fact that, statistically speaking, it should be the other way around.
So-called ‘colour breeding’ helps modern breeders produce horses that have the eye appeal many horse owners are looking for these days. It's just an ADDITIONAL way of
producing horses that are wanted, used and valued by their owners - it isn't intended to replace critical attributes, such as great conformation and kind disposition.
Past breeders patiently used the methods available to them to discover ways of consistently reproducing the quarter horse’s best qualities. Today, new breeders are doing
the same. DNA testing, whether for colour or disorders, is a wonderful new tool available to us now that the 'oldtimers' didn't have, but you can bet your bottom dollar that
the best breeders would have used it if they did!
The Foundation breeders of the American Quarter Horse granted us a legacy of proven bloodlines which we have the privilege of promoting today, and science has given
us additional ways to build on that legacy. Testing for genetic disorders may have put some of us in a painful position when a horse comes back positive - but in the long
run, it WILL be better for the breed.
Despite a thousand different ways of raising, training, using and breeding these wonderful animals, horse people often seem convinced that 'their’ way is the only way, and I
think many breeders are feeling the growing pains of adjusting to an industry that has rapidly changed with the advent of DNA testing. But at the end of the day, I think most
of us have the same goal - to produce quality animals that people will value and enjoy.
Website created by Prairie Silver Quarter Horses © 2021. Please contact us for permission to use our content or images
Foundation bred
quarter horses of
exceptional
disposition
& rare colour
Website Last Updated: Oct 9, 2024
A VERY CLASSY BOY(Hancocks Silver Boy X Classy Black Miss) in Dressage competition.
Photo courtesy of Equimar Riding Academy - Middleburg, VA
“Comet has turned out so
beautifully!! Everyone who has ever
met him has tried to buy him from
me and he is the envy of the barn.
He’s insanely athletic, too ... with his
stops and natural cow sense.”
Photos and comment courtesy of
Avery Fails - Thorton, Colorado
PEPS CONTINENTAL (aka ‘Comet’)
(Hancocks Silver Boy X Peps Drydoc Dash)
All of our breeding stock are 5 Panel and Colour tested by UCDavis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL)
Silver Dapple Gene (Z), Grulla, Blue Roan ...
When we decided to start our breeding program, we wanted to focus on the qualities we value
most - highly trainable, low spook, ‘people friendly’ horses with solid bone, good feet and... let’s
face it, who can resist those amazing rare coat colours!
It took about three years to find and carefully select each young registered Quarter Horse for our future breeding program.
Then we raised them with patience to have nice manners and take all the strange things people do in stride, with healthy attitudes and a
versitality that gets passed on to their foals through good example and great Foundation bloodlines.
Now, almost ten years later, we are so proud to be offering our clients and new buyers quality weanlings and young horses with
exceptionally friendly disposition, classic quarter horse conformation and beautiful colouring. We don’t use baby oil or similar products when
taking photos of our horses (nothing against those folks who do), nor do we ‘Photoshop’ our pics... what you see is what you get, with most
pics simply taken with my cell phone... and the shine you will often see captured is the natural glow of good coats and healthy horses.