Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Why The Quarter Horse is Built For Speed

SHARE

The American Quarter Horse was first celebrated for quick bursts of speed, up to 55 mph. It is consistently the fastest horse in the world in the quarter-mile.

TRANSCRIPT

- [Narrator] The American Quarter Horse was first celebrated for quick bursts of speed, up to 55 miles per hour.

Consistently the fastest horse in the world in the quarter-mile.

All that speed comes from the Quarter Horse's unique confirmation.

(horse snorting) - This is Chicken Hop and he's five.

And I'll just point out some of the reasons that I would like him even if I didn't know him.

He's well-balanced overall.

That's nice.

He's got a nice thick girth for his respiratory system.

He has an, his neck comes out of his body real nice.

- [Narrator] A Quarter Horse's neck joins its sloping shoulders at a 45 degree angle to allow it to work head down.

Resting stance is balanced, supported by straight powerful legs.

Body is well-muscled, especially in the hind quarters.

- He has what you wanna call saddle bags.

That's more muscling in the hip to hold those stops and turns and helps him use his hind end.

- [Narrator] A Quarter Horse generates incredible power from these haunches, not only speed, but the ability to stop and spin on dime.

But for all its physical power, it's the trainability of the Quarter Horse that sets it apart.

- One of the wonderful things about Quarter Horses is they're so trainable and they wanna please you.

You know that's one of their things that made Quarter Horses great.

They have great, great heart and try yeah.

I've had perfect horses.

They might not even look perfect but who cares when they're great.

- [Narrator] The great ones fuse strength, trainability, and heart into a horse built to perform out on the range or under the lights.

© 2024 WNET. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.