so much to establish the Thoroughbred in
England. Janus was imported to Virginia
in 1752, and the speed and conformation of
his many sons and daughters – who spread
out through the Colonies – began to give
the Quarter Horse the characteristics of a
distinct breed.
The English Thoroughbred was not
established as a breed until about the
middle of the 18th century (WITH THE
FIRST STUDBOOK PUBLISHED 1791)
Shortly, thereafter, Thoroughbred horses
began to appear in America, and as more
and more land was cleared, it became
possible to run races on circular courses. In
1896 the Jockey Club adopted Bruce and
made his book official, longer distances
in the English tradition. The importation
of Fearnaught, who contributed size and
stamina to the American race horse started
the trend toward ‘distance racing’ and the
decline of ‘short racing’ on the eastern
seaboard. By the year 1800 the distance
race was firmly established and the Quarter
Horse began to move westward with the
new frontier. However, the Thoroughbred
made a notable contribution to the Quarter
Horses of this period through the blood of
Sir Archy, the greatest race horse of his
time. Many of the outstanding Quarter
Horse sires of the 19th century, and a few of
the 20th century, are traced to him. Often
his bloodlines appear several times in the
pedigree of both sire and dam.
Basis for the breed was, of course, the
imported English horse, but many horses
were accepted into the early American
Thoroughbred Stud Books through
the mating of English Thoroughbreds
to Native American racemares, or
daughters of American race horses.
Obviously, because of the type of racing
that developed them, many of these were
Quarter Horses. This was acknowledged
in the first American Thoroughbred
Stud Books by the use of the following
abbreviations after their names:
My Texas Dandy foaled 1928 - a successful
C.A.Q.R.H. (Celebrated American
match race horse and great producer. He is
Quarter Running Horse) or F.A.Q.R.H.
the great grandsire of the legendary Doc Bar.
Famous American Quarter Running
Horse). (THE FIRST AMERICAN
THOROUGHBRED STUDBOOK WAS
PUBLISHED 1896)
Peter McCue, foaled 1895 - a towering
presence on the track and as a progenitor.
If you delve far enough back, just about all
horses of note today can be traced to this
exceptional animal. He was the grandsire of
the King Ranch foundation stallion, The Old
Sorrel.
The American Thoroughbred was not
recognised as a breed until well into the 19th century – three
quarters of a century after the English Stud Book was started.
Page 28 • The Australian Quarter Horse Magazine • July • August 2015
During the 19th century the Quarter
Horse followed the western migration
– his popularity kept alive by the fact
that he was an “all purpose” horse
who could earn his keep and, at the
same time, provide sport in matched
races where no facilities existed for the
running of long races. He moved into
Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan
and continued to improve in speed and
quality as fanciers kept breeding speed
to speed in an effort to outrun their
neighbours.
When the pioneers moved still farther
west, they took their good Quarter
Horses into Illinois, Missouri and
Arkansas and then on to Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Here
the ‘short horse’ finally came into his own. On the plains of the