When the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) officially launched in 1940, several ranch breeders were the initial registrants and members. Those ranches, like King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas—the owner of the first registered horse, Wimpy—were drivers in the industry.

In 2022, King Ranch and Waggoner Ranch, located in Vernon, Texas, were recognized by AQHA as 100-year breeders. Those ranches not only kick-started the breed, but today continue to influence the horses competing.

All Quarter Horses must be able to run a quarter of a mile in 23 seconds or show that they are capable of Quarter Horse performance under ranch conditions, was recorded in the AQHA Executive Committee meeting minutes from April 22, 1940.

The breed has evolved to include horses that show in hunter under saddle, western pleasure, dressage, and are driven under lines. Yet, the basis of the breed remains their foundation characteristics of cow savvy, athleticism, and trainability.

A Cow Horse First

The list of stallions that have impacted the Quarter Horse breed is long, and among them is Doc Bar. Bred for speed, the chestnut stallion was born in 1956, sired by Lighting Bar and out of the mare Dandy Doll, a daughter of Texas Dandy.

In the halter arena, Doc Bar was a champion, but it would be his offspring that truly influenced the future horses bound to compete in the National Cutting Horse Association, National Reining Horse Association, National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA), and the versatility ranch horse arena.

“They were great horses,” says NRCHA Hall of Famer Bobby Ingersoll of Doc Bar foals. “They were great then and would be great today. They were athletic, quick-footed, had a lot of cow instinct and were quick to train. I showed the first Doc Bar foal at the NCHA Futurity, I’m pretty proud of that. [Cow horses] had a lot of old foundation breeding, [but] when Doc Bar came [along] we had a little different type of horse, and they were pretty horses, too. Who doesn’t want to ride a pretty one?”

Looking at the performance horse industry, you can still trace Doc Bar bloodlines to the winners in nearly every discipline. The 2023 NRCHA World’s Greatest Horseman Champion Phillip Ralls rode Call Me Mitch to the title, and the roan stallion is by Metallic Cat and out of the Docs Hickory (by Doc Bar) daughter Miss Hickory Hill.

“Doc Bar brought the look,” recalls Bill Enk, NRCHA Hall of Fame member, trainer and NRCHA director of judges. “The eye appeal box [on a score card] was for Doc Bars. They looked at a cow, they got around on one and looked pretty doing it. The Doc Bar line is still on a lot of pedigrees. He has influenced an industry.”

Ranch to Arena

Today, ranch riding is one of the most entered events in the AQHA. With the addition of the AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show and the inclusion of the stand-alone ranch riding class at the AQHA World Championship Show, horses bred, raised and used on the ranch have a place to compete. The ranch horses “shine up” to hit the show pen.

Jessica Rumbaugh and her gelding, Boonfull Of Caesar, who has Doc Bar on both sides of his pedigree, won the 2018 AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse Amateur World Champion title. The gray gelding may look sharp showing, but he’s also been known to push Rumbaugh’s grass-fed beef cattle around on their former El Campo, Texas, ranch.

“I bought him as a cutting horse, but his athleticism made adding the other classes for versatility—ranch riding, ranch reining, working cow horse and ranch conformation—easy to do,” says Rumbaugh. “He is just a great horse.”

Aboard Lil Trash Talk, another Doc Bar descendent, Texas trainer Bud Lyon captured the 2020 AQHA Junior Ranch Riding World Champion title and the 2021 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Champion title. The sorrel horse was bred by Brooke Wharton, who grew up on the Waggoner Ranch. It’s that connection between today’s show horse and the base members of the breed that continues to drive the Quarter Horse’s evolution on the ranch and in the show pen.

Where the Quarter Horse excels is showcasing the versatility of the breed, especially in the western performance horse classes. With the growth in today’s cow horse, cutting, reining and ranch horse events, the breed may be moving farther away from the original stallions (like Doc Bar) on paper, but the characteristics of the horses remain true to the breed’s standard.

This article about the Quarter Horse’s ranch roots appeared in the July 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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In an atmosphere that can only be described as electric, the top horsemen and equine athletes in the sports of cutting, reining and reined cow horse took to the diamond of Globe Life Field for the first-ever The American Performance Horseman on March 10, 2023. Before a crowd of 18,000, the horse and rider teams pursued a prize pool of $1 million.

A creation of Teton Ridge, The American Performance Horseman was held during The American Western Weekend—a multi-event western showcase known for its title event, The American Rodeo. With support from the American Quarter Horse Association, American Paint Horse Association, National Cutting Horse Association, National Reining Horse Association, and the National Reined Cow Horse Association, The American Performance Horseman was the first event of its kind to shine the spotlight on each of these three western performance disciplines in the same night at the same venue.

The top five horsemen from the NCHA, NRHA and NRCHA battled head to head, offering fans the chance to see the most elite of these unique disciplines compete. The team format sent one horse and rider pair into the ring per discipline, with five horses and horsemen facing off per event for a total of fifteen performances. 

The teams were as follows:

Burnt Orange Team

1. Austin Shepherd – Cutting
2. Matt Mills – Reining
3. Lee Deacon – Reined Cow Horse

Racing Green Team

1. Lindy Thorn – Cutting
2. Casey Deary – Reining
3. Chris Dawson – Reined Cow Horse

Royal Blue Team

1. Adan Banuelos – Cutting
2. Fernando Salgado – Reining
3. Sarah Dawson – Reined Cow Horse

Imperial Purple Team

1. Wesley Galyean – Cutting
2. Andrea Fappani – Reining
3. Corey Cushing – Reined Cow Horse

Regal Red Team

1. Lloyd Cox – Cutting
2. Shawn Flarida – Reining
3. Justin Wright – Reined Cow Horse

Cutting was the first on deck and after the herd of cattle had been settled, the cutting team members were up to bat as ‘80s rock medleys set the tone. The crowd delighted in the athleticism of the cutting horses, erupting with cheers as the cutters dug deep in the dirt while working their selected cattle.

The Royal Blue Team’s Adan Banuelos, aboard Teton Ridge’s mare All Spice, lit up the scoreboard with a 229. This clenched a win in the cutting, and following the event, Banuelos admitted to the crowd that the only love letter he has ever written in life was for the talented red roan mare. He had won the 2020 National Cutting Horse Futurity Open with All Spice, but soon had to say goodbye to her when Teton Ridge made the decision to retire her. However, he had the chance to be reunited with her for this groundbreaking event and the two did not disappoint.

“Whenever I won the Futurity, I didn’t know what was next,” said Banuelos. “And Teton Ridge came out with something that created a bunch of energy and nerves, and it was fresh ground per se. I can’t tell you how blessed and lucky we are. This was an arena full of talent.”

Once the cutting was over, Sheryl Crow took to the stage as the arena crew worked to prepare the ring for reining. The crowd delighted in the Grammy Award-winning artist’s performance before turning their attention to the prowess of the reining athletes.

Whistling and howling as the reiners performed their exciting maneuvers of sliding stops, rapid spins, speedy circles and powerful rollbacks, the audience was enthralled by all five reining performances. 

Ultimately, it was Casey Deary aboard Down Right Amazing, a stallion double-registered with the AQHA and APHA, that most impressed the judges. With a score of 231.5, Deary and the bald-faced sorrel stallion took the reining title for the Racing Green Team.

“The reason that I do what I do is because I love that horse,” said Deary after his big win. “Everything that we do daily is about preparing that horse to handle any situation that we put him in—down to the daily care that he gets. Those horses are treated better than I am.”

The last event of the night displayed the fence work of the reined cow horse, a nail-biting performance in which horse and rider prove their ability to control a cow at a fast pace. Having already completed the rein work stage of the reined cow horse discipline earlier in the day, the teams saved this exciting portion of the event for the crowd—and they certainly did not disappoint. From the edges of their seats, spectators watched as horse and rider teams boxed their cow before running it down the side of the arena and then circling it each way—all performed at a quick pace. 

The final rider of the night was also the only female rider in the competition, Sarah Dawson aboard Shine Smarter. Dawson saved the best for last, guiding the sorrel mare through an eye-catching run. Together, Dawson and Shine Smarter marked a 226.5 for their fence work, with their 226-point rein work score from earlier in the day giving them a composite score of 452.5. With Sarah Dawson’s win in the reined cow horse discipline, her score pushed “Team Blue” to victory. 

One by one, each individual discipline winner entered the arena to accept their awards, including a $100,000 check and a Rolex watch. Then, Team Blue—consisting of Adan Banuelos, Fernando Salgado and Sarah Dawson—gathered before the crowd to celebrate their victory as a team and accept their awards: Lesley Rand Bennett hand-crafted rings and individual $25,000 checks. Every rider was outwardly emotional about their achievements and expressed gratitude toward their equine athletes.

Following the awards ceremony, it was clear the energy of the night and the significance of their accomplishments still had not sunk in.

“Honestly, I haven’t even wrapped my mind around the money yet,” said Dawson. “I just can’t get over the feeling that I have that this mare has accomplished what she accomplished tonight.”

At the conclusion of the night, it was evident something special had been born. Each horseman seemed to feel the momentum that the atmosphere the first-ever The American Performance Horseman had produced and was eager to see where it could take these western performance disciplines.

“We’ve always kind of talked amongst ourselves, knowing that our sports are so cool but that the biggest problem that we’ve had is that they haven’t been spectator sports,” said Dawson. “We kind of get the same people seeing them again and again, and I think Teton Ridge has just come in and proved that we can turn this into a spectator sport. I’m just excited to see what it’s gonna turn into from here, because I think they’ve just opened a door that we didn’t know we could open.”

This article about the first-ever The American Performance Horseman is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Marked by fluid lead changes around a cone-marked course, western riding is a challenging class for all-around competitors. But with skill, preparation and careful navigation, you can guide your horse to a penalty-free score. Here, trainer Bruce Vickery shares his advice to confidently tackle the western riding class.

The Goal

Vickery says focus should be on fluidity of flying lead changes, followed by precision in the pattern.

“Scoring is based on quality of movement, the quality of the change, smooth transitions, timing, the placement of your transitions and the placement of your lead changes,” says Vickery. “You want to do everything you can to stay out of the penalty zone.”

Penalties occur mainly when you fail to change leads within the designated change box written on the pattern. Whether it’s changing leads too early or too late, each stride outside the invisible box incurs point penalties.

The Pattern Unpacked

Western riding patterns are posted at the show and are also printed in association rule books. For example, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) has nine regular patterns. Each AQHA pattern starts out with a walk-in. Vickery suggests establishing a nice, cadenced walk without checking your horse’s stride as you approach your first cone.

“Once you’re at the cone and the judge nods to you to start the pattern, you’ll want to walk with your hand down and let your horse walk in a cadenced fashion,” he says. “The next transition for each of the patterns is going to be the jog. It’s really important to plan where you begin your jog.”

You’ll be jogging over a single pole on the ground as one of your maneuvers. Vickery says to make sure you approach the log straight on, with cadence.

“You want to practice so that the rhythm and speed remain the same before, over and after the pole,” says Vickery. “You don’t want to start out slow, jog over the pole, and then be moving faster.”

Depending on the pattern, you’ll ask your horse for a lope, and you’ll either start coming around to go down the line of cones, or you’ll go across the center of the arena for those lead changes.

If you’re going down the line first, Vickery says you’ll want to avoid making the corner on to the line too wide, which can throw off your sequence of lead changes down the line.

“You almost want to square the corner off so you can be straight heading down the line,” he says. “You’ll begin counting strides toward your first lead change after the first cone.”

Also read – How to Tack Up for Western Riding

After each change, Vickery suggests not dwelling on the lead change until it’s time for your next one—this reduces your involuntary anticipation of the change, which can trigger your horse’s anticipation.

After changing leads several times, some patterns will have you loping across the arena and changing in the center before turning to the left or right around the cones at the opposite side of the arena.

All patterns will include a lope-over log—the same log you jogged over earlier in the pattern. You’ll either cross it as you are going back and forth across the arena, or at the end of that series of changes. Either way, Vickery suggests counting your strides to the pole to make sure you hit it after your horse has touched down his last front leg and gathered himself up to reach out with his back legs.

“Remember, you want to maintain the same rhythm up to the pole and afterward without changing,” he says.

Your pattern will include a stop and backup. Your horse should stop on his hind end with his head level, not thrown into the air. You will then ask him to back with cadence.

“Your backup doesn’t have to be fast, but it needs to show your horse is willing to do it,” Vickery says.

At the conclusion of the pattern, you will exit the arena.

Challenges

Because the western riding pattern and course contains so many elements—all three gaits, jog and lope-over poles, and between seven and eight lead changes—Vickery says timing can be a challenge.

“Many riders struggle with figuring out where they need to execute the [lead] changes,” he says. “More times than not, I think people anticipate those changes, and that transmits to the horse, causing him to want to change.”

To combat anticipation, Vickery reminds you to stay patient, quiet and wait until you’re in position to start thinking about your change. Going down the line, where you’re serpentining between cones that are 30 to 50 feet apart, Vickery advises counting your strides. But first, it’s a good idea to find out how far apart they are on the day of the show. You can ask show management or a trainer at the show.

“As you approach the point between two cones, start counting [strides]: ‘1, 2, 3, change,’” Vickery says. “If you’ve got a long line, like 50 feet in between each cone, it’s probably going to be a little bit more—maybe ‘1, 2, 3, 4, change.’”

On the path across the arena, you’ll change leads in the middle between the cones. To see the approximate spot in which you should make your lead change, you’ll need to gauge the middle of the arena. For many of the patterns, you’ll see the pole lined up in the middle, which aligns with where you need to change. If not, pick a marker on the arena wall to line up with. Vickery suggests preparing for your change only a couple of strides before that point to avoid anticipation, rather than thinking about it from the time you turn to go across the arena.

Before entering your first western riding class, Vickery advises practicing the entire pattern a few times at home.

“For a novice, it’s a good idea to practice the whole pattern a little bit, just so that you get your feet wet, you get a feel for the spacing and where you need to go,” he says. “But after you’ve done it a few times, you want to do bits and pieces, otherwise your horse will be thinking exactly where to go all the time.”

Focusing on one part of the pattern at a time will help increase your skill level without your horse anticipating the pattern.

This article about acing your western riding pattern appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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