Quarter Horse Racing

Retema Park in Selma, Texas has quarter horse racing in June. Unfortunately, Manor Downs seems to be closed. AQHA: Racing - American Quarter Horse Association is the governing body.

Quarter horse racing is a straight line normally, with no turns. Distance is normally a quarter of a mile.

If I remember right, THE VILLAGE HORSE DOCTOR, by Ben Green, has a story about a quarter horse race in Texas about 1950. That race was run the way they would have done in Natchez.

Starting point in 1819 is the distance would have been whatever straight line they found, and would have been less then a half mile. But they wouldn't have been too hung up on exact distances back then, so the quarter mile would have been approximate.

Horses would line up at one end, more or less in line. Race would normally start upon a gun firing. Lots of jostling and other acts that would now be considered fouls. Race could be anything from two horses to twenty or more. At a certain point, they might divide the race into two or more.

Mares, geldings, and stallions race together. Cultural influences would determine a lot of this. In Texas, most of the horses would be geldings. Stallions were ridden more by Mexicans.

Jockeys would often be kids, frequently Mexican or Indian. But it depended. There would have been no weight requirements, so the lighter the better. Jockeys would use whatever worked. If buzzers had been invented (a device that provides a mild electric shock that is placed under the saddle), they'd have used them.

Heavy betting occurred. Ringers were common. And it was only cheating if you got shot when caught. It was not uncommon to use two horses on either side of your competition to ram into the competition at the start. Anything to win. And judging the winner was sometimes hard on the eyes. The horse you thought won by a nose wasn't actually there. Natchez had a bad reputation in honesty.

Races were a common part of holiday festivities. Often there would be several races, with different criteria for each race. As has been constantly the case, choosing the right race to enter is an important part of winning. (Many people are not aware that a week before the Kentucky Derby is the Kentucky Oaks, limited to fillies. Even a filly that is competitive in the Derby might be entered into the Oaks to make it more likely to win. But that's one reason why fillies are few and far between in the Derby.)

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Worth noting the African Americans in racing of that time as well. Here's a reference to the riding style: Black winning jockeys in the Kentucky Derby by Saunders, 2003 page 81.

The crouching style that jockeys employ came from the Quarter racing of the time period you are working with, so make sure your jockeys are high on those withers.

"The style was inspired by the short, fierce Colonial quarter races, in which crouching and clinging definitely beat getting knocked off the animal...English visitors had noted it most often on Black riders..."

Ontario (Canada) has a small but I think fairly active Quarter Horse racing circuit. I don't know if it would be any use for researching an historic piece.

There's lots of clips on YouTube (search quarter horse racing) if you just want to see what they run like. But the modern quarter horses, especially the racing ones, are probably a lot lighter than the ones back in the day.

A cool clip here of a quarter horse match racing a TB. The QH would have kicked ass if it had been an actual quarter-mile race.

What the heck is a quarter horse?

It's ok. I wikkied it. Strange name for a breed!

The name comes either from the fact that they have huge, muscular hind quarters, or from the fact that they are bred to excel at short sprints and are generally raced over a quarter mile. I love 'em. Impressive, versatile animals, for sure.

Quarters are among the best in barrel racing too...

To excel at short, sprint races, breeders looked for horses that had massive acceleration. Literally from a standing start to full speed in a stride. Endurance was not a concern. Thoroughbreds are bred more for endurance, with many races being a mile or more in distance.

Because of their acceleration, they were used a lot for cattle work, where the agility was also developed. Many can turn on a dime and leave you change. If you're not used to their ability to turn, you can find yourself without a horse under you after the turn.

They also have a reputation of a slow walk, with the joke being that you can start out walking in the morning and be under the same oak tree in the afternoon.

Quarter horses tend to have a nice disposition and a decent amount of usable material between their ears. I've liked the quarter horses I've known, as they're all good, honest horses.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Dave Hardy said:

I was surprised to find information in the Handbook of Texas connecting the Quarter Horse to the cow pony, via a mix of American and Spanish horses. Evidently the King Ranch has their own line of Quarter Horses. This is an interesting learning experience. You're in Texas and you don't know all about the King Ranch?

The horse in my novel is more of a Chickasaw Horse, which breed I understand contributed to the bloodlines of Quarter Horses in the South, as well as the Florida Cracker horse. So I'm guessing its comparable. It would seem to be. But breeds before 1900 were a loose description anyways. Most horses were more or less mutts.

So they are good for sprints & smart. I can see thoroughbreds outracing them, but what about distance travel? Is the slow walk thing an obstacle to making good progress on a fixed path? Cowboys used to ride 50 miles to a dance. Most quarter horses back then had a nice, slow canter, about 7 - 10 mph, which they can keep up for several miles. Further, a quarter horse's walk needed to roughly match a cow. This was different then say a Tennessee Walker, designed to tour a plantation in comfort and a good walk. There's an art to traveling long distances on a horse at a decent speed. HILDALGO does a good job of showing it.

The story involves a trip down the Natchez Trace, needing to stay ahead of bad guys who are willing to ride their horses to death if it suits them. I figure no matter what the protagonist can't stay too far ahead without some outside intervention. You're going to run a horse into the ground two very different ways. First is a very fast, short burst of maybe five to ten miles. Second is just a long distance too fast without giving the horse any breaks. This depends upon what shape the horse is in, but back then you'd be talking about fifty or more miles. Most horses will stop, and maybe drop, but won't die.

Few people back then would actually run a horse intentionally into the ground. Too much of a chance of it happening in the middle of nowhere. And much of the problem with an exhausted horse is they start stumbling, increasing both their chances of getting hurt, and dropping their rider to the ground.

Different horses have different levels of stamina. Ignoring that, three ways of getting a long distance fast would be using two horses, ponying (leading) one and riding the other, then switching.

Second is switching horses, such as was done by the Pony Express. Sometimes this was done by asking, sometimes you just found a horse and borrowed it. By and large, the only time horse theft was an issue would be if the horse was under saddle or the intent was to permanently deprive. Taking a horse from a corral, riding it for twenty miles and then releasing it, was not a problem. The horse would wander home in a few days.

Third method is a combination of riding and running. Basically you get off the horse, and holding onto the saddle or stirrup, you use the horse to run beside it. You run a bit, ride a bit, then run some more.

People that were willing to run their horses into the ground are actually easier to get away from. Survive those first few miles, and they're done for the day.

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Understand that modern breeds are very different to horses from back then. They were a lot shorter, thicker legs, and heavier for their height.

Also, different horses, both then and now, have strengths and weaknesses. Some horses are good at traveling, and that's what your choice of horses would be. A good traveling horse would have a smooth gait, a good pace, and a willingness to just keep on going. He doesn't need to be smart, he doesn't need to know how to turn, and might not have an ounce of 'cow' in him.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe


Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Kings Ranch is also known for its working horses.

Mine was part Morgan and part American saddle and came from Kings Ranch in King County Texas. He was extremely smart and could cut on a dime, but he was not as fast as a Quarter. 16 hands tall with good weight, sure footed, good disposition, and could bully cattle into doing what I wanted them to do...

Kings is a very well known Ranch among the horsey types...

mirandashell said:

What the heck is a quarter horse?

It's ok. I wikkied it. Strange name for a breed!

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AKA, Awesomeness In Horse Form .

Dave Hardy said:

So, maybe my real problem is figuring out how the bad guys can keep up?

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They're baddies...by cheating? Sabotage, intentionally trying to lame hero's horse, etc.

Your hero might be better off mounted on a Spanish Mustang for the long trip, rather than a Quarter Horse. The Spanish Mustang was popular in Mexico at the time and had a lot of Arabian in it. Sounds like it would excel at endurance.