Intelligence of Appendix Quarter Horses

Early Quarter Horses, once referred to as Colonial horses, were bred for speed, and their primary use was in racing quarter miles. The intelligence and conformation of the Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred cross breeds introduced primarily by Thoroughbred stallion Janus led to Quarter Horses moving west to work cattle.

  1. Appendix Horses

    • Early in its formation, the American Quarter Horse Association decided to prevent Thoroughbred bloodlines from diluting Quarter Horse bloodlines, thereby classifying these crosses as Appendix horses. While the AQHA recognizes Appendix Quarter Horses under strict guidelines, there is also an established American Appendix Horse Association, the only registry to recognize Thoroughbred Quarter Horse crosses as an actual breed.

    Intelligence

    • The Quarter Horse breed is undoubtedly one of the most intelligent and versatile breeds in history. Through the years, however, horse folk have argued the intelligence of the Thoroughbred as a breed and whether or not their smarts, or oft assumed lack thereof, are a hindrance to Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred crossbreeding. Regardless of breed, mares of good mind bred with stallions of good mind typically produce offspring of good mind.

    Testing

    • Laurel J. Dunn of Missouri Western State College's Department of Psychology conducted an investigation into equine learning and memory. This study tested observational learning, problem solving, attention and environmental learning, social learning short- and long-term memory learning, language comprehension and learning processes. Similar studies could be done in the future to discern intelligence among varying breeds.