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An
Interesting
Thought.......
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I
think everyone can agree that these are rather
uncertain times.
If you turn on the television, you are
bombarded with news of a bad economy, higher and
higher fuel prices, higher living expenses, etc.
The horse business unfortunately is not
immune to all of this disturbing news.
All of the economic issues that we are
concerned with on a daily basis, affect the horse
business to an extent.
How much the economy affects the horse
business depends on what part of the business in
which one is involved and has invested.
Some horse owners are reporting success and
bright spots in the business while others see a
dismal future.
Without doubt, the economic conditions of
the country do affect our business but, to some
extent the difficulties that many horsemen are
facing are problems within the horse business.
One
of the problems that we face was brought to my
attention a few months ago.
I had the pleasure, while attending a large
sale, to have supper with some of the sales staff
as well as some of the consignors.
There was a lot of discussion about the
sale and some of the lower than expected prices.
There seemed to be an air of confusion as
to why even some of the top end performance horses
ridden by some of the nations most accomplished
trainers brought nearly nothing while some of the
more mediocre consignments sold relatively well.
No one seemed to have an answer but until
one of the ring men offered the thought that
horses were hard to market for the simple reason
that a Breed Standard no longer
existed for Quarter Horses (Paints and Appaloosas
would be included in this thought).
I thought about this for a minute, agreed
and followed the rest of the conversation
throughout the evening without much more thought
to the breed standard comment.
However, on my way home I started thinking
about the comment and what an astute observation
it had been.
Let me explain.
A Breed Standard is a
description, usually written, of an ideal animal
of a particular breed of a species of animals.
Any association that keeps track of
registration, ownership, and/or competition
records of any breed of livestock or pets will
usually have a breed standard. They are usually
printed in handbooks, stud books, and promotional
material published by the respective breed
association.
I remember in years past the AQHA published
a description of the ideal Quarter Horse in a
variety of periodicals and brochures. It not only described the ideal Quarter Horse but mentioned
how the horse should be able to move.
Later in the 1980’s, the late Orren
Mixer, well known artist and illustrator, was
commissioned to do an illustration of the perfect
Quarter Horse.
This image is still used as a promotional
logo by the AQHA.
The
written or visual Breed
Standard served a couple of purposes.
They served to inform and educate
prospective owners and other interested persons as
to what that breed of animal was and what was
acceptable as breeding stock or show stock.
Another purpose of a written or visual
breed standard was to be an unofficial guide line
as to how the representatives of that breed were
judged in competition.
At least theoretically, every animal of
that breed was compared to and evaluated against
the breed standard.
How
does a lack of attention to a breed standard
affect the readers of this publication?
Well, maybe it doesn’t.
If you have a horse winning money in the
NRHA or NCHA, you are probably not concerned with
what some committee at the AQHA deems as the ideal
horse. Or,
if you have a halter horse qualified for the
world, you understandably wouldn’t be too
mindful of what a breed association thinks would
be a breed standard to which to match your horse.
That’s all understandable.
If you are having success, don’t fix
what’s not broken.
Now,
here is how the breed standard does affect the
owners and breeders of Shoemaker/Wiescamp bred
horses. At
the time those breeders were active and
productive, their horses were the breed standard.
I doubt that Hank Wiescamp ever stood
around with a written description of the ideal
Quarter Horse and ran his business accordingly.
But he certainly must have been cognizant
of the fact that they should have halter quality
conformation, AAA speed and be ROM performance
horses. He
raised dozens that fit those criteria, sometimes
doing all of those things at once.
Warren Shoemaker is quoted to have said
about Orren Mixer’s illustration of the perfect
Quarter Horse, that the only thing wrong with the
horse was that he didn’t have the Shoemaker
brand on his shoulder and he wasn’t in Watrous,
NM. I’m
paraphrasing but it was a comment to that effect.
Again, that proves that he was aware of a
certain look and history proves he was equally
aware of the speed and performance of the horses
he raised.
Horses
such as Shoemaker’s
Stockings, Nugget McCue S, Scottish, Sailalong,
Silver Son, Skippette, and others prove that
the breeders that we are all trying to emulate had
a type and an ability in mind.
That type and ability was set forth as the Breed Standard. In
today’s horse world, horses have become
specialized, usually for one event, which leaves
us as breeders of true all around horses more or
less adrift without a direction in which to go.
Even if our horses measure up to the
original breed standard, they are sometimes
unappreciated, thus the comment made by the sale
staff that started this discussion.
What
can we do? As
breeders and owners, we can become more critical
and focused on the horses we breed and own. As a group, we can become more proactive in organizing events
and awareness for and about our horses.
I personally have ideas, and I’m sure
that many of those reading this have ideas, as to
how this group can make horses that do match the Breed Standard more
desirable to own and raise.
This is the time to become active and
involved. The
horse business is going through a rough time.
When the economy levels out and other
factors are corrected, we could become prominent
as breeders, exhibitors and as an organization.
Now is the time to figure out how.
John
Hayes
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