Quarter Horse Bloodlines to Avoid

Imagine, you are planning to participate in a horse race within a few days, so you are thinking of buying a horse which might be suitable for the contest. 

After researching many horse breeds, you have decided to buy a quarter breed horse and share it with your friend, who has a very good idea about breaded horses. Hearing this, your friend said, there are a few bloodlines of Quarter breed horses connected to various harmful diseases and temperament issues.You became very worried after listening to your friend. 

Don't panic! 

Reading this article, you can easily understand which bloodlines you should avoid during buying a Quarter horse and what are the reasons to avoid them.

What are the characteristics of Quarter Horses?

Quarter Horses are genetically superior in many respects to other horses due to their large, robust bodies and superior intelligence. 

Due to their outstanding intelligence, this breed of horse is excellent for fighting against large forces because they can run and jump with remarkable skill. They travel a long way and run much more quickly than a typical horse. 

But regardless of running a lot, they still have the energy to work considerably harder. Their physical and mental constitution is so developed that they can act as very good athletes and carry any heavy objects very efficiently. In order to obtain such benefits using Quarter Horses, they have been bred to inherit superior traits.

How do bloodlines influence horses' performance?

Bloodlines play a very important role in horse performance. 

Breeders research various bloodlines of horses to achieve the most powerful characteristics of heritage, that can perform different skilled activities efficiently. Both good and bad traits of horse ancestors pass to the next generation, so breeders are usually interested in breeding by using mating pairs with superior physical and behavioural characteristics.

Which bloodlines of quarter horses should you avoid considering their behaviour and health condition?

There are some bloodlines of quarter breed horses that are affected by various genetic disorders, these diseases can sometimes lead horses to death.However, there are many of them who are very hot-tempered, and buck angrily if there is a difficulty in understanding the rider's signal. 

As a result of this kind of behaviour of the horse while riding, the rider often falls down fatally and  his body hurts a lot. Although most Quarter horses are very strong and intelligent, there are some bloodlines of them that should be avoided. Let's have a good understanding about those bloodlines in detail:

Poco Bueno: This horse is the bloodline of the most popular American Quarter horse breeds with normal temperament. 

This bloodline was introduced into the Quarter horse because of its unique physical structure, sturdy legs, strong muscle, athletic characteristics and advanced intelligence. But this horse is linked to a serious genetic disorder, Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERD). 

Poco Bueno carries a defective gene from one of its parents, this gene passes to the offspring and is responsible for the disease. 

In this issue horse skin starts to separate from the body and leaves behind serious scarring Over time, flesh begins to rise from the wounded areas of the horse's body, causing burning and pain. This skin condition appears 2-3 years after a horse is born, when a saddle is placed on its back for the first time.

King: They suffer from a serious genetic issue which is called glycogen branching enzyme deficiency (GBED). Due to the deficiency of this glycogen branching enzyme, they can not keep glucose for storage in different organs of their body such as liver, skeletal muscle, brain and heart. 

Glucose is very important for these organs to function efficiently and boost up the horse's energy level, so the horse with deficiency of such enzyme dies in the early stages of their life. 

Not all King horses are deficient in this type of enzyme.So it is better to check if any double nucleotide pattern changes are observed in their DNA. 

Because this type of enzyme deficiency is only seen in those horses whose sire and dam both are deficient in this enzyme. If anyone of the horse's parents has this enzyme deficiency, the problem will not appear to the offspring.

Impressive: These types of horses are famous for their unique body structure and have won championships in  various racing contests. But they have a genetically inherited disorder, Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP), in which the potassium level of their blood increases than the normal level. 

Due to this elevated blood potassium level they suffer from severe muscle weakening issues and respiratory problems. In extreme situations, horses die from excessive sweating and severe suffocation as a result of this disorder.

Joe Hancock: This type of horse is well known for their bucking tendency. Although they are very strong and intelligent, they are considered different from other horses due to some of their characteristics.

They are very hot-tempered if they don't get something to their requirement, sometimes when the rider gives them a cue they don't understand, then buck angrily. If you want to know more about these horses, read the article Why do Hancock bred horses buck?

Some breeds of this bloodline suffer from Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM), which represents the abnormal inherited disorder where excess amount of glycogen accumulates into the muscles. As a result, the horse feels severe shivering in the muscles, sweating and problems in movement. 

There are two types of this disorder, PSSM1 and PSSM2. Quarter horses suffer from PSSM1 due to the variation in GyS1 enzyme, which is responsible for glycogen synthesis into the muscle. 

What are the importance of different training approaches to enhance horse's behavioural pattern?

Most of the bloodlines of Quarter breed horses have behavioural issues, which causes inconvenience in riding. Sometimes the rider can not keep balance while riding due to the buck behaviour of some breeded horses. 

At one point, the rider falls down into the ground, which ultimately leads to serious injury. To get rid of such problems, it is very important to improve the horse's behavioural characteristics, so that it learns to obey its owner or rider and riding becomes more enjoyable with it than before. 

Different training approaches can help improve their behaviour. You can arrange for reward based training approaches to achieve desired response from the majestic creature. This type of training is called positive reinforcement technique as well. Read this article natural horsemanship vs positive reinforcement to know more about the training approach.

The most important thing is to create a good bonding with the horse, which builds a trust in its mind and it will obey your instructions during exercise or training session.

So, you must avoid the horse's of quarter breed bloodlines with serious inherited disorders, but the bloodlines with behavioural problems can be treated with correct exercise and training. Read this article to know how to find a reputable horse trainer?

How can you arrange breeding of horses with good characteristics?

Before arranging the breeding program you need to select a good quality sire and dam on the basis of their performance, temperament, physical structure and health condition. 

Consult With a specialised veterinarian to properly check their health condition. You must conduct good research about their ancestors genetic disorders and behavioural abnormalities as well. If everything seems positive, then you can start the breeding program. 

A professional horse trainer can help you to complete a successful breeding. Watch this video to understand the strategies of high generation horse breeding.

In Conclusion,

There are so many bloodlines of Quarter horses, you need to choose some specific bloodlines with thorough research considering the issues of fatal genetic disorder, behaviour, physical and mental well-being of the traits. 

In addition to avoiding Quarter horses' bloodlines with inherited disorders, those with aggressive behaviour should also be avoided.

Which bloodlines of the Quarter horse you need to avoid and why, this article covered all of these aspects very clearly. If you have any openings about this article please comment, and feel free to share this article to those who are concerned about which quarter horses bloodlines to avoid before purchasing.