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Eastern/Western Magazine
02/ 1992
Dan McWhirter (portion)
"I believe that genetics play a bigger role in a pleasure horse's success than the trainer does. "Dan McWhirter, Dan McWhirter Quarter Horses, Doniphan, Nebraska
The Quarter Horse industry is dramatically becoming more and more specialized. Competition has gotten so keen, that each segment of the industry is breeding more and more within its own proven bloodlines resulting in very specialized physical types within the breed. These horses are being bred with lots of natural talent which predisposes them to excel in their given arenas - be it halter, cutting, reining, racing, hunter under saddle or western pleasure.
At Dan McWhirter Quarter Horses, we too have become very specialized. The entire focus of our breeding business is to produce pretty, natural moving, athletic prospects for the pleasure horse industry. We have tried to model our business after the blue grass Thoroughbred farms. Like the Thoroughbred breeders, our goal is to produce a very high quality product and market those top horses as yearlings, either privately or at the fall sales.
The philosophy of our breeding program, which we follow closely, is to breed form to function. Bone structure and natural balance are the basis for outstanding pleasure horse movement and these characteristics are highly inheritable. Basically, the four primary qualities we are breeding for are: balance, movement, disposition, and attractiveness. We feel strongly that a pleasure horse should be a good enough mover naturally, that a trainer shouldn't have to try to change him. He should only have to school what is already there. A horse that's not naturally meant to jog and lope slowly can't physically be forced to do it well enough to beat those horses that are naturally meant to. From my point of view as a breeder, I believe that genetics play a bigger role in a pleasure horse's success than the trainer does.
As an AQHA judge and national director, I am acutely aware of how the pleasure horse industry's image has suffered. I attribute much of this to lack of knowledge. Many people just don't understand that there is specific criteria to what makes a "good mover." Many critics can't recognize the form to function qualities of, for example: a strong, efficient driving hock; a flat knee; cadenced clean rhythm to the gaits; fluid length of stride with natural suspension at the lope; a level neck that doesn't bob because the horse is strong and balanced; etc. When I judge a pleasure class, I start at the ground with the horse's movement and then work my way up, not at the horse's head position and work my way down. Somehow, the pleasure horse industry, perhaps in conjunction with the AQHA, needs to develop positive criteria to specifically define what good movement is so that there can be more appreciation for these talented, natural moving horses and less criticism.
In my opinion, today's pleasure horse breeders are making a significant contribution to the improvement of the breed. We are producing pretty moving athletes with so much natural ability that it is easy for them to do their job. The future looks bright in the pleasure horse business as the consistent quality of the horse we are producing keeps getting better and better. Good moving horses are the products of good families and are not just occasional freaks to be stumbled upon any more.
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