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y Diane M. Ciarloni
The wheels of change turn slowly
at the American Quarter Horse
Association (AQHA). Very. Slowly.
Remember what we fondly referred
to as the “high white” rule? It stated a
horse with too much white (X-number
of inches) could not be accepted for
AQHA registration. Some of those same
horses pursued a Paint Horse Association
registration, only to be told they didn’t
have enough white. As a result, a handful
wandered in a strange, no-man’s land of
identity crisis. The “reason” for the rule?
Something about preserving the integrity
of the breed. One string of words thrown
out by AQHA went something like: “How
would you like it if a horse with white
going way above his knees won the All
American Futurity?”
Huh?
One past AQHA president responded,
“Very happy if that horse’s papers carried
my name as the owner.”
The rule finally became less restrictive,
with no diminishment of breed integrity.
And what about the cryptorchid
nonsense? That was the rule that said all
stud horses must have two descended
testicles. Talk about getting personal, all
in the name of breed integrity. This issue
bounced round and round and back and
forth for years. Then, during a meeting at
one of the AQHA conventions, the iconic
trainer Bubba “Charles” Cascio sprang
from his chair, unrecognized, and cut
quickly to the chase.
“Look,” he said, “if somebody brings a
good-looking, well bred colt to my barn and
asks me to train him, I won’t get down on
the ground and check how many nuts he
has. I’m just gonna’ start training on him.”
That perspective simplified the issue
and, before too much time passed, the
rule was altered and, once again, the
integrity of the breed suffered no negative
repercussions.
Things became a bit more radical in
1997 when the association approved
shipped semen. A wave of widespread
mumbling and grumbling washed across
the Quarter Horse industry. Many
farms, especially the larger ones, fretted
over losing the often high-dollar board
and vet bills for mares booked to their
stallions. Others contended the extra labor
required for shipping would cancel out the
potential profits. Most of the concerns,
when brought to their lowest common
denominator, could be simmered down
to just three one-syllable words – Fear of
Change.
The passage of time proved most
of the reluctance to embrace the new
technological breeding liberty was, indeed,
unfounded. If anything, allowing shipped
semen expanded significantly the mare
owners’ options. The 20-year-old stakes
winning/producing mare who was a risky
traveler, could remain comfortably bedded
down in her familiar Texas stall, while
waiting for First Down Dash semen to
arrive from California.
Stallion owners quickly learned whether or
not their studs’ semen stood up to the rigors
of shipping. If it arrived at its destination with
a low, living sperm count, chances were very
good that particular stallion would not be
a member of the shipped semen club. They
could, however, be back in the long-distance
business in 2001 when the AQHA approved
frozen semen.
It’s readily apparent that both shipped
and frozen semen could very easily mess
with the breed integrity issue that is one
of the AQHA’s constant concerns. There
was, however, some serious hanky-panky
stinking up the breeding industry before
the advent of shipped/frozen semen.
Just how serious was that hanky-panky?
Serious enough for AQHA to take the
ol’ bull by the horns and implement new
rules and requirements that didn’t set very
well with many industry members.
The problem rested in a number of
horses who were not who their papers said
they were. There were instances of mares
being booked to Stalllion A, sent to the
farm where that stallion stood, only to be
bred with semen from Stallion B instead
of Stallion A. It was Stallion A’s name,
however, that appeared on the resulting
offspring’s registration papers.
Was the “mis-breeding” an honest
mistake?
Sometimes.
Was the “mis-breeding” intentional?
Sometimes.
The ramifications of these “mis-
20 New Mexico Horse Breeder