My husband and I are considering Appendix Quarter Horses as polo or jumper mounts. We've always had TBs or Warmbloods but an aquaintence was extolling their virtues. Does anyone have much experience working with Appendix QH's through the training process? How are they in temperment and work? Can they be quite handy? Endurance? Speed? How varied can the traits be with this hybrid?
Answers:
I have had some experience with unregistered appendix horses and they have been very versatile. Those I have known have had great characters and temperaments, showing all the intelligence of both TB's and Quarter horses, with the added endurance and scope of the thoroughbred. I might be biased as I believe that TB influence is beneficial in most breeds. Though I am not a polo player myself, logic would suggest that the agility and speed of both breeds individually would make a cross breed a good bet. As for jumping ability, it depends on the variation of traits: A more thoroughbred led cross may be better, though in my personal opinion I doubt an appendix would go as far as a warmblood in the jumping arena.
I worked with a lot of Zippo or Chip appendix's and one of the most famous ones was Rich N Chocolatey. If you go to the Zips Chocolate Chip website, he's on there as they are owned by the same lady and you can see what he's won.
He was shown and won a lot jumping and hunter under saddle. They have the speed of a TB with the stamina of a QH. I handled Rich a lot and he was a fantastic horse to deal with. I did 3 seasons of high goal at Cowdray and then worked mainly in racing and I think that they have great potential for polo and especially for jumping. Depending on the TB side, they can be still be quite large and fizzy. Most horses these days in the English AQHA classes are appendix.
I am currently working with and training an Appendix.. and I absolutely adore her. I have worked with quite a few, and all have been good natured and sweet. Like any horse breed, it really just depends on the individual horse to decide temperment-wise. As for jumping... they are fantastic. I have nothing bad to say about them.
We have 3 at our barn. In my experience, it's all in the blood. They have good endurance and speed, that is the TB, and they are hardy, a bit stocky too, that is the QH.
It ultimately depends on the horse and his bloodlines. The 3 we have are tall, pretty calm, just phsycotic, but oh well.
i don't know how well they would fare as a jumper, for the simple fact, the QH makes them stocky. They would probably make a pretty good polo mount. You will just have to work on Bomb-Proofing the horse. I have seen them mostly as contestors, but I guess if you get the right horse, could be a jump prospect.
If you want a jumper, look for AQ's with a more TB look, but has that QH hardiness. A lot of them are tall, so this shouldn't be an issue.
Good Luck!
i myself havent heard a whole lot of great things from serious english competators about appendix aqhas. i know some do really well and a few have been approved warmblood but generally the complaints i hear are over their bulk, downhill movement and slow legs. they also complain because they are bred more for the aqha version of english which to many looks like nothing more than western pleasure in english tack on a taller horse. i dont see why you couldnt go with one but look carefully at its pedigree and try to find one with the highest percentage tb you can find out of known aqha english lines like artful moves, rugged lark, zips chocolate chip
artful moves -
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rugged lark-
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We have an Appendix QH. we didn't train her but she is pretty easy to work with. she does have a sensative mouth but that's most likely due to the harsh bits they used on her for western riding. she is a very sweet mare and speed? she's very fast even at her old age. she does have arthritis but she's still young at heart. if you want to know more feel free to e-mail me
They are really good with training. I have trained a few and they weren't the smartest, but they tried hard to please. They really really like jumping. Their temperments are really really good. Thats why they are such good horses for first horses because they still have enerfy like a TB but strong like a QH. They are very handy. They can do dressage and jumping, to barrel racing and fox hunting. Their endurance isnt great but can be exercised to improve it. Their traits are very nice. Playful, willing, they love to mess around with you it is quite entertaining.
THEY ARE GREAT! most of them have a lot of go and they are mostly pretty tall and are really understanding! I like them and I hope you will too!
well, i live right next to a qh farm with about 15-16 appendixes. They're all TB descendants, they are very fast, but kind of dumb. They have average race endurance, not really the best for X-country, their love is somewhat limited, they require too much work, and they don't fare well with riders under170 pounds, they need good weight on their backs to keep 'em steady.They do work well with cattle, but don't always listen to the riders, one gelding (Three Pink Zips) decided to go the opposite way during the race, he spinned around in circles for about 5 minutes.
I have been interested in getting a job at the horse track by my house as a pony rider and I was talking to them about leading the throughbreds out to the gates and they were saying that their really high strung and that Apenndix Quarter Horses are like so much worse. The pony riders said that they hated leading the appendixs out to the gates because they were always biting their horses and kicking and fighting every way of it.
But I have a American Paint Horse who's dam was a appendix and my horse is the most calmest thing I have ever rode. So I guess it really depends on the horse and the blood lines
I have an QH off of the racing circuit who is mostly TB... We bought him when he was 7 and really green to be a trail horse... well, it turned out that he is quite athletic once we put the proper muscle on him. He is built like a quarter horse but has the speed and agility of a TB. He has great feet, thick bones and tons of suspension! He has evented through training (he can jump 4 ft though!) and is trained in dressage up to 3rd level. As for temperment, he tends to have a mindset of a QH and is a dream to trail ride considering that he doesn't spook at much (maybe a sheep or two). They can be lazy in their work ethic, but a crop/spurs can alter that!
As for varied traits, it depends on how much TB is crossed with the quarter and on the horse's unique personality.
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