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This is right up my lane! Snubbin' Post Qtr Horses - Cuttin' horses that run and runnin' horses that cut! Jim Sheppard (my dad) was horse trading all over the Pacific Northwest to establish his vision of the American Qtr Horse. As a youngster we raised AQHA foundation bloodlines. Lots of Leo, Three Bars and King ranch brood mares. Had freezer beef that were used for practice as we broke and rode cuttin' horses bareback. That freezer beef in the same fields as the foals gave you some invaluable insight to that horse's "cow sense". At one time we had of 250 head of stock on open range. Mainly we ran our horses in the Priest Lake area of N. Idaho. Dad then moved base of operations to Lewiston in the mid-80s - less expense as not having to feed them daily thru the winters plus his hired hand (me and brother) moved out on our own. THE CREATION OF AQHA
Prior to 1940, Quarter Horses, also called Steeldusts or Billys, did not have an official breed name. Men such as William Anson, Dan Casement, and Robert Denhardt recognized that these horses, famous for their quarter-mile sprints, had specific physical characteristics that set them apart from other horses. Denhardt wanted to form a breed registry to preserve the bloodlines of theses horses whose ancestry traced back to the English colonies. Coinciding with the 1940 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, Denhardt held a meeting at the Fort Worth Club, at which 75 men and women established the American Quarter Horse Association. This was on March 15, 1940 at the Fort Worth Club, Fort Worth, Texas. The 1941 Exposition was a monumental show for AQHA. WIMPY, from the King Ranch, was named Grand Champion Stallion, and by virtue of the award, was given AQHA's registration number number 1. In 1944, the Exposition was moved to the Will Rogers Memorial Center.
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