The American Quarter Horse Journal

11/05/2023

We appreciate those who have chosen to positively impact the equine industry through their profession! Tell us more about your career here ➡️ https://hubs.li/Q01Ny1rp0

06/05/2020

The American Quarter Horse Journal is now the official member publication of AQHA. You can now follow the Journal on the American Quarter Horse Association page.

22/04/2020

Do you recognize this barrel racing stallion? In 2019, he was among the top sires. Read on to learn more.

“What are the top barrel horse bloodlines?” is a question never too far from barrel racers' minds. View the list of the leading barrel racing sires of 2019, featuring offspring earnings, number of money earners, average earnings and leading money earner for 2019. “What are the top barrel horse...

21/04/2020

With the proper care, your leather tack could last your lifetime and beyond.

Follow these leather care tips and your tack could last a lifetime.

20/04/2020

Quarter Horse racing uses a speed index. How are those calculated?

And how is a speed index or speed rating calculated for American Quarter Horse racing?

19/04/2020

As ranches begin their spring works, we pay tribute to the chuckwagon cook – with a bonus peach cobbler recipe!

The chuckwagon cook may be the unlikely but most respected and favorite member of the cowboy crew.

18/04/2020

Congratulations to these great American Quarter Horses -- the top sires of 2019.

Wondering "what are the top ranch horse bloodlines?" View the top ranch horse sires of 2019.

17/04/2020

Help your horses avoid locoweed this spring.

Locoweed is one of the most common poisonous plant for horses in the West, and its effects are staggering.

16/04/2020

This red roan gelding has a knack for making dreams come true in trail and other classes.

The American Quarter Horse Suddenly A Good Bar has earned more than 1,150 points in AQHA competition for his amateur riders.

16/04/2020

Late last week, the Journal's April-May cover model, Xtra Voodoo Charm, got a sneak peek of her photo in the newly redesigned magazine. Her rider, Eva Gagnon, is showing her the photo; photographer Bee Silva captured the moment. Don't miss all of the great content in the new American Quarter Horse Journal, which hits mailboxes in the next few days.

If you are a Journal subscriber, you'll get the magazine. If you're a member, you'll get the magazine.This is your magazine.

Read it. Live it. Love it. Most of all, be inspired by it.

15/04/2020

Some of you will say we’ve saved the best movie for last: “Black Beauty,” starring Docs Keepin Time. In this 1994 movie, the fates of horses, and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life.

Owned by renowned movie wrangler Rex Peterson, Docs Keepin Time is a 1987 black stallion, who traces to racehorses Tiny’s Gay and Timeto Thinkrich. The stallion is probably one of the only horses whose name is listed among the human stars in the credits of the film.

For his outstanding performance in “Black Beauty” and other shows, Docs Keepin Time received the AQHA Silver Spur Award in 1994. A couple of years later, he also performed at the 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The movie is available on Amazon Prime.

"The story is told by its hero, a remarkable black horse with a white 'star' on his forehead, whose joyous and heartbreaking life takes him from idyllic coun...

14/04/2020

If you like bingeing a TV series, we've got a good one for you.

“Heartland” is a contemporary family drama that centers on the Heartland Ranch, owned by the Bartlett family in fictitious Hudson, located in the Alberta Rockies. The series is based on the popular book series of the same name by British writer Lauren Brooke, who set the books in Virginia. The series gets going when “Grandpa” Jack Bartlett loses his daughter in a car accident and is left to run the ranch alone with his two granddaughters, Amy and Lou

Livestock coordinator John Scott provided the horses, which are American Quarter Horses from his outfit. There’s a bay Quarter Horse (called “Harley” on the show, but registered as EJ Doc Tivio Frost) that goes with the love interest of Amy, Ty, played by Graham Wardle. And then the father, Tim, he’s on a palomino Quarter Horse (Als Dun Driftin) that appears in the show fairly often. Amy is played by Amber Marshall, and her horse in the show is called “Spartan,” registered as Top Moon Cuttabar.

Watch episodes on UPtv.

13/04/2020

Tonight's Journal movie selection is probably the oldest movie on our must-watch list. It's “The Boy From Indiana,” which debuted in the 1950s.

John Rawlins, a horseman and movie director, saw the possibilities of a rousing movie when he heard the story of the American Quarter Horse repeated by many of his friends in the San Fernando Valley, including “Wild” Bill Elliott, AQHA Inspector John Lilley and Allen “Rocky” Lane. With only slight persuasion, Frank Melford, president of Ventura Pictures, agreed and asked for a script that would tell at least part of the Quarter Horse story as John had related it to him. The result was Otto Englander’s “Blaze of Glory,” later tabbed “Texas Dandy,” and now re-labeled “Boy From Indiana.”

The script relates the experiences of a young man (Lon McCallister) and a horse (Texas Dandy, P-2112) barnstorming county fairs, matching races in the bushes and sharing the affection of lovely young Lois Butler.

Look for the movie on YouTube.

This is not a story about a farm boy raising a horse to be champion..It is about a happy-go-lucky young man from Indiana,Lon Decker,who has aspirations of be...

12/04/2020

If you watch “Walk. Ride. Rodeo.,” the Netflix movie based on paralyzed barrel racer Amberley Snyder’s life, you’ll be impressed by the authenticity of the barrel-racing scenes. That’s because in the scenes depicting Amberley riding after her car wreck, it’s Amberley herself in the arena, aboard her own superstar horse, ATP Power, better known as “Power.” That authenticity was something Amberley insisted on.

Getting back on her horses was what kept the blonde barrel racer laser-focused on recovery after her 2010 automobile wreck. Within a few days of starting her physical therapy, Amberley convinced her therapists to start incorporating some saddle time (minus a horse) into her therapy sessions. She told them her best balance, even before her wreck, was in the saddle. In fact, sitting in the saddle was far more familiar and comfortable than her wheelchair. Just four months after the wreck and even before Amberley was released from her back brace, she was back on a horse.

Did you know: Amberley is slated to be the keynote speaker at the 2020 Bank of America Youth Excellence Seminar in Amarillo Texas. Learn more: www.aqha.com/-/10-things-to-know-about-amberley-snyder

11/04/2020

When tonight's movie debuted in 1998, the entire AQHA team got a free trip to the movies."The Horse Whisperer," starring Robert Redford, was a big hit.

The equine stars of the movie included “Hightower,” Top Decker Special, Whynotcash and Sierras Ghost. All four horses were cast to play “Pilgrim,” the lead horse in the movie. Movie wrangler Rex Peterson already owned Hightower when he got the wrangler job for the movie. He purchased the other three horses specifically for use in the movie because their individual skills made them great fits for the wide variety of stunts that were scripted for Pilgrim.

In the movie's plot, a horse turns wicked after surviving a horrifying accident on an icy New England road. Robert Redford plays Tom Booker, a man known for his way with horses who nurtures Pilgrim and the horse’s child owner back to normal.

Hulu, iTunes and other streaming services offer this movie. It can also be found on TV on the Flix channel.

10/04/2020

An Army major escorts a Native American chief and his family back to their homeland in Montana in tonight's Journal must-see movie, "Hostiles." The family was in prison, and then released to return home, because the chief is dying.

Tanaya Beatty, who plays Living Woman, rides The Rein Man. Movie wrangler Clay Lilley’s horse Blue Bay Boon, a 2004 bay gelding, is another notable cast horse ridden by the star actress, Rosamund Pike, who plays Rosalie Quaid.

The movie is available on a number of streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime.

09/04/2020

Tonight's Journal movie selection debuted 30 years ago!

Plain Justin Bar, a grandson of Impressive, was cast as Lt. John Dunbar’s mount in the epic “Dances With Wolves,” which debuted in 1990. Played by Kevin Costner, Lt. Dunbar was assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, where he befriends wolves and Indians.

Plain Justin Bar – whose buckskin coat color was anything but plain – also received the AQHA Silver Spur Award in 1991 in recognition of superior achievement in the field of entertainment.

Find this classic on a number of streaming services, or watch it on the Starz Encore Classic or Starz Encore Western channels.

Lt. John Dunbar, exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military. Watch more...

08/04/2020

Hey, thanks for checking back tonight to see our next recommendation on a can't-miss show!

In “12 Strong,” Chris Hemsworth plays Capt. Mitch Nelson in the true story of the first 12 American soldiers who made up the U.S. Army Special Forces covert incursion force into Afghanistan just days after 9/11.

Central to the plot is how this band of soldiers found themselves needing to adopt some of the unfamiliar tactics of their Afghan allies, which included riding horses. Of the 60 horses used on “12 strong,” horse wrangler Clay Lilley says about half were Quarter Horses. They were well suited to meet the demands of the film.

Chris’ mount was The Rein Man, a 2008 black gelding owned by movie wranger Dutch Lunak. The horse traces to Doc O'Lena and Impressive. Watch for a couple more of our must-watch suggestions in which The Rein Man also stars.

You can rent or buy the movie on a number of streaming services, including YouTube and Google Play.

07/04/2020

It's Night #2 of the Journal's movie or TV show recommendations! This one is a no-brainer!

The horses used in the Paramount TV Channel’s “Yellowstone” are just about as famous and accomplished as the human actors in the uber-popular TV series. Reiner Taylor Sheridan is the writer and producer of the family drama – about the drama in a family, not a drama that is family friendly – that is heading into its third season. The patriarch of the ranch, John Dutton, who’s played by Kevin Costner, takes pride in his champion reining and cutting horses. In the show, Costner rides Spookernickerin, a National Reining Horse Association money-earning sorrel gelding, and one of Taylor’s horses, Dun It Chexinic, who has won more than $30,000 in reining.

“To me, it’s probably the first Western ever made where you don’t see the guy come up and pull the horse to a stop, and the horse chucks his head upside-down,” says trainer Tom Foran. “If people ride and have horses, they’re like, ‘Oh, that looks awful!’ You won’t see that in ‘Yellowstone.’ The horses look broke, the riders look capable, the story is fantastic, and I think that authenticity is really going to make it something special.”

You can watch several episodes of "Yellowstone" for free on the Paramount website.

For the next week, we'll bring you one Quarter Horse-related movie or TV show recommendation each day at 6 p.m. Central.

06/04/2020

If you’re sheltering in place like the rest of us, chances are you’re running out of things to watch on TV. The AQHA Publications Team has written a lot of stories over the years about movies and TV shows in which American Quarter Horses were part of the cast. For the next week, we'll bring you one recommendation each day at 6 p.m. Central.

If you watched “Lonesome Dove,” a four-part Western mini-series that aired on TV in 1989, you’ll remember the not-so-nice-name Capt. Woodrow F. Call (Tommy Lee Jones) called the gray horse he broke out. That horse was played by equine cast member Docs Breeze Bar, a Doc Bar great-grandson.

The show chronicles the story of two former Texas Rangers, who renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory. An estimated 26 million homes tuned in to watch the show, which starred Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston and several other A-list actors. Around 600 head of cattle and 100 horses rounded out the cast.

05/04/2020

"Speedy" was his name, and rodeo was his game. The legendary Driftwood pass on a legacy of athleticism and good mindedness.

Nicknamed “Speedy,” Driftwood and his foals were known for their easygoing dispositions and their abilities in the rodeo arena.

04/04/2020

Three AQHA Professional Horsemen have been recognized as the tops for 2019. Congratulations from the Journal!

AQHA honors Leonard Berryhill, Karen Graham and Marilyn Randall as the 2019 AQHA Professionals of the Year.

03/04/2020

AQHA Professional Horseman Mike Major has some tips on how to teach your horse to ground-tie.

Ranch horse training tips for how to teach a horse to stand still.

02/04/2020

Test your knowledge of trail rules in this true/false quiz.

Check your trail knowledge in this quiz.

01/04/2020

Longtime exhibitor Kelsey Jung earned her first world championship in amateur trail at the 2019 Lucas Oil AQHA World Championship Show.

Kelsey Jung and Moonlite Cruiser get the gold in amateur trail.

31/03/2020

Teaching a horse confidence in his "spot" is the key to teaching him to heel, says AQHA Professional Horseman Brad Lund. Read on for more tips.

AQHA Professional Horseman Brad Lund gives instructions on how to start training a heel horse.

30/03/2020

Check out the leading sires for ranch events from 2019.

The leading horses, sires, breeders and exhibitors in ranch horse events.

29/03/2020

Check off these facts about the legend Joe Hancock.

This top American Quarter Horse sire is a legend in ranching, rodeoing and racing.

28/03/2020

It was a family affair as Taylor Santos won the 2020 Timed Event Championship.

Taylor Santos won the 2020 CINCH Timed Event Championship with the help of some pretty great horses.

27/03/2020

Congratulations to the top ranch horse sires, breeders and exhibitors of 2019. Way to go!

The leading horses, sires, breeders and exhibitors in ranch horse events.