We really admire the modern cowhorses for their drive, intelligence, and athletic ability. With this strong passion for powerful breeding, we include it in many of our broodmare selections We have also studied the the foundation quarter horses and their old bulldog style conformation that is talked about for“durability”. When selecting what style Quarter Horses to cross to produce durable, athletic, and wiling, we often go back to conversation to ask if the foundation quarter horse style compliments the modern cowhorse to where the outcome is better than both parents contributing.
Our goal is to produce a foal that has opportunity to out-perform both parents, even if it’s in a different arena or at a different career.
Everyone is quick to say that they want to add bone or substance to these modern lines so that the horse lasts longer. Without getting into the nitty gritty, you could easily say to add lines known for bone like Hancock or Driftwood.
We have found that while you want to add bone, you have to think about how that selection could compromise performance of the offspring. Will that increase in bone cause the foal to grow too fast where you have developmental issues like OCDs? Will more bone limit the athletic ability of the horse and how it maneuvers while the brain is driven to work intensely and the horse is more prone to injury? Will more bone work counterintuitively and cause weaknesses in longevity?
We have a few modern cowhorses that have a small percentile of “foundation” that’s closer up on the papers. We have found that with our working cowhorses and ranch horses, we want to match complimentary traits together rather than going for a complete surprise of a foal, mixing two unlike horses together for experiment.
What are your thoughts? What has worked and what hasn’t?
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