Chestnut Quarter Horse
A chestnut Quarter Horse is a common coat color in this breed. Other coat colors accepted in purebred Quarter Horses are sorrel, black, bay, buckskin, gray, palomino, cremello, perlino, dun, red dun, bay roan, blue roan, red roan, and grullo. Spotted and pinto Quarter Horses are also accepted, but only in case their parentage is verified by the DNA testing.
A coat color is not the main characteristic of the breed. A chestnut Quarter Horse is considered to be of a high quality only if it corresponds to the breed standard and has short-distance speed, fast start, turning, stopping ability, working abilities, and intelligence typical of the breed. According to the breed standard, the American Quarter Horse stands between 14.3 and 16 hands (57-64 inches) at the withers and weighs from 950 to 1200 pounds. Mares are smaller and lighter than stallions. A typical temperament of the Quarter Horse is calm and cooperative, which makes the breed popular as working horse on farms and ranches and as first-time mounts.
When making a decision on buying a chestnut Quarter Horse, choose a breeder very carefully, because only in this case you have a guarantee that the animal is healthy and well-behaved. Only screening the breeding stock for all possible disorders helps prevent a number of hereditary diseases, such as Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP), Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERDA), Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED), Equine polysaccharide storage myopathy, (EPSM or PSSM), and Lethal White Syndrome.
Most hereditary disorders are caused by recessive genes and develop in the offspring if both parents are the carriers of the same defective gene. It’s quite possible to find a perfect match for a purebred horse which is a carrier of a defective recessive gene to produce a healthy offspring. If the disorder is caused by a dominant gene, only one affected parent is enough to transmit it to the offspring. Horses with defective dominant genes should not be used for breeding. Some hereditary disorders can be detected by a simple DNA test; others require more complicated screening. When buying a chestnut Quarter Horse from a backyard breeder you have no guarantee that it’s free from hereditary disorders.
