08/12/2026
The old-fashioned all-around horse.
I used to work in emergency rooms as an ER technician in my late 20s/early 30s. One of the doctors I used to work with said something that really stuck with me……"We know more and more about less and less."
He was decrying the pitfalls of hyper-specialization in medicine.
I think we have some of that going on in the horse world too.
Honestly, it was probably the natural way things were going to go with the way the judging system is set up. This is not another post complaining about the judging system. I don't know how they could have done it any better or differently. But it certainly has rewarded and created whole economies around hyper-specialization in horses. And trainers and riders for that matter.
Remember when we were kids?
You just had some kind of backyard horse your parents got for the cheapest price possible and hoped was reasonably safe for you.
And that horse had to be your transportation to your friend's house before you could drive, your show pony on the weekends for whatever you decided you wanted to do—barrels and poles, jumping, showmanship, whatever. He did parades, birthday parties, trail rides, and anything else you could think of as a horse-crazy kid.
I think that kind of horse still has real value.
Something versatile. Something that can jump a small course, do a 25 mile long distance ride, chase a cow, and hold his own in a First level dressage test. And do parades, birthday parties, and double as transportation if needed!
He may not be glamours. He may not win all the ribbons. But you can point him toward just about anything and expect him to give it a try—and hopefully keep you safe while doing it.
There's another side to this too, and that's breeding.
It's not necessarily fashionable to breed versatile, jack-of-all-trades horses these days. The money is in fancy show horses that can take people to championships. I get that.
But sometimes the people breeding those horses need something to breed back to.
Maybe they need more bone. Maybe a little more depth through the body. Maybe they need a dose of endurance, or a little more level-headedness so a horse can handle the pressure of competition better.
Whatever the trait may be, historically, breeders often went back to using horses and ranch horses for it. You can see it in older show pedigrees—a fancy show stallion crossed on mares by a using stallion, or mares that came from ranches where Morgans were expected to work for a living.
It's a good strategy.
But if we all breed for specialization, eventually we won't have that good, versatile, non-glamorous using horse to cross back to when we need him.
Here's my salute to the old-fashioned everyday horse.
The horse that may not be the very best in the world at any one thing, but is pretty darn good at a whole lot of things.
He may not command the highest price.
But he never goes out of style.
