Two new horses, two new horse pedigrees to explore. Jerry was easy. He is registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) as Mea Classico Duster. His full pedigree, therefore, is known and available.

Oscar is a different story. He is a Thoroughbred-Quarter Horse cross, or an Appendix if registered. He entered shows under the name Playing to the Crowd. But is that name registered? His recent connections do not know. Nor do they know his parentage.

Jerry, 25 years old, was a career lesson horse at Butternut Stables in Hampton NB. Oscar is about 21. He’s moved around more and been a jack-of-all-trades – lessons, shows, general riding and best friend. They never lived together before, maybe never even met, but they’ve become BFFs.

Pedigree Chart for Jerry, Mea Classico Duster

When a horse is registered with a breed association, his or her name is added to a lineage that goes back decades, even centuries. Full pedigrees are available from breed associations like the AQHA. Storied histories, maybe with famous names but also the unknowns like “Waggoner mare”. Like with all genealogies, you find full stories and mere fragments, the oddities and ordinaries. Genealogy charts map out elements of a family history, locating details in the big picture.

Pedigrees are recorded so that breeding matches can be made with knowledge of a horse’s physical, genetic and performance background. That helps enhance desired traits and avoid genetically problematic ones.

It’s not just breeders who pay attention to pedigrees. Watch a handicapper at a horse race. You’ll hear about the lineage of the runners. A horse’s past performance is important in judging their odds of winning, but so is the performance and attributes of the horses in their lineage.

I got three generations of Jerry’s ancestry from his AQHA papers. Then I went to All Breed Pedigree for the rest. Jerry himself is not in its database but his sire and dam are.

Tracing horse pedigrees

Search for the horse’s registered name. If it doesn’t come up, search for the sire, dam or full sibling. Look at the information as closely as you do with online human genealogies. Horses with the same or similar names can be entered incorrectly. If a date or breed doesn’t make sense, check other sources.

Whether you get the information online or from a breed association, you still might want to put that information in your own style of pedigree chart. Making your own lets you design it as you wish. Include or exclude elements and make it visually manageable. You want a snapshot – something that gives the overall picture at a glance. So it’s a balancing act between the amount of information and the clarity of it. I designed mine to fit 7 generations back on an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper. That’s a standard size at copy stores and is large enough to show details.

Tracing an unregistered horse

Oscar’s pedigree requires more detective work. I don’t know his parentage or if he has a registered name, As a Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred cross, his ancestors could be in the Thoroughbred, Appendix or Quarter Horse registries. But, for sure, some would be registered with the AQHA.

His show name, Playing to the Crowd, gives the only clue. I looked on All Breed Pedigree for names that include Crowd in the years possible for Oscar to be their offspring. A sire in the Quarter Horse database is named Draws A Crowd. Lots of progeny and several have Crowd in their name, including a daughter named Play the Crowd. I also found a Thoroughbred mare named Draws a Crowd. She has some foals but none with names similar to hers.

I think that the QH Draws a Crowd could well be Oscar’s daddy. But I need more information, from people who knew Oscar when he was young or from the internet. Then I could do his pedigree chart as well.