Peanut rollers

FROM

THE

EDITOR

Peanut Rollers The horse show world is fraught with misjudgments by judges. A fad starts, and soon all the judges jump on the bandwagon and only horses conforming to the fad can win in the showring. Arabian horse shows have been notorious for this. The American saddlebred show judges have been so concerned about high stepping that terrible abuses have been done to horses to make them conform to the fad. Quarter Horse judges have been so concerned with small feet over the years that it has led to the breeding of horses prone to navicular disease and other foot problems. There should be a universal requirement in the horse show world that every physical trait and movement should be “natural.” Of course, with the variety of genetic types, natural for one breed can be quite different from natural in others. Dr Robert M. Miller points out the latest unnatural fad in the Quarter Horse show ring has been dubbed “peanut rolling” because the nose of the horse is carried so low that it could roll a peanut. He writes, “I watched the Quarter Horse World Show on TV recently and was amazed to see peanut rolling even in the driving classes. Imagine a fast moving buggy horse with its nose at knee height. Disgusting! The English class horses were all peanut rollers and, of course, the Western Pleasure horses were the worst of all, because that’s where this abomination started 20 or 25 years ago.” He tells me that the American Quarter Horse Association passed a rule that the horse’s poll could be no lower than the withers. Although this improved the situation, the rule is often ignored and peanut rolling persists. Dr Miller’s campaign against peanut rolling includes several cartoons that are satires on the situation. We have included one in this issue in our “Viewpoint” section. William E. Jones, DVM, PhD, Editor

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