History of the Breed Long before they were driving cattle across
the West, horses were a strong part of American history.
Colonial settlers brought their trusty steeds with them from
overseas, and these sturdy animals tilled fields, pulled wagons,
and carried important documents throughout the colonies.
Settlers had a penance for speed, and would often stage horse
races as a distraction from the menial tasks of colonization.
However, the settlers' horses were beat time and again by the
faster, more agile horses owned by the local Chickasaw Indians.
Settlers traded and bred their English horses with these native
mounts, creating a lighter, quicker line of racing horses. These
horses were called the "Celebrated American Quarter Running
Horse," an homage to the quarter-mile race most commonly run by
the Colonial settlers. Horse racing was also popular in England,
and a wealthy settler by the name of John Randolph imported one
of these Godolphin Arabians named Janus in 1752. Janus was
lighter and faster than even