True enough.
The Quarter Horse industry has experienced this same short-sighted breeding programs that have focused on certain characteristics preferred by judges and, unfortunately, stopped breeding for characteristics and conformation that made the Quarter Horse what he is.
The Western Pleasure classes are mostly to blame for this. They preferred tall leggy horses with pencil necks, small heads and small hoofs and bulky muscularity in the front end and hindquarters.
As a result, a lot of these bulky specimens with the small hoofs end up with hoof problems.
And the Quarter Horse racing industry has further bred out the Quarter Horse to the point that many of the top Quarter horses on the track today have very little Quarter Horse blood in them. For example, Dash For Cash is only about 10% Quarter Horse and looks more like the Thoroughbred that he actually is.
But, in the last few years, several organizations have been started to encourage breeders to return to the basic Quarter Horse conformation. These organizations are known as Foundation Quarter Horse Associations. The different organizations vary in the amount of non Quarter Horse blood is allowed for registration but even the most lenient is 80% minimum.
In addition, a lot of show judges have seen the error of their ways and are beginning to award points for foundation Quarter Horse conformation.
True... and generally, that happens... there is a pendulum swing in fads and trends, the key is to catch it early enough, while there's still good remedies in the gene pool.
From the NTRA interview with Barbaro's vet:
Media: Dr. Richardson, just out of curiosity. In our quest for speed in horse racing are we breeding a less sturdy horse?
Dean Richardson: Categorically no. No. I think really when you - really, look at thoroughbred race horses. I mean, the incidence of injury in thoroughbred in racing is not any higher than it ever was. It's still a risky endeavor. Horses are going fast. These are massive animals running fast. There's no evidence whatsoever that the prevalence of injury in thoroughbred racing is increasing.