Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer Issue

Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer 1

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August 2019

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Judge Cash Colver, OR Now Colvis Horse Sales Clovis, NM 23rd|25th St. Clair Preformance Ogallala, NE 24th Nebraska QH Classic Ogallala, NE 24th Come to the Source Laramie, WY 24th Blain Krogman White River, SD 24th Weber & Company Valentine, NE 25th Haythorn Ogallala, NE 30th|31st Spader Ranch Kansas City, KS 31st Munns Production Sale Rexburg, ID 31st

September 2019

Louie Krogman Valentine, NE 1st League of Legends Livingston, MT 6th|7th Lolli Bros. Livestock Macon, MI 6th|7th Lopez | Meyer | Lauing Faith, SD 7th Raymond Sutton Ranch Gettysburg, SD 8th 5 Star Iowa Falls, IA 13th|14th Open Box Rafter Ranch Rapid City, SD 14th WYO Quarter Horses Thermopolis, WY 14th Blue Valentine & Driftwood Springfield, MO 14th Montana Breeders Group Great Falls, MT 14th Horse Creek Sale Co Castle Rock, CO 14th Frenchmans Quarter Horses Rapid City, SD 14th Central Nebraska Broken Bow, NE 15th Van Norman Elko, NV 20th|21st Weaver Quarter Horses Great Falls, MT 21st Huskerland Kearney, NE 21st Ozark Founders Breeders Midway, AK 21st Sugar Bars Legacy Sheridan, WY 22nd

October 2019

Waverly Midwest Waverly, IA 1st|4th Jamison QH Quinter, KS 3rd|4th Colorado Horse, Mule Brighton, CO 4th |5th 6666 Guthrie, TX 5th Premire Equine Auction Lufkin, TX 11th|12th Farmers & Ranchers Salina, KS 12th|13th Nile Billings, MT 18th|19th -T & Heart - QH Sale Saginaw, TX 26th

November 2019

Horse Creek Sale Co Castle Rock, CO 9th ................................................................................................................................................................

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CONTENTS WorkingHorseMagazine.com | Summer 2019

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6 Horse Sale Calendar WORKING HORSE MAGAZINE

12 The Working Lines OKIE LEO AND IS THREE AMIGOS

22 AQHA

SOFTWARE REPORT

On the cover

34 Mares with More

Weavers Playgem

SORREL SUE

52 On the Road with SeeYa

2018 AQHA Senior Heading World Champion After an intense rope-off at the last second, Weavers Playgem takes AQHA Professional Horseman Dustin Rogers to his first world championship in senior heading for owner Lincoln Figueiredo of Brazil.

Pictured left to right Lisa Freeman, Kathy Pinkley, Stan Weaver, Dustin Rogers

62 Real Estate Corral FIND YOUR NEXT HORSE PROPERTY

76 Hot Products

CUTTING EDGE PRODUCTS

78 Ad Index

Staff

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Mike Gerbaz | Managing Partner & Sales mikegerbaz@gmail.com | 970.948.5523 Jane Klingson | Sales janeklingson@yahoo.com | 515.571.2832

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Carolyn Olson | Sales olsonquarterhorses@yahoo.com | 503.397.1217

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Competitor News | Production | Graphic Art | Webmaster competitornews@yahoo.com | 541.938.0608 .......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Working Horse Magazine has been serving the performance horse industry since 1997. Main Office | 355 Watson Divide Road, Snowmass, CO 81654. For questions regarding subscriptions and distribution call 970.948.5523. The views and/or opinions in articles and advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of Working Horse Magazine and are the responsibility of the author or advertiser.

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The Working Lines | Okie Leo and His Three Amigos | Part I

O

By Larry Thornton ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ kie Leo was an AQHA Champion and outstanding performance horse that would cut and rein with anyone and pretty much beat you at whatever the event or class he was competing in. He was a legend that epitomizes the versatility of the American Quarter Horse. But the back story of Okie Leo is also the story of three men that became friends and great admirers of Okie Leo. We will call them the “three amigos.”

The three amigos were Dick Robey, Orren Mixer and Bud Breeding. These three men would form a strong friendship with Okie Leo being a catalyst in that friendship. Sadly these three men have passed away, but their legacy will live on in the American Quarter Horse just as their love of this stallion will live on in our memories of these men.

The first amigo is Dick Robey. It was Okie Leo that started Dick and Helen Robey on a successful career breeding, raising and showing American Quarter Horses. Okie Leo was the foundation sire of the Robey Ranch, but they would stand other stallions like Harlan an AQHA Hall of Fame inductee and Win Or Lose the sire of the AQHA Hall of Fame stallion Sonny Dee Bar during their career in the horse business.

Okie Leo started life in 1956 on the ranch of his breeder the AQHA Hall of Fame member Bud Warren. Warren was the owner of Leo his sire and Sorrel Sue his dam. E. L. “Les” Gosselin had bought Okie Leo from Bud Warren and sent him to the racetrack at Ruidoso, New Mexico.

We will let Dick Robey tell us how he came to own Okie Leo, “Mr. E. L. Gossellin had bought Okie Leo and Flit Bar from Bud Warren. Gossellin had a beautiful place here in Oklahoma and was getting into the horse business. He was one of the nicest most honest men around... I was trying to get into the quarter horse business myself and I was working for Dr. James Brown, who seemed to know more about breeding mares than anybody.”

Robey continued, “I knew Mr. Gossellin and his son Bob. It was about Labor Day and he had Flit Bar, Trouble Gal and Joe Blair out at the racetrack at Ruidoso... Well he had Okie Leo out there too and they hadn’t broke him but they were trying to run him and he’d buck the jockey off.”

“I heard that they had sold Joe Blair and Flit Bar. So when Bob Gossellin came in the clinic where I was working, I asked him about Okie Leo. He said he’d sell him to me for $2,000. I didn’t have a dime, let alone $2,000. But I said I was interested in the horse, so he sold him to me, and he gave me three years to pay for him. I went home and Helen and I’d just gotten married and I told her I’ d bought Okie Leo. I think she was about ready to pack up and get out of there. We didn’t have any money at all.”

“Then Mr. Gossellin called me up and wanted to talk to me, so he came by. Come to find out, after the races at Ruidoso were over, he had sold this horse to a fella for $5,000. But then the fella decided he didn’t want to give him for $5,000, because he hadn’t done any good at Ruidoso. He didn’t run and wasn’t even broke.

The man said he would give him $3,000. Mr. Gossellin told the fella, ‘If you don’t have the money for the horse, I’ll loan you the money. But we agreed this afternoon on $5,000 and I want $5,000,’ so they let it go.”

“Mr. Gossellin told me, ‘I know Bob sold you the horse for

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$2,000, but I would like to get $3,000. But I won’t go back on my son.’ I said, ‘Mr. Gossellin you sold me the horse and gave me three years to pay for him, so you know I don’t have the money.

I’ll give you the $3,000, but I have to pay him out.’ So he sold him to me.”

“This is where the story gets complicated,” added Robey about the situation after his agreement with Gosselin. “I had been given a breeding to a stallion that a friend of mine owned. When the foal was born, I found out that the mare was bred to the wrong horse and this is when Mr. Gossellin called me and made me a new offer.

He wanted to get the foal out of my mare to set things right and in order to do that, he wanted to trade Okie Leo for the colt. I told him that wouldn’t be necessary, but he insisted, and that’s how I got Okie Leo.” Robey brought Okie Leo home and set about training his new horse. He described what he found this way, “As soon as I started riding this horse, I found he was so far ahead of me. He had more handle than any horse I’d ridden. I’d been riding horses all my life. Breaking horses. But this horse was just way ahead of me. I put a handle on him, and Helen and I decided we’d just go start showing this horse. We just skinned these people. He was a great horse. He was always a better horse than I was a rider.”

Robey readily confessed the following about his success as a trainer and the role of Okie Leo in that career, “I’d made a livin all these years training horses and selling colts. I was beating all those greats like Dee Burke, Don Wilcox and Buddy Reger. I ran about 100 reining patterns on this horse before I went to the first show. I should have soured him, but we won the first show and I went on to make him the State Champion in reining. He was a tremendous horse.”

The success of Okie Leo and his rider was a perplexing situation for the other trainers. Don Wilcox was a prominent Oklahoma trainer that showed with a great deal of success on horses like Ace’s Loeleta. The frustration to compete against Okie Leo lead Wilcox to make an interesting proposition that would allow him to show Okie Leo. Robey related the story, “I didn’t know Don Wilcox, but he came to me and said, ‘I’ll train Okie Leo for you for $150 per month. Well we didn’t have $150 and we weren’t about to let this horse out of our sight. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t think Don would do a good job of taking care of the horse, we just couldn’t let him go.”

“Well we went to another show and he said, ‘I’ll train this horse for $125, then he went to $100 and then $50. When we turned that down, He said, ‘I’ll train the horse for nothin, if you supply the feed. Well we weren’t about to take this horse anyplace and leave him. So we finally decided to let Don ride the horse at the shows, but we kept him at home. I would ride him during the week and Don would ride him at the shows and just eat them alive.” Don and Okie Leo would go on and win 25 straight reining classes at one point in their time together.

Okie Leo became an AQHA Champion; Superior Reining Horse and a Register of Merit performer. He earned 20 halter points; 16 cutting points; 57 reining points and 15.5 western pleasure points for a total of 108.5 points. He was an NCHA Certificate of Ability winner with over $1,000 in earnings. Okie Leo won his Superior in reining by winning 50 of the 55 AQHA reining classes he entered.

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Okie Leo, the only horse ever allowed in the Orren Mixer studio.

Photo Courtesy of Western Horseman Magazine Orren Mixer painting of Okie Leo Photo Courtesy of Helen Robey

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The Working Lines continued

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It has to be noted here that Okie Leo didn’t make the performance arena as quickly as Dick Robey wanted. He was sidelined with an injury when he cut a tendon in the hind leg. He was sidelined for several months, but as you can see by his record that he came back as good as new.

The Robey’s success with Okie Leo didn’t stop with this great stallion. Robey found himself with a factory that added to his reputation as a trainer. He continued the story, “As soon as the first two-year-old’s came out, we took this rascal Bumble Bee Leo to the shows. I literally saddled this horse only 14 times before we went to Tulsa and the old fair grounds and I sure enough eat those reining horses up. I didn’t have any idea of what I was doing. But people thought I was a sure enough a horse trainer. Because every year we’d come a sailin with a new set of Okie Leo foals.”

Bumble Bee Leo would go onto earn 46.5 performance points with points in cutting (36), reining (6), western pleasure (3), trail (1) and western riding (.5) to earn a performance ROM. He was an NCHA Certificate of Ability winner in cutting earning $7,612.36.

He earned six AQHA halter points with two Grand Championships.

Bumble Bee Leo would aid his sire as an influence on the modern reining horse through one of his daughters. Bumble Bee Leo is the sire of Becky Bee Leo and she is the third dam of Wimpys Little Step whose dam is Leolita Step and her dam is Step Lite the daughter of Becky Bee Leo. Wimpys Little Step is the 2002

Orren Mixer of Okie Leo working briCourtesy of Helen Robey 14dle-less!

Working| Photo Horse M agazine 2019 Summer

NRHA Open Futurity Champion and the 2002 All American Quarter Horse Congress Open Futurity Champion. He earned $185,757. He is now an NRHA $11 million dollar sire. His leading money winner is Wimpys Little Chic, winner of $539,244.

She won the NRHA Triple Crown is the NRHA Futurity, NRHA Derby and the NRBC Derby. Wimpys Little Chic is the dam of ARC Gunnabeabigstar an NRHA Open Futurity Co-Champion and Shesoutayourleague an NRHA Open Futurity Champion and NRHA Open Derby Champion. Some of the other Wimpys Little Step performers would include RC Fancy Step winner of $364,205; Wimpyneedsacoctail winner of $281,379 and Wimpys Little Buddy winner of $275,912.

Orren Mixer is the second amigo and we will add him at this point. Orren Mixer profiled the American Quarter Horse like no other human being, and he did it through his famous paintings of the stallions and mares that have graced our industry for over 50 years.

His paintings have immortalized many of our great quarter horses.

Of course the most famous Mixer painting is the AQHA’s Standard of Excellence that is often referred to as “The Mixer Horse.” Okie Leo was the only horse ever taken into the Mixer Studio.

Robey talked about the significance of his friend’s role in the story, “Orren Mixer and I have been friends forever and when we started, he told me, ‘Well Dick, I can get them to your door, but you’ll have to get them to breed the mares.’ So he started taking pictures and we started breeding mares. I’ll tell you Orren Mixer brought the people to my door. He did all this work for me and made all my ads and we bred a lot of mares to that horse.”

Robey added, “We didn’t have any money. We just started-I figured if I couldn’t make a livin with a stud by Leo and out of a King mare, I just as well go broke. So we built a nice place on Waterloo Road here in Oklahoma and Okie Leo paid for it.”

The Robey/Mixer friendship found Robey reminiscing about another incident in his life that shows Orren Mixer and his faith in Okie Leo. It also demonstrates the power of Okie Leo as a

Here is Jon Mixer winning with Okie Leo at the Dallas Junior Show | Photo Courtesy of Jon Mixer

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... show horse. Robey professed that Okie Leo could be ridden by just about anybody and this story certainly indicates this great attribute of this stallion.

Robey described what happened this way, “Jon Mixer (Orren’s son) was 10 and Orren wanted to go to what they called the World Series of 4-H and FFA members. It was at Dallas and Orren wanted Jon to ride Okie Leo.” Yes this was when the youth could show as stallion.

He went on with his story, “I wanted Jon to work with Okie, so we had him ride the horse. Jon rode him about 10 times and the weather got bad. I didn’t think anything about it until early one Saturday morning in December and here comes Ole Mixer driving in with his trailer and Jon. It was raining and sleeting, and he wanted to go to Dallas. I said, ‘My God, Jon hasn’t ridden Okie in so long.’ Well Orren wanted to go so we loaded up and went. We like to froze to death.”

“They had about 85 entries in it. So I put a big ole coat on Jon to keep him from freezing to death. He was the 20th reiner and Ole Mixer couldn’t take it; he goes out and wouldn’t stay in there.

So when the time came, I pulled that coat off Jon and he ran the pattern. They had two judges and when they finished running that pattern, you should have seen the trainers jerking those kids off those horses and go to tuning. It was obvious that someone was going to have to be real good or that reining was over. Jon won

the class by 10 points.”

Here is how Jon Mixer recalls his ride on Okie Leo, “When the reining came up we were all bunched up with 80 some horse in the ally way and when they called my number I blew in there full speed, sat him down, backed him up and set there with a loose rein for 4 or 5 seconds then started my slow small figure 8 then went into the large 8 with more speed when I came out and went to do my roll back I opened him up, went in and turn him back and he came around so hard and fast it pulled my little butt clean out of the saddle. I grab the horn threw my leg back over him and opened him up for the second roll back. I was ready this time and grabbed the horn going into it and came out flying into my second stop, did my pivots and walked to the judge. I rode back to where Dick was and apologized to him for losing my stirrup. Then they announce my score as 78 and I really felt bad and thought I had really let him down. Dick then told me that 78 was out of a possible 80. When it was all over, we had won it by 10 points over the 2nd place horse.

Robey had an interesting postscript to the story, “Orren was so proud that he hauled that trophy to every horse place he went for 90 days. And then Orren said that the trophy went with the horse, so we got the trophy. Well when Jon was about 30, I finally gave him the trophy and the ribbon.”

Here is Helen cutting on Okie Leo! Photo Courtesy of Helen RobeyWorking Horse Magazine 2019 Summer 15

The Working Lines continued

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THE PEDIGREE The fact that Okie Leo is a son of Leo and his dam is a daughter of King P-234 gives us an indication of where this great stallion got his power, handling ability and cow sense. Leo was bred by J. W. House of Cameron, Texas. Leo was a top racehorse with his official record showing 20 wins in 22 races. This great stallion was described by his longtime owner, Bud Warren, as being a “powerhouse” that sired that type of colt. Warren would use words like “professional wrestler” or “weightlifter” to describe this great stallion and his power. It appears that Okie Leo got his ability to turn out from under his rider because of the power inherited from his sire.

Leo was sired by Joe Reed II. Joe Reed II was the 1942-43 AQHA World Champion Quarter Running Stallion. This great stallion earned this title by winning three important races in Arizona while running with an injury. They would have to keep Joe Reed II confined to his stall during the week, because of the severity of the injury to his foot. Then they would run him on the weekend. He defeated great horses like Clabber to earn his title of Champion Quarter Running Stallion in 1942-43. Joe Reed II was sired by Joe Reed P-3, who was sired by Joe Blair, a thoroughbred. Joe Reed P-3 was out of Della Moore, the famous Cajun Running-Bred mare. She was sired by Old D J. or as some have called him Dedier.

The dam of Joe Reed II was Nellene. Nellene was sired by Fleeting Time, a thoroughbred. Nellene was out of Little Red Nell.

Little Red Nell was sired by Brown Billy by Pancho. Red Nell was the dam of Little Red Nell. Red Nell was sired by Texas Chief. Mr. House the breeder of Leo reported that this is the Texas Chief sired

LEO sor 14.2 1940 QUARTER HORSE #0001335

OKIE LEO sor 1956 QUARTER HORSE #0062301

SORREL SUE sor 1944 QUARTER HORSE #0003932

by Lock’s Rondo.

The dam of Leo was Little Fanny. Little Fanny was sired by Joe Reed P-3. This makes Leo 2 X 2 inbred to Joe Reed P-3. Some researchers indicate that Little Fanny was raced, and some indicate that she was never raced. Nelson Nye in his book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE QUARTER HORSE tells us that Little Fanny; her dam Fanny Ashwell; her grandam Fanny Richardson and her great grandam Sister Fanny were all race mares. Nye reported that Sister Fanny won 62 of 65 races she was entered in.

The sire of Fanny Ashwell was the thoroughbred Ashwell. The sire of Fanny Richardson is unknown to us. But recently some researchers have indicated that Sister Fanny was a thoroughbred mare possibly by a horse named *Whistle Jacket. *Whistle Jacket was a thoroughbred.

Leo wasn’t the only top performer out of Little Fanny. Her other foals include Firebrand Reed; Little Sister W; Gustdusted and Merry Time, all sired by Joe Reed II. Firebrand Reed was the sire of Star Brandy, the dam of 15 AQHA foals that have earned the racing ROM. Another great daughter of Firebrand Reed was Heavenly Fire, the dam of Sonny Go Lucky, the 1974 AQHA High Point Halter Stallion. Gustdusted was an AQHA performer with 41 points. He was the sire of Black Wasp, dam of Doc O Lock, NCHA Certificate of Ability winner and Wild Four, an AQHA World Champion Halter Gelding. Little Sister W was a AAA rated racehorse with her Superior in racing. She was a stakes winner in the PCQHRA Handicap and the Christensen Tack Shop Handicap. Merry Time was the dam of Baron Reed. Baron Reed was the sire of Baron Bell, an AQHA Champion that was Grand Champion Halter Horse at many of the nation’s top shows. Baron Bell was

JOE REED II ch 1936 QUARTER HORSE #0000985

LITTLE FANNY b 1937 QUARTER HORSE AQHA#0001572

KING b 14.3 1932 QUARTER HORSE #0000234

TOMMY KING MARE QUARTER HORSE U0080824

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JOE REED ch 1921 QUARTER HORSE #0000003 NELLENE sor 1931 QUARTER HORSE U0076986 JOE REED ch 1921 QUARTER HORSE #0000003 FANNY ASHWELL b 1914 QUARTER HORSE U0070967 ZANTANON ch 1917 QUARTER HORSE U0081745 JABALINA br 1920 QUARTER HORSE U0072570

JOE BL b 1911 DELLA 1915 FLEET ch 1923 LITTLE sor JOE BL b 1911 DELLA 1915 ASHWE b 1907 FANNIE sor 1910 LITTLE br 1905 JEANE

STRAIT dun BAY M b

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SE

SE

SE

ELL

SE

SE

SE

the sire of the AQHA World Show Super Horse Mr Baron Red. Leo sired many fine performers including World Champion Quarter Running Horses; AQHA Champions and arena ROM. He sired 211 race ROM; 33 arena ROM and 24 AQHA Champions. This sire record includes 29 Stakes Winners. Leo has become known through the years as a top broodmare sire. His daughters produced 753 race ROM and 44 stakes winners. His top performers include Miss Meyers, AQHA World Champion Quarter Running Horse; Leo Maudie, an AQHA Supreme Champion; Wimpy Leo, a Superior Halter Horse and Leob, 1959 AQHA Honor Roll Halter Gelding. He sired AQHA Champions like Bar H Leo; Baca Leo; Tiger Leo; Mr Spanish Lee; John Leo; Leo Tag and Leo Bingo.

The Leo daughters have made him the all-time leading maternal grandsire of AQHA Champions. His daughters have produced 57 AQHA Champions. The versatility of the Leo daughters comes through when we look at the Supreme Champion Award. He is broodmare sire of the AQHA Supreme Champions Kid Meyers, Fairbars, Milk River, Goodbye Sam, Sugar Rocket, Jet Threat and Goldstream Guard.

Sorrel Sue was sired by the King P-234. As we have often said in “The Working Lines,” King P-234 was characterized as the “cornerstone of the industry” for quarter horses. He sired 24 AQHA Champions with 84 show ROM; 13 AQHA Superior Award winners in halter and performance. He sired one AQHA High Point Award winner in reining and that was Martha King.

He sired two NCHA Silver Award winners including King’s Pistol the 1957 NCHA World Champion Cutting Horse as well as Royal King the 1953 NCHA World Champion Stallion and the Reserve World Champion that same year. King P-234 sired just 12 racing JOE BLAIR b 1911 DELLA MOORE 1915 FLEETING TIME ch 1923 LITTLE RED NELL sor JOE BLAIR b 1911 DELLA MOORE 1915 ASHWELL b 1907 FANNIE RICHARDSON sor 1910 LITTLE JOE br 1905 JEANETTE 2 STRAIT HORSE dun BAY MARE b

ROM including the great mare Squaw H. The daughters of King P-234 produced 50 AQHA Champions.

King P-234 was sired by Zantanon. Zantanon was a famous race stallion in Mexico. When his racing days were over, he was bought by M. Benevides Volpe of Laredo, Texas. With Zantanon as his breeding stallion, Volpe became the breeder of not only King P-234, but San Siemon, Ed Echols and Zantanon Jr. San Siemon is the broodmare sire of Leo San by Leo. Leo San is the sire of Peppy San and Mr San Peppy. Ed Echols is the broodmare sire of Tanquery Gin, the famous Four Sixes Stallion. Zantanon Jr is the broodmare sire of the NCHA World Champion Jose Uno and he in turn is the sire of Uno Princess an NCHA Futurity Champion.

Zantanon was sired by Little Joe by Traveler. Little Joe was out of Jenny by Sykes Rondo. The dam of Zantanon was Jeanette by Billy by Big Jim. The dam of King P-234 was Jabalina by Strait Horse. The Strait Horse was sired by Yellow Jacket. The dam of the Strait Horse was a Gardner Mare. The dam of Jabalina was a Bay Quarter Mare. Some say that she was sired by Traveler.

The dam of Sorrel Sue is a mare known today as the Tommy King Mare. The pedigree of this mare is listed in the AQHA Stud Book as unknown. Sorrel Sue was foaled in 1944. She is listed in the AQHA Stud Book as bred by Jess L. Hankins. Hankins was the owner of King P-234. She was owned by Bud Warren. Here story will accompany this “Working Lines” in the “Mares with More.

Before our conversation was over, Dick Robey reiterated the role Okie Leo played in his life as a horseman, “I’ve never claimed any part of Okie Leo being great. He came here great. He raised some of the greatest colts and he put us in the horse business. If it hadn’t been for Okie Leo, they would have never heard of us. You know anything you asked b 1894 him to do, he could do it.” b 1906 As you can tell Dick ch Robey talked about Okie b 1905 Leo with a great deal ch 1916 of pride and many fond lt b 1917 memories. The kind of br 1893 memories only a friend and your favorite horse b 1894 can give you. Next month b 1906 we will take a closer look ch at the foals of Okie Leo b 1905 and how Bud Breeding b 1887 became the third Amigo.

BONNIE JOE MISS BLAIR OLD D J LA HERNANDEZ HIGH TIME BRITISH FLEET BROWN BILLY 1 RED NELL 2 BONNIE JOE MISS BLAIR OLD D J LA HERNANDEZ ALLOWAY MELTON MOWBRAY QUARTER STALLION SISTER FANNY TRAVELER JENNY BILLY BY BIG JIM MARE BY SYKES RONDO YELLOW JACKET GARDNER MARE TRAVELER

b 1901

ch 1895 sor 15.1 ~1885 br 1891 ch rd dun 1908 sor 15.1 ~1885

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About the Author | Larry Thornton is a Pedigree Analyst and freelance writer for Working Horse Magazine, Speedhorse and Quarter Horse News. Thorton started his writing career in 1984 with his first article being printed in the Speed Horse Magazine. He was also an Agriculture Instructor for 37 years.

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An Interview with AQHA Executive VP

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By Sharee LaRue ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... ..... orking Horse Magazine had the opportunity to interview AQHA Executive Vice President Craig Huffhines for an update on the newly installed software. We were honored to be able to help shed some light on the facts about the issues at hand. AQHA is by far the largest horse registry in the world and with upgrades to serve members efficiently, comes glitches, followed by solutions. To keep up with rapidly changing technology, everyone has to upgrade, and problem solve, to stay current.

Why did AQHA change software programs?

AQHA’s mission is to preserve the pedigree of the American Quarter Horse back to its origins in the early 1940’s. Since our early days, we have become an organization heavily dependent on data and information that describes the pedigree, breeding and performance record of millions of horses. In recent decades, DNA technology has added another layer of information that assures the pedigree is correct and accounts for genetic information related to abnormalities, color or other interesting information. All of this information determines the value of a registered American Quarter Horse.

Our previous computer system was based on 1980 technology and became obsolete.

It was no longer serviced by the company that developed it and was difficult to integrate into modern web-based applications, which are the platforms that we all conduct business on every day. We worked to modernize our computer system to today’s standard of technology so that we can, over time, conduct more business online and serve information to our members on member dashboards, which will make it much easier for our membership to access the information they need on a desktop or hand-held device.

What can the new software do, that the old software couldn’t?

First, the new computer system allows us to do our day-to-day work, such as registrations, transfers of ownership and conduct traditional membership business, similar to the old system, but it’s on a new platform that can be serviced and is not obsolete. It also allows members to conduct and pay for membership business online. What’s more important is what the new database system will allow us to do in the future. Over time, we want to develop dashboard reports that describe horses’ records across all competition disciplines from racing to ranch riding and all competitions across the scope of the American Quarter Horse industry.

What are the issues facing the AQHA regarding the new software?

Due to the amount of time the Customer Care and Production & Processing teams spent testing the new system leading up to the computer system launch, we incurred a backlog of paperwork. Then issues with the launch led to additional work caught in our system for a variety of reasons. Those issues included processing genetic test results, which were holding up several thousand registrations. This issue has been resolved and the paperwork that was on hold because of this problem is being printed, reviewed and mailed to customers. Last week, we were able to mail more than 4,500 registration certificates to our members.

What steps have the AQHA taken to resolve the issue?

Here are a few of the measures deployed since launch: • Our team is working overtime, as well as weekend and some holiday hours to catch up on the backlog.

• We hired additional staff for our processing unit and call center.

• We hired show managers and professional horsemen to assist with transfers and show processing work.

• We deployed rush teams for emergency turn around for those with an upcoming race, show or sale.

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....................................................................................................................................................................................................... ... should receive correspondence from us within a few weeks of AQHA receiving their paperwork. In many cases, AQHA employees and representatives are reaching out to customers to get the necessary signatures, money or paperwork to finish up these transfers or registrations. If all of the requirements are met to complete a registration, it can be immediately completed.

What a lot of customers don’t realize is that there are a lot of details required from the breeder to register a foal: correct birth date, name suggestions, DNA if the foal is the result of embryo transfer or artificial insemination, five-panel genetic test results, DNA test results for parentage verification, notation of a genetic abnormality, and submission of photos. We are reviewing our forms to determine if we need to make the process easier for our members to understand so that certain requirements are not left What future steps is AQHA taking?

Our goal, as we’ve been working through these issues, is to off. For the quickest turnaround time, we encourage our memget the paperwork out the door and in the hands of our mem- bers to use the online registration process.

There are also features of AQHA.com that help customers bers who have been waiting patiently for us to complete their AQHA business. We apologize for the inconvenience this has track their business items or give them the option of making a caused, but know the pain will be worth it when the modernized payment online. After signing in to AQHA.com, click the “Memcomputer system is bers” link in the functioning propupper right of the “We are not currently meeting our own expectations or the expectations of erly. screen to access our members. But, the new computer system implementation has fast tracked Once we have reAQHA Services. operational and organizational change that will drive efficiency and effectivesolved the backlog There you will ness. We are on track to get our computer system back to a convenient, usof paperwork and find a variety of er-friendly level; resolve our current backlog issues; and change the customthe computer sysoptions, including er experience. This includes a large reorganization to improve the customer tem is meeting our the ability to track experience. Through this process, we’re also beginning to notify customers expectations, we pending work, pay of the status of their work – something that we all appreciate in this modern plan to continue to invoices and even day of technology. modernize the way reply to some corThis change will not happen overnight, but our customers will experience AQHA does busirespondence. To some relief in the near future. In the meantime, we truly appreciate their paness to better serve view pending work tience. By the next seasonal rush, we are confident that our Association will our members. The and available corbe in a far better place with everyone receiving what they need in a timely next phase of the respondence, click manner.” project calls for a “Pending Work.”

Craig Huffhines new dashboard on If you need to pay AQHA Executive Vice President the website, which an invoice, select will help custom“Pay Invoice,” add ers easily conduct the invoice(s) to your cart and pay the amount owed through your AQHA business online. The goal is to allow people to go on- Shopping Cart. If you’d like to view the transaction history for line to easily access services, such as registrations and transfers, your account, click “Transaction History.” even from their phone or other mobile device, and get a 24-hour turnaround.

Although members can currently register horses online, it What steps can members take to get their registraisn’t as user-friendly and easy as we believe it will be once, we tion certificates in time for an event that requires launch the new dashboard on the website. We want to streamline them? those processes and make it easier for people to do business with If a member cannot reach a Customer Care representative, we us. The goal is to tackle that task later this year. suggest using the callback option. Customers are also using the Contact Us form on the AQHA website to contact AQHA about What can members do to help the situation? pending paperwork. If you have time sensitive issues such as an A lot of the pending paperwork is most likely missing infor- upcoming sale, show or race requiring a registration or transfer, mation, inaccurate or held up by something like an unpaid fee, a please inform the Customer Care representative and our team missing breeder’s certificate, a missing signature, skipped trans- will work with customers to make sure they are able to enter a fers or the need for a DNA test. In those instances, members sale, compete at a show or get their horses on the racetrack.

• We’ve contacted sale management companies in advance of catalog deadlines to get a list of those horses that require registrations in upcoming sales so we can expedite them with the other rush needs we currently have.

• We reallocated resources from around the building to assist with a call overflow group.

• AQHA staff not in Customer Care or Production & Processing have also been working on answering customer calls and assisting with customer paperwork.

• Each week, we receive new programming for challenges and issues that the system has. We’re thoroughly testing those fixes and then deploying them into the production environment to enhance the way the system operates.

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Mares With More | Sorrel Sue

W

By Larry Thornton ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... hen Bud Warren of Perry, Oklahoma entered the AQHA Hall of Fame he was a former AQHA President that had developed one of the industry’s premier breeding programs. A breeding program that had influenced the racing, halter and performance events. He had stood such noted stallions as the AQHA Hall of Fame inductees Leo, Sugar Bars and Jet Deck. These three stallions made the Warren Ranch a breeding Mecca for the quarter horse industry because of their siring ability. At the base of this great breeding program was a great broodmare band. One of those mares was Sorrel Sue and she is one of our mares with more.

The original goal for the Warren breeding program was to breed horses that would have versatility as a base with good conformation and short horse speed. Bud Warren was a died in the wool “short horse” enthusiast. He loved to race his horse’s from 200 to 350 yards. To him that was the racing American Quarter Horse. But he knew that they all wouldn’t run and so his horses were bred to be versatile for not only racing but performance as well as conformation. His race bred foals were regularly shown at halter before they would go to the track.

The story of how Bud Warren came to be a quarter horse breeder was profiled in THE AMERCIAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL when he was named the 15th AQHA President. This biography titled “Bud Warren” appeared in the April 1966 issue and was written by Garford Wilkinson.

Wilkinson wrote about how Warren and his wife Reba got started in the horse business, “The horse business began as a hobby

back when Bud and Reba operated a dried milk plant in Perry and ran a cow outfit on their place adjacent to the city,” reported Wilkinson.

The transaction that put this couple on the road to a very successful horse business was actually an anniversary gift for Reba. It was a mare named Platinum Blonde. He bought her in 1943. Warren followed that purchase up with a stallion named Jess Hankins.

He was a son of King P-234 that Warren bought when he accompanied a friend to Hankins Ranch in Rocksprings, Texas. Jess Hankins, the stallion, was the reason for the trip. When the friend turned the horse down Warren paid the $500.00 and this put him in the breeding business.

The next significant purchase came in 1944 when Warren bought the mare Swamp Angel at the Beall Brothers Dispersal.

This mare was in foal to Leo, the stallion that would put Warren on the map as a breeder. He actually bought the mare before he bought Leo. He was so impressed with the foal she produced that he would seek out and buy Leo. Leota W was that foal and she went on to be the “best horse he ever raced” as he told me in our 1985 interview. Leota W ran 16 races for Warren as a two-yearold, and she won 14 of them. Leota W is listed as bred by Art Beall. He bought Leo in 1947 based on the kind of horse he got with Leota W. Warren made a return trip to the Hankins Ranch in 1944 or 1945. The Wilkinson story reports that Warren bought three more fillies in 1944 from Hankins. Frank Holmes in his KING P-234 biography has a chapter on the three mares. Holmes reports that

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LEO TAG sor 1949 QUARTER HORSE #0028432

LEO SCAMP sor 1954 QUARTER HORSE #0047446

SORREL SUE sor 1944 QUARTER HORSE #0003932

LEO sor 14.2 1940 QUARTER HORSE #0001335

TAGALONG b 1942 QUARTER HORSE #0001654

KING b 14.3 1932 QUARTER HORSE #0000234

TOMMY KING MARE QUARTER HORSE U0080824

34 Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer

JOE REED II ch 1936 QUARTER HORSE #0000985 LITTLE FANNY b 1937 QUARTER HORSE #0001572 RONDO OKLAHOMA pal 1938 QUARTER HORSE #0000869 STAR b 1935 QUARTER HORSE #0001453 ZANTANON ch 1917 QUARTER HORSE U0081745 JABALINA br 1920 QUARTER HORSE U0072570

JOE R ch 1921 NELLE sor 193 JOE R ch 1921 FANNY b 1914 WALT pal 193 LADY sor 193 HIGHW br 1923 YELLO

LITTL br 1905 JEANE

STRAI dun BAY M b

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... the three King daughters were bought in 1945. The fact remains that it was this second trip that resulted in his buying Sorrel Sue, 89’er and Betty Warren. Warren brought the new fillies home but didn’t register them until July of 1946.

89’er was foaled April 22, 1944. She was a solid bay mare with no other markings. Her dam was High Glee, who was sired by My Pardner. My Pardner was sired by Uncle Jimmy Gray. High Glee was out of a mare by Dogie Beasley. Dogie Beasley was sired by Sykes Rondo and out of May Mangum. May Mangum was one of the all-time great mares. She was the dam of horse like Jenny and Baby Ruth. Jenny was the dam of Little Joe and Possum (King) the full brothers by Traveler. Little Joe was the grand sire of King P-234. Cora Bell Mangum was the dam of the Dogie Beasley.

The race record for 89’er shows that she was ROM with an “A” rating on the racetrack. Which many have been the highest rating or the second highest rating at the time. The AQHA says that she had two official starts winning one of them and placing second in the other one. She was the only one of the three mares that earned an ROM. Bud Warren told Vic Schoonover in the article “The 89’er Story” that appeared in December 1962 issue of THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL that 89’er “had won several match races before retirement to the broodmare band.” We often find that many of these early horses were used in match races and then taken to official races just to get the Register of Merit.

89’er went to the broodmare band producing her first foal in 1948. She would put 16 more foals on the ground. This would include 11 ROM runners with two stakes winners and two stakes

placed runners. Leo Bob was one of her stakes winners winning the Rocky Mountain QHA Futurity.

Betty Warren was foaled on June 4, 1944. She was a solid brown mare. The name on her registration application was originally “Brown Betty” but apparently someone else had already used that name. She had a small star.

The dam of Betty Warren was Kitty Rose. Kitty Rose was sired by a horse named Billy Anson by Harmon Baker. Harmon Baker was a son of Peter McCue. The dam of Billy Anson was a mare

by Yellow Wolf. The dam of Kitty Rose was a mare known as a Ketchum Mare. Her breeding was unknown.

Betty Warren would produce 21 foals with 12 starters earning 8 ROM titles and one AQHA Champion. She was the dam of one stakes winner Leola winner of the Rocky Mountain QHA Futurity, the Oklahoma Futurity and the Rocky Mountain QHA Derby. She ran a track record at Centennial Downs in Denver going 330 yards in 16.9 seconds. Leola went from the track to the halter arena and earned 10 halter points. This made her a AAA rated AQHA Champion.

Sorrel Sue was born May 18, 1944. She was a sorrel mare with no other markings. She was out of a mare we know today as the Tommy King Mare. Her pedigree is unknown. The only real information I could find about Sorrel Sue came off of her registration application. The Tommy King mare is listed as a “bulldog.”

The S. D. Jernigan evaluation of Sorrel Sue on her registration application describes her this way, “a good head, good chest and arm, very good in depth of chest and withers, fair in hip, stifle &

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L

UCK

MARE

JOE BLAIR DELLA MOORE FLEETING TIME LITTLE RED NELL JOE BLAIR DELLA MOORE ASHWELL FANNIE RICHARDSON PLANTER BILLY SMOOT MARE DOBY HAL COOPER MARE PRINCE PAL HOLD UP YELLOW WOLF

b 1911 1915 ch 1923 sor b 1911 1915 b 1907 sor 1910 1922

TRAVELER JENNY BILLY BY BIG JIM MARE BY SYKES RONDO YELLOW JACKET GARDNER MARE TRAVELER

sor 15.1 ~1885 br 1891 ch

b 1926 b 1917 1918 buck 1912

rd dun 1908 sor 15.1 ~1885

This picture does a good job of showing the conformation of Sorrel Sue!!!

Photo Courtesy of The AQHA Hall of Fame and Museum

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Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer 35

Mares With More continued .......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Mr Three Bars AAAT/AQHA Champion grandson of Sorrel Sue. Photo Courtesy of Author’s Files ..............................................................................................

This photo of Okie Leo shows the disposition of this great stallion. Smooth wire and a ladder!

Orren Mixer Photo Courtesy of Helen Robey

36 Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer

gaskin, a little daylight at present but is in racing condition.” Thus we can assume that Sorrel Sue was raced but we have no record of any official starts.

Sorrel Sue would become a broodmare with her first foal coming in 1948. She would produce 13 foals with nine performers.

They earned six racing ROM and four performance ROM with two AQHA Championships and one Superior Award winner. Her foals earned 188 AQHA halter and performance points. Her first foal was Low Deck by Star Deck. He has no race or show record.

The next Sorrel Sue foal was the first of five foals sired by Leo. He was Lemac an ROM racehorse and arena ROM performer. He earned two halter points, five performance points. His sire record shows that he sired 43 performers that earned 508 halter and performance points with 12 ROM, one Superior Award and three AQHA Champions. The AQHA Champions are Daisy O Lark, Leolark and Skys Fair Lady. Daisy O’Lark was an AQHA Superior halter horse.

Rugged Lark the 1985 and 1987 AQHA World Show Superhorse was a great grandson of Lemac. The dam of Rugged Lark is Alisa Lark by Leolark by Lemac. Rugged Lark earned three Superiors in Western Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle and Trail. He was the 1985 AQHA World Champion in Pleasure Driving and the 1987 AQHA World Champion in Senior Hunter Under Saddle. His AQHA points came in Hunter Under Saddle (78); Western Pleasure (57); Trail (50); Hunter Hack (41); Reining (32); Working Hunter (27); Western Riding (25); Pleasure Driving (15) and Barrel Racing (1). He won a number of AQHA Reserve World Championships including the 1987 Senior Working Hunter; Senior Western Pleasure and Pleasure Driving titles. He was the 1996 AQHA Silver Spur Award winner and he is in the AQHA Hall of Fame. He was a part of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games demonstrating the ability of the

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American Quarter Horse. His NRHA record shows that he won $4,387 in the reining arena.

Rugged Lark was the sire of 280 performers that took home 174 ROM and 48 Superior Awards. His foals took home 15,367 AQHA points. His foals earned $365,377 in the AQHA Incentive Fund and $113,816 in the AQHA World Show. He sired foals that earned 31 World Championships and 64 AQHA High Point Awards. This includes two AQHA World Show Super Horses in The Lark Ascending and Look Whos Larkin. Outside the AQHA Rugged Lark sired horses that earned over $100,000 in the NRHA, NSBA and the NCHA. As well as over 6,000 points in the Palomino Horse Breeders Association.

The next foal out of Sorrel Sue was Leo’s son Mac Lee. This horse was a stakes winner in the 1953 Kansas Derby and the Rocky Mountain QHA Derby. He was AAA rated and a superior racehorse. Mac Lee sired ROM arena and racehorses. His get include Lee Scotland and Pearl’s King Leo, both AQHA Champions. Lee Scotland and Pearl’s King Leo were rated AAA on the racetrack. Pearl’s King Leo was the 1966 AQHA Honor Roll Barrel Racing Horse and he earned an AQHA Superior Award in Barrel Racing with 98 points in that event. Lee Scotland would sire arena and racing ROM including Betsy Scotland, Miss Le Van Leo, Hubba Scotch, Martha Scotland, Scotland Mist, Scotland Yard and Scotland’s Host. Hubba Scotch and Martha Scotland were AQHA Champions.

The first filly out of Sorrel Sue was Leonella. This 1951 daughter of Leo was an AA rated runner. She was ROM on the racetrack.

Leonella is the dam of five ROM racehorses including Ricketta who won the 1962 Northern QHA Derby. Ricketta was the dam of 9 ROM runners including Sunset Sunrise winner of the 1979 UQHA Fall Futurity Ricketta was the dam of Marilyn Mae and she was the dam of Little Smoothie, the dam of the great runner and sire Tolltac. Tolltac was a winner of over $1.1 million on the track with a record of 12 wins in 18 starts including five stakes wins in races like the

Golden State Futurity G1. Tolltac is the sire of horses that have won over $7 million. This includes Splash Bac, the 1995 AQHA Racing Champion Two -Year-Old Colt.

Splash Bac is the sire of horses that have earned over $7 million on the track. His runners include 282 racing ROM with 35 stakes winners. He is the sire of Buccaneer Beach the 2004 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Stallion and Heavenly Trip winner of the Sunland Park Winter Derby G2. Splash Tac has sired daughters that have produced foals that have won over $9.1 million and the leading money winner is Mr Piloto the 2010 All American Futurity winner and now leading sire. His leading money winner is Mpshinning winner of the LQHBRA Louisiana Million Futurity G1.

Tolltac has also sired daughters that have produced foals that have earned over $18 million. His leading money winner in this category is Jess You And I winner of over $1.8 million. This gelding was out of Gold Daze by Tolltac. He was the 2006 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Gelding and the 2008 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Gelding and Aged Horse. He won the 2008 Champion of Champions G1.

Jumping Tac Flash a full sister to Splash Bac and she is the 1991 AQHA Champion Two Year Old Filly is the foundation of a strong family of runners. She won the 1991 Miss Kindergarten Futurity G2. This mare is the dam of 21 AQHA and APHA foals with 20 to race and 16 ROM with five stakes winners including Carters Cartel winner of the Ed Burke Million Futurity. This stallion was the 2007 AQHA Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. Carters Cartel is the sire of horses that have won over $10 million. His foals include Carters Cookie winner of the Rainbow Futurity G1 and Exquisite Stride winner of the Miss Polly Classic G3. The sire of Carters Cartel is Corona Cartel and he is out of Corona Chick, who traces through her broodmare sire Sizzle Te to Betty Warren.

This gives Carters Cartel a double dose of Warren’s King mares.

The second stakes winner out of Jumping Tac Flash is Tac It Like A Man winner of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity G1 and the Governor’s Cup Futurity RG1. Tac It Like A Man is the sire

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Okie Leo cutting in the 1960’s. He would show up and do it all!!!!

Photo Courtesy of Author’s Files

Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer 37

Mares With More continued ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... of horses that have won over $5.4 million including Igotyourtac winner of the Golden State Futurity G1 and The Long Knife winner of the Texas Classic Derby G1. The third stakes winner out of Jumping Tac Flash is Flash First winner of the California Breeders Matron Stakes. The fourth stakes winner Imjumpn winner of the Viejo Handicap. This mare is the dam of Headturner winner of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby G1, Jumpin the winner of the Los Alamitos Million Juvenile and Jumpin Beduino winner of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity G1. Rain Me In is the APHA stakes winner that won the Gulf Coast Derby.

Dinastia Toll Brz is a stakes winning daughter of Tolltac. She won the Charger Bar Handicap G1, the Las Damas Handicap G2 and the Z Wayne Griffith Director’s Stakes G3. He is the dam of 22 racing ROM with six stakes winners to her credit. Her leading money winner is FDD Dynasty the 2006 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Colt and the 2007 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. FDD Dynasty is the sire of horse that have earned over $19 million. His leading runner is Jessies First Down the 2016 and the 2017 AQHA Racing World Champion.

The fourth foal by Leo and out of Sorrel Sue was Lee Mo foaled in 1952. He had seven official starts on the track with one win and a second. Lee Mo would sire two arena ROM in Hush Puppy and Su Mo.

Burke’s Gayle was the 1953 Sorrel Sue foal that was sired by Leo Tag. Leo Tag was brought in by Warren to replace Leo when his number one stallion was injured by an unruly mare. Sorrel Sue would produce three foals by Leo Tag. Burke’s Gayle was the first one and she earned her ROM with a AAA rating on the track. She earned one AQHA halter point.

The first foal of Burke’s Gayle was Mr Three Bars. This 1959 stallion by Three Bars was an AAAT rated runner. The AAAT is like a speed index above 100 today. He was a stakes winner in the Magic Empire Futurity. He earned a performance ROM and completed his AQHA Championship with 14 performance points.

He also took home 49 AQHA halter points. He sired arena and racing ROM including the AQHA Champions Miss Three Snip and Three J Leo. Burke’s Gayle was the dam of eight more AQHA ROM racehorses. These runners include Paraiso Rocket, dam of twelve AQHA ROM racehorses including such stakes horses as Alamitos Amy winner of the Ski Hi Park Futurity and the stakes placed runners Ms Paraiso Feature and Rocket Bar Dancer.

Moolah Gayle is a 1967 daughter of Burke’s Gayle. She was an ROM racehorses with a AA rating. This mare was the dam of six ROM. This includes her daughter Shirley B Gayle who earned $606,860 and the AQHA Supreme Race Horse title. She

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Tolltac burned the track up and then he became a leading sire of racing American Quarter Horses.

Photo Courtesy of Vessels Stallion Farm

38 Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... won such events as the Golden State Futurity G1, Golden State Derby G1and the Dash For Cash Maturity. She was the dam of seven ROM runners including the stakes placed Surley B Cash who was second in the Special Effort Stakes. Shirley’s Signature is an unraced daughter of Shirley B Gayle. She is the dam of such stakes winners as Tiene Mucho Blanco an APHA Racing Running Paint Gelding and Just Wanna Be Me winner of the Dashing Folly Handicap.

Leo Scamp was the Leo Tag/Sorrel Sue foal of 1954. This horse was unplaced in six starts and earned no AQHA points. He sired a number of arena racing ROM including Scamp’s Whizzer and the arena ROM Fire Biscuit, Scamp’s Doll, Scamp’s Eva, Scamp’s Nugget, Scamp’s Sandy and Ten Leo Kings. He sired three AQHA Champions including Scamp’s Nugget and Scamp’s Sandy. Scamp’s Nugget was an AQHA Superior halter horse and Superior western pleasure horse. He was the 1966 AQH High Point Youth Halter Gelding. He earned 425.5 AQHA halter and performance points in the open and youth divisions. e Leo Whiz was the third AQHA Champion that earned AQHA Superior Awards in cutting, reining and barrel racing. He was AA rated for his racing ROM. He also earned points in western riding, working cow horse, western pleasure, tie-down roping and pole bending. He was the 1964 AQHA High Point Pole Bending Stal-

lion and the 1964 AQHA High Point Tie-Down Roping Stallion.

Leo Whiz sired just 107 foals with 23 performers and 14 point earners that earned 304.5 points with five ROM and one AQHA Champion. His foals include My Whiz his AQHA Champion; Star Leo Whiz with 89 AQHA performance points, Leo Whiz Bean with 58 AQHA performance points and Leo Whiz Sun a PHBA Reserve World Champion performance horse with 405 PHBA performance and halter points.

Burke’s Tag was the third sibling from the mating of Leo Tag and Sorrel Sue. He was a racing and performance ROM. He was AA rated on the track with 12.5 AQHA performance points. His daughter Janie Tag produced the ROM show horse Roy L Deck.

Okie Leo was the next and the last Sorrel Sue foal sired by Leo. This great show stallion earned a Superior in reining and his AQHA Championship. He was an NCHA money winner with the Certificate of Ability. He sired horses that were ROM in the arena, AQHA Champions and Superior in performance and halter. Two of his top performers were the AQHA World Show Super Horses Leonard Milligan and Smoke Um Okie. We will see in the next issue of THE WORKING HORSE how Okie Leo has influenced the American Quarter Horse through his foals.

Codfish was sired by Sugar Bars and out of Sorrel Sue. This gelding was unshown and unraced in the AQHA. His full sister

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Rinski was the last foal out of Sorrel Sue. He was a AA rated AQHA Champion Photo from Author’s Files

Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer 39

Mares With More continued ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... was Sue Sugar who was unshown and unraced. Her foals Leo Sugar Jr, Leo Boyd and Davy Do were all ROM on the racetrack and all sired by Leo. Leo Boyd was stakes placed in the Nebraska Futurity and the Thundercloud Park Futurity.

Son O Leo was a son of Leo and Sue Sugar. He was the sire of 243 foals with 53 performers earning 3,099 points bringing home 37 ROM, four AQHA Championships and 18 Superior Awards with one AQHA Reserve World Championship. The AQHA Reserve World Champion was Seven S Wishbone in Senior TieDown Roping and he was also Superior in that event. His other performers include Seven S Candy with Superiors in Youth Western Horsemanship, Youth Western Pleasure and Youth Showmanship giving her an AQHA Youth Performance Championship; Seven S Taffy an AQHA Champion and Superior Western Pleasure Horse; Seven S Suzanna with Superiors in Open Heading and Heeling; Seven S Challenge with Superiors in Youth Western Horsemanship, Youth Hunter Under Saddle, Youth Western Pleasure and a Youth Hunt Seat Equitation giving this gelding an AQHA Youth Performance Championship and Seven S Winecup with a Superior in Western Pleasure.

The broodmare sire record for Son O Leo shows that he sired mares with 120 performers that earned 7,323 points that received 73 ROM in halter and performance; 38 Superior Awards, three AQHA Championships; six World Championships and four Reserve World Championships. Leading the performers out of daughters of Son O Leo will be Genuine Redbud the 1995 AQHA

World Show Super Horse. This horse is also an AQHA Open Performance Champion with Superiors in Tie-Down Roping, Heading and Heeling. She also has a Superior in Amateur Heading.

Genuine 007 is another AQHA Open Performance Champions with Superiors in Heeling, Heading and Tie-Down Roping. A third AQHA Open Performance Champion is Genuine Hombre with Superiors in Heading, Heeling and Tie-Down Roping.

Leo’s Sugar Baby was another full sister to these horses being

by Leo and out of Sue Sugar. She was the dam of Sugar Leo Quixote. This stallion was an NCHA Open Top Ten finisher that earned $77,803.26 in the NCHA. He was a Superior Cutting Horse and the 1986 AQHA High Point Cutting Horse. He earned 88 AQHA cutting points.

Macho Sue was the last Sugar Bars/Sorrel Sue foal. She was unraced and unshown. The last foal out of Sorrel Sue was Rinski. This horse was an AA rated AQHA Champion. He earned 47 AQHA halter points and 12 performance points. He was sired by Croton Oil by Leo. Rinski was an AQHA Champion sire with foals like Mr Double Dose and Sooner Rinea.

When we started our look at Sorrel Sue, we found that the Warren breeding program was based on his great stallions and his broodmare band. At the core of this broodmare band was the three daughters of King P-234. They were 89’er, Betty Warren and Sorrel Sue. This time we have taken a closer look at Sorrel Sue and through her we have seen how her offspring have gone on to make her one of our mares with more in the arena and on the track.

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On the Road with SeeYa

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By SeeYa [Bye Bye Biankus] ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... y name is SeeYa, a quarter horse mare, my human is Sharee, and we live in Oregon. Notice that I said, “My human.” Humans don’t own us, we own them.

We own their time, their love, their care, their worries and we own a lot of their money.

I have been writing my column since 2004 and my main focus is to train humans. I will take you with me on the rodeo trail as a barrel racer. You would not believe the adventures I have in store for you. What is even more interesting, is the things that happen when I am at home.

January 2012 I have a bone to pick with Sharee. She went and got’em cows on the ranch without me! No, I am not kidding! However, I have been told that it is not her fault…ya whatever.

So…Sharee went to help her friend, Heidi, sort cows on foot. NO SHE DID NOT! I know this because when she got home, I heard all about it. It seems that there was some human confusion and the cows where not all in the same place. Turns out that cows had to get to the same place for sorting. REALLY? This is when things got interesting.

“Do you want to ride Buck or Deacon,” asked Heidi. “Buck,” answered Sharee. “He can be a butt sometimes,” said Heidi. “Well, then Deacon,” said Sharee. Humans are so confusing. Off to the trailer Deacon and Sharee went. Sharee decided to ride in her English saddle because she likes it best. She also started the truck and put the bit by the heater as it was about 20 degrees out. She is a very good human, I taught her well. Off to cattle rounding up they went with Heidi and Buck and Terrill, Heidi’s husband, and his horse Elvis.

Oh ya… Elvis. He is a gray gelding and his human is Terrill. When he was a baby, he cut his lip really bad and now he looks like Elvis. I have no idea who Elvis is, but when other humans find out his name, they laugh so it must be a good one.

Anyway….Sharee was dressed to chase cows on foot. Humans get very hot when they do this. When riding, if humans aren’t dressed right, they get very cold. The lon-

52 Working Horse Magazine 2019 Summer

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... ger this went on, the colder she got. She was also dealing with Deacon, who she has ridden in the show ring but never on cows.

They had quite the time getting use to each other. Sharee couldn’t figure out why Deacon wasn’t reading her mind like I do, and Deacon couldn’t figure out why Sharee wasn’t helping him do his job.

About the third pen of cows, they figured out how to meet in the middle and did a great job.

After three hours in the freezing cold, Sharee couldn’t take it anymore and retreated to the house. She couldn’t feel her hands, or her legs, and her feet were so cold that they were almost warm. She did however have a first in the “way too cold department.” She had frost on the back of her legs! Yep, like the kind you find on the grass and trees when it is really cold.

Needless to say, I have a couple ideas on this whole debacle. #1 – She should know better than to go out in freezing weather and not take extra clothes. #2 – She should have taken me! Even if we got there and the cows were ready to sort, I would have loved to take the trip. #3 – Humans should come in out of the cold before they get frost on their backsides!

I guess I can sum it up by saying – “Never leave your right hand at home and always be prepared.”

Until next time…I should send Sharee to Boy Scouts…SeeYa. July 2012 I am not even sure where to start. So many things happened this past week. I think I will start with the city kids.

Jade and Alley, Sharee’s nieces, came for a visit from Salt Lake City. It is always fun to have them as they are a great source of entertainment and wonder.

Mostly I wonder – why are they doing that?

They are always very bouncy and excited. Rain, shine or snow, they are outside with us. They are very smart little

girls but there is only so much we can teach them about farm life in one visit a year.

The first thing they did was bounce out of the car and come running to us. They were excited about Icey, our new 2-yearold. Icey was excited to see them too.

Gus, my goat, did his happy dance and we all came to the fence.

Sharee then looked out the window and saw them in the pasture petting and hugging us and not following the safety rules. That was followed by a refresher course and, “I know that everyone on my place is safe, and you can pretty much do whatever you want,” said Sharee, “BUT that is not safe and if you don’t practice here, you could get hurt very bad somewhere else,.”

Everything was fine and dandy until Sharee heard Patton and Alley arguing.

“What are you guys doing?” questioned Sharee. “Patton says that I can’t ride Icey,” claimed Alley. “Well you can’t,” answered Sharee. That was followed by a whole bunch of “why nots.”

After Alley decided that Sharee knew what she was talking about, she turned around and headed for the door stating, “Well that is just great – it took me four tries to get that head thing on!” “What!?” asked Sharee. After the explanation of the “head thing,” which we call a halter, Sharee asked were Icey was. “Tied to the horse trailer,” Alley proudly announced.

Sharee went outside and there was Icey standing at the trailer, not tied up looking quite pleased with herself.

Then the “when can we ride?” started.

Sharee, who was trying to get ready for a horse show, told them to go catch the horses. Next thing I know is that Alley got on Prince bareback in a halter, Patton got on Hope bareback in a halter and I was the proud babysitter of Jade, the least experienced of them all. Everyone had their helmets on, and off to the arena we went.

Sharee and Kara, Prince’s first human, were tuning up Hans and Woody for the

show. “Aunt Sharee, Aunt Sharee, Aunt Sharee,” was followed by, “I am working here ladies, please ask Patton and stay on the rail so I can practice.”

It wasn’t long before Kara said, “Sharee, do you see that?” Sharee looked up and all three kids where laying down on us as we went around the arena and they didn’t even have a hold of our lead ropes.

“Only at your house,” said Kara. Kara says that a lot.

Alley and Prince parted company once.

Alley wanted to trot, so trot they did. Alley wasn’t ready to trot so she started bouncing right off the side of Prince – PLOP. Prince stopped before she even hit the ground. “I need help up,” said Alley.

“You got down there by yourself, you get back on by yourself,” said Sharee. If you have ever seen a city kid crawl up on a fence and get on a horse, you will never forget it. Prince stood like a “prince” the entire time – and it was a long time.

Then, for no good reason, Jade went PLOP as well. I stopped, looked back and then looked at Sharee. REALLY? Jade, being very smart, didn’t even ask, she just headed for the fence. Then it was my turn to stand still while she flopped and wiggled her way on.

All the other pets got a lot of attention as well and the four-wheeler did hundreds of laps in the arena and there was a lot of giggling, frog catching, mud playing and NOT going to bed.

When Alley got home, she bounded through the door and announced, “I had the best time of my whole life!”

Until next time…I haven’t lost a child yet…SeeYa.

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About the Author | Bye Bye Biankus, AKA SeeYa, is an AQHA mare by The Sovereign (Ettabo) x Mzpath Biankus (Biankus). She had a 10 year barrel racing career. She has published two books “On the Road with SeeYa,” volume I and II, along with being published in several newspapers and magazines. SeeYa went to heaven in July of 2017 at the age of 26.

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6666 27 3E 44 5 Star 45 ALAMO 31 Bale Buddy 74 Bar T | Heart Bar 54 BIF 41 Bitter Root Property 79 Blain Krogman 70 Bobby Norris 80 BVD Heritage Sale 33 Cannon Falls Trailers 50 Clark Land Brokers 68 Clovis Horse Sale 40 CNRPHS 74 Colorado Horse Sale 24 Come to the Source 69 Farmers and Ranchers 68 Forco 21 Frenchmans QH 10 Golden Valley 75 Harmon QH 55 Haythorn 48 Hunter QH 75

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Horse Creek Sale Co 9 Huskerland Breeder 70 Iowa Breeders 75 Jamison QH 28 Judge Cash 18 Kalaloch 61 L&H Branding 75 Lauing QH 51 League of Legends 8 Lolli Bros. 71 Long Horn Saddlery 75 Longhorn Arena 58 Lopez | Meyer | Lauing 71 Louie Krogman 56 Mason & Morse Ranch Co 64 Montana Breeders Group 4 Munns Production Sale 60 Nebraska State Fair 49 Next Home 66 NILE 44 NQHC 57 O’Grady QH 69 Ozark Breeders 72 Premier Equine Auctions 46 Rafter Open Box 42 Rafter W Preformance 25 Raymond Sutton Ranch 47 Re/Max 63 Revel 4n1 73 Schroeder QH 20 Spader QH 43 Spurr’s Big Fix 26 St Clair 2 Sugar Bars Sale 73 Total Feeds 59 Van Norman 32 Waverly Horse Sale 72 Weaver QH 3 Weber & Co 5 Wetzels QH 75 Windwalkers 30 WYO Sale 11

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