lot to do with his grit. Some of the Leos were a little on the laid-back side–at least the ones I was familiar with. Mr Gun Smoke was different. He had brothers and sisters that were not at all similar to him. He was just a unique individual,” continued Wilkinson. Kansas Cindy was the dam of several other foals, including Leo's Lightfoot. Leo's Lightfoot was a son of Leo's Question, making him a 3/4 brother to Mr Gun Smoke. Mr Gun Smoke had two full brothers–Price's Smokey Leo, an AQHA World Show finalist in cutting, and Kansas Dillion with two AQHA performance points and NCHA earnings of $5,900. Prices Cindy Leo is another 3/4 sister to Mr Gun Smoke. She is sired by a son of Rondo Leo. Prices Cindy Leo is the dam of Sonitas Cindy, with NCHA earnings of $55,000. Mr Gun Smoke went on to sire 48 ROM performers in the AQHA,
Horses. His NCHA Champions included one NCHA Futurity Champion and one World Champion. The 1972 NCHA Open Futurity winner was Gun smoke’s Dream with Wilkinson in the saddle. Wilkinson remembered his NCHA Futurity Champion: "She was just an absolute pleasure and she was strictly a cow horse. She wasn't as physical as her sire but very very trainable. When I say trainable you just drove cows on her and she learned to cut. “She had quickness, too. But I never allowed her to overextend herself and I think that is what made it possible for her to win the Futurity. I just drove cows off out like they do today. I didn't help her that much. I just let her do her thing," continued Wilkinson. Wilkinson then added, “As I said, she was not hard to train and she wasn't as physical an athlete as he was. I just kept her contained
Dale Wilkinson was very sure that much of the tenacity of Mr Gun Smoke came from his linebreeding to Oklahoma Star P-6. Photo Courtesy The AQHA Hall of Fame and Museum
with one AQHA Champion and five Superior Award winners. His NRHA record shows that he sired one World Champion Reining Horse and two NRHA Hall of Fame members. In the NRCHA, he sired Futurity Champions and Supreme Cow
which made her move short so that she could run and stop with the cow.” Gun Smoke's Dream is the dam of Peppos Dream, a 1989 August Futurity Finalist that has earned in excess of $20,000. The sire of
WORKING HORSE MAGAZINE • Stallion Issue 2014
Peppos Dream is Peppo Money by Peponita and out of Smoke Money by Mr Gun Smoke. This makes Peppos Dream 3x2 inbred to Mr Gun
"Mr Gun Smoke was a hyper sucker, an on edge kind of horse. The King blood slowed it down a bit." Dale Wilkinson
Smoke. Preliminary Plans is a daughter of Gun Smoke's Dream. She is the dam of several good cutting horses including Lenas Telesis, the 1991 NCHA Super Stakes Champion. Two D's Dynamite is another interesting foal sired by Mr Gun Smoke. Two D's Dynamite was the 1973 AQHA High Point Cutting Horse, 1975 AQHA Reserve World Champion Senior Cutting Horse, 1971 NCHA Futurity Reserve Champion, 1974 NCHA Reserve World Champion Cutting Horse and the 1974 NCHA World Champion Mare. Gunsmoke's Ripple is a daughter of Mr Gun Smoke. This mare is the dam of Smokin Jose, a son of Jose Uno. Smokin Jose was the 1980 AQHA World Champion Junior Cutting Horse and a winner of the famed Masters Cutting. One of the most successful crosses with Mr Gun Smoke was the blood of King P-234 and several of his performers were out of mares carrying the blood of King P-234. Wilkinson agreed with the assessment that the King blood was one of the better crosses, but felt that Mr Gun Smoke was a good cross on several bloodlines. “Mr Gun Smoke was a hyper sucker, an on edge kind of horse,” Wilkinson said. “The King blood slowed it down a bit.” Wilkinson said that you needed to dilute the
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