Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021 Issue

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CONTENTS

On the cover

WorkingHorseMagazine.com | Spring 2020

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15 The Working Lines Matlock’s Pedigrees

and the

King Connection

26 Quiet Ride Bill and Carole Smith, Owners of WYO

“STUNNED” S T. C l a i r Fa r m s c o m

38 ICSI | Simply Explained 50 Mares N More | Royal Jazzy 68 Real Estate Corral 74 Hot Products 78 Ad Index

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Mike Gerbaz | Managing Partner & Sales mikegerbaz@gmail.com | 970.948.5523

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Jane Klingson | Sales janeklingson@yahoo.com | 515.571.2832

Competitor News | Art & Production competitornews@yahoo.com | 541.938.0608

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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 | M atlock’ s Pedigrees

and the

King Connection

By Larry Thornton .......................................................................................................................................................................................................

M

atlock Rose is a legend in the history of the American Quarter Horse with his prowess as a trainer, rider, and as a breeder. He is idolized by many as the premier horseman. We have been looking at some of the horses that this legendary trainer rode to success and their pedigrees. This time around, we will look at a couple of the King P-234 bred horses that he trained and showed for B. F. Phillips Jr. When Matlock Rose began working with B. F. Phillips Jr. in the early 1950s, he was given the task of finding a good show horse for him. L H Quarte Moon, the horse they found, will introduce us to the blood of King P-234. We will continue with Cactus Breeze and another King P-234 bred horse and how they became a part of Matlock’s Pedigrees.

L H QUARTER MOON We will let Matlock tell us how he got started with B. F. Phillips Jr., “I had a place leased on Bakers Lane, and BF had a roan horse he bought in East Texas named Cadillac Dave and a palomino mare. That was all the horses he had at that time. He came over one day with his horse and the palomino mare and a man I went to school with named Kenneth Barnes. That was my beginnings with BF.” Cadillac Dave is an interesting horse. His show record tells us he was shown in 1951, earning his ROM with five reining

points and one cutting point to go along with his six halter points. He was shown until 1954. He was sired by Royal King

by King P-234 and bred by C. M. Albin, the father of Earl Albin, the owner of Royal King. His dam was Roan Annie A by Dogie Boy, and she was out of Roanie A by Bestyett, a Thoroughbred. The dam of Roanie A was one of Albin’s foundation mares Ribbon.

L H Quarter Moon was the horse Matlock found. He was a two-year-old stud prospect sired by King P-234 and out of the great producing mare Miss Alice. Lowell Hankins was the breeder, and he was the brother to Jess Hankins, the owner of King P-234.

Matlock continued, “BF told me he wanted the best gelding money could buy. So I went and bought him from Lowell.” L.H. Quarter Moon fulfilled his destiny as a good show horse. He became a Superior Halter Horse with 121 points with Grand Championships at shows like Fort Worth, Denver, San Antonio and Houston. He was a ROM performance horse with 24 cutting points, two calf roping points, and 13 reining points to complete his AQHA Championship.

Rose tells another interesting side to this story. “I didn’t tell Lowell or his brother Jess anything about gelding L H Quarter Moon. I saw them both somewhere later on, and they asked me how many mares we had bred to the horse. I told Lowell that we hadn’t bred any to him. He said, ‘How come?’ And I said, ‘Because we got him home and we cut him. Made a gelding out of him. That’s what BF wanted, a good gelding.’ Lowell didn’t speak to me again for about a year and a half.”

L H Quarter Moon would be sold in 1956 to J. P. Davidson of Melbourne, Arkansas. The AQHA tells us that his show career officially ended in 1957, but he is the beginning of a long run of Phillips Ranch show horses under the training of Matlock Rose.

CACTUS BREEZE Before Matlock Rose went to the Philips Ranch, a horse named Cactus King was sent to him for training. Jess Hankins was his breeder and owner. Jess was the brother to Lowell, who bred L H Quarter Moon. Cactus King was a 1948 son of King P-234, and his dam was Miss Taylor by Old Poco Bueno. He was a full brother to the legendary Poco Bueno.

Matlock and L H Quarter Moon winning one of their Grand Campionships | Photo from the author’s files Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021 11

The Working Lines continued

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Matlock trained Cactus King but never showed the horse.

When Matlock took the colt home, he told Jess, “I really like the colt, and I’ll show him anytime you want.” Well, that time never came as Cactus King died and was never shown by Matlock. He left behind three foal crops, and one of his colts was Cactus Breeze, our second King bred in our look at Matlock’s Pedigrees.

We will let Matlock tell us how Cactus Breeze came to the Phipps Ranch, “Jess Hankins had a sale at Fort Worth, and I picked that colt out, and they run him in the sale, and he got a little too high, and B. F. passed him up. Some other man bought him. I think they run him to about $2600, maybe $2800. Anyway, after the sale, BF had bought another colt, and I was waiting to pick him up, and this guy that bought this horse came around and asked me if I was still interested in that colt. He didn’t know why he had bought him, and he didn’t have any place to put him. He didn’t have a barn and didn’t know anything about the horse business, and he just got carried away and bid on the horse and wound up getting the horse. So I fooled around there, and I gave him $1,800 for him.”

He continued about when they got home, “Phil Williams that rode old Skeeter was at my place there on Bakers Lane. So in the next day or so, I called BF up and told him I was going to bring this colt over. I had already made the deal to go to work for him, but I hadn’t moved over there yet. So we take Phil’s cutting horse ole Skeeter, he was just an old half thoroughbred gelding. He was sorrel streaked faced, and I put him in the back of the trailer and put that colt Cactus Breeze in the front of the trailer.”

“When I unloaded that Skeeter, I told BF I brought the yearling he bought, and I told him that story. He didn’t say anything, he walked around, and then we finally unloaded that colt and showed him. He still didn’t say anything.” This has to be a tense moment, but it shows how Matlock Rose liked to pull

Cactus Breeze working | Photo from the author’s files 12 Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021

a prank now and then.

Cactus Breeze grew up on the Phillips Ranch to become one of the show string that concentrated on cutting with some halter. He was a part of the 1957 show string when he was brought home to be turned out with his mares. When the breeding season was over, he was back on the road, and they later went to the Grand National Stock Show in California. When the cutting was over, Cactus Breeze became ill, and he died unexpectedly. Matlock believes he was ill throughout the whole trip.

With this in mind, Matlock responded, “So come to find out he had an ulcer and it perforated, and he died out there at the Cow Palace. I had just finished winning second on him at the cuttin.”

Matlock had a simple description for Cactus Breeze, “He had a lot of action and a lot of cow, and he was a real pretty horse to go with it.” The horse would live up to his good looks and conformation to earn his AQHA Championship with 13 halter points earning two Reserve Grand Championships.

With his action and cow netting him 40 performance points in cutting. He was an NCHA Certificate of Ability winner with earnings of $3,863.13. His wins in 1957 included the senior cutting at the Fort Worth Stock Show with 69 in the class and the Houston Stock Show with 61 in the class.

The Cactus Breeze sire record shows that he sired just 20 foals with five performers that earned 229 AQHA points with four ROM, two AQHA Championships, and one Superior in cutting. Mico Gold was the Superior Cutting horse and one of the AQHA Champions. He had 104 AQHA cutting points and was an NCHA Certificate of Ability winner with earnings of $5,519.94. Mico Peppy was the second AQHA Champion with 17 halter points and four Grand Champion Stallion titles. He earned 47 AQHA performance points with 38 reining, eight western pleasure, and one working cow horse point.

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The daughters of Cactus Breeze would produce 85 foals with 31 performers that earned 18 ROM and six AQHA Championships. He was the maternal grandsire of one Superior with one Youth World Champion and one Amateur Reserve World Champion. King Cactus Bill was the Youth World Champion in reining and the Amateur Reserve World Champion in reining. King Cactus Bill, sired by Hollywood Bill and out of Mico Lita by Cactus Breeze. Mico Bar Ben was the Superior Western Pleasure horse and one of the AQHA Champions.

Cactus Ben and Ben Lori were two more AQHA Champions and full siblings to Mico Bar Ben. They were out of the mare Mico Lori. They were sired by Ben Bar. They were all Phillips Ranch bred, as was their sire was the homebred Ben Bar. The dam of Mico Lori is Nellie Done of the early Blackburn mares to come from the Waggoner Ranch. Nellie D was the dam of the AQHA Champion Poco Speedy by Poco Bueno.

Poco Speedy will be familiar with those that breed Driftwood horses and the Stanley Johnston breeding program that helped

Conformation shot of Cactus Breeze | Photo from author’s files

maintain the Driftwood blood we see today.

THE PEDIGREE PATTERNS When we look at the pedigrees of the sons and daughters of King P-234, we find many times they are out of mares that carry the blood of Little Joe. King P-234 was a grandson of Little Joe. The life of Little Joe had its beginning on the ranch of his breeder, the brothers’ Will, and Dow Shely. They were noted breeders that stood Traveler, one of our great foundation sires.

Little Joe would be sold to George Clegg, the man that bred and sold Old Sorrel to the King Ranch. Clegg has been tied to many fine horses during his time in the business of horses.

As the story goes, Clegg bought Little Joe, and when he got home, he put him in a chicken coop he was so small. But his colt grew into a good-sized fast racing quarter horse. Reports indicate that he was virtually unbeatable. He raced and won against horses like Texas Chief by Traveler, Lady S by John Crowder, and Carrie Nation by Peter McCue. Clegg reported that Little Joe was defeated one time against Ace of Hearts, a son of Sykes Rondo. Little Joe false-started two times, and he went the entire distance of the race at 440 yards in one of those false starts.

When they did get a good break, he was second by a nose to Ace of Hearts, but that horse’s connections refused a rematch.

When Clegg bought Hickory Bill, a son of Peter McCue, he sold Little Joe to Ott Adams. Adams was a racehorse breeder that never actually raced his horses. But he sold racehorses. He would stand Little Joe for a number of years before selling him to O. W. Cardwell, who was the horse’s last owner.

The sire of Little Joe was Traveler, whose pedigree is unknown. The dam of Little Joe was Jenny, and she was sired by Sykes Rondo by McCoy’s Billy by Old Billy foundation sire of the Old Billy line in South Texas of the American Quarter Horse. The dam of Sykes Rondo was Grasshopper by Martin’s Cold Deck by Old Billy. Old Billy is sired by Shiloh and out of Ram Cat by Steel Dust. The dam of Jenny was May Mangum

by Anthony, a son of Old Billy, and his dam was Paisiana by

One of the few photos of Little Joe | Photo from the author’s files Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021 13

The Working Lines continued

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Bailes’ Brown Dick.

King P-234 was sired by Zantanon by Little Joe. Jeanette was the dam of Zantanon. She was sired by a horse listed today as Billy, and he was sired by Big Jim by Sykes Rondo.

The dam of Jeanette was a mare sired by Sykes Rondo. This gives Zantanon a breeding pattern of 5 X 6 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 5 X 6 to Old Billy. Old Billy is also the great-great grandsire of Peter McCue in the sire line. (The Peter McCue sire line goes as follows with Peter McCue sired by Dan Tucker by Barney Owens by Martin’s Cold Deck by Old Billy.)

DOUBLE UP THE LITTLE JOE Poco Bueno and his full brother Cactus King are great examples of the crossing of King P-234 on mares that carried the blood of Little Joe. The dam of Poco Bueno and Cactus King was Miss Taylor. She was sired by a horse named Poco Bueno or, as we call him, Old Poco Bueno. He was a son of Little Joe. This gives Poco Bueno and Cactus King a breeding pattern of 3 X 3 to Little Joe. The 3 X 3 indicates that Little Joe was in the third generation of these full brothers, once on the sire’s side of the pedigree and once on the dam’s side of the pedigree.

Miss Alice was the dam of L H Quarter Moon. She was sired by a horse we know today as a Colt by Brown Jug.

CACTUS KING sor 1948 QUARTER HORSE #0012899

Brown Jug was sired by Texas Chief, a son of Traveler. The dam of Miss Alice was Escoba, a South Texas race mare.

She was sired by Little Joe by Traveler. This gives L H Quarter Moon the same breeding pattern of 3 X 3 to Little Joe that we saw with Poco Bueno and Cactus King.

Miss Alice was the dam of 11 foals sired by King P-234, with three shown in AQHA shows and all three earned AQHA Championships. They were King’s Joe Boy, L H Quarter Moon, and Black Gold King. Miss Alice was the dam of one other foal to show. That foal was Chief Breeze

by King Breeze, a double bred son of King. King Breeze was sired by King and out of a daughter of King. Chief Breeze was Miss Alice’s fourth AQHA Champion from four foals shown.

King Breeze, the sire of Chief Breeze, was out of Miss Breeze by King P-234, and she was out of March Breeze by Red Joe by Grano De Oro by Little Joe. Grano De Oro was a full brother to the famous Joe Moore. They were out of Della Moore, the dam of Joe Reed P-3. The dam of March Breeze was Texas Black Annie by Little Joe. Texas Black Annie was out of Jeanette, the dam of Zantanon. Some will show that she was called Black Annie. This gives King Breeze a breeding pattern of 3 X 4 X 5 X 4 to Little Joe. When we show that King Breeze is a cross that includes

KING* b 14.3 1932 QUARTER HORSE

MISS TAYLOR b 1933 QUARTER HORSE #0002636

CTUS BREEZE sor 1952 QUARTER HORSE AQHA#0043273

MARCH BREEZE b 1940 QUARTER HORSE AQHA#0005651

RED JOE b 1931 QUARTER HORSE #0000054

TEXAS BLACK ANNIE blk 1925 QUARTER HORSE U0080582

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ZANTANON* ch 1917 QUARTER HORSE U0081745 JABALINA br 1920 QUARTER HORSE U0072570 OLD POCO BUENO br 1929 QUARTER HORSE U0078081 MARE BY HICKORY BILL QUARTER HORSE U0074801 GRANO DE ORO b 1925 QUARTER HORSE U0071765 JUANITA b 14.1 1912 QUARTER HORSE U0073015 LITTLE JOE* br 1905 QUARTER HORSE U0073964 JEANETTE 2 1901 QUARTER HORSE U0074619

LITTLE br 1905 JEANET 1901 STRAIT dun BAY MA b LITTLE br 1905 VIRGIN

HICKO ch 1907

LITTLE br 1905 DELLA ch 1915 LITTLE 1908

TRAVE sor 15.1 JENNY br 1891 BILLY ch MARE B

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ILL

The pedigree of Cactus Breeze also brings us back to the Delta Pattern as Cactus Breeze traces in his sire line to Zantanon. He traces in his tail female line to Texas Black Annie, the full sister to Zantanon. The significance of the Delta Pattern has to do with the “Y” chromosome that a sire passes to his sons. This is the chromosome that gives the male the “XY” sex chromosomes making him a male. They get the “X” from their dam.

Geneticists have found that the “Y” Chromosome has certain genes that are passed down generation after generation.

These genes are passed down intact and are the genes that allow geneticists to determine who the father is in the paternity of an individual or the sire of a foal. So this tells us that Cactus Breeze would pass on to his sons the same “Y” chromosome that passed down from Traveler to Little Joe to Zantanon to King P-234 to Cactus King to him.

The other side of the coin is the tail female line and how the Mitochondrial DNA is passed down to the foal. The Mitochondria are the part of the cells that are instrumental in our ability to utilize the processes the activities of respiration and energy needed by our cells to function. This becomes an important part of a mare’s influence on a foal as we all inherit our Mitochondrial DNA from our mother.

The Mitochondrial DNA is separate from Nuclear DNA that makes up our genotype or our genetic makeup. Just TRAVELER* sor 15.1 ~1885 like the “Y” chromosome, JENNY br 1891 we pass certain MitochonBILLY BY BIG JIM ch MARE BY SYKES RONDO drial DNA genes down YELLOW JACKET* rd dun 1908 generation after generaGARDNER MARE tion. So the Mitochondrial TRAVELER* sor 15.1 ~1885 DNA can be used to trace the genetics of an indiTRAVELER* sor 15.1 ~1885 JENNY br 1891 vidual as well through his BIG JIM 2 mother. The passing of the Mitochondrial DNA down PETER MCCUE* b 16.0 1895 the tail female line is one LUCRETIA M ch 1901 reason I focus my pedigree study on the tail female TRAVELER* sor 15.1 ~1885 line. We find a lot of great JENNY br 1891 mares at the end of the tail OLD D J* ch LA HERNANDEZ b 1905 female line in what we call LITTLE JOE* br 1905 the taproot mare.

When we combine the two features of the Delta Pattern, we see that horses like Cactus Breeze and SYKES RONDO dk ch 1887 King Breeze inherited the MAY MANGUM 1 b same “Y” chromosome BIG JIM and the same MitochonSYKES RONDO dk ch 1887 drial DNA that Zantanon

Zantanon and Texas Black Annie, we are introducing a breeding theory called the Delta Pattern. This breeding pattern occurs when a full brother is found in the sire line, and his full sister is found in the tail female line of the same horse. We see that King P-234 is a son of Zantanon by Little Joe by Traveler. This is the Traveler sire line that goes Traveler to Little Joe on to Zantanon the sire of King P-234.

Zantanon is out of Jeanette by Billy. The tail female line of King Breeze starts with his dam Miss Breeze who is out of March Breeze, whose dam is Texas Black Annie who is out of Jeanette by Little Joe. Thus Zantanon is the full brother in the sire line, and Texas Black Annie is the full sister in the tail female line for King Breeze.

The pedigree of Cactus Breeze is some more of the same as far as Little Joe is concerned. His sire is Cactus King by King P-234 by Zantanon by Little Joe. The dam of Cactus King is Miss Taylor by Old Poco Bueno by King P-234. The dam of Cactus Breeze was March Breeze. She is the second dam of King Breeze. The sire of March Breeze was Red Joe

by Little Joe. When we look closer, we see that Red Joe is out of Juanita by a son of Little Joe, by Little Joe. The dam of March Breeze was Texas Black Annie by Little Joe, and her dam was Jeanette. This gives Cactus Breeze a breeding pattern of 4 X 4 X 4 X 5 X 3 to Little Joe. LITTLE JOE* br 1905 JEANETTE 2 1901 STRAIT HORSE* dun BAY MARE b LITTLE JOE* br 1905 VIRGINIA D HICKORY BILL ch 1907

LITTLE JOE* br 1905 DELLA MOORE 1* ch 1915 LITTLE JOES SON 1908

TRAVELER* sor 15.1 ~1885 JENNY br 1891 BILLY BY BIG JIM ch MARE BY SYKES RONDO

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The Working Lines continued

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... inherited from his sire and dam. This is a breeder’s way of replicating the “Y” Chromosome and the Mitochondrial DNA carried by an important sire of this bloodline into the horse colt he is producing. This can not take place when a filly is produced from the cross as the sire doesn’t pass his “Y” to the filly.

was. But she was one of those kinds that threw back and bred good foals.”

Lowell saw the success of Miss Alice’s foals that were shown, and he retained several of her daughters and saw no need to show them. He kept her son, King Lowell, by King, as a breeding stallion and chose not to show him.

Escoba, the dam of Miss Alice, was a South Texas race WHY THE LITTLE JOE MARES? mare. Her name in Spanish means “Broom.” Lowell exHere is some of my conversation with the Hankins about plained that she got the name because “she swept the track the mares that carried the blood of Little Joe. Jess described clear” as a good race mare. Lowell described Escoba and Miss Taylor this way, “She wasn’t an outstanding looking Miss Alice as “tall mares that had strong hindlegs.” mare. She was just a good smooth mare. She had good colts, Escoba would also produce a number of foals by King P-234. and she had proof of that.” He went on to explain, “A lot of They would include Barney Blue, the sire of Barney High, an people had mares that were just as good a looking as she AQHA Superior performance horse, and Maybeso Joe, a horse that the Phillips Ranch owned and was shown

by Matlock Rose. He earned his ROM in performance with 11 cutting points, nine reining points, and five halter points.

When I asked about what made the Little Joe mares so good, Jess stated it rather simply, “That blood just stood out, and it clicked.”

J.0. expressed it this way, “We thought a lot of the Little Joe bloodlines, and we specialized in them. And we gathered our mares up mostly in South Texas, which was heavy in Little Joe breeding.

The best mares we could find were bred that way.”

Miss Taylor, Miss Alice, Escoba, and March Breeze are examples of mares that carried the blood of Little Joe, and they show King P-234’s ability to cross with mares that carried that Before the AQHA commissioned the “perfect quarter horse” by Orren Mixer the blood. Now we see them as part of MatAQHA used this photo of Poco Bueno to show perfect quarter horse conformalock’s Pedigrees. tion | Photo Courtesy The AQHA Hall of Fame and Museum

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Cactus King with the 3X 3 breeding pattern to King P-234 | Photo from author’s files

A rare photo of King P-234 | Photo Courtesy Kay McMullan Stewart

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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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Quite Ride | Bill & Carole Smith focus on the best, from broncs to ranch horses

By Maria Tibbetts | Reprinted with permission from Tri-State Livestock News’ Stallion Showcase .......................................................................................................................................................................................................

T

he first time Bill Smith was part of a pack string headed into the Beartooth Mountains, he was four years old and perched on top of a pack. He’s taken a string of horses into the mountains every summer since, for more than 70 years.

“I was horse crazy since I was born,” Bill said. As a kid, that meant there wasn’t a horse he was afraid of, not one he wouldn’t ride. His dad, who worked part-time as a coal miner near Red Lodge, Montana, and was a jack-of-all-trades, as long as it pertained to a horse, gave him plenty of opportunities to hone his bronc-busting skills.

“I was raised on horses nobody else wanted. We always rode different horses. We’d get a horse, get attached to it, then he’d sell it or trade for something else,” Bill says. “I remember most of the horses from my childhood. I had favorite horses all the time, but all it took to be a favorite was to be horse. I always liked horses, no matter what kind they were. Still do.”

For a kid who loved horses and the mountains, school was like jail, and he lived for summers in the mountains, helping his dad pack dudes in to fishing camps, or hunting camps in the fall.

“All I wanted to do all my life was ride bucking horses.

Ranchers would just turn their horses loose up around Bear Creek, Montana. There weren’t many fences. Me and Chuck Swanson, the neighbor I was raised with, would pen some of them horses up and ride them and turn them loose. We didn’t care if they bucked or not. We’d rather they did. That was our life. Horses were the number one thing in our life, always.

Still are, I guess.”

For nearly 20 years, the harder they bucked, the better. After 13 trips to the National Finals Rodeo, and three world champion saddle bronc titles, Bill still remembers the good ones. A big palomino named Descent--6-time bucking horse of the year--was the best bucking horse Bill ever saw, even through today. Bill got on him for the first time in 1963. “He

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could really buck. He throwed off all the good cowboys there were. He got rode once in a while. I loved the chance to get on him. I didn’t always ride him, but I loved the chance.”

Bill’s wife, Carole Smith, points out that out of nine outs, Bill rode him five times. “He probably didn’t have his best day when he got rode,” Bill says. But one day in Nampa, Idaho in 1971, both Bill and Descent must have had a good day. In an era when a score of 65 would win big rodeos, the pair scored an 86. “That was awful high for them days,” Bill says. “Back then, the good ones weren’t as plentiful. When I first started there were quite a few, but they began to die out.

Then they started raising them, but none are as good as him.

But that’s an old guy, dreaming. Every generation has their own. He was mine.”

One year, Bill earned $26,000 riding saddle broncs, which would be equal to about $167,000 today--about half what the world champion saddle bronc rider earned in 2019. “Back when I rodeoed you had to want to do it. You didn’t do it for the money. I didn’t, anyway.”

Bill knew every horse in every rodeo, watched every ride, knew which direction every horse would jump out of the chute, knew every trick, long before every ride was on video and cowboys could watch them as they went down the road.

“I studied it all the time. I had a really good memory. I knew every horse and what they did, even the ones I hadn’t been on, I knew. I ate, slept and drank horses at that time. It’s all that was on my mind. The only way I had a chance to be as good as I was, was I gave everything I had to it. I’d get in the pens with them and watch them. I watched every one everywhere we went. It was my life.”

It was a life that made it possible for him to live the life he has for the last 40 years. “I owe everything I’ve done to rodeo. Everything that’s worked for me, everything we’ve done since then, we owe to rodeo,” Bill says.

That includes his 41-year marriage to Carole. The two grew up less than two hours apart, Carole on a dairy farm near Liv-

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ingston, Montana, but it was at the rodeo in Burwell, Nebraska in 1973 where Carole’s long legs caught Bill’s attention.

Carole was running barrels professionally, but that day she was riding one of the stock contractor’s palomino horses to carry the flag in the grand entry. As the reigning world champion, Bill was supposed to take an introduction lap during the grand entry. “He just said, ‘I’ll borrow this girl’s horse because she has long legs and I won’t have to change the stirrups,” Carole said.

Six years later, when Carole was back to teaching school full-time in Cody, Wyoming, and after Bill had wrapped up his bronc riding career, the two got married.

“We’re still hanging out together,” Bill said. “She takes good care of me.”

“Likewise, Bill,” Carole said quietly.

Carole’s rodeo career started when she was in sixth grade.

Her dad was a carpenter and dairy farmer, but made it a priority for Carole to have a horse. “He always made time for me, no matter what his schedule was, or how much money he had, he always encouraged me and took me to rodeos.”

For a lot of her career she leased horses, barrel racing and breakaway roping through high school. She earned a small rodeo scholarship to Montana State University in Bozeman, where she studied to be an elementary teacher and was on the rodeo team. She tied goats and ran barrels, making it to nationals three out of the four years she rodeoed. “A lot of times we had to tie small calves, or goats with a piggin’ string,” she said. “It’s changed a whole lot.”

Carole leased her barrel horse in college, a buckskin mare called Buck, out of a Quarter Horse racehorse named Tomichi and a homely old Thoroughbred mare. She had a good Thoroughbred mare named Doubt Me that she’d been running, but was out of commission thanks to azoturia, so she leased this buckskin mare to finish her college career. “I always said they’d laugh at me when I went in the arena, but not when I came out.

I goat tied and barrel raced on her. She wasn’t even registered.”

In 1966, Carole was named the National Intercollegiate All Around Cowgirl.

After she got out of college and started teaching school, Carole bred Doubt Me, her big Thoroughbred mare, to Printers Devil, a racing Quarter Horse that finished in the top three in 13 of 15 starts, and won nearly $7,000 in the early 1960s.

The big bay colt she ended up with was named Devil Me, but Carole called him Printer. When he was 2, Carole was teaching school in Prescott, Arizona, so she sent Printer to Danny Frasier in northern Montana, to break. He said, “This horse takes two strides between telephone poles.”

When Carole moved back to teach school in Billings, she took over Printer’s training. “I set the barrels up in an open lot in western Billings. That’s where I trained him. The first barrel race I took him to in Missoula, I won third. When Bill saw him he said his mouth watered, he wanted to get on him so bad. But then he said he figured out he wasn’t even broke.”

Carole says she would have done things a lot differently now, done more teaching and less training, but then all she knew was to train him to do what she wanted him to do, which was to run barrels. He learned to do it well.

It was Printer that carried her to the National Finals Rodeo in 1973. Shortly after that, he got navicular, and since veterinary medicine didn’t have all the tools available that they do now, Printer’s--and Carole’s--barrel racing career was over.

The school teacher didn’t have the money to buy another one like Printer, so she went back to teaching school, which she did until she retired in 1995.

After Bill and Carole got married, they shifted their focus, from riding the rank ones, or the fast ones, to making the good ones.

They trained horses for a few years and marketed them through other sales, but in 1981 they moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming, where they built the ranch they have now. Bill’s family decided they could make more money having a sale on their own, rather than marketing through someone else’s,

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so in 1983 they started the WYO Quarter Horse Sale.

“We didn’t have any idea what was going on,” Bill said. “We just did it. We learned as we went. We’re still learning. We didn’t have any instruction. Everyone told us that bronc riders couldn’t sell horses Nobody would buy a horse from a bronc rider.

“The main thing we had going for us was Carole. She made it go. Without her, we wouldn’t have had any of it. None of it would have worked. She did all the work, kept the thing running.”

Carole says, “You have to have a product.

That’s what Bill’s good at it. He knew what a horse was going to be able to do.”

The Smith family recognized early that there was a market for good, reliable ranch horses, and that hasn’t changed.

Bill and Carole’s approach to horses has changed over the years, largely due to clinician Ray Hunt, Bill said. “When I got done riding broncs I didn’t want to abandon the horses. I wanted to find someone who knew more than me.

It didn’t make me like the horses more or less, but it made me understand them and how to get along with them. When I was young it didn’t matter what they did.

They could run or buck. When I got older I had to change that idea. Everything I do now, Ray Hunt probably had some influence in it. It’s really just understanding the horse’s side of things. You’ll never know everything about them. You can learn every day of your life.

Every one is different.”

Bill started putting on horsemanship clinics, and their horse sale expanded to twice a year. Carole got interested in working cow horse, which was a good fit for the horses they were producing for their sales.

The focus of the WYO Quarter Horse Sale has always been on ranch-quality geldings, but they also market some weanlings, yearlings and 2-year-olds from the breeding program they run in partnership with Woody Bartlett, of the Flying B Ranch near Chugwater, Wyoming.

The Smiths, and Carole’s nephew, Reid, personally trained most of the horses that went through their sale ring. Every horse had been ridden in and out of the arena, had

28 Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021

roped steers, packed into the mountains and knew that a horse’s job is whatever its rider asks it to do.

Everyone who rides the horses that go through the WYO Quarter Horse Sale subscribes to the same system of horsemanship--that it’s more about teaching than training. That you can accomplish a lot more by understanding a horse than by muscling him--especially if you’re a girl--Carole says.

“I’ve always respected horses,” Bill says. “I’ve learned a lot about them, but nothing has changed my perception. I’ve learned how to be around them, to understand their habits and what they do and why they do it.”

There has been talk of Bill and Carole stepping down, leaving the future of WYO Quarter Horse Sale a little uncertain. But their sale bill says to mark your calendar for May 15, 2021 for their annual spring sale. They are still teaching horses to be good horses, and their broodmares are still carrying the genetics they’ve worked toward for 40 years.

“The future will take care of itself,” Bill says. “We do the best we can, and deal with it when it comes.” ...................................................................................

All photos courtesy of Bill and Carole Smith

Page 1 | Smith leads a group of cowboys at the Flying B Ranch in starting a group of 2-year-olds.

Page 2 | Reid O’Rourke and Smith work together to train many of the horses that go through WYO Sale.

Page 4 | Smith and Devil Me (Printer), a horse she bred, raised and trained, at 1973 NFR | Smith at the 1978 NFR | Smith and Woody Bartlett worked together to build a breeding and training program that fit both their goals | The Smiths’ enjoying over 40 years of marriage.

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ICSI Simply Explained

By Sharee LaRue .......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Why ICSI for mare owners?

• ICSI allows for the collection of oocytes that can be repeated every 10 to 14 days.

I

ntracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is the newest scientific technique in the world of equine breeding, with the first foal being born in 1991[Belgium]. It was not announced, or promoted, until 1996 when Colorado State University produced a live foal. As our industry continues to crave unique and profitable ways to bring the next champion into the fold, scientists are working overtime to provide methods that allow mare and stallion owners to overcome breeding issues. ICSI combines several proven techniques, with a new spin. This article aims to provide a simple explanation without all the scientific definitions that can be confusing.

Here are the definitions of terms that will make understanding ICSI easier.

AI [Artificial Insemination] | A fertility technic method used to deliver sperm through to the cervix or uterus by artificial means.

Embryo Flushing & Transfer [ET] | The process of flushing an embryo from a mare (donor) and placing it into the uterus of a second mare (recipient) to be carried for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Oocyte | An immature egg cell in the ovary.

Blastocysts | What a fertilized egg is called before it becomes an embryo [five to six days after fertilization].

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• ICSI benefits competition mares as they are out of training for shorter and fewer windows of time than AI and ET. ICSI is a one-time veterinary appointment to harvest oocytes. AI and ET require several trips to the vet for insemination, ultrasound for proof of pregnancy and harvest of the embryo.

• Have a mare that is unable to conceive? ICSI solves the problem if the mare produces oocytes that mature into viable eggs, unlike AI and ET that require the mare to develop an embryo before transfer.

• Suppose you have a prized mare that has just passed; the ovaries can be harvested and sent overnight to a reproduction facility that accepts them. They will then harvest the oocytes and freeze them for future offspring using ICSI.

Why ICSI for stallion owners?

• ICSI allows sub fertile stallions to have a better chance at success as they can choose a more suitable sperm to fertilize the egg and insure penetration of the sperm.

• Stallions that have passed on to greener pastures only have a certain amount of sperm collected and froze before their departure. On average, eight straws are considered to be one dose of semen to fertilize your mare. With ICSI, those eight straws can potentially produce hundreds of foals instead of one.

Scottie Johnson, the owner of Cross Country Ranch in Oregon, uses ICSI exclusively to breed to the late Judge Cash. “We opted not to freeze semen from Judge in the offseason as many well known stallions are typically preserved at that time of year,” states Johnson. “We felt like he worked hard enough during the breeding season so therefore we did not bank an abundance of frozen semen. In hindsight, it could very well be why he lived to be so healthy through 30 years while still breeding a large book of mares every year clear into his last year in

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... the breeding shed. He was still superior in his fertility up through his last years,” Johnson explains.

“The first two years after he passed, we sold 10 frozen breedings each year and then the decision was made to move to ICSI only breedings with Judge Cash in 2021 to conserve his highly valuable semen that was left. Originally we banked the semen for ourselves, but with him being in high demand we’ve decided we can continue to make him available to the public by using ICSI. While it is a process that is yet not totally understood by the average breeder, it is a process that is gaining ground. When people begin to understand that the overall cost associated with ICSI may not be as great of a cost difference as say ET, or breeding with frozen doses, that they may be more opt to give it a go. We have basically cut Judge’s stud fee in half to help offset the cost of breeding to him via ICSI, and therefore it allows those savings to go to the ICSI process. And to entice folks just a little bit more...

Starting in 2021 we have decided that the stud fee is only owed if in fact you detect a healthy embryo at 30 days safe in foal in the recipient mare. This takes a great burden off of the pocket book going into it. And when folks do get that healthy embryo, we’re sure they’ll be quite happy to pay the stud fee. Considering anymore you rarely see a Judge Cash available for under $15,000 and as high as into the six figures; it is now reasonable to invest this kind of money into achieving one. Especially since his fame is still climbing.

There is an annual $500 access fee to use his semen at an ICSI facility for as many injections as the client wants to try in a year.

For each healthy 30 day embryo, a stud fee is due. We feel this is far more fair to the client, and hopefully entices more folks to try the ICSI fertilization technique. When you add up all the cost associated with ET, or even frozen AI breedings, the extra cost of ICSI is not that much more, especially considering the reduction of the stud fee to offset it. Probably more than half the cost of the ICSI process is actually associated with the cost of the recipient mare. So, those that carry their own recip mares can actually venture into this new

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ICSI Simply Explained continued

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................

ICSI Procedure Steps

1. Harvest oocytes from the donor mare or use previously collected frozen oocytes.

2. If the oocytes mature into an egg and the procedure is done at an ICSI facility, the egg is then fertilized using one sperm. If eggs are harvested at a veterinary clinic, the eggs are then shipped overnight to an ICSI facility to be fertilized.

3. If the embryos successfully develop, they are transplanted into a recipient mare at the ICSI facility or shipped back overnight to a facility that offers embryo transfer.

Average Pregnancy Success Rates per cycle • Live cover 60% - 70%

technique with even less cost; As the other two steps to ICSI are harvesting the Oocytes which can possibly be done by a vet closer to you then the ICSI facility; and the injection which is done at the ICSI facility.

As the technique gains ground, just like breeding with frozen and ET eventually it will become more commonplace and likely more ICSI labs will be set up as the demand grows. For now, we here at Cross Country Ranch are trying our best to be more customer friendly, and not charge a stud fee until you have SUCCESS!”

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• AI with fresh or cooled semen 60% - 70% • AI with frozen semen 25% - 40% • Embryo Transfer [once a viable embryo is obtained] = 50% - 80% • ICSI [percentages via Texas A&M (2017)] =

65% of oocytes harvested mature.

40% of fertilized mature oocytes make it to the embryo stage where an embryo transfer can take place.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................

Average Costs

[AFTER the stud fee, and shipping if using AI, are paid based on one dam cycle].

• AI with fresh or cooled semen $300-$400 • AI with frozen semen $800+ • Embryo Transfer [once a viable embryo is obtained] $1,500 - $4,500 depending on recipient mare costs.

• ICSI [oocyte harvest and fertilization] $2,500 - $4,000 + embryo transfer fees [one ICSI procedure could possibly achieve multiple viable embryos] Oxbow Recipient Mare Services, Inc, formerly part of Outback Stallion Station in Caldwell, Idaho, is a receiving station for not only embryo transfers but also, ISCI embryos. “We currently own and operate one of the largest herds of recipient mares in the Northwest,” states Jennifer Kalafatic owner of Oxbow Recipient mare Services. “About 25% of embryos received are ISCI embryos that have a 70% pregnancy outcome. We receive embryos from all over the United States,” says Kalafatic.

In Foal, Inc. | Hement, CA Penn Vet | Philadelphia, PA Weatherford Equine | Weatherford, TX A few Western Embryo Transfer Facilities Arizona Equine | Gilbert, AZ McKinlay & Peters Equine Hospital | Colbert, WA Montana Equine | Bozeman, MT Outback Stallion Station | Caldwell, ID Premier Breeding Services | Kiowa, CO Summit Equine | Newberg, OR UC Davis | Davis, CA .......................................................................................

Photo credits

Page 1 | Embryo | photo by Scottie Johnson Page 2 | 2020 Stud Colt | Guys Pocket Coin x Hotrod Oakum | owned by Cheyenne Giles | photo by Haydn Morsa Page 3 | Jennifer Kalafatic | Owner of Oxbow Recipient Mare Services at Out Back Stallion Station Page 4 | 2012 Judge Cash filly | Raised by Lauren Jenson | Owned by Theresa Wright-Kamitomo | photo by Julia Smith Photography

The future is here, folks, and it is affordable. ICSI is the answer to several breeding issues that keep you from your next champion.

A few stallions that use ICSI Blazin Jetolena Blushing Bug Dash Ta Fame Frencmans Guy High Brow Cat Judge Cash Metalic Rebel Moms Stylish Cat Peptoboonsmal Shining Spark A few ICSI Facilities Colorado State University | Fort Collins, CO Equi Embryo | Fortworth, TX Equine Medical Services | Columbia, MO

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Mares with More| M atlock Rose & Three King Mares

M

By Larry Thornton ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ atlock Rose was associated with mares as well as stallions. Let’s continue our look at the influence of King P-234 with three of his daughters that played a role in Matlock’s Pedigrees. These mares are Gay Widow, Martha King, and Willful Miss.

GAY WIDOW Gay Widow was a 1950 mare bred by Jess Hankins. She was sired by King P-234. Julia Reed bought Gay Widow from Jess Hankins, and Matlock became her trainer. This mare was shown at one show in 1952, and then she was shown from 1953 to 1956.

She took 1957 and 1958 off to produce a foal. She went back to the show arena in 1959 and 1960.

Rose described Gay Widow this way, “She was a pretty mare that was a standout halter mare with class that could compete with the modern-day horse.” She would earn her Superior in halter with 107 AQHA Points with seven Grand Championships and three Reserve Grand Championships.

Matlock said this about her ability in the arena, “The best reining pony I ever rode. I showed her eighteen times when she was a junior horse, and I beat the aged horse every time but one. She won 17 Grand Champions and one reserve. She was one nice mare.

STEEL BARS blk 1953 QUARTER HORSE #0055432

The kind of mare that you could put twine around her nose and show her.” He told Sally Harrison in his biography MATLOCK ROSE THE HORSEMAN about the bit he used, “I showed her with just a leather curb strap and a grazing bit and never got beat.”

She earned 15 reining points securing her ROM, and with her halter points, was named an AQHA Champion. She also had one western riding point.

Matlock recommended that Julia Reed breed Gay Widow to Three Bars in 1957. She did, and in 1958, the mare foaled Gay Bar King. His official show record shows that he made four starts on the racetrack with one win and a 75-speed index. He entered the halter arena to earn three Grand Championships and one Reserve Grand Championship. He was awarded 13 halter points.

Gay Bar King would become a trained cutting horse with six cutting points and $35.00 in NCHA earnings.

Doc Spence showed Gay Bar King in two AQHA cuttings. The first was at Seguin, Texas, earning one point. He was third in a class of 14 horses. The next show was at Brenham, Texas, where he earned five cutting points. He won this show with 30 in the class. It was actually a first-place tie with the noted cutting horse Cross Timber. Spence even remembered the judge was J. D. Yates.

It was after this show that Gay Bar King was retired from the arena with a navicular problem.

THREE BARS ch 15.3 1940 THOROUGHBRED (USA)

JOAN br 1940 QUARTER HORSE #0003246

ALEDO ALEDOBAR BAR sor 1957 QUARTER HORSE #0086000

WILLFUL MISS sor 1951 QUARTER HORSE #0048495

KING b 14.3 1932 QUARTER HORSE #0000234

WILLFUL LADY b 1934 QUARTER HORSE #0005650

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PERCENTAGE ch 1923 THOROUGHBRED (USA) MYRTLE DEE blk 1923 THOROUGHBRED (USA) JOE HANCOCK br 15.3 1923 QUARTER HORSE #0000455 TRIANGLE LADY 1 buck 1934 QUARTER HORSE #0000454 ZANTANON ch 1917 QUARTER HORSE U0081745 JABALINA br 1920 QUARTER HORSE U0072570 RIALTO ch 1923 QUARTER HORSE #0000002 THE BLACK MARE blk QUARTER HORSE U0080626

MIDWA ch 1914 GOSSIP ch 1918 LUKE M b 1911 CIVIL b 1915 JOHN W b BROW br ~191 MIKE B buck BURNE

LITTLE br 1905 JEANE 1901 STRAIT dun BAY M b BILLY ch 1916 DORA b

....................................................................................................................................................................................................... .......

The success of Gay Bar King as a sire shows up in a variety of awards and titles. He sired 189 performers that earned 2,729 AQHA points with 49 ROM performers, five AQHA Champions, and 16 Superior performers that earned 17 Superior Awards. His foals include six AQHA High Point performers, including Mr Bar Gold, an AQHA Champion, and the 1966 AQHA High Point Cutting Horse and Gay Bar Lady, the 1970 AQHA High Point Junior Cutting Mare.

The foals of Gay Bar King earned $584,027.68 in NCHA cutting.

He was especially good at siring Non-Pro horses. A great example of that ability is Gay Bar Blues, who helped Dix Turnbow win the NCHA Non-Pro World Championship in 1973, 1972, and 1971.

The true calling for Gay Bar King was as a broodmare sire.

His daughters produced foals that earned 14,449 points with 761 point earners. They took home 228 halter and performance ROM with seven AQHA Champions. This also includes 46 Superior winners that won 63 Superior Awards. He was the maternal grandsire of 13 World Champions and 15 Reserve World Champions.

A review of the maternal grandget of Gay Bar King will show that he was a sire that produced versatility. The foals that fall into this category include Cool Doc was the 1991 AQHA World Champion Heading Horse. The Papa Doc was the 1983 AQHA

1

RE

High Point Cutting Horse. Magnolia Gay was the 1972 and 1974 AQHA High Point Halter Horse.

Smart Chic Olena was sired by Smart Little Lena and out of Gay Sugar Chic by Gay Bar King. This maternal grandson of Gay Bar King was the 1990 AQHA Senior World Champion Cutting Horse and the 1994 AQHA Senior World Champion Reining Horse. Smart Chic Olena has gone on to become an all-time leading sire in cutting, reining, and reined cow horse with over $13 million in earnings. In the NRHA and NRCHA, he has sired such futurity champions as Smart Spook (NRHA Futurity), Chic Please (NRHA Futurity), Smart Zanolena (NRCHA Futurity), Chics Magic Potion (NRCHA Futurity), and Smart Crackin Chick (NRCHA Futurity). Chic Please was also an NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Reserve Champion. Chics Magic Potion was an NRHA Futurity top, ten finalist. He was also an AQHA World Champion in Reined Cow Horse.

Smart Chic Olena shows an interesting pedigree phenomenon in the open champions at the 2015 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity (Starlight Kisses), NRHA Futurity (Shesouttayourleague), and NCHA Futurity (Stevie Rey Von). He is the sire of the second dam of all three of these futurity winners. The second dams are Lipschic (Starlight Kisses); Collena Chic Olena (Shesouttayourleague), and Huggs Olena (Stevie Rey Von).

MIDWAY ch 1914 GOSSIP AVENUE ch 1918 LUKE MCLUKE b 1911 CIVIL MAID b 1915 JOHN WILKINS b BROWN HANCOCK MARE br ~1913 MIKE BEETCH 1 buck BURNETT RIDING MARE

BALLOT THIRTY-THIRD BULSE ROSEWOOD ULTIMUS MIDGE PATRIOT CIVIL RULE PETER MCCUE

ch 1904 ch 1902 ch 1913 ch 1914 ch 15.3 1906 blk 1902 b 1906 b 1899 b 16.0 1895

RALPH WILSON HORSE MUNDELL MARE BEETCHS YELLOW JACKET YELLOW WOLF MARE

blk 14.3

LITTLE JOE br 1905 JEANETTE 2 1901 STRAIT HORSE dun BAY MARE b BILLY SUNDAY ch 1916 DORA DU MAR b

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

sor 15.1 ~1885 br 1891 ch

HORACE H CARRIE NATION 1 LITTLE JOE JULIA CROWDER

br 1906

buck 1922

rd dun 1908 sor 15.1 ~1885

br 1905

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Mares with More continued ........................................................................................................................................................................................................

The most famous picture of Gay Bar King | Photo from Author’s Files

Gay Widow at Ozone, Texas | Photo from Author’s Files 52 Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021

The success of Gay Bar King as a versatile sire comes again in Gay Bar’s Gen. Carol Ramsey won the 1967 NCHA Non-Pro World Championship, and one of her mounts that year was Gay Bar’s Gen. Carol Ramsey would become Carol Rose and win two more NCHA Non-Pro World Championships in 1968, and 1969 riding Gay Bar’s Gen. Sam Rose Matlock Rose’s son would win the 1971 Reserve Non-Pro World Championship with Gay Bar’s Gen being one of his mounts. This great mare would win $37,639 in the NCHA, earning the Certificate of Ability, Bronze Award and Silver Awards.

She won the NCHA Non-Pro Finals in 1969 and 1973. Her AQHA record shows 74 AQHA cutting points with a Superior in cutting.

Gay Bar’s Gen would go to the broodmare band for Carol and become the dam of horses like Genuine Doc. This stallion would win the Atlantic Coast CHA Non-Pro Futurity and an AQHA Reserve World Championship in Junior Cutting and also win the Junior Cutting at the Fort Worth Stock Show with over 47 horses. He was a Superior Cutting Horse with 55 AQHA points.

Genuine Doc went on to be a great sire of versatility earning over 15,000 AQHA points with 11 world champions and 89 superior awards. His son Shining Spark is an AQHA World Champion Junior Reining Horse and NRHA Derby Championship. Shining Spark is the NRCHA All-Time Leading Sire of Money winners with earnings of over $4 million as well as a $4 million dollar sire in the NRHA. The daughters of Genuine Doc would produce the earners of over $3.3 million in various events.

His daughter Genuine Redbud became an AQHA World Show Super Horse and dam of Nic It In The Bud, an NRCHA Open Derby Champion and NRCHA Open Stakes Champion. Carol Rose

........................................................................................................................................................................................................ would become the AQHA #1 Leading Breeder of Performance Horse, with much of her success coming from Gay Bar’s Gen, Genuine Doc, and Shining Spark, who go back to Gay Widow, the best reining horse Matlock Rose ever rode.

Gay Widow was sired King P-234. She was out of Happy Gal

by Graves Peeler. The dam of Graves Peeler was Petra R2, making him a full brother to Pep Up. You will recall that the mare Do Si Do S that appeared in an earlier Matlock’s Pedigree was sired

by Cotton Mac by Macanudo. So Graves Peeler brings us back to Macanudo as an ingredient in the pedigrees of the horses we are profiling.

The dam of Happy Gal was Little Gal by Joe Bailey P-4. Joe Bailey P-4 was sired by Little King by Possum. This is interesting because Possum was a full brother to Little Joe, the grandsire of King P-234. Possum was known as King, which was his first name when he still lived in Texas. When he moved to Arizona, he became Possum. One of the great roping bloodlines was formed through Lucky Blanton. He was sired by Mark by Red Cloud by Possum. The dam of Mark was Maga by Possum. The dam of Lucky Blanton was Gold Nugget by Lucky by Possum. Little Gal was out of a daughter of Sykes Rondo. If you will recall the sire of Jenny the dam of Possum and Little Joe we get a breeding pattern of 5 X 5 X 5 X 7 X 4 to Sykes Rondo MARTHA KING Next, we will look at Martha King a 1954 daughter of King P-234 and the unique part she played in the evolution of the modern reining horse. Matlock told me, “It was George Tyler and me that went and found most of the mares that the ranch bought.”

But Martha King was not one of them. It was Jack Brainard that brought this daughter of King P-234 to the attention of B. F. Phillips Jr. Jack told me the story of how Martha King went to Texas and how she became a part of the Continental King story.

Continental King by King P-234 was one of the last foals sired by King P-234. His success and influence on the modern reining horse led to his being the first horse to enter the National Reining Horse Association’s Hall of Fame.

Jack was training horses at Rochester, Minnesota, and two of his clients were Ted Clymer and Henry Boehm, both from Wisconsin.

Ted Clymer owned Martha King and a mare named Sue Hunt.

When Clymer died, his widow asked Jack to help sell the horses.

Sue Hunt and Martha King were put on the market. Sue Hunt was sold to Henry Boehm. Boehm was a businessman that owned Continental Clothier in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Sue Hunt was a daughter of San Siemon by Zantanon and out of Little Sue by Sam Watkins by Hickory Bill.

Jack would make a call to B. F. Phillips about Martha King and her potential as a show mare. Jack had been training Martha King, and he got to show her twice. Her AQHA record shows that she was shown in 1956 at St. Paul, Minnesota, in the twoyear-old filly class, where she won over nine other fillies. He then showed her one time in reining where she won the junior reining over eight other horses in 1957. Jack told Frank Holmes in his book KING P-234 that the judges were Lloyd Jinkens for the halter and James Kiser was the judge for the reining.

Phillips would buy Martha King for $2,000 under the stipulation

that Jack transport the mare to Texas. Phillips would give Jack $100.00 to bring the mare to the ranch. This gave Jack an idea, and he approached Henry Boehm about breeding Sue Hunt to King P-234. Boehm liked the idea, and Jack was off to Texas with Martha King and Sue Hunt in the trailer. He dropped Martha King off at the Phillips Ranch, and Sue Hunt was taken to Rocksprings, Texas, and bred to King P-234. Continental King was foaled in June 1958, and King P-234 died in March 1958 and as they say, the rest is history, with Continental King becoming a foundation of the modern reining horse.

Matlock took Martha King to her first show in Odessa, Texas, in early 1958, earning a second in the junior reining. By the end of the year, she was the AQHA High Point Reining Mare.

She actually retired for the year in September 1958 as the leading point-earning reining horse up to that time. She would earn 21 AQHA reining points in 1958, winning the reining at shows like Denver, Tucson, Houston, Austin, Oklahoma City, and Richmond Hills. She was second at Fort Worth and San Antonio. Her AQHA record tells us that she earned 42 AQHA reining points with two halter points. Here reining career went from 1957 to 1961, with 1959 a year off to produce her first foal.

Bubba Cascio catch rode Martha King at the Tucson show. Bubba was with Matlock when they went to a contest in Tucson. When they got their Matlock got a call that his wife was in the hospital and he needed to go home. We will let Bubba tell the rest of the story, “We had been talking about the reining when he told me, ‘I am going to win it.’ They had a black horse there, and he had been winning everything. But before the contest, he had to leave as his wife was in the hospital and he was going to fly home. He said, ‘You are going to ride the mare.’ Then he showed me the bridle he wanted me to show the mare in. The black horse went first, and he had a fast run. So I thought that might be why he is winning. So I thought I might try that too. So I make my run, and we win it.’

‘When Matlock got back, “He asked, how’d you do?” I said, Oh, we did alright. Why don’t you look under that blanket, and when he did, he saw the big old trophy we had won.’

The Phillips Ranch sold Martha King in 1959, bred to Steel Bars to Wayne Cook of his Gavel C Ranch. Gavel Bars was the foal.

He was unshown in the AQHA, and Cook is listed as the breeder. Cook bred her to Harvey’s Randy, producing a colt named Saber’s Randy, who was her only point earner with one halter point. The next foal was Abraham Riker, an unshown horse bred by the Caruth Corporation. This horse was sired by Dodger’s King. Then she produced Bay Randy by Hervey’s Randy, and his breeder was Wayne Cook again but then owned by James Kemp. James Kemp had bought Martha King, where she produced an unshown mare named Wimpy Martha by Wimpy Leo. Martha King was sired by King P-234 and out of Fanny H. The AQHA Stud Book shows that the sire of Fanny H was a horse called E. L. Ranch Horse. Her dam is listed as a Matthews Mare

by Jim by Sykes Rondo.

WILLFUL MISS The story of Willful Miss will begin with a stallion named Steel Bars. The Phillips Ranch had put together a performance show and breeding program under the guidance and expertise of

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Mares with More continued ........................................................................................................................................................................................................

Carol Rose and her great mare Gay Bar’s Gen | Photo Courtesy Carol Rose

Matlock Rose and Martha King winning a reining | Photo from the Author’s Files 54 Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021

Matlock Rose. Phillips found that the industry was very interested in the blood of Three Bars, and he wanted a son of this great horse for his stallion roster. They were interested in Lightning Bar and Sugar Bars, but they weren’t for sale, and then Phillips found Steel Bars. A son of Three Bars and Joan, a daughter of Joe Hancock.

Joan was out of Triangle Lady I by Mike Beetch and out of a Burnett Ranch mare.

They found Steel Bars at Walter Merrick’s place. The official record shows that Mrs. Frank Hoffman is listed as the breeder. But Joan the dam of Steel Bars was a foundation mare for Merrick and his racehorse breeding program. He was also the man that brought Three Bars to Oklahoma, setting the breeding career Three Bars on its way to the great success this stallion had on the Quarter Horse.

Matlock recalled this about Steel Bars, “BF and I made a deal that I wouldn’t buy any horse unless he looked at them, and I wouldn’t either. Then in about three years, he got like others that he would buy one when he got ready. I begged him to not buy Steel Bars, but he bought him anyway. But Steel Bars won about everything you could win.”

He continued, “In a lot of people’s mind eyes Steel Bars was a nice horse. I wouldn’t give four rotten dimes for him. I did really well with him at halter and rode him a little bit. Never did much with him, and I knew that when I bought him.” He told Sally Harrison in her book MATLOCK ROSE THE HORSEMAN, “I didn’t like the way he moved as much as I did some of the other horses that we had seen.”

The AQHA shows that Steel Bars was an “A” rated racehorse, and that shows up in the records as a 75-speed index. He did earn his ROM in racing and has an official record of one second in his four starts. He was a finalist in the 1955 Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association Futurity, finishing fourth. His AQHA arena record shows that he won seven Grand Championships on his way to the 1957 AQHA Honor Roll Halter Stallion title, now known as the High Point Award.

He earned 36 halter points at shows like the big four Texas stock shows Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Odessa. He earned two AQHA cutting points.

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The first foals for Steel Bars came in 1957. One of this crop was Aledo Bar, and his dam was our subject mare Willful Miss. She was sired by King P-234 and out of Willful Lady

by Rialto P-2. When Aledo Bar came into the conversation, Matlock went to his dam, “Aledo Bar was out of a mare that I bought named Willful Miss. I bought her up there at Madill, Oklahoma. Put her in the broodmare band, and the first colt she had was Aledo Bar. Sold him to Joe Kirk Fulton.” He reported to Sally Harrison that he paid $750 for Willful Miss.

Aledo Bar would become the 1959 AQHA Honor Roll Halter Stallion making Steel Bars the first AQHA Honor Roll Halter Stallion to sire an AQHA Honor Roll Halter Stallion.

Aledo Bars was an AQHA Champion and Superior Halter Horse. He sired horses that were not only good-looking but could perform. He sired 17 AQHA Champions, 17 Superior Halter Horses, and five Superior performance horses. His get include three AQHA High Point Halter Horses in Aledo Bar’s Lady, Aledolita Bar, and Lady Gaines. All three of these High Point winners were AQHA Champions and Superior Halter Horses.

The first foal for Aledo Bar was Lady Aledo Bar, bred by Mary Ann Parris.

This mare was an AQHA Champion and Superior Halter Horse. She was the dam of Hard To Beat an AQHA High Point Halter Stallion. Lady Aledo Bar was a full sister to Aledolita Bar, one of the AQHA Honor Roll Halter Horses sired by Aledo Bar. Willful Miss would produce five more foals sired by Steel Bars. They would include Contessa Bar, Barlinda, Bar Collette, Critic’s Choice, and Counterflow. Critic’s Choice with 13 halter, and Counterflow with eight points, were the only other point earners from this cross. Classic Sun by the Phillips Ranch stallion Eternal Sun was her second point earner for the ranch. He earned seven halter points, 32 performance points, and two youth performance points.

Willful Miss would be purchased by

Genuine Doc the great son of Gay Bar’s Gen Alfred Janssen III | Photo Courtesy Carol Rose Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021 55

Mares with More continued ....................................................................................................................................................................................................

Aledo Bar a sire of conformation and performance | Photo Courtesy Darol Dickenson

Rex Cauble, the owner of Cutter Bill, and she would produce six foals by this stallion. They would include Cutter’s Willie with 61 AQHA points and a Superior in cutting and the title of 1972 AQHA High Point Junior Cutting Horses.

He earned $7,893 in the NCHA with a Certificate of Ability. The other three performers were Bill’s Will Power with 13 AQHA points and $3,186 in the NCHA with a Certificate of Ability and Cutters Rialto with 9 AQHA points.

The pedigree of Willful Miss shows that she was sired by King P-234. Her dam Willful Lady, a mare by Rialto P-2.

He was the second horse to receive his AQHA number as one of the AQHA Stud Book foundation sires. His sire was Billy Sunday by Horace H, and his dam was Carrie Nation, a daughter of Peter McCue. The dam of Rialto P-2 was Dora Du Mar by Little Joe. When crossed King P-234, Willful Miss gave Willful Lady a breeding pattern of 3 X 4 to none other than Little Joe. The dam of Willful Lady was a mare listed as The Black Mare

by Hickory Bill. Willful Lady was bred by Jewel Hudgins of Hungerford, Texas. She was owned by Jess L. Hankins.

The King P-234 mares we have covered here show some of the same or similar pedigree ingredients that we saw with the stallions we covered. But they also show some differences in the stallions we have featured in The Working Lines.

That tells us that King P-234 could be crossed on a variety of bloodlines, and that is a big reason he was a great sire. The interesting part of this look at these mares shows how they can be a part of our Mares With More as we cover Matlock’s Pedigrees.

Aledo Bar’s Lady one of the three AQHA High Point Halter Horses sired by Aledo Bar | Photo from Author’s Files 56 Working Horse Magazine Spring 2021

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Circle L Ranch

in the beautiful

The Circle L Ranch is located 3 easy miles on paved road east of the historic town of Stevensville. There are 7 outbuildings, a custom home, 3 creeks and a pond on 244 acres-currently operating as a premium hay farm. Every aspect of the property has been intentionally thought out with meticulous attention to detail. All buildings were designed for practical use, quality construction & esthetics while ensuring total privacy. The ½ mile driveway winds, passing

Bitterroot Valley of Montana

by hay fields, aspen groves, creeks and a pond set against the Bitterroot & Sapphire Mountain ranges. You will feel like you are in a landscape painting. The ranch style home is a perfect balance between Montana country and custom quality. The relaxed warmth of the home embraces you immediately upon entry.

The outbuildings are an essential element of what must be described as having a Western architectural design, with clean lines, and total functionality.

The horse barn has 3 stalls with turnout runs, storage rooms, finished tack room/office, wash rack with hot and cold water, and a laundry area with a half bath. To round out the barn facility there is a 100x200 outdoor arena, a loafing shed and 60 ft round pen. The upper level apartment has an open floorplan, Alder cabinets and plenty of storage and a Rinnai instant hot water system providing for domestic use and in floor radiant heat.

The close to 10,000 sq ft Shop houses the ranch equipment and includes metal and woodworking rooms, storage area and guest quarters with in-floor radiant heat.

There are 2 large hay barns providing storage for 600 ton of square baled hay, a Quonset building provides for an additional 250 ton of hay storage. The 4200 sq ft machine shed ensures there is a place for everything.

The North 160 acres are sprinkler irrigated by wheel and hand lines. The system is powered by 40 hp pump that delivers water through a 10” buried main w/ 8” & 6” buried feeder lines. The south 80-acre parcel is easily and efficiently flood irrigated.

The properties conservation easement is in harmony with the neighboring properties who have committed 3,000 acres with an additional 1,500 acres pending conservation easement.

If you are looking for a high-quality ranch in a beautiful location that can serve as a hay, cattle, or equestrian operation,this is it.

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3E Ranch 49 5 Star Horse Sale 42 Aaron Ranch 20 Abras Box of Trix 61 Alvin Farrier Supply 74 Arena Werks 35 Award Realty 63 Bale Buddy 76 Bar T 58 Bitter Root Horse Property 69 Boar Wheel 76 Bobby Norris Properties 80 BVD 9 Cannon Falls Trailer Sales 65 Casseys Pick 67 Chore Boots 75 Clark Farms 36 Cowboy Silversmith 77 Cross Country Ranch 6 Cudd 23 Denison 66 Diamond Mcnabb 30 Driftwood Legend Sale 47 Equine 15 61 Farmers and Ranchers 32 Forco 57 Full House 70 Heber Valley Horse Sale 45 High Plains Genetics 44 Hilldale Farms 60 House Ad 77 Hunter QH 73 IBF 73 Ima Pale Face Cash 33 KL Limitless 48 L and H Branding Iron 73 Lauing QH 4 Legend Buttes Horse Sale 59 Lollie Bros 72 Long Horn Saddlery

73 Long Pines

34 Mason & Morse 68 Nettles Stirrups 74 O3 Animal Health 22 One Fine Vintage 31 Open Box Rafter 17 Reveal 4n1 71 Riata Ranch 71 Rick Schroeder QH 43 Shawnee Horse Sale 24 Spurr’s Big Fix 64 St Clair Performance Horses 2 Sugar Bar Legacy 73 Suphur River Saddlery 75 Tie Ease

74 Top Hand Ropes

75 Total Equine Feeds 25 UWRF Colt Sale 63 Vetericyn 18, 75, 77 Waverly Horse Sales 72 Weaver QH Sale 79 Weber Quarter Horses Sale 19 Wetzels QH 73 WYO Horse Sale 3

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Willa B Honory

Honors A Bounding x C R Smarty Pants Owned by Kara Hubbs

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D L

WEATHERFORD - Recently completed construction on this beautiful breath taking facility. Features an 8 stall show barn with all the amenities. Wash Rack, Tack and Feed room, fly system, automatic waterer, 40 x 120 equipment shed with storage. All just built. An incredible great room is attached with ceiling to floor stone fireplace. granite counter bar in kitchen area, Vaulted ceilings 22 Ft. Restroom and shower all custom tiles and stone. All pipe and stainless fencing. Year round creek. The perfect place to build your own custom retreat!!!!! 15 Min to Fort Worth. The Perfect Country Retreat. A Must see and Priced to sell!!

BOBBY NORRIS $950,000

O S

NOCONA | INCOME PRODUCING PROPERTY!!

This unique Western Village sits on the highest point in Montage County, it boasts a Fudge Factory, Boutique & Trading Post.2 br, 2 bath Barndominium 84x36, with 4-12 stalls with automatic

SOLD

water and feed room.

Separate guest cottage with bathroom. Tiny home, 4 RV park hook ups, 2 water wells, 2 ponds, 3 septic’s. All under 2 years old.

BOBBY BOWDEN $389,500 $385,000 NOCONA

Good highway frontage on HWY 82W. Some live oak mixed mesquite through the middle of the property with good pasture on both sides. Older, but good fences on 3 sides. Good soil for horse or cow place.

BOBBY BOWDEN $337,500 KEMP

36 peaceful acres in up-and-coming area. Heavily wooded, with clearing in front of road entrance.

Deer, Hog and other wildlife.

Located on paved road. Perfect weekend retreat, or homesite. about an hour commute from Dallas. Property has small spring fed creek and pond, lots of potential. JASO JARVIS $234,000

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POOLVILLE 21.649 acres in Peaster isd on 920, 2 miles north of Peaster schools. Pipe fences and pond and electric on property, tree line views, rolling terrain. Recently planted in coastal Bermuda grasses. 2 loafing sheds, large mature scattered oak. Seller owns minerals.

BOBBY NORRIS $433,000