Big Things Are Cookn for Hay Goodlookn

Breeding horses is as much an art form as any that require the swish and stroke of a paint brush. Oftenti mes, it is over complicated these days, with numbers and stats and sciences poking their way onto the canvas, but there’s a beautiful and simplicity to Hay Goodlookn’s success story. It is, simply put, a perfect reflection of the saying, “Champions beget champions.”

Before Capital Quarter Horses became the renowned breeding program that it is today, the Roberts family primarily competed in top-tier AQHA competition, and with great success. In 2011, they set out to find a youth horse for their daughter, Hillary. After sensational two and three year old years with Rusty and Katie Green, then owner Ray Arnona made the decision to sell the great mare, Whatscookngoodlookin. “When that opportunity presented itself, after some deliberation, we decided it was too good a mare to pass up,” Hillary recalls. “Sure glad we bit the bullet and did it!”

Hillary and “Candi” would hit the pen together in 2012, “At the time we purchased her, I had shown Only Ever After to a Reserve Congress Championship and fifth place finish at the Youth World, but did not have a ton of experience in the pleasure.”

A little lack of experience didn’t stop the pair, though; the two proceeded to dominate the pen. “Between Rusty and me, we won just about everything we could win on her. I won the youth world two times on her, the Congress several times, Tom Powers, NSBA World, and finally the Amateur World before we retired her. Rusty won the World in the Junior and Senior, the Congress several times as well, and every other major event multiple times,” Hillary said. Her mom, Susan, showed Candi to a unanimous win in the pleasure at the Select World in 2016. “There isn’t a truer show horse I have ever been around than Candi. She sometimes was impossible in the warmup, but once you got in the gate, she jogged down the middle as she’s done a million times and showed,” she said. “At the Youth World in 2014, I was warming up for the finals. She was warming up well, and I felt good about what I had. About four horses before I jogged in, I loped to the left, stopped, and went to turn away from the gate, and she wasn’t having it. When she was ready to go in, she was going to go in, and stopping her was not easy. She proceeds to throw fit, spin around, rear up (not very high, she has always been a little chunky), and have a total meltdown trying to get in the arena. In a panic, Rusty sent his assistant Brian back to get me a duller set of spurs. As the horse before me is jogging in, Brian is changing my spurs. The stewards at the gate were calling me, and I was super nervous, but just shook my head and went in, waiting to see how she’d be. As soon as I hit the cold air coming out of the Norick, she put her ears up and showed like a champ. I won unanimously that year.” Hillary’s most memorable win with Candi was at the 2014 AQHA World Show, her first time showing as an Amateur, “My lifelong goal has always been to win the Amateur World, and doing that on Candi was like a dream come true. That was a year when showing more forward and off the rail was a big trend, so that’s what we did. Rusty helped me in the middle of the night practicing my extended walk, extended lope, and finding spots on and off the wall. I remember him telling me, ‘when you walk, get somewhere.’ I think she liked it because she still walks like she’s going to check fence.”

BIG THINGS COOKN

Whatscookngoodlookin earned more than $154,000 in her six years ruling the AQHA show circuits, and earned more than 600 performance points. Her biggest impact on the industry, though, may be yet to come. Her progeny have already amassed an excess of $200,000, with her oldest foals having just turned seven. In 2018, she was both the NSBA and AQHA Leading Dam, and is already the dam of two Congress Masters Champions. Names like WHATGOSAROUND, WHATILIKEABOUTYOU, and Florida Georgia Line, are all flagbearers for her growing dynasty. In 2017, Capital Quarter Horses foaled out what may yet be her crown jewel.

Invitation Only seemed an obvious cross for Candi, “When breeding, I think it’s important to compare strengths with weakness. Candi is a little long-backed (we call her a family horse), and a longer jogger, so we thought it would be smart to pair her with IO, who produces lots of tight joggers with shorter backs. We also felt that it would be a highly marketable cross, and if it turned out to be a stud, that would be a killer bloodline that we would breed to in a heartbeat, and felt that others would too,” Hillary said. When the resulting sorrel colt was born, his recipient mother was determined to keep him to herself, “His recipient mare wouldn’t let us near him much at first, so I had to be content with watching him from afar. Being sorrel with four white socks, and a little small to start, he wasn’t what I expected, and I wasn’t sure how he’d mature.” He was given the name Gus, and allowed his first year to grow up with the other colts. “Once he was brought back inside his yearling year and Greg and Andy began working him in the round-pen, we knew we had something really nice. As round-pen work turned into saddling and training, that feeling became more evident,” she said.

Andy Cochran, head trainer at Capital Quarter Horses, recalls, “Gus has been one of the best-minded two year olds I’ve trained. From the first day we broke him, he had lots of rhythm and took everything you threw at him.” The young stallion began immediately jumping through all the hoops a young prospect should. His first thirty days had the Capital team’s excitement building, “After his first 30 days, we were all fairly sure that this was no ordinary two year old. He began to fill out, get pretty, and look great under saddle. Andy really liked him, and said we needed to take him on the road for the spring and summer to see how he would do traveling. He exceled in both his training and mentally – not once did he act like a stud at the shows,” Hillary recalls. Andy remembers, “He was always great-legged, but in May, he got stronger and even better, and I knew he was going to be a great one.”

STOPPING TRAFFIC

The great stallions have a way of stopping people in their tracks, attracting the watchful eyes of those most deeply involved in the industry, and Hay Goodlookn was no exemption. Hillary remembers a particular moment last year when he did just that, “I’d say that we all knew we had a stallion prospect at the Tom Powers – Andy went to ride him one day in the show pen, and I watched as people pulled up on golf carts, horses stopped, and trainers rode next to Andy talking to him about what a nice horse he was riding. It was really special.”

When it came time for the Congress, the industry was already fizzing with intrigue about the young stallion, and expectations were high going into the most celebrated event of the year. Gus was entered to show in the Congress Masters, with a $25,000 winner’s check on the line. “I was so nervous that everyone kept telling me to chill out. I could tell Andy was a little nervous – it was dark, a bit windy, late, and he was showing a stud. Lots of variables,” Hillary said. She continued, “There were some really nice horses in the pen, but after he was called out first twice, I knew we had it. I think I flew out of the stands and went running (kind of embarrassing) when he received his final first place. That was a fun night, and the compliments from the crowd really told us we had something that was going to shape the future of western pleasure.”

With the AQHA World Show and the Two Year Old Western Pleasure only a short time away, that initial excitement from the industry turned into roiling anticipation from breeders, and the pressure was on. Gus and Andy breezed through the class, with the colt’s signature lift and softness through his stride elevating him to the win once more. Hillary expresses, “Having a stud has always been a goal we’ve put in the backs of our minds, and to have a stud of this caliber so early in our breeding program has been the craziest of dreams come true. Gus showed even better at the World Show than at the Congress. I think the fact that the stud was able to win both awards is not only a testament to his quality, but to Andy’s program. He has never pushed him too hard or fast, always treats him with respect, and has taught him discipline rather than intimidation. From start to finish, I have never been more amazed by watching the training process than I have watching Gus. It’s been a good ride so far.”

THE FUTURE IS HERE

Now, breeding season is well underway at Capital Quarter Horses, and Hay Goodlookn is booking some of the most prominent producers and showing mares in the business, setting him up for a breakout year with his first foal crop. “He has one of the best mothers in the horse business. For me, that’s what makes a stallion. They have to be out of a great mare, and she has it all. She [Candi] will go down as one of the greatest mares of our time,” Andy said. He continued, “His [Gus’s] conformation is great, with low hocks, a short back, and his neck ties in perfect. He has great front legs and feet, and he’s willing to work and let you train him.” Hillary is thankful for the tremendous support from breeders, “It has been so humbling and flattering to receive the interest and feel the excitement that we have. Our book is already chocked full of AQHA World Champions, Congress Champions, alltime great producers of both World and Congress Champions, and even AQHA Superhorse Winners. What makes it special is feeling the support of the industry. There is no greater compliment than having your peers and friends choose your stallion for their mares. I feel that people not only believe in the stud, his talent, and his bloodlines, but in the program we are running at Capital Quarter Horses, and the incredible team that makes it tick.”

For breeding inquiries to Hay Goodlookn, contact Hillary at hillary@capitalqh.com.