Empty Saddles

The cow horse industry lost two staunch supporters when Glenn Blodgett, DVM, and Sam Rose passed away in 2022.

With sadness, the National Reined Cow Horse Association reflects on the lifetime of work two industry leaders left behind upon their passing.

ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022, Glenn Blodgett,

DVM, passed away at age 73. Known affectionately as “Doc” to most people, he was born into a ranching and farming family and raised in Spearman, Texas. Blodgett was synonymous with the 6666 Ranch, having been there since 1982, following graduation from Texas A&M University with his veterinary degree. He previously graduated with a Bachelor of Science in animal science from Oklahoma State University.

Throughout his years of service as the ranch’s veterinarian and horse division manager with Quarter Horses in both Western performance and racing, Blodgett earned several awards, including the Texas Veterinary Association’s Equine Practitioner of the Year, the National Ranching Heritage Center Golden Spur Award, and induction into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame after serving as the AQHA’s 65th president. In addition, he was at the helm of the 6666 Ranch when it earned the AQHA Best Remuda Award in 1993.

Blodgett was passionate about horses, equine welfare and committed to the Western industry, as seen through the ranch’s hosting of the NRCHA Cowboy Clinic for the last two years. Many of the stallions standing at the Guthrie, Texas, ranch are NRCHA Breeder Sponsors, and the 6666 Ranch is an NRCHA Corporate Sponsor. Through the years, Blodgett was instrumental in developing relationships with other ranches, such as Creek Plantation in Martin, South Carolina; King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas; Wagonhound Land and Livestock LLC in Douglas, Wyoming; and those nearer in the Panhandle. He often was the driving force in acquiring many of the stallions the ranch stood through the years, including Dash For Cash, Special Effort, Tanquery Gin, WR This Cats Smart, Mr Playinstylish, The Boon, Bet Hesa Cat and Kit Kat Sugar. “If asked how I would describe Dr. Blodgett to a total stranger, I would say he loved others and loved God like no other human that I ever knew,” said Scot Martin, DVM, owner of Hansford Veterinarian Clinic in Spearman, Texas, in the 6666 Ranch tribute. “He was so patient, beyond reproof. He was as close to living all the Fruit of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol—as anyone I have ever known. It was not something he worked on; it came pretty naturally; he was born into it.”

Blodgett is remembered by his many industry friends, hundreds of interns he taught and numerous ranch visitors he met. The NRCHA offers condolences to his wife, Karen, and daughters, Brandie Blodgett Mustain and Buffy Guynes, as well as his five grandchildren and extended family.

EMPTY SADDLES continued

ON NOVEMBER 18, 2022, SAM ROSE passed

away in Fort Worth, Texas. The longtime cutting horse trainer and current National Cutting Horse Association director of judges was born in McKinney, Texas. He is the son of American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame trainer Matlock Rose.

A horseman from a young age, Rose was first introduced to cutting horses by his uncles, Stanley, Billy and Jimmy Bush. He worked on several ranches and feedlots in New Mexico before hiring on with C.W. “Bubba” Cascio, who, along with Don Dodge, helped shape Rose’s training and horsemanship, according to NRCHA Director of Judges Bill Enk.

“He successfully competed in cutting, roping and working cow horse events at most of the major shows,” Enk recalled. “He also helped youth and amateurs improve their horsemanship skills. Along the way, he helped with the breeding programs of such famous stallions as Peppy San and Shining Spark.”

At the time of his death, Rose was an NRCHA judge, and one that Enk always found valuable in the arena.

“Sam understood proper form and correctness when horses were training or competing; it didn’t matter the discipline, Sam knew how a horse was supposed to work,” Enk said. “This led him to judging some of the biggest events of our time. He helped the NRCHA evolve into one of the fairest and consistently judged disciplines to date. He had solid opinions, spoke his mind, and was always a welcome teammate.”

In April of 2022, the NCHA hired Rose as the director of judges. He was serving that role at the NCHA Futurity when he passed away.

During his long career as a horseman, Rose served the AQHA as a director of emeritus, the NRCHA on the judge’s committee, provided knowledge to the Brazilian Quarter Horse Association to initiate a judges’ department, and judged in multiple associations, including AQHA, NCHA and NRCHA. Within NRCHA, Rose earned more than $76,800 in the arena. The horseman will be missed by industry friends, and the NRCHA offers condolences to his wife, Pam, and daughter, Kristen.