The Working Lines

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

he review of Harlan’s ped-

Tigree we made in the last installment of “The Working

Lines” laid the foundation for the significance of this stallion becoming a breeding horse for Bob

Robey. Robey had bought this colt because he thought he would make a good roping gelding. But after some research, he opted to use Harlan to breed some colts as one of the last sons of Hank H and the last son of the great mare Dixie Beach. The proof of that decision will come as we look at how the Harlan foals made a significant contribution to this great horse going into the AQHA Hall of Fame. We will do that by profiling several key mares that were a part of the Harlan legacy. Harlan sired 403 registered foals with 155 performers. These 155 performers earned 1,123 AQHA halter points, 1,873 AQHA performance points, 51 Register of Merit, 17 AQHA Championships, 13 Superior Awards; one World Championship; three Reserve World Championships, and four AQHA High Point Awards. Harlan was the AQHA leading Get of Sire stallion for the years 1965 and 1966. The foals of Harlan earned $15,241.52 in NCHA cutting contests. On the racetrack, he sired two ROM runners from six starters.

One of the first mares that came into Harlan’s life was Oklahoma Rosie. This 1947 buckskin mare was a Robey broodmare. Robey reported the following, “Oklahoma Rosie was one of the first mares we bought. She was by Billy Van W. He was quite a horse in this country. He sired a lot of good rodeo horses. He was a good reining horse.” Billy Van W was sired by Budweiser by Waggoner. This is the Waggoner sired by Midnight. Waggoner was out of a daughter of Yellow Wolf. Yellow Wolf was the sire of Beetch’s Yellow Jacket, the sire of Dixie Beach, the dam of Harlan. This gives Harlan and Oklahoma Rosie a genetic tie through Yellow Wolf. The dam of Budweiser was a mare named Montie sired by a thoroughbred named Van Dorn. Van Dorn was a thoroughbred sired by G. W. Johnson.

The dam of Billy Van W was Electra, a Waggoner bred mare. Electra was sired by Clover Leaf, a Waggoner stallion sired by Fleeting Time. The AQHA Internet Records lists the dam of Clover Leaf as a Waggoner mare. Andrea Mattson, in her book ROOTS, FOUNDATION QUARTER HORSE BLOODLINES, lists the dam of Clover Leaf as a “Dun Spanish Mare.” The pedigree of the Dun Spanish Mare is unknown.

Robey continued about this mare’s influence on his breeding program, “Oklahoma Rosie was a little buckskin mare that I roped calves on. Most of the big end of our mares go back to Rosie. I don’t think she ever had a daughter that didn’t produce something. Her colts were good lookin horses, and they could do things.”

Oklahoma Rosie was the dam of nine foals with five performers with four arena ROM, 2 AQHA Champions, and one Superior performer. The first Oklahoma Rosie foal was Oklahoma Hank by Harlan. This 1956 dun stallion became an ROM performer in the AQHA with 30 perfor-

TUFF OKLAHOMA HARLAN 2009 QUARTER HORSE DOUBLE TOUGH HARLAN

buck 1997

QUARTER HORSE

HARLA RED ROSE

sor 1995

QUARTER HORSE

AQHA # 3407405

HARLAN OKMULGEE HARLAN

HANK H

buck 1972 buck 1951

DIXIE BEACH

JODIE BOB HARLAN QUARTER HORSE QUARTER MULGEE VS QUARTER BOY buck 1992 AQHA#0845611 b 1962 VS MISS OKMULGE QUARTER HORSE HARLETTAS IMAGE TRIPLES IMAGE TRIPLE CHICK AQHA#3129604 b 1985 sor 15.2 1969 PHFFFT QUARTER HORSE RED HARLETTA HARLAN AQHA#2296260 buck 1968

RED RIVER ROSE

HARLANDER HARLAN

HANK H

BRIANS BETA

b 1957 buck 1951

DIXIE BEACH

sor 14.2 1974 QUARTER HORSE LITTLE SUE III SAN SIEMON QUARTER HORSE #0073088 sor 1944 LITTLE SUE 1059800 GAYLES ROPER ROPER BOY KING sor 1959 sor 14.2 1947

QUARTER HORSE DIAMOND L b 1947

TOPSAIL CODY JOE CODY

JOE ANN K BLACK DIAMOND RIO BELL 8 BILL CODY

ch 1977 sor 15.0 1952

TABOO

TOPSAIL HARLAN QUARTER HORSE DOC BAR LINDA DOC BAR br 1988 #1275074 ch 1967 BETTYS MOUNT QUARTER HORSE ROSANNA HARLANA HARLAN AQHA-2756870 buck 1967 buck 1951

HANK H DIXIE BEACH

QUARTER HORSE OKLAHOMA ROSIE BILLY VAN W buck 1947

E Z

HEIR APPARENT JET DECK

MOON DECK

b 1972 b 1960

MISS NIGHT BAR

OKLAHOMA HEIRESS QUARTER HORSE QUINCY ROCKET ROCKET BAR b 1978 #0851795 sor 1966 LEOCITA QUARTER HORSE YELLOW HANKIE PRINCE HANK HANK H pal 1957 sor 1951 PRINCESS ANN BRADLEY QUARTER HORSE OKLAHOMA ROSIE BILLY VAN W #0096725 buck 1947 E Z

Harlan showing his conformation from the front.

Photo Courtesy Jon Mixer

Harlander

Photo Courtesy Carl Mills

top photo | Harlan showed his prowess as a sire through the Get of Sire Class. He was the leading get of sire in 1965 & 1966. Photo Courtesy Carl Mills

Harlan’s Tyree with owner Carl Mills Photo Courtesy Carl Mills

mance points and three halter points. He was an NCHA Certificate of Ability winner with $2,394.54 in earnings. The next Oklahoma Rosie foal was Yellow Hankie by Prince Hank. Prince Hank was a son of Hank H. This makes Prince Hank a paternal half-brother to Harlan. Yellow Hankie was unshown in the AQHA, but she was the dam of 15 foals with 11 performers. Her performers include Mr Troubler, winner of 32 AQHA performance points and 1 halter point. Mr Troubler was sired by Mr. Trouble by Parker’s Trouble. Okie Rosie was out of Yellow Hankie and sired by Okie Leo. This mare earned the NCHA Certificate of Ability with $3,037.15 in earnings. Yellow Hankie was the dam of several racing ROM performers. This list of race foals is headed by Oklahoma Fuel, an AAA-rated runner that set a track record for 220 yards in:12.12 seconds. This outstanding runner earned a 108-speed index and a Superior in racing. He had 41 starts with 15 wins, 8 seconds, and 1 third. He was a stakes winner in the 1981 Kickoff Futurity and the 1981 Midway Futurity.

The next Oklahoma Rosie foal we will profile is Harlaquita by Harlan. This mare became an AQHA Champion with 14 halter points and 38 performance points. She was an NCHA money earner with $840.92. Harlaquita is the dam of Harlaquita Holly by King Holly Bar. This horse has an ROM in the arena with 13 performance points.

Joan Rose was a 1962 foal by Harlan and out of Oklahoma Rosie. This mare has no show or produce record in the AQHA. The Next foal was Trouble Rose by Mr. Trouble. This mare was foaled in 1962, and she has no AQHA show record. Her produce record includes the mare Tammie Wynette, by Harlan. This mare was Superior in Western Pleasure and an AQHA Champion. She had her ROM with 66 performance points and 20 halter points. She also had two Grand Championships and one Reserve Grand Championship at halter. The produce record of Tammie Wynette shows that she is the dam of Special Man, an AQHA Superior Western Pleasure Horse with 86 performance points and ten halter points. This horse had two Grand Championships and four Reserve Grand Championships in halter. A second performer out of this mare is Police Woman. This mare was Superior in Western Pleasure and has earned 90 performance points.

Oklahoma Rosie foaled Okie Leo Rose by Okie Leo in 1966. This mare was a top-roping mare with over 100 AQHA points and a Superior in Calf Roping. This mare found her way into the AQHA High Point Top Ten three times (1972,1973,1975). She was in the AQHA World Championship Top Ten in Calf Roping in 1975.

Oklahoma Rosie went back to the court of Harlan to produce Rosanna Harlan in 1967. This mare earned 9 AQHA performance points. She was the dam of Topsail Harlan, an AQHA ROM show horse with 27 points. Her second performer was Topsail Goldspinner, an ROM show horse with 13.5 points. Both of these performers were sired by Topsail Cody. The last foal out of Oklahoma Rosie was Scooter Rose Ed by Scooter Ed. This mare earned one performance point, and she was the dam of one-point earner in Codie Rose by Topsail Cody. This show horse earned four performance points.

Up to this point, we omitted one Oklahoma Rosie foal named Red River Rose. This mare was foaled in 1959 and sired by Roper Boy by King P-234. She was an AQHA Champion that had her performance ROM. She earned 12 performance points and 21 halter points. The halter record includes two Grand Championships and three Reserve Grand Championships. The leading performer out of Red River Rosie was Red Sada by Jim Harlan Jr who was sired by Jim Harlan by Harlan. His dam was Sandsarita. Red Sada earned three halter points with one Grand Championship and one Reserve Grand Championship. Red Harletta was a daughter of Red River Rosie, that was sired by Harlan. This mare plays an interesting role in the influence of Harlan. She is the dam of Top Sail Harletta, an NRHA money winner, and the earner of 2.5 performance points. Red Harletta is the dam of Harletta’s Image by Triple’s Image. This mare is the dam of Jodie Bob Harlan.

Red Harletta is also the dam of Shesa Brick House. This mare is the dam of 15 foals with eight performers. These performers include Bouncys Doll House. This mare has earned 156.5 open performance points 127 amateur performance points with superiors in open heading, open heeling, and amateur heeling. This record shows that she was second in the AQHA open top ten High Point list in heading in 1994, 10th in open heeling in 1994, and second in the amateur top ten in 1994. Mr. Harlan Hancock is a 1995 Buckskin stallion that is out of Shesa Brick House and sired by Bouncy Mac 3. This stallion was a 2002 AQHA World Show qualifier that has earned 203.5 AQHA open points with Superiors in Heeling and Heading. He was a 2000 World Show top ten finalist in Junior Heading.

The sire of Shesa Brick House takes us to another outstanding mare in the life of Harlan. The sire of Shesa Brick House was Rey Hank 74. This son of Bradley’s Hank by Harlan was out of Sandsarita. Sandsarita has been an integral part of Harlan’s influence on the modern quarter horse. Added note: You will notice that Shesa Brick House is 3 X 2 inbred to Harlan. Her sire was Rey Hank 74 by Bradley’s Hank by Harlan. Her dam was Red Harletta by Harlan.

We’ll let Robey tell us how he came to own Sandsarita, “Ralph Eagle and Pete Reynolds of Alabama sent 13 mares to Harlan. There was one Chubby mare, and the rest were Rey mares. They had one little brown mare named Toughy’s Little Sister, and they had her mother, an old mare named Reina Chica. I thought they were two of the best mares that I had ever seen. I really liked them.”

He continued, “Toughy’s Little Sister had a bay filly. So, I told Ralph I would trade him the best Harlan filly I got that spring for that filly. We had an old Grey Badger mare, and she had a sorrel filly; I believe we named her Harlue. I traded her to Ralph for Sandsarita. We called Sandsarita Toughy.”

The Ralph Eagle and Pete Reynolds are two names that are familiar to those interested in the life of Sugar Bars. Pete Reynolds was the breeder of Frontera Sugar, the dam of Sugar Bars.

Sandsarita was sired by Sanddrift by Wimpy P-1. Wimpy P-1 was sired by Solis by Old Sorrel. The dam of Solis was a mare the AQHA calls Mother of Solis, and she was sired by Right Royal, a thoroughbred. The dam of Wimpy P-1 was Panda by Old Sorrel. Her dam was a Roan Mare by Hickory Bill. Hickory Bill was also the sire of Old Sorrel. This gives Wimpy P-1 a 3 X 3 X 3 breeding pattern to Hickory Bill.

The dam of Sanddrift was La Tachita by Naughty Boy III by *Naughty Boy 2nd. The dam fo La Tachita was the Tacho Saenz Mare. The Tacho Saenz mare is a strong King Ranch mare line through La Tachita. La Tachita is the dam of Tachita Dos, who is the dam of Tachita Tercera. This line of mares has produced such great King Ranch cutting horses as Teninos Tacho, $170,370, and Peppys Tachita, $132,326.

Toughy’s Little Sister was sired by Rey. Rey was sired by Captain’s Courageous, a thoroughbred sired by Stimulus. The dam of Rey was Goldie by Red Landados by another thoroughbred named Landados. Reina Chica was sired by a horse called the Tom Beall Horse. He was sired by Albert by Hickory Bill. This makes Sandsarita 5 X 5 X 5 X 5 line-bred to Hickory Bill.

Sandsarita was foaled in 1958, and she started her produced record in 1961 with an unshown foal by Harlan named Bart Harlan. Her second foal was Jim Harlan Jr. This is the stallion that sired the performer Red Sada, who was out of Red River Rose. Jim Harlan Jr was ROM in the arena with 9.5 performance points and three halter points.

The most significant contribution made by Sandsarita to the legacy of Harlan came with her son Harlan’s Tyree. This 1963 buckskin stallion was a top performer that earned his Superior in halter, an AQHA Championship, an ROM, and 99 halter points with 73 performance points. He was the 1966 AQHA High Point Western Pleasure Stallion. This good stallion earned 26 Grand Championships and 23 Reserve Grand Championships in halter. He had 77 halter wins in 81 shows.

Harlan’s Tyree was bred by Bob Robey and owned by Carl Mills, a Harlan Syndicate member. The sad part of this story comes with the fact that Harlan’s Tyree sired only 121 registered foals, with only 34 of these foals shown. The 34 foals earned 17 performance ROM; three AQHA Championships; two Superior Awards; two AQHA Reserve World Championships; and three AQHA High Point Awards. His leading point earners were Tyree’s Pistol, Miss Tyrita, and Tyree’s Fancy Gal. Tyree’s Pistol earned 197 open performance points and 125 youth performance points. His titles include an AQHA Youth Reserve World Championship in heading in 1977 and 1976, and in 1977 he was the AQHA Youth High Point Steer Roping Horse. Miss Tyrita was the 1975 Youth Reserve World Champion Heeling Horse; 1973 AQHA High Point Open Steer Roping Horse; 1972 AQHA High Point Junior Steer Roping Horse. This mare was Superior in Steer Roping. This mare earned 13 halter points, 188 open performance points, and 21 youth performance points. Tyree’s Fancy Gal earned 26 open halter points, 51 open performance points, 24 youth halter points, and 246 youth performance points. This gave her three youth performance ROMs and one open performance ROM. She was a fourth-place finalist in the 1973 AQHA Youth World Show Showmanship class.

The daughters of Harlan’s Tyree have been good producers as well. They have produced 434 foals with 59 performers to date. Of these 59 performers, 43 have been point earners. The leading producing daughter would have to be Ima Tyree. This 1970 buckskin mare is the dam of Two Eyed Tyree, Watch Joe Tyree, and Two Eyed Red Buck. These three performers have earned 731 AQHA points with 6 AQHA Superior Awards in events like halter, heading, heeling and western pleasure.

The next foal out of Sandsarita was Trouble Ette. This 1964 mare was sired by Mr. Trouble. She was unshown in the AQHA. Her greatest claim to fame comes as the dam of Harlan’s Trouble by Harlan. Harlan’s Trouble earned 109 AQHA open performance points and 177 AQHA youth performance points. He was Superior in open heeling, youth heading and youth heeling. He was an AQHA Youth World Champion in heeling and an AQHA Youth Reserve World Champion in heading respectively in 1984 and 1980.

The other Harlan foal out of Sandsarita was Harlan’s Tough. This 1966 chestnut stallion earned 14 AQHA halter points. Sandsarita produced two foals by Bradley’s Hank by Harlan. The first was a gelding named Red Hank 73 and the other was Rey Hank 74, the sire of Shesa Brick House.

The next mare that we will look at in this review will be Oklacue. This 1965 mare was sired by Star Bright Moore. This mare was owned by Carl Mills, the owner of Harlan’s Tyree. Star Bright Moore was sired by Star Deck by Oklahoma Star P-6. The dam of Star Bright Moore was Suwanee by Bert P-227. Bert was out of Lady Coolidge, the full sister to Dixie Beach. This gives Harlan and Oklacue an interesting genetic tie between them between the full sisters’ Dixie Beach and Lady Coolidge with a breeding pattern of 2 X 5 to these two great mares. The dam of Oklacue was Sally McCue by Jack McCue by Peter McCue. The dam of Sally McCue was Babie by Jack McCue. This makes Sally McCue 1 X 2 inbred to Jack McCue.

Oklacue was the dam of Miss Harlacue by Harlan. This mare was the 1976 AQHA High Point Tie-Down Roping Horse. She earned 89 calf roping points and 11 reining points. She was Superior in calf roping and a six-time top ten finalist in the AQHA World Show in the open and youth divisions. Oklacue was the dam of several very good Harlan’s Tyree foals, including Miss Tyrita that we used above to profile the sire record of this good son of Harlan.

One last great mare that we will be able to look at in this material was the mare that Bob Robey called “the best-bred mare to be bred to Harlan.” This mare was Little Sue III. This mare was a full sister to San Sue Darks, the dam of Leo San and Sue Hunt, the dam of Continental King. These horses were sired by San Siemon and out of Little Sue by Sam Watkins by Hickory Bill. It has to be noted that Sam Watkins was the sire of Tommy Clegg, the sire of Bert P-227. Little Sue III was the dam of Harlander.

Harlander was remembered this way by Robey, “There is no telling how many good roping horses Harlander sired.” He went on to explain, “Twenty years ago, 3/4 of these cowboys couldn’t tell you what the breeding was on the horses they were riding, but Harlander had his share.” Harlander did sire 37 AQHA performers that earned four AQHA Championships, four Superior awards, and 13 ROM performers. His foals earned 961.8 points. His leading performer was Moe’s Barney, who won three superior awards. Harlander has proven to be another key horse in the legacy of Harlan.

HARLAN AND LINEBREEDING When Harlan died, Bob developed two stallions that would replace Harlan as his senior sire. The first was Harlan Okmulgee and then his son Jodie Bob Harlan. Harlan Okmulgee was sired by Harlan and out of Quarter Mulgee by V’s Quarter Moon. The dam of Jodie Bob Harlan was

The Harlan Syndicate of Bob Robey, Carl Mills, Jim Nance and Huddy Hudspeth

Jodie Bob Harlan

Harlettas Image by Triples Image. She was out of Red Harletta by Harlan, and her dam was Red River Rose. These two stallions and the mares we have profiled here were key players in the linebreeding to Harlan that we see today.

Benny and Susan Scarberry of Clinton, Arkansas bred their mare Shesa Texas Risk to Jodie Bob Harlan; they got Harlans Bobbi Joe. This mare earned 344 AQHA roping points earning superiors in heading, heeling, and tie-down roping to become an AQHA Performance Champion. Shesa Texas Risk was sired by Harlans Te N Te by Te N Te, and he was out of Miss Harlan by Harlan. The dam of Miss Harlan was Leo San Ann by Harlan. This mare has a breeding pattern of 3 X 4 X 4 X 5 to Harlan. Bobbi Jo Harlan is the dam of Bobby Glo Harlan, the 2020 AQHA World Champion Junior Heeling Horse.

Tuff Oklahoma Harlan is a 2009 gelding bred by Bob Robey. This horse has been a consistent 1-D barrel horse, and his pedigree will show how Bob used linebreeding in his program to continue the legacy of Harlan. Tuff Oklahoma Harlan is sired by Double Tough Harlan by Jodie Bob Harlan by Harlan Okmulgee by Harlan. The dam of Jodie Bob Harlan was Harlettas Image by Triples Image, and her dam was Red Harletta by Harlan and out of Red River Rose. The dam of Double Tough Harlan was Brian’s Beta, who was sired by Harlander by Harlan, who was out of Little Sue III by San Siemon. The dam of Tuff Oklahoma Harlan was Harla Red Rose by Topsail Harlan, who was out of Rosanna Harlan by Harlan and out of Oklahoma Rosie. The dam of Harla Red Rose was Oklahoma Heiress by Heir Apparent and out of Yellow Hankie a daughter of Oklahoma Rosie. This gives Tuff Oklahoma Harlan a breeding pattern of 4 X 5 X 4 X 4 to Harlan, a 5 X 6 X 5 X 5 X 5 to Hank H, and a 6 X 4 X 4 to Oklahoma Rosie. When we look at the pedigree, we see that Jodie Bob Harlan, Harlettas Image, Red Harletta, Harla Red Rose, Topsail Harlan, Oklahoma Heiress, Yellow Hankie, and Roseanna Harlana were all bred by Bob and/or Joan Robey.

Now we see the significance of Bob Robey’s decision to use Harlan as a breeding stallion. He could have been a very good roping gelding, but he has turned out to be a very good sire that has left a legacy of not only a sire of roping horses but horses in all phases of the quarter horse. Thanks, Bob; we are glad you changed your mind.

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.

After five decades of sales, Bill and Carol Smith will be hanging up their spurs.

If you have never been to one of their sales, don’t miss this opportunity. Now is the time!

You will find a great selection of top quality horses, and two amazing people.

At thirty years of age BC (before children), when I had disposable income, I bought my gelding, TJ, at their sale.

TJ was an awesome gelding who took me to many wins. He was exactly how Bill represented him. That began a 30 year friendship.

I feel blessed to have known both of them. For the last seven years, we at the Working Horse Magazine, have been fortunate to serve them with their advertising and promotional needs.

Bill and Carol.....THANK YOU!!

Wishing you the best,

Mike Gerbaz & the Working Horse Family