20 minute read
The Working Lines
By Larry Thornton
. L. Underwood was one of the great breeders in the formative years of the American Quarter Horse Association. He was the third person to be the Association President. He was responsible for reestablishing the Copperbottom bloodlines that gave us horses like Cutter Bill, who is in the AQHA Hall of Fame. The Copperbottom’s were the second oldest family of quarter horses in the modern era. Underwood used a variety of bloodlines, including mares that were Weatherford Joe Bailey bred, and he crossed them on a variety of sire lines represented by stallions like Golden Chief, a Copperbottom stallion, and the outcross stallion Silvertone, the horse that finished second to Wimpy at the 1941 Fort Worth Stock Show when Wimpy received P-1. He also used Joe Bob by Joe Reed P-3 and a stallion named Tar Baby, a grandson of Joe Hancock.
Underwood had a sign on the side of his barn that read, “Quarter Horses Like Good Men Have Good Mothers.” As I have studied pedigrees, I have found this to be so true; as we look at good breeding programs, we find not only good stallions but good mares, and it just seems you can’t have it any other way. Last time in The Working Lines, we covered the evolution of the stallion roster at the Lauing Ranch Blue Valentine breeding program. This time we will look at the mare’s role in this breeding program by looking at several mares with some interesting breeding patterns that show how they are using these breeding patterns to produce good horses.
Our story will begin with the first purchase JD Lauing made in
his own story of the Lauing Ranch that started his pursuit of good R mares. Her name was Rainbows Kriste, a 1994 chestnut mare bred by Raymond and Georga Sutton of Gettysburg, South Dakota. JD tells how it came about, “We went to the Raymond and Georga Sutton sale, and my dad was looking at horses and visiting. So, I went around looking at horses, and when I came back, I had picked out two fillies: a bay filly and a chestnut filly. The bay filly was sired by Benito Bar Jack, a stud that they had. Then I picked Rainbow Kriste. I asked dad to go look at them, but he was looking for a stud prospect. Dad went and looked at them and he asked me if I wanted them, and I did, but I didn’t have enough money. So, he loaned me the money until I sold my calves.” The story continued, “I had a guy come up to me after the sale and say, young man, did you buy such and such lots, and it was the two fillies, and I said yes, he told me you bought the best two fillies in the sale. Dad told people that too. He told them that I had picked them out by myself. That is when I got my AQHA membership, and when these horses were registered in my name, I was on cloud nine, and I have been hooked ever since. I remember how I felt going there and bidding on them and how happy and excited I was and how excited I was when I got those papers in my name. I had riding geldings already, and so I bought both fillies to be broodmares. I wanted some mares of my own to start breeding horses.” Rainbows Kriste became the broodmare, and this is what JD had to say about her foals, “One thing about it, everybody that got one just really liked them; it didn’t matter if they were by Billy Star Pat
LEO HYDEL HANCOCK
blk ro 2002 QUARTER HORSE Lauing Ranch AQHA# 4241563
RED MAN JOE HANCOCK JOHN WILKINS
b 1906
b ro 1935 br 15.3 1923 BROWN HANCOCK MARE br
BLUE VALENTINEQUARTER HORSE BURNETT ROAN MARE bl ro 1956 #0001685 ro QUARTER HORSE BEAUTYS DREAMVALENTINE
LONE STAR
#0097116 blk 1938 blk 1927
ESCOBA
LEO HANCOCK HAYES
bl ro 15.2 1980 QUARTER HORSE HOLCAKS BEAUTY LON MARTIN #0001391 blk 1933
COLEEN MOORE
QUARTER HORSE AQHA#1683157
RIP RIP LEO JOE REED II
sor 1961 sor 14.2 1940
LITTLE FANNY
DOLL 01 QUARTER HORSE SUGAREE BARS SUGAR BARS sor 1970 #0157299 sor 1957
RANDLES LADY
br 1925 br 1924 blk 1913 ch 1920 ch 1936 b 1937 sor 1951 ch 1938
QUARTER HORSE ZAID A REED REEDART #0717186 sor 1964 sor 1959
ROBIN REED ARTEMIS
sor 15.2 1949 sor 1949
QUARTER HORSE MOLLY HAYES ZANDY sor 1934
#0407529 rd dun 1952 MARE BY TEXAS BLUE BONNETdun
LEO JOE REED II JOE REED
ch 1921
RIPS HYDEL GIRL
sor 1978 QUARTER HORSE #1432516 sor 14.2 1940 ch 1936
NELLENE
RIP RIP
QUARTER HORSE LITTLE FANNY JOE REED sor 1961 #0001335 b 1937
FANNY ASHWELL
QUARTER HORSE SUGAREE BARS SUGAR BARS #0157299 sor 1957 sor 1951
THREE BARS FRONTERA SUGAR
QUARTER HORSE RANDLES LADY DOC HORN #0078775 ch 1938
MARE BY SON OF D J
sor 1931 ch 1921 b 1914 ch 15.3 1940 pal 1943 ch 1921
BLUE VALENTINERED MAN JOE HANCOCK
br 15.3 1923 bl ro 1956 b ro 1935 BURNETT ROAN MARE ro HYDEL GIRL QUARTER HORSE BEAUTYS DREAM VALENTINE blk 1927 dun 1962 #0097116 blk 1938
HOLCAKS BEAUTY
blk 1933
QUARTER HORSE HYDEE REE TEXAS BLUE BONNET JOE HANCOCK
br 15.3 1923 #0239464 dun 1957 grul 1939 MARE BY MIKE BEETCH dun QUARTER HORSE BONNIE OWENS BARNEY OWENS ch 14.2 1929 #0079928 sor 1949
PRAIRIE FALCON
sor 1943
Main Photo LR Hancocks Rainbow
Doug Busby photo
Left LEO HYDEL HANCOCK
Main Photo LR Hancocks Star Pat
Doug Busby photo
Left BLUE BERRY MAID
Shannon Stroman photo
or Docs Semi-Automatic. And her daughter LR Hancocks Rainbow is one of our best Revue Hancock mares.” The success of Rainbows Kriste gave JD an idea for the Blue Valentine/Driftwood Heritage Sale. They designate a foal to be sold where the kid’s bid and the high bid buys the foal. That is how the Kid’s Bid came about.
JD may have bought two well-made fillies, but the pedigree of Rainbows Kriste shows he had good taste in pedigrees as well. The sire of Rainbow Kriste was Rainbow Rooster, who is the sire of Rainbow Gentleman, a show horse with 76.5 AQHA show points. He was a multiple world show qualifier in reining, working cow horse, and ranch sorting with ROMs in the open and amateur divisions. He was also an NRHA money winner.
Rainbow Rooster was sired by Rainbow Sage by Drifting Sage by Driftwood. The dam of Drifting Sage was Sage Hen by Waggoner by Midnight, a grandson of Peter McCue. Drifting Sage was a full brother to Henny Penny Peake, the legendary California Reined Cow Horse, and Poker Chip Peak, who was Dale Smith’s great roping gelding and considered by many to be the greatest rope horse of all time. The dam of Rainbow Sage was Miss Bar Vee by Julio’s Bar by Three Bars and out of G-Fern Deep Purple by Joe Barrett. Joe Barrett was a full brother to San Sue Darks the dam of Leo San by Leo and Sue Hunt, the dam of Continental King by King P-234.
The dam of Rainbow Rooster was Lady Rooster by Ready Rooster by Osage King by Black Jug by King P-234. Ready Jan was the dam of Ready Rooster. She was sired by Ready Money W by Red Star Joe. The dam of Lady Rooster was La Bella Girl by Elmore Paul by Paul A by Star Deck. The dam of Elmore Paul was Sugar Charlene by King George. The dam of La Bella Girl was Elmore Ho Belle by Ho Boy, and Ho Boy was out of Sugar Charlene by King George. The dam of Elmore Ho Belle was Follies by Yellow Dog and out of Sugar Charlene by King George. This gives La Belle Girl a breeding pattern of 2 x 3 x 3 to Sugar Charlene. King George is sired by Little Richard and out of China by Cardenal, making him a full brother to Peppy P-212, a famous King Ranch stallion.
The dam of Rainbows Kriste was Kriste Smooth by Mr Smooth One by Jet Smooth, the full brother to Easy Jet. The dam of Mr Smooth One is My Cute One by Super One by Super Cash by Spot Cash. Spot Cash was bred by Hank Wiescamp. The dam of Kriste Smooth was Kriste Royal by Cedar Bark by Tom Baker, and he was out of Cooper Lady by Roan Bar. Billy Two Hat the sire of the Lauing Ranch foundation sire was sired by Roan Bar and out of a Tom Baker mare. Kriste Royal was out of Boolark by Boogey Man.
Now that we have seen how JD got started with broodmares, let’s look at how his philosophy of selecting mares has evolved, “I am a big believer in more power. I believe in the mare lines. I’ve said for years that every good stud comes from a really good mare, and those really good mares come from a really good stud. So, if you look at a pedigree and you look at the maternal line, or you’re looking at the dam side and she is a really good mare, and you look at her sire. He was a good sire. That tail female line is very important also.”
The genetic aspect of this philosophy comes into view when we look at a sire, and his role as a broodmare sire, and the influence his dam has on his foals, especially his daughters. When we look at a stallion, we see that the sex chromosomes that make him a male are the X and Y chromosomes. He inherits his X from his dam. When he sires a daughter, he passes his dam’s X to his daughter. That makes the sire’s dam important in building a pedigree, especially on the dam side of the pedigree. That is one reason why a stallion’s dam is important to the breeder.
LR HANCOCKS STAR PAT
We saw that the development of the foundation of the Lauing breeding program started with Billy Star Pat, a son of Billy Two Hat and out of Watch Joy by Watch Joe Jack. This stallion supplied using horses and mares for the broodmare band. One of the mares in the program today is LR Hancocks Star Pat, that has ties to Billy Star Pat.
JD tells her story this way, “The year LR Hancocks Star Pat was born, she was one of my favorites. She was a standout baby her size, her looks, the way she moved, everything about her. She was a Revue Hancock out of a double Billy Star Pat mare. On the bottom side, her granddam Billys Star Belle goes back to Lauings Bar Moon by Kipasono and out of Bar Belle Coble by Macs Cat. We owned Kipasono; he was a palomino horse. Dad had him on the track for a while. Dad bought the Bar Belle Coble mare. She was the mare that dad used to get our 40th consecutive year of breeding. Dad bought her at a farm sale, and she was the best mare in the sale.
The dam of LR Hancocks Pat was Star Like Pat; she was a double-bred Billy Star Pat mare. He explains how this double breeding came about, “We had a bunch of those Billy Star Pat daughters. They were nice big quarter-type mares. They were built right and had a good head, good eye, a good foot, and good bone on them. They rode good. They were really nice horses. We went looking for a stud for these mares and just couldn’t find what we wanted, and so when it was time to turn the stud out, dad said turn the old stud out with those Billy Star Pat mares.”
JD recalled his feelings about this move, “I remember I strongly disagreed with it. I didn’t want to breed the stud back to his daughters it was too close. Dad went ahead, and he even registered them.”
The doubt apparently went away as he professed, “My personal gelding I rode at this point was one of them, and he was probably one of the best geldings I rode. So, looking back, when he made that decision, it was a great decision. I might have thought it wasn’t a great decision at the time, but it was.”
He continued, “So when we crossed her on Revue Hancock, we sold the mother and kept the daughter LR Hancocks Star Pat. She is still producing for us, and she is a big kind mare that has huge, massive babies every year. She is one of my favorite Revue mares.”
The inbreeding in the tail female line is very common as we look back into the pedigree of many horses. This inbreeding sets the foundation for the pedigree. It also sets up the scenario for hybrid vigor. We see that Star Like Pat by Billy Star Pat and out of Billy Star Belle by Billy Star Pat produces a more homozygous genetic makeup with a breeding pattern of 1 X 2 to Billy Star Pat. Then they outcross that on horses like Revue Hancock, a horse with a linebreeding pattern of 4 x 5 x 4 to Blue Valentine and a breeding pattern of 6 x 5 x 7 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 7 x 9 x 8 x 5 to Joe Hancock. This cross produces a hybrid pedigree that can then be bred back into the gene pool, continuing to linebred to Blue Valentine.
BLUE BERRY MAID
The story of Blue Berry Maid shows how a stallion that you can’t get bought can influence a breeding program. JD will fill us in, “Blue Berry Maid was a mare that I had followed her sire Blues Wyo Rip and his full brothers for quite a few years and had talked to Jason Deckert, and they were out of one of his great mares Wyo Maid. We bought this filly sight unseen at one of their sales.”
He further explained, “Blues Wyo Rip was by Leo Hancock Hayes, and out of Wyo Maid by Wyo Kid Curry by Rip, and out of
Chucker Maid by Gooseberry. Her dam Blues Maid was by Plenty Try, and out of Chucker Maid, so she was double Chucker Maid, and she had some really good dam lines all the way through.”
“I had tried talking to Jason numerous times about buying one of those Leo Hancock Hayes/Wyo Maid horses, and this filly was in this sale. We talked to him about this filly, and he said to take her home and let her grow up. She will be a little bit smaller, and if you wait four or five years, she will be big and thick, and she is now a big old apple bottom mare. We bought her, and she was exactly like Jason said, and then she blossomed. She is probably 15 to 15.1 hands. She is a deep-cinched mare with a big ole rear end on her.
This pedigree shows that Blue Berry Maid is linebred to Gooseberry with a breeding pattern of 4 x 3 x 3. Gooseberry who was sired by Blue Valentine and out of the great mare Fox Hastings by Plenty Coup. But this time, we have an added feature in that Blue Berry Maid is linebred to Chucker Maid, a daughter of Gooseberry, and Chuckkar Maid 45 by Mandy’s Dart and out of Chuckkar Maid by Texas Blue Bonnet. The second aspect of this linebreeding to Chucker Maid appears in the tail female line of Blues Wyo Rip and the tail female line of her dam Blues Maid. The dam of Blues Wyo Rip is Wyo Maid, a half-sister to Blues Maid, the dam of Blue Berry Maid. The dam of these two mares is Chucker Maid. The breeding pattern we see here is called The Formula One Breeding Pattern. This pattern happens when the sire and the dam both trace to the same mare in the tail female line. This mare is the Taproot Mare of this line, and that mare is Chucker Maid.
The Formula One Breeding Pattern has been seen in horses like Be A Bono, the 2004 AQHA Racing World Champion. His second dam is Sereniad is, sired by Sir Rambler, and her dam is Keynesian, and they both trace in the tail female line to Bunny’s Bar Maid, a daughter of Black Easter Bunny, a daughter of Flicka, a mare linebred Joe Moore by Little Joe and out of Della Moore. Then we see that the sire of Be A Bono is Bono Jazz, that traces in his tail female line to Bunny’s Bar Maid and on to the great Flicka. Don’t Stopp Twice, the 2022 NCHA Non-Pro Horse of the Year, also carries the Formula One Breeding pattern as his sire Don’t Stopp Believin and his dam Don’t Happen Twice both trace to the great mare Tap O Lena in their tail female line. Tap O Lena is the tap root mare.
The genetic philosophy behind the Formula One Breeding Pattern is that we all inherit our Mitochondrial DNA from our mother. The Mitochondria DNA forms the mitochondria, and that is where we develop our energy for our cells to function. They inherit the Mitochondrial DNA directly from the dam, and so, in essence, she provides the powerhouse for our energy to function on the cellular level. By doing this, the individual inherits this from his mother, and thus we see a lot of the great mares that show up in the tail female line.
When we breed a stallion that is from the same female family as the mare he is being bred to, we keep that Mitochondrial DNA in the foals produced by that stallion as the stallion doesn’t pass his Mitochondrial DNA on to his foals. We see that happening here with Blue Maid Berry as she is from the tail female line of Blues Wyo Rip, a horse that JD wanted in his breeding program. A factor he wouldn’t have had by using one of the full brothers he wanted in his program.
LEO HYDEL HANCOCK
JD tells us the following about our next mare, “Leo Hydel Hancock is a blue roan mare born in 2002, and she is 20 years old and bred by Sam Shoultz. We bought her in Sam’s sale in 2014. The really cool thing about her is she is not only a Leo Hancock Hayes daughter, but she is out of Rips Hydel Girl, a full sister to Wyo Kid Curry. A lot of people were looking for Blue Valentine through Wyo Kid Curry at this time. The fact that Rips Hydel Girl being a full sister to Wyo Kid Curry was important and interesting to us.”
He continued, “The other thing that caught my eye was Blue Valentine on the sire side of her pedigree crossed on Rip Rip, and on the dam side of the pedigree was Rip Rip crossed on Blue Valentine. So she is double double with those generations opposite.”
JD also pointed this out, “One of the coolest things I look at on her pedigree is Hydel Girl, which is Blue Valentine on Hydee Ree with Hydel Girl being the maternal granddam of Leo Hydel Hancock. You don’t find that very often where it shows up that close. The only time I see the blood of Hydel Girl is on the back side of Rowdys Blue Man’s pedigree, and his dam Hydel Girl 44 is a half-sister to Hydel Girl.”
The third thing he brought out was, “That mare being 37½% Blue Valentine and 37½% Rip Rip was significant. She still has Rip Rip on her papers twice, and he will be on her baby’s papers as well as Blue Valentine twice and still be on her papers for her babies along with Hydel Girl. She also has Leo and Sugaree Bars on her papers. So, with the old Hydee Ree from 1957 on her papers and the others, we find that everything on her papers is all old blood, and that gets you close to that blood.”
A genetic reason for using the “old blood” is that you are trying to maintain the blood of a common ancestor or ancestors we want in our breeding program. This mare allows us to move this important blood forward in the pedigree, thus helping us maintain a high relationship to those common ancestors and our pursuit to get keep that blood relevant in the breeding program.
Another genetic factor in this pedigree deals with a nick. A nick is the phenomenon that happens when a stallion crosses with mares from another bloodline producing outstanding foals. One of the great nicks was the cross of Leo and the Joe Hancock mare Julie W. The mating of Julie W with Leo was so successful that Bud Warren, the owner, and breeder of horses like Flit, the dam of the famous barrel sire Flit Bar, professed that it was the success of this cross that led to many mares of Joe Hancock breeding being bred to Leo. When you study the Blue Valentine bloodline, you see the blood of Leo in the mares, as demonstrated by Leo Hancock Hayes, who is sired by Blue Valentine and out of a mare by Rip Rip by Leo.
The second part of this successful nick for Blue Valentine shows up on both sides of the pedigree. This time we look at the sire Leo Hancock Hayes being by Blue Valentine and out of the Rip Rip mare Doll 01. Then we look at the dam of Leo Hydel Hancock, and we see that her dam is Rips Hydel Girl by Rip Rip and out of Hydel Girl by Blue Valentine. So we have a double breeding to the Blue Valentine/Rip Rip nick, but the two stallions reverse their position in the pedigree. This allows the breeder to line breed to the nick and then take advantage of sex-linked genes using a male ancestor Blue Valentine/Rip Rip cross and then the reverse with a female ancestor of the Rip Rip/Blue Valentine cross. This aids the breeder in getting the sex-linked genes associated with the male side of the ledger and female side of the leger for the cross. It gives the pedigree a more complete or greater opportunity to get the genes of the common ancestor into the individual being produced.
He said this about how this mare has fit into the breeding program, “We bought her at the Kesa sale, and since we bought her, we have not sold a baby of hers. I tell people she is the kind of mare you can build a program around anyone of her babies.
We have just touched the iceberg with the Lauing mares. I picked these mares at random, but they all show some of the aspects of how the mare’s pedigree plays a role in the breeding program. A breeding program that is continually striving to keep the blood of Blue Valentine the common ancestor pertinent in their breeding program.
@SHERYL MORTON
