Ahead of His Time: Hall of Fame Stallion Impulsions Still Siring Champions
Lifelong horseman Joe Mizzi always admired the strong and stunning chestnut stallion Impulsions. When developing a wish list of potential sires, who among us has not considered with longing the sires and bloodlines of days gone by. For years, those dreams were simply dreams. But recent advances in science and breeding, like intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), have opened doors to many new possibilities in equine reproduction. You might say that science has allowed the old to become new again and Joe Mizzi believes that is a great thing for the pleasure horse industry.
Though he never owned the horse during his lifetime, when the opportunity came about to purchase frozen semen from Impulsions, Mizzi jumped at the chance. “I knew he had sired many great horses, including A Sudden Impulse,” Mizzi shares. As fate would have it, Impulsions’ owners Kelli and Brad McCamy had frozen semen still available and offered to sell it to Mizzi. Initially, Mizzi only intended to breed his own mares, but soon interest started to grow. “We had people inquire about breeding outside mares, and we knew from the beginning that we wanted to do it the right way,” says Mizzi.
Given the time that has elapsed since Impulsions passing in 2011, it’s understandable that only a limited number of frozen straws of semen exist. “It is a limited supply,” explains Mizzi. “The breedings are restricted to ICSI, but we are seeing good success rates. It’s been very potent. The frozen straws last a long time without degradation.” He emphasizes that, “Impulsions was a great breeding stallion when he was alive. The motility of his sperm was very high. Given the number of breeding facilities around the country that now specialize in ICSI, the opportunity to use frozen semen from stallions like Impulsions is becoming more mainstream.”
Mizzi believes that introducing classic bloodlines back into the gene pool could offer the breed many
benefits. “One of the reasons I’m really interested in promoting Impulsions is that I think he offers things that some of our modern pleasure horses don’t offer,” he says. Mizzi believes that three of Impulsions defining characteristics are integral to enhancing today’s pleasure horses—bone, longevity, and grit.
He says, “I think we’ve gotten away from breeding horses with great bone. When I look at Impulsions’ babies and the horses from his era, they had more substance and bone. We’re not seeing horses show with the longevity Impulsions and his counterparts had. His offspring were showing well into their teens and many into their twenties. Impulsions had exceptional hock conformation, and he passed that on to his offspring.”
Grit and stamina, in Mizzi’s view, are essential for horses to compete in today’s rigorous environment. While today’s pleasure horses are known for their quiet demeanors and excellent minds, he believes Impulsions can help infuse stamina back into the gene pool. “We have great minded horses today, but I think a lot of them lack the grit to compete in tough environments. Today’s shows are grueling with multiple splits and not all modern pleasure horses can handle that—they run out. Impulsions babies have a lot of stamina and mental toughness,” says Mizzi.
“I really believe that he passes on a lot of valuable characteristics for people that want to have a quality pleasure horse that they can enjoy for a long time,” Mizzi shares. “I have to believe in something, and I believe we’re on the right track with this.
Bringing back valuable genes like Impulsions will improve the pleasure horse industry and have a positive impact on the horse community.”
Foaled in 1987, Impulsions’ impact on the horse community and AQHA pleasure industry was undeniable during his lifetime. In 1988, Brad and Kelli McCamy purchased the yearling stallion sired by The Invester and out of the mare Randados Rosa. The young stallion experienced early success in the two-year-old western pleasure arena with consistent performances that earned him an early fan following. The crowning achievement of his first show season came at the 1989 AQHA World Show when he and Kelli unanimously won the Two-YearOld Western Pleasure World Championship. At the time, it was the first time a woman had won the prestigious two-year-old class at the World Show.
As a three-year-old Impulsions continued his winning ways. Unanimously winning the prestigious Solid Gold Futurity. He went on to earn the championship in the Three-Year-Old Derby at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress, impressively winning all three go-rounds. He was retired from showing at the end of that year, having effectively earned every major western pleasure title. During his show career, Impulsions earned more than $35,000.
Impulsions passed on his charisma, heart, and talent. His first foals earned multiple futurity titles and top ten achievements at both the 1993 Congress and World Show. Notably that year, four two-year-olds placed in the top ten of the futurity at the AQHA World Show. In 1994, A Sudden Impulse was named World Champion in Junior Western Pleasure and Impulse Me was the high money earning horse all ages for NSBA. Both horses were from the sire’s first foal crop.
His success as a sire continued. Impulsions became one of the leading sires for both AQHA and NSBA. His offspring have earned multiple AQHA World and Congress Championships in addition to many APHA and Appaloosa World Championships. In 2004, Impulsions was inducted into the NSBA Hall of Fame as both a show horse and a sire, making him one of only five horses in western pleasure history to be inducted in both categories. In
2006, AQHA listed him as an all-time leading sire of performance register of merit qualifiers. He sired over 254-point earners in all divisions combined, with his foals earning over 22,000 total points. His foals earned $393,890.20 in Incentive Fund earnings, and over $679,000 in futurity earnings.
“Impulsions was really ahead of his time,” says Mizzi. He cites that many of the stallion’s offspring, now in their twenties, are still showing successfully today. “I have a filly by him and she is out of the youngest living daughter of Zippo Jack Bar—they’re extraordinarily classic bloodlines.” Impulsions crossed well on
Zippo Pine Bar Mares and Speedy Glo mares according to Mizzi.
Now, he is looking forward to witnessing what’s possible when the stallion is crossed with more modern bloodlines. “We have several babies expected this year from both AQHA and APHA mares with bloodlines like Zippos Sensation, Certain Potential and Zippo Jack Bar. He would be a perfect cross on Machine Made mares and daughters of other modern stallions because he’s going to introduce an older bloodline and diversify the gene pool,” says Mizzi.
For Mizzi, enrolling Impulsions in Premier Sires was a natural choice to promote the stallion in his second term at stud. “I’m astounded by how many people came forward with interest in breeding to him. This is a great program and platform, and it’s just a great way to introduce stallions to the pleasure horse world. We’ve had a lot of interest since we enrolled him.”
For Mizzi, this journey is about honoring a legend that helped to build the industry he loves. “I want to create a legacy for Impulsions and his owners by demonstrating that it’s important to honor and reintroduce these valuable traits to our modern gene pool.”
