The Need For Speed

You guys touched on a subject that is near and dear to my heart! The need for speed in my family's breeding program. My step-dad used to say that "There is no such thing as a horse that is too fast". I have to agree! Cutting horse and probably Working Cowhorse people may disagree with me on this point...There is such a thing as a horse with too much "cow". Having a horse that will watch a cow is important to us, but too much of a desire to work a cow makes it awful hard to get things done. So we try to select bloodlines that are "cowy" but not so aggressive that they can't think of anything except getting into the dirt and working a cow back and forth.

But about that "bred to run" thing...
It has always amazed me how two sires, noted for their speed and for producing speed became the "magic cross" that created an entire line of ssssllllloooowwwww moving horses. Individually, they sired Triple A running horses. Crossing their bloodlines produced Triple A running horses. And yet, most of the AQHA show world rides their bloodlines in the slowest class possible-Western Pleasure.

I'm talking about Three Bars...

And Leo...

Boy, they don't look much like modern day Western Pleasure horses do they? But their blood created one of modern day Western Pleasure's most notable founding sires, Zippo Pat Bars...

ahhh...humm....A Triple A Race Horse!!!

And heaven forbid...Some fool crossed that running horse on one of those nasty foundation-bred mares and created, Zippo Pine Bar...

Pardon my sarcasm, when it comes to how a lot of people perceive foundation bred horses. The Quarter Horse started out being bred for one thing and pretty much one thing only...speed! Those guys back then, liked a good looking horse as much as we do today, but they certainly did not discriminate against an ugly sucker, as long as he/she was fast enough to win. That is why you see lots of line-breeding and in-breeding when you start looking back at bloodlines. These guys were trying to "fix" a certain characteristic and that was speed. People are still doing the same thing today...people pick a few bloodlines that work well for what they want them too and they continue to cross those lines trying to "fix" certain characteristics...cutting horses, reining horses, western pleasure horses...color breeders. We aren't any different now that they were 100 years ago. I just don't think we are as good at it as they were back then.

Anyway...
Apparently, by the time Zippo Pine Bar's foals took over the western pleasure ring people were realizing that this "fast horse going slow" thing was working. The best breeders probably also were noting that fast and foundation were going hand in hand. So the next generation of pleasure horses created included Zippo Pine Bar's son, Zips Chocolate Chip...
I really like this horse's bloodlines. They took "run" and added even more. Zip's dam's pedigree includes Jaguar(AAA), Leo, Flying Bob and Chubby right there in her first 5-generations. Well, heck, everything on that mare goes back to foundation running stock.

Now Zippo Pat Bars would have been renowned for creating a line of western pleasure horses if the only one he had ever produced was Zippo Pine Bar, but he didn't stop at just one. He proved that is wasn't just a fluke by creating a multitude of western pleasure greats. He also produced; Superior Halter offspring, NRHA money earners, NCHA money earners, race money-earners, and on and on and on.

Another notable son of his is The Invester...

The Invester's dam was an intensely line-bred Peter McCue mare. She was also a grand-daughter of King-P234. Now there is often a misconception that King horses can't run. Honestly, the reason this happened was because King's offspring and descending lines were noted "cow-horses". By the time King became famous, a lot of the spotlight was off of the race-track and in the arena and show ring. Crossed back on running stock, the King-bred horses could run. But that is a story for another day.;) However, Peter McCue was a race-horse and he begat race horses. If you look at the bloodlines with Peter McCue, you find that they crossed these horses back on themselves to the point where most breeders were probably holding their breaths that they weren't gonna get a 2-headed, 6-legged monster. They wanted to "fix" the speed that the Peter McCue line produced.

Now, I don't think that Zippo Pat Bars' legacy was an accident. People obviously thought at the time that this cross of Three Bars and Leo was a good thing. I think they also realized that certain crosses, what we now consider foundation bred, were a good nick. Because Zippo Pat Bars was born in 1964 and the very next year this stallion was born...

The ever-flashy...Sonny Dee Bar.

Sonny Dee Bar is a product of the magic Three Bars/Leo cross on the topside(He is a great-grandson to both of them) and out of a heavily Midnight Jr.-bred mare(He is a great-grandson, twice, of Midnight Jr.). It just doesn't get any better than that in my book.

So what does all of this have to do with my little speed demon???

Well, it opens a lot of doors. Since I don't do barrel racing futurities, Shooter and I have a few years to fill in before he goes on to see if he will be or wants to be a barrel horse. Maybe I can garner a few Western Pleasure points on him before we crack open on the cans.

I love old cowboy sayings and this one seems appropriate for today...

"It is easier to ride a fast horse slow than it is to try to make a slow horse fast!!"