Friday, June 13, 2014

The 'Tiny's'

I've long been a fan of the Tiny Watch horses, it's just been one of those lines that still makes an impact. I first took an interest in the line because Anchor Watch (TB) was on our old King-bred stallion's papers and then not to long after that Kristie Peterson took the world by storm with her Bozo horse. Of course, the Sun Frost/Frenchman's Guy people ran with that success story and we all know the demand that was created for that breeding. However, I read an article where Kristie stated that the reason she bought Bozo, as an awful looking/poorly cared for weanling is because he had the Tiny Watch blood, which she had long admired due to other winning barrel horses that carried it.

Since Tiny Watch was sired by Anchor Watch (TB) and our horses also carried that lineage, it piqued my interest and now I actively look for the bloodline. It would seem that I am not the only one...

Tiny Watch In Barrel Horses

To keep people from thinking that some of this 'old' blood doesn't matter anymore, lets look at one of the biggest producers of 'modern' barrel horses...Dash Ta Fame. There is nary a barrel racer out there who has not encountered a DTF horse. They are e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e....The damned horse is DEAD and he's still producing.

Dash To Fame...

DTF is a maternal grandson of none other than Tiny's Gay by Tiny Watch....


After spending a lot of time reading and researching over the years, I have come to the conclusion that the lasting greatness of Tiny Watch more than likely came from the dam's side moreso than the sire's. Tiny Watch was sired by Anchor Watch (TB) and out of a mare named Clabber Tiny. Tiny Watch is without a doubt Anchor Watch's greatest claim to fame....

 The interesting thing is, Tiny Charger, who was sired by Depth Charge (TB) and out of the same mare, Clabber Tiny, is recognized as Depth Charge's greatest son.




Both Tiny Watch and Tiny Charger had speed indexes of 100, earned their Register Of Merits in Racing and were rated AAA+. Clabber Tiny also produced Triple Tiny, by Triple Chick, who also had a SI-100, was AAA+ rated and ROM. When bred to Go Man Go, Clabber Tiny produced Clabber Go and Go Clabber. Both of those horses had speed indexes of 95, ROM and AAA.

So, in my opinion the strength of the 'Tiny' horses really came from the dam, Clabber Tiny and that is no big surprise to me. Clabber Tiny was sired by Clabber II...


Clabber II's sire was Clabber...

Clabber's nickname was 'The Iron Horse' due to the less than luxurious lifestyle the horse lived and was expected to perform in. There is story after story of how Clabber worked on the ranch all week, was never properly conditioned for racing, went to town to be roped on in the morning, breed a mare and then raced in the afternoon. Or raced multiple times in one day, breeding mares in between the races. His life was rigorous even for the standards of that time period.

I've had a fondness for the Clabber horses long before I became interested in the Tiny-line, as my good, dun mare, Diala Dandy Dolly was a Clabber on the maternal side and everybody told me that is where this line gets their grittiness from. There is no doubt that Clabber was gritty, to not only survive, but excel, given the toughness of his life.

Clabber Tiny, the matriarch of the Tiny-line was out of a Thoroughbred mare, who was Gallant Fox on the top and Fair Play and Tracery on the bottom. Gallant Fox was the 1930 Triple Crown Winner and the only horse to ever sire a Triple Crown Winner (Omaha, who won the TC in '35).

Clabber II, the sire of Clabber Tiny (dam of Tiny Watch and Tiny Charger) had a healthy dose of maternal strength behind him as well. His dam, an unraced, unshown mare named Do Good produced 13 foals, 12 of which were race starters. She produced 9 winners, 8 of those received their ROM's. Clabber II had a speed index of 95, as did several of Do Good's other offspring. For her contributions to the QH breed, Do Good was inducted into the AQHA Hall Of Fame in 2008.

A large part of that honor could be contributed to her daughter, Chicado V. Chicado V (by Chicaro Bill) had a speed index of 100, was AAA+, ROM and the 1951 Quarter Racing 2y/o filly. She was unimpressive looking...

However, what she produced left a lasting impact on the Quarter Horse as a whole. She produced 9 foals, 7 of whom accumulated 91.5 performance points, 61 halter points, 1 performance ROM and 5 race ROM's. You might recognize the names of some of her get;

Triple Chick (by Three Bars (TB))...
Although unraced, Triple Chick made his mark, siring Superior Halter and Performance offspring, AQHA Champion and ROM offspring, halter and performance point earners, NCHA money earners and race ROM and money earners.

War Chick (by War Bam (TB), a grandson of Man O' War)...
War Chic raced, had a speed index of 100, was rated AAA+ and named Champion Running Colt in 1958. He became a leading sire of race money earners as well as siring arena ROM earners. His daughters were noted for also being able to produce ROM earners.

Table Tennis (by Spotted Bull (TB))...


SI-100 and rated AAA+. Now the name Table Tennis probably doesn't mean much, except for the fact that this mare produced Rapid Volley, who produced Perks...who is the dam of Dash For Perks. Dash For Perks is #4 all-time leading barrel horse sire and #5 all-time broodmare sire. He also happens to be the sire of Perculatin...aka...Latte...The horse Mary Walker has been so successful on.

Three Chicks (by Three Bars (TB), which makes this horse a full brother to Triple Chick)...
Again we see the SI-100, AAA+ rating and ROM. As well as the ability to reproduce. Three Chicks produced my favorite of this particular set of horses. A stallion named Three Ohs...


Sired by Three Chicks (by Three Bars, out of Chicado V), Three Ohs was out of a Spotted Bull/Leo mare. In fact, Three Oh's maternal granddam was Miss Meyers (by Leo out of Star's Lou x Oklahoma Star). Miss Meyers was the dam of Kid Meyers, the very first AQHA SUPREME CHAMPION.

Chicado Chick (Three Bars (TB), another full brother to Triple Chick and Three Chicks)...

There is a picture of Chicado Chick in allbreed, however I could not find it on the web to post here.

Chicado Chick had a speed index of 95, was AAA rated and after his racing career went on to earn an AQHA Performance ROM and became an AQHA Champion, with 42 Halter points and 24.5 Performance points.

Anchor Chic (by Anchor Watch (TB), the sire of Tiny Watch) was another AAAA+ race horse.

The Ole Man (by Three Bars (TB))...
With a speed index of 100, he was AAA+ rated and then went on to earn a ROM in performance. He became a leading sire in his own right, producing World Champions, Superior halter and performance, performance and race ROM earners, as well as NCHA and NSBA money earners...and barrel horses.

Do Good's last two foals were the only two who failed to live up to the previous 7's legacy. Successor (by Go Man Go) failed to win a race and only garnered a AA rating. Alisal (by Double Bid) was never raced.

Now, as far as geneology, I realize this set of horses were merely 'cousins' to the Tiny-line, however, it does show the prepotency of the maternal line that can be attributed to the Tiny horses, Tiny Watch and Tiny Charger. The creation of an equine dynasty is often attributed to the stallion, however the strength of the maternal line can never be underestimated. As I will show you in the next post.

4 comments:

Crystal said...

I think for a long time the maternal line was undervalued, but it seems to be coming back where people are seeing the importance if the mare.

Unknown said...

When you posted the pedigree, I looked through it and saw Clabber and thought, "Oooh, one of my favorite horses of all time!"

Your knowledge of pedigrees is fascinating, and remind me when I see you next time to show you my special book.

Cut-N-Jump said...

It's funny but also sad at the same time, how many people hold the stallions in high regard or place all of the blame for failure to produce, when it clearly takes two to tango. With my TB mare, I have always liked everything about her conformationally. Sure there could always be room for improvements, but that's why its important to look for stallions with complimenting traits.

The other part of this is the horses who look good on paper, but are a trainwreck in real life. I've seen my share of people with horses whose papers hold impressive names within, and impressive looking and performing horses with no known pedigree to speak of. Either way the mares are still just as important if not more so than the stallions and there are still and always will be, the culls and the flukes.

Shirley said...

Stallions get the biggest share of the limelight because they can have literally hundreds of offspring, while mares are usually a dozen or less. But every good horseman knows how valuable the maternal line is. My friend Carol is a fan of the Tiny's Gay bloodlines and that's where I first heard of him.