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Part 2
Copperbottom: A Lost Bloodline
by Larry Thornton
(c) Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
Continued
from Part 1 ~
One of the mares bred
to Dexter was Little March. This mare was a daughter of Dexter that was
out of March by a thoroughbred stallion named Mustard Seed. The dam of
March was a Lowe Brothers Quarter Mare, whose pedigree was unknown.
Underwood described
Little March this way when he registered her. "This young Quarter mare is
hand made. Beautiful head, short back, heavy over the kidney, low flanks,
short legs, deep heart girth. Shows lots of quick speed and action, moves
clean and straight. Very kind and gentle. She to my way of thinking is of
true bull dog type."
A foal produced from
a mating of Dexter with Little March was a stallion named Buddy Dexter.
Buddy Dexter indicates the inbreeding that took place to perpetuate the
blood of Copperbottom through Golden Chief. Buddy Dexter was a Grand
Champion halter horse with wins at such shows as Fort Worth, Texas;
Breckenridge, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Stamford, Texas; Graham, Texas
and Iowa Park, Texas. This son of Dexter had the distinction of being one
of the few stallions to defeat the great Poco Bueno at halter.
Buddy Dexter
Underwood apparently
understood the necessity of good outcross blood for his ongoing
Copperbottom breeding program He used several outcross stallions including
the Palomino Silvertone. Silvertone has the distinction of being the
stallion that placed second to Wimpy P-1 when he won the Grand
Championship at the Fort Worth Stock Show in 1941. This win gave Wimpy the
#1 in the AQHA Stud Book. Silvertone was also a noted show horse in the
Palomino ranks as the Grand Champion Palomino Stallion at the 1939 Fort
Worth Stock Show. He was the Grand Champion Palomino Stallion at the first
Palomino show held at Abilene in 1939. He also won the reining for Quarter
Horse stallions at the 1941 Fort Worth Stock Show
One of the good mares
sired by Golden Chief was Star Light. This mare was out of a Y Ranch
Quarter Mare by Tom (Scooter). This is the same Tom (Scooter) that sired
Miss Tommie. Miss Tommie and the Y Ranch Quarter Mare are full sisters.
Underwood reported this when he registered the Y Ranch Quarter Mare as
Little Mother. Little Mother is found in the pedigree of Peppy San Badger,
the great modern cutting horse sire. That is a another story.
When Underwood
crossed Silvertone with Star Light, he got the good Palomino show mare
Billie Silvertone. Billie Silvertone was a noted show horse but much of
her record has been lost. She was the Grand Champion Quarter Horse Mare at
the 1945 Fort Worth Stock Show. Her Palomino Horse Breeders Association
registration papers tell us that she was first at the Wichita County Fair
in yearling palomino fillies and first at the Wichita Falls Horse Show in
the yearling fillies in 1940 and she was a winner at the Stamford Quarter
Horse Show in the two-year-old fillies class in 1941.
Billie Silvertone
When Underwood
crossed Buddy Dexter and Billie Silvertone, he got three good stallions.
The linebreeding pattern to Golden Chief in this cross is 3 X 4 X 3. This
means two crosses to Golden Chief in the third generation and one in the
fourth generation. The first colt born to this mating was Smutty Bill, a
1953 dun stallion. Smutty Bill went on to be an AQHA Champion with points
in halter, western riding and reining. At that time he was the youngest
horse to be named an AQHA Champion. He became a good sire with six AQHA
Champions including Bill's Gold, Bill's Sunny, Billiemia, Zina Billie,
Prissie Billie and Billietta. Smutty Bill sired several PHBA Champions as
well. They include Bill's Gold, Sunshine Bill and Bill's Sunny.
The Copperbottom line
through Smutty Bill is being carried on through foals like Zina Billie and
Billietta. Zina Billie is the dam of such noted horses as Billie Pine Bar,
a Zippo Pine Bar mare that has earned over 680 AQHA points with several
Superior Awards in events like Western Pleasure and Western Horsemanship.
Billietta proved to
be a great broodmare with foals like Billiettas Jewel, an AQHA World
Champion Heeling Horse and Sweet And Innocent, an AQHA World Show Super
Horse. The daughters of Billietta are proving to be good producers as
well. Billiettas Jewel is the dam of horses like Billy Dun It, a Champion
of the Straight Arrow Reining Futurity at the Congress in 1996.
Buddy Bill was the
second foal from this cross. He was a sorrel stallion born in 1954. He
earned his performance ROM with eight performance points and two halter
points. His performance points came in calf roping and heeling. Buddy Bill
was owned and shown by Harry Charters, a roping and bulldogging
specialist. Charters reportedly rode Buddy Bill to the National Finals
Rodeo in roping while winning such noted ropings as Pendleton in 1960.
They also set an arena record of 10.5 seconds at a 1961 rodeo in Dayton,
Washington. Buddy Bill then developed into a fine hazing horse for
Charters. Charters was the 1959 World Champion Bulldogger and Rookie of
the Year in the RCA. Buddy Bill’s prowess as a roping and hazing horse
certainly reinforces the ability of the Copperbottom's as horses with that
"short burst of speed" so critical to the rodeo arena.
Cutter Bill was the
third son from this cross. This palomino stallion was born in 1955 and
became the 1962 NCHA World Champion Cutting Horse. He was the 1963 NCHA
Reserve World Champion and in the AQHA he was the 1962 Honor Roll Champion
Cutting Horse. He was also an AQHA Champion with 15 halter points and 334
cutting points with the Superior Award in that event.
Cutter Bill
Cutter Bill sired
such noted horses as Cutter's First, an NCHA Futurity Reserve Champion;
Cutter's Indian, an AQHA High Point Western Pleasure Stallion and High
Point Three-Year-Old Halter Stallion; Bill's Jazabell was an NCHA World
Champion Cutting Mare and Bill's Highness was an AQHA Reserve High Point
Cutting Horse.
The Copperbottom
influence through Cutter Bill is being carried on by such noted producers
as Bill's Jazabell. This mare’s only foal was Jazabell Quixote, a
Co-Reserve Champion in the NCHA Non-Pro Futurity. Jazabell Quixote in turn
is the dam of several top cutting horses including July Jazz, an NCHA
Futurity Champion.
By the way, the 1996
AQHA High Point Cutting Horse was Little Orphan Ote. Little Orphan Ote was
sired by Hickoryote. Hickoryote was out of Jazabell Quixote.
One of the daughters
of Billie Silvertone was Glenda Dexter. This mare earned five halter
points. The sire of Glenda Dexter was Dexter. This makes her a 3/4 sister
to Cutter Bill, Smutty Bill and Buddy Bill.
Glenda Dexter was the
dam of Glendatone. Glendatone was sired by Peppy’s Wimpy. Peppy’s Wimpy
was sired by Peppy P-212 and out of Winnie de Quico by Wimpy P-1.
Glendatone was the dam of Billie Fiddle. Billie Fiddle was the dam of Jack
Fiddler, the gelding that was the 1995 AQHA High Point All Around Horse.
But the Copperbottom
blood in Billie Fiddle doesn’t end with Glendatone. The sire of Billie
Fiddle was Bay Fiddle. Bay Fiddle was sired by Bay Dimple. Bay Dimple was
sired by Amigo Brown. Amigo Brown was sired by Golden Chief and our of
Black Sue by Dexter. This makes Amigo Brown 1 X 3 inbred to Golden Chief.
The dam of Bay Dimple
was Dimple Dexter. Dimple Dexter was sired by Dexter by Golden Chief. The
dam of Dimple Dexter was Rita Fiddler, a daughter of Old Joe Bailey that
figured prominently in the Underwood breeding program.
The dam of Bay Fiddle
was Fiddle Dexter. Fiddle Dexter was sired by Dexter and out of Rita
Fiddler. This makes Fiddle Dexter and Dimple Dexter full sisters. This
also makes Billie Fiddle 4 X 5 X 4 X 4 X 5 linebred to Golden Chief. This
means that we had five crosses to Golden Chief in the pedigree of Billie
Fiddle, two of these crosses in the fifth generation and three in the
fourth generation.
Jack Fiddler was not
only the AQHA High Point All Around Horse for 1995, but he was the 1995
AQHA High Point Heading and Heeling Horse. He was the All Around Champion
at the European Quarter Horse Championships from 1990 to 1993. He is an
AQHA Champion; AQHA Performance Champion and an AQHA Versatility Champion.
According to his AQHA biography for his championship honors, this gelding
has been shown in halter, cutting, working cow horse, heading, heeling,
barrel racing, pole bending, reining, trail, western pleasure, hunter
under saddle and team penning. He has earned points in every one of these
events. He has Superiors in the open division in heading, heeling and
reining.
Dimple Dexter takes
us to Really In Trouble, the 1996 AQHA High Point Western Pleasure Horse.
Really In Trouble is not only a high point champion, she is a three time
All American Quarter Horse Congress winner and a four time PHBA World
Champion in Western Pleasure. Dimple Dexter is the second dam of Milliron
Doll Baby, the dam of Really In Trouble. The pedigree of Milliron Doll
Baby is founded on the Pat Dunning’s Milliron Three Quarter Horses
breeding program. Dunning was a long time breeder from New Mexico and she
built the foundation of her program on the Underwood bloodlines.
The dam of Milliron
Doll Baby was Tar Dimple (who was out of Dimple Dexter). The sire of Tar
Dimple was Tar Baby, another outcross stallion used by Underwood. The sire
of Tar Baby was Little Black Joe by Joe Hancock. Little Black Joe was out
of Lady, a Billy Anson mare. The dam of Tar Baby was Underwood’s Little
Jane. Her breeding was believed to be Old Joe Bailey, but her sire and dam
are listed as unknown.
The sire of Milliron
Doll Baby was Milliron Tone, who was out of Sunday Tone, a daughter of
Silvertone. The dam of Sunday Tone was Sugar Baby, an important mare in
the Underwood and then Dunning breeding programs.
Here is an
interesting side note! The sire of Milliron Tone was Skip A Barb, Jack
Kyle’s great stallion. This stallion is a linebred Wiescamp and Shoemaker
bred horse. Skip A Barb was the sire of four of Billietta’s foals,
including Billiettas Jewel. The fifth foal out of Billietta was Sweet And
Innocent. She was sired by Skip ‘N Stage, a son of Skip A Barb.
Several of Skip A
Barb’s top colts were out of mares that came from the Dunning breeding
program that was founded on the Underwood breeding program. They would
include Milliron Barb, an AQHA Champion; Milliron Charm, an AQHA Champion;
Milliron King, an AQHA Superior Steer Roping Horse and Milliron Dimples,
an AJQHA World Champion Aged Mare with 302 AQHA points. By the way
Milliron Dimples was out of Flo Dimples by Chief Too, a grandson of Golden
Chief and she was out of Dimple Dexter.
The 1995 AQHA High
Point Working Hunter Horse was Royal Evening Star. Royal Evening Star has
a unique combination of Copperbottom blood through Golden Chief. The dam
of this gelding is Bubbling Zip by Zippo Pat Bars. The dam of Bubbling Zip
is Bubbling Holly, who is out of Bubbling Sis. Bubbling Sis is sired by
Bubbling Bill. Bubbling Bill was a son of Smutty Bill.
Now back to Zippo Pat
Bars. The dam of Zippo Pat Bars was Leo Pat. Leo Pat was out of Dunny Girl
by Little Cluck. Little Cluck was sired by Golden Chief. This gives Royal
Evening Star two crosses back to the Copperbottom stallion Golden Chief.
Of course we must not forget that Zippo Pat Bars was the sire of the great
modern pleasure horses sires The Invester and Zippo Pine Bar. Of course
Zippo Pine Bar was the sire of Zina Billie’s top point earner Billie Pine
Bar, the earner of over 680 AQHA points.
R. L. Underwood
dispersed his horses in 1956 selling horses like Cutter Bill. The
Underwood program continued for several more years, but this basically
marks the end of Underwood’s efforts to preserve the blood of Copperbottom.
But as the old saying "blood will tell" certainly seems to apply to the
power of Copperbottom and the modern Quarter Horse.
~ End
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Author Biography
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