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Part 1
The Story of Harlan, Dixie Beach's Last Foal
by Larry Thornton
(c) Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
Reprint permission must be in writing.
Howard
Pitzer once made the statement that his famous stallion, Two Eyed Jack,
would have made a "good gelding." Of course we know that Two Eyed Jack
became an all time leading sire. He is after all the AQHA All Time Leading
Sire of AQHA Champions. His record 119 AQHA Champions is a record that
will probably never be broken and that’s quite a record for a stallion
that would have made a nice gelding.
I suppose we could find a lot of good geldings out there that if they were
left as breeding horses, would have proven to be good sires as well. The
stallion that we will be looking at in this "Working Lines" is Harlan.
Ironically when Bob Robey, of Perkins, Oklahoma, went looking for a son of
Hank H to rope on, he found Harlan and his plan called for him to geld his
new horse. But Robey opted to keep his new horse a breeding stallion and
the benefits to the quarter horse has paid off for the good of the breed.
So why didn’t Robey geld Harlan? Let’s find out from Mr. Robey, "Well when
I started this thing, which was a long time ago, there were two mares that
I thought were the apex of the quarter horse breed and they were Dee Gee
and Squaw H. They were the kind of mares that could do something."
Dee Gee was one of the first AQHA Champions named when the association
started awarding this honor. She was sired by Bartender and out of
Scarlett by Little Fort. Squaw H was a AAA rated race mare that was a
stakes winner. She was sired by King P-234 and out of Queen H by Dan.
Robey continued, "Hank H was a full brother to Squaw H and I was a big fan
of this great mare. So we went and bought a Hank H filly from Jack and
Paul Smith of Indianola, Oklahoma. They owned Hank H. We even took a mare
down for a friend to be bred to Hank H. Then Hank H died and I wrote a
letter to Paul. By this time Jack had gone with the Highway Patrol and
Paul was living on the old place. I asked Paul if he had any Hank H foals
for sale, and he wrote back that he had a three year old stud and a Hard
Twist gelding out of their ole King Mare for sale. So me, my wife and my
father-in-law went, and we bought Harlan. We bought Harlan for the Hank H
with the intention of gelding him and roping calves on him."
It was at this point that Robey told about a previous visit he had to see
the Smith horses, "Well one time I was down to the Smith’s and they showed
me a little ole buckskin mare. They said this is Dixie Beach. That didn’t
mean anything to me. I just looked over the stall door at her and saw this
little old buckskin mare heavy in foal. So when we bought Harlan we didn’t
know who Dixie Beach was. But when I got home, I did a little research and
I made up my mind that Harlan may be out of as good a mare as the stud he
was sired by. So we started breeding him and his roping career never came
about."
Robey explained why the roping career was permanently put on hold, "Well
at that time I was an amateur calf roper and we weren’t interested in
showing horses. But Harlan was quite a roping horse and that’s what I
bought him for. But the vet said I shouldn’t rope on him and then breed
him. So we just bred him and raised colts. Of course when his colts got
big enough, then we started to show them."
When asked about what kind of performer Harlan was, Robey responded, " He
did everything quick. He was not an easy horse to rope on. He broke out of
the box with a lot of gas. And when he stopped, he stopped. Everything was
quick about him. He’d made a great roping horse, if we’d went on with
him."
THE PEDIGREE SIDE OF THE HARLAN
STORY ~
Harlan was foaled in 1951. He was bred by Jack and Paul Smith of
Indianola, Oklahoma. His sire was Hank H by King P-234. Hank H a AA rated
race horse. His race record included 10 starts with two wins; one second
and three thirds. He was a proven sire of ROM race and arena horses
including Little Bay Lady, a AA rated race mare and Hanky Doodle, an ROM
arena horse that was an AQHA Champion. One of the great show horses sired
by Hank H was Hank’s Sue. This great halter mare was the 1957 AQHA Honor
Roll Halter Horse. Hank’s Sue is the dam of Leo San Hank by Leo San. Leo
San Hank was the sire of Grulla San, dam of leading cutting horse sire
High Brow Hickory.
King P-234 became a foundation sire of many famous horses. They would
include the AQHA Hall of Fame members Poco Bueno and Royal King. His foals
earned 24 AQHA Championships; 84 ROM and 13 Superior Halter and
performance horses. The record King P-234 put together as a sire has put
him in the AQHA Hall Of Fame as well. King P-234 was sired by Zantanon by
Little Joe by Traveler. The dam of Zantanon was Jeanette by Billy. The dam
of Jeanette was a Sykes Rondo mare by Sykes Rondo.
The dam of King P-234 was Jabalina. Jabalina was sired by Strait Horse by
Yellow Jacket. Yellow Jacket was sired by Little Rondo by Lock’s Rondo and
out of Barbee Dun by Lock’s Rondo. The dam of Jabalina was a mare we know
today as the Bay Quarter Mare. She is believed by many to be sired by
Traveler.
The dam of Hank H was Queen H by Dan by Joe Bailey. The dam of Queen H was
a Nail Quarter Mare, whose breeding is unknown. Queen H was bred by J. H.
Nail of Albany, Texas.
Queen H was a foundation mare for J. O. Hankins, brother to Jess Hankins,
the owner of King P-234. This great mare was a top producer, especially
when bred to King P-234. The first foal out of Queen H and sired by King
P-234 was Duchess H. Duchess H was shown but has no points. She is the dam
of such noted horses as Balmy L Too, by Balmy L; Black Texas by My Texas
Dandy; Double Trouble H by King P-234 and Bay Reba by Leo. The foals of
Duchess H have shown up in some very successful performance horses. This
would include her son Black Texas, who is the sire of Texas Kitty, the dam
of Royal Texas. Royal Texas is the sire of Texas Dottie, the dam of Royal Tincie. Royal Tincie is the dam of the great Royal Blue Boon. Royal Blue
Boon being the dam of many great performers including Peptoboonsmal, NCHA
Futurity Champion. Bay Reba is the dam of Commander King, who is the sire
of many greats including Commandee King. Commandee King is the dam of Miss
Royal Dry, NCHA Non-Pro Futurity Reserve Champion. Commandee King is the
dam of Dry Doc 2, who is the dam of Doc Olena Dry. Doc Olena Dry is the
dam of Olenas Dually, an NCHA Non-Pro Super Stakes Champion and NCHA
Non-Pro Futurity Champion.
The next foal for Queen H was Squaw H. This great race mare was rated AAA
on the race track. She was a stakes winner of the Tucson Speed Stakes.
Squaw H has had a major impact on the working horse through her son Squaw
King, by King P-234. This would make Squaw king 1 X 2 inbred to King
P-234. Squaw King was the sire of Squaw Leo. Squaw Leo was the sire of the
NRHA Hall of Fame stallion Be Aech Enterprise. Be Aech Enterprise is one
of the NRHA Million Dollar sires. His foals have earned in excess of
$1,000,000 including Trashadeous, the famous paint stallion that is an
NRHA Hall of Fame member.
The third foal out of Queen H and by King P-234 was Hank H. Then in 1944
Flapper H was foaled. This daughter of King P-234 was the dam of the AQHA
Champion Flapper’s Breeze and the ROM race horse Hard Twist II.
Booger H was Queen H’s 1945 foal. This stallion was racing ROM with a AA
rating. He won eight races in 23 starts. Booger H was a successful sire
with AQHA Champions like Booda Bar, Boomer Isle, Cue Stick and Jericho
Lark to his credit. One of his daughters Redwood Ruth is the dam of
Boogerette Chex, the dam of multiple AQHA World Champion Peppy Badger Chex.
Queen H’s next King P-234 foal was Your Highness. This mare was AA rated
on the race track with her ROM. Your Highness was the dam of the ROM race
horse Eterna.
The next performer from the King P-234 and Queen H cross was Joe Hank.
This stallion was an AQHA Champion with 29 performance points with an ROM
and 14 halter points. He was an NCHA money earner. Joe Hank is a proven
sire with foals like Hank’s Jet an AQHA Champion.
Queen Dawn was Queen H’s 1955 foal sired by King P-234. This mare earned
11 AQHA halter points. She was the dam of the ROM runner Kecia. This AAA
rated runner was sired by Top Deck (TB).
The last King P-234 foal out of Queen H was King’s Queen Ann. This mare
was the dam of three performers including Bill’s Queen Ann, seven
performance points; Miss San Ann, NCHA money earner and Hollywood Gloss,
NCHA money earner.
Continued ~ Part 2
Author Biography
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