In the Blood: Spookneedsacocktail

Spookneedsacocktail and Martin Muehlstaetter won the Reining By The Bay Futurity Level 4 Open with a 219.5. • Photo by John O’Hara

When Spookneedsacocktail and Martin Muehlstaetter won the Reining By The Bay Futurity Level 4 Open at Woodside Park in California, they entered the ranks of contenders for the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity later this year. They marked a 219.5 over 18 other finalists. The win was worth $3,673 for owner Tami Schiltz, of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Spookneedsacocktail (Wimpyneedsacocktail x Snap Crackle Spook x Smart Spook) was purchased by Schiltz at the 2016 NRHA Futurity Prospect Sale from breeder Leonardo Guimaraes, of Tioga Texas. His pedigree has the credentials to be successful as a reiner, but a closer look proves just how versatile the American Quarter Horse can be.

SIRE LINE

Wimpyneedsacocktail earned an impressive $281,379 in his reining career. • Photo by Waltenberry

Wimpyneedsacocktail (Wimpys Little Step x Seven S Mimosa x Hollywood Dun It) earned $281,379. He received an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Superior with 69 reining points and along the way, he earned two AQHA Reserve World championships, one in Junior Reining and one in Senior Reining. He was also the 2013 National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) Levels 4 and 3 Open Champion.

Wimpys Little Step (Nu Chex To Cash x Leolita Step x Forty Seven) was the 2002 NRHA Futurity Open Champion and the 2002 All American Quarter Horse Congress Futurity Open Reining Champion. He earned $203,865. Wimpys Little Step is now an Equi-State Elite $9 Million Sire. His leading money-winner is Wimpys Little Chic, the all-time leading reining horse money-earner with $539,244 to her credit.

Wimpys Little Step, sire of Wimpyneedsacocktail, has offspring earnings of more than $9 million, with Wimpys Little Chic ($539,244) as his leading performer. • Photo by John Brasseaux

The pedigree of Wimpys Little Step gives us a look at the versatility of the Quarter Horse. His sire, Nu Chex To Cash, shows this versatility as the 1999 AQHA High-Point Working Cow Horse and the 1999 High-Point Reining Horse. He was a Palomino Horse Breeders Association World Champion in Reining and Working Cow Horse, and he is an NRHA Intermediate and Limited Open World Champion. Nu Chex To Cash has shown versatility as a sire, with an Equi-Stat record of approximately $3.5 million in reining, reined cow horse, cutting, roping, barrel racing and ranch versatility.

Leolita Step’s (Forty Seven x Step Lite x Big Step) foals have Equi-Stat earnings of $214,378, mostly in reining. Chexalita, a full sister to Wimpys Little Step, is a reined cow horse, as well as a reiner. She earned 77 AQHA performance points, receiving a Superior in Working Cow Horse.

Forty Seven (Wimpy Leo x Lady Beaver 1 x Beaver Creek) is an AQHA Champion. He sired 32 Registers of Merit (ROM) that earned seven AQHA championships and seven Superiors. Forty Seven is the maternal grandsire of 30 ROM, six AQHA Champions and four Superiors.

Step Lite (Big Step x Becky Bee Leo x Bumble Bee Leo) was a ROM performance horse in the AQHA, with 37 points in Reining and Working Cow Horse. She was the dam of four foals with just one performer that has no points recorded or money earned.

Big Step sired 176 point-earners that earned 14,101.5 points with 126 ROM, and 28 Open and Youth AQHA Champions. They earned 13 Superior awards in Halter and 58 Superiors in a variety of performance events. Big Step is the sire of Leo Bu Step, who is the sire of Cee Leo Step, the 1986 and 1987 NRHA Non-Pro World Champion, and Cee Royal Step, the 1987 NRHA Derby Open Reserve Champion.

Bumble Bee Leo is a son of the AQHA Champion and Superior reining horse Okie Leo. NRHA Hall of Fame member Bob Loomis credits Okie Leo with his great start as a reining horse trainer. Okie Leo was the sire of Okie’s Bamboo, Monika and Britton Princess – all successful reining horses for Loomis. Loomis and Britton Princess were the 1972 NRHA Futurity Open Reserve Champions after winning the three go-rounds to get to the finals.

Seven S Mimosa (Hollywood Dun It x May Day Hobby x Hobby Horse) earned $17,633 while garnering titles like the 1994 Pacific Reining Superslide 4- and 5-Year-Old Non-Pro Co-Reserve Championship and 1994 East Coast Derby Limited Open Reserve Championship. Seven S Mimosa is the dam of horses with Equi-Stat earnings of $291,846, with Wimpyneedsacocktail ($281,379) being her leading money-winner.

Hollywood Dun It, an NRHA Futurity Open Reserve Champion and NRHA Derby Open Champion, has sired horses with Equi-Stat earnings of $7.3 million. Hollywoodstinseltown ($178,156) is his top performer. May Day Hobby is the dam of foals with cumulative records of $41,305, including Listos Last Hobby, a Canadian Reining Breeders Classic 3-Year-Old Limited Non-Pro Champion. May Day Hobby is also the dam of Seven S Zanaday (by Zan Parr Bar), the 1992 AQHA Open World Champion Heading Horse.

Hobby Horse, who proved to be an all-around performer, went on to sire performers in the cutting, reining and reined cow horse disciplines. • Photo by Don Trout

Hobby Horse was an all-around performer, earning an AAAT speed rating which today shows in the records as a speed index of 100. He earned 69.5 performance points in Western Pleasure, Western Riding, Reining and Working Cow Horse. He was an AQHA Champion with 28 halter points, and he was the 1964 AQHA High-Point Working Cow Horse Stallion.

Hobby Horse is the sire of the well-known Expensive Hobby, the 1976 and 1979 AQHA Senior Working Cow Horse World Champion and the 1979 AQHA Senior Reining World Champion. This great gelding earned his Superior in Cutting, and he won 29 of 32 reined cow horse hackamore classes.

DAM LINE

Snap Crackle Spook (Smart Spook x Snappy Skeet x Snapper Cal Bar) is unshown, but Spookneedsacocktail is her second performer. Her sire, Smart Spook (Smart Chic Olena x Sugarplum Spook x Grays Starlight), is the winner of $405,650. In 2004 and 2005, he had consecutive wins in the 2004 NRHA Futurity Open and 2005 NRHA Derby Open, followed by the 2005 AQHA Junior Reining World Championship. Smart Spook, an Equi-Stat Elite $4 Million Sire, boasts offspring like 2014 AQHA Senior Reining Reserve World Champion Custom Spook ($235,681) and 2014 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Co-Champion Shine N Spook ($227,905) on his record.

Snappy Skeet is a cutting-bred mare, with her foals earning $148,915 in cutting, reining, reined cow horse and ranch pleasure. Her leading money-winners are Snazzy Lena ($56,121) in cutting and Snappy Chicaria ($35,886) in reining and reined cow horse.

Snapper Cal Bar (Cal Bar x Cee Miss Snapper x Cee Bars) was the 1984 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Non-Pro Champion and the 1985 NCHA Derby Open Champion. Snapper Cal Bar is also the sire of Master Snapper, the 2006 NRHA Derby Open Champion.

The dam of Snappy Skeet is Skeets Ro Flora, a daughter of 1970 NCHA Open World Champion King Skeet. Skeets Ro Flora is the dam of cutting horses that have earned $483,796, including Smart Whittle Wena ($293,455) and Little De Merritt ($184,995).

Spookneedsacocktail’s pedigree, which is built on the versatility of the American Quarter Horse, reinforces his win in the Reining By The Bay Futurity Level 4 Open.