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Stallion Management: The Who, What & Why

Clayton

Cloned barrel horse of the greatest of all time – Scamper

We have stood Clayton for a couple years now. I have been questioned numerous times for standing a clone, and I do so unafraid of public perception. I am a believer in assisted breeding technologies.

What does that mean, you say? Well, anything that goes beyond live cover breeding (a stallion actually mounting and breeding a mare) is assisted breeding methods and technology. Artificial insemination, cooled semen, embryo transfer, frozen semen, oocyte and ICSI, the list goes on and on.

The cloning debate has raged for years; the AQHA has made their ruling, and I respect it. I am not against an owner cloning their horse. I’m unafraid to say that a horse is property and being property, an owner has the right to do what they want with their property. If they want to clone their horse, that is their right. I’m not a scientist, but I know enough about the science behind cloning in that they are not creating something out of nothing. Using science to produce a DNA copy is pretty amazing really. They are not the same individual, like identical twins are not the same individual. But, they do carry the same DNA.

I don’t feel cloning as a means of expanding a horse’s production life is good for the horse industry as a whole, and that is my personal belief. For mares, I think it is natural for them to produce and stop; frozen embryos will run out of inventory some day. Stallions, well, everyone is entitled to their opinion about the use of frozen semen on a deceased stallion, but I’m all for it. Frozen semen, too, will eventually run out of inventory or the market decides to move on. Both outcomes are finite.

But Clayton is a very, very unique clone. He is a clone of a gelding. Scamper never sired foals, never bred a mare, never collected with frozen semen stored. Clayton is the only means to get the genetics of the legendary 10-time World Champion and millionaire Scamper! It’s an extremely different circumstance from other clones, which for the most part are clones of producing stallions or mares.

Clayton is a very attractive and balanced stallion. His greatest hindrance to breeding a high volume of mares has been that he does not have AQHA registration papers. Well, as of 2017, he does have registration papers through the American DNA Registry, Reg. #165-QHC. DNA parentage verification is now available to all mare owners that breed to Clayton.

With his very limited foals thus far, he has already sired winners, and his owner, a legend in her own right – Charmayne James – is backing him. I support Charmayne and her quest to bring the greatness of Scamper into the barrel industry. With the exciting developments of the American DNA Registry and DNA parentage verification, we hope more barrel mares will come to him in 2018.

Hydrive Cat

2003 sorrel (High Brow Cat x Ruby Tuesday DNA x Peppy San Badger)

Hydrive Cat has been in my family since 2007. He is one of those rare stallions that literally checks every box. He is as impressive to me today as he was then – a rare combination of pedigree, ability and individual.

He had a Hall of Fame show career, having won more than $416,000, with his greatest finish as Reserve Champion at the NCHA Futurity in 2006. He has the greatest sire of all time – actually five of the six all-time leading sires in his first three generations – a $1 million producing dam, $1.8 million producing second dam, and he’s five Panel N/N. He’s quite the package.

Shortly after the NCHA Super Stakes in his 4-year-old year, we got him. Trained by Hall of Fame rider and leading trainer Clint Allen, we buckled in for a great ride the rest of the year showing. Hydrive Cat and Clint just excelled show after show, and in one of the most competitive fields in history. Hydrive was champion stallion 10 times that year alone.

During this time, we had Hydrive Cat’s full brother – SDP Buffalo Bill, who was born the same year. We got him as a yearling and he was trained by our resident trainer and dear friend Greg Smith. Greg did an awesome job with SDP Buffalo Bill; it was an exciting time for us, as we wanted this great one-two punch with these stallions. But alas, fate had other plans.

SDP Buffalo Bill blew his stifle and we lost him. It was a terrible blow for us. That loss ended Hydrive’s show career that very day. From that day forward, he was a breeding stallion.

His first foal crop was born in 2009. I have been around breeding stallions my whole life. As a whole, Hydrive Cat has the most outstanding foals I’ve ever been around. He stamps them in type more than any stallion I have ever seen. Standing in Utah that first year at stud, as that was our headquarters, he had a phenomenal foal crop.

He was the best stallion of his crop, and the industry supported him in kind. He sired more than a million dollars in winners from that first crop and had champions not only coast to coast, but across the globe! He was the AQHA Freshman Sire of the Year.

As mentioned before, Hydrive Cat was the best stallion of his foal crop and his show career ended just after his derby year. In the following two foal crops came some pretty good show horses sired by High Brow Cat that both ended up being NCHA Horses of the Year in their derby years – the great High Brow CD and the great Metallic Cat. Two legendary show horses and without a question, all-time great sires. I am not sour grapes about anything, but what could the trajectory of Hydrive been without these two great sons of High Brow Cat coming into the market?

Hydrive Cat has continued to sire champions across the globe. At the time of writing this, his get earnings are in excess of $3.5 million. Some of the biggest cutting trainers in the business have 3-year-olds getting ready for the 2017 NCHA Futurity, and I am so thrilled with what is coming through the pipeline. He has amazingly consistent babies, so mare owners keep coming to him year after year. His dominance in Australia has led him to be, by far, the leading sire of finalists and winners over the past four years. He truly is a sire of champions the world over!

Light N Lena

2000 sorrel (Grays Starlight x Little Missie Lena x Smart Little Lena)

The first time I saw this stallion was in 2005 at the Brazos Bash being shown by Phil Rapp in the Classic Open. I was smitten with how striking he was with that big bald face, flashy robicano, and flaxen mane and tail! Wow was he a beautiful stallion. He was also just so dang smart on a cow – tons of ability and brains. It was love at first sight.

Through the years, I watched him as a steady and consistent sire, owned by my very good friends, Billy & Kris Martin. I have cheered for the Light N Lenas through the years. In the course of our friendship, an opportunity arose with my new focus for full-time stallion management and the stallion station. The Martin family graced me with a sire that I know is truly special. Their friendship and support truly does mean the world to me.

Being a fan of his through the years and seeing his consistent quality in the show pen, I knew Light N Lena was a good sire. But after putting in the time of how I evaluate stallions, I quickly found out that he isn’t just a good sire, he is an elite sire of winners. By average earnings (defined as money won divided by the number of money-earners), Light N Lena has a higher average then the most elite sires in the industry. When you look at the list of sires, High Brow Cat is the highest by gross and average, probably will be the greatest sire of my lifetime. But on average, Light N Lena is just behind him with more than $34,000 per performer.

Light N Lena has been amply supported by the Martin family in both breeding their mares and training his offspring. The horses put out by them have all been predominantly trained by Billy Martin, and that is a testament not only to the great siring ability that Light N Lena has but the talent and dedication of Mr. Martin himself. So many good horses have come through that program, not only shown by the Martins, but successfully by anyone smart enough to get one from them.

In 2016, Billy and Kris’ daughter Kaitlyn hauled for the World in the NCHA Non-Pro. She sure enough won the gold buckle, one of the greatest honors and hardest-to-earn accomplishments in the sport. She, in fact, is the second-highest money-earner in history for hauling for that title. She did it all on Light N Lenas, predominantly on their great show mare Light N Lily, who has won nearly $300,000.

2018 will be our third year standing this great sire. We are thrilled that last season was his best year at stud to date, and the future is indeed bright with Light N Lena. At the time of writing this, he is now a $2 million sire. They win in the show pen and they win in the sale pen. He stamps his babies with his great looks and superior mind. We have said that winning comes easy on a Light N Lena. Well folks, it’s not only catchy – it is true.