A “bue hen” is a mare that influences the breed not only through her own foals but also through the produce of her offspring and their offspring, giving her a multigeneration influence. Records will show that Diamonds Sparkle is a blue hen mare, and one phase of her influence comes through a breeding pattern that is an interesting part of her status as a blue hen.
That status was on display at the recent National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity, where descendants of the great mare took home multiple championships.
The Beginning: Diamonds Sparkle
As a show mare, Diamonds Sparkle (Mr Diamond Dude x Pollyanna Rose x Clabber Question) was the second horse to earn the title of American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) World Show Superhorse in 1979. She was also that year’s AQHA Senior Heading World Champion while finishing fourth in the Senior Reining and sixth in the Senior Heeling. She earned an AQHA Championship, and a Superior in steer roping.
Diamonds Sparkle started building her credentials to be a blue hen with foals like 1985 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity Open Champion Sparkles Rosezana (by Zan Parr Bar) and the 1993 AQHA Junior Reining World Champion Shining Spark (by Genuine Doc), who went on to become one of the most influential sires and broodmare sires in Western performance horse history.
Diamonds Sparkle also foaled 1987 AQHA Junior Reining World Champion Zans Diamond Sun (by Zan Parr Bar) and 1990 NRHA Derby Open Champion Genuine Redskin (by Genuine Doc).
Her foals have EquiStat earnings of $205,506, and she is an AQHA and NRHA Hall of Fame member.
Influence Today: the main characters in Shiney Tari’s story
We will focus at this point on Diamonds Sparkle as a blue hen mare through our In The Blood topic mare Shiney Tari, whose blood flows through the veins of multiple winners at this year’s National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity.
Bred by Carol Rose, Shiney Tari (Shining Spark x Tarizana x Taris Cataylst) was purchased by Richard Bell of Van Alstyne, Texas, and shown by Robbie Boyce. She won the 2003 Southwest Reined Cow Horse Association (SWRCHA) Summer Spectacular Snaffle Bit Futurity and was fourth in the 2003 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open. In 2004, she was the Derby Open Reserve Champion at the NRCHA Celebration of Champions and retired with an EquiStat record of $33,706.
Shiney Tari’s sire, Shining Spark, has contributed a great deal to the status of Diamonds Sparkle as a blue hen. He is an EquiStat Elite $9 Million Sire – mostly in reined cow horse and reining with more than $4.4 million in reining offspring earnings and more than $4.5 million in cow horse. His influence extends to a second generation, with his sons siring the winners of more than $15.9 million and his daughters foaling a whopping $23.9 million in winners.
Shiney Tari’s mother, Tarizana, is the dam of horses that have earned $142,537 with her leading money winner being SRCHA Fall Futurity Open Champion Shiney Senorita ($52,719, by Shining Spark) and Shiners Hot Flash, a daughter of Shining Spark who won the NRCHA Limited Open Hackamore World Championship. Both of these horses are full sisters to Shiney Tari.
The dam of Tarizana, Sparkles Rosezana, has an EquiStat record of $33,822 with additional offspring that include Doctor Sparks, a son of Genuine Doc who won the Lazy E Classic 4/5-Year-Old Intermediate Open reining. Her daughter, Rosezana Lena (by Doc O’Lena), is the 1997 AQHA Junior Tie-Down Roping World Champion and an AQHA Performance Champion with Superior awards in heeling, heading and tie-down roping. Her son, Kick It In The Nic (by Nic It In The Bud), is an AQHA Superior heading and heeling horse.
The Breeding Pattern
Now that we have introduced the main characters we can step back and see that Shiney Tari has a breeding pattern of 2 x 3 to Diamonds Sparkle through her sire, Shining Spark, and her second dam, Sparkles Rosezana – both offspring of Diamonds Sparkle.
This breeding theory is “Inbreeding to Superior Females.” This inbreeding to a mare allows the breeder to take advantage of such things as sex-linked genes that a male can’t pass on. You increase your chance of getting those genes in the foal produced, increasing the influence of the mare as the common ancestor.
We are more likely to see inbreeding and linebreeding through a common male ancestor, but inbreeding to a mare or mares can be remarkably successful. One of the famous examples was inbreeding to the full sisters Lady Coolidge and Dixie Beach (Beetch’s Yellow Jacket and out of Mayflower x Nail Driver).
The two mares are both in the pedigree of influential broodmare Sutherland’s Miss, a mare sired by Jodie The Tuff, who himself was sired by Dixie Beach’s son, Little Jodie. The dam of Sutherland’s Miss was Tangerine W, a mare by Lady Coolidge’s son, Bert P-227. Thus, Sutherland’s Miss has a 3 x 3 breeding pattern to the full sisters. This cross produced the influential sire Bueno Chex as well as My Lady Chex and Fritz Command. All three are AQHA Champions, and can still be found in the pedigrees of today’s cow horses and reined cow horses.
The EquiStat produce record for Shiney Tari shows that she is the dam of 13 money winners with earnings of $786,048. They include $195,203 winner and producer Shine Smarter (by WR This Cats Smart), $143,337 winner and sire That CD Rocks (by CD Lights), $121,254 earner Smart Chic N Tari (by Smart Chic Olena) and Boonie Tunes (by Peptoboonsmal), a winner of $108,697.
• Photo by Primo Morales.
The 2021 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity added to the Shiney Tari legacy. Juliette Jones, a daughter of Shine Smarter, was fourth in the Open. Shiney Little Rock, a son of That CD Rocks, scored a double win at the winning the Level 1 Open and the Limited Open championships. Another son of That CD Rocks, Move That Rock, won multiple championships at the NRCHA Hackamore Classic and horse show classes held in conjunction with this year’s Snaffle Bit Futurity.
Reinforcing The Pattern
The Shiney Tari branch of the Diamonds Sparkle family and her double breeding doesn’t stand alone in representing this great mare. Zans Diamond Jackie (by Zans Diamond Sun) has proven to be a significant contributor to Diamonds Sparkle as a blue hen when bred to Shining Spark. Her produce have earned more than $250,000 and she is the granddam of horses that have earned more than $1 million. The Shining Spark x Zans Diamond Jackie cross has produced producers Shiners Diamond Girl, Shiners Diamond Jill, Shinersdiamondjackie and Shiners Diamond Lady. These four mares also have a breeding pattern of 2 x 3 to Diamonds Sparkle, and have already contributed champions to reined cow horse.
Shiners Diamond Girl has produced earnings in excess of $300,000, including NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion CD Diamond and NRCHA Stallion Stakes Open Champion SJR Diamond Rey. CD Diamond went on to sire another NRCHA Open Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion, SJR Diamond Mist.
The latest money winner from this mare is SJR Royal Diamond (by One Time Royalty), who finished third in the 2021 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open.
Shiners Diamond Jill is the dam of Diamonds With Style, who in turn is the dam of 2013 NRCHA Open Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion Time For The Diamond and The Royalty, who was 12th in the 2021 Snaffle Bit Futurity Intermediate Open.
Shinersdiamondjackie is the dam of NRCHA Open Futurity Hackamore Champion Nics Black Diamond.
Shiners Diamond Lady is the dam of 2018 NRCHA Open Derby Champion Shiners Diamond Cat. This mare also made a splash at the 2021 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Sale when her yearling daughter and full sister to Shiners Diamond Cat, This Katty Lady, sold for $100,000.
Another Zans Diamond Sun mare crossed with Shining Spark, Zans Diamond Ring, foaled the 2007 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Reserve Champion Shes Full Of Diamonds.
There is no doubt that Diamonds Sparkle is a blue hen and the ability to inbreed or line breed to this mare certainly enhances her multi-generation influence on the breed.
