"The Blackburn Story"

By: Jennifer Long-Hermesch

Blackburn #2228 was bred by J.L. Fuqua Jr. of Amarillo, TX , and was sired by the stallion Yellow Jacket X Little Rondo, and out of the mare Siss X Peter McCue. His foaling date according to AQHA Records is 1927, I do not have a recorded death age, however I can tell you that Blackburn sired 21 colts crops and the last one was recorded in 1955. Now whether the horse died in 1954 or became sterile with age I do not know because he sired 16 registered foals in 1950, there are no records for any foals for 1951 or 1952, one filly was sired in 1953 "Lady Cowen 16" no foals for 1954, and one filly in 1955 "Black Maid". "Black Maid" is the last known offspring according to AQHA Records. The first recorded owner of Blackburn is the Waggoner Ranch. The Waggoner Ranch used the horse for several years as a herd sire in their program. When you look at the pedigrees of the daughters of Blackburn you will see that many times their dams are simply referred to as "Waggoner Mare", "Fuqua Mare", "Gallegos Mare", "Zurick Mare", and "Cowen Mare" so it is unclear as to what the breeding may have been on many of mares bred to the stallion. In addition to the "Ranch/Owner Named Mares", Blackburn was bred to daughters of the following stallions... Yellow Wolf, Buck Thomas, Dan, Waggoners Rainey Day, Clover Leaf, Little Mike, Bailey, Cotton Eyed Joe, Harmon Baker Jr., Pretty Boy, Old Joe Bailey, Cowen's Hancockhorse, Joe Hancock, and Cowen's Tommy. Blackburn was like many stallions when his daughters filled the broodmare band at the Waggoner Ranch, he was moved to a new location. Blackburn was used by the Cowan Ranch of Seymour, Texas. This marks the beginning of a second chapter in the life of Blackburn. Blackburn bred the Cowan ranch mares that were simply known as Cowan Mares. The Stud Book doesn't give any pedigrees for these mares. Cowan later leased Blackburn to Bob Haley of Seymour, Texas for a short time. To the best of my knowledge Blackburn died at the Waggoner Ranch, as they are the last owner recorded with the AQHA, even though in the latter part of his life the Cowen Ranch and Bob Haley used him as a sire.
Blackburn sired 128 foals registered with the AQHA, however of those 128 foals only 17 of them are recorded as stallions, it is my guess that he sired far more colts than this, and that many of his stud colts were gelded and therefore never registered by the Waggoner Ranch. Blackburn was a dun stallion and over 80% of his offspring are recorded as dun. Blackburn is considered to be one of the greatest "Maternal Sires" of all time, he is still listed in the TOP 5 of Maternal Sires with the AQHA, not bad for a horse that has been deceased for half a century. His get earned 4.0 halter points and 12.0 performance points with the AQHA, and $1,6650.51 in money earnings with the NCHA.  The two pictures below are the to the best of my knowledge the only two photos of Blackburn in existence.

Blackburn photos courtesy of the AQHA & the American Quarter Horse Heritage Center, Amarillo, TX.

"The Blackburn Legacy"

By: Jennifer Long-Hermesch

In the 1950's Harold Schafer and Ted Ressler teamed up to form the "Blackburn Ranch" located at Bismarck, ND. Harold Schafer owned the GOLD SEAL COMPANY makers of such products as Snowy Bleach, Glass Wax, and Mr.Bubble, he was the "money man" for this venture and Ted Ressler was hired by him to go out and find some "quality cow horses".  Mr. Schafer had a penchant for dun and buckskin colored horses in particular. Over the next few weeks after talking with several horsemen and cattle buyers that he knew, Mr. Ressler made the acquaintance of Paul Curtner of Jacksboro, TX. Mr. Curtner had 12 daughters of Blackburn that were buckskin or dun in color, each one of these mares had a colt at their side sired by the great Poco Pine and all 12 mares were bred back the same way. The mares were purchased and brought back to North Dakota. One look at these mares was all that was needed for Mr. Schafer to tell Mr. Ressler to go out and buy every daughter of Blackburn that could be purchased. Mr. Ressler contacted the AQHA and obtained a list of all the living daughters of Blackburn and their owners and began making phone calls. With in a short time he was on a plane bound for Dallas, TX. While there he purchased 30 mares. Arrangements were made for a few of the mares to be left at the Waggoner Ranch to be bred to Poco Bueno, and another group were sent to Kansas to G.W. Sam's place to be bred to Poco Birthday, before making the trip northward. Eventually Mr. Schafer obtained a total of 49 daughters of Blackburn.

 The two pictures seen below were taken by Ted Ressler on his trip to the Waggoner Ranch.

	During the early years of the Blackburn Ranch a tragic auto accident claimed the life of Chino, California horseman John Taylor. At the time of his death Mr. Taylor had a good string of Waggoner Ranch bred horses including Pretty Buck and several of his sons and daughters. He also owned Poco Pat and Poco Pico both sons of Poco Bueno. Mr. Schafer once again sent Mr. Ressler out to buy horses for the ranch. However the Taylor program also had several horses with Thoroughbred bloodlines in them, not wanting the TB blood Mr. Ressler made an offer to Mrs. Taylor for the ones that would fit the Blackburn Ranch program.

Mrs. Taylor declined the offer, not wanting to split the herd up. Later she had a dispersal sale of all her husband's horses and G.W. Sams of Kansas bought Pretty Buck at that time. A few years later the Sams' herd was dispersed and he was then purchased by the Blackburn Ranch. Pretty Buck along with Poco Nino by Poco Bueno, and Poco Eagle by Poco Rey by Poco Bueno were bred to the daughters of Blackburn with wonderful results. Here are a few examples, Mr. Blackburn 40, an AQHA Champion by Pretty Buck. Mr. Blackburn 40 then sired Mr. Blackburn 101 who also became an AQHA Champion and in turn sired Debonaire Lady who went on to become a AQHA World Champion Halter Horse. Mr. Blackburn 11 by Poco Birthday became a top performance horse sire, Mr. Blackburn 28 by Poco Eagle earned AQHA halter and cutting points and later became an AQHA Champion as well. Mr. Blackburn 8 by Poco Trace and out of Vinita Kay a daughter of Blackburn became a High Point Jumping Champion in Colorado.
 

In 1970 Mr. Schafer decided to concentrate his efforts (and money) on restoring the North Dakota town of Medora. At this time the Blackburn Ranch and most of it's breeding animals were sold, Pretty Buck however remained with Mr. Schafer and his family until the time of his death in 1973, the stallion was 30 years old when he passed.  Blackburn and his progeny, when crossed with such greats as Pretty Buck and Poco Bueno, molded the face of The American Quarter Horse as few others have.  Their natural athleticism, inherent cow-sense, quiet and steady manner, as well as their indomitable fortitude, secured them a place in the breed.  These same attributes not only embedded "The Blackburns" in American Quarter Horse History, but also is the very thing that keeps that bloodline in many quality breeding programs even today.
 

(Much of the information for this piece was derived from an article written in the 1960's by Ted Ressler.)

By: Larry Thornton

Blackburn was foaled in 1927. He came with a pedigree rich in the history of the quarter horse. His sire Yellow Jacket was a noted race horse. He was a red dun stallion that stood about 15 hands two inches. The dam of Blackburn was a mare named Siss. Siss was sired by Peter McCue.

Our primary look at the sire record of Blackburn begins with E. Paul Waggoner's purchase of Poco Bueno in 1945. E. Paul Waggoner was the son of Tom Waggoner and grandson of Dan Waggoner. The father and son team that built the Waggoner Ranch of Vernon, Texas into an institution and not just a ranch. When E. Paul Waggoner bought Poco Bueno, he was building
the 3D Stock Farm at Arlington, Texas. Waggoner would go on to establish the 3D Stock Farm into a major breeding program for Poco Bueno, Poco Bueno would prove himself as a great show horse earning Grand Championships at many of the major shows and then as a winning cutting horse.

Poco Bueno's band of mares would consist of daughters of Blackburn, Pretty Boy and Pep Up. Poco Bueno would become the all time leading sire of AQHA Champions with 36 to his credit. He is still on this list over 30 years after his death. When we look at these AQHA Champions we see that 18 of the 36 were out of daughters or granddaughters of Blackburn.

We will begin with Dolly D. Dolly D was the dam of three AQHA Champions sired by Poco Bueno. The first AQHA Champion was Poco Mona. This mare earned 47 AQHA halter points and 283 AQHA performance points with a superior in cutting. She was the AQHA Honor Roll Cutting Mare in 1958. She was in the NCHA Top Ten for three years. The second AQHA Champion out of Dolly D was Poco Bay. This bay stallion earned 39 halter points and 14 performance points. The third AQHA Champion was Poco Doll, a dun mare. She earned 96 AQHA halter points and 17 AQHA performance. She was Superior in halter. The dam of Dolly D was a daughter of Waggoner's Rainy Day P-13 and she was out of a Waggoner Mare, whose breeding is unknown.

Lady Blackburn III was another good producing daughter of Blackburn that went to broodmare band of Poco Bueno. She was the dam of two AQHA Champions sired by Poco Bueno. They were Poco Bob, who was another Superior cutting horse and halter horse. He earned 51 halter points and 125 performance points. He was and NCHA Top Ten qualifier in 1961. Poco Lynn was the next AQHA Champion from this mare. Poco Lynn was the 1958 AQHA High Point Halter Horse. She earned her Superior in halter with 83 AQHA points and she had 20 AQHA performance points. Lady Blackburn III was out of a daughter of Waggoner's Rainy Day P-13.

Lady Blackburn III was the dam of Little Electra by Beaver Creek, a son of King P-234. When they bred Little Electra to Poco Bueno, they got two AQHA Superior halter horses in Poco Jan and Poco Electra. Poco Electra was also an AQHA Champion.

Nellie D was another Blackburn Daughter bred to Poco Bueno. This time they produced the AQHA Champion Poco Speedy. Poco Speedy is often seen in the pedigrees of the Driftwood bred horses. The well known Driftwood stallion Wilywood gives us an example of the breeding that combines Poco Speedy with Driftwood. The sire of Wilywood is Orphan Drift, a grandson of Driftwood. The dam of Wilywood is Oui Oui by Poco Speedy. The dam of Oui Oui was Woodfern by Driftwood. Nellie D was out of a Waggoner's Rainy Day Mare, who was out of a Waggoner Mare.

Mary D was a daughter of Blackburn and she produced two AQHA Champions by Poco Bueno. They were Poco Pico and Poco Dias. Mary D was out of a mare by Bailey. The dam of Mary D was a Waggoner Mare, whose breeding is listed as unknown.

Poco Robin and Poco Nadine were AQHA Champions by Poco Bueno. They were out of Jeep W by Blackburn. The dam of Jeep W is listed in the Stud Book as a Waggoner Mare, whose breeding is listed as unknown.

The mare that must be considered the most famous granddaughter of Blackburn to be bred to Poco Bueno was Sheilwin. Sheilwin was the dam of AQHA Champions Poco Lena. Poco Tivio and Poco Champ. Poco Lena went on to become a legend as a cutting horse. She was the NCHA Reserve World Champion five times and the NCHA World Champion Cutting Mare three times. She was the AQHA Honor Roll Cutting Horse three times with Superiors in cutting and halter. She was an AQHA Champion with 641 AQHA cutting points and 174 AQHA halter points. Poco Tivio was an NCHA Top Ten qualifier for two years. He was an AQHA Champion with 12 AQHA halter points and 19 AQHA performance points. Poco Champ was Superior in halter with 54 AQHA halter points and 26 performance points. Sheilwin was sired by Pretty Boy and out of a Waggoner Mare by Blackburn.

Lady Beaver 136 was another daughter of Beaver Creek that produced an AQHA Champion by Poco Bueno. This AQHA Champion was Poco Pamlet. Lady Beaver 136 was out of a mare by Blackburn.

Miss Bow Tie was a daughter of the famous Waggoner stallion Pretty Buck. Pretty Buck stood on the 3D Stock Farm with Poco Bueno. The dam of Miss Bow Tie was Sheilfly by Blackburn. Miss Bow Tie would become the dam of three AQHA Champions sired by Poco Bueno. They are Poco Bow Tie, Poco Bow and Poco Discount. The dam of Sheilfly was a mare by Cotton Eyed Joe by Little Joe. The dam of Sheilflyl's mother was a Waggoner Mare, whose pedigree is unknown.

The success of Miss Bow Tie is just one example of the success of Pretty Buck and Blackburn. This has proven to be a good cross as well in Snipette by Blackburn. Snipette was the dam of the 1953 NCHA World Champion Cutting Horse Snipper W. Snipper W was an AQHA Champion with Superiors in cutting and halter. He earned 52 AQHA halter points and 129 AQFHA performance points. He was sired by Pretty Buck. Snipette was out of a mare by Bailey.

Blackburn was like many stallions when his daughters filled the broodmare band at the Waggoner Ranch, he was moved to a new location. Blackburn was used by the Cowan Ranch of Seymour, Texas. This marks the beginning of a second chapter in the life of Blackburn. Blackburn bred the Cowan ranch mares that were simply known as Cowan Mares. The Stud Book doesn't give any pedigrees for these mares.

Cowan later leased Blackburn to Bob Haley of Seymour, Texas for a short time. The registration file indicates that Blackburn died in about 1951.

The next phase of the second chapter in the life of Blackburn comes from Bismarck, North Dakota. Harold Schafer owned the Gold Seal Company, which sold such products as Snowy Bleach, Glass Wax and Mr. Bubble, a bubble bath for kids. Mr. Schafer founded a ranch in North Dakota that he called the Blackburn Ranch. The foundation of the Blackburn Ranch was made up of 40 own daughters of Blackburn.

Schafer used the Blackburn mares to produce such AQHA Champions as Mr Blackburn II (by Poco Birthday); Mr Blackburn 16 (by Poco Mos) and Mr Blackburn 28 (by Poco Eagle). Poco Eagle was sired by Poco Rey by Poco Bueno. Poco Eagle was out of Scar Face S, a Bailey Mare from the Waggoner Ranch. Poco Mos was sired by Poco Bueno and out of Pretty Me by Pretty Buck by Pretty Boy. The dam of Pretty Me was Suits Me by Pretty Boy. Poco Birthday was sired Poco Bueno and out of Etta's Birthday by Joe Traveler.

Harold Schafer then bought the great Pretty Buck from the Glynn W. Sams Estate. This put Pretty Buck back with the daughters of Blackburn. The reuniting of Pretty Buck with Blackburn mares gave the Schafer breeding program the AQHA Champions Mr Blackburn 37 and Mr Blackburn 40.

One of the Schafer bred mares was Blackburn 36. This mare was sired by Poco Nino. Poco Nino was sired by Poco Bueno and he was out of Patsy Buck by Pretty Buck. The dam of Blackburn 36 was Lady Black 62 by Blackburn and out of a Waggoner Mare. Blackburn 36 is the dam of the good mare Grulla San by Leo San Hank by Leo San. Grulla San is the dam of High Brow Hickory. High Brow Hickory is the winner of over $229,155 as an NCHA Futurity Co-Reserve Champion. His foals include High Brows Nurse, NCHA Open Super Stakes Reserve Champion and High Brow Cat, NCHA Super Stakes Finalist.

Lady Black 50 is another Blackburn daughter. This mare is the dam of Miss Crip by L H Chock by King P-234. Miss Crip was bred to Poco Mos to get the mare Poco Crip Mos. Poco Crip Mos is the dam of Thermo Poco Mos. Thermo Poco MOs is the dam of Doc O Mos is the sire of such noted Western Pleasure horses as Cash For Stars, an AQHYA World Show Top Ten and Superior Pleasure Horse. Doc O Mos was sired by Doc Bar and out of a daughter of Poco Tivio. Poco Tivio was out of Sheilwin, a granddaughter of Blackburn. This gives him two crosses to Blackburn. As we look at the scheme of things surrounding the Waggoner horses, Blackburn becomes a very significant individual in the success of the Waggoner breeding program and the success of the famous stallion Poco Bueno.
 

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