*portions of this article have been condensed*

Yellow Jacket was a foundation sire who had it all, as they like to say about the great ones. He had breeding, conformation, speed, and the ability to pass these traits to his offspring.

His influence is found today in most bloodlines, evidenced by two of the oldest and still popular KING and SKIPPER W families. King's dam Jabalina (or Javalina as she is also known) was by Strait Horse by Yellow Jacket, and Skipper W's dam Hired Girl was by Cowboy P-12 by Yellow Jacket.

Speed came natural to Yellow Jacket from his sire Little Rhondo and his dam Barbee Dun who were by the original Locks Rhondo by Whalebone by Old Billy. The old timers said all the Rhondos could run because of the string infusion of Steeldust and Shilo blood through Old Billy. Locks Rhondo was Yellow Jacket's paternal grandsire and maternal grandsire as well.

It was this type of linebreeding of Yellow Jacket by Jim Barbee that set a successful pattern for many other Quarter Horse breeders. J. W. House followed in 1939 with Leo, using Joe Reed P-3. It is also interesting to note that Yellow Jacket and Leo's influence came primarily through the distaff (maternal) side. The King Ranch bred Wimpy P-1 much in the same way in 1934 only their program was on a much more grandiose scale.

Yellow Jacket has been discribed as a handsome, well formed, yellow dun with a red mane and tail. He stood 15.2 and weighed 1200 pounds. He was started on the quarter tracks as a 2-year-old and by the age of six had earned the reputation as the in the triangle area of Austin, Beeville, and Houston. His famous race with King (Possum) is recorded as one of the most thrilling and closest in Quarter Horse history. King was three years younger than Yellow Jacket and was by the "Mystery Horse" TRAVELER. King later became known as POSSUM after he went to Arizona. His dam Jenny was by Sykes Rhondo by McCoy's Billy by Old Billy, so he had all the credentials to run. King won by a head and in so doing, broke the bank and the hearts of people in Kyle, TX. that day. In defense of Yellow Jacket's loss I like Franklin Reynold's account of the great race, "It was the general impression of among all who witnessed the race, that Yellow Jacket's jockey did not actually try to win the race. The jockey left Kyle right after he dismounted, and was never seen in those parts of Texas again."

It was soon after that famous race that Yellow Jacket was purchased by W. T. (Tom) Waggoner, of the famed Waggoner Ranch. Waggoner was one of the most prominent and respected breeders of quarter type horses. Waggoner was known as a Texas cattle baron and oil magnate who loved the cow horse and was very partial to duns. He was always looking for a faster horse than his neighbors, particularly the Burnetts. When he found a horse he liked, he bought it, regardless of the price. The one exception was Man O War. Waggoner sent a check for one million dollars to Colonel Bradley, owner of the great stallion. It was sent back. Waggoner then sent another "blank" check, along with a note that said "Set the price and fill in the amount". This time the check was sent back with a return note that read, "Whenever a price can be set for the Eiffel Tower, a price will be set on Man O War".

Waggoner bought Yellow Jacket off the track in 1916 and took him to a selective type of Steel Dust type mares on his Three D Ranch south of Vernon, TX. Most of those mares were by a horse called Brown's Yellow Wolf by Pid Hart by Shelby by Tom Driver by Steel Dust; hence the label "Steel Dust Type". These mares also carried a strain of Strideaway's Thoroughbred blood, too, from Waggoner's initial brood stock.

There were three "Yellow Wolf's" used in Waggoner's breeding program, but Brown's Yellow Wolf was seal brown in color and preceded the two duns who were by Old Joe Bailey. These were the days before the registry, so record keeping was not as sophisticated as we know it to be today, and especially difficult with the large number of broodmares on the Three D Ranch.

In 1916 when Yellow Jacket was introduced into the Waggoner breeding program as its chief sire, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner was less interested in raising Quarter Horse sires, he focused his energies and his knowledge on promoting and producing broodmares. This being the case we may never know the true potential Yellow Jacket may have had a paternal line (stallion) sire. According to Lige Reed, foreman for T. W. Waggoner, "None of Yellow Jacket's colts were kept on the ranch as stallions, because they made such great cow horses as geldings. Reed also stated that many of Yellow Jacket's daughters were retained for the broodmare band. But not all of Yellow Jacket's offspring were bred on the Waggoner Ranch.

STRAIT HORSE by Yellow Jacket is one example. He as a dun stallion from a Gardner Quarter mare, bred by O. G. Parke during Yellow Jacket's early racing career in Kyle, TX. Strait Horse sired Jabalina (Javalina), the dam of King P-234, who undoubtedly is one of the greatest Quarter Horse sires of all time. Jabalina because of her speed (which depending on which account you read, may or may not have been good) and her breeding, was purchased by Manuel Benevides Volpe of Laredo, TX. Volpe also owned Zantanon, or as he was also know "The Mexican Man O War". Volpe was the breeder of King P-234 and Jess Hankins would later become his owner, and as they say the rest is history.

Beetch's Yellow Jacket was one of the stallion colts that escaped Waggoner's gelding knife. He went on to sire two outstanding broodmares in LADY COOLIDGE and DIXIE BEACH, from Bert Benear's great MAYFLOWER. both mares had 11 foals each, and all those foals made the AQHA record books. When Lady Coolidge was bred to Tommy Clegg she foaled BERT P-227 in 1934. Bert P-227 went on to become the maternal sire of 24 AQHA Champions.

Dixie Beach, the other daughter of Beetch's Yellow Jacket would go on to become a great broodmare in her own right with the last foal she ever produced being the great HARLAN by Hank H by King P-234.

By 1925 T. W. Waggoner had raised enough mares from Yellow Jacket that he gave the aging stallion to his friend Lee Bivens of Amarillo, TX. Bivens and his associate Edgar Thompson, took three of Thompson's Peter McCue bred mares the Yellow Jacket the following breeding season and hit the jackpot with COWBOY P-12, YELLOW BOY P-18, and BLACKBURN P-2228.

Cowboy P-12 sired HARD TWIST, World Champion Quarter Running Stallion in 1946, '47, and '51. Cowboy P-12 also sired the flying frenzy SHUE FLY out of Lay Luck. Shue Fly was the 1941,'42,'43 and '44 World Champion Quarter Running Horse.

Yellow Boy P-18 spent his life in the Texas Panhandle siring great cow horses for the JA Ranch. He sired 16 AQHA record producing daughters.

Blackburn P-2228, the third Leading Maternal Grandsire of 25 AQHA Supreme Champions, and stands only below King P-234 and Leo. Blackburn was quickly purchased by W. T. Waggoner after seeing his potential and brought back to the Three D Ranch where he became one of the ranch's more renowned and successful sires, with 47 producing daughters in the AQHA record books. Blackburn bred mares crossed on other ranch sires such as, Poco Bueno, Pretty Boy and his son Pretty Buck, soon became a winning and legendary combination.

It is inarguable that Waggoner (Three D) Ranch was truly one of the greatest Quarter Horse breeding programs of all time both before and after the formation of the AQHA. Yellow Jacket definitely made a timeless and invaluable contribution to that success.