Jewel's Leo Bars
Jewel's Leo Bars (photo c. 1968)
AQHA #0206037
BreedQuarter Horse
DisciplineQuarter-Horse Racing, Cutting (sport)
SireSugar Bars
GrandsireThree Bars (TB)
DamLeo Pan
Maternal grandsireLeo
SexStallion
Foaled1962
Died1978 (aged 15–16)
CountryUnited States
ColorSorrel
BreederA.L Smith
Other awards
Sire of three champion/co-champions in the 1976 NCHA Futurity Champion
Honors
Sire of two stallions inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame

Jewel's Leo Bars (1962–1978), commonly known as "Freckles", was a sorrel American Quarter Horse stallion sired by Sugar Bars, out of Leo Pan by Leo. He is considered to be one of the early cutting horse foundation sires, most notable for his influence on the performance horse industry.[1]: 100  He was owned by Marion Flynt and stood at stud at Flynt's Square Top 3 Ranch in Midland, Texas, the home of "many legendary horses".[2] In addition to being a notable foundation cutting horse sire, Freckles also competed in three different disciplines—racing, halter, and cutting—earning an AQHA Register of Merit in Cutting, Halter Stallion points, and a National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Certificate of Ability.

Background

The breeder of Jewel's Leo Bars was A.L. Smith of Perry, OK.[1]: 101  As a late weanling, he was sold to Ira S. Lethco of Fort Stockton, TX, and was later purchased as a yearling by Ford Harris and his son-in-law Kirk Coffman, also from Texas. They reportedly paid $5500.00, which at that time was an unusually high price for a Quarter Horse yearling. The stallion's pedigree was that of a horse bred to run, and as a yearling prospect, his conformation had the desirable traits of form to function, including a long hip, deep chest and depth of girth. Coffman was impressed by the colt's good looks, so he was shown at halter and won his class at two different AQHA approved horse shows, earning his first AQHA halter points in a class of 7.[1]: 103 

Billy Bush was manager of the racing operation for Harris, and was also the first to nickname the young stallion "Freckles" because of all the sorrel spots on his blaze and stockings. Bush started Freckles under saddle as a 2-year-old before sending him to racehorse trainer, Bubba Cascio, who had trained the legendary Dash For Cash. As it turned out, Freckles simply did not have the speed necessary to make the cut for the All American Futurity or other races of that quality; his best AQHA SI was only 55. Cascio suggested gelding the horse, but Harris decided to consign him to a horse sale produced by Charles "Muscles" Foster in Coppell, TX, where he was acquired by Marion Flynt in exchange for a debt owed him by Foster.[1]: 104  Flynt was in the oil and gas business, and owned a large ranch in Midland, TX. He was also president of the NCHA, which was struggling during that time. Flynt stayed with the NCHA, and became the longest serving NCHA President in its history, having served a total of 12 years (1956-58 and 1963-1971).[2] In 1977, he was inducted into the NCHA Members Hall of Fame.

With his ties to the cutting horse industry, Flynt focused on seeing if Freckles could be a cutting horse. He contacted Buster Welch, a legendary horse trainer in the discipline. Shorty Freeman, who rode Doc O'Lena to win the 1970 NCHA World Championship Futurity, Open Division, was also recruited along with Welch to train and show Freckles.[1]: 107 

“He was green broke when we got him. He was a pretty sucker, though, and just a real smooth working horse.”

~Buster Welch[3]

Show career

As a 4-year-old, with limited showing under trainers Welch, Freeman, and John Carter, Freckles won the cutting competition at the 1966 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and later that year, the Dallas State Fair, each with over 40 entries in the class.[1]: 108  Delight Lee also showed him in a few AQHA cuttings, and then in 1970 John Carter showed him in the NCHA Open Division.[1]: 107  Freckles also won the 1970 Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show Open Cutting in Fort Worth, Texas, was 4th in the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Open Cutting, won the Spring Cutting Circuit in Phoenix, Arizona and finished the 1970 year in 10th place in the NCHA Top Ten World Championships, Open Division, ridden by John Carter.[4]

Ultimately Freckles earned his AQHA Register of Merit with 25 points in Cutting. He also earned 3 Halter Stallion points. In NCHA competition, he was awarded the Certificate of Ability with recorded lifetime NCHA earnings of $6,037.24.[1]: 108 

Foundation breeding stallion

The number of mares Freckles bred was limited in the beginning, and his stud book was closed to outside mares. Nonetheless, Jay Freckles, a 1970 stallion sired by Freckles, won the 1973 NCHA Futurity Champion Stallion, finishing 4th overall.[1]: 111  That year, Flynt's ranch manager, Terry Riddle, started cutting horse training for three 2-year-olds sired by Freckles: Freckles Playboy, Colonel Freckles, and Mia Freckles. Riddle's goal was to show them in the December 1976 NCHA Futurity, the premier cutting horse competition for 3-year-olds.[5]

In 1973, there were only 9 foals total sired by Freckles, and 376 entries in the 1976 NCHA Futurity. The three entries sired by Freckles comprised one-third of his 1973 crop, and had garnered substantial attention in the go-rounds and Futurity finals. That year, Colonel Freckles was the NCHA Futurity Open Champion, ridden by Olan Hightower and owned by Bob McCloud; Freckles Playboy, ridden by Terry Riddle, and Doc's Becky, ridden by Bill Freeman, were Co-Reserve Open Champions. The Non-Pro Futurity Champion was Mia Freckles, ridden by Kay Floyd. Terry Riddle had trained all four winners.[1]: 111  The Fort Worth Star Telegram commented, "the $215,000 NCHA Futurity held Dec. 12 in Fort Worth might just as well have been held in Midland – that way Marion Flynt wouldn't have had to haul his awards so far home."

"As soon as I started breaking Freckles Playboy, he showed me he was special," Riddle said. "He was quick and a big stopper. In fact, when I first started driving him, he stopped hard and moved low, and it was all natural."

~Terry Riddle[1]: 111 

Freckles sired a number of champion progeny, who in turn provided him champion grand-get. A leading example was his son Freckles Playboy, listed as one of the Top Fifteen Leading NCHA Super Stakes Sires in 2021 with combined earnings of $2,324,488.00 across all divisions.[6]

Influence of genetics

Building a bloodline group of genetically superior horses that breed true requires breeders to research pedigrees back for many generations to foundation sires and dams. This helps create consistency by obtaining progeny information and individual performance records, but it also requires the breeder to skillfully match complimentary crosses based on their research.[7][8]

“But it wasn't long before Flynt, and the entire cutting industry, realized that Freckles' worth was as a cutting horse sire and the "magic cross" was Freckles crossed on daughters of Rey Jay.”

~Glory Ann Kurtz, Western Horseman, Legends–Volume 6 [1]: 108 

Jewel's Leo Bars success at stud was an example of these principles at work. [1]: 108  The Quarter Horse Journal had described Doc Bar as "a highlight" of the excellence found in crosses between Three Bars and Joe Reed bloodlines, and added that another "industry-shaping version" was the cross between Sugar Bars (a son of Three Bars with a line to Joe Reed) and Leo daughters. That cross "gave the industry Jewels [sic] Leo Bars (sire of Colonel Freckles and Freckles Playboy), Zippo Pat Bars (sire of Zippo Pine Bar), Otoe and Flit Bar..."[9] The Jewel's Leo Bars x Rey Jay cross produced two AQHA Hall of Fame stallions, Freckles Playboy (inducted 2013) and Colonel Freckles (inducted 2004), both of whom were outstanding cutting horses as well as notable sires.[10]

The principles of this type of selective breeding for success in specific disciplines were noted in a 2013 genomic study that found the Quarter Horse breed is "subdivided into different lines according to skills resulting from distinct selection objectives" and noted "a close relationship between physical characteristics and the function for which the animal is used." For cutting horses, those skills include, but are not limited to, athletic ability and trainability.[11][12]

Registration and pedigree

AQHA registration #0206037, 1962 sorrel stallion, breeder A.L. Smith of Perry, Oklahoma.

Midway
Percentage
Gossip Avenue
Three Bars
Luke McLuke
Myrtle Dee
Civil Maid
Sugar Bars
Captains Courageous
Rey
Goldie
Frontera Sugar
Ben Hur
Mare by Ben Hur
Joe Reed
Jewel's Leo Bars
Nellene
Joe Reed II
Joe Reed
Leo
Fanny Ashwell
Little Fanny
Call Shot
Leo Pan
Handy Cup
Handy Shot
Little Joe
Panchita
Mare by Little Joe

Source:[13][14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Holmes, Frank; Campbell, Patti (2004). Legends. Volume 6 : outstanding quarter horse stallions and mares. Colorado Springs, CO: Western Horseman. p. 101. ISBN 0-911647-73-2. OCLC 57597624.
  2. 1 2 "In the Past: Marion Flynt". Quarter Horse News. September 21, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  3. ↑ Nettles, Gala (November 1, 2000). Trendsetters:Jewel's Leo Bars, Colonel Freckles, Doc O'Lena. Vol. 1. LMH Publishing Company. ISBN 0-9649288-6-8. OCLC 60791777.
  4. ↑ "NCHA 2020 Yearbook" (PDF). Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ Montag, Molly (November 17, 2021). "Top 15: NCHA Futurity All-Time Leaders". Quarter Horse News. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ Montag, Molly (April 7, 2021). "Top 15: Leading NCHA Super Stakes Open, Non-Pro & Amateur Sires". Quarter Horse News. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  7. ↑ Finno, C. J.; Bannasch, D.L. (June 25, 2014). "Applied equine genetics". Equine Veterinary Journal. Wiley. 46 (5): 538–544. doi:10.1111/evj.12294. ISSN 0425-1644. PMC 4327934.
  8. ↑ Scholle, Sally (December 30, 2020). "Genetic influences behind today's Quarter Horses". TSLN.com. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  9. ↑ Caudill, Andrea (February 28, 2022). "The Doc Bar Influence". AQHA. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  10. ↑ Dennison, Jennifer; Hecox, Ross (October 2007). "Top Ten Ranch Horse Bloodlines" (PDF). Western Horseman. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  11. ↑ Meira, Camila Tangari; Curi, Rogério Abdallah; Vasconcelos Silva, Josineudson Augusto II; Monteiro Corrêa, Marcio José; Nunes de Oliveira, Henrique; Silveira da Mota, Marcilio Dias (2013). "Morphological and Genomic Differences Between Cutting and Racing Lines of Quarter Horses". Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. Elsevier BV. 33 (4): 244–249. doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2012.07.001. hdl:11449/74928. ISSN 0737-0806.
  12. ↑ Salek Ardestani, Siavash; Aminafshar, Mehdi; Zandi Baghche Maryam, Mohammad Bagher; Banabazi, Mohammad Hossein; Sargolzaei, Mehdi; Miar, Younes (December 26, 2019). "Whole-Genome Signatures of Selection in Sport Horses Revealed Selection Footprints Related to Musculoskeletal System Development Processes". Animals. MDPI AG. 10 (1): 53. doi:10.3390/ani10010053. ISSN 2076-2615. PMC 7023322.
  13. ↑ "Jewels Leo Bars Quarter Horse". All Breed Pedigree. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Jewels Leo Bars". SporthorseData. April 24, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
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