Quarter Horse
Five individuals and three horses will be inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame during the 2009 American Quarter Horse Association Convention, March 6-9 in San Antonio, Texas.
The American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to honor people and horses instrumental in the development of the breed and the American Quarter Horse Association. Induction into the Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors bestowed by AQHA.
Horses:
Miss Meyers
In 1953, Miss Meyers set four track records while on her way to earning the title of AQHA Racing Champion Mare and World Champion Racing American Quarter Horse. In 59 starts, the chestnut daughter of Leo won 17 races including seven stakes races. She was stakes placed an additional nine times and earned $28,727. But her biggest impact on the breed would be accomplished through three of her four foals. Her first foal was Oh My Oh, the dam of All American Futurity winner Three Oh’s. Her second foal, Mr Meyers, was stakes-placed and sired champion Junior Meyers and the earners of $1.2 million including 17 stakes winners. Kid Meyers, her last foal, was the first AQHA Supreme Champion and sired champion and All American Futurity winner Mr Kid Charge.
Make It Do
Make It Do was born in 1964. A six-time winner on the track, the sorrel gelding who was nicknamed “Peanuts” would use his speed to chase down steers in the rodeo arena and end up in two Halls. Peanuts was purchased off the race track in 1968 and went on to be a rodeo legend. In 1977, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association awarded a trophy for the first time to the season’s best steer wrestling horse. The top 30 money winners in the event were up for the award and the winner in 1977-78 was Peanuts, who was owned by C.R. Jones of Lakeside, California. Peanuts was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Scotch Bar Time
A 1974 stallion by American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame inductee Sonny Dee Bar, Scotch Bar Time has sired 1,186 foals. His offspring have earned more than 11,000 points in open performance classes, more than 15,000 points in amateur performance classes and more than 12,000 points in youth performance classes. Combined, his foals have earned 38,405.5 performance points and 4,493 halter points. He sired two supreme amateur champions and six supreme youth champions. Scotch Bar Time foals have earned $136,394 in National Snaffle Bit Association competition.
Individuals:
Clarence E. “Casey” Darnell, Corrales, New Mexico
An AQHA life member, Casey Darnell was born a horseman. An AQHA judge for 21 years, Darnell was a roper, horse trainer and youth instructor. He became an AQHA Director in 1961 and served in that capacity for 21 years. In 1983, he was named an Honorary Vice President of AQHA. He served as president of the New Mexico Quarter Horse Association and was a board member of the organization.
Charles Graham, D.V.M., Elgin, Texas
An AQHA life member and AQHA Director at Large from Texas, Charles Graham, D.V.M., has been breeding American Quarter Horses for more than 40 years. He has owned and operated Southwest Stallion Station in Elgin since 1961. In 1953, he built the Elgin Veterinary Hospital and made the practice into one of the largest and most prominent equine veterinary facilities in the country. He is a co-owner of Heritage Place in Oklahoma City, one of the largest sale venues for racing American Quarter Horses. Horses bred by Graham have earned $1,160,705 and include six stakes winners.
R.D. Hubbard, Palm Desert, California
AQHA life member R.D. Hubbard purchased his first racing American Quarter Horse in 1960 and in the past four decades has owned horses that have earned a combined 14 championships and has campaigned more than 70 stakes winners. His runners include champions Denim N Diamonds, Super Sound Charge, Prissy Fein and Stoli. Horses bred by Hubbard, excluding partnerships, have earned $1.9 million and include reigning champion aged stallion Ketel Won. In 1988, Hubbard purchased Ruidoso Downs Race Track, home to the prestigious All American Futurity (G1). In 2000, Hubbard was named the Man of the Year by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and he received the AQHA Racing Council Special Recognition Award in 1989 and the Gordon Crone Award in 2003.
Jerry Nicodemus, El Paso, Texas
Nicknamed the “Golden Greek” and the “Ice Man” during his riding days, Jerry Nicodemus is best known as the legendary jockey who rode legendary horses. Although “Nic” began riding before AQHA’s official recordkeeping began in 1970, he still ranks among the top of the all-time leaders list. In 6,317 official starts, Nicodemus won 1,252 races, and the horses he piloted earned $18,887,342. The list of champions piloted by Nicodemus reads like a who’s who of American Quarter Horse greats and includes Dash For Cash, Denim N Diamonds and Lady Juno. He won the All American three times – aboard Three Oh’s (1968), Rocket Wrangler (’70) and Ronas Ryon (’86).
Steve Stevens, Houston, Texas
An AQHA life member, R.H. “Steve” Stevens Jr. served as AQHA president in 2003. In the ’70s Stevens became involved with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a charity devoted to scholarship and education. He serves as a lifetime vice president and as a member of the board of directors of the Houston organization today. A past president of the Texas Quarter Horse Association, he was elected to the AQHA Board of Directors in 1987. Stevens served on the Board of Regents (1999-2005) at Texas A&M University, his alma mater.
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