AUTUMN 2019 EQUUS 498 89
Leo (1940, 14:2 hands) was by Joe Reed II who traces in sire line through
Joe Reed to Joe Blair, a Thoroughbred of the Leamington branch of the
Eclipse family. Leo’s dam was Little Fanny by Joe Reed, while her tail-
female likewise traces to Thoroughbred. Leo’s entire Quarter Horse
ancestry comes through only two mares—Della Moore (Joe Reed’s dam),
and Joe Reed II’s dam Nellene, whose own dam traces back to Traveler
and the 1890 Texas Chief. Despite thus being mostly Thoroughbred, Leo
shows good Quarter Horse “type” as well as outstandingly good riding
horse conformation. Note particularly the long forearms, deep chest, huge
hindquarter and short, strong back. Leo’s influence on the Quarter Horse
breed has been huge and lasting, and the AQHA has acknowledged this by
placing him in their Hall of Fame. Leo’s champion get won in racing,
cutting, reining and halter competition. I personally have handled and
trained several Leo-bred horses and can attest to their kindness and
intelligence. Leo carries Traveler’s rabicano and sabino genes, and Leo
breeding can produce a lot of high white, wide blazes and various
amounts of ticking or spotting.
LEO
McCue son John Wilkins (whom
they always called “the Moore horse”
because they purchased him from two
brothers of that name). Jim Jennings,
an AQHA historian, has observed that
“John Wilkins ... could really run. But
the walls of his hooves were so thin
he couldn’t keep shoes on.” When
Blasingame arrived at Moore’s place
to get the stallion, he had planned on
riding him the hundred miles back to
the JA, but when he saw the condition
of the stallion’s feet he ponied him
instead and took it slow, arriving back
to ranch headquarters at Palo Duro
more than a week later.
The tender-footedness of John
Wilkins might have been one reason
why Blasingame chose to sell him as
a 15-year-old to cowhand John JacksonHancock, whose own family ranch
was in Nocona (the town named after
Quanah Parker’s father) on the south
bank of the Red River. Hancock chose a
very stout, sound-footed, part-Percheron
mare for the old stallion to cover. The
practice of crossing in some draft blood
had become fairly common around the
turn of the century (“Hard Times Bring
Big Changes,” EQUUS 496), and the
mating resulted in production of the
wonderful and prepotent Joe Hancock
(1923, 15:2 hands). Joe Hancock not only
proved to be sound and fast, but when
he was retired to stud he produced
substantial, good-minded horses
excellent for ranch work.
After selling John Wilkins,
Burlinghame brought good Texas Billy
broodmares to the JA. Many of these
were purchased from Will and Dow
Shely and were by the younger of the
two Texas Chiefs (1905, a red sorrel
sired by Traveler). This Texas Chief had
his sire’s rabicano markings, including
a wide blaze, white “ticking” over the
rib cage, and white hairs at the root of
the tail.
Then in 1932, the JA produced
Driftwood. His breeding is
controversial, but the most likely
scenario is that his sire was Miller Boy,
a 1926 JA homebred. Miller Boy’s sire
was a horse belonging to T. D. Hobart,
one of the ranch managers. The Hobart
horse was probably sired in about 1920
by John Wilkins. Miller Boy’s dam
was Wylie by the 1905 Texas Chief.
Driftwood’s dam is said to have been
the Comer mare, she by Barlow who
was a son of Lock’s Rondo. Her dam is
recorded as a Kentucky Thoroughbred,
so there is no need to look outside this
pedigree for Driftwood’s Thoroughbred
looks and long stride.
Driftwood proved to be not only a
very fast racehorse---one of the few