THE BROODMARE SIRES

Little Richard (1922), out of a part-Thoroughbred mare from the Lucky

Mose band. Few of his get (18 fillies and one colt) were registered with AQHA because until the mid-1940s King Ranch bred primarily for its own use, needing several hundred horses annually. Seventy Little Richard daughters were retained in the King Ranch Quarter Horse breeding program; almost all of his 9 sons were gelded.

Peppy (1934) is by Little Richard out of China by Cardinal by Old Sorrel; China is out of a mare by Brillante, a Thoroughbred remount stallion. Peppy is thus not as inbred as many horses Kleberg used; nonetheless his coefficient of inbreeding is 6.26 percent (the average for Quarter Horses is 1.2 percent). He sired 193 registered foals, including several champions in racing.

Tomate Laureles (1927) out of the Dock Lawrence mare by Tom Thumb by Little Joe; she out of a mare by Hickory Bill. Five-eighths Quarter Horse, this was the first stallion incorporated into the King Ranch breeding program to have a predominance of that ancestry. While 51 of his daughters were retained for use as Quarter Horse producers, all of his

Charro (1933), out of Toalla by Martin’s Best, she out of the Mother of Solis also by Martin’s Best, and her tail-female also tracing to Martin’s Best. In contrast to Tomate Laureles, this stallion is almost pure Thoroughbred, having only one known Quarter Horse bloodline. His own conformation is the long rectangle of the Quarter Horse, but almost all of his get were Thoroughbred-like and taller on their legs, and this is why few were retained for breeding and Charro himself was ultimately sold.