THE CONTEXT OF CHAMPIONS

Both Easter and Painty probably had a good deal of Rex Peavine blood in their ancestry. Kathleen Kirsan tells us that this stallion, foaled in 1899 by the fabulous Rex McDonald and out of the framey and well-coupled mare Daisy 2nd, shakes out as highly significant in the pedigrees of today’s most successful sport Saddlebreds. The American Saddle Horse Association (ASHA) has a whole array of awards, designations and recognitions by which breeders or prospective buyers may identify top-class horses. However, such designations as “champion” (CH) or “Broodmare

Hall of Fame” (BHF) must be taken in context: They almost always mean the horse has been successful, or has produced horses that are successful, in the context of modern horse shows. Yes, the Saddlebred Association recognizes dressage and jumping and enduro and “versatility,” but I know of no broodmare who has earned a BHF because a majority of her foals succeeded in those disciplines. The horse who wins the top prize in Saddlebred halter is thus not likely to be the animal you want to buy or breed if generalpurpose pleasure riding or sporthorse use is your goal. Many mares who have earned BHF recognition did so by producing horses that easily go upside down, tubular-bodied offspring with near-horizontal croups and extraordinarily long, thin necks.

Rex Peavine crosses have produced excellent sporthorses as well as excellent show competitors. Conformationally, he is a horse who could sire either way, depending upon the broodmare. It is thus imperative that the breeder look at the horse and not just the pedigree. A stout, athletic Saddlebred like Easter