MORE GOOD PERFORMANCE MARES

Ware’s Sensation, foaled in 1919, is by

King Phelps by Bourbon King and thus another descendant of Annie C. She is out of Rexie Madison by Rex Peavine, who is out of Daisy 2nd, another foundational Saddlebred mare that we will look at in our next installment. Like Charming King, Ware’s Sensation is a horse of normal proportionality and correct conformation. She has a well-shaped neck set over a beautiful shoulder.

Her withers are long and sloping and carry well back. The coupling is broad and strong, and the pelvis and croup are more horizontal than in Annie C. The bone is substantial, and the joints are large and correctly formed. The hind limb angles are particularly attractive, with a long thigh and low-set hocks. Overall, this is the kind of conformation that one looks for in a dressage prospect as opposed to a jumper. A winner in fivegaited competition, this mare was retired to produce a string of handsome colts and productive fillies. She is the dam of A Sensation, champion five-gaited mare at the Kentucky State Fair in 1940 and again in 1941.

Blanchita, a filly of Bourbon King’s 1916 crop and thus a granddaughter of Annie C. She is out of Highland Lady 2nd by Highland Denmark by Black Squirrel, he a grandson of King William out of Queen. The Thoroughbreds Sir Archy and *Diomed, the Morgan Black Hawk 1833, and the Quarter Horse progenitor Blackburn’s Whip also appear multiple times in Blanchita’s pedigree. This is reflected in her conformation, with a topline very reminiscent of the Thoroughbred, the long sloping shoulder of the Morgan, and the powerful hindquarter of the Quarter Horse. She presents moreover the typically long Saddlebred arm and forearm.

Note also that Blanchita is simply wearing a pasture halter in the old photo from which I made this painting; there is no lead rope, and nobody was setting her up or pulling on her head. This allows us to take note of another physical feature peculiar to Saddlebreds, which is the ability to turn the head 90 degrees at the poll without flexing the neck. This is made possible by there being a long distance between the back of the jowl and the wing of the first (atlas) neck vertebra (the bone structure underlying this is shown on page 53). Horses that have this configuration “bridle” easily—they easily carry the head vertically. They also tend to suffer less under clumsy or pulling hands, since even if the head is pulled back severely, the throatlatch and airway will remain open. Blanchita was champion broodmare at the Kentucky State Fair in 1931 and then became the dam of Hallmark Peavine 1934.

The Blanchita son Hallmark Peavine, a great-grandson of both Daisy 2nd and Annie C. By Moreland Peavine by Rex Peavine, he was one of the most popular sires of his era, with over

150 foals to his credit in a career at stud from 1939 to 1952. He sired BHF mare Watch Charm 1940, the dam of the very handsome champion Ace’s Lucky Charm. Hallmark Peavine is an excellent horse who was widely recognized as such in his day. A little more refined through neck and head than Charming King, he is similar in conformation to his dam, with the same good bone and joints, dry head, and the beautiful shoulder with clean shoulder-bed. Hallmark’s hind angles are a little more correct for riding as opposed to racing use, and his croup and pelvis more level than his dam’s, improvements which he inherited from his sire and grandsire.