Hay Burner Acres
316-303-2143 Augusta, KS
Reference Horses
King - P234
100% NFQHA, FQHR.
In the kingdom of Quarter Horses, there are many legends, but there is only one King – King P-234. The bay colt was foaled June 25, 1932, on Manuel Benavides Volpe’s ranch in Laredo, Texas. The colt’s sire, Zantanon by Little Joe, was considered the Man O’War of Mexico. Jabalina, the colt’s dam by Strait Horse, was hogbacked and difficult to handle, and traced to Little Rondo and Traveler.
Volpe named the foal Buttons, but that was changed when the bay was 2 or 3 years old. Byrne James owned the stallion and it is reported his wife changed King’s name saying, “Buttons, I’m changing your name to King, for truly you are the king of Quarter Horses.”
Around the same time, Jess Hankins of Rocksprings, Texas, was looking for a good stallion to breed to his riding mare. Hankins heard about King, and decided to have a look at the stallion. It was a 75-mile trip, so Hankins hauled his mare, just in case he liked the looks of the regal boy. Hankins liked the stallion so much he wanted to buy King. Winn Dubose, King’s current owner, was not interested in selling, but Hankins was persistent. After a year of going back and forth, Dubose accepted $800 for the stallion. Hankins used the stallion as a regular cow horse, roping and cutting on his. The rancher eventually quit using King because of the stallion’s heavy breeding schedule.
King sired a few racehorses such as Squaw H, but is best remembered for siring horses with tremendous performance ability and cow sense. A few of the stallion’s better known sons were Poco Bueno, Royal King, King’s Pistol and Continental King. The grand old stallion died of a heart attack in 1958 at 26. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1989. https://www.aqha.com/museum/hall-of-fame/horses/k/king-p234/
Royal King
100% NFQHA, FQHR
Royal King was 17 months old when Earl Albin and Jack Whiteside of Comanche, Texas, bought the colt for $250 from breeder Felton Smathers of Llano, Texas, in September 1944. Royal King was by King P-234 and out of Rocket (later registered as Rocket Laning). Rocket traced to Yellow Jacket on both sides of her pedigree.
Albin and Whiteside took 2-year-old Royal King to a show in San Angelo on April 8, 1945, where he was approved for AQHA registry by Helen Michaelis. Someone at the show offered $1,500 for the King colt. Whiteside believed you could never go broke making money, and cajoled Albin to accept the offer. Instead, Albin wrote him a check for $750 and kept Royal King.
Royal King learned to cut in a herd of goats, training under Bob Burton and later James Boucher. He had enough “cow” in him to excel in the sport with anyone in the saddle, and he was ridden by numerous cutters throughout his career. “Royal King was a horse that you could put anybody on and win,” said Albin’s wife Charlie Mae, in 1986. The stallion placed among the National Cutting Horse Association’s top-10 annual earners four times in his career, and earned $24,003.
Even while he was competing, Royal King was continuing his sire’s legacy as a great sire. In his first crop, 12 of 13 foals earned AQHA performance Registers of Merit. Ten of Royal King’s foals competed at the first Quarter Horse show at the Texas State Fair in 1947. His influence on cutting was most apparent in his cow-smart daughters, which included NCHA Hall of Fame member and earner of more than $35,000 Miss Nancy Bailey, and Royal Smart, who produced multiple AQHA cutting world champions Royal Santana and Smart Peppy. Smart Peppy was dam of NCHA triple-crown winner Smart Little Lena. Royal King always stood at bargain basement prices and Albin never turned a mare away.
Nonetheless, the stallion was the leading sire of performance point-earners in 1959 and 1963-67. All in all, Royal King sired a total of 590 registered foals. Royal King died in 1971. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1997. https://www.aqha.com/museum/hall-of-fame/horses/r/royal-king/
More to Come
Quo Vadis
Many do not know what her name means, but they know Quo Vadis was a superior broodmare. Named after an epic movie from 1952, Quo Vadis, which means “whither thou goest,” was foaled in 1952 and was bred by Ross Roberts of San Jon, New Mexico. She was by Little Lloyd and out of Miss Circle H III by Brown Caesar. Jimmie Randals of Tucumcari, New Mexico, bought the mare for $500 and a breeding to Poco Dell.
“Quo Vadis was one of those horses before her time,” Randals said. “She was all by herself in conformation. She was a nice, big mare. She would have stood 15, maybe 15.1 hands. She was a nice mare, and anytime you stopped her, she would be correct. You didn’t have to back her. You just stopped her, and there she was – straight as a string and no problem to show.” Randals showed Quo Vadis to her AQHA Champion title in 1956, earning 40 halter points and 29 performance points in cutting, working cow horse, reining and western riding.
Quo Vadis produced four AQHA Champions by four different stallions, proving the potency of her maternal genetics. These offspring were Poco Becky by Poco Dell, Kaliman by Dell Milagro, Bonita Dondi by Poco Dondi and Mr Perfection by Three Chicks. Seven of her 12 registered offspring earned Registers of Merit. Eleven of Quo Vadis’ offspring accumulated more than 630 points at AQHA shows, earning money in the National Reining Horse and the National Cutting Horse associations.
The black mare died enroute to Kansas to be bred one last time. She is buried behind Jimmie Randals’ house beside Poco Dell. Quo Vadis was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2002. https://www.aqha.com/museum/hall-of-fame/horses/q/quo-vadis/
