Jewel's Leo Bars (1962–1978), commonly known as "Freckles", was a sorrel American Quarter Horse stallion sired by
Sugar Bars
Sugar Bars (1951–1982) was a Quarter Horse racehorse and stallion who sired many Quarter horse race and show horses.
Life
Sugar Bars, a sorrel stallion, foaled in 1951 in El Paso, Texas.Simmons, et al. ''Legends 2'' p. 150 He was registered ...
, out of Leo Pan by Leo. He is considered to be one of the early cutting horse foundation sires, most notable for his influence on the performance horse industry. He was owned by Marion Flynt and stood at stud at Flynt's Square Top 3 Ranch in Midland, Texas, the home of "many legendary horses". In addition to being a notable foundation
cutting horse
A cutting horse is a stock horse, typically an American Quarter Horse, bred and trained for cutting, a modern equestrian competition requiring a horse and rider to separate a single cow from a herd of cattle and prevent it from getting back to ...
sire, Freckles also competed in three different disciplines—
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
,
halter
A halter or headcollar is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears (behind the poll), and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. On smalle ...
, and
cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...
—earning an AQHA Register of Merit in Cutting, Halter Stallion points, and a
National Cutting Horse Association The National Cutting Horse Association (or NCHA) is a non-profit equestrian organization headquartered in the US. Their primary purpose is to promote and sponsor cutting events. As a late weanling, he was sold to Ira S. Lethco of Fort Stockton, TX, and was later purchased as a yearling by Ford Harris and his son-in-law Kirk Coffman, also from Texas. They reportedly paid $5500.00, which at that time was an unusually high price for a Quarter Horse yearling. The stallion's pedigree was that of a horse bred to run, and as a yearling prospect, his conformation had the desirable traits of form to function, including a long hip, deep chest and depth of girth. Coffman was impressed by the colt's good looks, so he was shown at halter and won his class at two different AQHA approved horse shows, earning his first AQHA halter points in a class of 7.
Billy Bush was manager of the racing operation for Harris, and was also the first to nickname the young stallion "Freckles" because of all the sorrel spots on his blaze and stockings. Bush started Freckles under saddle as a 2-year-old before sending him to racehorse trainer,
Bubba Cascio
Charles William Cascio (August 7, 1932 – November 2, 2022), better known as Bubba Cascio or C. W. Cascio, was an American race horse trainer, and two-time winner of the All American Futurity, having won in 1968 with Three Oh's, and again in 19 ...
, who had trained the legendary Dash For Cash. As it turned out, Freckles simply did not have the speed necessary to make the cut for the
All American Futurity
The All American Futurity is a race for two-year-old American Quarter Horse racehorses run at Ruidoso Downs Race Track in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico on Labor Day. It is the last leg of the AQHA Triple Crown that has only been won once, by Specia ...
or other races of that quality; his best AQHA SI was only 55. Cascio suggested gelding the horse, but Harris decided to consign him to a horse sale produced by Charles "Muscles" Foster in
Coppell, TX
Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental j ...
, where he was acquired by Marion Flynt in exchange for a debt owed him by Foster. Flynt was in the oil and gas business, and owned a large ranch in Midland, TX. He was also president of the NCHA, which was struggling during that time. Flynt stayed with the NCHA, and became the longest serving NCHA President in its history, having served a total of 12 years (1956-58 and 1963-1971). In 1977, he was inducted into the
NCHA Members Hall of Fame NCHA Members Hall of Fame was established in 1977 by the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) to honor those members who have demonstrated "through their own efforts and those of the horses they raise" over a period time, their dedication to ...
.
With his ties to the cutting horse industry, Flynt focused on seeing if Freckles could be a cutting horse. He contacted
Buster Welch
Fay Owen "Buster" Welch (May 23, 1928 – June 12, 2022) was an American cutting horse trainer and inductee into the NCHA Members Hall of Fame, American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, NCHA Rider Hall of Fame, and Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Buster ...
, a legendary horse trainer in the discipline. Shorty Freeman, who rode Doc O'Lena to win the 1970 NCHA World Championship Futurity, Open Division, was also recruited along with Welch to train and show Freckles.
Show career
As a 4-year-old, with limited showing under trainers Welch, Freeman, and John Carter, Freckles won the cutting competition at the 1966
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Sta ...
and later that year, the Dallas State Fair, each with over 40 entries in the class. Delight Lee also showed him in a few AQHA cuttings, and then in 1970 John Carter showed him in the NCHA Open Division. Freckles also won the 1970
Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show
The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo (formally the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show) is the oldest continuously running livestock show and rodeo. It has been held annually in Fort Worth, Texas since 1896, traditionally in mid-January thro ...
Open Cutting in Fort Worth, Texas, was 4th in the
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo is a livestock show and rodeo held in San Antonio, Texas annually during the month of February. It is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) schedule. For 14 consecutive years it was awarded t ...
Open Cutting, won the Spring Cutting Circuit in Phoenix, Arizona and finished the 1970 year in 10th place in the NCHA Top Ten World Championships, Open Division, ridden by John Carter.
Ultimately Freckles earned his AQHA Register of Merit with 25 points in Cutting. He also earned 3 Halter Stallion points. In NCHA competition, he was awarded the Certificate of Ability with recorded lifetime NCHA earnings of $6,037.24.
Foundation breeding stallion
The number of mares Freckles bred was limited in the beginning, and his stud book was closed to outside mares. Nonetheless, Jay Freckles, a 1970 stallion sired by Freckles, won the 1973 NCHA Futurity Champion Stallion, finishing 4th overall. That year, Flynt's ranch manager, Terry Riddle, started cutting horse training for three 2-year-olds sired by Freckles: Freckles Playboy, Colonel Freckles, and Mia Freckles. Riddle's goal was to show them in the December 1976 NCHA Futurity, the premier cutting horse competition for 3-year-olds.
In 1973, there were only 9 foals total sired by Freckles, and 376 entries in the 1976 NCHA Futurity. The three entries sired by Freckles comprised one-third of his 1973 crop, and had garnered substantial attention in the go-rounds and Futurity finals. That year, Colonel Freckles was the NCHA Futurity Open Champion, ridden by Olan Hightower and owned by Bob McCloud; Freckles Playboy, ridden by Terry Riddle, and Doc's Becky, ridden by Bill Freeman, were Co-Reserve Open Champions. The Non-Pro Futurity Champion was Mia Freckles, ridden by Kay Floyd. Terry Riddle had trained all four winners. The ''
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company.
History
In May 1905, Amon G. Carter a ...
'' commented, "the $215,000 NCHA Futurity held Dec. 12 in Fort Worth might just as well have been held in Midland – that way Marion Flynt wouldn't have had to haul his awards so far home."
Freckles sired a number of champion progeny, who in turn provided him champion grand-get. A leading example was his son Freckles Playboy, listed as one of the ''Top Fifteen Leading NCHA Super Stakes Sires'' in 2021 with combined earnings of $2,324,488.00 across all divisions.
Influence of genetics
Building a bloodline group of genetically superior horses that breed true requires breeders to research pedigrees back for many generations to foundation sires and dams. This helps create consistency by obtaining progeny information and individual performance records, but it also requires the breeder to skillfully match complimentary crosses based on their research.
Jewel's Leo Bars success at stud was an example of these principles at work. The Quarter Horse Journal had described
Doc Bar
Doc Bar (1956–1992) was a Quarter Horse stallion that was bred to be a racehorse, became an outstanding halter horse, and in his sire career revolutionized the cutting horse industry.
Life
Doc Bar was foaled in 1956,Close and Simmons, ''Leg ...
as "a highlight" of the excellence found in crosses between Three Bars and Joe Reed bloodlines, and added that another "industry-shaping version" was the cross between Sugar Bars (a son of Three Bars with a line to Joe Reed) and Leo daughters. That cross "gave the industry Jewels icLeo Bars (sire of Colonel Freckles and Freckles Playboy),
Zippo Pat Bars
Zippo Pat Bars (1964–1988) was an American Quarter horse racehorse and showhorse who became an influential sire in the breed.
Life
Zippo Pat Bars was a son of the Thoroughbred stallion Three Bars out of a daughter of Leo named Leo Pat.Zippo ...
(sire of Zippo Pine Bar), Otoe and Flit Bar..." The Jewel's Leo Bars x Rey Jay cross produced two AQHA Hall of Fame stallions, Freckles Playboy (inducted 2013) and Colonel Freckles (inducted 2004), both of whom were outstanding cutting horses as well as notable sires.
The principles of this type of
selective breeding
Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...
for success in specific disciplines were noted in a 2013 genomic study that found the Quarter Horse breed is "subdivided into different lines according to skills resulting from distinct selection objectives" and noted "a close relationship between physical characteristics and the function for which the animal is used." For cutting horses, those skills include, but are not limited to, athletic ability and trainability.
Registration and pedigree
AQHA registration #0206037, 1962 sorrel stallion, breeder A.L. Smith of Perry, Oklahoma.
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