11/02/2017
Happy Way Back Wednesday!
Colonel Freckles’ life began in 1973 on a ranch in Midland, Texas. The blaze-faced stallion was the son of Jewel’s Leo Bars out of Christy Jay by Rey Jay. His breeder was Marion Flynt.
The stallion first received recognition at the 1976 National Cutting Horse Association Futurity. At the time, Bob McLeod was his owner and Olan Hightower rode the sorrel. Hightower knew that the only way they were going to win the finals that year was to pick three feisty cows out of the herd. The tactic worked. Colonel Freckles won the championship, putting him in the books as a great athlete.
At the 1976 NCHA Futurity, Lou and Wanda Waters watched Colonel Freckles and fell in love with him. They bred 24 mares to the stallion before purchasing him in 1983. He became the centerpiece of their breeding facility in Fulshear, Texas.
In 1981, 36 of Colonel Freckles’ progeny entered the NCHA Futurity. Seven qualified for the semifinals and four made it to the finals, including Futurity champion Colonel Lil. Other notable offspring of Colonel Freckles included 1988 NCHA Futurity reserve champion Cols Lil Pepper, finalist Colonel Flip and Super Stakes reserve champion Colonel Leo Bar.
Colonel Freckles’ offspring also competed well in National Reining Horse Association and National Reined Cow Horse Association events. Freckles Top Brass, Freckle Kid and King Badger’s Colonel were champions in NRHA Futurity and Derby events. In 1987, one of Colonel Freckles’ sons, Nu Cash, won the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity and went on to sire three other NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity winners.
The sorrel’s 417 performing foals earned 2,719.5 AQHA points, 66 Registers of Merit and several AQHA Champion titles.
Colonel Freckles died in 1986. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2004.
