02/26/2026
Indio 1969 – Crocodile’s Legendary 6-Foot Jump
In the mid-1960s, a determined husband and wife made the long drive from California to Louisiana in search of their next horse. It was there they found a 1964 Appaloosa gelding by Burnsides Chief Of The Pampas and out of Desert Lepor-E (Geronimo Chief). Registered as Rose Ridge Dynamite, he was affectionately called “Rosebud” around the barn. His new show name, Crocodile, was inspired by his Louisiana roots and the distinctive mottling around his eyes that reminded Bill of the reptile.
“I think they bought him for about $25,” recalled Blair Nissen Pettit, Bill’s daughter from his first marriage and Tw***ie’s stepdaughter. “I’m pretty sure he was headed for a hamburger truck when Dad and Tw***ie found him.”
Tw***ie was petite, but Crocodile was anything but — standing nearly 18 hands tall, with a bold blanket of spots across his hindquarters and a scraggly tail that made the pair unforgettable wherever they went.
And Crocodile knew it.
He was a showman through and through. “He nickered every time he entered the arena, and he’d look around like he owned the place,” Pettit said. “People loved him. He was a crowd favorite. They always got the loudest cheers when they came into any arena.”
That charisma, combined with extraordinary athletic ability, helped define moments like his unforgettable six-foot jump at Indio in 1969 — a performance that cemented Crocodile’s place in show jumping lore and proved that greatness can come from the most unlikely beginnings.
