AQHA\’s 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees

Mr San Peppy, Skipper W and Streakin Six, as well as Douglas and Nancy Dear, Joe Kirk Fulton, and Frank Howell will be honored at ceremonies during the 2011 AQHA Convention in March in Grapevine, Texas, with an induction into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. 

“These horses, horse owners and breeders have contributed their best to continuing the legacy of the American Quarter Horse,” said Don Treadway Jr., AQHA executive vice president. “We’re proud to be able to honor them as they deserve.”

Mr San Peppy, by Leo San and out of Peppy Belle by Pep Up, was intended for the racetrack but ended up in the cutting arena. Greg Welch rode the 1968 sorrel stallion to the top of the National Cutting Horse Association Derby in 1972. Welch’s father, American Quarter Horse Hall of Famer Buster Welch, rode Mr San Peppy to NCHA world championships in 1974 and 1976. The horse also won an AQHA world championship in 1976. Mr San Peppy, owned by the King Ranch, sired Peppy San Badger, a member of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, as well as horses earning more than $2.63 million in NCHA competition. Mr San Peppy died in 1998.

Skipper W was foaled in 1945 and bred by American Quarter Horse Hall of Famer Hank Wiescamp. Skipper W was shown three times as a 4-year-old and, by many reports, was named grand champion all three times. He retired undefeated and returned to Wiescamp’s ranch, where he sired 132 foals that earned 1,392 halter points and 586.5 performance points; 13 became AQHA Champions. Skipper W never stood to outside mares, but horses of his lineage are still known as “Skipper W-bred.” He died in 1963 at age 18.

Streakin Six was bred by the Tom L. Burnett Cattle Co., of Fort Worth, Texas. The 1977 chestnut stallion by Easy Six and out of Miss Assured by Little Request (TB) won the 1979 Rainbow Futurity (G1) and was second in 1979 in the All American Futurity (G1). His racing career ended with a record of 19 starts, 10 wins, five seconds and one third. As a sire for the Four Sixes Ranch, Streakin Six really hit his stride. He is the No. 6 American Quarter Horse sire of stakes winners and money-earners and the No. 3 broodmare sire. His offspring earned $17,348,666 on the track and five world championships. Streakin Six was euthanized in December 2005.

Douglas and Nancy Dear of Simms, Montana, are 60-year breeders of American Quarter Horses at their Birdtail Ranch, focusing on ranch horses to work the family’s Angus cattle. The Dears were influential in the 1954 establishment of the Montana Quarter Horse Association and have played many roles in the group since that time. Doug died in 1999, and a scholarship in his name assists Montana students with their college education. Nancy is still involved with the family’s breeding program, one that has placed the Dears 12th on the list of breeders of American Quarter Horse Champions.

Joe Kirk Fulton of Lubbock, Texas, breeds winning racehorses as well as ranch horses for his Quien Sabe Ranch. He bred Peppy San Badger, who was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2008. Fulton has bred or been the owner of stallions that have sired the earners of more than $60 million on the racetrack. He has seven world championships earned by two world champions, Special Leader and Dashs Dream. In 2007, he received the American Quarter Horse Association Legacy Award for breeding American Quarter Horses for 50 consecutive years.

Frank Howell of Union City, Georgia, was president of the American Quarter Horse Association in 2005-06. He joined the Georgia Quarter Horse Association in 1976 and served two terms as president. The halter exhibitor became active in AQHA governance in 1990, serving on the amateur committee and being elected to the board of directors in 1996. He has also served on the stud book and registration committee, the public policy task force and the affiliate and racing councils. He was influential in establishing the AQHA Regional Championships.