Page 40 - 2018 Barrel Stallion Register

SPEEDLINES
emphasis on performance horses with some racing, as we had some background in racing,” Nichols added. “Previously,
we had another First Down Dash stallion named First Down Leaving, but eventually we left racing behind to concentrate on performance.
“So, we had a bunch of race-bred mares and by getting a horse like Fab, we felt that was going to work along with the rodeo-type mares we had, and we would be able to give him a good start,” Nichols said.
Fab was on the radar early on. “We looked at Fab when he was a weanling and it didn’t work out to get him,” he said. “Then, Kristie Peterson told us that Bill Myers was selling his studs. Her daughter, Jordan, had ridden him as a two year old. This is when Dale and I got serious about getting him. We thought he would be a good mix in our program.”
Ken continued about the role of Casey’s Ladylove in the pedigree of Fab. “A big part of our interest in Fab was the mare power in his pedigree,” he said. “Frenchmans Guy was not the big name at that time, but on the bottom side of Fab’s pedigree, his dam had two horses compete at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). How many mares have had two different horses compete at that level? And then, we liked that he was double bred to Casey’s Ladylove.
“Dale and I have always believed in mare power in the pedigree, and we saw that mare power doubled up on the female side of his pedigree through his sire and his dam,” Nichols continued. “That is the strongest way to look at it, even when we are looking at mares to bring into our breeding program. We don’t just look at the sire, we also want to see the dam of that stud. We feel mare power is that important.”
Fab not only carried the female power
in his pedigree they were looking for, but
he added a key to the goal of the Barron/ Nichols breeding program to breed versatility. That ingredient was disposition. Dale summed it up this way about what they were looking for and why Fab was a good fit. “We definitely breed to a more all-around horse, and disposition is a big part of that. Fab has that disposition and he throws that in his babies to be an all-around horse.
“When he was a young stud we had a young lady (Kelsey Lutjen) hauling him
to high school rodeos,” he continued.
“She would carry the flag on the stud and then compete on him at these rodeos.
Then, in between rodeos, she would stop and we would collect him. That was the temperament he had and the disposition people were looking for in an all-around horse. Anyone, from a young person to an older person, can ride Fab and get along with
Caseys Charm, a major contributor to the legacy of
38 SPEEDHORSE
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him. He had that kind of temperament, and you can do anything with him. That is hard to find in a stud horse.”
Ken Nichols also points out Frenchmans Fabulous’ disposition and his trainability. “Fab is a winner,” he said. “He is a winner in the barrels, roping and goat tying. He was the National High School Reserve Horse of the Year and was Arizona’s Horse of the Year. Multiple riders could win on him, and that was more than the will to win on the horse, but the ability to win, and that is the sign of a good horse. He is the caliber of horse that anybody can get along with him.
“We had been rodeoing on Fab and
when you rodeo, it is different from AQHA shows,” Ken continued about his trainability. “With heading in AQHA shows, they want to pivot the hind foot and turn around. In rodeo, we want that front end to stay and the hind end to turn around to get that quick flag. With heeling in rodeo, we want them
to stop and get back. In AQHA shows, they want that slide and looking pretty.
“We decided to show Fab in AQHA shows,” he said. “They rode him less than a month, maybe two weeks or so, and changed his style. They took him to a weekend circuit of shows in Florida and got his ROM in that one weekend. He was so trainable. When we got back, we changed him up and went back to rodeo. He had that trainability and he is putting that into his foals.” An added note: He was ridden in heading by Clay Logan and in heeling by Michael Jones.
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