Page 73 - June 2015

Punch & Suzanne (center)
with their four accomplished children, Dirk & Clabe, and Michelle & Debbie.
NEW DIRECTIONS
While operating their highly acclaimed Jones Ranch where they raised cattle and Debouillet sheep — a breed formed by Punch’s father in the early 1900s by crossing Rambouillet ewes and DeLaine rams, Punch broke Maroon as a ranch horse when she was two. As he ponied her from his saddle horse, he realized she could easily outrun his horse — which no other horse had done. So, Punch decided to campaign Maroon in match races across West Texas.
The filly, unofficially out of Mary Pearson Smith’s cantankerous Thoroughbred mare Mattie Fern and by New Mexico Military Institute stud Echuca Ladd, inherited her dam’s less-than-ideal disposition. But, she could sure enough run.
Maroon became the foundation of the Joneses’ racehorse line, passing her straight legs, muscular conformation and her desire
to win to seven generations of accomplished runners. She finished 1953 among the top 30 money winners, and in 1954 she set a track record at Ruidoso for 440 yards and equaled track records at Albuquerque at 400 and 440 yards. She went on to earn $14,016 from 1953 through 1957, tallying a multiple stakes win- ning record of 53-12-8-10.
Suzanne competing at a show in Germany
in 1996. She finished 4th and, when they announced her age of 72, the audience stood and clapped. Suzanne had to ask the person next to her what was going on because she couldn’t understand the language and what had been said.
The year 1954 proved to be an exciting one at Jones Ranch. Along with Maroon’s accomplishments, Suzanne earned her spot
on the Pan American team and was also preg- nant with the first of her and Punch’s four children: Deborah, now also of Tatum; Clabe, who works for an oil company in Colorado; Dirk, an attorney in Roswell; and Michelle, who has since passed away.
As their family grew, having children to tend and nurture gradually steered the Jones family’s focus from hunters and jumpers
to 4-H and the AQHA. Suzanne not only became an active 4-H mom and leader around 1962, but also helped organize a weeklong summer camp at New Mexico State University to help entry-level children, who otherwise wouldn’t have the oppor- tunity for professional training, show at
a competitive level. Her involvement and dedication in the yearly program led to the 4-H Horse School in Albuquerque being renamed the Suzanne Norton Jones 4-H Horse School in 1992.
The Jones children showed in pretty much every event the AQHA offered except for cut- ting, and Clabe and Dirk served in AQHYA leadership roles as secretary/treasurer and president, respectively.
“If one can keep seeking that ever elusive truth of horsemanship or of being a horseman, “A Little Knowledge” is not a dangerous thing, but can lead to that truth. Though that end cannot be reached in a lifetime, the search is always yours . . . “
Suzanne Jones from her book “Charlie: A Little Knowledge”
Three generations: Suzanne’s father Lt. Col. Anderson H. Norton, Suzanne, and daughter Debbie.
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SPEEDHORSE, June 2015 71