Page 64 - December 2016

American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Inductee
Marvin Barnes Passes Away by Jennifer Hancock
The American Quarter Horse industry lost
a legend on Nov. 30 when Marvin Barnes died at his Ada, Oklahoma, home. He was 96.
Born March 26, 1920 to Elmer and
Ivy Lee Dunham Barnes in Cumberland, Oklahoma, Barnes graduated from Ada High School. A member of the Greatest Generation, Barnes answered the call to serve his country as a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War II.
“The term legend doesn’t quite encompass what all he’s been involved with since the late 40s,” said Butch Wise, Lazy E Ranch manager and AQHA executive committee member. “There’s
a group of people in the industry that you can identify by one word of their name. I can say Marvin and you know it’s Marvin Barnes. I can say Jack and you know it’s Jack Brooks. I can say Blane and you know it’s Blane Schvaneveldt. Those guys are in such a rarified atmosphere that you can just call them by their first name and everybody knows who they are talking about. That’s how pervasive their reputations and accomplishments are. Marvin was certainly one of those guys. He was a huge influence on a lot of people. I never met anybody who didn’t like Marvin Barnes.”
On December 31, 1957, Barnes married Lela Stanley Whittle. The two were inducted into the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2009 for their contributions to racing in the Sooner State.
In 1970, the Barneses built Ladybug Stallion Station in Madill, Oklahoma, following the retirement of 1969 Rainbow Derby winner Lady Bug’s Moon, who also won the 1968 Kansas
Futurity and ran second by a nose in the All American Futurity-G1 and second by a head in the Rainbow Futurity-G1.
The foundation of the Barneses breeding program was FL Lady Bug, a mare foaled in
1945 and bred by W. A. Yeager of Woodward, Oklahoma. Inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1999, she was by Sergeant and out of Yeager’s Lady JA. Never shown or raced, FL Lady Bug made her mark as a broodmare
producing the Top Deck TB mare Top Ladybug, who was the 1966 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, and Lady Bug’s Moon, who was by Top Moon. The blue-hen mare produced 10 Register of Merit earners from 11 starters.
“Marvin hit the broodmare lottery with FL Lady Bug,” Wise said. “The tree that mare started – Yeager’s Lady JA and FL Lady Bug – it’s got so many branches that are huge. You can’t even see to the inside of the tree because of all the branches.
62 SPEEDHORSE, December 2016
Lela and Marvin Barnes with Mr Master Bug.