Page 38 - January 2018

Walt Wiggins Sr. receives an award from Dick Alwan at the 1973 Oklahoma Racing Owners Association Convention in 1973.
From left to right: Walt Wiggins Sr., Sherry Beadle, Ronnie Blackwell and Mrs. Walt Wiggins.
artist, was of Doe Bowman. “Doe was an iconic, old-time racehorse man, the guy that took a single horse down into Mexico, had his pistol and his horse and a sackful of money, and was able to come back with a bigger sackful of money and still had his horse and his pistol,” Scott says. “And Walt told that story compellingly. As a teenager,
I thought Doe was just some old bum and then I realized he had seen great fortune and great adventures, and I’d never have known that had Walt not written that story. Walt was a terrific storyteller and a terrific photographer.”
“There were so many great early photos that were part of the magazine,” Walt Jr. says. “Dad provided very strong photos that told a wonderful story. One was of Jack McReynolds, who recently passed away, holding Go Man Go in one hand and Double Bid in the other. And there was the great photo of Harriett Peckham holding her two favorite mares, Go Harriett in one hand and Go Together in the other. Both of those mares are the ancestors of Fly Baby Fly (One Famous Eagle–Higher Fire, Walk Thru Fire) who won the All American Futurity this year.”
Building Industry Support In 1973, discontent had grown within the
Quarter Horse racing industry, whose participants didn’t feel they had strong enough representation within the umbrella of the AQHA. So Walt Sr. and others developed the Quarter Racing Owners of America (QROA). Walt served as executive secretary with Walter Merrick as president, Harriett Peckham as vice-president, and Leonard Blach as secretary, and the organization held its first annual convention that year.
“That was a very strong group of people and a very strong organization,” Walt Jr. says. “But within a few years, I think the AQHA recognized that they needed to do more to promote racing within their organization, and they did. So the QROA folded.”
36 SPEEDHORSE, January 2018
“Walt was responsible for the biggest move in my career as a veterinarian. I’d met him
at Ruidoso Downs back around 1965 when
I had a practice in Santa Fe and worked on several farms with horses like Alamitos Bar, Bull Rastus, Jack Straw and others. Walt worked on their advertising. Other than the veterinarians at the racetracks, I was the only vet in New Mexico who specialized in equines and was
doing a lot of surgeries. I was just fortuna t
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I came in at the right time, when those horses
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had national recognition. I was on the AQHA board of directors, too, so we knew a lot of the same people in the Quarter Horse industry.
Walt Sr. was instrumental in creating the relationship between Dr. Leonard Blach and Harriett Peckham, resulting in the Buene Suerte Ranch. Harriett and Dr. Blach are shown here with Sparkling Native, the first horse unloaded at the ranch.
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“He was acquainted with Harriett
Peckham. She was wanting to move out of
that hot, humid climate in Houston to New
Mexico. I was still in Santa Fe then and Walt
lived in Roswell, and he showed her some
property there that would make a good horse
farm. Once she acquired the land, she told Walt she needed a veterinarian to run it for her, and he said he knew just the person to do that.
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“They came out to the farm where I was practicing and told me what they had in mind. I told her I needed to think about it and talk to my family, but she was a get-it-done kind
of lady and she wanted someone to design the ranch. So I made up my mind to do it.
Walt worked with Harriett on the advertising and promotion, and Buena Suerte opened in 1972. It became the leading farm in the nation with Go Man Go, Rocket Wrangler, Easy Jet and others. We pioneered the design of mares each having individual stalls or paddocks and runs to keep mares and colts safer; she was kind of the pacesetter for that design.
“Walt was my mentor and helped me get the ranch started. He was a real strong influence, and the orchestrator of Buena Suerte Ranch. It was the kickoff of my career. I’ll be forever grateful to Walt.”
Founder & Owner, Buena Suerte Equine, Roswell, New Mexico
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