Page 34 - May_2023

REMEMBERING LEO
32 SPEEDHORSE May 2023
Little Joe.
By Larry Thornton
By Larry Thornton
TheAmazin’Eight
AND THE CROSSOVER CONNECTION
THE BEGINNING
First Martha Josey explains how she got her start. “My dad Henry Arthur was one of the first directors of the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association.
He was one of the first to bring Quarter Horses into East Texas in the early forties. They had quarter racing in Gladewater back in the early forties and my dad actually started that. He raced a horse for a quarter mile against a car and of course the horse would always win.”
Henry Arthur was born in West Texas but served in the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma with his father before settling in Marshall, Texas, raising cattle and American Quarter Horses. Here are some comments he made in an article titled “Meet Our Directors” in the December 1946 magazine THE QUARTER HORSE, the official publication of
the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association, “I am only interested in Quarter Horses, and I live Quarter Horses. I like all Quarter Horses but, I prefer the cow horse type Quarter Horse, one that can go out and get the job done and still show in a show.”
He went on, “The Quarter Horse is coming fast in this part of Texas and before long I think we will rate with
the rest of the southwest. All you can hear around east Texas rodeos is ‘Quarter Horse’ and I like that.” The article goes on to
say that Mr. Arthur was in the process of rebuilding his broodmare band.
The magazine article about Mr. Arthur showed a picture of him on the stallion Thumper. Thumper was sired by Golondrino by Paul El, a son of Hickory Bill. The dam of Paul El was Baby Ruth by Sykes Rondo, and she was out of May Mangum. This makes Baby Ruth a full sister to Jenny, the dam of Little Joe, the paternal grandsire of
King P-234. The dam of Golondrino was
When people talk about barrel racing greats, the name Martha Josey isn’t far from entering the conversation. This great horse woman cemented her name in barrel racing history with countless titles and honors including multiple World Championships to go with a Gold Medal in the Calgary Winter Olympics. Plus, she has been inducted into several Hall
of Fames. Even with all these great titles, she may have an even greater legacy with her phenomenal barrel racing clinics.
The clinics she started in 1967 with her husband R. E. Josey, a trainer of multiple AQHA World Champion roping horses, have instructed thousands of barrel
racers and ropers over the years. Her clinics are as popular today as they were in the beginning.
When you look at the career of Martha Josey, you see that she earned her titles like all great riders with great horses. When you survey the pedigrees of horses she rode, you see they are influenced by the racing American Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred. They also carry some great foundation Quarter Horse breeding. So, let’s look at what has become known as Martha Josey’s Amazin’ Eight and their crossover connection.
© Speedhorse Archives
© Courtesy Martha Josey