Page 36 - July 2022

SPEEDLINES
Clabber
The Iron Horse
Part 2
by Larry Thornton
Inour January 2022 issue, we paid a visit to the life of the great Clabber
Clabber, AQHA’s first World Champion
in the gate to overcome his being a rope horse that taught him to set back in the roping box. When he broke, they didn’t get the rope pulled so he took the rope with him to the finish line, winning over two outstanding racehorses-War Chief and Little Joe Jr. Clabber was even known to breed a mare while at the races or at a rodeo. All these things contributed to the legend of Clabber, the Iron Horse.
One of the stories that has followed Clabber on the backstretch is the time he was matched with the famous mare Miss Bank in a race at Fort Bliss, Texas. Walt Wiggins brought this story to my attention and said that I should visit with Gary Brinson, the race starter at
Frank Vessels purchased Clabber in 1944 and brought him to his new Vessels Stallion Farm in California.
a rope from his bridle to the back of the starting gate to help hold him straight
34 SPEEDHORSE July 2022
- the 1940/1941 AQHA World Champion. He was the first horse to win this title and the only stallion to win the title for several years. Clabber was bred by Frank Smith of Big Foot, Texas, bought as a two year old by A. A. “Ab” Nichols of Gilbert, Arizona, and then he moved to California with Frank Vessels, who was building what became the Vessels Stallion Farm. We are back in this issue to profile more on the life of Clabber and his role as a Quarter Horse racing foundation sire.
When you study the history of Clabber, you see many stories have formed his legend as a racehorse, working ranch horse, and as a sire. His ability to work cattle and then win races on the weekend was common knowledge. Several times, he ran multiple races in one day, winning them. Then there’s the story of running
Clabber match raced with Miss Bank, shown after winning the 1947 Quarter Horse Championship at the New Mexico State Fair.
©Speedhorse Archives
©Speedhorse Archives