Page 190 - February_2023

OKLAHOMA QUARTER HORSE HALL OF FAME
Induction Ceremony • January 28, 2023 • Oklahoma City, OK
Stories and photos courtesy Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association
The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame hosted their 18th Annual Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association Hall
of Fame Induction Ceremony at Embassy
Suites in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame was created in 2005 to recognize outstanding individuals, horses, ranches or businesses, whose contributions involving the American Quarter Horse significantly impacted the great state of Oklahoma’s equine industry.
THE 2022 INDUCTEES WERE:
THREE BARS TB
Bred on James W. Parrish’s Midway, Kentucky, farm, Three Bars’ TB dam, Myrtle Dee, and two other mares were bought by Jack Goode, Ned Brent, and Bill Talbot
in the Spring of 1940. Just days after the purchase, Myrtle Dee foaled a good-looking chestnut colt. The men named the foal Three Bars, hoping he would pay off like a slot machine.
Goode placed the colt in race training as
a two year old, but leg problems kept Three Bars from winning until he was three. He
was injured as a three year old and spent
most of the 1944 recuperating. Three Bars returned to competition and finished the
year with three wins in four starts. However, the last race was a claiming race, and Toad Haggard and Stan Snedigar took ownership of Three Bars for $2,000. The partners hauled the stallion to Phoenix, Arizona, with the intention of breeding him to Quarter Horse mares and racing him. Hearing of the Thoroughbred, Sidney H. Vail traveled to Phoenix to inspect the stallion for breeding purposes. Liking what he saw, Vail bought Three Bars for $10,000 in 1945. As a sire, Three Bars found his stride. By the end of the 1950s, a number of mare owners either could not get their mares on the stallion’s limited stud book or could not afford the fee.
Walter Merrick of Oklahoma was impressed with Three Bars and leased the chestnut colt for two years. After the
lease was up, Merrick hauled his mares to wherever Three Bars was standing.
The stallion’s Thoroughbred progeny include Lena’s Bar TB, dam of Easy Jet; Lucky Bar, sire of Impressive; and Rocket Bar, grandsire of Dash For Cash. His American Quarter Horse sons include Lightning Bar, Sugar Bars, Gay Bar King, Barred, Zippo Pat Bars and others.
The stallion died two days shy of his 28th birthday on Merrick’s ranch. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1989. Three Bars is the first Thoroughbred inducted into the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.
DOUG CARPENTER
The late Doug Carpenter of Sulphur, Oklahoma, literally wrote the book about the Western Pleasure horse in 1996, in which he presented his ideas and concepts for the sport. He loved a great horse of any discipline, and his knowledge translated to success in the Reining, Cutting and Working Cowhorse industries
as well as in the Thoroughbred industry.
Doug earned $70,890 in National Snaffle Bit Association earnings, $30,839 as a National Reining Horse Association Open Rider, and $89,927 as an NRHA horse earner.
Doug made incredible contributions
to NRHA in numerous ways. He served
on the NRHA Board of Directors and Executive Committee for several years.
While contributing as a Gold level donor
to the Reining Horse Foundation, Doug created revenue and recognition for the Foundation through the Celebrity Slide with the Professional Bull Riders and the ‘Make A Wish’ Foundation in Oklahoma City. He was instrumental in the push for global recognition of our sport, include reining’s acceptance as the first Western discipline recognized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale.
As a professional trainer, Carpenter trained and showed clients’ and his own horses, including the NSBA Hall of Fame stallion Hotrodders Jet Set, proving he had the knack for picking good horses and training them to be competitive.
He moved to the Western performance horse world in the early 1990s, representing and selling standout individuals such as 1992 NRHA Futurity Open Champion Boomernic, 1999 National Reining Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion Smart Zanolena, 2003 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion Chics Magic Potion, and 2007 World’s Greatest Horseman Champion Light N Fine.
He was inducted into the 2021 NRHA Hall of Fame and the 2022 NSBA Hall of Fame.
BOB STORY, DVM
Both his dad and step-dad were racehorse trainers, but Bob knew that was not his path. He decided to remain involved in
the equine industry by pursuing a degree
in Veterinary Medicine at Oklahoma State University (OSU). While completing his course work to apply for Veterinary School, OSU approached him to implement a horse production class, which had been absent from the curriculum for 14 years. He taught high school, community college and then OSU’s horse production class before earning his DVM degree from OSU in 1983.
The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association (OQHA) asked him to serve as advisor and coach the 1978 Oklahoma Junior Quarter Horse Association (OJQHA) and prepare them to compete at the American Junior Quarter Horse Association (AJQHA) World Championship Horse Show in
Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In order to have a well-rounded team, he
started recruiting young people with registered American Quarter Horses competing in high school rodeos, Little Britches Rodeos and American Horse Show Association. Then he visited ranches and requested families with young children to consider fitting their horses for youth halter competition. Story sought great professional horsemen like Jerry Wells, Dale Livingston and Neil Gwaltney to help with the finishing touches. Story cultivated a healthy team spirit and by the end of the completion, OJQHA had compiled enough points to win their first AJQHA Team Championship. In
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