A Hoof Print In History: Obvious Conclusion
Republished from 2014 June/July issue of Show Horse Today magazine
By Gabrielle Sasse
So far in the series, we’ve learned about some amazing pleasure sires, so now it’s time to pay homage to a Halter stallion! Cindy Buchanan is a very active member of the Facebook group, Quarter Horse Tales: The Long and Short of It and knows her Quarter Horse history. Cindy has had a role in horse history herself, having played a big part in the life of Halter stallion, Obvious Conclusion.
“Like so many stories, it was truly the best of times and the worst of times…” Cindy begins her tale. “Stacey Sample had told me that there was a fancy colt over at Joe Edge’s place in Arlington, Texas. Quite a few ‘big names’ had looked at the colt and passed on him, which I’m sure was because of his ‘growing pains’ and epiphysitis. But when I saw him standing with his mother, I thought he was the fanciest colt I had ever seen. He had a presence about him I had never seen before. Even as a foal, he had the deepest heart girth, and the most perfectly sloping shoulder with a pronounced wither that I have sever seen. His form to function was incredible, and coming from years of 4H horse judging and then coaching I had always had that perfect profile in my mind. When I laid eyes on ‘Obvious’ for the first time, he WAS that perfect profile!”
Cindy brought her perfect horse home when he was five months old and partnered with Harold and Gail Taylor in the ownership. “The three of us were sitting with my mother around the kitchen table having coffee, making plans for the new colt and trying to come up with a name. I had said over and over that I couldn’t believe we got him bought, as I thought he was very obviously the BEST colt I had ever seen at just five months old. My mom, who was really not a horse person, asked ‘what’s his daddy name?’ I told her Conclusive, and she said ‘well if you think it’s pretty obvious that he’s a star, name him Obvious Conclusion!’ I always loved his name.”
“In looking back, it was one of those things where we all knew he was special from the beginning. You can really never predict that a horse will make such a huge impact on an industry. We just got the ball rolling, and then it takes off and you hang on for the ride.”
Obvious Conclusion was born February 26, 1981 and died October 17, 2005. He sired 1,446 foals that earned 18,935 AQHA points, including 28 AQHA World Champions, 34 Reserve World Champions, 339 Halter ROMs, 30 Performance ROMs, plus 103 Superior Halter awards and three Performance Superiors. He also sired two Open AQHA Champions and one Youth AQHA Champion.
“I had asked Bill and Ann Lanning, managers of Joe Edge’s place, to hold him for 24 hours to see if our vet could fix his legs. His bone grew so fast that it outgrew the tendon,” Cindy explains of fixing Obvious’ epiphysitis. “We wrapped him up in elastic tape and he improved overnight. He was able to lock his ankles in. Our vet said as long as we were really careful, we would be able to correct his legs. We hand walked him and had a great farrier, and eventually Obvious was able to be turned out. Finally, as a yearling, we started fitting him midway through the summer. It was fall of his yearling year before we showed him.”
“Jerry Wells showed him for us and we brought him to the TQHA Futurity in Dallas. He won the futurity across the board, and from there we went to Congress and won the Yearling Halter Futurity across the board, the Yearling Stallion class at the Congress and then he went on to win the World Show that year. The next spring, we took him to Glenn Cantrell’s in Oklahoma to stand him to a limited book; about 20 mares. After breeding season, we showed him just enough to get him qualified for the World and then started concentrating on getting him 100% ready for the Congress.”
To continue reading, visit Show Horse Today magazine here and flip to page 56!
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