Apha

2016 APHF Hall of Fame Inductees

Easy Jet Too
1989 sorrel overo stallion | Dirty Sonny x Rocki Robin | Bred and owned by Gregg Reisinger, Eldora, Iowa


It takes quite a horse to begin a legacy, but Easy Jet Too did it, well, easily. First on the track and then in the breeding shed, Easy Jet Too was a powerful force.
Winning nine out of 10 starts in his 2-year-old year—including five futurity finals—Easy Jet Too earned the 1983 Champion Running 2-year-old title, and then followed up his freshman year with a 3-year-old career that culminated with a total of 11 wins and earnings of $35,334.
Once standing at stud, though, the stallion truly found success. Thanks to a partnership between breeder Walter Merrick and Virdin Royse of Yukon, Oklahoma, Easy Jet Too broke out of the gate with strong breedings in his first year.
“We bred about 25 colts from him that first year,” Virdin said in a 2006 Paint Horse Racing article. “We each picked out half of them, and then I bought all of his colts. It was fun. They’d have trials for these futurities, and I’d have eight colts in each of them.” 
In his first crop alone, Easy Jet Too sired champions and winners of more than $215,000 including Treasured, a leading sire in his own right. According to a August/September 2006 Paint Horse Racing article, Easy Jet Too sired 17 champions and five world champions: Awesome Jet (1989), Treasures (1990), Treasured Too (1991), Real Easy Cash (2001) and Cha Cha Chickie (2002). Easy Jet Too was APHA’s first $1 million sire of racehorses; in all, his get have earned nearly $1.6 million on the track.
Though Easy Jet Too died in 2006, his pedigree lives on in the royal bloodlines of today’s current champions and leading sires.


Gregg Reisinger
Eldora, Iowa

Savvy horseman Gregg Reisinger saw the potential of the Paint Horse breed from the beginning. Though he registered his first Paints with the American Paint Stock Horse Association in 1965, he began buying and selling horses much earlier as a teenager at his father’s sale barn. After accumulating a herd of exemplary broodmares, he purchased his first Paint stallion, Apache Norfleet, in 1967.
After standing Apache Norfleet and Awhe Chief for several years, Gregg firmly established Reisinger Farms as a leading producer of Paint performance horses. In 1977, Gregg added Teddys Splash to his stallion lineup, and the young stallion rocketed to the top of many APHA Leading Sire lists. In the early 1980s, Gregg shifted his focus to producing exceptional pleasure horses; in 1987, he acquired Dirty Sonny, a stallion that would solidify Reisinger Farms’ position as premier breeder of Paint pleasure prospects. Dirty Sonny went on to sire more than 270 registered foals, including Dirty Rocki, another industry-leading sire whose get have earned more than 41,000 APHA points.
Gregg has been involved with APHA as more than just a breeder; he was elected to the APHA Executive Committee in 2007 and served as APHA President from 2012–2013. An APHA 50+ year breeder, Gregg has registered nearly 1,400 horses since 1963. Today, he tops three of four APHA Lifetime Leading Breeders lists.


Dirti Rocki
1982 sorrel tobiano stallion | Peppy San Badger (QH) x Delta | Bred by Lynn Anderson, Nashville, Tennessee | Owned by the Delta Flyer Syndicate, Huntsville, Texas

When Dirty Rocki was born, there was no doubt that he would live up to the expectations of his breeders. By Dirty Sonny and out of Rocki Robin, a Painted Robin-bred mare, his pedigree read like a who’s-who of the Paint pleasure world. “Rocki” was shown only limitedly, but he earned a Register of Merit and Superior in Western pleasure as well as an ROM in halter and his APHA Champion title before being retired to stand at Reisinger Farms.
The talented young stallion soon proved his worth as a sire of competitive pleasure horses. Over the course of his breeding career, Rocki sired 505 registered Paints, 187 of which have APHA show records. In total, his get have earned more than 39,000 APHA performance points and more than 2,100 APHA halter points as well as eight world championships and two reserve world championships. Among his most notable offspring are Rock The Band, a five-time world champion.
Rocki sired his last foal in 2011 and the exceptional stallion died in 2014, but he remains in the Top Five on the APHA Lifetime Leading Sires by Performance Points Earned list as well as in the Top 15 of APHA Lifetime Leading Sires by Performance Point Earners.
 


Teddys Splash
1976 sorrel overo stallion | Sir Teddy Too (QH) x Shasta Nurse (QH) | Bred by Dr. & Mrs. Barry Wood, Carmel, Indiana | Owned by Gregg Reisinger, Eldora, Iowa


When Gregg Reisinger’s brother Gordon called to tell him he found a yearling stallion the horseman might like, Gregg immediately went to work. Trusting his brother’s instincts—honed after a childhood spent in their father’s sale barn exposed to some of the best horseflesh in the country—Gregg bought the stallion sight unseen. It was a decision that would help shape the future of Reisinger Farms.
A line-bred Skipper W horse, Teddys Splash defied his breeding, standing 16 hands with the movement of a “classic hunt-seat horse,” as Gregg described him in a 1998 Paint Horse Journal article. “Teddy” showed just enough to earn his APHA Champion title in 1980 before retiring to the breeding barn, where his talent shone.
Teddy sired 160 APHA-registered foals during his breeding career, and his progeny flourished in the show pen; his get have earned more than 20,000 APHA performance points and more than 5,000 APHA halter points, as well as 26 national and world championships and 18 reserve national and world championships. Among his most notable offspring are Teddys Cutie, a five-time world champion and five-time reserve world champion, and Teddys Dynasty, a 10-time national and world titleholder. The stallion sired his last foal in 1995, and Teddy died in 1996. Today, he remains in the Top 25 of the APHA Lifetime Leading Sires by Performance Points Earned.


Jerry Peddycoart
Arab, Alabama

A lifelong horse lover, Jerry Peddycoart joined APHA in 1967. Although he didn’t have any Paints of his own at the time, he wanted to learn more about the breed and the fledgling APHA. After attending the National Show that year, his passion for Paints was solidified.
A founding member of the Midsouth Paint Horse Club, Jerry was elected as a national director in 1972. Jerry was that rare blend of country simplicity combined with engineering complexity. He was at ease with horses as he was with manned spaceflight, rising to serve as APHA president in 1982 while enjoying a career as a mathematician at NASA.
During his presidency, he was committed to promoting Paints at every opportunity. From 1972–1990, Jerry registered 25 foals, many of which were by his beloved stallion, Sailing Skip. He contributed to the Rules, Judges and Registration committees during his tenure as well as serving as President of the American Paint Horse Foundation.
After his term on the Executive Committee ended, Jerry remained a staunch supporter of the Paint breed, continuing his breeding operation in Alabama until he registered his last foal in 1990. Adored by his family, Jerry was “a beloved husband, great father and fantastic grandfather.” Jerry died in 2004, but his legacy lives on in the association that he lovingly served and the Paints that dot pastures around the world.


Easter Sunrise
1971 red roan tovero stallion | Grease Paint x Mendocino Belle |Bred by Cookie Tree Ranch, Calabasas, California | Owned by Richard Tews, Moorpark, California

Sired by a tobiano and out of an overo mare, Easter Sunrise’s markings were anything but ordinary. The stocky tovero stallion was unmistakable—nearly all white, with hints of color in his ears, muzzle and through his dark tail; a December 1997 Paint Horse Journal article lauds him as the cornerstone of a bloodline that helped perpetuate the tovero pattern.
Easter Sunrise wasn’t just a pretty face, though, and the flashy stallion became an APHA Champion in 1974. Further proving his versatility, he captured a national championship for reining in 1982 and reserve national championships in Western riding and working cow horse throughout his career.
Passing on his talent and good looks in the breeding shed, Easter Sunrise consistently produced colorful foals, including 35 toveros. The stallion’s 168 get earned four world championships, four reserve world championships, and 47 grand championships. In all, his offspring earned 1,399 halter points and 6,706 performance points.


Chick A Mount
1971 bay tobiano stallion |Yellow Mount x Miss Half Bar |Bred by Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Williamson, Iowa Park, Texas | Owned by Verne and Delila Welch, Gardnerville, Nevada

The second of Fred Adam’s APHA Supreme Champions, Chicka Mount stood out in the show pen as a versatile competitor and a formidable opponent. “Chick” followed in the footsteps of his full brother, Bar Mount, but the younger sibling wasn’t overshadowed. Paired with Fred and a host of supporting trainers, Chick made quick work of APHA’s achievement awards, earning his APHA Championship in 1973 and his Performance Versatility, Superior All-Around and Supreme Championship titles in 1976.
Despite injuries and roadblocks, Chick was a gritty competitor who pulled through in tough circumstances, the April 1985 Paint Horse Journal reported. “The computer printout of Chick’s official APHA performance record shows that on the same day he ran his last official race at Eureka Downs, he was entered at Abeline, Kansas, where he won two firsts in Working Cow Horse at a multi-judge show on September 19, 1967,” the article stated. “This completed his requirements in working cattle events for his Supreme Championship and Superior All-Around award.”
Chick passed on his abilities in the breeding shed, siring 186 get who earned 692 halter points and 2,088 performance points. Included in his offspring are APHA Supreme Champion The Midas Touch and 17 grand champions.


Barlink Macho Man
1982 sorrel overo stallion |Tuffys Two Spades (QH) x Prize’s Bar Link | Bred and owned by Charles and Kay Simmelink, Madras, Oregon

Big, handsome and splashed with flash, Barlink Macho Man enjoyed turning heads since day one. Bred and owned by Charles and Kay Simmelink, the kindhearted “Macho” helped lead the couple to national prominence.
“He was our first ‘big league’ show horse and sire,” Kay said in a January 1997 Paint Horse Journal article. “Time has proven that breeding [Macho] was the most defining moment in our Paint breeding history.”

In the halter pen, Macho earned APHA national championships in 1983 and 1984; he also stood as grand champion 52 times throughout his career. Though an injury cut Macho’s show career short, he perpetuated his talent through his offspring.
In all, Macho sired 393 get, including one Supreme Champion, seven world champions and 71 grand champion winners. His popularity, Kay says, also stemmed from his quiet and kind disposition, making him a top choice for family-focused buyers.Though Macho died in 2004 at age 25, he continues to reign as one of APHA’s greats, standing fifth on the Lifetime Leading Sires list for halter points earned and seventh for halter point earners; Macho’s son, Mighty Awesome, leads both lists.

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