Stallion Osage Roan 1958-1981

Stallions:

• Over Osage
• Roper Oroan
• Osage Oroan
• Silver Blue Light
• Razjon

Stories:

• Dolly Madison
• Lady Lou Hancock

Links:
	www.hancockhorses.com

Introduction

My family has been raising roping and performance horses for over fifty years. Cap Overstreet (my Dad) began raising registered Quarter Horses in the late 1940s but if you go back far enough some of my horses trace to ranch horses owned and ridden by my grandfather. Our primary goal has been to raise horses that you can ride and get something done on. We have always ridden our horses and used them successfully in a wide array of jobs. Our horses make great ranch and rope horses but they can excel in the show ring as well. We have never been horse show people but on the few occasions when we’ve shown, we’ve done well.

We've tried to strike a balance—breeding enough bone into our horses to keep them sound for a lifetime without giving up the quickness and speed so important for cow horses. We have also selected for cow sense. I’ve taken barely broke colts to help the neighbors work cows and by the end of the day, they work like they’ve already had beginning cutting training somewhere.

My horses have some Hancock breeding in their pedigree and many of the characteristics that I breed for are the best traits of the Hancock Quarter horses.

The foundation of my breeding program was a stallion named Osage Roan that my Dad owned for over twenty years. For several years I’ve been utilizing a line breeding program with great success. It seems like the tighter I bred the better the colts got. I got started by accident when my double bred Osage Roan son got out of the corral and bred an Osage Roan granddaughter. The resulting colt had such a good disposition and so much muscle and ability that I wanted more like him. Our line bred stallion, Roper Oroan, was named Horse of the Year by the Montana High School Rodeo Association—the year he and our daughter Amber won the breakaway roping championship and earned points in five different events.

When you look at the pedigrees of my current stallions, you’ll see that I’ve taken the line breeding about as far I can. I am beginning to work in some out-crosses and will be trying to find the perfect match over the next couple of years.

History

Hancock breeders should notice that Little Roan Hancock’s mother was by John Wilkins the son of Peter McCue who was Joe Hancock’s sire. Osage Red was one of the best sons of Question Mark. One year in the late ‘40s, he won 13 races in a row. Several old race horse men have told me that he was the best horse they ever saw.

Osage Roan had an excellent disposition. When we were kids, my brother and I used to go to the pasture when he was out with the mares and crawl on him bareback with nothing on his head. Dad would saddle him in the pasture then gather the mares on him. He was as good a country cutting horse as there was. When the horse was in his late teens Dad would only ride him at weaning time at the Sun Ranch. They would get out in front of a gate. We would drive the cows past them and they would cut the calves back. In working 750 cows they might lose one or two calves. It takes a good hand on a good horse to do that.

Osage Roan won a blue ribbon in halter at a big show in Billings, Montana when he was a yearling but Dad never took him to another show. Only a few of his colts were shown. At least two were Montana state champions in halter. At least one was an AQHA Champion. Most of the people using his colts were more interested in ranching or roping. Dean Oliver rode an Osage Roan son to second in the World the last time he went to the Finals. I rode a daughter, Lady Lou Hancock, to the Montana Rodeo Association calf roping championship twice. She also won calf roping horse of the year. (Click here to see the article about her.)

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OVER OSAGE

1981-2004

 

Over was a great sire for us. When he was young, I roped on him a little but that was a time in my life when I couldn’t travel much. He had an excellent disposition and lots of cow sense. One summer in the middle of breeding season when he was four or five, I caught him out of the pasture and took him to our local horse show where we won the open reining. I could ride or lead him through a bunch of loose mares and he wouldn’t make a bobble. When I was pasture breeding him I would go out and catch him from among the mares with my belt and ride him back to the house. He would accept new mares into his herd anytime.

Over possessed a joy of life. Often he would play alone in his corral, especially when the mornings were cold. He loved to jump and kick and spin. Sometimes he would spin in the air, his front hooves two feet off the ground with his hind feet straight in the air. It was like watching a beautiful ballet. Fortunately, he had no inclination to do this when I rode him.

Both Fredrick Oroan and Roper Oroan, studs that we’re now standing are Over’s sons. You can read more about these horses by clicking on their names or scrolling down.

I showed a two of Over’s sons in a few of the NFQHA shows with success. Overs Blue Hancock was Heading Champion at the 1997 national show. At the same show, BJ Oroan won several ribbons as a four year old. In 1998 BJ was High Point Stallion at the regional show in Baker City, Oregon—winning the working ranch horse, the heeling, and second in the barrels. In 1999 I rode him to second place in a large barrel race class at the national show in Farmington, Utah. He turned barrels great and I’d like to have found out how good he could have run with a slim rider and light saddle. One judge placed us first in the heading and we turned the steers for the horses that won the top two places in the heeling. One judge placed us first in the cow working. Vince Hayes and Jim Moore bought BJ from me. Fredrick Oroan is his full brother.

BJ Oroan

Over’s dam, Osage Nell, was amazing mare. As a teenager, I broke her and then trained her for cutting. She was extremely quick and really watched. With the help of a real cutting horse trainer she could have been one of the greats. Right after I graduated from high school, I gave her two roping lessons and took her to a calf roping school. She was a natural. On the way home from the school I stopped at a rodeo in Jackson, Wyoming and won the calf roping. She had a great disposition, plenty of speed, a quick start and a crunching stop. She put up with me and I learned so much from her. Having her kind of spoiled me though—I learned to expect a lot from a horse.

1996 Red Roan Stallion Now standing at stud.

Buster is a terrific horse and a nearly perfect gentleman. He stands a half inch over 15 hands and weights about 1250#. I didn’t start him until he was three and rode him only occasionally over that summer. The winter before he turned five, still riding him in a snaffle bit, I started heading on him. Even half broke, his talent was obvious. That next summer, my daughter, Amber, who was just starting breakaway roping had a great pen calves. I couldn’t resist converting him into a calf roping horse. By August, I hauled him to his first rodeo and won the calf roping. (OK, I was lucky but he did work well.) The following June, about the time he turned six, Amber (then age 14) breakaway roped on him at the Montana State High School Rodeo Finals. Before the event I left Amber on Buster behind the chutes while I checked on her draw. The rodeo committee was overly organized and when I returned they had the first eight or ten ropers in a tight line snaking back from the box. Buster’s forehead was almost touching the tail of a mare in front of him. He stood there like a gelding. When it came time to rope, Buster put Amber on the calf quickly. But just as she started to throw, Amber dropped the spoke of her rope. As she was trying to get her loop back together she slackened the reins. Buster ran on and stayed in perfect position even as the calf circled the arena. When Amber finally looked up, the calf was right there and she roped it.

As a junior, Amber breakaway roped and goat tied on Buster. They also started barrel racing that spring. Amber was Montana’s reserve champion goat tier that year and rode Buster at the National High School Rodeo Finals. In the fall of Amber’s senior year she added pole bending. In several of the smaller rodeos they placed in all four events. The last half dozen rodeos of the spring, she team roped as well. One weekend they placed in all five events that girls can compete in at the same rodeo. Several times they were the all around champions. At the Montana High School Rodeo Finals Amber became the state champion breakaway roper and Buster was named the girls’ horse of the year. As a freshman in college, Amber hauled Buster and competed successfully in breakaway roping and goat tying.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether we are indoors or outside, whether the wind is blowing off the North Pole or the sun blazing hot, Buster works well. He’s never acted like a stud away from home and people who have seen him many times are often surprised to find out he is a stallion.

Amber started late trying to learn to rodeo competitively. It was particularly hard for her to be competitive riding an inexperienced barrel and pole horse. She was trying to learn the basics in these events and train Buster at the same time. Buster loves to run the poles. Given another year, I think the two of them could become very successful. Amber really doesn’t like barrel racing and it shows. Given a chance, I think Buster could still get real tough in that event.

Because we’ve been hauling him and because I’ve had both Over and Fred to use, Buster has sired only a few of foals.

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OSAGE OROAN

4717273

2004 Blue Roan Stallion

I really liked Bro Rio Bar when I bred her for Alan Dewey, who had her leased.  Although she came here thin and in her mid-teens you could see something substantial there and later when I saw her pedigree, I tried unsuccessfully to buy her.  When Alan sent me photos and offered me the colt, I bought him over the phone.  I was delighted when I saw him.  He is a clean boned horse with straight legs and lots of long muscle.  Although his head is not as small as today’s halter horses, it is well proportioned.  My daughters think he’s handsome.   He had been ridden some before I got him and I’ve only ridden him a few times yet but I can tell he is a real athlete.  As a three year old, he stands 15.1 and probably weights 1175#.   

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SILVER BLUE LIGHT

4770609

2005 Gray Stallion

I purchase this horse as a short yearling from Joe Murray in Oakdale, California.  I liked his pedigree with the Driftwood/Lucky Blanton cross on the top side and out of a Frostys Tops daughter.  Frostys Tops was a Hancock bred stud that has sired many of the best team roping horses.  Jim Wheatley told me that he was the fastest horse he ever rode.  Even in his late teens, Blue Light Ike is a good looking horse with a good reputation. The first summer I had this colt I let him run out and when he came back in he seemed awfully spooky—I didn’t like that.  Then during the winter we put four or five rides on him and he just turned gentle and has stayed that way. He is a three quarter brother to the bay gelding that Cody Cowden has healed on at the NFR several times.  I look forward to seeing the colts I get when I cross him on my Over Osage daughters.

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RAZJON

You will notice that the grandsire of both Roper Oroan and Fredrick Oroan is a running bred horse named Razjon. Dad used this horse for several years from the late ’70s through the mid-80’s. He purchased him as a two-year-old and never ran him. However, he had a full brother that ran AAA many times and later became a team roping horse. Crossed on Osage Roan daughters, Razjon produced some excellent horses. His speed complimented our horses without damaging the cow sense.

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