Patchy Jr.
Call it fate. Call it destiny. Whatever it was, the breeding of the thoroughbred mare, Lady, to the Appaloosa stallion, Sundance was a match that was to produce Leopard Lady, the dam of Patchy Jr.
This match would never have happened if it had not been for a young Raymond Johnson, older brother of Ben Johnson (see Raymond’s blog) “borrowing” his uncle Otto Borchers mare without his knowledge to breed to the Appaloosa stallion, Sundance.
Patchy Jr. was inducted into the Appaloosa Hall of Fame in 2005. He was sired by Hall Of Famer, Patchy 416 and out of the Champion Producer, Leopard Lady. Patchy Jr sired Patchy Jr’s Shaun Tonga making 3 successive generations of National Champions. Very few families of horses can lay claim to that honor.
The following condensed version of the success of Patchy Jr and his get was taken off his plaque honoring his enrollment into the Appaloosa Hall of Fame. It is difficult to sum up a lifetime of achievement into a few short words, but the plaque does a pretty good job. For more information, Frank Holmes book, SPOTTED PRIDE, does a good job of going into more detail. The book is available thru ApHC.
From the plaque: “Patchy Jr., F-1380, sired by Hall of Famer Patchy and out of Leopard Lady, found success in the show ring and passed his talent along to his get. Hall of Famer Ben Johnson of Delta, Colorado, bred and owned the 1952 stallion.
Patchy Jr. sired 100 registered foals and had more than 30 halter and performance championships to his name when he retired from showing at age 12. The stallion won National titles in trail, get of sire, and halter including National Grand Champion Stallion and Reserve National Grand Champion–twice. The premier sire of performance horses also won numerous titles at the Colorado State Fair.
Many successful breeding and show programs incorporate the Patchy Jr. bloodline. His descendants have competed in events from western pleasure to reining, gymkhana, racing and halter in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Patchy Jr. is remembered as an athletic, versatile and well-mannered champion and sire.”
The following slide show is of a mare by Patchy Jr. named Give Or Take and we just called her Give. This mare was owned and shown by Claire to many, many wins in everything from Reining to Western Pleasure, poles, stakes, barrels, and Hunter Under Saddle….then Audra came along and Claire lost her mare to Audra. Audra went on to many Championships and wonderful times with this Patchy Jr. daughter. She will always have a special place in all of our hearts. We lost Give Or Take in 1999 at the ripe old age of 28. Regretfully, we didn’t ever breed Give as we showed her and used her on the ranch. Wish we had more just like her.
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