Road to the Horse to feature horses from the Wood Ranch
Source: Ride the Remuda Productions email
February 22, 2006

When Road to the Horse 2008 competitors Chris Cox, Tommy Garland, Ken McNabb and the “mystery trainer” pick their individual horses to start under saddle March 1–2 at Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, they are selecting more than just a weekend project. They are choosing to work with one of several Western legacies.

The 10 3-year-old geldings that will be featured in Road to the Horse this year were bred and raised by the Wood Ranch of Heber Springs, Arkansas. As if being a part of Wood Ranch’s more than 180-year-old program isn’t enough, the geldings also have the blood of some of the greatest performance horses in modern history running through their veins.

The 3-year-olds were sired by Wood Ranch stallions: Shining King Cody, BP Smart Little Pep or Blue Diamond Hancock.

Shining King Cody is a palomino who was sired by National Reined Cow Horse Association and National Reining Horse Association $2 Million Sire Shining Spark. An eye-catching golden palomino and grandson of the legendary cutting horse Doc Bar, Shining Spark has sired 51 American Quarter Horse Association World or Reserve World Champions—and that list continues to grow with every passing year.

BP Smart Little Pep is a buckskin whose bloodlines include Doc O’Lena and Doc Bar, in addition to one of the most revered performance horses of all time, Peppy San Badger. Peppy San Badger, or “Little Peppy” as he is affectionately known in the horse industry, was a three-time National Cutting Horse Association World Champion. His offspring have won titles with nearly every major horse association, including the National Reining Horse Association and, of course, the National Cutting Horse Association.
           
Finally, Blue Diamond Hancock, a gray stallion, is a champion reiner who was bred to be the ultimate ranch horse. Sired by Hesa Eddie Hancock, the stallion’s bloodlines include the Quarter Horse favorite Eddie Eighty, as well as the American Quarter Horse Association’s leading sire of world champion performance horses, Zan Parr Bar.
           
“There are a few geldings from every bloodline for the clinicians to choose from,” said breeder and owner Joe Wood Jr. “There are palominos, sorrels, grays and buckskins, so they’ll be quite the variety. But they’re all good-minded. They’re a nice group of horses.”

Normally, Wood Ranch horses are halter trained during the fall of their weanling year and then broke to ride when they are 2-year-olds. The geldings that will be used for Road to the Horse, however, have only been halter trained, per the competition’s specifications.
             
“They’ve just been turned out and the only times we’ve touched them is to doctor them if they needed it or to worm them,” said Wood. 

Wood said his “whole family” will be in Murfreesboro for Road to the Horse 2008 and that they are all extremely excited to join the festivities.
           
“We’re really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see the clinicians working with our horses and see which ones they pick and how they get along with the horses we bred.