Jessie and Mindy are Related...Sort of

My knowledge of horse genetics is severely lacking. However, I heard Rick Lamb talking about the Western Horseman Legends Series of books and he mentioned Jessie James was listed in Volume 2. My Jessie is a great grand daughter of Jessie James. In the Western Horseman book, Legends Volume 2, the entry for Jessie James reads:

He may have been named after one of the most notorious outlaws of the American West, but Quarter Horse Jessie James built his reputation as one of the "good guys" of the early-day cutting horse scene. In fact, he was considered by many of the cutting horse trainers in the 1950s and 1960s to be one of the greatest cutting horses to ever look through a bridle.

According to Jim Reno, the noted cutting horse trainer who owned him for several years, 'Jessie James was a tremendous athlete who could run, stop hard and turn around quickly.



'He was a master at using his head and neck to control a calf. He worked with his ears back, and looked like a striking snake as he reached for the calf. He kept his ears pinned flat to the back of his head all the time that he was working a cow, almost like he didn't have any ears.

'I saw the horse do things that were equal to anything we see our good horses do today, and more,' continued Reno. 'There was no limit to his ability. If we'd worked horses in those days like we do now, and if we'd known how to train horses then like we do now, there's no telling how great that horse could have been.'


Ah, this gives me hope for Jessie, although I think what I'm lacking now is a goal for my training.

Western Horseman's Legends continued with more from Reno:
"Reno also noted that Jessie James' conformation was probably the key to his ability to stop, turn, and block a yearling. 'He was a little bit short in the croup as well as being flat-crouped, he said. 'He was also an extremely straight-legged horse behind, almost post-legged.'

Reno, an outstanding sculptor and student of equine anatomy, has found the latter conformation feature to be true with some other outstanding equine athletes. Two other examples of top cutting horses who were very straight behind were Gandy's Time and Lena's Super Cool."

According to the NWC Journal, Mindy is a granddaughter of Mr Jessie James who was a grandson of Jessie James. Pretty cool, huh?

I'll be adding more about Jessie James in the weeks ahead..