tobianos are by Judys Lineage, the all- time leading Paint racing stallion. “Since the very first time I took her to Judys Lineage, I’ve always had cookie-cutter babies out of her,” Merle said. “Every one of them looked identical.” Merle has built her budding Paint racing empire around Flaming Hero- ine. Brief Encounter is a granddaugh- ter of Flaming Heroine through her dam, Judy Janise, the mare’s first foal and first tobiano. “Brief Encounter outran 142 head of horses one day in schooling races at Remington,” Merle said. “This was older horses, Quarter Horses, Paints, Apps—everything. She had the fastest work of the day.” Matt Whitekiller trained Brief
Encounter at 2 and 3. At age 2 in 2011, Brief Encounter was voted the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. G.R. Carter Jr. and Jacky Martin rode Brief Encounter, a testament to her quality. The Fultons have their own Quarter
Above: One of Merle’s favorite parts of breeding Paints is the surprise at foal- ing time. “You never know what you’re going to get,” she said.
Below: Prayers & Promises continues passing on her colorful speed genes to a new generation of Paint runners— the 1999 sorrel tobiano mare is by Judys Lineage and out of Fast Chick, a daughter of Walters Chick.
Horse trainer, Mike Robbins. Among Mike’s credits are Special Leader (QH) and Dashs Dream (QH), who earned AQHA world championships for Joe Kirk. Both horses won the prestigious Champion of Champions at Cali- fornia’s Los Alamitos Race Course. Special Leader became a phenomenal Quarter Horse sire, and Dashs Dream earned more than $1 million. Brief Encounter is now in training with Mike and their Quarter Horse string.
A loud sorrel tobiano, Brief Encoun- ter will make an excellent addition to Merle’s Paint broodmare band when she finishes racing. Her pedigree is full of good racehorses—Paints, Quarter Horses and even Thoroughbreds. She is by the Paint stallion Country Quick Dash, who traces back to World Champion Quarter Horse Dash For Cash. Her dam, Judy Janise, mixes Judys Lineage and Texas Hero while tracing back to the Thoroughbred Aly- dar, who pushed Affirmed to a Triple Crown in 1978. “My husband has seen the quality of the Paints and how smart and gor- geous they are,” Merle said. “When we
talked about a reduction sale a couple of years ago, I was going to put all my Paints up to the Brazilians for sale. Joe Kirk pulled them and wouldn’t sell them.”
Growing Up With Paints Merle has loved the Paint breed since she was a young girl. “I always wanted Paints,” she said.
“My dad bought one, and I’d ride barrels with him. Then I got another one as a gift, and I taught him how to jump. It was just little jumps, for fun and relaxation.” Merle’s father, Ross “Pinky” Ruth-
erford, knew how much his daughter loved Paints and saw that she always had one. “That’s when you could ride horses
into town and you could put them in your front yard for a while if you wanted to,” she said. “I had a lot of fun doing that.” Between her experience riding as a
young girl and her husband’s Quarter Horse expertise, Merle has learned how to breed for a well-conformed prospect. Her Paint racehorses reflect that ability. “I look more at the individual,”
Merle said about choosing stallions for her mares. “I need to see what he looks like. I need to see the conformation to make sure that I’m not breeding an imperfection. If one turns out or the legs are a little bit weak—I try to stay away from as many issues as I possibly can. I look for good feet. I look at their knees. I look at their hocks. I look at how they tie in. I look at their shoulder and their hip—the whole thing. It has to be the whole package. If you can get the breeding and the conformation, then you can get a home run.” In addition to Judy Janise, Flaming
Heroine’s Judys Lineage foals include the 2009 sorrel tobiano colt Strangers Game. In his very first start in 2011, he finished second in the Colors of Houston Futurity at Sam Houston Race Park. Merle isn’t sure what Strangers
Game’s future holds, but she might stand him as a stallion, given his pedi- gree and color.
ABIGAIL BOATWRIGHT
ABIGAIL BOATWRIGHT
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