Article by: Frank Holmes

Although he spent the first half of his life in the shadow of Poco Bueno, Pretty Buck eventually took his rightful place as one of the breed's foundation sires.

At the time of Pretty Buck's birth, the Waggoner Ranch horse breeding program was in full swing and producing upwards of 300 foals a year. Blackburn and Pretty Boy were the ranch's senior stallions. Aged 14 and 15 respectively, they were well established as sires of working and breeding stock. In their broodmare bands were own daughters of Waggoner's Rainy Day and Midnight. There were also some aged daughters of Cotton Eyed Joe and Joe Traveler --- two sons of Little Joe, and a few even older daughters of Yellow Wolf and Yellow Bear --- full brothers by Yellow Jacket and out of (Old) Mary. Rounding out the broodmare band were some half-breeds by Royal Ford (TB) and Clover Leaf (TB). Buck Thomas, while also in place as a Waggoner Ranch herd sire, was never accorded the level of respect that Blackburn and Pretty Boy enjoyed. With his close-up Peter McCue and Old Fred breeding, Buck Thomas was taller and rangier than the other tow stallions. Then too as a sire of working cow ponies he was somewhat controversial. Some of the Waggoner Ranch hands were to known to have preferred his get as riding horses, while others were quoted as saying that they would rather remain afoot than sit astride his offspring.

As noted earlier, Pretty Buck was foaled in 1942. He was an outstanding individual from the very beginning, and the decision was made to reserve him as a potential show horse and future sire. At the time of Pretty Buck's birth, E. Paul Waggoner, the son of ranch founder W. T. Waggoner, was in charge of the horse breeding operation. In the fall of 1945, E. Paul attended the annual Hankins Brothers Horse Sale at San Angelo, TX. There he astounded the entire Quarter Horse world by giving the unheard price of $5,700.00 for a yearling colt named Poco Bueno.

From that day forward, the die was cast. Poco Bueno was the immediate focal point of the Waggoner Ranch show string, and the acknowledged future head of the ranch's breeding program. That is not to say that Pretty Buck was ignored. On the contrary, he was shown alongside Poco Bueno for a number of years, was broke to ride by Bob Burton, (the same man who started Poco Bueno) and was heavily utilized as a breeding animal. But Poco Bueno was the ranch headliner. He was the indisputable star, and every other stallion on the ranch had to be content with a spot on the supporting cast. Still, as a show horse, Pretty Buck held his own.

Bob Burton the Waggoner Ranch cowboy who would later start both Poco Bueno and Jessie James under saddle, broke Pretty Buck to ride as a 2-year-old.   Burton also trained the young stallion as a roping horse and by all accounts he was a born natural. There are no recorded accounts of Pretty Buck being campaigned in roping  --- either through the AQHA or in rodeo competition.

In January of 1953 the Waggoner Ranch sold Pretty Buck to Oscar Dodson, of Chillicothe, Texas. Dodson only kept the horse for the 1953 and 1954 breeding seasons before selling the stallion to John L. Taylor of California. Taylor was assembling a top Quarter Horse breeding operation at the time and Pretty Buck was to be at its head. For the next several years everything went according to plan, Pretty Buck was bred to a variety of West Coast mares, including daughters of Blackburn, Poco Bueno, Ed Echols, Dan Waggoner, Lucky Taylor, and Topper. With Taylor expanding his show and breeding operation to include a number of Pretty Buck daughters and top young breeding stallions; Dividend (AAA) and Poco Pico, a rosey future for Pretty Buck seemed assured. The in January of 1959 tragedy struck when Taylor was killed on a traffic accident en route to the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO.. The Taylor Breeding Operation was dispersed later that same year. This sale established an all-time high average of $5,806.00 on 51 head. Pretty Buck topped the dispersal, selling for $15,800.00 to G. W. "Glynn" Sams of Kansas. Sams would keep the aging stallion for the next two years, and several of Mr. Sams top show horses were foaled during that time.

Harold Schafer owner of the "Gold Seal Corporation" manufacturers of such products as Snowey Bleach and Mr. Bubble, had recently formed his appropriately named "Blackburn Ranch" by acquiring 40 daughters of the famous Blackburn P-2228. Once again in the prestigious company of the Blackburn daughters Pretty Buck closed out his long and illustrious career as a breeding stallion.