By Glory Ann Kurtz

You woke up this morning, rushed to the window and saw that new baby out in the pasture. It's like Christmas all over again. The next step, what stallion are you going to rebreed your mare to? Where will you get the best return for your money?

I wondered the same thing, so I took the top 50 stallions as published by Quarter Horse News in their Jan. 15, 2007 issue. The stallions are ranked by the average earnings of their offspring. I divided the 2007 stud fee by the average earned by the stallion's offspring over the past five years, coming up with a percentage.

Paul Dean, a veterinarian from Pilot Point Texas, told me that this was how they figured the best value in the Thoroughbred business. So I thought I'd try it, but I went one step further. I went to the list of the sires with offspring selling the highest during the 2006 NCHA Futurity Sales and also divided that figure into their stud fee.

The final step was averaging the earnings and sale averages, dividing that into the stud fee and coming up with a percentage. This figure would be important because it would not only reflect the best buy as far as earnings of offspring are concerned, but also factor in the best buy, if you decide to sell the baby.

Obviously, not all stallions had percentages reflected in both of these areas: offspring earnings and sale prices. In fact, you will see that the younger, popular stallions that today's mare owners are seeking (especially if they are roans), like Hes A Peptospoonful, Boonlight Dancer, Peptos Stylish Oak, Royal Fletch, Cats Red Feather, Smooth As A Cat and Mecom Blue are too young to have offspring with earnings high enough to be in the top 50.

In fact, the up-and-coming roan stallion, One Time Pepto, didn't have offspring old enough to show or sell, so he's not included in this list - but he's booked full anyway, so there's no sense of crying over spilled milk. You missed it!

In the case of a horse not having any offspring earnings, we took their average selling price from the 2006 NCHA Futurity sales divided by their stud fee and used that percentage as the total percentage. And in the case of a stallion having offspring that have earned money, but not three or more offspring selling in the 2006 NCHA Futurity Sales, we used the percentage from the stud fee divided by the offspring earnings.

Bodee’s the best bang for your buck!
Leading the list with 11 percentage was Bodee Boonsmal. The stallion, owned by Wes Adams, Logandale, Nev., was highly successful in Adams' MillionHeir program. However, for this article none of the stallion’s offspring earnings were even included — and he still topped the list.

The 1997 gray son of Peptoboonsmal out of Docalady by Doc Bar, was ranked 85 in the Equi-Stat list with 42 offspring earning $323,979 so Quarter Horse News didn't have him ranked in the top 50 of their five-year cutting statistics. However, if one were to include the money that his offspring earned in regular aged-event competition and MillionHeir competition ($1,161,090), he would have ranked No. 32 with offspring averaging $27,645. He also had six offspring sell in the NCHA Futurity Sales, averaging $23,617 With a $2,500 stud fee, that totaled 11 percent of his offspring average sale price.

However, if one would have included the total earnings and averaged both earnings and sales averages, his percentage of stud fee to performance and sale prices would be a mere 9 percent. By far the best deal of any other stallion on the list. Bodee Boonsmal is standing the 2007 season at the Adams Ranch in Dublin, Texas.

The second best buy for your $2,500 stud fee was Doc O Lena Twist, a 1988 son of Doc O'Lena out of Peppymint Twist by Peppy San Badger, owned by Dr. Kenton and Carroll Brown Arnold, Terrell, Texas. The stallion had 34 money-earning offspring during the past five years, averaging $21. With no sale horses, the stud fee was 12 percent of earnings.

Lenas Telesis, a 1987 son of Doc O'Lena out of Preliminary Plans by Colonel Freckles, owned by the Buffalo Ranch, Farmington, Utah also finished second with his $2,000 stud fee being 12 percent of his offspring earnings and horses selling.

Hickorys Indian Pep, a stallion that sold during the NCHA Futurity sales to Bennie Martinez and Danny Miller, tied with SR Instant Choice, a stallion that also sold recently to Jimmy Wingate of the SR Instant Choice Associates LLC. Both stallions had stud fees of $3,000, which divided by their offspring earnings and sale averages, totaled 13 percent.

Money Talks
If you wondered which stallion ranked the best as far as stud fee to offspring earnings only, it was Meradas Money Talks, a 1993 stallion sired by Freckles Merada out of Money Talks Rio by Doc Quixote, owned by Bishben Cutting Horses, Andover, Kan. With 29 offspring averaging $33,140 during the past five years, and a $3,000 stud fee, the stud fee was only 9 percent of the offspring earnings.

Second was Freckles Fancy Twist, a full brother to Doc O Lena Twist, which was recently purchased by Dana and Daniel Bloom of the Niangua River Ranch. The stallion had 33 offspring earn an average of $27,175. His stud fee ($3,000) to his offspring earnings was 11 percent. However, the stallion has a reduced rate of $2,500 for two mares and $2,000 for three or more. At those rates, Freckles Fancy Twist would top the list.

Lenas Telesis tops sale average list
If you were only concerned with the average of sale horses, Lenas Telesis topped the list, when the $22,000 sale average on three head was divided into the $2,000 stud fee. The result was the stud fee being only 9 percent of the average sale price.

Second was SR Instant Choice, with the $3,000 stud fee being only 10 percent of the average sale price. Bodee Boosmal finished third with his $2,500 stud fee being only 11 percent of the $23,617 his six offspring selling.

The new kids on the block
The new and unknown has always been intriguing to buyers of cutting horses. CD Lights, the 2006 World Champion Stallion recently crowned at the NCHA World Finals, is too young to have offspring in the competitive arena. However, the son of CD Olena out of Delight Of My Life by Grays Starlight, owned by Winston Hansma and Danny Motes, Weatherford, Texas, saw six of his offspring sell in the 2006 NCHA Futurity sales, for an $18,083 average. This amount divided into his $3,500 stud fee shows the best deal, with a percentage of 19 percent of stud fee to sale price.

With the industry's fascination with roan horses, it's no surprise that Hes A Peptospoonful and Boonlight Dancer topped the list of sires with offspring experiencing their first year in the cutting arena. Boonlight Dancer had 10 head sell for a $16,260 average. That amount divided into his $3,500 stud fee is 22 percent of the sale price of his offspring. Hes A Peptospoonful, which had four Open semifinalists in the 2006 NCHA Futurity, saw eight of his offspring sell for a $22,650 average, and that was before anyone knew what would happen in the NCHA Futurity arena. That amount divided into his $5,000 stud fee is also 22 percent.

So check out the list and see if you’re getting the “best bang for your breeding buck.”