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info on hancock horses

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C-E

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Looking at possibly trading for a Hancock bred mare. Never been around any Hancock bred horses. Just curious what your thoughts and opinions are. Thanks.
 
I would be hesitant to compare a bloodline in Alberta with one in Kansas.....that being said I have found a large percentage of them will buck a little and stay with it for a while. Very impressed with their work ethic, as in lot's of bottom, lot's of try and the odd one with unbeleivable stamina.
They don't seem to work out very well for the "grab out of the pasture every couple of month's for a Sunday afternoon ride with the grandkid's" they need a job to do and the steadier the better. Same as any other bloodline though I'd look at how much Hancock, how far back, what else is on the paper's? Anybody close up that's proven? (to me that could be the neighbor's old stud that never traveled more than 50 mile from home, if I like him : )
Then I'd throw that all aside and judge the horse on it's own merit's, which can be a little hard if your talking broodmare, due to age, injury, lack of trainning.....

I did a colt starting demo for a local club a few year's ago and they had a little grey mare all spit and fire. Hancock and Blue Valentine breeding. It was.......interesting, and probably entertaining to watch :lol: After the demo they raffled the horse off and I thought "great now I'm going to be known forever as - you know that guy that started that colt that maimed 3 people"
As luck would have it she went to a guy that's just a tad tough, you know wear's his boot's out from the inside? They get along great, he told everyone she was better started then any 30 day colt he's had, after 5 session's (3 ride's in a 50 ft pen)
More than you wanted to know :roll: but hey you didn't HAVE to read it all :)
 
C-E said:
Looking at possibly trading for a Hancock bred mare. Never been around any Hancock bred horses. Just curious what your thoughts and opinions are. Thanks.

Like a lot of other famous bloodlines, you'll find a lot of people that either love them or hate them. The linebred Hankcock horses have, at least from what I've heard, a reputation for being tough, in a couple senses of the word. Tough, in that they have a lot of stamina and can hold up to a lot of work on a real ranch. Tough, also, in that they have a reputation for being broncy and sensitive. They tend to be on the bigger side with quite a bit of leg and big bodies (Joe Hancock´s dam was 1/2 Percheron). They're athletic, stout, big-country cowboy horses, is how I'd describe them.

This said, I will add the following two caveats: a) I've never owned a line bred Hancock horse, though several of my friends have owned some and the linebred Hancock horses owned by my friends certainly fit the reputation for toughness and size; and b) my comments are strictly generalities regarding linebred Hancock horses, and the mare you're looking at is an individual that needs to be evaluated on her own merit. How much Hancock blood does she have? Do you have a pedigree you could point us to?
 
Blue Valentine horses have some buck. Have owned lots of Hancock, a all day traveling horse, bigger bone, and loves cows. Have had very few that want to buck, ones that do really enjoy it.
 
Those that don't make tough long-riding ranch horses have a good place in bronc pens at the rodeo. :wink:

That said, I've seen a lot of good Hancock bred horses under saddle in this area. WHR would be able to shed some light for you if he will.

We have a home raised Blue Valentine/Peppy San/Baldy Barnes bred gelding that is a real sweetheart to ride.
 
Take a look at http://www.gisthorses.com/

My brother, Rusty Rodgers, is the ranch manager at the Wagon Wheel Ranch in Lampasas, TX.
 
I would say if you are man enough to get the horse going, you will have a great horse. We tried starting a line bred Hancock horse, and never could get the run out of it. It probably had the best handle of any horse we have started, but you couldn't get off of him with out someone else having a rope around his neck. 4 more people tried getting him over it. Last I knew he went to the Corsica horse sale.
 
As gcreek suggested, I do have an opinion on Hancock horses but can really only comment on the line that we had, which was linebred Hancock, Leo and Grey Badger. Neither the stud or any of the 8 or 10 colts that I rode had the slightest buck in them. We kind of got away from those horses to more popular cowhorse bloodlines and I haven't been as well mounted since. They were tough and cowy and could travel. I've seen others though, that are so hard to the Hancock that they can get a bit heavy footed for my taste. I haven't ridden any Blue Valentines but would like to try some sometime. Anyway that's my two cents worth.
 
My two cents is what everyone else is saying..... If you're a backyard horseman I would pass... But if you have country to ride you will love them.. They are easy to get mad.. I had one that all of a sudden after years of riding decicded he didn't want to back up... Would of been fine but he was my 4H horse so a nice back was neccisary... I don't know what set him off, neither did any of the other hands who wittnessed this.. Thirty five years ago I would of jumped at owning one.. Now I'm to old :(
 
gcreekrch said:
We have a home raised Blue Valentine/Peppy San/Baldy Barnes bred gelding that is a real sweetheart to ride.

I'll have to agree that some of my favourites have had Baldy Barnes in there. He must have been a good horse but I suspect not very widely known. I think that he stood in Wyoming somewhere.
 
I spoke with the gentleman again this evening, and this mare isn't heavily Hancock bred at all. Really not sure why he said that, she does go back to blue valentine on the top side but is not line bred Hancock. Here is her pedigree http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/ruby+ranger+jpt Still plan on going to see/ride her this weekend. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the rest of her pedigree. And if I can figure out how to get a pic from my phone to here I'll try to post it.
 
WHR said:
gcreekrch said:
We have a home raised Blue Valentine/Peppy San/Baldy Barnes bred gelding that is a real sweetheart to ride.

I'll have to agree that some of my favourites have had Baldy Barnes in there. He must have been a good horse but I suspect not very widely known. I think that he stood in Wyoming somewhere.


Maybe you had better bring your trailer if you come west this summer. :wink: He's going to waste here.

A Scot and a Norwegian squarehead in a horse trade, think we could sell tickets? :lol:
 
C-E said:
I spoke with the gentleman again this evening, and this mare isn't heavily Hancock bred at all. Really not sure why he said that, she does go back to blue valentine on the top side but is not line bred Hancock. Here is her pedigree http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/ruby+ranger+jpt Still plan on going to see/ride her this weekend. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the rest of her pedigree. And if I can figure out how to get a pic from my phone to here I'll try to post it.

Would really like to see some pictures of this mare; she has a lot more Three Bars in her pedigree than she has Hancock, and I like the bottom sides of both her and her sire's pedigrees. The shots of Leo and Skipper W (especially since they're through Skippa Star and Skippa Cord) are encouraging, as both of those bloodlines cross really well with Three Bars.

One thing is for sure, she's bred to be an athlete. Not necessarily a modern race horse, but she has plenty of speed and athleticism back there to make one think she'd be a nice (and pretty) ranch horse. Hope you can send us some pictures.
 
I'm sure you would regret trading him off the next time your quad won't get the job done. I just wouldn't feel good about that. :wink:
gcreekrch said:
WHR said:
gcreekrch said:
We have a home raised Blue Valentine/Peppy San/Baldy Barnes bred gelding that is a real sweetheart to ride.

I'll have to agree that some of my favourites have had Baldy Barnes in there. He must have been a good horse but I suspect not very widely known. I think that he stood in Wyoming somewhere.


Maybe you had better bring your trailer if you come west this summer. :wink: He's going to waste here.

A Scot and a Norwegian squarehead in a horse trade, think we could sell tickets? :lol:
 
My family raises Hancocks, and while I was in college I did a paper on that line of breeding. So my info comes from experience and research. There are two lines that go back to Hancock, one is the line that makes hardy horses with speed and buck. The other line creates hardy horses that are very cowy, no buck, but don't have the speed of their counterpart. We have keep several of the horses we raised for our own purposes. I do most to the breaking and have never been thrown by any of our colts. For the most part our horses are pretty cold blooded. After their first thirty days or so anyone is able to ride them. I have a little stud right now that I am afriad to cut becuase if he gets any calmer I'm afraid he may die. I also have a mare that is the same age who is very manageable but very hot. She has never bucked but she has tried to attack things that spoke her while I'm riding her, like my rope, or tin cans that roll past her. We do have other mares that are kid gentle but are quick to work. These are horses that sometimes go for 6 months to a year before they are rode and we have no issues. I could go on for pages debating this side of the coin and provide a dozen more personal stories on different horses, that weren't buckers. But I have often heard people say they had a great Hancock, after they got their first buck of the day out.
 
jamiehuggins said:
My family raises Hancocks, and while I was in college I did a paper on that line of breeding. So my info comes from experience and research. There are two lines that go back to Hancock, one is the line that makes hardy horses with speed and buck. The other line creates hardy horses that are very cowy, no buck, but don't have the speed of their counterpart. We have keep several of the horses we raised for our own purposes. I do most to the breaking and have never been thrown by any of our colts. For the most part our horses are pretty cold blooded. After their first thirty days or so anyone is able to ride them. I have a little stud right now that I am afriad to cut becuase if he gets any calmer I'm afraid he may die. I also have a mare that is the same age who is very manageable but very hot. She has never bucked but she has tried to attack things that spoke her while I'm riding her, like my rope, or tin cans that roll past her. We do have other mares that are kid gentle but are quick to work. These are horses that sometimes go for 6 months to a year before they are rode and we have no issues. I could go on for pages debating this side of the coin and provide a dozen more personal stories on different horses, that weren't buckers. But I have often heard people say they had a great Hancock, after they got their first buck of the day out.
I just have to ask ,at the risk of starting something. Which are the two bloodlines you are referring to? I would have thought that there were more than two. I realize that there has to be many exceptions Anyway I am curious.
 
WHR said:
jamiehuggins said:
My family raises Hancocks, and while I was in college I did a paper on that line of breeding. So my info comes from experience and research. There are two lines that go back to Hancock, one is the line that makes hardy horses with speed and buck. The other line creates hardy horses that are very cowy, no buck, but don't have the speed of their counterpart. We have keep several of the horses we raised for our own purposes. I do most to the breaking and have never been thrown by any of our colts. For the most part our horses are pretty cold blooded. After their first thirty days or so anyone is able to ride them. I have a little stud right now that I am afriad to cut becuase if he gets any calmer I'm afraid he may die. I also have a mare that is the same age who is very manageable but very hot. She has never bucked but she has tried to attack things that spoke her while I'm riding her, like my rope, or tin cans that roll past her. We do have other mares that are kid gentle but are quick to work. These are horses that sometimes go for 6 months to a year before they are rode and we have no issues. I could go on for pages debating this side of the coin and provide a dozen more personal stories on different horses, that weren't buckers. But I have often heard people say they had a great Hancock, after they got their first buck of the day out.
I just have to ask ,at the risk of starting something. Which are the two bloodlines you are referring to? I would have thought that there were more than two. I realize that there has to be many exceptions Anyway I am curious.

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Yes of course Hancock was bred to many mares, if that's what you are saying. What I was referring to, is there seems to be, as I have witnessed and heard several people with experience in Hancock horses say, that there are two main lines that go back to him. One is the line that raises bucking horses, and the other line is the calmer line with little if any buck.
 
jamiehuggins said:
WHR said:
jamiehuggins said:
My family raises Hancocks, and while I was in college I did a paper on that line of breeding. So my info comes from experience and research. There are two lines that go back to Hancock, one is the line that makes hardy horses with speed and buck. The other line creates hardy horses that are very cowy, no buck, but don't have the speed of their counterpart. We have keep several of the horses we raised for our own purposes. I do most to the breaking and have never been thrown by any of our colts. For the most part our horses are pretty cold blooded. After their first thirty days or so anyone is able to ride them. I have a little stud right now that I am afriad to cut becuase if he gets any calmer I'm afraid he may die. I also have a mare that is the same age who is very manageable but very hot. She has never bucked but she has tried to attack things that spoke her while I'm riding her, like my rope, or tin cans that roll past her. We do have other mares that are kid gentle but are quick to work. These are horses that sometimes go for 6 months to a year before they are rode and we have no issues. I could go on for pages debating this side of the coin and provide a dozen more personal stories on different horses, that weren't buckers. But I have often heard people say they had a great Hancock, after they got their first buck of the day out.
I just have to ask ,at the risk of starting something. Which are the two bloodlines you are referring to? I would have thought that there were more than two. I realize that there has to be many exceptions Anyway I am curious.

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Yes of course Hancock was bred to many mares, if that's what you are saying. What I was referring to, is there seems to be, as I have witnessed and heard several people with experience in Hancock horses say, that there are two main lines that go back to him. One is the line that raises bucking horses, and the other line is the calmer line with little if any buck.

Can you differentiate those lines by name?
 
I don't know which lines buck and which don't specifically. I think some one had previously posted that the Blue Valentine horses will buck and I have to disagree with that. Our horses all go back to him and I know that several of the other Hancock breeders around here have studs that go back to Blue Valentine. I believe that Chip Meritt of WY was the owner of Blue Valentine. I know that there are a lot of horses in this area that came out of WY, and I would guess they went back to BV as well. However I know that our mares are BV, and I have friends that have BV studs that are very well known for being cowy, smart and no buck.
 

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