Most anyone that was interested in horses around Buffalo, Wyoming
knew Bill Wagoner. He was known as a top hand; bronc rider, cowboy and horseman. Many years ago, Bill started buying mares from a good ranch broodmare source. These folks, years ago, were selling the fillies and keeping the horse colts. Bill started buying the fillies and breaking them. After doing that he had a lot of respect for riding mares.
He said once, "if we didn't ride mares, we'd be afoot."
Sure, they rode a lot of geldings, but he darn sure rode mares
too. And by riding the mares, he knew what he was breeding.
They rode a lot of big country. They rode a horse and led a colt,
so the colt didn't get ridden to hard and lose desire.
He always said, "Everyone worries about the stud the mare is
bred to. The way I see it, the mare has way more to do with how the
colt turns out than the stud does. That baby lives with the mare
for 6 months or so. So who has the most influence on the
colt?"
I always thought that made a lot of sense. I hate it when someone
has a mare they can't ride so they breed her.
(Bill was one of the top horsemen in that country in the 60's,
70's, 80's. He liked them and he treated them well. He was really
progressive for the times. Understood what made a horse tick,
respected them as a partner, not a slave.)