Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious Blue Ribbon Mr Bodacious at two weeks of age. Statistics: Foaled : 3/21/98 Sired : 56 foals Bred and owned by: Valerie Escalera Ask any breeder what his or her goals are when it comes to producing foals and you will no doubt receive two very specific answers; one, to produce a quality foal that is worthy of carrying their farm name. And two, to produce a World Champion. A true optimist might even say a Grand Champion. Imagine the excitement of a breeder who not only bred and raised a colt who proudly carried their farm name, but who exceeded all their expectations by winning in effect every class he was ever entered in and then concluding his show career by earning the title of Grand Champion Senior Stallion. It s every breeders dream, and it couldn t have happened by chance. We allow the story to be told by those who held this horse in their highest esteem. His breeder, his only owner, show ring handler, trainer, groom and caretaker- Ed Sisk and Valerie Escalara of Blue Ribbon Training Center. The Loss of a Champion and a Friend Written by Ed Sisk On August 3, 2008, we lost not only a champion stallion, but a distinctive fixture in our lives. Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious was the rock that our program was based on. From the day he was born he was destined for greatness. He had that look 28 Miniature Horse World December 2010
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Bodacious as a two year old. about him and an attitude that said move over, I m coming through. He was the horseman s dream, never sick a day in his life, always ready to please and the first one to greet you in the pasture. Bodacious and his dam, VF Outlaw Audrey Rose in the Mare and foal class. The bond that Bo and my partner Valerie had was something to see. He could be acting up- being the proud stallion that he was, and she could get after him and he would melt back into that little colt again, just to seek her approval. My relationship with Bo was a different one. You might say that it was a love hate relationship. I showed Bo from the time he was a weanling, all the way through his three year old senior year. He was the type of horse that was either the class clown or the master of the ring. The problem was that you really never knew which Bo was going to show up. There is nothing worse in a trainer s world, than knowing that you are going in the ring with the best horse, but your horse is so full of himself that it could cost you the class. I can t tell 30 Miniature Horse World December 2010
you how many times he put me through the ringer and had me shaking my head. We would come out of a class and I would tell Val to take him away because he was giving me an ulcer. Throughout all of the pranks and the hell he put me through, he was our champion, and a champion he was. There were so many memories we made along the way with Bo, starting with the day he was born. We knew that the mare was close to foaling and Valerie had to go to another farm to trim horses. That left me on foal watch with strict instructions to be in the right place at the right time with no exceptions. The mare, VF Outlaw Audrey Rose had been a good show mare and for her first foal we had selectively bred her to Little Kings Black Velvet hoping for great things. When Val left she put her order in for a palomino filly; due to the fact that the mare had a lot of palomino color in her back ground and Black Velvet had thrown a lot of palominos. About 11:00 that morning, the mare laid down to foal and thank God I was there. She had no problems foaling and that was the start of good things to come. No offense to other breeders, but at our farm the last thing we want to see is a solid red colt! So as soon as the red colt stood up and dried off, I looked at him and said to myself, Whoa! We ve got something special here. I called Val and told her that the mare had foaled. The first thing she asked was How pretty is my new palomino filly. I said In your dreams, she had a damn solid red colt. But he s a damn good solid red colt. I had attended many foalings but I had never seen such a strong vibrant baby. He had attitude from the start and it got stronger every day. When it came time to name him, the first thing that came to mind was the bucking bull Bodacious. That bull demanded respect in the arena and I thought that this colt would do the same. So on that day, Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious was given a name that he would have to live up to. There is nothing worse than the possibility of wasting a cool name on a solid red colt; but we both felt he was really something special. Always a character, Bo was very protective of Valerie. Even as a breeding stud in the pasture, when Val would walk thru the pasture, he would run up to her to get attention and then chase the mares away to have all the attention for himself. If she had him in the grooming room either trimming his feet or just cleaning him up, he would be an angel until another person walked in. Then he turned into a different animal. He would get defiant and hard headed. As soon as the other person left he was back to being the angel; a Jeckyl and Hyde personality 1998 World Champion Weanling Stallion-National High Point Weanling Stallion 1999 World Champion Yearling Stallion- National High Point Yearling Stallion 2000 World Champion 2 yr old Stallion- National High Point Two Year Old Stallion 2001 World Champion Senior Stallion 32-34 - National High Point Senior Stallion 2001 World Grand Champion Senior Stallion 2004 World Champion Get of Sire 2010 Reserve World Champion- Get of Sire - Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious for sure. Bo never had a sick day in his life and everything he did, he did boldly and strong enough to gain attention. He was a very smart horse that knew how to get things done. Bodacious was the first of four foals sired by Little Kings Black Velvet out of our mare VF Outlaw Audrey Rose. Her second foal was a silver dapple colt, Blue Ribbon Mr. Bubba Dew who is owned by Ken and Donna Atkinson of Centerville TX. The third foal from that mating was a palomino filly named Blue Ribbon Black Velvet Boz My Bro that we still own and the fourth was a palomino colt named Blue Ribbon Black Velvet G Whiz that is now owned by our friends Anna and Henning Kraegpoth from Denmark. It s strange how the solid red colt was never again duplicated. December 2010 Miniature Horse World 31
His National Grand win in 2001 was of course very memorable. Bo had won his Senior Stallion class, and I also had a 28 and under Senior stallion that had won his class too, which meant I had two horses going back in for the Grand class and needed someone to show one of them. I contacted a good friend and top trainer Darin Southwick for help. He agreed to show the 28 and under horse and I would show Bo. You have to understand that Bo was not a horse that you could just hand off. He made you work and sometimes he enjoyed seeing you work hard. After the cards had been turned in, I was nervous and as usual my gut is in a knot and the sweat is dripping off the tip of my nose. They first call Reserve National Grand and it s Darin with my 28 and under, stallion; a feat not often seen. Then they call out the National Grand Champion Senior Stallion for 2001, and it was Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious! My head was spinning, my knees were weak and I had to move to accept the award. The coolest thing was that there we were, Darin 6 5 with the 28 and under horse and me 6 5 with the 32-34 stallion- together on the big stage with a clean sweep. That was a fantastic time and a sense of accomplishment that stands with us today. To my knowledge Bodacious is the only horse in the history of the AMHA to achieve the honors he won, and to compete undefeated in open competition at the World Show. The number of Supremes, Grands and Reserves are too numerous to list along with the huge number of points he received by the time he was a three year old. Blue Ribbon Mr. Bodacious was the show horse of his time. He wowed the crowds with his beauty, his style and yes, his zest for the show ring. He was our one of a kind. It s true that there are special horses that come into our lives. Why is it that these exceptional animals are always the first to be taken away from us? I believe that all things happen for a reason, but it has been very hard to see the light on this one. All we can do now is cherish what he has left behind and try to continue the path to the legacy that he started. I m sure there will be some of you 32 Miniature Horse World December 2010 who read this that will say, He was just a horse. To you I say I only wish that you someday will enjoy the pride and enjoyment of sharing your life with one of these rare individuals. The hole in our hearts will heal and life will go on, but he will still be our once in a life time champion. We would like to thank Wade Burns and Jon Woodring for giving us the opportunity to bring Bo into this world. If they had not allowed us to breed to Little Kings Black Velvet, Valerie and I would not have had the privilege of sharing this once in a lifetime horse. This year s World Show proved yet again Bo s presence will continue in the get and grand get he produced. The Reserve Get of Sire entry included: Blue Ribbon Bodacious Vindicator owned by Valerie Escalera, Blue Ribbon Bodacious Elegance owned by Warren & Brenda Sellwood and Blue Ribbon Bodacious I Chi Wow Wa owned by Valerie Escalera. Some offspring of Blue Ribbon Mr Bodacious are: Blue Ribbon Bodacious Sensation Blue Ribbon Bodacious Aftershock Blue Ribbon Bodacious I Chi Wow Wa Blue Ribbon Cuz Bo Said So
Blue Ribbon Bodacious Mr Miles Marks Bodacious Honey December 2010 Miniature Horse World 33