Opening Doors –Millionaire Machine Offers an Opportunity of a Lifetime to 4-H Members

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle.

By Delores Kuhlwein

Many of us can attribute our fledgling love of horses when we were just kids to 4-H, America’s largest youth development organization for the past 100-plus years.  In fact, a myriad of youth would not have access to agriculture or animals without it, and when we’re looking for that foundation from which to build the horse industry, 4-H is the obvious choice. It’s where we can bridge the gap, says multiple World and Congress Champion Cleve Wells.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for 4-H. It put me in touch with someone who knew someone who knew someone who got me a colt-breaking job,” explains Wells. He says that 4-H members are the answer to growth in the horse industry, as they already have the love of the animal and can enter the industry as career opportunists or go to college and come back as customers.

Enter Millionaire Machine

This realization for Wells comes at a time when he was working his way out of the horse business, but instead, a young stallion named Millionaire Machine caught his eye.  “I never dreamed of owning a stud. I loved riding them throughout my career and was blessed to ride some of the best in the country,” he reveals.

But Jeff and Linda Sargent, former longtime customers, had a group of weanlings, and Wells was so impressed with the 2020 sorrel stallion by Machine Made and out of Amblin So Good, he bought the entire group.

“Jerry’s” breeding was just one of the reasons.  “He’s a big, pretty, 15.3 hand sorrel stud with four white feet, and as far as I can determine, he’s the only registered horse in AQHA with three consecutive World champions on his momma’s side.

I rode every single one of those mares, and I know the bloodline.  Jerry’s mother is a World Champion in Select, and a Reserve World Champion in Amateur.  It’s one thing to win the world in the open, but if you win in the youth and the amateur, that tells you they were all good minded and sound, followed by proving they were reproductive successes.”

“Everyone talks about mare power, and every mare on that set of papers went to the show pen,” Wells continues. “Every stud and mare for three generations doing so is very unique. It proves mental and physical soundness. Every cross they have bred to get to my horse, since 60s or 70s, has been successful enough to move to the next cross.”

So at a time when Wells thought he’d retired with his wife, Jana, in Burleson, Texas, he felt he’d been given a gift with a weanling that turned out to be a promising stud. And it was one he wanted to share with the cornerstone of the horse and livestock industry.

The 4-H Incentive Program

What Wells is offering is a significant discount for a breeding to Millionaire Machine for active 4-H members nationwide.  “They contact me, prove they are active in 4-H, and they get the discount,” he says.

The bottom line – 4-H members will receive the stud fee for $895 instead of $1250.

Watch the video here:

Opening Doors – The Millionaire Machine Offers an Opportunity of a Lifetime to 4-H Members

“I have a chance to help where I came from,” reveals Wells.  “The stars lined up on Millionaire Machine and it’s an opportunity to continue with the most consistent bloodline in the Quarter Horse registry, including the Amble bloodline, which has always been difficult for the public to get their hands on, but we’re in a position to help people and I know the business well.”

His in-person outreach to promote Millionaire Machine isn’t limited to the top-end shows, he says. “I went to Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, to the weekend shows where people who breed horses and work hard to be at a horse show can be reached.  I still believe people like to see the horse they’re breeding to in person.”

Overall, Wells explains, breeding to proven crosses improves the odds of making those good horses for everyone in the industry, and while Millionaire Machine is still the new kid on the block proving if he’s a breeding horse, for any active 4-H member who breeds a mare to him in 2025, he’ll lock in the 4-H incentive stud fee for two years.  “If they believe in us this year, I want to be good to them until we find out, and I want take care of them if they took a chance and invested in us.”

Looking Forward

Millionaire Machine, aka Jerry, just started showing in 2024, earning Fifth place in L1 Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show, and Wells anticipates the young stallion proving his heritage with continued showing nationwide.

The bigger picture, Wells notes, is the hope to add more studs to this incentive and expand the outreach to many other breeds and disciplines.  “Who is to say we can’t add a set of studs to really shop from, and really start growing the industry from the foundation?”

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For more information on Millionaire Machine, visit https://themillionairemachine.com/, and Cleve Wells can be contacted regarding the 4-H Incentive Program: 817-455-0875 clevewells@clevewells.com.

Dry River Ranch contact information:

Stephen Stephens (817) 304-1198; dryriverranchtexas@gmail.com