Behind the Stall Door – VS Code Blue
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108 – November/December, 2016
BY ERICA GREATHOUSE
Jan Pittman of Chipley, Florida is no stranger to the winner’s circle. In fact, she has been the last one standing in the arena, not once, but twice, at the AQHA Select World with her homebred mare, Ona Good Impulse. Also, they brought home Congress Championships in Select Western Pleasure four years in a row. Needless to say, she knows quality when she sees it. She’s also familiar with the feeling she gets when she spots a horse that has the makings of a champion. Such was the case when she first laid eyes on VS Code Blue, a 2007 stallion by RL Best of Sudden and out of the legendary Vital Signs Are Good.
When Pittman and her trainers, Bret and Candy Parrish, watched a then-yearling VS Code Blue lope across the field, it was love at first sight. “We fell in love with him right away,” she says. “Besides his obvious talent, there was just something about him that I was drawn to.” Unfortunately, at that time, circumstances didn’t work out for Pittman to own the young colt, but she always kept up with his career. Sometimes things just have a way of working out. Eight years later, Pittman was the proud owner of her dream horse and the best was yet to come.
VS Code Blue, also known as “Peyton,” was named after Peyton Manning, the former all-star NFL quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Like his namesake, Peyton has also had a successful career winning titles in Western Pleasure, Trail, and Western Riding at the AQHA World Show, NSBA World Show, and Quarter Horse Congress. He also won a High Point title in Trail and was named the High Point Western Pleasure Stallion before ultimately being sold to Donna Biddulph of Oliver, British Columbia. Jan says, “I stayed in contact with her after she purchased Peyton and told her I wanted to breed my mare, Ona Good Impulse, to him. She was so wonderful to work with.” The cross resulted in Ona Good Kiss, who was purchased from Pittman by the Johns family and earned an NSBA World Championship in 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure.
“I just loved the way he crossed on my mare. This past January, on a whim, I texted Donna and said, ‘I think Peyton wants to move to Florida,’ to which she replied, ‘I think you’re right.’” Shortly thereafter, in the peak of breeding season, Pittman owned a stallion. Despite her considerable amount of experience in the horse industry, this was new territory. “I’d never stood a stallion to the public before, and this was all new to me. I had a stallion and no facility for breeding, but we made it work,” she says. As luck would have it, her local vet was a breeding specialist and helped her through her first breeding season as a stallion owner. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that her son, who is not a horseman, was able to do the majority of hauling and handling of Peyton during the breeding season.
“It was so neat to see how gentle Peyton was with him. I think he fell in love with Peyton just like I did. We ended up breeding over 80 mares, so it was non-stop, but it worked out very well,” Pittman says.
108 – November/December, 2016
