Celebrating 2018 Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Inductees
Luke Castle
Bethany, OK – The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame was created in 2005 to recognize outstanding individuals, horses, ranches or businesses, whose contributions involving the American Quarter Horse significantly impacted the great state of Oklahoma’s equine industry.
This event is dependent on the generosity of donors who acknowledge those contributions with financial support.
The 14th annual prestigious Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for Friday January 26, 2018 at the Embassy Suites Oklahoma City Downtown Medical Center, 741 North Phillips Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73104; (405) 239-9000; at approximately 5:15 pm.
The ceremony is a ticketed event, open to the public, benefitting the Hall of Fame. A cocktail reception will begin the proceedings followed by dinner and the induction ceremony.
The 2018 Inductees are:
Connie Golden
LUKE CASTLE
Luke Castle of Wayne, OK, owns and operates Castle Ranch along with his wife, Abbi, and children, Cash, 17, and Coralee, 14. He developed his interest in the livestock industry while growing up on a cattle ranch in Columbia, MO. and started showing horses at the local level when he was 16 years old.
Luke is an AQHA National Director, OQHA Director and OQHA Past President; WCHA Past President, and he has won numerous World Championship titles in the halter horse industry. He and his family are involved in halter, race, rodeo horses and bucking bulls.
CONSTANCE L“CONNIE” GOLDEN
For more than 30 years, Connie Golden from Norman, OK was the owner of Speedhorse, Inc. After acquiring the company in 1977, she transformed the struggling, indebted publication into a strong voice in the Quarter Horse Racing industry. In her role as publisher, Connie felt a deep responsibility to use the publication’s platform to make the industry healthier.
For the last 14 years of her life, Connie served as a role model for how people with severe COPD could still live productive and fulfilling lives. Connie worked fulltime until her retirement in 2010. Connie passed away June 24, 2012 in Norman, OK.
Jessie Powell
JESSIE POWELL
Jesse Powell of Stigler, OK learned the harsh reality of life with the death of his mother when he was only ten years old. He quit school to make a living for himself and his seven siblings.
Jesse and his wife Anna successfully owned and operated a diverse range of businesses ranging from ranching to restaurants. But after his first heart attack at the young age of 35 years, the family reduced their responsibilities by selling many of the businesses. However Jesse missed the horses and decided to buy his first foundation broodmare. He began to study bloodlines and soon amassed mares which added specific traits to his own breeding program.
Powell became a very successful trainer, breeder and leading racehorse owner. His foals set track records, won futurities and 254 of the horses he bred had racing careers, 118 successfully won races and 16 were stakes winners. His foals earned 125 ROMs, 5 Superiors with total earnings of $821,145. Unfortunately Powell passed away in 1987 but his “Pals” are found in the pedigrees of many current or future racing champions.
CALVIN R WHITE, DVM
Calvin White
Calvin White DVM of Ross OK, graduated from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1977. He purchased half interest in Ada Veterinary Clinic in 1981. He enjoyed caring for all species of animals but spends most of his time preforming surgery.
He has been a past President of the Oklahoma Veterinary Association and was the 2012 OVA Veterinarian of the Year. He is a past President of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association and currently serving as an Elected National Director of the American Quarter Horse Association. White currently serves on the AQHA Public Policy Committee and has been instrumental in raising money for the AQHA Political Action Funds.
Johnny Boone
JOHNNY BOONE 1965 brown stallion (Rebel Cause x Me Bright by Leo)
Johnny Boone, SI 100, sired the earners of more than $1.9 million on the racetrack and more than 285 points in AQHA shows.
Johnny Boone sired Mr Boone Bug 101 SI who won ten races and $46,966. Nita Boone 111 SI was a multiple stakes winner and World Record holder at 300 yards.
One daughter, Kitty Boone 99 SI qualified for the prestigious Champion of Champions Invitational race in Los Angeles, CA. Six of his offspring set New Track Records and one matched the World Track Record.
LENA’S BAR (TB) 1954 chestnut mare (Three Bars x Lena Valenti by Gray Dream)
On July 26, 1959, Lena’s Bar won the 400-yard Bright Eyes Stakes at Ruidoso Downs and three weeks later took the 400-yard Miller Motel Allowance at the same track. She ran against world champion racing horses Go Man Go, Vanetta Dee and Double Bid. Lena’s Bar also won the Buttons and Bows Stakes and C. L. Maddon’s Bright Eyes Handicap, both at Albuquerque in 1958. By the end of her career, she started 76 races against Quarter Horses, garnering 24 wins and earning $28,311.
Lena’s Bar produced five foals, each of which won races and earned Registers of Merit on the track, while earning $557,199. The mare’s two most successful offspring resulted from her courtship with Jet Deck, a racing world champion who was the first Quarter Horse to earn more than $200,000 on the straightaways.
Lena’s Bar was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2003.
Spanish Array
MISS OLENE 1957 black mare (Leo x Barbara Le by Patriotic)
Miss Olene was a winner on the track, where she earned $31,022 while compiling a record of 11-3-3 in 33 starts. She was the dam of the earners of $700,673 on the track in the 1960s and 1970s. Miss Olene produced 17 foals, 15 of which started on the track and 10 came back as winners, four of those in stakes.
Miss Olene was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2013.
SPANISH ARRAY 1980 sorrel stallion (Skips Barber x Spanish Galla by Skips Bid)
The stallion was the 1985 AQHA World Champion Aged Halter Stallion. He earned a Halter Superior, 30 Grand Championship and 9 Reserve Grand Championship titles. His offspring earned superior and ROM performance and halter status. He was the sire of 4 World Champions, 8 Reserve World Champions, 76 ROM, 20 Superiors earners,
Ada Horse Sale
ADA HORSE SALES Ada, OK
Ada Horse Sale began in 1962. Kenneth and his brother, the late Pete Winters knew nothing about running a horse sale. Ada Horse Sale charged a $100 consignment fee and 5% interest. At that time, that was not standard practice. That $100 was for advertising with the very young Quarter Horse Journal.
Then the Winter brothers bought a Shetland pony sale barn. After remodeling the size of the horse stalls Ada Horse Sale had a new home. Sales were held Friday and Saturday night. Ada held four sales a year and limited the consignments to 525 horses.
It was the top sale in competition to the Haymaker Sale in Oklahoma City OK. It featured Quarter Horses in all aspects of performance, and annually had one the top Appaloosa Horse sales in the Midwest. For 21 years it was the place to sell horses.
Silver Spur
Silver Spur Western Lodge, Haskell, OK; recipient of the Bud Breeding Oklahoma Spirit Award
Silver Spur Western Lodge and the Silver Spur Arena, Haskell OK is locally known as “The Red Barn.” Many events and parties have been held at the Silver Spur Western Lodge, including benefits to help people in their time of need. But one of Roy and Rose Anna Webbs’s favorite groups to host since 2010, has always been the students from the Oklahoma School for the Blind during their Western Heritage Day.
Because of the Webb’s generosity, the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association is able to make it a day to remember for the students, parents, teachers and vounteers. The students may choose from riding a horse, a mechanical bull, a wagon a stagecoach, leaning to rope, bungee jumping, rock climbing or fishing.
Tickets are available for $55 from the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association, 5506 N Rockwell Ave, Bethany, OK 73008-2040, (405) 440-0694 voice, (405) 440-0649 fax, Email: okqha@sbcglobal.net, Website: www.okqha.com. If you wish to sponsor an inductee or their award that form is also found on the website.
