The Legends series of books by the magazine Western Horseman collects biographical sketches of horses acclaimed for their speed, formation, or sire or production record by the American Quarter Horse Association.
Nearly 100 horses have been profiled in the series, ranging from a stallion foaled in 1904 named Little Joe who can be found in the pedigree of many of the most celebrated contemporary quarter horses to the palomino mare Diamonds Sparkle, probably the greatest producer of performance horses in the breed's history.
"We have several guidelines for determining which horses to include in a Legends volume," editor Pat Close explains in the introduction to Volume 4. "One of them is that the horse must be deceased for at least five years. In the case of Diamonds Sparkle, we waived the rule since Blondy's Dude, her grandsire, and Zan Parr Bar, the stallion who sired several of her most outstanding foals, are both in this book. It was only fitting that we also include this great mare."
Each profile, or chapter, in the series is devoted to a single horse. It includes a four-generation pedigree, a summary of the horse's performance accomplishments, its production record or sire record, and several photographs. Most interesting to the general reader, however, are the "horse tales" and comments from owners, riders and breeders that are included with each biography, such as owner Sam Wilson's assessment of Skipa Star:
"One of the greatest things about Skipa Star as a sire was that it didn't matter what kind of mare you bred to him. He'd throw you a halter horse out of a performance mare, and a performance horse out of a halter mare."
Other notable horses recently featured in the series include Dash for Cash, Impressive, Zantanon, Lady Bug's Moon, Miss Bank, Doc O'Lena, Harlan, Fillinic, Rebel Casue, Vandy, Zippo Pine Bar, Zan Parr Bar and Impressive in Volume 4; Hollywood Jac 86, Question Mark, Jackstraw, Two-Eyed Jack, Flying Bob, Maddon's Bright Eyes, Mr. Gun Smoke, Old Sorrel, Piggin String, Poco Dell, Poco Pine, Quo Vadis, Royal King, Showdown, Steel Dust and Poco Lena in Volume 3.
