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A dark mahogany bay, Awesome Pete was foaled in the Musselshell country in 1996, the last and 23rd foal of the prodigious mare Gin Blaze and sired by Mr Pete Oswald by Oswald’s Pete by Oswald.
Oswald, born in Oklahoma in 1945, came from royalty. His sire was Johnny Barnes and his dam the famous Miss Chubby. He set a track record in winning the Oklahoma Futurity as a two-year-old then all but disappeared from sight. While on a horse-buying trip in Kansas in the 1950s, Shelhamer heard about the dark brown stallion but couldn’t locate him. According to area legend, the horse was match-raced several times a day, used in rodeos in the evenings, and hidden in a chicken house when not competing. Shelhamer may not have found him, but pioneer Montana breeder Walter Clark on Rosebud Creek did. Learning this, the two made a trade and Shelhamer acquired the stallion in 1961. A timid breeder, Shelhamer hand-bred Oswald and went against popular thinking by establishing a line-breeding program that produced many outstanding ranch and rodeo arena horses. The Oswald line became known for being exceptionally intelligent and stout-hearted horses that generally stood 15-3 and weighed 1300 pounds. They were almost always browns or bays, often with two hind socks. Some cowboys loved them, others cussed them. When provoked, some were known to buck. When they bucked they were usually unrideable.
The toughness and ability of the Oswalds caught the eye of well-known cowboy and horseman Lynne Taylor. He purchased the three-year-old Awesome Pete to breed to his Roanys Tomcat (by High Rolling Roany) daughters. When Taylor passed away eight years ago, the majority of his horses sold through a Billings Livestock horse sale. Awesome Pete and a number of Taylor mares were purchased there by Texas breeder LeRoy J. Hauerland.
Hauerland, a cutting horse enthusiast, had been looking for a stallion that could add bone and muscle to his Texas cutting horses without sacrificing the cow instinct. He was immediately smitten by Awesome Pete’s good looks and gentlemanly ways and the Montana stallion became the favorite of the south Texas ranch that includes noted cutting stallions Atta Cat and Playboy Boonsmal. |
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