Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Hancock bred horse

My wife is looking at hancock. What can anyone tell me about them? John L. Moore are you out there?

I've had a couple. Tough bastids with good feet and conformation. Kinda pig-headed and both liked to buck, but took to cow work......

That's been my experience as well with Hancock they do you like the book but they are cow savy

Blue roan?

mine were bay roans

Thanks the bucking or cold backed part pretty much convinced my wife away from the line.
One hits a certain age and the criteria changes towards mellow/slow

Where are you looking Dan?

There was certain bloodlines I had a strong preference for (Little Peppy, Leos Question, Poco Bueno) but I have the thought it's much too difficult to continue the traits, (even the SLL clones didn't do nothing). With so many well bred horses I'd look for a good minded athlete that has a good chance of being cowy.

And that advice and $5.00 will get you coffee at starbucks.

They are great if you need to ride and work 5 days a week and then go to the roping on the weekends. Most I’ve been around couldn’t stand much prosperity but there are some lines of them that are a lot more user friendly.

Fred

Had a friend in Roll, Arizona that raised Hancock horses. He did very well with them. Sold a lot of them into Mexico for racing and use in various other pursuits. Saw a lot of his horses used in rodeo events in this country.
When they made the movie Tombstone, they wanted Kurt Russell to ride a black stud horse. Head wrangler looked far and wide for a suitable horse and couldn't find one. Some one mentioned a black Hancock stallion in Roll, Arizona that was pretty gentle. They ended up using him. That's the horse that jumps through the window.
They might have their quirks but they are trainable and you can get the job done on a Hancock horse.

Dang Mark! We was just talking about this at the tonto basin gathering!

Beautiful Horses!

The reputation of liking to buck is not a rumor. Most will buck!

Dan H, Tell your wife to stop looking at pedigree's and start looking for a nice horse that will suit her needs, I have seen very few nice horses that were not well bred, by the way she can't ride the papers. Rio7

All horses have their own personalities besides the inclinations of behavior from their bloodlines. I have a horse that is from the Pitzer ranch in NE that has Two Eyed Jack ancestry. He has had good excuses to buck in the past and declined to do so. He is big, 16H and 1250# by girth tape, but comfortable to ride because his chest is deep not broad. If I ever get another horse I will look for one just like him.

If you like the roans, and they are pretty, you should check out the "Come to the Source" sale https://issuu.com/bluehalfblue/docs/2017catalogsmallsize. The horses are primarily from the Blue Valentine line. One ranch west of Laramie usually has their brood mare band along Highway130 in the spring and crop of new foals is a beautiful sight to see each spring. Good luck on your search for a horse!

The Hancock bred horses I've been around have been inclined to buck...and work hard. Both also had alligator heads which isn't a big deal to me but might be for some folks. I don't have a lot of experience with them past those two but I've wondered the past several years if folks have been focusing on them because of the roan/color traits and if lesser horses may end up resulting from the focus on color....but again, just an outside question not an observation.

Know Two Eyed Jack, I stood 2nd behind him and Howard Pitzer, at the Quarter Horse Congress I think it was 1966 or 67 I have forgotten the year, Two Eyed Jack was a really nice bay horse and a above average sire, but don.t forget Howard Pitzer had one of the best brood mare bands in the country at that time his mares would and did make several studs look better than they were.

Most of the Joe Hancock horses in the Wyoming Colorado area had there roots form the Claybaugh Ranch, Gillette , Wyo. they had a sizeable broodmare band, and Joel Hancock, Big blue roan horse that was tougher than nails, almost all Hancock horse could run and stop but you couldn't turn one around in forty acres. Ken Claybaugh, was the top pick up man in the PRCA for almost 20 years always voted in to the NFR finals by the cowboys, he always rode his dad's horses, and if Ken couldn't kill them no one could. Been there done that got the scar's to prove it . Rio7

Thanks for the replies. My wife is looking for a new horse and the description of one that she was interested in from the Billings auction caught her attention. The Hancock part was after tame, no buck, bomb proof, gentle, good work ethic, etc. passed on it.
She is looking for a mature horse, mares are fine, 14 ish hand, laid back calm mind, nice walk, no speed demon , must be used to ropes- ponying , no kick bite witchy to other horses, grandma/grandkid safe. Color-broke. Not butt ugly, good conformation, good hoof quality and size appropriate to 1k# horse. Let me know if you hear of one. Thanks. Did I mention mellow and broke?
Her horse that met this description died this past fall,

I know where there's a unicorn you may be interested in!

I keep telling her she would look good on my ride, but she must not like the long ears or something.

Just grow your hair longer!