Breeding the Future with the Past in Mind: Part Two

For over 65 years, the Perkins family has been breeding cow horses, producing generations of winners from East Texas to arenas across the country.

Mr Sun O Lena continued to prove his worth and versatility in the show pen, becoming a 1998 AQHA World Show Senior Working Cow Horse finalist and the 1999 Houston Livestock Show NCHA $50,000 Amateur champion. His versatility as a sire, however, would exceed all expectations. Mr Sun O Lena compiled an impressive sire record with more than 50 money-earners, accumulating more than $1 million across the AQHA, NCHA, NRCHA, NRHA, RHAA and SHOT, as well as in team roping and halter events. 

Success in the West

Frank Perkins Quarter Horses found success not only in Mr Sun O Lena, but also in his offspring and grandget. Don continued to show the stallion’s get with great success. Suns Frosty (Mr Sun O Lena x Short Frosty) earned 2008 AQHA High-Point Cutting Horse, was a two-time AQHA World Show Cutting finalist, and achieved AQHA Open and Amateur Superior Cutting Horse titles before becoming a top broodmare for Perkins Ranch. Mr Cee Bar Lena (Mr Sun O Lena x Miss Cee Bar Hickory) was a 2009 AQHA World Show Cutting finalist and, in 2010, became an OBCHA year-end cutting champion, AQHA World Show Cutting finalist, NCHA Day Area 24 circuit champion, and NCHA Top 15 in the Novice Non-Pro, finishing 2011 as a GUQHBA year-end cutting champion. In addition, Suns Highball (Mr Sun O Lena x Sons Martini) was the WCTCHA year-end champion and AQHA Amateur Cutting reserve world champion in 2010, and an AQHA World Show Amateur Cutting finalist in 2011, before ending 2014 as the AQHBA Open Senior Cutting champion. Mr Cee Bar Lena and Suns Highball also made significant contributions at Perkins Ranch as sires. 

Currently, Don still stands an own son of Mr Sun O Lena, Two Sunny (Mr Sun O Lena x Miss Poco 002), in the lineup as one of his main sires. Two Sunny showcased his athleticism in 2016, earning AQHA ROMs in tie-down roping and heading, and a Superior in heeling, and becoming the AQHA Level 2 Senior Heading champion and Senior Heading reserve world champion. As a sire, he continues to pass on the genetics of both Mr Sun O Lena and Poco Bueno, just as Frank and Don intended. 

Over the years, Mr Sun O Lena has proved to be a powerful sire of mares that also produce. Sunshine Ingredient (Mr Sun O Lena x Natural Ingredient) was a 2022 QData Top 15 Leading Dam of Reined Cow Horse Money-Earners and is the dam of Saddling at Sunrise (WR This Cats Smart x Sunshine Ingredient), an earner of $188,817 and counting. Saddling at Sunrise was most recently ridden by Boyd Rice, a million-dollar rider and NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity and World’s Greatest Horseman champion, to the reserve championship at the 2024 World’s Greatest Horseman. Another powerful mare is Ms Sun O Roseolena (Mr Sun O Lena x Victoria Rose Missy), the dam of Big Cats Monkey (Big Cat Galarraga x Ms Sun O Roseolena), better known as “Rampage,” ridden by tie-down roper and five-time NFR qualifier Shad Mayfield. Mayfield has credited much of his success to horsepower, with career earnings more than $1 million, finishing the 2023 world standings in third place and leading the 2024 season. 

Geldings by Mr Sun O Lena have also been favorites across disciplines. One that highlights the cow horse’s versatility is Sun N Sevens (Mr Sun O Lena x Play Miss Seven), an earner of more than $150,000 from 2020–21, running barrels with Jada Trosper of the Oklahoma State University Rodeo Team. Other geldings that set the standard include Sun At Last (Mr Sun O Lena x Miss Poco 074), an earner of $68,000 and a three-time World Series Finals qualifier with multiple WSTR wins and a Color Country Classic championship, and Sun Olena Peppy (Mr Sun O Lena x Ruf Peppy), an earner of $25,000, a World Series qualifier and Color Country Classic champion. Each of these notable competitors is owned and shown by Rusty Rich of RR Quarter Horses. 

“We love the Sun O Lena horses,” Rusty said. “They’re so trainable and willing to work. Athletic, quick, plenty of cow in them, but not too much. They’ve got good bone, they’re bigger than most cow horses, and still gentle. There’s even a 17-year-old kid here with a shot at winning the Utah State Finals, then heading to the national finals, on a horse they call ‘Chili Dog’ that’s won $200,000 — a Cats Rocket cross on a Sun mare. I believe his registered name is The Sun I Never Had (Cats Rocket x Sun Peppy Sammi).” 

Rusty has ridden and owned many Perkins-bred horses. Smooth As A Martini (Cats Rocket x Martini Sunrise) is his current highest-earning rope horse with $100,000, and his grandsires include both Smooth As A Cat and Mr Sun O Lena. He also values Perkins Ranch Quarter Horses for their breeding potential, shown by the recent decision to breed the mare Suns Honey (Mr Sun O Lena x Sons Sugar Rush) to Valiant Hero (First Down Dash x Corona Chick). “We compete in a lot of rope-horse futurities, so we wanted more speed in the mind and body of this Sun O Lena mare,” he said. “She’s an own daughter of Mr Sun O Lena and a granddaughter of Son O Sugar (Sugar Bars x Leo Pan), which is an awesome cross. We went with an own son of First Down Dash because of their trainability, but the mare side matters a lot too. If we get a filly, we’d plan to cross her back on Tha Rock.” 

Tha Rock (Cats Rocket x Miss Poco 167) is a bay stallion that also came from Perkins Ranch, an earner of 45 AQHA points, the 2020 AQHA High-Point Cutting champion and AQHA High-Point Horse of the Year, and a finalist in AQHA World Senior Heeling. “Tha Rock is a great example of the trainability Don breeds,” Rusty said. “He went from cutting in December to roping by February, and we made the short round at the Royal Crown with him. Then my buddy Jason Warner won the AQHA show roping on him. Don breeds great all-around horses.” 

There is no doubting the success of Frank Perkins Quarter Horses for Rusty Rich. It would take more than one article to cover the number of successful offspring produced by Perkins Ranch. Their influence and potential in the horse industry continue to expand and evolve. “I believe they’re putting substance and bone back in the cow horse,” Rusty said, “and they’re doing it without losing athleticism.” Rusty believes the future of Perkins Ranch is still being written. 

Another Sunrise on the Horizon

Don maintains a broodmare herd selectively divided among four stallions. Two Sunny (Mr Sun O Lena x Miss Poco 002) and Cee Bueno (Mr Cee Bar Lena x Miss Poco 045) are ranch-raised sires producing stout foals with the potential to go in any direction. Don recently added a new stallion, Nonchalant Style (Docs Stylish Oak x Little Bow Knows). Explaining his interest, Don said, “Bronc always had some Docs Stylish Oak horses around. I really liked what I had seen out of them. I believe crossing him on Sun O Lena daughters is going to put some special foals on the ground.” That vision has come to fruition, with strong conformation showing in the first Perkins Ranch foal crops by Nonchalant Style. 

After the unexpected death of the Perkins stallion Cats Rocket (Smooth As A Cat x Lynns Rockette), RR Quarter Horses sent Tha Rock (Cats Rocket x Miss Poco 167) to be turned out with some of Don’s broodmares for the 2024 breeding season, pairing him with select Mr Sun O Lena daughters. “Looking ahead to the next 10 years, I just want to keep producing quality horses,” Don said. “I’ve got a stud colt that’s an own son of Mr Sun O Lena out of a Smooth As A Cat mare. His name is Sunset Cowboy (Mr Sun O Lena x Smooth De Mayo). I’m really excited about his potential as one of our next stallion prospects.” Although they have scaled back from hosting their own production sales, Don is still producing strong prospects for multiple avenues. 

The current generation of Frank Perkins Quarter Horses is continuing that legacy. The Perkins family has reintroduced frozen semen from Mr Sun O Lena to the public. With the success of his offspring and the new era of cow-horse mares available, it is a valuable outcross option that can propel a breeding program forward. Don continues to influence his own ranch and others while staying connected to the rich history of the past — proof there are ample possibilities for another sunrise on the horizon.