DRIFTWOOD
Regardless of his questionable pedigree, Driftwood soon gained the nickname of Speedy because he consistently won in short dashes up to 3/8 mile. Speedy was thought of as a very quiet, sensible running horse who never made the mistake of blowing a race by fretting or spooking. By the time Speedy was 7, he was used as a roping horse in team and single events, and he was able to win money for his owners at rodeos as wide spread as Calgary in Canada, Madison Square Garden in New York City, California, and Arizona. In 1943 Speedy was bought by a California couple named Charming and Katy Peake of Lompoc, California, for a mere $1500. The Peakes warned to buy Speedy as early as 1942, but they had to wait a whole year while Speedy's owner first refused to sell, decided to sell, and then changed his mind again. Speedy's owner sold to the Peakes only when he was convinced that Speedy would have a good home with kind owners. The drawing above is based on a photo taken about 1945 with the Peakes' seven-year-old daughter, Catherine Anne, in the saddle. There is a story that Catherine Anne was able to break up a fight between speedy and another stallion on the farm and that he was so gentle that he came to her when she called his name. For 25 years Speedy sired horses said to be intelligent, kind, loyal, and speedy, and buyers regarded his sons and daughters so highly that they bought his offspring sight unseen. Driftwood produced 153 registered Quarter Horses before his death in 1960. Diane Jones
|
Although
Driftwood is listed as a Quarter Horse by the AQHA Registry,
the parentage of the dark bay stallion, born in Texas in 1932,
is not entirely known. Driftwood looked like a Thoroughbred;
some records listed him as a son of a Thoroughbred Stallion
and the grandson of a famous Quarter Horse named Peter McCue.
Other records claim that Driftwood was the son of a Quarter
Horse and the grandson of a Thoroughbred mare. The names of
most of his great grandparents were never known.