Three hundred rolling acres in Guthrie, OK have been home to the breeding division of the Lazy E Ranch since 1984. In 1989, following the acquisition of the Quarter Horse racing stallion, Special Effort (Raise Your Glass x Go Effortlessly), who is the only Triple Crown Winner in Quarter Horse racing, the Lazy E Ranch began to earn recognition as one of the top Quarter horse breeding operations in the country. The Lazy E Ranch was also later home to Easy Jet (Jet Deck x Lenas Bar) who was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1993. Easy Jet was considered the “sire of sires” in the racing world and sired more than 2500 offspring in his lifetime.
The legacy of the Lazy E Ranch continues today by standing some of the top racing Quarter Horse stallions in the country. Their premier facilities, top notch clients, and incredible mares are greatly enhanced by the ranch’s experienced and dedicated staff. Butch Wise and Matt Witman are the managers of the ranch and work tirelessly to continue the success the ranch has had throughout the years. As the breeding manager, Garry Tehon who has been with the ranch since 1986, adds an invaluable resource of knowledge and experience to the team. Resident veterinarian, Dr. Michael Rogers, DVM, overseas all veterinary care for the breeding, training, and yearling divisions of the Lazy E Ranch.
The Lazy E Ranch stands 14 of the top stallions in the Quarter Horse racing industry. Currently, their roster for the 2014 breeding season includes Carters Cartel (Corona Cartel x Jumping Tac Flash), Corona Cartel (Holland Ease x Corona Chick), Feature Mr Bojangles (Feature Mr Jess x Catch This Dash), Hawkinson (First Down Dash x Oh La Proud), Jess Lips (Mr Jess Perry x Loose Lips), Louisiana Senator (Jess Louisiana Blue x Corona Perfection), Mighty B Valiant (Valiant Hero x Mighty B Doll), One Dashing Eagle (One Famous Eagle x One Sweet Dash), Pappasito (Corona Cartel x Strawberry Silk), Prospect To The Top (Coronas Prospect x Cream of the Top), PYC Paint Your Wagon (Corona Cartel x Dashin Follies), Tac It Like A Man (First Down Dash x Jumping Tac Flash), Teller Cartel (Corona Cartel x Jet Along Jamie) and Valiant Hero (First Down Dash x Corona Chick).
Each year the reproduction team at the Lazy E Ranch breeds approximately 1100 mares and foals out over 200 mares. Dr. Rogers said, “The goal of our breeding program is to continue to help our clients achieve their goals in the horse industry while continuing to improve and strive for excellence.” When breeding season is complete most take some much needed time to rest and recoup but for those at the Lazy E Ranch this is when it’s time to start preparing up to 500 head of horses for various sales throughout the country.
The Lazy E Ranch utilizes frozen semen for several different applications. Dr. Rogers said, “First, it is an unbeatable insurance policy for the stallion owner. If a stallion passes away it allows us to continue to breed to him for many years to come. If a stallion suffers an injury or illness during the breeding season, we are able to continue to breed his book of mares until he is able to breed again. Also, it allows us to breed to stallions from other farms in the event they are unable to ship cooled semen to us. Export qualified frozen semen allows us to send the genetics of the top North American Quarter Horse Racing stallions to the rapidly expanding foreign markets without having to send the horse on the long trip.”
For many years the mobile lab based out of Select Breeders Southwest (SBSW) has traveled the 200 miles between Aubrey, TX and Guthrie, OK to freeze semen from the majority of the Lazy E Ranch stallions for both domestic and international shipping. For several of their stallions, once the semen is frozen it is shipped from SBSW to several different SBS Affiliate storage facilities in order to protect their stallion owners’ investments in the event of a fire or natural disaster. SBSW assists the Lazy E Ranch with their international shipments but the ranch also chooses to send semen domestically from any of the labs which store semen from their stallions.
When Dr. Rogers was asked why the Lazy E Ranch chooses to use SBS he said,
“SBS is a first class organization. The people working for SBS are second to none. They are always professional and do an excellent job. Since they freeze and store semen, it makes the process simple and streamlined. The staff is always available to answer questions and ship semen at a moment’s notice. Also, their extra efforts involving export qualified freezing make the process much easier. Their computerized records with detailed semen analysis make inventory simple and easy.”
With their roster of accomplished stallions, stellar facilities and dedicated team the Lazy E is sure to continue being recognized as a world class breeding and sales prep facility for years to come.
Photos by Andrew Hancock
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