Gunner has long been the horse the whole reining world loves. When he was shown, the cheering started as soon as his name was announced, long before he made it into the ring, and he never disappointed his fans. The trademark white leg and tail, floppy ears and explosive maneuvers made him a horse for the ages.
In 2007, Gunner has come of age as a breeding horse, as well, becoming a National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Million Dollar Sire. That’s a huge accomplishment, considering that his long show career kept the breeding down to a minimum for years, so he only has 145 foals with NRHA competition licenses.
Gunner, whose American Quarter Horse Association registered name is Colonels Smoking Gun, is owned by McQuay Stables, Inc., Tim and Colleen McQuay, of Tioga, TX. McQuay Stables has been known for years as the home of $5 Million and All Time Leading NRHA sire Hollywood Dun It, and the McQuays knew it would take an outstanding individual to take his place as senior sire. Gunner seemed to be the perfect choice. Purchased in 2005 from Debra Sloan, he’s proving the ideal cross on those great Hollywood Dun It mares.
Interestingly, though unofficial at this time, with his total get earnings hovering just a few thousand dollars shy of a million, it was the McQuay’s daughter, Mandy McCutcheon, who appears to have put Gunner firmly over the mark, when she won the 2007 Reserve Championship of the Scottsdale Classic Non-Pro Reining Futurity. That title came on Crome Plated Gunner (Gunner X Crome Plated Berry, NRHA World Champion).
Tim McQuay, the NRHA’s first $2 Million Rider and a Hall of Fame inductee, is enjoying the blend of the two lines. “The Gunners are very quiet, and very, very physical. Plus, they want to be your friend. It’s been perfect for our program to combine those qualities with the grittiness and trainability of the Dun Its.”
He added, “It’s just amazing that he’s gotten it (the $1 Million Sire status) done this quickly with only those few foals to show. We’re excited about the coming years, when the larger foal crops get to the show ring.”
Gunner was born in 1993. He is by Colonelfourfreckle by Colonel Freckles and out of Katie Gun. Originally registered as a Paint (APHA Colonelsmokingun) because excessive white made him ineligible for registration in the American Quarter Horse Association, he was given his AQHA papers (AQHA Colonels Smoking Gun) in 2004.
In his career, Gunner earned over $170,000 in NRHA competition. He was the NRHA Futurity Reserve Champion in 1996, then tied for reserve at the National Reining Breeders Classic in 1998. The charismatic stallion went on to even greater success when he won the 2001 United States Equestrian Team (USET) Reining Championship. From the preliminaries through the finals, he was unbeaten and untied, marking a 229, 233, 226.5, and a 222 and became the USEF Breyer Horse Model for that year. He came back and won the USET Semi-Finals in 2002, becoming the only horse ever to accomplish that twice! He was an American Paint Horse Association World Champion and the highest earning paint horse in history.
He was inducted into the National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame in 2003. For information on Gunner or McQuay Stables, contact www.mcquaystables.com.