Always a crowd favorite, Lazy Loper was loved by many trainers and spectators when he showed as a two, three, and four year-old in western pleasure classes. Many remember fondly when the gorgeous bay came into the pen with his flashy blaze and huge thick forelock. Lazy immediately demanded attention with his looks, mind and movement. The 2005 AQHA World Champion and two-time Reserve Congress Champion clearly has passed on his traits to many of his offspring.
The 2001 bay stallion was bred by Jess and Sue Cecil of Wadsworth, Ohio. Lazy was out of a Reserve World Champion mare, Hint Again and by Gota Lota Potential. According to Rick Cecil, Lazy is “one-of-a-kind,” and he truly is. The bay stallion is the only cross from these bloodlines which makes him even more special.
Cecil family friend, Roger Landis, who now stands Lazy at Pine View Farm, takes credit for Lazy Loper remaining a stallion. Landis said he was the one that talked Rick Cecil out of gelding him. “Rick probably doesn’t remember but when Lazy was a baby, he was in the pen to go to the vet to be castrated but I told him that Lazy was too nice and that he should keep him a stallion,” Roger recalls. “So, we pulled him out of the pen and he didn’t get gelded that day.”
That was a lucky break for Lazy and for the quarter horse community as he has become one of the most dominant sires in our industry. We asked Rick Cecil, who trained Lazy, whether he thought he would turn into the sire he is today. Cecil told us, “I knew he was a nice horse, but I didn’t know how he would be as a breeding stallion. There are some nice stallions that end up to be nice show horses but never become great sires. If I would have known, obviously I wouldn’t have sold him.”
Cecil remembers when Lazy was a baby, he would lope right beside his mother in perfect form. “That’s how he got his name. He was the easiest horse I ever trained. He would do anything I asked. I could speed him up and slow him down and he was so great minded that nothing ever frazzled him. After the first thirty days of riding him, I knew he was special. He just wanted to be good and he was always so consistent and always stayed the same.”
Landis agrees, “After his first ten rides, Rick could have easily gone on and showed him. He was so quiet and natural. Lazy is still like that today in the breeding barn. He is a gentleman and always keeps the same pleasant demeanor. He is the easiest horse I’ve ever had to deal with in the breeding barn. I could probably easily handle the mare and him at the same time. He’s turned into a big fat pony and not as fit when he showed, but his personality hasn’t changed one bit.”
Multiple World Champion trainer, Karen Hornick, showed Lazy off and on during his two, three, and four year-old year. Hornick said that she absolutely loved working with Lazy. “He had such a strong feel to him. After the Congress, when he was a two-year-old, Rick asked me to work on his lope to the right and he kept getting better and better. I showed him at the AQHA World Show in the two’s and ended up third.”
Hornick adds,”He was just so darn cute with his fluffy forelock and he was such a pet and acted just like a gelding. His babies are just like him in that they are very trainable, good minded, and are gorgeous with pleasant expressions. He was a lot of fun to show and his babies have turned out the same way.”
According to AQHA records, Lazy Loper has sired five AQHA World Champions and one Reserve World Champion. His offspring have amassed nearly 12,000 points; $68,030.94 in AQHA Incentive Fund earnings and $553,038.37 in NSBA futurity earnings.
If you would like to find out more information about breeding your mare to Lazy Loper, please contact Debbi Trubee at 740-815-3545.
Photos @ Debbi Trubee and KC Montgomery
