Breeder Bill Rosenfeldt remembers the day that the special colt, who would eventually be known as These Irons Are Hot, was born. “He was born in a paddock outside. When I went to lead him in, I was taken aback because as big as the colt was, he loped beside the mare all the way in,” Rosenfeldt, a long-time breeder who stood stallions such as Duplicated Deck and Deck Of Stars, recalled. “As a yearling, he was always easy going. He was never colty or arrogant. He was left uncut for that reason, as well as his size and big slow stride.”
Long-time AQHA breeder Judy Pryor, who was dating Rosenfeldt at the time, also remembers the dark brown colt as being huge, “Not exactly beautiful, but correct and very stately. When he moved, it was deliberate, slow, lofty, exotic…no words could really capture this guy.” (pictured as a baby–below left)
As the story goes, in the late 90s, These Irons Are Hot’s dam, Georgia Rabling, was brought to Judy’s farm in Minnesota to be bred originally to Deck Of Stars by a young gentleman named Barry Mathis. Pryor ended up buying the 1984 black Thoroughbred mare, but consequently had trouble getting her in foal. Since Rosenfeldt liked the mare, he didn’t want to give up on her, so he ended up trading stud fees to Duplicated Deck in return for Georgia Rabling. His persistence paid off because These Irons Are Hot is the result of crossing Georgia Rabling with Duplicated Deck.
Pryor remembers that they gave the big stud colt the registered name of “I Am”. “We wanted that to be his registered name because the horse did command attention, but, at first, we were afraid people would think we were bragging. We named him I Am anyway. He grew up in our stud row outside in a big run. His home was the farthest from the barn, but company always asked about him because even from a distance, he grabbed your attention.”
When I Am was a two year-old, Carl Yamber and JR Reichert saw him going around in the round pen and immediately liked what they saw. Yamber and Reichert bought him and formed a partnership. According to Pryor, Carl Yamber called him “Big Guy” and he was the one that changed his name to These Irons Are Hot.
“I liked his size, bone structure, and conformation–including a long croup, as well as his movement,” Yamber told GoHorseShow about the young colt. “I thought our hunter under saddle horses needed to be more like him, and I thought he could change the direction of where the hunter under saddle horses were headed at the time.”
As a young horse, Yamber told us that These Irons Are Hot, whose barn name was Dexter, was a great minded, gentle giant that was very easy to break. “For those people who haven’t seen him in person–he is gigantic–17.2 hands and 1900 pounds, but he was never aggressive and always had a great disposition. He carried owner Dee Shaw around in the Select Amateur Hunter Under Saddle events so he was that broke and gentle.”
Carl said that they showed him for the first time in Newcastle, Indiana before heading to the Tom Powers. “He was a star from the very beginning of his show career,” Yamber remembers. “He pretty much dominated and won all the futurities.”
With Trish Yamber in the irons, Dexter went on to become Congress Champion in the prestigious 3-year-old Hunter Under Saddle Open Futurity. He earned 123 AQHA performance points leading him to the 2004 AQHA High Point Stallion title in Open Hunter Under Stallion, as well as being named the NSBA High Point Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle horse for the year.
In 2009, when Dexter was eight years-old, Adria Smith of Seaside Farm, LP bought the stallion from George and Dede Shaw. Smith believed he would be a great asset to her breeding program. She has stood Dexter since then with Amy Gumz of Gumz Farms in Morganfield, Kentucky. Gumz also attests to his amazing disposition.
“He is one of the kindest, gentlest stallions I’ve ever been around,” Gumz states. “He is a true gentle giant that passes on that kind disposition to his foals. He is a true joy to have around.”
As a sire, Dexter was the #1 Equi-Stat Hunter Under Saddle Sire for 2012. His offspring have won Congress and World Championships as well as NSBA futurity earnings of $232,763.35. Some of his latest winners include Certified So Hot, These Irons R Ready, My Invitations R Hot, This Is Personal, Cityboy Or Cowboy, Iron Will, Her Irons Are Hot, Natural Mead, and These Legs Are Cool.
Please visit www.gumzfarms.com for more information about this outstanding stallion. Also take time to check out the stallion’s website at www.theseironsarehot.net.
Photos © Judy Pryor and Kelly Graphics
