If you want to describe a “horse of a different color” in every respect, Living Large, a 2009 AQHA/APHA Sorrel Overo stallion, owned by Cathy Corrigan Frank of Arizona, fits the bill. When you look at this gorgeous and loud colored stallion, one would immediately assume he was a paint. But, when he trots into an AQHA class, you realize there’s definitely more to the story.
Aptly nicknamed “Shaq” after former NBA giant, Shaquille O’Neal, this multiple World Champion is out of the thoroughbred mare, Quit Staring, and by World Champion sire, These Irons Are Hot. This cross makes Living Large a full appendix quarter horse with white markings. It also makes him eligible to be registered as a crop out paint and compete at APHA and PtHA shows.
So, how did this happen? Shaq’s mother, Quit Staring (pictured right), is a rare loud colored black and white thoroughbred, and he gets his color from his dam. Renae Dudley, best known for her association with the famous stallion, Scotch Bar Time, bought the one-of-a-kind mare at a sale and then bred him to the #1 Equi-stat leading sire of hunter under saddle horses for 2012, These Irons Are Hot. When Shaq was two months old, Dudley approached Tim and Shannon Gillespie about this unique weanling colt. The Gillespies, along with their client, Julie Marweg of DePere, Wisconsin, bought him and formed a partnership to campaign the talented stallion.
Marweg told us that he knew Shaq was special when she first saw him in the pasture at two-months-old (pictured left). “He was so friendly and beautiful,” she recalls. “I have a few of his babies that all seem to be as great minded as their father.”
“The main reason we bought him was that we thought he would be a great stallion that would improve the quality of the paint horses while also having the traits that people who show AQHA would love and appreciate,” says Shannon Gillespie. “He is the kindest stallion I have ever been around. He is a people pleaser. His babies that we have in training also have the
same demeanor with looks and movement. They love people and attention and never want trouble.”
Shaq has been very impressive in his short show career. He is a nine-time World Champion including the 2014 APHA and PtHA World Champion in the Junior Pleasure Driving. In AQHA competition, he was Reserve Congress Champion in Junior Pleasure Driving.
We asked Gillespie how the judges reacted when they first saw Shaq in an AQHA Classes. “The first time I tried to show in him in a Green Hunter Under Saddle class at an AQHA show, the ring steward waved me down to tell me that the NSBA class was coming up next, and I told her that he was, in fact, a quarter horse and that he is allowed to show at AQHA shows. At first the judges didn’t know what to do with him, but a good horse is a good horse, no matter the color, so he did well regardless. He just had to do everything a little better than the competition in order to win. Now, the judges are starting to get used to seeing him so it is becoming a non-issue.”
In 2013, when Shaq was four-years-old, the Gillespies sent him to Kevin Dukes to learn the pleasure driving. Dukes immediately fell in love with Shaq and approached Cathy Corrigan Frank of Arizona about purchasing the stallion. Frank loved his potential and bought him at the 2014 Congress.
“I fell in love with his gentle nature and his uniqueness,” Cathy Corrigan Frank told GoHorseShow. “There is no other stud like him out there. My future goals are to show him in the Amateur Pleasure Driving while Kevin Dukes will continue showing him in the AQHA/APHA Senior Pleasure Driving.”
Dukes adds, “He is just a freak–great minded and so easy to show. His oldest babies are two-year-olds and they all are talented and most have minimal white which is ideally what we want. We are going to continue to show him through the breeding season and plan on adding the hunter events to his classes.”
Living Large just finished showing in the hunter under saddle and pleasure driving classes at the Florida Winter Circuit where he was Circuit Champion in Senior Pleasure Driving and picked up several hunter under saddle points in Venice, Florida. Shaq is now qualified for the AQHA World Show in Senior Pleasure Driving and is close to being qualified in the Senior Hunter Under Saddle.
Living Large will be standing in Weatherford, Texas with Kory Niswender. His breeding fee is $1350. Please contact Kory at 817-304-2897 for more information.
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