“When our old girls are no longer fertile, we give them a new job at North Farm,” says Debbi Trubee, owner of the farm along with Roger Landis. The new job title? Baby Mama. “Zippos Bewitched, also known as Old Sammie (pictured left), loves her new occupation being in charge of the colt pen. She will give those boys heck to keep them in line but deep down, she really loves them.”
Old Sammie (pictured below right in 1994) is not just any average babysitting broodmare, she has a huge show record with an equally, if not more impressive, produce record. Brent Tincher showed her as a two and three year-old in the western pleasure and owner, Joy Bye (Zeilbeck) also did very well with her in the 90s.
The now 26 year-old sorrel mare is by Zippos Mr Good Bar and out of Zippos Sabrina and was bred by the Saul Family of Des Arc, Arkansas. Sammie amassed nearly 300 points in the western pleasure and was Top-10 at the AQHA Youth and Open World in the western pleasure.
Even with this impressive show record, Sammie really made her mark as a dam. Some of her famous offspring include Congress Champion and Reserve AQHA World Champion Zippos Tabitha (pictured below), Bewitchin Blaze, and Which Chex Witch. Her babies have accumulated over 900 points in several different events.
Recently, Trubee was faced with a very difficult decision.
“About three months ago, Sammie was literally on her way to the vets to be euthanized because she was doing so poorly,” Trubee recalls. “I bathed her, combed out her mane and tail, and braided a piece of her tail and cut it out for her last owner. She was so happy getting all that attention that I just didn’t have the heart to let her go.”
Roger told Debbi that said Sammie could have one more chance to watch after the babies, but if she continued to not eat and lose weight, it was time to let her go.
“She has made a complete turn around now and loves bossing her ‘kids’ around!” Debbi says. “It makes me smile to see her keeping them all in line.”
Trubee told us that her last foal is now a two year-old, so she’s been barren for a while. She got her from Debbie Barwick Williams who owned her for years and currently shows one of her daughters.
“Sammie is the absolute sweetest mare ever. She’s really timid, so we’ve always had to be careful which other mares she lived with. She had just gotten where she wouldn’t even come up to eat and was very depressed,” Trubee remembers. “The old girl is still sound, so we really couldn’t figure out why she was going downhill so rapidly. I’m not sure if she was just lonely or didn’t really feel like she had a purpose or what, but the turnaround has been amazing!”
Trubee adds, “It’s really good for the babies too for them to have an ‘alpha’ horse in the pack so they don’t get so pushy and headstrong. It really helps with their attitudes to not think they are in charge of the group.”
After we we spoke to Debbi, she called us back later that evening to tell us about a touching moment she witnessed in the pasture.
“I walked by Old Sammie and her boys, and she was having a mutual scratching fest with one of the colts. I don’t know when the old girl’s time will come to leave this world, but rest assured, her last memories will be good ones. She never fails to make me smile.”
