APHA Lifetime Leading Sire Zippos Sensation died July 10 at age 23. The 1993 sorrel overo stallion was owned by Simons Show Horses of Aubrey, Texas, for almost his entire life, and it was under their guidance that he became a pillar in the Paint Horse industry.
Bred by Joe Bachmuth of Cullman, Alabama, “Zippo” was by Zippo Pine Bar—one of the Quarter Horse industry’s top pleasure sires—and out of Satin N Lace, a two-time APHA national champion at halter. Hunting for a halter stallion, Andrea and Lynn Simons chanced upon Zippo, and they immediately struck a deal for the colt.
“I think the first thing we noticed about him was his structure and his correctness,” Andrea said in a January 2011 Paint Horse Journal article. “He’s one of the most 
structurally correct sons of Zippo Pine Bar there was—I think that’s the maternal side coming through. Then the more we were around him, we realized how well he moved and how sound of mind and body he is. It really was a lucky, fortunate break for a couple of horse trainers.”
After winning the 1994 APHA World Show’s Yearling Longe Line Futurity, Zippo (pictured right) embarked on what would become a stellar breeding career in 1995. To date, he’s sired 956 APHA-registered foals—469 of which have established APHA show records and tallied more than 170 world championships and 162 reserve world championships, numbers that are likely to continue to increase.
Zippo has been APHA’s No. 1 Breeders’ Trust Leading Sire for 15 consecutive years, and he ranks No. 1 on many of the association’s lifetime leading sires charts. In 2007, Zippo became the first Paint Horse inducted into the National Snaffle Bit Association Hall of Fame; his foals have accumulated more than $1 million in NSBA earnings.
“Zippo is a dream come true,” Andrea said in an April 2016 Paint Horse Journal article. “He’s been a part of our lives since he was 3 months old, and it never ceases to amaze us what a great sire and all-around wonderful individual he is. It’s been quite a ride.”
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