Troy Compton of Troy Compton Performance Horses is heartbroken to announce the passing of the 28-year-old stallion Hot Impulse, known affectionately as “Webster.” Webster was a striking brown son of Impulsions out of the producing mare MS Hot Medicine (by Hotrodders Jet Set). He made a lasting impact as both a show horse and sire of champions.
Often, the great ones stand out from the beginning and Compton believes Webster’s greatness was apparent at an early age.
“He was born in 1996 just down the road from me in Purcell (Oklahoma) and I had heard he was a nice one, so I wanted to see him for myself,” Compton recalls. “I saw him for the first time from the road, just loping beautifully alongside his mama and I knew I had to have him.”
Compton scooped Webster up as a weanling and the two built a legacy together.
Show Career
Webster had an accomplished show career before retiring to the breeding shed early in his six-year-old season.
Under Compton’s guidance, Webster went on to win multiple titles and futurities. Most notably, he was ridden by Jason Martin to an AQHA World Championship in the Junior Western Riding in 2001. He earned 111 Open AQHA Performance Points throughout his career, including open halter points. Webster earned his Open Superior in Western Pleasure in 2000, he was a finalist in the Two–Year-Old Western Pleasure at the 1998 AQHA World Show as well as the Junior Western Pleasure at the 2000 AQHA World Show.
“I was so proud of how accomplished Webster was despite a limited show career. It can be hard as a trainer/owner to get your own animals shown the way you want due to your obligations to your clients. But in limited years with limited shows, Webster accomplished so much.”
Breeding Career
Compton admits, “I believed that Webster was a nice horse and my intention all along was to use him as a personal breeding animal for my own program because I really admired his intelligence and athleticism.”
Compton had originally planned to stand Webster to limited mares that he or his friends owned, but Webster’s success as a sire made it clear he was destined for bigger things.
Throughout his 17-year breeding career, Webster sired 224 AQHA foals, over 50 percent of them with performance records. They amassed over 22,000 AQHA points split equally between Amateur, Open and Youth divisions. His foals have won 20 AQHA World and Reserve World Champion titles and earned over $169,927 in the AQHA Incentive Fund, AQHA World Show earnings of $99,393, and $437,008 from the National Snaffle Bit Association.
His noteworthy offspring include the likes of Investment Hunter, Hot Rockin Rita, Sl Miss Alli, Im Sparkling Hot, A Sparkling Impulse, Gotta Get Hot, Tell Her Shes Hot, Ima Hot Time, Call For A Hot Time, and, most notably, multiple AQHA World and Congress Champion, Kamanuwannadance.
Leslie “Bear” Lange of Leslie Lange Performance Horses and owner of Kamanuwannadance (“Collin”), one of Webster’s most successful offspring, says, “I’ve known Troy forever and I remember when he first brought Webster out as a young horse. He had such great self-carriage and a great look. I was a fan of Webster as an individual in the performance arena and, when he started his breeding career, I was super interested in him and his offspring.”
Bear ended up buying Collin, who was bred by Compton, and she still owns him to this day as a treasured member of the family. She says, “I’ve ridden a lot of Hot Impulses and they are very talented, but they also challenge you to be a better horseman. Webster may not have been the cookie-cutter stallion, but he proved himself to be a great sire of both Hunt Seat and Western horses, which I feel is not very common in the industry. A lot of the Hot Impulse daughters have gone on to be great producers as well, so I expect his impact will be felt for many years to come.”
Remembering Webster
Dick McNair purchased Webster in 2009 and he stood the rest of his career at Royal Vista Ranches in Oklahoma. Sadly, Mr. McNair passed away from cancer two years ago, and, around that same time, Webster was showing signs of age. Mrs. McNair contacted Compton and allowed him to retire Webster and take him home for the remainder of his life.
For the past two years, Webster had been living the good life back with his buddy Troy in Purcell, until he recently started indicating he was ready to go.
“We ultimately decided we didn’t want him to suffer and so we made the call to have the vet come out on the morning of April 15 to give him his final dignity,” Compton explains emotionally.
Compton continues, “Knowing it was going to be his last night with us, we made him cookies and stayed up with him late, feeding him and letting him know how much he meant to us all. And we left the barn that night knowing it would be hard to let him go in the morning, but that it was the right call.”
“That morning, we went out to be with him before the vet came and, in typical Webster fashion, he decided to go out on his own terms. He passed peacefully in his stall after we all had said our final goodbyes to him.”
Compton smiles through tears, “He always was special. I’ve had a lot of great horses buried in my front yard because I like to give them a proper end of life, but this was an especially hard goodbye. I put my heart and soul into this horse and I loved him deeply. So, this is one that I will miss for many years to come.”
“I view Webster as part of my legacy and my love letter to the pleasure industry. I’ve never respected a horse more than him. He was smart and he made me change my whole perspective on how smart horses were. He taught me a lot about letting a horse be a horse, asking a horse instead of demanding from them, and letting their natural talent and ability guide their career. When Webster put his mind into something, he was as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen.”
“There will be many great horses,” Compton admits. “But this one, this one was my boy from the day I laid eyes on him.”
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When a life is lost, it is often memorized by the year of birth, followed by a dash and the year of death. Linda Ellis remarked in her famous poem, The Dash, that it is this simple line that symbolizes the meaning of a life, not the dates. “For that dash represents all the time that they spent life on Earth. And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.”
Webster was a beloved show horse, sire, and companion. If his accolades, offspring, and handlers have anything to do with it – that dash will impact the industry for many years to come.
