Several years ago, when Holly Hover of Cave Creek, Arizona was judging in Texas, she received an unexpected call from mentor and long-time friend, John Hoyt. Hoyt called to tell her that the great stallion, Bull Parker, was going through a killer sale in north Texas. According to Hover, the renowned stallion and his son, Somebodys Bull, were caught up in a bankruptcy case which led the authorities to list them in this local sale.
“Well, there was no question that I would be there to buy Bull,” Hover recalls. “After all, he had produced many of the greats of the industry that were in my barn at the time.”
Bull Parker (pictured below) sired 202 foals and they earned a total of 8,617.5 points in all AQHA divisions. His foals won 11 AQHA World Championships, 11 Reserve World Championships and won over $55,917 in NCHA, AQHA, NRCHA, NRHA and NSBA competitions. Some of his famous get include Chicaro Parker, Duncan Parker,
Josephine Parker, Bert Parker, Park A Bull, Maggie Parker, Sable Parker,
and Frisco Parker.
Determined to make it to the auction, Hover hitched a ride to Dallas and met up with Hoyt and the two went to the sale to try to save the famous stallion. “I bought Bull for six-hundred dollars. My judging check was $650,” Hover recalls. “As we were watching the rest of the auction, a skinny, pathetic colt was brought to the ring. It was Somebodys Bull, a two year-old gelding by Bull Parker and out of the famous West Coast mare, Somebody Else.”
Hover remembers that they didn’t have much cash left, but John looked at her and she knew she had to buy him. “We bought Somebodys Bull for sixty dollars. The last five dollars we paid in nickels, dimes and quarters!”
That same “skinny, pathetic colt” went on to win the Amateur Horsemanship at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in 1992 with owner Gretchen Kurzweg Keller. “His barn name was Buddy,” Gretchen remembers. “He was probably the ugliest Bull Parker, but his heart and talent made up for his looks. He was like a very rotten child, always into mischief, but when you showed him, he was all business, and always gave you one hundred percent.”
Gretchen adds, “Everyone always teased me that we were a lot a like, causing trouble, but always getting the job done. At the AQHA World Show, I was a finalist with Buddy in the western riding. AQHA used his video for the judges seminar for years because they said he was a perfect example of the horses that gets overlooked. His lead changes were great, but he wasn’t pretty. Holly was our trainer, but John Hoyt helped me so much with Buddy. He was retired at my house with Bert Parker, where they lived out their lives as one family.”
Hover also kept the famous Bull Parker at her ranch until he passed away the following year. “He was fat and happy when he passed away and it was the least I could do for a stallion that helped bring me and my clients so much success in the show arena.”
