In the western world, the ancestry or pedigree of horses is traditionally reckoned by the sireline—also known as the “top line”—of the pedigree, and secondarily by the male ancestors of the dam. But modern science tells us that the mare has the greater influence on the foal—both genetically and behaviorally.
So, in this article I want to turn the tables and shine a spotlight on broodmares and their produce. To illustrate the potential of this approach, consider the stallion Charming King, foaled in Kentucky 115 years ago in 1909. A handsome bay, he was by Bourbon King and thus belongs to the Saddlebred sireline founded by the 1861 harness-bred Clark Chief.
Charming King’s dam was Charm, a descendant of Mambrino Chief 1844, who was also the sire of Clark Chief. Entirely harness-bred, Charm’s ancestry goes back to the imported Thoroughbreds Messenger 1780 and Diomed 1777. *Messenger, of course, is the foundational stallion for the American Standardbred, and *Diomed is the sire of flat-track racer Sir Archy, who appears in the deep pedigree of almost all Standardbreds, Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses. (We have looked extensively at these relationships in earlier installments of this series: Clark Chief and Mambrino Chief are featured in “A Vintage Blend,” EQUUS 513, while *Diomed, Sir Archy and *Messenger appear in “A Uniquely Excellent American Creation,” EQUUS 512 and “‘Gait Keeper’ Genetics,” EQUUS 507.)
Charming King’s pedigree is full of Thoroughbreds suited either for flat-track or harness racing, which prompts one to ask why the horse is even considered to be a “saddler.” The answer comes primarily from his female ancestry. There, three mares stand out as significant: Queen, Lute Boyd and Annie C.
Queen, foaled about 1845, is the earliest of the three and is regarded as one of the greatest progenitors of Saddlebreds, the dam of foundational sires King William, Diamond Denmark, Latham’s Denmark and Jewel Denmark. Queen’s distaff ancestry includes *Diomed and other flat-track racing Thoroughbreds, but she is by Bald Stockings 1837. His sire is the blue roan Tom Hal foaled in Canada in 1802 (see “A Distaff Mirror,” EQUUS 506, for disambiguation of the many horses called “Tom Hal”). Queen’s status as
