Double Thistle (foaled in 1962) is a celebrated American Quarter Horse stallion. Sired by Double Bid and out of Gale’s Thistle (by Silver Thistle TB), he was National High Point Halter Stallion AQHA Champion. He earned 192 halter and performance AQHA points.
I was excited to see Double Thistle as I had been commissioned to do a portrait of his sire and had been a fan of Silver Thistle for years. I bought Thistle Belle by Silver Thistle from Shamell Ranch in Marietta, California and Dad and I enjoyed showing her. She was the leading AQHA point earning female by Silver Thistle. We bred her to Three Bars and later sold her to Walter Merrick who also appreciated Silver Thistle.
When I used to do portraits I liked athletic stallions. You could see every vein and muscle line. Some times I would do research photos from both sides and find certain muscles showed more prominent on one side than the other. With that I would blend the most defined anatomy into the painting even though it did not show well on the pose-side of the painting.
Double Thistle was a seal brown with variations like the bronze blended with black on a blood bay. He had a beautiful subtle dapple in the area under a saddle. Amazingly he had all the good points of his pedigree without the roughness and flaws. That seldom happens.
I generally chose a real background on the owners property. Rather than paint the same kind of trees and grass I did different grasses, weeds and foliage. The blue gate was well chewed by horses and hung a little low going into another pasture of Schovaley Farm.
Some of the best known progeny of Double Thistle were Sweet Little Anne, Bidin Double, Double Boomer, Mr Double Tuff and Shi Thistle Rum.
Steven Schovaley’s farm near Montrose, Michigan was an important hub for Quarter Horses in the upper Midwest. Along with Double Thistle, the ranch notably housed Counterplay, another celebrated AAA AQHA champion. I met Steven at the Quarter Horse Congress when he ordered two portraits of his two famous stallions. I always visited with him at the Congress. One year he asked me to lead Double Thistle in the Line Of Champions where all the stallions in the Million Dollar Stallion Hall were led into the main arena for special note. Although some stallions thought it was a copulation opportunity, Double Thistle was a perfect gentleman. For the Counterplay Bio, https://www.texaslonghorn.com/horse/index.cfm?con=BiosID&IDNo=11340
Author: Darol Dickinson
