Triple Chick

Triple Chick - Born 1955. Sire: Three Bars TB. Dam: Chicado V, by Chicaro Bill.



I met Frank Vessels and Chief Johnson at the AQHA convention. The Vessels were very successful business people and almost single handedly responsible for bringing the Quarter Running Horse popularity from the whole nation to California. The Vessels' Los Alamitos Race Track bought in the gamblers and the big money futurities. At one time half the great running stallions stood in California. Thousands of mares were hauled across the nation to the famous West Coast stallions. The Pacific Coast QH Magazine was almost as big as the QH Journal at one time. For many years the QH business was in California. To serve this industry as a photographer and portrait artists, I started out in mid April in Marietta and jogged northward finishing around Lake County, or up around Napa. When Linda and I were first married she went with me, except when she was pregnant, which was an every other year event. A few times we took Kirk, our first son, with us. I remember carrying him through Disney Land for 40 miles. He only woke up for the bumper cars and when Mickey Moose said hello. Frank Vessels raised great runners. He was cramped in by high dollar surroundings, but had a small group of well proven brood mares on his highly developed acres. His facilities were the same condition as Disney Land, a few miles down the road. Everything was pristine. I dealt with Chief Johnson, a crusty old retired Naval officer. Chief booked the mares and knew every breeder in the nation who had a great mare. He worked at getting them to Vessels' stallions. I don't recall Frank or Chief ever being part of the photo process when I was taking their stallion's photos. They lived up in the Los Alamitos grand stand offices.

The day we photographed Triple Chick there were about 3 men helping. We did the poses on the lawn west of the grand stand and east of the stud facilities. Triple Chick was testy. He wrestled with the guys who were moving his feet. He was about 6 Hugh Bennett gut-kicks from Christian. When he ever stood right he seldom would put his ears forward. He was fat and pretty with slick hair as black as the soil in Michelle Obama's rose garden. He did not look like he had the athletic muscle of other Three Bars sons and I assumed this was due to his early life founder. I don't think he got much exercise.

Just when Triple Chick was about at an aggravation peak, like lightning, he lunged at the handler and bit him in the top of the head. The guy fell back and another guy grabbed the halter strap. I still had a job to do. They re-adjusted and the guy had a little blood on the side of his face. He made a few choice comments about geldings then went ahead with the photo shoot. He only did it once. Everyone was aggravated that it took so long to get good photos, but Triple Chick only wanted to breed mares and eat. I was a bother to him. You could see on his hooves that he had been foundered. He sired a lot of bold black foals which were very striking.

Triple Chick sired 779 AQHA foals, 511 of them with performance records. He was a full brother to The Ole Man, Three Chicks, Chicado Chick, and a half brother to War Chic, Anchor Chic, Table Tennis, Successor, and Alisal. He sired Scooper Chick, Triple Do, Boston Mac, Triple's Image, and the dams of Mable Chick, Go A Mite, Do Do Chick, Too Tidy, Triple Champion, Go Wench Go, etc.

It is a good guess that Triple Chick was the slowest running son of Three Bars, yet one of his greatest siring sons.