SMART LITTLE LENA

Smart Little Lena is the All-time leading Cutting Horse Sire.  This 1979 stallion will go down in history as the finest!  His get have earned over 33 Million Dollars in the performance arena.

 

Smart Little Lena was sired by 1970 NCHA Futurity winner Doc O’ Lena and out of Smart Peppy, a daughter of the great Peppy San.

 

Smart Little Lena and Bill Freeman swept both go-rounds of the 782 horse 1982 Futurity, came in second in the semi-finals by one point and then won the finals with a 225, then the highest score in the history of the event.  The win was worth $264,085.

 

He went on to capture the 1983 Super Stakes and the for the 1983 Derby title, making him the first NCHA Triple Crown Winner.  He was retired for stud less than a year later with $743,275 in earnings, making him the second on the list of all-time money earning horses.

 

For a horse with such a fabulous post-Futurity history, the Smart Little Lena legend began modestly enough.  A scrawny colt, he was bred by Hanes Chatham of Texas, who owned his dam.  No bigger than a German Shepherd when foaled in July 1979.

 

Smart Little Lena was started under saddle at  25 months of age by Chatham, who intended to consign the colt to one of the upcoming Futurity sales.  In the meantime, Chatham sent Smart Little Lena to his neighbor Bill Freeman for finishing.  Freeman was astounded at what he saw when he put the colt on cattle, which confirmed Chatham’s gut feeling about Smart Little Lena:  the horse had such phenomenal talent that both believed he was fully capable of winning the Futurity the next year.

 

Looking back, that was an almost outrageous sentiment to hold, seeing as how the field would be overloaded with talent.  Of the 23 finalists in the 1982 Futurity, 20 were sired, like Smart Little Lena, by sons of Doc Bar.  No one horse hand any more chance than any other.  But the cutting world had not yet seen the likes of Smart Little Lena.

 

Bill Freeman and Smart Little Lena rode into Cutting history and will forever be known around the world.  Smart Little Lena is the #1 Sire of Cutting Horses for over Five years.   His get, like WR Lena, have excelled in reining, working cow, cutting and even western pleasure – showing the true versatility of the breed.    WR Lena is an excellent representation of the his GREAT sire, Smart Little Lena.   He too has proven his ability in and out of the arena.