Smart Little Lena facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Smart Little Lena

Breed	American Quarter Horse
Discipline	Cutting
Sire	Doc O'Lena
Grandsire	Doc Bar
Dam	Smart Peppy
Maternal grandsire	Peppy San
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	(1979-06-29)June 29, 1979
Country	United States of America
Color	Chestnut
Breeder	Hanes Chatham

Smart Little Lena (born June 29, 1979 – died August 30, 2010) was a very famous American Quarter Horse. He was a champion cutting horse and became a top father (sire) of many other champion cutting horses. He was so good that he was put into both the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and the NCHA Horse Hall of Fame.

Smart Little Lena was a dark chestnut stallion. He had a white stripe on his face and white socks on his back feet. He was a small horse, standing about 13.3 hands tall. Hanes Chatham bred and raised Smart Little Lena. Bill Freeman trained him and showed him in competitions.

Smart Little Lena's Amazing Career

Smart Little Lena was a true superstar in the world of cutting horses. A cutting horse is a horse trained to separate a single cow from a herd and keep it from returning. It's like a game of tag between the horse and the cow!

Winning the Triple Crown

In 1982, Smart Little Lena won the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity. This is a huge competition for young horses. After that, he also won the NCHA Super Stakes and the NCHA Derby. Winning all three of these events is called the NCHA Triple Crown. Smart Little Lena won this amazing title in 1982 and 1983.

Impressive Earnings and Records

Smart Little Lena earned a lot of money in his career. He won $743,275 in US dollars from just eight shows! That's a lot of prize money for a horse. He held the record for the most money earned by a 3- and 4-year-old cutting horse. He was also one of the top sires (fathers) of cutting horses, meaning his children also became very successful.

Hall of Fame Honors

Because of his incredible achievements, Smart Little Lena was honored in two special ways. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2015. He was also inducted into the NCHA Horse Hall of Fame. These halls of fame recognize the best horses in history.

The Smart Little Lena Owners' Group

Before Smart Little Lena even started competing, a group of people formed a "syndicate" to own him. This means many people bought small parts (shares) of the horse. Hanes Chatham and Bill Freeman managed this group.

Shares and Value Growth

The first shares in Smart Little Lena cost $5,000 each. As Smart Little Lena won more and more competitions, especially the NCHA Triple Crown events, the value of these shares went up a lot! Some shares even sold for as much as $75,000. This showed how much people believed in him.

Changes in Management

Over time, there were some disagreements among the people who owned shares in the syndicate. These issues led to changes in how the syndicate was managed. New agreements were made to make sure everything was fair for all the owners.

Smart Little Lena's Offspring

Smart Little Lena wasn't just a champion himself; he was also an amazing father. His children, called "offspring," have been incredibly successful in many different horse sports.

Success in Horse Sports

His descendants have won many awards and championships in various competitions.

• In National Reining Horse Association events, his children have earned over $1.8 million.
• In National Reined Cow Horse Association events, they have earned over $2.56 million.
• In NCHA cutting competitions, his offspring have won over $50 million!

Smart Little Lena's children have earned more than $1 million in NRCHA competitions alone. Two of his sons, Smart Chic Olena and Very Smart Remedy, also became "Million Dollar Sires," meaning their own children earned over a million dollars.

Genetic Preservation for the Future

To make sure Smart Little Lena's special genes could continue, scientists collected and froze his semen between 2004 and 2007. This process is called "genetic preservation." It means that even after he passed away, new foals (baby horses) could still be born from him using artificial insemination. This helps keep his amazing bloodline going for future generations of cutting horses.

Smart Little Lena's Passing

Smart Little Lena lived a long and successful life. He was 31 years old when he passed away in 2010. He had been having some balance problems for a few days. He was at Manion Ranch in Aubrey, Texas, when he died. The syndicate decided he would be cremated, and his remains would be placed in a special trophy case at the ranch. Even after his death, he continues to sire foals through artificial insemination.

Pedigree

^†Denotes inbreeding