Peppy San Badger was a cutting horse legend. He had so much talent and has often been described as a gift to the equine world. He was unlike any horse out there and there may never be a horse that could fill his shoes. Peppy San Badger or "Little Peppy, was born in 1974. He was a beautiful Sorrel and he had legendary bloodlines running through his veins. His sire was Mr. San Peppy and his dam was Sugar Badger. Both horses include foundation lines from the King Ranch. His papers featured horses like Leo, Joe Reed II, and Gold Rush. This horse dazzled on paper, but also in the show pen. 

Little Peppy was bred by a man named Joe Kirk Fulton. His ranch was located in Lubbock, Texas. This is where Little Peppy was raised and his caretaker was a man named Wayne Pooley. Pooley spent a lot of time with the colt and started the basics on him. He begin ground work with him, saddling him, and exercising him on the hot walker. Things were going great, but then Little Peppy came down with a bad case of distemper (also known as strangles). This delayed his training quite a bit and they were unsure if he would make it out alive. 

Little Peppy was very sick. The legendary Buster Welch saw him for the first time while he was ill. Welch enjoyed looking at all of the Mr. San Peppy foals, so he had to go check this little stud out. Welch remembers the first glance at Little Peppy. He states, "I will never forget how bad Little Peppy looked. He was standing in a round pen, rotten with distemper, a little skinny looking colt. I'd heard he was a good colt, but he sure didn't bowl me over. The next time I saw him though, he was a 3 year old and the most majestic looking young horses you ever saw." Against all odds, Little Peppy pulled through and his training resumed. 

That next Spring, Fulton sent him to the King Ranch. He had heard through the grape vine that King Ranch was in search of a stud colt out of Mr. San Peppy and Fulton wanted Buster Welch to evaluate his progress. Welch ended up being Little Peppy's main rider and rode him to many victories. He was a member of the National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame and he went on to win the NCHA Futurity in 1977. He also won the Derby in 1978. It was said people had never seen a young horse try as hard and would hold a cow like him. Peppy San Badger was NCHA Reserve World Champion in 1980 and World Champion in 1981. He would finish his career with an Equi-Stat Record at $56,834 at NCHA. Buster often described Little Peppy as having so much dignity and the highest intelligence of any horse he had been around. 

Peppy San Badger excelled in the cutting pen and his passion was cows. He was built for it and strived to do good at it. His total earnings come to $172,710 in his career. After his showing days, he was taken back to his roots. He stepped in place of his sire, Mr. San Peppy, and began his breeding career. In 19 seasons, he sired 2,325 AQHA Registered foals. These foals have earned more than 7,200 points in all divisions. They have also won more than $25 million. 

In The Snaffle Bit Futurity, 4 of the top 10 horses were Peppy San Badger offspring. At the National Cutting Horse Association, 4 of the top 20 horses were his offspring. These horses are immaculate. At the National Reining Horse Association, his offspring earned around $400,00  and at the National Reined Cow Horse Association, they earned around $110,000. So far, his offspring have earned a total of $72,000 through AQHA. 

Little Peppy was a cutting horse legend. A bronze statue of Buster Welch and Peppy San Badger was revealed in 2019 at the NCHA Futurity. It will be placed at the Will Rogers Memorial Center. Peppy San Badger was laid to rest in 2005 at the age of 31. He had been living his best life, but started declining with old age. The family made the hard decision to put him down. He was an incredible horse that beat all odds just to stamp his hoofprint in the show ring. 

This quote really sums up just how special he was. Cody Crider, manager of the King Ranch, said, " He was a gift. You can plan and breed all you want, but you won't get a horse like this on purpose, even though we will all keep trying." 

(picture credit: https://alchetron.com/Peppy-San-Badger#peppy-san-badger-cae88a87-8afd-4d2c-a0d5-1b99842e0e8-resize-750.jpeg )