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King P-234
VIRTUALLY EVERYONE who came in contact with King “had to have him.” Those who owned him touted him as the greatest horse of his time. Those who didn’t own him wanted him. Yet no one realized at that time that his horse would become one of ther Quarter Horse industry’s cornerstones while simultaneously establishing a dynasty. Bred by Manuel Benavides Volpe of Laredo, TX, he was foaled June 25, 1932. His Sire was the famous Zantanon, by Little Joe by Traveler. His dam was Jabalina, by the Strait horse by Yellow Jacket by Little Rondo. There was no such thing as an American Quarter Horse Association when King was foaled, but the stallion’s conformation would later set the standard for Quarter Horse judging for more that a decade. On June 25, 1932, the colt was born, named Buttons by Volpe, he was sold to a neighbor, Charles Alexander of Laredo, for $150.00. He was a month old at the time of the sale, so Volpe kept him until he was weaned. The next personality entering the Bottoms/King story was Byrne James, a professional baseball player from Encinal, Texas. James and his wife were driving down a dusty Laredo street when they spotted the colt. King was just a yearling, a blood bay with mane, tail, and feet dipped in ebony. There was something about his bearing, his posture, his overall look that James liked. As the story goes, James took one look and knew he “had to have” the colt. James gave them $300.00 to buy the blood bay. Although $300.00 is a meager price today, it was practically a king’s ransom in the early ‘30s. Both James and his wife became closely attached to the bay. In fact, it was Mrs. James who changed his name from Buttons to King. Later, when he acquired the registration number of P-234 horsemen began referring to him as King P-234. Even today, he’s known as King P-234, because his number is so easy to remember. When King was fully mature, he stood between 14.2 and 15 hands and tipped the scale somewhere between 1,150 and 1,200 pds. The proud-looking, well-muscled, and beautifully proportioned young stallion was already attracting widespread attention throughout south TX. By the time King was a 4 – year old, James was roping calves from him. As often as he could, James took King to the ranch of Winn Dubose, who lived near Uvalde. It was there they did most of their roping. Then, sometime around 1936, James loaned the blood bay stallion to Dubose. No one knew it at the time, but that one act was destined to alter King’s future, as well as the future of the entire breed. Dubose was considered one of the better ropers of the region, and it didn’t take him long to advance King far beyond the calf roping basics taught to him by James. The young stallion took to cattle with natural ease, impressing Dubose, who was once quoted by Bob Gray as saying, “He (King) was very quick to learn, and good –natured for a stallion. He has a lot of cow sense. I wouldn’t say he was the fastest horse I ever rode, but there was no lost motion. He was quick out of the box and quick to get to a calf. “Dubose had King no more than 3 days before he began taking him to ropings. Dubose decided he “had to have” the horse, and he did get him after paying James $500. He roped from the young stallion, and began breeding him to outside mares for a $10 stud fee, along with free board for the mares. He once admitted his lack of organized record-keeping, saying no one realized. And, certainly, no one suspected King would be used as a model for that yet-to-be-established registry. Around 1936, the Hankins brothers entered the King picture. Jess, Lowell, and J.O. were a rather close-knit trio from the Rocksprings, TX., area. They were cattlemen and horsemen, ant it wasn’t unusual for the three of them to run a combined total of 100 to 150 broodmares on their ranches. The one thing the brothers had in unlimited abundance was an eye for a good horse. “Jess had a boy by the name of Jack Harris who worked for him for years,” related Lowell. “ One day, Jack and Jess were out riding. Jess was on a mare he thought a great deal of. The two of them were talking, and Jess told Jack he’d breed that mare if he could find a stallion he thought was better that she was. It so happened Jack had heard about King being at Winn Dubose’s place. He told Jess about the stallion, and Jess decided to take a look at him. It was 75 miles from Jess’ ranch to Dubose’s. None of the Hankins brothers had wver seen King, but just in case he liked him, Jess gathered up his saddle mare and made the trip. Jess was once quoted in The Cattleman magazine as saying, “Before we even stopped the truck, I knew that someday I was going to own that stallion. I thought then, and still think, he was the most magnificent horse I had ever seen.” Jess Hankins-just like Alexander, James, and Dubose before him- had to have the blood bay stallion. Dubose didn’t particularly want to sell the stallion. The two horsemen went back and forth over the situation. Jess kept making offers and Dubose kept refusing. They kept at it for more than a year. Finally, Hankins offered Dubose $800.00, and Dubose accepted. King literally became a member of the Hankins family. Dubose had been standing the stallion for $10 stud fee. Jess upped it to $15 the first season he owned him. It went to $25 the following year. He doubled it the third season, bringing it to $50. Once again, the neighbors were talking. This time, they predicted Jess wouldn’t get one mare booked to King. Once again, the neighbors were wrong. The forth season, Jess upped the fee to $100 and, according to statements he made years later he had to turn away 80 mares. Eventually, King’s stud fee settled at $500. By 1940, when the AQHA was established, King was putting progeny on the ground that would make him one of the industry’s most famous and respected stallions of all time. Even though King threw speed, he’s best known for the tremendous performance ability and cow sense in his offspring. With the growth in cutting, cow horse, and reining events, Kings blood became treasured more than ever. Several of his best sons were Poco Bueno, Royal King, King’s Pistol, and Continental King. Another of his sons, Power Command, sired King Fritz, who established his own dynasty of reining and cow horses on the West Coast.
King died of a heart attack March 24,1958. He was 26 years old. He sired 658 registered foals in 23 corps. He had 104 halter-point earners, and 106 working-point earners, and sired 20 AQHA Champions. And even now, years after his death, the industry is still influenced by third-, fourth-, and fifth- generation King-breds. King Statistics:
Stallion Offspring Record:
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