Tiger Leo
Tiger Leo
1958-1986
Sire: Leo | Dam:  Connei (TB)

Sire of earners of over 74 ROM's, 33 Superiors, and 11 AQHA Champions.

Get of Sire Record:
Total Points Earned - 5,943.5; Reg Foals - 481; Number Shown - 118; Point Earners - 91; Halter Points Earned - 645.5; Halter Point Earners - 36; Halter Superior Awards - 3; Performance Points Earned - 5,298; Performance Point Earners - 140; Performance ROMS - 74; Performance Superior Awards - 30; AQHA Champions - 11; Total Superior Awards - 33; Total ROM's - 74; Total World Championships - 1; High Point Wins - 1; Sired Race Earners - $1,930; 90+ ROMS - 1; Race ROMS - 2; Race Offspring Wins - 4

Tiger Leo

Tiger Leo The modern quarter horse industry has moved away from versatility in the individual toward specialization of the individual in a given event. We used to see many of our show horses exhibited at halter in the morning and then in several performance events in the afternoon, and many of these performers were rated on the race track.

The movement to the specialized performer has lead to certain bloodlines excelling in a given event. As we look out at the pedigrees of the specialized performers we see such names as Dash For Cash and Easy Jet dominating the racing industry. We see Impressive dominating the halter arena. Zippo Pine Bar has been the leading sire of performance horses for several years and his name is synonymous with the pleasure industry.

Many of these lines of specialization have come from bloodlines that at one time were noted for versatility. Zippo Pine Bar carries the same blood of many of the great racing and show horses. His sire, Zippo Pat Bars, was a son of Three Bars and out of a Leo mare. This cross was noted for its ability to go AAA on the track and then excel in the halter and performance arena. The maternal grand sire of Zippo Pine Bar was Poco Pine, a son of Poco Bueno. Poco Bueno is a great source of cutting horse blood in the modern cutting horse but for many years Poco Bueno was the leading sire of AQUA Champions.

One of the stallions that we see making a major contribution to the pleasure industry today is that of Tiger Leo. Tiger Leo daughters are in demand as pleasure horse producers. But a closer look at Tiger Leo will show the true versatility of the quarter horse.

The Tiger Leo story begins with his mother, a thoroughbred mare named Connie and finds its way to Omaha, Nebraska and Stan and Mary Kay Steyskal. Connie was a thoroughbred mare that ended up in the hands of Bud and Reba Warren of Perry, Oklahoma. The Warrens owned the great sires Leo, Sugar Bars, Croton Oil and Jet Deck. The Warrens are also noted for the great mares they have owned including Sorrel Sue, 89'er, Flit and Rosa Leo.

A recent conversation with Reba Warren revealed that Connie was given to them by George D. Rhone of Coleman, Texas. Mr. Rhone had apparently booked Connie to Leo as he is listed as the breeder of Connie Leo, the first foal from the Leo/Connie cross. Mrs. Warren didn't remember all the circumstances in the change of ownership, but Connie became a broodmare for them. As she remembers it Connie was "a gift" horse.

In addition to Connie Leo, she foaled Oil Slick, Wee Connie and Tiger Leo. Connie was the dam of only one other registered foal and that was Lou Jiggs by Jiggs D. Jiggs D was an Uncle Jimmy Gray grandson. Connie Leo was certainly a good start for the Connie/Leo cross. She was a AAA runner that had 13 wins, three seconds and five thirds. She was the dam of horses like Connie Reba, a AAA AQHA Champion that was the AQHA Honor Roll Race Horse for 1961; Connie Reb, a AAAT runner and sire of Connie Coed, an AJQHA World Champion Aged Mare with 371 points and Quick Henry, a AAA AQHA Champion. These three foals were all sired by Sugar Bars.

Wee Connie was sired by Sugar Bars. Mrs. Warren reported that Wee Connie got her name because she was such a small foal and they didn't think she would live. Wee Connie was the dam of six ROM race horses including Counter Jet, the winner of over $31,426 on the track. Her foal Phantom Jet was a AA runner, who was a Superior Halter Horse with 50 points and an Arena ROM with 12 Working Hunter Points. Counter Jet and Phantom Jet were sired by Jet Deck. Oil Slick by Croton Oil, a son of Leo, was a AA rated running horse with an ROM in cutting.The Warrens commissioned Orren Mixer to do a painting of Leo and one of the mares in the background is Connie. The foal at her side is Tiger Leo by Leo.

Tiger Leo didn't stay with the Warrens very long as he was purchased as a weanling by Walt Chamberlain. Chamberlain took the young stallion to his North Platte, Nebraska Ranch. Chamberlain later started Tiger Leo on the race track. Stan and Mary Kay Steyskal were on the rodeo circuit and they met Walt Chamberlain's sister, Margaret. Stan and Mary Kay were interested in Leo bred horses, so Margaret took them to see Tiger Leo. This was the beginning of a long relationship between Tiger Leo and the Steyskals.

Mary Kay recently remembered how it all happened, "Stan rode bareback horses and then he got interested in cutting horses. Walt's sister took us to see Tiger Leo and a horse called Sugar Band that was by Sugar Bars". She continued, "Walt ended up sending Tiger to Stan as a training horse. I think he was six years old then. The first year Stan broke him to western tack and he won, among other things, the reining at Aksarben, which is a big show in this area. The next year he went back to Aksarben and won the senior cutting and finished his AQUA Championship. Tiger was only defeated twice that year in cutting."

Tiger Leo's official record shows that he was AAA on the track with four wins and $1,195 in earnings. His AQHA show record shows 24 cutting points, 8 reining points and 25 halter points. Just as Tiger Leo proved to be a good show horse, he also showed that he was something special as an individual with a very quiet disposition. Mary Kay explains, "Tiger was an older horse and Stan always said it was like riding an old man. You couldn't make him play a cow if the cow wasn't doing something, and so he would have his turn-back men drive his cattle to him as hard as he could. Tiger was just a big kind horse."

The Steyskals took the reins for good when Walt Chamberlain offered Tiger for sale. The stallion was ten years old and the Steyskals formed the Tiger Leo Syndicate. The Steyskals stood Tiger Leo until they had to put him down a the age of 28 with heart trouble. Just as Connie was good to the Warrens, Tiger Leo was good to Stan and Mary Kay. He became a very good sire producing versatile foals. He is the sire of 69 Register of Merits, 31 Superiors and 11 AQHA Champions. His foals have earned points in such events as halter, cutting, reining, western pleasure, hunter under saddle, western horsemanship and trail.

His foals inlcude Tiger Tim, an AJQHA World Champion Working Hunter with 107 performance points, Finger Lickin Good, a youth performance champion with four superior awards to his credit and The Tigress, an AJQHA Reserve World Champion with 526 performance points.

But when you begin to look at the success of Tiger Leo as a sire, you will find one group of foals that stand out as a very versatile set of performers for their sire. Heading this family of performers would be the great show gelding Bill Tiger Leo and his full sister Tina Tiger Leo, Bill Tiger Leo has 37 halter points, 32 cutting points, 227 pleasure points, and 23 hunter under saddle points in the open. He is an open AQHA Champion, Superior Pleasure horse, a sixth place finisher in the AQHA World Show in Senior Cutting and a ninth place finisher in the NCHA Futurity. Bill Tiger Leo is the earner of one point in Youth Halter, six points in Youth Western Horsemanship and six points in Youth Western Pleasure.

Tina Tiger Leo earned 99 halter points, 26 cutting points and 21.5 pleasure points. She is Superior in halter with ROM's in cutting and pleasure to go along with her AQHA Championship. Tina Tiger Leo was the type of mare that would be the Grand or Reserve Champion halter horse in the morning and a performance class winner in the afternoon. She did this at such shows as the American Royal and Aksarben. She won the All American Cutting Derby as well. Tina Tiger Leo is the dam of Tinas Tigress, the dam of Tinas Affair, a Superior rated halter horse and Enticing Affair, with 83 AQHA Points and two Amateur Register of Merits.

Other performers from this family include El Tigre Leo, a brown gelding full brother to Tina Tiger Leo and Bill Tiger Leo. El Tigre Leo earned 76 open points with 14 in halter and 62 in performance. He was a halter, cutting and pleasure horse that earned titles in Nebraska as the High Point Senior Cutting Horse and the Reserve High Point Senior Western Pleasure Horse. He sold at he 1972 Denver Stock Show for a record price.

In 1979 the NCHA Reserve World Champion Cutting Horse was Lonsum Tiger, a stallion full brother to Tina Tiger Leo, Bill Tiger Leo and El Tigre Leo. Lonsum Tiger has 15 AQHA points for his ROM and he was finalist in the NCHA Non-Pro Derby. Kiowa's Diana was the mother of this family of good show horses. Her 9 Tiger Leo performers earned 152 halter points and 453 performance points.

WThe origin of Kiowa's Diana takes us back to Walt Chamberlain in North Platte. Walt's family were horse breeders that raised army remount horses. The Chamberlain's were among the first to have quarter horses in Nebraska and they stood a son of King P-234, a stallion named Teech. Chamberlain bought his own son of King named Lady's Black Eagle. We'll let Mary Kay continue the story. "Walt purchased Lady's Black Eagle and he bred him to those Teech mares and got some double bred King mares. Well Kiowa's Diana was an inbred King mare. They took her mother, who was Kiowa Maid and bred her back to Lady's Black Eagle, her own sire and got Kiowa's Diana." (The dam of Kiowa Maid was a Teech mare. This pattern of inbreeding makes Kiowa's Diana 2 x 3 x 4 inbred to King P-234.)

The Steyskals purchased Kiowa's Diana and her Tiger Leo foal, Connie's Kitten. Connie's Kitten was such an outstanding individual they kept going back to Tiger Leo until they were able to buy the stallion. Connie's Kitten went on to be a Register of Merit show horse with 10.5 points before an injury ended her show career. She has gone on to be the dam of Kitten Cause, by Iron Rebel. Kitten Cause is an AQHA Honor Roll Hunter Under Saddle Champion.

The Steyskals ended up with not only Kiowa's Diana, but her dam Kiowa Maid and Miss Band, a daughter of Kiowa's Diana. Miss Band has duplicated the success of her dam Kiowa's Diana with Tiger Leo. Miss Band is the dam of Tammy Tiger, Jimmy Tiger, Jenny Tiger, Miss Tiger Band and Tracy Tiger. Tammy Tiger is a mare with 27 open points and 622 youth performance points. This mare has six youth superior awards with 2 in Western Pleasure, 2 in Western Horsemanship, one in Showmanship and one in Hunt Seat Equitation.

Jimmy Tiger has 58.5 open halter points, 116 open performance points, 22 amateur halter points, 83.5 amateur performance points, 84 youth halter points and 147.5 youth performance points. This gelding has Superiors in Open Halter, Open Trail, Amateur Trail, Youth Halter and Youth Western Pleasure. Jenny Tiger earned 109 open points with an ROM and Superior award in Western Pleasure. She has 77 amateur points with a Superior in Hunter Under Saddle and 65 youth points. Miss Tiger Band is the dam of Zip N Win, the earner of 50.5 points in the open and amateur divisions.
Tracy Tiger is the dam of Trace of Good Bar, winner of the Two Year Old Ford Snaffle Bit Futurity at the 1990 Congress. On the surface we see that the pedigree picture of Tiger Leo and the mare Kiowas Diana is the result of the famous Leo on King breeding that produced such horses as Okie Leo and King's Pistol. But it doesn't stop there.

Kiowa's Diana was not only inbred to King but she carried a significant amount of Little Joe blood as a result of Lady's Black Eagle. Lady's Black Eagle was sired by King by Zantanon by Little Joe. The dam of Lady's Black Eagle was a mare registered as Sophisticated Lady by Joe Moore. Joe Moore was sired by Little Joe. This makes Kiowa's Diana 4 x 4 x 5 x 5 x 7 linebred to Little Joe through her crosses to King and Joe Moore.

An added side note is the line breeding to Della Moore found in the foals of Tiger Leo and Kiowa's Diana. They are 5 x 5 x 5 x 6 line bred to Della Moore, a matriarch of the breed. Della Moore was the dam of Joe Reed P-3 and Joe Moore. Leo was the famous double bred Joe Reed P-3 horse that Bud Warren bought and the two of them went on to be legends in the quarter horse breed. They have both been inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame for their success in the quarter horse breed. Leo was sired by Joe Reed II by Joe Reed P-3 and out of Little Fanny by Joe Reed P-3. Leo was a great sire and is still the lending maternal grandsire of AQHA Champions with 58.

Connie was sired by Reno Lion, who was a son of Cerulean by Broomstick. Broomstick was a son to the great speed source Ben Brush. The dam of Reno Lion was Blue Bonnet by Ballot. Ballot was the paternal grandsire of Percentage, the sire of Three Bars. The dam of Connie was Fair Lawn by Infinite by Ultimus. Ultimus was an inbred Domino Stallion. Ultimus was sired by Commando by Domino and out of Running Stream by Domino. Ultimus has a very significant impact on the pedigrees of modern quarter horses. He is the sire of Luke McLuke, the broodmare sire of Three Bars. He is the sire of High Time, the sire of Fleeting Time. Fleeting Time is the sire of Nellene, the dam of Joe Reed II, the sire of Leo. Tiger Leo is then 6 x 4 linebred to Ultimus.

Now, let's add Sugar Band to the scheme of things in the production of Tiger Leo foals. Sugar Bnad was a son of Sugar Bars. Sugar Bars shows the blood of Ultimus through his sire Three Bars and his dam Frontera Sugar. Frontera Sugar was a daughter of Rey by Captain's Courageous by Stimulus by Ultimus. Bandette was the dam of Sugar Band. Bandette was sired by Band Play by Band Time by High Time by Ultimus.

The genetic connection between Tiger Leo, Leo, Connie and Sugar Band is an interesting aspect of this cross, but Mary Kay believes that the conformation of Tiger Leo and Sugar Band is instrumental in the good foals produced from this cross. She explains, "If you would have seen Leo and Sugar Bars, you would find that the Leo's were a little bigger eared and a little longer from the eye to the nose and Sugar Bars had a gorgeous head. When they corssed Leo and Sugar Bars, they got gorgeous, gorgeous horses. And the same thing happened when you look at the Sugar Bands and Tigers."

Mary Kay goes on about the conformation of Tiger Leo and the role it had on his abilities and the abilities of his foals, "Tiger was actually bigger than Leo. He was 15.3 hands and weighed 1300 lbs. when he was a young horse ... even as an old horse. Tiger was a real strong backed horse. At 28, he had never had a splint or a windpuff and he had cut and run on the race track. Many consider Tiger Leo to be the best backed, straightest legged son of Leo, that looked a lot like hes sire."

When asked about the versatility of the Tiger Leo's, Mary Kay credited the athletic ability and intelligence of Tiger Leo as a key to the success of his foals. "I think Tiger was a great individual and he had a great mind. I don't think there was anything he couldn't do. He was a super, super athlete that was physiclly short in the back, longer underneath and deep in the heart. His muscle tied down and he wasn't a big bulging horse but he did carry enough bulk. But his muscle tied down into the knee and hock. It didn't stop four inches above the knee."

One of the things that is real interesting now and at the time we didn't know any different, we had a lot of Tiger Leo's and Sugar Band's and they were the best in our barn. Sometimes people thought we were showing them just because they were Tigers and Sugar Bands. But that wasn't it at all, they were the best we had." She continued, "We found that there never was a Tiger Leo that couldn't lope. There never was a Tiger Leo that didn't have his butt up under him. As young people we didn't know there were horses that couldn't lope. This is true today and this is where the Tiger Leo's can cross back on practically anything because they are so strong and such good athletes and they are so kind."

Another factor that shows just what kind of an athlete Tiger Leo was is the fact that he was a 15.3 hand cutting horse. In our age of specialization, you will not find very many 15.3 hand cutting horses. When we look at foals like Tina Tiger Leo, Bill Tiger Leo and El Tigre Leo, we find that Tina Tiger Leo was a 15.3 had s, Bill Tiger Leo was 16.1 hands and El Tigre Leo was only 15.2 hands. This is an interesting observation on the size of these great athletes and their ability as cutting horses.

An interesting side note - Kiowa's Diana was a 14.2 hand mare. Her small size can be attributed to her inbreeding. When she was bred to Tiger Leo, her foals stood 15.1 to 16.1 hands. Tiger Leo has certainly made an impact as a sire of versatile performers and now we see him influence surfacing through his daughters. The first indication that Tiger would be a good broodmare sire was when the Steyskals crossed Tiger Leo daughters back on their stallion Iron Rebel.

Iron Rebel is a son of Rebel Cause that is out of Iron Maiden by Iron Bars. Iron Rebel is an AQHA Champion with a Superior in Western Pleasure. He earned 24 halter points, 3 heading points, 1 reining point, 127 western pleasure points and 3 heeling points. His foals have earned over 4,500 AQHA Points. As we have seen with foals like Kitten Cause, the Iron Rebel/Tiger Leo cross is a good one.

Stylish Iron is another top performer from this cross. He has garnered 168.5 open performance points, 236.5 amateur points and 71.5 youth points. He was the 1987 AQHA Amateur World Champion Hunter Under Saddle and the 1987 AQHA High Point Amateur Hunter Under Saddle Horse. Before we leave Iron Rebel, we must point out that Iron Rebel genetically fits very well with the Tiger Leo mares. Iron Rebel gets his first shot of Ultimus blood from Iron Bars by Three Bars. The second shot comes from Bankette, the dam of Rebel Cause. Bankette is out of Miss Bank by Captain's Courageous by Stimulus by Ultimus.

The dam of Stylish Iron is Tiger Serena, a Tiger Leo daughter out of Nigger Ann. Nigger Ann was purchased by the Steyskals at Fort Worth. She was an open mare but she was a good looking pretty mare. Nigger Ann shows that Tiger Leo was successful with a variety of bloodlines. Her sire was Nigger Heck by Cowboy H, a Peppy P-212 horse. The dam of Nigger Ann was Sashaway by Buckskin Joe by Fred Bailey. Tiger Serena didn't stop with Stylish Iron, she is the dam of Principle Investment, a 1987 stallion. Principle Investment was the 1989 leading money winning pleasure horse for all age groups. He was the winner of the All American Congress Futurity, Texas Classic, the Solid Gold Fall Division and the Indiana State Fair. The Big Investment was the sire of Principle Investment. The Big Investment was the son of The Investor by Zippo Pat Bars.

Tiger Leolita is a full sister to Tiger Serena. She is the dam of Solo Power, who has Superiors in Open and Amateur Hunter Under Saddle. Solo Power has over 301 AQHA points. Solo Power is a son of Swift Solo, a thoroughbred stallion. Tiger Diana is the dam of Classic Zippo by Zippo Pine Bar. Classic Zippo has earned 21.5 performance points. Tiger Diana was sired by Tiger Leo and out of Kiowa's Diana. Jeanie Tiger, a full sister to Tiger Diana is the dam of Federal Investment by The Big Investment. Federal Investment has a show ROM with 22 performance points. Lori Tiger, by Tiger Leo and out of Sugar Rachelle by Sugar Band, is the dam of Zippos Tiger Leo by Zippo Pine Bar. Zippos Tiger Leo has 52 AQHA Points and was a top ten finalist at the AJQHA World Championships in Western Pleasure.

The foals by Zippo Pine Bar and The Big Investment and out of Tiger Leo mares are line bred to Leo. Zippo Pine Bar is sired by Zippo Pat Bar by Three Bars and out of the Leo mare Leo Pat. The Big Investment is sired by The Investor by Zippo Pat Bars. Thus the Zippo Pine Bar/Tiger Leo daughter foals are 4 x 3 line bred to Leo and The Big Investment/Tiger Leo daughters are 5 x 3 line bred to Leo. Lori Tiger is currently owned by Norman Reynolds, the former owner of Zippo Pine Bar. She is the dam of Quincy's Tiger Leo by Sir Quincy Dan. This unshown stallion has 8 crosses to the stallion Ultimus. (Sir Quincy Dan is a double bred Joe Reed II horse.) Quincy's Tiger Leo is owned by Walt Stratman of Hildreth, Nebraska. Although unshown, it is predicted that this young 15.3 hand stallion will get a lot of attention in Nebraska.
The influence of Tiger Leo in the life of Stan and Mary Kay Steyskal will continue for sometime. They have three sons of Tiger Leo and 20 daughters of this great sire. This concentration of Tiger Leo blood will ensure that this versatile sire will continue to influence our modern show horse, no matter which event you specialize in.