Zippin The Breeze, one of the all-time leading producers of Western Pleasure money earners colicked and died Nov. 30, according to Dan and Kathryn Frederick of Ocala, Florida, who owned her for nearly her whole life.

“It was very hard on both Kathryn and I,” Dan said. “We didn’t say anything to anyone for about a week until we came to grips with it. She was part of the family.”

Zippin The Breeze foals were successful in the show pen right from the start but it was a while before she started getting credit for her part in the success.

“It was a great run we had. We never dreamed she would have such amazing babies,” Dan said. “For the first few foals we were convinced it was entirely Invitation Only. Her babies were just so easy to train. I never really gave her credit until Invite Me Breeze came along.”

Breeze, a 1999 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) bay mare by A Passing Breeze and out of Fancy Zippin (by Zippo Pine Bar) was purchased by Dan Frederick early in the spring of 2001 as a Mother’s Day gift for his wife, Kathryn. Just a few months later, at the Tom Powers Futurity their son, Scott, rode her to a win the Limited Non-Pro 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure and were undefeated in that class at futurities that year. Both Scott and his sister, Erin, continued to show Breeze at futurities throughout her 3 and 4-year-old years.

In 2005 Zippin The Breeze won a Reserve Quarter Horse Congress Championship in Youth Western Pleasure 11 & Under with Whitney Wilson. During her short show career she logged $16,672 in National Snaffle Bit Association earnings. But it was as a broodmare that Zippin The Breeze made her real mark. Her foals have recorded AQHA and NSBA World and Reserve World Championship titles and numerous futurity wins.

To date she has 17 foals with only 14 old enough to perform and those have recorded $483,500 to date, according to Robin Glenn Pedigrees, a comprehensive AQHA and APHA pedigree and catalog service.

Her foals have recorded over 2,649 AQHA points and $25,255 in AQHA World Show earnings as well as over $300,000 in NSBA earnings. She has two AQHA Open, one Amateur and One Youth Champion and one High-Point Award winner.

In 2015 alone Zippin The Breeze’s foals were a strong force in the show pen with Only A Breeze winning an AQHA World Championship title in Senior Western Pleasure – Level 3 and a Quarter Horse Congress Championship in Amateur Select Western Pleasure. Zippin A Breeze, owned by the Fredericks, also won a Reserve Quarter Horse Congress Championship in the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure Futurity and placed third in the 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the 2015 AQHA World Championship Show. Zippin A Breeze was just purchased by Alexandra Chavez and will be shown in 3-year-old events next year.

Zippin The Breeze’s legacy will continue to live on through her foals. The Fredericks still have one 2-year-old by Invitation Only and a Lazy Loper yearling both in training with Gil Galyean; two weanlings by No Doubt I’m Lazy and Lazy Loper and the same cross coming (via embryo transfer) for 2016.

“Breeze was a wonderful show horse, and successful in her own right. All three of our children showed Breeze and they all have special memories of her and their time showing together, Kathryn said. “I think it is fair to say Breeze proved her worth with her success in the show pen, but her prowess as a breeding horse was nothing short of remarkable. All we can hope for now is that her legacy will continue to live on through her sons and daughters, and we have every reason to believe that it will.”