PG . 30
AQHA FEATURE AQHA HIGHEST PLACED REGISTERED QUARTER HORSE
EQUAL WINNER HIGHWAY TO HELL Q-73584
AQHA BREEDER ’ S INCENTIVE - RAELENE HIGGINS
ARTICLE BY : LYN HOFFMANN © 2022 • PHOTOS BY : AUSTRALIAN HORSEMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
AS THE BREEDER OF HIGHWAY TO HELL Q-73584 , RAELENE HIGGINS , SAYS THAT WINNING THE AQHA BREEDER ’ S INCENTIVE WAS A REAL POSITIVE FOR HER , AND WHEN THEY RANG HER SHE WAS PRETTY STUNNED .
Being a breeder , I think it ’ s great that the AQHA have done something like this , not just to recognise the horse only , but to appreciate the various people that were a part of that horse ’ s life from start to competition . In our industry , you get people that come through and do the right thing by the horses and the people , and to be recognised for that , with an award as well , is just awesome .’
Raelene says that her whole breeding program has always been centred around breeding a good looking riding horse , for whatever someone wants to go out and do with it . She named her stud Authentic Quarter Horses after Authentic Roc — and has always had a real passion to breed those authentic types of Quarter Horses .
‘ Highway To Hell ’ s dam , One Hellofa Spin Q-42160 , in Australia and even in the USA , has done what no other hor se has done ,’ Raelene states . ‘ She has won back to back , NCHA Futurity – Derby – Classic – Classic , and she ’ s the only mare in Australia to have won our NCHA Futurity , and produce a Futurity winner .’
Zoe is one hell of a good looking mare , too , and as a Cutting horse , she blew their socks off in the pen . Her astounding athletic ability , and complete love for her work , drew the crowds and amazed everyone that witnessed her virtually unequalled talents . With her life time earnings of $ 153,202.13 One Hellofa Spin Q-42160 is the highest money-earning Cutting horse in Australia .
‘ Zoe is a very , very aware kind of horse ,’ Raelene says . ‘ She doesn ’ t trust a lot of people , she ’ s very aware of her surroundings , and didn ’ t always trust everything , and I think that ’ s what made her as good a Cutting horse as she was . Zoe ’ s mother , Rocs Stardust ( Q-6908 ), was not always trusting of things herself and I think that ’ s where Zoe got it from . Zoe was always thinking outside the box , and was consistently very intense on a cow — there was a lot of horse and a lot of cow to harness . I remember when Robbie Hodgman had her , and he mentioned that she was so cowy , she wanted to get up to a cow really quick and he said - ‘ I don ’ t want to lie to her , and I don ’ t want her to feel like the cow ’ s not going to go , but I just need her to wait that little bit .’
Raelene ’ s had people say to her that she ’ s very lucky to have had such a good horse . She says that she ’ s now had two great horses in her life , and is very thankful for them both . When it came to breeding Zoe , Raelene knew that only the very best would do .
‘ My goal for Zoe was to try to breed her to the highest profile stallions in America that I could , and I ’ m very particular with what I choose . The one thing that I always believed in is that , with Zoe — it wouldn ’ t matter what I bred her to , if it was halfway decent , it was going to be competitive . I ’ ve always put a huge belief in my mare , and I felt like it was always my duty to breed her to the very best horses that I could afford to breed her to . Dual Rey was and still is a very high profile sire , and he ’ s such a great , great horse . We ’ d previously bred Zoe to Dual Rey and got a very good filly that we named Reysn Hell , which we kept . We purposely bred Zoe back to him again in 2010 and that ’ s how we got Highway To Hell .’
Raelene says that when he was born , Highway To Hell Q-73584 was a cute and cocky little fellow , and that ’ s why they called him ‘ Rooster ’. With the bloodlines he carried , the flashy colt had everything going for him .
‘ I loved everything about him from the day he was born and always thought he was very special ,’ Raelene says . ‘ I always had in my mind that I ’ d sell him , but it ’ s hard in our industry when you do sell , you can only hope that they ’ re going to get the opportunity they deserve . I decided that I was going to give Rooster the start that he needed , and then I was going to send him through the Nutrien Sale . Being in that sale comes with great incentives . It ’ s another opportunity , another string to someone ’ s bow , and those Nutrien guys do an amazing job .’
After Rooster was broken in , Raelene sent him to Hugh Miles for sale preparation . At the sale , there was
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