Dr. Glenn Blodgett, who managed the 6666’s horse division for 40 years, has passed away.
The ranch announced the news on its Facebook page on Sunday, releasing the following statement:
“It is with great sadness the 6666 Ranch announces the passing of Dr. Glenn Blodgett. Doc to all who knew him, has managed the horse division for forty years. His impact on the performance horse industry and the quarter horse itself, will likely outlive us all. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him, and deeply mourned by his 6666 family.”
As a veterinarian, horseman, and educator, Dr. Blodgett has left an indelible mark on the ranching industry. His contributions will be felt for generations to come. He was a longtime RHA member and in 2017, he was the recipient of the National Golden Spur Award.
In recognition of his nomination and award, the following article appeared in the Summer 2017 issue of Ranch Record.
Dr. Glenn Blodgett
Text by Richard Chamberlain, Photos by American Quarter Horse Association
Dr. Glenn Blodgett has traveled a long way in his 68 years. Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle town of Spearman, he hangs his hat in his home on the Four Sixes Ranch at Guthrie, Texas, 90 miles east of Lubbock.
Blodgett, or “Doc” as some people call him, is the resident veterinarian and manager of the historic ranch’s horse division. A soft-spoken man with an easy smile, dry sense of humor and steely spine, Blodgett has mapped his own path, a route that has taken him not only from a family farm to the top of the American Quarter Horse industry but also across the continent and around the world.
“I love to travel,” says Blodgett, who lives in remote King County (with a population of about 300 people) but has visited most of the states, Canada, Mexico, England, Australia and South Africa. “I enjoy seeing things all over the world. I don’t enjoy the cities as much as I do being out in the country, and when I’m in agriculture areas, I’m always paying attention to barns, sheds, feed troughs, fences—particularly fences, because I’m big on safety and I’m always looking for a better, safer fence for a horse.”
Ranch Resume
Learning the value of hard work early, Glenn Blodgett grew up working on his father’s farming and stocker cattle operation at Spearman, where they leased grassland and ran cattle on wheat pasture. Before he reached high school, he had pretty much decided on the route his life would take.
“I enjoyed the ranch country and became attracted to the ranch way of life when I was young,” he says. “I grew up in town, but I really wanted to work with the livestock—the cattle and the horses. My dad always had me helping out with the harvest and some of the busier times of the farming operation, but just as soon as he’d cut me loose, I’d be out helping with the cattle operation.
“We had a man named Dale Hawkinson who had a big influence on my horsemanship skills and interests. He kind of taught me how to handle cattle and horses. I spent all the time I could with him and the livestock, and from the time I was about in the eighth grade on, I got really focused real strong on that way of life.”
In the manner for which he is now widely known, Blodgett set his sights early and began working diligently toward his goal.
“When I was a freshman in high school, I bought a broodmare, a daughter of Billy Clegg,” he recalls. “Dale Hawkinson had a Billy Clegg mare, and I thought I’d like to have one, too. We found one, so he and I kept those two mares together. The horses we used on Dad’s cattle operation were geldings that we bought. So I got into the breeding business at that time with Miss Sandy Clegg.”
Glenn received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University, where his wife Karen also earned her degree. He then went on to earn his degree in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M University and has since been recognized as an outstanding alumnus by both universities.
After graduating from veterinary school in 1974, Blodgett spent a couple of years at Dr. Ed Murray’s Spur Veterinary Hospital in Spur, Texas. Then he put in half a dozen years at the Hansford County Veterinary Hospital in Spearman.
Blodgett and his wife were high school sweethearts, though Karen was a student in her hometown of Gruver, Spearman’s hardcore rival. The couple has been married 48 years and have two daughters: Buffie Guynes, a pediatric nurse who lives with husband Michael and daughters Catherine, Rebecca and Claire in Keller, Texas; and Brandie Mustian, who is in promotional products and branded apparel sales and photography. Mustian lives with husband Mike, son Maddox and daughter Myla in Weatherford, Texas.
Equine Background
Blodgett was appointed to the Texas Racing Commission in 1988 and provided considerable input into the monitoring, construction and operation of the first pari-mutuel racing facilities in Texas. He served as the commission’s vice chairman from 1993 to 1995.
In 1990, he was named the Equine Practitioner of the Year by the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, cited as being a driving force behind the Texas Racing Commission’s adoption of medical rules, policies and procedures.
Blodgett began representing Texas as an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) director in 1991 and was elevated to director-at-large in 2011. He has been a member of the AQHA Stud Book and Registration Committee since 1991, including serving as chairman. He was also a member of the AQHA Hall of Fame Selection Committee from 1995 to 2009.
Blodgett received the 2011 AQHA Racing Council Special Recognition Award and was inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2013. When he was elected to the AQHA Executive Committee in 2012, Blodgett was the first equine veterinarian to serve as a member of the Executive Committee. He brought a different perspective to the committee, along with his wealth of experience and respect in a wide cross-section of the horse industry.
“As a veterinarian, I think one of the things that I can provide perspective on is making the best decisions for the welfare of the horse and ensuring that we have the highest standards of care for all American Quarter Horses,” Blodgett said at the time of his election to the Executive Committee. “I’ve been privileged to serve on the Stud Book and Registration Committee, and many of the issues that we have discussed concern the integrity of the breed and maintaining the value in the registration of our horses. I believe those are crucial considerations for the Executive Committee in the next five years.”
Blodgett served as AQHA president during the association’s 75th anniversary in 2015. Some of the areas of focus during his AQHA presidency included member growth and retention outside of core AQHA activities, such as rodeo, roping and barrel racing enthusiasts who ride American Quarter Horses; breed sustainability through responsible, knowledgeable breeding for a versatile horse; ensuring solid member communication among all segments; and fiscal responsibility.
Blodgett was also instrumental in getting the AQHA Ranching Heritage Program solid on its feet and was the driving force behind the medication rules, policies, and procedures adopted by the Texas Racing Commission.
Accolades and service opportunities that followed Blodgett’s AQHA presidency include being named an American Association of Equine Practitioners Distinguished Life Member in 2016 and serving on the American Horse Council Board of Trustees.
“You are always striving to do what you think is right, and you always want to do better,” he says. Being honored by others “is one of the fruits you can enjoy if you’ve been doing a good job and doing the right thing.” Knowing that others agree with him and think he’s done the right thing “really means a lot to me.”
The Four Sixes
Blodgett has been at the Four Sixes Ranch since 1982 and oversees all the veterinary and reproductive services as well as horse breeding and management responsibilities. In his tenure at the Four Sixes, the ranch has become an all-time leading breeder of both racing and performance American Quarter Horses and won the coveted AQHA Best Remuda Award in 1993.
The Four Sixes Ranch, which is an AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeder, is part of the famous Burnett Ranches LLC, which is among the most storied family-owned businesses in Texas history. It was started by Capt. Samuel “Burk” Burnett in 1868 when he bought 100 head of cattle with the now-famous “6666” brand. (The oft-told story that Burnett won the cattle in a poker game by laying down a hand with four sixes is not true.) The ranch, which now stretches more than 310,000 acres, is owned by Anne Windfohr Marion, a third-generation descendent of Burnett.
In addition to its cattle, the horse operation sets the highest standards for racing, performance and ranch horses. The foundation stallions at the ranch have included Joe Hancock, Hollywood Gold, Grey Badger II and Cee Bars. With a racehorse breeding program that has been headed by world champions and leading sires Dash For Cash and Special Effort—both American Quarter Horse Hall of Famers—the Sixes now has a very deep stallion roster headed by Mr Jess Perry.
A leading sire ever since his first crop went to post nearly 20 years ago, Mr Jess Perry is the sport’s No. 3 all-time sire by money earned and was sixth last year on the list of all sires by money earned. The list was led by his own sons, One Famous Eagle (owned by AQHA Past President Johnny Trotter) and Apollitical Jess, the former of whom also stands at the Sixes.
As a young man, Johnny Trotter aspired to be a cowboy on the Four Sixes. Now he is in business with the ranch and Blodgett.
“When you talk about Dr. Blodgett, you have to talk about credibility,” Trotter says. “He is one of the most credible guys in the industry. There is a certain amount of respect and trust that goes with each and every partnership and business relationship. The horse business is more of a reputation-based business than it is just a horse-trading business, and that is a pretty fair assumption with Glenn Blodgett.
“He has a reputation, and it’s not all about making a quick dollar on a horse. First and foremost, he’s a fine person, with all the integrity and credibility that goes with it, and second of all, he’s a good businessman, good horseman and tremendously successful veterinarian. Speaking for myself, I consider being associated with him to be one of the biggest honors of my life.”
In 2011, the Burnett Foundation awarded a $2.5 million challenge grant to the Texas A&M Foundation for the Equine Initiative and established the Glenn Blodgett Equine Chair. The Equine Initiative is a collaboration between the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Science Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University to establish the premiere equine program in the nation, build a program that will graduate industry leaders, and generate research and veterinary medical care to improve the equine industry and welfare of the horse.
Growing the Job
“When I first came to the Four Sixes, I had no idea that the job was going to lead into what it has become,” Blodgett says. “At the time, I had the idea that it was more animal-health related. I like the opportunity to do both things: the animal health—equine health, for the most part, but a lot of cattle, too—but also management of the horses. I really enjoy the care, breeding and marketing and all of that stuff that goes in with the horses. That part has always really interested me.”
When he was hired, the idea was that Blodgett would breed and raise horses on the ranch. In 1993, the decision was made to expand the ranch services to the public and get back into breeding American Quarter Horses for racing. “When I first came here, we were liquidating the last of our old racing broodmares,” he says. “We just had our ranch horses, and we built and expanded our facilities as we needed them for ourselves. But as things progressed, we made the decision to get back into racing, as well as western performance horses, and over time it has just kind of grown into what it is today.”
What Blodgett runs today is a first-class, multi-tiered operation with Four Sixes race-breds winning championships and Grade 1 races on the track, performance horses taking championships in arenas across the nation, and working horses so sought after that the horse sale each September attracts buyers (and lookers) from all over.
“There’s a great deal of pride and a sense of accomplishment when you can look back at a good horse and remember two or three or four generations of breeding that you’ve been involved with,” Blodgett says. “It’s a big, big-time feeling. And that’s with any kind of horse—racing, performance, whatever. On the racing side, when you are involved in selecting and then racing one, that’s a real degree of satisfaction; but when you are actually involved in the breeding process, it’s an even more satisfying feeling. Here at the Four Sixes, being involved in some of those decisions and actually performing some of the work involved in doing it—the artificial insemination, the embryo transfer in some cases—is extremely satisfying.
“And that’s whether it’s with our own horses or for our clients, because we like to see other people successful, too. It’s the real good success stories that drive people into the business, keeps them there and keeps everybody happier. Proven performance is your best advertisement.”
Speaking of happy . . .
“I feel very fortunate to work here,” he says. “We have a lot of good people who really try to do the best job they can. I’m fortunate that I’ve always felt like I have a job that I really like and enjoy. I think that helps anybody do a better job. If people enjoy what they’re doing, they just do a better job overall.”
And speaking of people doing good jobs . . .
“I’ve been pleased with some of my accomplishments, but I want to do better,” he says. “I want to raise better horses, I want to be a better employee here, I want to be more productive, I want to serve the overall industry better, and I want to serve my profession better. And I want to continue to be a good husband, good father and, now, grandfather.”
“I couldn’t have done it alone,” Blodgett concludes. “There are just so many other people involved—my family, co-workers, employers, mentors. And horses. We’ve been very fortunate to have been involved with some of the best stallions and mares in the breed. There are just an awful lot of individuals that have played a role in the whole thing, and it has been quite a ride up to this point.”
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RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN is a noted American Quarter Horse historian who was employed with AQHA for more than 30 years. He now freelances from his farm near Waco, Texas, where he also enjoys watching his grandchildren grow up.
