Registration:  ApHC #3277
Foaled:  1958
Died:  1967
Color:  Chestnut

Sired by Flying Sergeant and out of Forry's Babe McCue (AQHA), Booger Chief was foaled in 1958. The chestnut colt soon became one of the most successful horses on the Appaloosa show circuit, amassing an impressive record before an injury at the 1960 National Show threatened his career.

With grim prospects for recovery, the stallion returned to the arena after a year of healing and treatment, becoming the Champion Three Year-Old Stallion at the 1961 National Western Stock Show. That same year, Booger Chief entered training as a reining and pleasure horse. Among his accomplishments are three championships in junior reining, the 1963 Champion Performance Horse title and Reserve World Champion Performance title, a world stake race record and multiple titles in some of the most prestigious stock horse shows in the United States.

At the 1965 Houston Livestock Show, Booger Chief was named Grand Champion Stallion, Champion Cutting Horse, Champion Pleasure Horse, Champion Reining Horse, and Reserve Champion Performance Horse, displaying a degree of versatility that is rarely seen today.

In a mysterious incident at the 1967 show in Fort Worth, Texas, Booger Chief was drugged by an unknown assailant. The horse died of severe complications.

{This article, and accompanying photograph were originally published in the Appaloosa Journal, May 1997, Vol 51, No. 5, "Appaloosa Hall of Fame Appaloosa icons honored" and are used here by permission.}

Copyright © 1997 Appaloosa Horse Club. All rights reserved.