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Southern Horseman Magazine
Larry Thorton
It is strange how fate can play such a key role in our lives. We go on living day to day and then suddenly something will happen to change our lives forever. The story of The Invester is one of fate stepping in to control this great stallion's destiny.
It all started when the stallion Three Storms died suddenly, leaving the George Parki Quarter Horse program with the dilemma of no breeding stallion. The logical thing to do was find a new breeding stallion. So Parrdi sent Jack Benson to find the right stallion.
On the way Benson ran into a weanling stud colt at Jerry Wells' place in Oklahoma. The colt caught Benson's eye and it was apparently love at first sight. Benson was able to talk Pardi into buying the young stallion and fate shown brightly on the unproven colt.
The stallion Benson found was The Invester bred by Eldon R. England. Benson's faith in The Invester was rewarded when the young stallion won the yearling class at such shows as the Houston Livestock Show and the San Antonio Livestock Show.
The next step for The Invester was a short stint at the track. E. R. Beddo trained The Invester but didn't start the horse on a recognized track. They found the young stallion to have speed and a good start but he didn't have the stamina to run out a distance.
The Invester under Benson's watchful eye, would blossom into a very good show stallion. He became a Superior halter horse earning 53 points and a total of 29 Grand Championships and 16 Reserve Championships.
The Invester, in the performance arena, became an AQHA Champion with points in cutting, reining, hunt seat and western pleasure. He had 2 cutting points, 8 reining points, 9 western pleasure points and 2 hunt seat points. He missed the NCHA Futurity Semi-Finals by 1 l/2 points.
Fate was at work again in 1973 when George Pardi dispersed his Quarter Horse operation. According to Pardi, the sale was necessitated "because Uncle Sam was concerned that the horses were a hobby."
The pending dispersal presented a dilemma for Jack Benson. The Invester could be sold and the trainer would be without his horse. But Pardi remedied the situation by selling The Invester to Benson for $25,000. That was $5,000 down and the rest to be paid over four years.
After the dispersal Benson and his new horse moved to Irvin Catchman's place at Bellville, Texas. Benson would stand The Invester and share in the profits with Catchman.
A young trainer named Brad McCamy and Benson would form Stallions Unlimited in 1977. But by 1979, the writing on the wall indicated that something had to be done to keep things going. So The Invester was syndicated. They broke the syndicate down to 60 shares with Stallions Unlimited retaining 20 of those shares. The rest were sold to breeders around the country.
During the next few years Stallions Unlimited would stand such top stallions as Hobby Horse and Red Dee Hobby alongside The Invester.
Fate would make its next major impact on The Invester when Benson died in a car crash on January 18, 1989. The death of Benson would finally separate the man from his horse. Life was looking pretty bleak for the horse that had risen out of obscurity. The Invester had become a major force in the pleasure horse industry.
With the death of Benson, The Invester and the Stallions Unlimited facilities were put up for sale. This brought The Invester into contact with Dan and Carol McWhirter of Doniphan, Nebraska. The McWhirters were looking to replace their senior sire The Big Investment, a son of The Invester. The Big Investment died unexpectedly leaving the McWhirters with a big void in their breeding program.
Dan and Carol and their new partner Wayne Atchley would finalize the purchase of The Invester in January 1990. They formed The Invester Syndicate and The Invester came to central Nebraska.
Although fate had ended a great association between The Invester and Jack Benson, it had come back to put The Invester in the very capable hands of the McWhirters and Atchley, thus giving the aged stallion a new lease on life.
The McWhirters and Atchley are actively putting together a band of mares that will fit The Invester to insure his last foals will be the best possible legacy for this great stallion.
Whether you want to call it timing or fate, The Invester was destined to be more than just a good sire. He became a great sire of pleasure horses, a stallion that may have done more for the modern pleasure horse than any other horse in the country.
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