"We were at a show in Burwell, Neb.",Pitzer recalls, " and Joe had Two Eyed Jack there. I was hitting the show circuit pretty hard at this time, and I asked Joe to consider letting me show him. He agreed, and we did a little more talking, a little more horse-trading, and I wound up with half-interest in the horse. " " I showed Jack for the better part of a year and a half and put a bunch of halter points and some western pleasure points on him.
By the end of 1964 he had earned close to 50 grand championships." In 1965 Pitzer and Lindholm decided that they needed to own Two Eyed Jack's sire, so they partnered once more and purchased Two D Two. A year later they traded again, and this time Two Eyed Jack became the sole property of Howard Pitzer.
"I had made the decision that I was going to find a way to own Jack by myself, free and clear," Pitzer says " I traded my half to Two D Two back to Joe, added some cattle, did a little more swapping and trading, and wound up with Jack.
I'd wanted him from the first time I'd laid eyes on him and I eventually got him." I just had to get him a Piece at a time."
Jack was shown until he was a 9 yr old. He stood grand at some of the most prestigious shows in the country and earned 217 halter points. A versatile, willing performer, he also accumulated 46.5 western pleasure, 7 hunter under saddle, 6 reining, 3 western riding, and 3 working cow horse points. He was awarded a Superior in halter and his AQHA Championship in 1964.
Most people think of Jack strictly as a halter horse, Pitzer says, and he certainly was a great one. But he was more than just that. He was an excellent performance horse, and the only thing that ever kept him from achieving as many wins in performance as he had in halter was that we didn't show him that heavy.
He was big, heavily muscled, but he still moved real light on his feet. If you were standing in the corral with him, and you had your back turned, he could walk up behind you and you'd never know he was there.
One year at congress, he won the versatility class and ran the barrels in record time after only 2 weeks training on them. Another thing he admired about Jack was that he was always so willing to do whatever you asked of him. And he'd do it with just the lightest little bit in his mouth. They used him for everything on the ranch, he could work a cow, as well as any other.
Pitzer said he's seen allot nice horses in the past all very nice looking but when it came to riding them, you had to hang so much iron in their mouths to even get their attention! Jack was never like that nor his descendants. He was special that way!
Given the outstanding show record that Jack had accumulated, there was a certain amount of speculation on part of the Quarter Horse show fraternity about whether he could succeed as a breeding stallion. That concern was put to rest in short order. From Jack's first small foal crop, which hit the ground in 1964, he sired
Miss Sunbonnet, who earned 179 halter points, and Katie Two Eye, an AQHA champion. His second crop included Two Eyed Scoot and Two Jack, both of whom were AQHA champions and Superior halter horses. From there it just took off.
To list just the open AQHA champions sired by Jack, 119 of them would require the better part of a small book. Add to that his 30 youth AQHA champions, 176 open and youth Superior award winners, 31 open and youth world or reserve world championship winners, and the book size swells to large.
His open world champion *GET* included Two Jack Two, Two Eyed Ted, Vallerina Miss, Two Eyed Dandy, Two Eyed Sox, Two Eyed Revenue, Miss Patty Jack, Mr Jack Prince, The Dallas Cowboy, Vickie Lee Pine, and Two Eyed Bartender. Among his more accomplished open halter *GET* were Miss Buckets-367 pts, Denver Jack-504, Jacks Tune-350, Acres High-301, Vallerina Miss-924, Chubby's Doll-533, Two Eyed Dandy-422, Miss Denver Dot-412, Two Eyed Revenue-175, Watch Joe Jack-225, Pep Up Jackie-254, Boots Jack-190, Lin D Two-161, and Vickie Lee Pine-237 pts.
His top open performance point-earners included Miss Buckets-271, Two Jack Two-168, Denver Jack-136, Jacks Tune-216, Jacks Pants-104, Two Eyed Bonus-160, Vallerina Miss-187, Cubby's Doll-107, Bucket Jack-143, Silver Poco Jack-103, Two Eyed Revenue-153, Watch Joe Jack-201, Two Eyed Donna-215, Two Eyed Del-319, Two Eyed Patti-163, Mr Jack Prince-594, Left Jack-165, Watch Lucky Jack-217, Two ID Patty Queen-119, Cubby's Jackie Jo-155, Two Eyed Tyree-129, Prairie Tom Jack-167, Two Eyed Blue Boy-167, Two Eyed Tune-113, Two Eyed Lady Jack-129, Sansarita Jack-140, Jackie Joann-137, Two Socks Jody-217, and Two ID Bartender-164pts.
Vickie Lee Pine a 1974 bay mare by Jack and Poco Coed, was the 1978 AQHA World Show Superhorse-the first such titlist. Mr. Baron Red took the same award in 1983.
Numbers alone could never even begin to tell the whole story of Two Eyed Jack and the Quarter Horse dynasty he began. His is one of the last great families of horses that could and did excel as halter and performance horses in many events. The Two Eyed Jack horses were horses whom almost anyone could get along with. Put in hands of top professionals, they were capable of winning world championships in a variety of events. Relegated to ranch and rodeo status, they excelled. Bred and trained by amateur horsemen, they performed with amazing consistency.
Two Eyed Jack passed away on Mar. 2, 1991 just 20 days short of reaching his 30th birthday. His legend and legacy have been profound. He sired 119 AQHA Champions. No other sire has even come within sighting distance of that mark. In today's climate of the specialized performers, it seems a safe bet to say that no horse ever will. But, then Howard Pitzer's big sorrel son of Two D Two and Triangle Tookie was not your run -of the mill foal, show horse, or sire. No matter what paying card he was named after, to all of those who have owned and ridden his descendants Two Eyed Jack was really a KING!
