Born 7-28-26.  Some years we do a fun theme for names. This year for Top Gun Whiskey we are continuing with Top Gun Call Signs from the original 1986 movie and the 2022 movie. Our other stallions will have the names of Rock Bands from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Kansas is an American progressive rock band formed in Topeka, Kansas, in 1973, known for hits like "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind."

It is very fitting that this filly was the last one born and closed out this year’s theme of rock band names for her owners, Jodie and Warren.  The above songs sum up Jodie’s ‘brain journey’ from a 2024 brain tumor removal and her perseverance to be where she is today. The story behind ‘Dust in the Wind’ is that it is a deep philosophical and spiritual reflection on human mortality and the briefness of life. The lyrics, ‘Carry on, my wayward son, there’ll be peace when you are done’ is a comforting reminder to persevere through life’s hard battles and emotional storms; accepting uncertainty and pressing forward anyway even though at the end of life we are ‘dust in the wind’.

‘Kansas’ is a smoky grulla filly with a star and undetermined leg markings at this time. Her dam, Chex Mix Mega aka Chex is a 91% NFQHA (F0039285) solid grulla mare. We are beyond pleased with her.  We bought her mama, Megas Lil Starlight in foal to Smart Charcoal Chex and really hit the jackpot with this sweet filly.  We had long admired Weninger Quarter Horses program and drooled over the foals by their stallion Indigo Mega.  So much of Meg’s pedigree speaks for itself and it has many favorites of ours and a few lines that are new to us. We have long wanted Hollywod Jac 86 and Mr Joe Glo; love the Joe Cody in a couple of our other mares; of course there is the Poco Bueno in there; Doc Quixote, Colonel Freckles and we cannot forget Grays Starlight. If you follow our program at all, you can see we are pretty high on Paddys Irish Whiskey and he is a full brother to Grays Starlight. And all this in a great grullo package as a bonus. You can study further on Indigo Mega by clicking his name. Her sire is Smart Charcoal Chex from the Ammon Ranch here in North Dakota and with their permission this is some of the information from their website.  He is nominated with the SDRCHA making Chex eligible for their stallion stakes show and money.  He has qualified for the NRCHA World show in Limited Open Bridle in 2011-2015 and also AQHA World Show qualified in Ranch Horse Pleasure.  He is out of a money earning and producing mare named Miss Reed Chex by Bueno Chex and has produced 6 performers. Chex’s first foal, Chex Cody Topsail JW, went with a repeat buyer in CA. Her 2023 foal, Carnelian Topsail JW, was absolutely outstanding and went to KS. Unfortunately her 2024 grulla foal, Jupiter Topsail JW is now deceased. Her 2025 foal, Smaug Topsail JW, sold and also in KS.

Kansas is from the 2nd foal crop of our young, home raised stallion My Bluestem Drift JW. He is 91% NFQHA and eligible to register.  He does carry a copy of the cream gene which he will pass on 50% of the time. He is the result of a very good experiment we tried; breeding his dam to his sire, Walter O Rielly aka Radar. Radar was a foundation stallion we had purchased several years ago to get some fillies to retain back for our program. Within the first few years, we discovered we really liked his foals for ourselves as saddle horses. He became a great addition to our program and had 12 foal crops for us. He brought older foundation lines to cross back with our Paddy's get. Radar threw BIG foals that could cover a lot of ground with amazing laid-back dispositions. Most of his offspring have gone on to be ranch horses, with a few rope and barrel prospects too. We then decided to breed one of our favorite ranch mares we used, My Kittys Belle JW, and cross with Radar in hopes of getting some foals we just knew we would want to keep and ride. My Kittys Belle JW’s mother, My Little Kitty, was owned by Barbra Kennedy Johnson and was given to Ella. Belle’s sire was our late 96% NFQHA stallion, JK Jay Reed, who was a consistent producer. We really liked Bluestem and always thought of him as a stallion prospect and replacement for his sire. We were very picky and waited a long time for a Radar replacement and then we had Bluestem! We didn’t need him yet, so he was sent to training as a 2 year old, started under saddle, became quite well broke, did some ranching and was well into his roping training by spring of 2024 when his sire passed at the age of 24. It was time to bring him home to fulfill his place in our program. Bluestem is deeply rooted in our program with JK Jay Reed, Walter O Rielly, My Kittys Belle and My Little Kitty. 2026 is Bluestem’s second foal crop. As we do all our horses, we evaluate after a few foal crops. We like what we see so far.

Kansas is the 1st foal from this cross. She is 91% NFQHA eligible to register. She should have the athletic ability to be able to shine in or out of the arena. We plan to keep her for ourselves. Her color panel results are EE aa N/Cr D/nd2.  This means she will never produce a sorrel, palomino, red dun or dunalino.

“Don’t miss a chance to GET ON BOARD with a BLUESTEM BABY!”

Foal is eligible for the Iowa Quarter Horse Association Ranch Horse Futurity.

Genetic & Color Results

Sire Genetic Results

Dam Genetic Results