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Brian and Lisa Fulton bought A Streak of Fling (Streaker) in October of 2003. “Brian retired off the (rodeo) road in 2001 when he blew his knee out,” recalls Lisa. “He couldn’t find the type of horse he wanted to rodeo on while he was rodeoing, so his idea was to find a stud that he thought would produce rodeo type horses and raise our own.” Lisa laughs as she admits she figured she would be 100 before he found the stud because Brian was so picky. “We found him in October and we were shipping cattle – so Brian didn’t have a lot of time to go look.” Jerry Sipes had advertised Streaker in the back of the Speed Horse magazine in two lines and no picture. There were a lot of people that called on him but did not buy him.
Jerry Sipes bought Streaker off the race track from Jack Marley. “I had him for six months and I bought him for three reasons – He’s the only sire I’ve seen that is colored like that – it’s like looking for a movie star – there’s something unique about them – in Streaker’s case, he was from an exceptional race horse named Streakin Six – he was a great big stout 16 H, 1,300 lb. race horse. His mother, a mare named Moon Fling, had a speed index of 102 AAAT. He’s the prettiest bay roan you’ll ever see.” When Streaker was a long yearling, Jerry had an offer to buy him, and he turned it down. Streaker qualified for the Blue Ribbon Futurity, but cracked a tendon bone and was scratched from the Finals. The horse showed great ability, but still made money. Jerry has no regrets selling Streaker to Brian and Lisa. “The horse went where he needed to be and I doubt anyone in the country would have promoted that horse as good as Lisa and Brian did. I’m thrilled they spent the money to promote him and invest in him the way they did. It takes lots of guts.”
Brian was dragging his feet to head to Oklahoma City to look at a stud right in the middle of fall cattle work. “I bought Brian a one-way ticket to Oklahoma City and had phoned Billy Etbauer and to see if he could pick Brian up and then also called John Rothwell whom was in Texas and headed back to Nebraska and asked him if he could call Brian and if Brian bought the stud could John come through Norman, OK to pick them up.” Brian and Billy looked at the horse, and Brian dickered with Jerry. They then left for coffee and took some time to think it through. “Brian bought him with the condition that he could take him home and ride him before Jerry cashed the check.”
Brian and Billy were longtime good friends, and for Billy, it was a simple act of kindness. “I was picking a friend up and looking at a horse – it was fun to see Brian and it helped him out. I could never have imagined – but I’m glad it worked out that way – that would be a guy’s dream. Thankfully it all worked out – it was a tough decision for him and a lot of kicking the dirt, but it all worked out.”
John Rothwell was hauling calves from that area. “I was in the truck south of Oklahoma City when Brian called me – he always knew how to get things done. He said he was trying to buy this horse and I met him in Oklahoma City. We sat there for a couple hours while Brian got the sale done. We threw the horse in the back of the trailer and we drove all the way back to Brian and Lisa’s ranch.” Streaker was loaded in the dark into a canvas topped stock trailer that had the last gate plyboarded off at the end of the trailer; he was sharing the ride home with calves. “He was in the back – he got the cold spot,” said John, who was hauling calves back to Nebraska. They drove straight through and got home and unloaded Streaker. That was the story – Streaker came home in a cattle trailer.
Brian rode him the next day and called Jerry and told him to cash the check. Brian had Streaker roping in the indoor barn less than 8 weeks after the 700-mile trip from Oklahoma to South Dakota. “To come off the track and transition so easily into roping – he can run and he has a brain,” said Lisa. “Sometimes when they come off the track they are frazzled. Streaker was easy for Brian to train.” The first year Streaker stood in Ainsworth, Nebraska and bred 100 mares at $1,000 a pop. Thirteen years later the fee has gone up to $5,500.
The first weanlings were sold in Kearney, Nebraska, in 2005. The first riding 2-year-old was the 2007 crop which included 23 Streakers between weanings and 2-year-olds. There were a total of 66 horses on the sale that year. “We were still standing our Frenchmans Bullet stud and sold 7 head out of him,” said Lisa. There was no sale in 2006, which was a good thing. “The weekend that we should have had a sale was the weekend that Brian had his first brain tumor, 9/11/2006. Fortunately we didn’t have a sale.” The sale continued for two more years in Kearney and then moved to Valentine, NE in 2009.
2010 was the last year Streaker stood in the north country, Ainsworth Vet Clinic with Dr Chris Finney 2004-2010, seven years. “We moved Streaker for Business reasons to Oklahoma where we thought more people could view him. We knew we had to get him in the horse mecca world,” said Lisa. “The James Ranch stood A Streak Of Fling for five years and then the boys & I moved Streaker the year after Brian passed to High Point Performance Horses in Pilot Point, TX in July of 2016.” 2013 A Streak Of Fling booked full for the first time. “We closely monitor the number of mares Streaker breeds each year. He is a very fertile stud and has been a plentiful producer. We will continue to breed him until he tells us it is time to retire.”
“One day A Streak of Fling will come home to retire with us here at the ranch when he stops producing.”
For now, he continues to prove his genetics with offspring taking contestants to the past six Wrangler National Finals Rodeos. “Breeding with brains, along with speed is obviously Streaker’s game.” concludes Lisa about Streaker. “I want to thank all the people that believed in us and had faith in us and Streaker when we first started standing him and all the breeders, buyers and trainers that continue to believe in Streaker. “The dream of a cowboy of finding the right type of stud to help bring more rodeo type horses into our part of the world are the reasons for Streaker’s prominence in the Horse World.”
