The horse that Jo Flieger calls “the greatest Quarter Horse that ever stuck a nose under a wire”—Shue Fly.
Written by Jo Flieger, May-June 1944
I have heard the “oldtimers” brag about Possum—that famous running Quarter Horse of bygone days who was “tops” down in east Texas. His blood is to be found in most of the really good Quarter Horses we have today. Also Peter McCue, who has a world of supporters, as the greatest of the great. Not being an “oldtimer,” I can’t testify about the greatness of those earlier Quarter Horses, but I will, if I live long enough, be able to tell a great deal about what I believe to be the greatest Quarter Horse that ever stuck a nose under a wire.
I am referring to Shue Fly, belonging to the Hepler brothers, Charles and Elmer, of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Now I had to see this mare run to believe that any horse could come from behind and catch Clabber. Well, I—and some of my friends—found out the hard way by losing several dollars on a match race at Phoenix three years ago, when Clabber was in his prime. Not being satisfied, we tried again, with the same result. That made a “believer” out of me. I’ve been on Shue Fly’s bandwagon ever since. She has been beaten a time or two but not when the chips were down.*
Western Horseman 1944
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