To determine members eligibility for inclusion in the homepage Hancock Horse Breeders Directory, breeders must use or own *10% (or higher) Joe Hancock bred horses. Horses with less than *10% Joe Hancock bloodline, are considered Hancock-influenced.

How to Calculate Blood Percentages:

Each generation provides a value:

1. 1st generation = 50% each
2. 2nd generation = 25% each
3. 3rd generation = 12.5% each
4. 4th generation = 6.25% each
5. 5th generation = 3.125% each
6. 6th generation = 1.5625% each
7. 7th generation = 0.78125% each
8. 8th generation = 0.390625% each
9. 9th generation = 0.1953125% each
10. 10th generation = 0.09765625% each

You can see the pattern: Each generation is half the value of the previous generation.

FOR EXAMPLE: If you have a pedigree with Joe Hancock once in the 4th and 5th generation, twice in the 7th generation, once in the 8th generation and then four times in the 9th generation, it would be: 6.25 + 3.125 + (2 x .78125) + .390625 + (4 x .1953125) = 12.109375 or 12.12% Joe Hancock blood.

Do Your Horses Qualify for Hancock Horse Breeders Membership?

Our readership comes to HancockHorses.com to research and buy breeding stock and performance horses that carry a significant percentage of Joe Hancock blood, who also possess the positive physical and mental traits attributed to that bloodline.

In the beginning, we allowed some breeders membership based on breeding programs that were more Hancock "influenced" than Hancock "bred".

Because of a number of membership requests from individuals whose breeding stock carries less than 3.125% Joe Hancock blood, there was a need to come up with some basic guidelines to help breeders determine if their breeding program is truly Hancock "bred".

Many breeding programs influenced by Joe Hancock produce high quality individuals that are successful in the show ring, rodeo arena, on the ranch and out on the trails, but are they Hancock "bred" programs?

Can some of your breeding stock be calculated to carry 10%*, or better, Joe Hancock blood or show a significant bloodline percentage to one of Joe Hancock's influential sons or grandsons? (Buck Hancock, Red Man, King County Joe, Texas Bluebonnet, Lowry Boy 36, Blue Valentine etc)

A very well known and beloved Joe Hancock "influenced" Quarter Horse was Rugged Lark, 2X AQHA Superhorse, and sire of two AQHA Superhorses, as well as having earned other accolades and performance earnings. His dam Alisa Lark has two lines to Joe Hancock for a bloodline percentage of 9.375, which gives Rugged Lark a Joe Hancock percentage of 4.68%. Is he considered a Hancock "bred" horse or used in Hancock breeding programs? No.

To view Rugged Lark's pedigree. http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/rugged+lark

An example of a Hancock "bred" stallion crossed on a strong but unrelated dam line to produce an individual with superior performance horse traits would be the 1998 gelding, Freckles Taz, a top NFR quality heel horse ridden by Allen Bach. Freckles Taz's sire is linebred Joe Hancock (17%) and linebred Blue Valentine (31.25%). His dam has no lines to Joe Hancock. Had Freckles Taz been left a stallion would he be considered Hancock "bred"?

His Joe Hancock percentage would be 8.5% and his Blue Valentine percentage 15.625%. Put to Joe Hancock bred mares, his dams outcross blood may have been considered a way to preserve hybrid vigor, without significantly lowering the Joe Hancock or Blue Valentine blood percentages. Bred to mares with no Joe Hancock blood, Freckles Taz's get would be considered Hancock "influenced".

To view Freckles Taz's pedigree. http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/freckles+taz

Buck N Badger is an example of a horse that was bred specifically to maintain high percentage Joe Hancock blood (26.56%) as well as high percentage Buck Hancock (31.25%). He was bred to preserve the best of Joe Hancock. Whether he had been born a mare or stud, Buck N Badger was a horse meant to influence the next breeding generation of Hancock "bred" horses. His conformational traits and disposition also allowed him to earn 9 open AQHA reining points at the age of 17. He had not been shown since he was a youngster and to make a comeback at an age where most performance horses have long since retired cannot be overlooked. Used in an outcross program his get would still carry 13.28% Joe Hancock and 15.625% Buck Hancock blood. His contribution to a Hancock "bred" program would be significant.

To view Buck N Badger's pedigree. http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/buck+n+badger

A stallion or mare with one or two lines to Joe Hancock and less than 6.25% blood cannot be seriously considered Hancock "bred" regardless of quality or performance.

This same individual would have to be bred to a horse carrying a minimum of 13.75% Joe Hancock blood for the offspring to maintain the 10% Joe Hancock minimum. Can your breeding program meet these very basic guidelines?

In the beginning we allowed a very open membership, but today we do ask breeders to confirm their program in this area before they ask to join the Hancock Horse Group and to be listed in the Breeders Directory.

Maintaining a minimum 10% blood average is no easy task. Joe Hancock was foaled in 1923 and died just two years after AQHA was formed in 1941. To find quality breeding stock, all these years later, that can contribute a sizable percentage of blood takes determination and a love of these horses. Even with AI and embryo transfer certain desirable crosses will not be possible.

Many of our members have spent considerable time and money, not to mention years dedicated, to search out, breed, promote and offer for sale the best of the Joe Hancock bloodlines.

This is why HancockHorses.com was formed. It gives breeders a website where they can network with other breeders to find and market their stock. It gives people who may not have the connections made from years of experience, or lucky enough to be born into "Hancock" quarter horse breeding families, to obtain information without having to rely on word of mouth or outdated printed material. Nobody looking for a true Hancock Horse wants to have to wade through dozens of websites marketing Hancock bred(?) horses, that have very little Joe Hancock influence.

We hope people whose horses boast lines to an AQHA Hall of Fame stallion will always take pride in the influence Joe Hancock has had on the quarter horse breed in all venues. But keep in mind what makes a breeding program and an individual horse, truly Hancock "bred".


*10% - The minimum bloodline percentage of an individual horse, considered by many breeders, likely to have a physical influence on a breeding program. Some breeders may have determined that, for their own programs, 10% is too low and require breeding stock with higher percentages.

We may, at our discretion, still support, recognize, or otherwise allow certain membership priveleges to Hancock "influenced" programs based upon merit… years of quality breeding and excellent reputation within the quarter horse community.

We are more than happy to help individual breeders determine if they meet our basic bloodline requirements.