HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE - A Tribute to a Champion - Whizz Peppy

Whizz Peppy is one of those horses that prompt the nurture versus nature debate. The 2001 gelding has earned over $70,000 in prizemoney and is to date the highest money earning reining horse in Australia and there is plenty of discussion on either side of the debate. Of course with every horse his success is dependent on a combination of both. Breeder, Charles Kalnins did his research and took an educated bet on a newly arrived Reining stallion that he put over a well bred, athletic mare. Kalnins also had the wisdom to send his horse to two of Australia’s best Reining riders and trainers, first John Wicks and then Shaun Saunders who both recently competed for Australia at the Alltech FEI WEG in Normandy. This successful recipe worked and this is Whizz Peppy’s tribute.

Whizz Peppy is from the first crop by the imported stallion, Whizzle A Melody. Ian Waldron’s stallion is by the number one all time Reining sire, Topsail Whiz and Whizzle A Melody, with progeny earning over $111,000 is the all time leading Reining sire in Australia. Interestingly of that, Whizz Peppy is responsible for over 60%. “I loved the style of Whizzle A Melody”, explains Kalnins, “I liked the style, athleticism and breeding of the horse and committed myself to breed to him for a number of years. Whizz Peppy is out of Winderadeen I’m So Fancy that is by the AQHA Leading Sire of Performance Horses for ‘92, ‘93, and ‘94, Little Peppy Doc. She has legendary Cutting sire, Peppy San Badger on her sire line and another Champion Cutting sire, Beggar Bingo, the first stallion imported to Australia by Winderadeen on her dam line. Not Reiners, but athletic performance horses. “I had I’m So Fancy for a number of years,” continues Kalnins; “she was a very nice mare with a beautiful temperament. I was in the business to breed Reining horses and temperament was very important”.

“Whizz Peppy was a great opportunity for me to show that’s for sure, but you had to put the work and effort in and he taught me a lot. He is retired at our place now and he is an affectionate horse; a real people person. We look after him and he gives a few Reining lessons. We have a few people who come up and ride him as a school horse and most of them have a smile from ear to ear. It really gives them a massive feel of what a Reiner should feel like, especially the 20 foot slides. Whizz Peppy is just so broke and so soft off your leg and so good in his mouth; he just gives them the feel of what it should be like.”

“The amazing thing about Whizz Peppy”, declares former Reining Australia Board Member and FEI 3* Reining Judge, Leanne Bartlett, “is that he competed at the highest, Open level for nine years. Reining is such a strenuous sport and he is such a big stopper and very good on his feet. He is a great personality and one in a million.”