HOLLYWOOD COTTON

Golden Palomino Stallion 1959 – 1976

Hollywood Cotton is number 1/1 of the AQHA.UK Association stud registry. Being probably the first American Quarter Horse Stallion to enter this country, he is the clear choice for the first article in this series on influential characters in the early years of the American Quarter Horse in Britain.

Cotton was bred in New Mexico, from a long line of burnished golden palominos – a colour, apparently much sought after in those parts. His grandsire was the legendary Hollywood Gold, who was also the great grandsire of the million dollar sire, Hollywood Dun It.

Hollywood Cotton started his cutting training at the early age of two and in 1963, he was sold on to Alberta, Canada where, as a four year old and having competed in numerous shows, he became one of Canada’s (Open) Top Ten Cutting Horses, a remarkable achievement for such a young horse.

Within the year, he had been spotted by Colonel and Mrs. Moseley, who were touring Canada in search of a Quarter Horse stallion to bring back home. They wanted not just any stallion, but a palomino, and the talented young Hollywood Cotton fitted the bill perfectly. By 1965 he was standing at stud in England at Seals Farm, Chippenham, siring polo pony foals for a long list of eminent supporters such as her Majesty the Queen, H.R.H. Prince Phillip, the late Colonel J. Bullen, and The Countess of Westmoreland to name but a few. The Comedian Jimmy Edwards was to become one of Cotton's long term fans, using him as sire to his polo ponies - he used to call them comic names with pins and needles and items associated with cotton in them. One of his biggest achievements was to sire a whole team of polo ponies owned by the late Mr. W. Holden-White who, in fact, bred over twenty polo ponies by the stallion. Some of these played regularly at Cowdray Park.

In 1970 Cotton gave a very impressive cattle cutting demonstration in Mr. and Mrs. Loriston-Clarke’s indoor arena, ridden by Mrs. Jane Holderness-Roddam – (nee Bullen). She has fond memories of the stallion to this day.  She says of him, “ I do remember Hollywood Cotton very well. He came to stay at Brockenhurst for a while and had the most wonderful temperament - a real gentleman. He was a lovely palomino colour and a Champion Cutting Horse - very quick and agile - and, in fact, it was he who taught me the art of cutting. My sister Jennie (Loriston-Clarke) and I thoroughly enjoyed riding and cutting on him while he was with us.”

Hollywood Cotton stood at stud at Seals Farm for over seven years, until the death of Mrs. Kay Moseley, when a suitable home had to be found for him. Colonel Moseley and his groom, Mr. Leslie Kemp, decided that the ideal home would be with Commander and Mrs. Fox at their small stud in the New Forest. He was given on the understanding that he should never be sold. Cotton must have had a most enjoyable life in the Forest as he spent the next years, in the words of Laurette Fox, “riding out regularly over the Forest, sometimes keeping his hand in at cutting and rounding up a few stray cattle. When he was ridden in the depths of the fir plantations he really seemed to change, perhaps imagining he was back in Canada again.”

In 1972, the now famous Hollywood Cotton spent a week in London, taking part in the famous Personality Parade at the Horse of the Year show, ridden by Laurette Fox, one of several such parades he had attended. He kept busy during the stud season, covering more mares than ever and, in those pre A.I. days, the stud became too small for all his visiting mares so the Fox family moved to their long term home in Dorset, later to be renamed ‘Cottonfields’, after its famous resident. Cotton was soon to be joined at the new stud by Max Charge, a lovely pure bred mare who had been presented to H.R.H. Prince Phillip in 1964 by the Canadian Government and who had been used, up until then, for polo.

From now on, Hollywood Cotton covered an ever increasing number of pure bred mares, including Max Charge, as the breed became better known and more Quarter Horses were imported and bred. Some of these mares visited the stud en route for the U.S, Australia, New Zealand and Germany and elsewhere, resulting in talented progeny in eleven different countries.  Over the years he sired, not just Quarter Horses and polo ponies but champion palominos, and childrens’ show ponies. His stock became BSJA show jumpers and were used for hunting, eventing and western showing. One of his daughters, Catherston Cotton Flower qualified and took part, at four years old, in the Hack class at the Horse of the Year Show, ridden by Mrs. Jennie Loriston-Clarke. It should also be remembered that Cotton introduced the American Paint over here when he sired seven coloured foals out of Diablo, a Thoroughbred cross mare. These were registered with the American Paint Horse Association.

Everyone who knew Cotton marveled at his wonderful nature. Looking back, Laurette Fox comments that if you fell in front of him, he would carefully step over or round you. He was completely trusted and trustworthy with small children and animals. Hollywood Cotton suffered a sudden and unexpected heart attack in his stable in November, 1976. He simply lay down peacefully and died – the perfect gentleman to the end. This was a complete body blow to his owners. In Laurette’s words,”He left a gap that could never be refilled.”

Hollywood Cotton completed twelve full seasons at stud in England and helped to promote the Quarter Horse in many different countries. In the years after his death, his youngstock were distributed all over the world. He was the inspiration for his owner, Mrs. Joan Fox, to become one of the driving forces in setting up the British Quarter Horse Association in 1974. Without him this might never have happened.In the words of Laurette Fox, “I think it is perfectly true to say that Hollywood Cotton achieved more in just under 18 years than most horses achieve in 30!”

With thanks to Miss Laurette Fox, Mrs. Priscilla Leigh and Mrs. Jane Holderness-Roddam for their help with this article.