In
Memory of "THE INVESTER"
1969 - 2002
Text and photos with permission from:
Dan & Carol McWhirter
Dan McWhirter Quarter Horses
www.danmcwhirter.com
It is sadly that
we share the news that The Invester was euthanized February 28, 2002, due to old
age. We had a wonderful twelve years together and we will miss him greatly.
The Invester was delivered to our farm from the late Jack Benson's ranch in
Brenham, Texas on January 3, 1990. From that day forward it was understood by
all that we worked for him. A dignitary had arrived to live with us. We
often referred to him as the "chairman of the board" and that description fit
him perfectly (see Quarter Horse Journal Legend's article April, 2000 pg 12)
Fate had brought us together. The Invester needed us to take care of him in the
autumn of his life after his long-time owner Jack Benson's untimely death.
We also needed
The Invester to add his superior genetics to our breeding program and fill the
void left by the loss of his son, The Big Investment (1980-1986, NSBA Hall of
Fame).
The Invester was a horseman's horse. Sound and straight legged with good bone
and his signature strong hocks. He was smart, athletic and the best of movers.
Prepotently, he stamped his foals with these same characteristics.
The Invester was the first pleasure horse sire to dominate the pleasure
futurities even before the NSBA was founded and official statistical records
were kept. Noted pedigree author, Larry Thornton, summarized The Invester's
influence in his February 1992 Southern
Horseman article "Whether you
want to call it timing or fate, The Invester was destined to be more than just a
good sire. He became a great sire of pleasure horses, a stallion that may have
done more for the modern pleasure horse than any other horse in the country."
Carol McWhirter
