The Percheron stallion Don Again, pictured in the prime of his life (and color). Don Again was the son of Don Degas, he by the foundation sire (and own son of Carnot) named Jehovah. Don Again was the sire of many champion Percherons and helped to establish Mr. & Mrs. Chas. Lynn's, Lynnwood Stock Farm, of Carmel, Indiana as one of the premier breeding establishments of its day.
During his time at Lynnwood, Don Again sired many notable offspring including the stallion Don Kaptif and the mare Nelly Don. His consistency as a sire helped Don Again and his sire Don Degas capture 1st and 2nd prize Get of Sire at the 1937 and 1938 International. His most prolific breeding offspring was perhaps the stallion Lynnwood Don, the grandsire of the great Drake Farms Chief. Drake Farms Chief’s dam, Lynwood Dixiana II, was the result of the breeding of Lynnwood Don and Lynwood Dixiana- both sired by Don Again. Drake Farms Chief, along with his prolific sons like Maverick, would become an instrumental horse in the famous breeding programs of the Art Bast Family, John Welti, and Mrs. R.L. Robinson. These programs would prove to change the course of Percheron history, each in their own right.
The breeding program of Mrs. R.L. Robinson, of Richland, Michigan incorporated the line breeding of Don Again through the use of the stallion La Rex onto the Drake Farms Chief Daughter, Miss Kazoo. La Rex traced his lineage to Don Again on both sides of his pedigree, and this cross would fundamentally transform the Percheron breed, with its impacts still being realized today. Miss Kazoo’s daughters, Princess and Countess, would ultimately go down as two of the greatest producers of their time. The Robinson’s would cover both to the imported son of Justamere Showtime, named South Valley Did-It. Princess, bred to Did-It a remarkable 15 times, produced numerous champion offspring; some of her notable progeny included, Valentine, Blizzard, Confetti, Champagne and of course the famous DID. Confetti was a dominant show horse in his time, and the stallion Blizzard ended up north of the border where he produced the sons General Lee (utilized successfully by Elkview Percherons) and Blizzard’s Little Comet (a stallion that produced many great-driving Percherons with the Condelichte prefix). The Valentine daughter, Autumn, would produce the champion hitch mare (who lead the Cedarfarm Percherons six horse hitch) named Cedarfarm Wixom. Princess’s daughter, Champagne, enjoyed a successful halter career, but is most well known as a champion hitch mare during her tenure at Pennwoods Percherons of Centre Hall, PA. Her son, Pennwood’s Cabernet was successfully utilized as herd sire at Farnham Percherons of Plainfield, Vermont. Still, it was the consequential breeding of DID to the John Hay bred mare, La Ruby, that resulted in the prolific stallion Mc Gee. Mc Gee, bred by Art Bast and Family of Hartford, WI, was a giant for his time and his use within the Bast and John Welti breeding programs gave the Percheron breed stallions such as M.G.’s Ukiah, Justa-Classic, M.G.’s Black Diamond, and the renowned M.G.’s Prince.
Princess’s full sister, Countess, would produce far fewer offspring than her older sibling, however her son, Count On It, and daughter, Midnight Contessa, would ensure that her influence within the Percheron breed would be felt for generations to come. Count On It would serve as herd sire for William Westbrook of Ohio, where he sired numerous winning offspring that carried the Buckeye prefix. Count On It is the paternal grandsire to Cottonwood Count, a horse utilized by the Torgerson family. Cottonwood Count is the sire of Torge Countess, who herself, is best known as the dam of the popular sire, Skyview Count On It. Countess’s daughter, Midnight Contessa, would remain at Robinson’s Percheron farm and produce the All American stallion Trophy, the Reserve All American Cousteau (sire of World Champion Glenview Cousteau’s Colette, Multi-National Champion and Multiple All American Ironwood Beauregard, and All American/Jr. National Champion Almost Heaven’s Wyatt), and the National Champion and Res. All American mare Camille. Camille spent her breeding days at Windermere Farms of Spring Mills, PA where she produced the 4-time All American, Windermere’s Cassandra (dam of World Champion Windermere’s Inferno), the All American Windermere’s Limited Edition, the 2-time All American and National Champion, Windermere King Cong (sire of World Champions, Madison, Skip’s Challenger, and BP Platinum and numerous National Champions), the Reserve All American, Windermere’s Trademark, and Reserve All American, Windermere’s Camilla.
The presence of Don Again in what is, quite literally, nearly every Percheron breeding program in operation today, is both a result of the presence of limited numbers of foundational breeding stock in the first half of the 20th century, as well as it is a testament to the quality and dominance of the sire, himself. Don Again’s influence is a conjunction of both the sire’s individual breeding greatness, and being in the right ownership, at the right times. The stories and on-going history of his prolific descendants, as well as their continual influence in the Percheron breed, has proven to mirror this blueprint.
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