Pictured is the Percheron stallion, Mill Creek Doc. Doc foaled May 13th, 1983 at the farm of Christ E. Raber in Baltic, Ohio. Mill Creek Doc was sired by the stallion Doc, a son of South Valley Did-It who was out of an own daughter of Drake Farm’s Chief. His mother, Count’s Dina, was a daughter of the stallion Ostralien’s Count, who was bred by Mrs. Barbara (Hays) Bower. Count was a son of Ostralien’s Kareno and out of the prolific mare Dot Hayworth. Percheron breeders who are careful students of pedigrees will quickly find that Ostralien’s Count, and his full brothers Ostralien’s Lavon and Ostralien’s Arbitrator, influenced the Percheron breed in ways that have far surpassed the recognition that they have received in our modern era of Percherons. Just a few generations back, on the far bottom side of Mill Creek Doc’s pedigree, you will find the likes of La Don and Enchanter.
The picture of Doc shown here was taken during the time that he stood at the helm as herd sire for Abe Raber. During this time, his most notable daughter was undoubtedly the mare Doc’s Priscilla. Interestingly, Priscilla was bred by Mrs. Barbara (Hays) Bower. Her dam was a mare named Koncarlaet’s Polly, a Koncarlaet’s Prince daughter. Polly was bred to Mill Creek Doc in 1990 and then sold to Abe Raber in 1991. Raber sold the mare to Jim and Peggy Mills a few months later, and at JP Farms, Polly foaled the mare Doc’s Priscilla. Koncarlaet’s Polly’s dam was the mare Ostralien’s La Mandy, a daughter of the aforementioned Ostralien’s Kareno and Dot Hayworth, making her a full sibling to Ostraliens Count, Lavon and Arbitrator. Doc’s Priscilla, closely bred to Mrs. Bower’s bloodlines on both sides of her pedigree, would be sold to Harvey Knepp, who later consigned her to the Eastern States Sale in 1993 as a coming two year old. There, Jim and Peggy Mills reacquired the mare. She was the second highest selling Percheron mare that day, bringing a healthy sum for the time at $8,000. The Mills would put Priscilla in their show string and in 1994 she was Senior and Grand Champion Percheron Mare at the National Percheron Show. That same year she was named the All American Three Year Old Mare.
In 1992 Mill Creek Doc was sold to Gary and Miriam Murrell, where he helped to shape the M.S. Percherons breeding program. One of the most influential daughters to come from Doc’s time with the Murrell’s was the mare M.S. Doc’s Ashley. Ashley was a daughter of the mare M.S. Missy Showtime, who was sired by the stallion Windermere’s Remington (he by Lincoln View La Rem). Nick and Cheri Wagner acquired Ashley in 1994 and although she gave them only one registered offspring, that would be all that was needed to establish a special place for the mare in the Percheron Stud Books. Her foal was a son of the famed M.G.’s Prince, whom the Wagner’s named All-Star’s Prince Rocket. It wasn’t until he was well within the prime of his years that the long necked stallion would gain momentum and recognition as a premier sire in the breed. In 2003 his sons, Rocket’s All-Star Valentine and Fairview Rocketeer, were named All American Yearling and Weanling Stallions, respectively. This would start a wave of All American contenders (and winners) sired by Rocket.
In 2005, another Rocket son, Rocket’s All-Star Flash, was named National Champion Percheron Stallion and All American. The following year, two daughter’s, Windermere’s Deidra and Windermere’s Glamor Girl, would be named Junior and Res. Junior Champion mares, respectively, at the World Percheron Congress in Lexington, Virginia, under judge Randy Robertson. This would begin a 6 year string of All American titles for Windermere’s Deidra, and during the same time frame she would receive a Supreme World Champion title (2008) and a Res. World Champion title (2010). In 2008, Rocket’s son, Windermere’s Inferno, was named World Champion Percheron Stallion alongside his half sister, Deidra. In 2010, yet another son was exhibited to high honors at a World Percheron Congress when Rocket’s All-Star Domino was named Res. Senior and Res. Grand Champion Stallion in Des Moines, Iowa that year.
In the years since, Rocket’s All-Star Flash has been named a multiple time Premier Sire winner and has sired several National Champion and All American offspring including Anderson’s Maverick and BP MacKenzie. Many will remember Rocket as an M.G.’s Prince son, but fewer will remember that he was out of a Mill Creek Doc mare. However, when you study a picture of Doc and compare it to one of Rocket, the heavy influence of Rocket’s maternal grandsire is undeniable.
Doc is another Percheron stallion of yesteryear who left the breed with a solid set of broodmares to carry on and produce subsequent generations of sire power. While we celebrate great sires of the past, it is imperative to contemplate the influence of the breed’s strong females, so we can make better-educated breeding decisions for the future!