Overview

Few stallions in any discipline have reshaped a sport the way Colonels Smoking Gun reshaped reining. Known universally as Gunner, the diminutive 14.2-hand sorrel with the bald face and blue eyes became the most influential reining sire in history — an outcome few would have predicted for a horse whose excessive white markings initially barred him from AQHA registration altogether. Bred by Eric Storey of Henegar, Alabama, and sired by Colonelfourfreckle out of Katie Gun, Gunner was registered first with the American Paint Horse Association before AQHA revised its rules to accommodate horses of his colouring. That early bureaucratic hurdle became something of a footnote against the legacy that followed. Purchased by Tim and Colleen McQuay of McQuay Stables in 2005, he spent the remainder of his life at their Texas facility, where his breeding career reached a scale the sport had never seen. At the time of his death in 2017, Gunner had become the NRHA's first $14 Million Sire — a record built not on a single extraordinary crop but on decade after decade of consistent, elite-level production. His sons and daughters dominated the sport's major aged events across multiple generations, and his genetic influence now flows through the pedigrees of today's leading sires, including his sons Gunnatrashya and Gunners Special Nite, both of whom became major sires in their own right. The combination of Gunner blood on both sides of a pedigree has become one of the most sought-after crosses in contemporary reining breeding. His impact did not end with his death. Frozen semen continues to be available via ICSI through McQuay Stables, and Gunner offspring continue to earn at the highest levels of the sport. He remains the NRHA's all-time leading sire.

Breeding Summary

Breeding is by ICSI, contact owner for details and contract.

Breeding Details

Breeding Availability

Genetic Health Testing