08/04/2026
Hope rising, from the ashes of a dream… 🤍
CKM Casanova Drifter (name pending).
CKM Eds Son Of A Gun x Cassie Jac
2026 AQHA Stallion Prospect.
It feels wrong, so soon after losing Spencer suddenly at the start of July, to begin thinking and talking about “replacing” him. Spencer was the pride of CKM. Home raised, and the final foal sired by our original stallion, Red Eddie Drift. We had hoped Eddie’s influence would define our program, for years to come, thru an own son. That dream died, when we lost Spencer.
Spencer was the kind of stallion around whom we could have shaped our developing program… as was the plan. He had a beautiful temperament, was exceptionally well built, and had great foot and bone. He was incredibly smart and sensitive, and our trainer described him as a lot of fun to ride. He was one of the very best foals we have raised, to date. A son of our Playgun granddaughter, Pistol, we knew he would have what it takes, to produce foals that could go on to excel on the ranch, or in the show pen. We had planned to cross our upcoming Gunner and Re*****on mares on Spencer, and continue to cross our Eddie daughters, along with any of Spencer’s offspring we retained, on Gunner and Rem… spreading Eddie’s foundation bred genetics thru the majority of our foal crops.
That all changed when we lost Spencer. Gone, is our one remaining Own Son of Eddie. He is irreplaceable… in our program, as well as in our hearts. But last weekend, when we brought this c**t home with Cass from her date with Riot Ranch’s “Gilbert”, we couldn’t help but notice how remarkably like his sire this c**t out of Cass truly is. Same build. Same foot and bone. Catty and athletic. And a wonderful, kind temperament, just like both sire and dam. Cass is one of our original mares, so she holds a certain sentimental value here. But more importantly, she is big b***d, well built, and is 95% Foundation bred. She is a proven producer here for us. She is also as sweet and kind as they come. We decided we would retain this c**t of hers, sired by Spencer, as a stallion prospect. He’s got some mighty big shoes to fill… it won’t be overnight, and the waiting game is torture - but we feel he could be up to the challenge, and have decided to allow him that chance. In retaining him, we hope to both preserve the foundation started here by Eddie, and continue forward, building with Spencer’s influence here in our program.
We will retain some Spencer daughters next season - Star, Ducky, Rio, Dreamboat, Creampuff, and Fergie have all been exposed to Spencer prior to our losing him. We have also retained Beth’s Spencer filly, born this season. We may potentially hold back a second son, as a stallion prospect as well, to evaluate them at 2-3 yrs old, and decide from there. But so far, we like what we see in this c**t. When we look at him, we see hope, rising from the ashes of the dream Spencer took with him when he died.
The loss of Spencer has changed things for us. But we will adjust and adapt… just like we had to do when we lost Eddie. One thing we know about the Driftwood and Hancock lines, is that the genetics are strong. Those foundation Quarter Horse stallions’ distant offspring continue to hold relevance, in today’s Ranching, Cowhorse, and Rodeo worlds. So, we will retain the Spencer foals that best fit how we envision our program in years to come, and we will go from there… trusting that those old foundation genetics will someday, speak for themselves thru Spencer’s offspring, and the Eddie mares we have retained over the years. The plan has changed somewhat, and the dream looks a bit different now. But we feel this c**t holds a hope worth waiting for.
Play safe, little man. We have high hopes for you…. 🤍
