Carol Harris, the first president of the New Jersey Quarter Horse Association, has passed away at age 98.
She was a pioneer in many areas, but perhaps is best known in connection with the stallion Rugged Lark, whom she raised, owned and promoted.
Carol Harris. (Photo courtesy of American Quarter Horse Association)
A native of West Orange, Carol was involved with a variety of breeds. Her first horse was a Standardbred pacer that she converted into a trotter. She also showed Hackney ponies, Arabians, Saddlebreds and Tennessee Walkers, and got involved with quarter horses in 1960s.
She moved to Bo-Bett Farm in Florida, where her breeding program started with Judy Dell, a granddaughter of Hall of Fame member Poco Bueno. The mare produced 19 foals for Harris, many of whom had immense influence on the Bo-Bett breeding program.
Judy Dell’s first foal, Eternal Dell by Eternal Sun, became the first stallion on Bo-Bett Farms in the late 1960s. Eternal Dell sired Majestic Dell, another of Bo-Bett Farm’s great stallions. Majestic Dell sired nine AQHA Champions.
She mixed Thoroughbred bloodlines into some of the Quarter Horses. Really Rugged (TB) by Rough’n Tumble out of Ruddy Belle by Errard was used to complement Eternal Dell at stud. Really Rugged was the sire of the legendary Rugged Lark. In 1968, Carol’s homebred, Francies Hat, ran in the Kentucky Derby.
Carol was one of the first women to be named an AQHA judge and judged for 25 years. In 1981, she was the first woman to judge at the AQHA World Championship Show. She was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1997.
The past president of the Florida Quarter Horse Association, she helped establish the East Coast Cutting Horse Association, and was an approved judge for the National Reining Horse Association, National Cutting Horse Association and the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s predecessor, the American Horse Shows Association.