Greta Samwel: LOCAL COLUMN: Bob Moore Norman's transformational horseman

Dec. 9—Lest we forget, lest we forget the impact of Bob Moore on the American Quarter Horse and his role in establishing Norman Oklahoma's dot on the map of international horse racing and polo playing.

There were fast horses in Norman 134 years ago. About 30,000 of them lined up along the perimeter of the unassigned lands including the south side of the soon to be Norman, Oklahoma.

In April 1889 the horses sprinted across the Canadian River. The men on the fastest horses won. They staked their claim on 160 acres.

But before the 89ers there were other fast horses. The legendary Chickasaw rancher Montford Johnson would challenge neighboring Comanche & Kiowa nations to games in the "Ten Mile Flats" below the cliffs of the Canadian River on the west side of Norman.

Montford would hold competitions with his Chickasaw ponies, pitting them against Comanche and Kiowa Ponies — all of which were the precursors to the modern American Quarter Horse.

Guess what? The man with the fastest horse won these competitions as well.

On the very same cliffs above where Montford raised and raced his ponies in the 1870s and 1880s Oklahoma City Cadillac dealer Bob Moore established Bob Moore Farms and Rock Creek Polo Club in the early 1970s.

His goal was to raise racing quarter horses and polo ponies that no doubt held some of the bloodlines from Montford's string of 90 years earlier.

Bob was as savvy a businessman as a horseman. With rapid growth in Norman he developed the original farm location into the current Rock Creek Polo Club housing addition at the corner of Robinson and 48th Street NW.

He moved the farm in 1978 to its current location along the Canadian River south of Norman. An avid polo player he established Broad Acres Polo Club to the west of the farm.

Broad Acres Drive off of west Robinson Street is named in honor of his polo club.

He was visionary in his horse breeding. He bought polo pony mares from Argentina to ride and play. When their careers came to an end he bred them to his racing quarter horse stallions.

The resulting offspring were quick of foot. They accelerated like the quarter horse, but had the endurance of the Argentine ponies.

Another trait of the quarter horse was passed to this new line of Moore bred polo ponies — the ability to stop, roll back and change directions almost instantaneously. They would then take the correct lead coming out of the roll back allowing them to accelerate or "break" into playing speed within a stride or two.

I was Bob's veterinarian for 20-some odd years before and after his passing in 1998. I loved working for him.

He would stop in the barn most mornings at 7 a.m. during breeding season. Phillip Stewart, Bob's legendary farm manager, always had a hot pot of coffee brewing. He would hang out with us while we palpated mares. We would talk horses.

Bob called me one day about this time of year in 1991 he said "Joe, I need you to vet a horse for me."

"Vetting" a horse meant a veterinarian performing a pre-purchase wellness examination to evaluate the horse's health and soundness for continued competition.

RARE FORM was an undefeated 2-year-old stud colt in the fall of 1991 at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. He had six wins in six starts, but he had a tenuous medical history.

His trainer Sammy Valdivia had bought RARE FORM as a yearling the previous fall.

He brought him to his ranch in Sallisaw and turned him out in a pen. RARE FORM promptly ran into the top rail of a fence crushing his nasal bone and sinuses. He required surgery and rehabilitation leaving him behind in his training. He made up for it that fall.

The injury left his face mildly deformed. He had a "dished out" look that would make him resemble an Arabian horse more than a Quarter horse.

Bob was undeterred by his medical history or $75,000 price tag. He had liked how he had overcame adversity. "This horse has heart," Bob told me.

I drove over to Sallisaw and performed my pre-purchase exam on RARE FORM. We x-rayed his legs and performed an endoscopic airway examination.

I had my concerns. I was worried the injuries from his accident were "ticking time bombs." I was worried his race career might be limited because of them.

Boy, was I wrong. It only cost Mr. Moore $125,000.

The next spring RARE FORM came to the recently opened Remington Park Racetrack in Oklahoma City.

He ran in the trials of the Remington Park Derby. He smoked the field winning his trial with the fastest time of all the trial races. He earned a stunning speed index of 119. He was now priced at $200,000.

I received another call from Mr. Moore. "Remember that colt you vetted for me last fall at Sallisaw that had run into the fence?" I said, "yes sir." "Can you vet him for me again? I really like that colt. He is a good honest race horse. He has heart."

I said, "yes sir. I'll get it done tomorrow."

Mr. Moore was always classy. He was a people person with a great smile, a sense of humor, a computer mind and a photographic memory.

He never gave me any grief over my bad call nixing the purchase of RARE FORM the previous fall. Finding no worsening on his radiographs and endoscopic evaluation on my second exam I wholeheartedly endorsed his purchase.

He went on to win the Remington Park Derby and over $275,000 in his lifetime. He was named American Quarter Horse Association Champion Three Year Old in 1992. He earned millions in stud fees as well, as a breeding stallion after his retirement from racing.

There are so many horses and so many stories about Bob Moore. Honestly, I am surprised a book hasn't been written about him. He passed away 25 years ago.

The farm that began in 1963 in Wichita, then moved to Norman and is still operated by his wife and family thrives today. Their stallions HES RELENTLESS and FDD DYNASTY are leading national and international sires.

We look forward to seeing Mr. Moore's legacy continuing for years to come.