Cutter Bill - Life

Life

The product of R. L. Underwood's linebreeding program for Copperbottom bloodlines, Cutter Bill was linebred to Golden Chief, a descendant of Copperbottom, a Thoroughbred foaled in 1828. His sire, Buddy Dexter, was extremely inbred, being the product of a father-daughter mating. To a lesser degree, Cutter Bill was also inbred to Tom (or Scooter) by Midnight. Registered with number 53,703 with the American Quarter Horse Association (or AQHA), Cutter Bill was a 1955 palomino stallion who was bred by R. L. Underwood of Wichita Falls, Texas and owned by Rex Cauble of Houston, Texas. Cauble bought Cutter Bill at Underwood's dispersal sale in 1956 for $2500.

Cauble broke Cutter Bill himself, and for the first couple of years used him as a teaser stallion for Cauble's more famous stallions like Wimpy P-1, Silver King, and Hard Twist. As a three year old, Cutter Bill was started on cutting and proved a natural at it. Cutter Bill was the National Cutting Horse Association (or NCHA), World Champion in 1962 and the NCHA Reserve World Champion in 1963, earning a total of $35,964.05 in NCHA competition. With the AQHA he earned the 1962 High Point Cutting Horse award along with AQHA Champion and Performance Register of Merit awards. He was also an AQHA Superior Cutting Horse. He was the second horse to win both the NCHA World Champion title and the AQHA High Point Cutting title, Poco Stampede was the first, but he was the first to do it in the same year.

Among his famous offspring were Cutters Indian who was the 1972 AQHA High Point Jr. Western Pleasure Stallion, the 1972 AQHA High Point 3 year old Halter Stallion, and the 1972 AQHA High Point Jr. Trail Stallion, Bill's Highness, Cutter's First, Bill's Jazabell, Cutter's Lad, Pecos Billie, Blaze Face Bill, Cutter's Streak and Bill's Loceta. Bill's Lady Day won the 1987 AQHA Senior Calf Roping World Champion title and Cutter's Rocket won two younth World Championships in working cowhorse in 1983 and 1985. Royal Cutter won the 1971 National Reined Cow Horse Association's Snaffle Bit Futurity and then later won the hackamore and bridle sweepstakes held by the same organization.

A neat little bit of trivia was when Rex Cauble lost Cutter Bill in a Seven Card Stud poker game at Stanmire Lake in Leon County, Texas to King T. Blake. The other attendees at the game were Joe Lee Thompson, Julian Wakefield, Ed Rutledge, Lee Thompson, and King's two sons Bennett and Norman who were fishing most of the time. King, being the businessman/gentleman that he was gave the horse back after two weeks but not before his wife "Audrey" rode him so she could go berry picking which antagonized Rex to no end. They (Rex and King) decided to trade it off at Blake's Farm and Ranch Supply on Highway 7.

He died in the fall of 1982. He was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame.