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From: Anne Barrett - received 12-27-2003

Howdy,

Here is the article on Ole Sourkraut and the Barrett Children that was featured in the August 2003 issue of the American Quarter Horse Association Racing Journal.

BY JENNIFER K. HANCOCK

In 1976, while the U.S.A. was draped in red, white and blue in celebration of 200 years of nationhood, an American hero was born in Oklahoma. Instead of a cape or tights, this hero wore a red roan coat, walked on four legs and occasionally flew down the stretch.

Bred by Tomey Wieburg, whose daughter is Jockeys’ Guild president Tomey Swan, Ole Sourkraut finished first, second or third 30 times in 56 starts for $6,002. Not bad, but not exactly superhorse stuff either.

The 22 years that “Sourkraut” has spent away from the track have been his most impressive.

Stepping off the track to become a ranch horse and barrel racer, the Jet Deck Junior gelding eventually found his way to Candy Henderson, whose brother Patrick Weisbrod was a star polo player at Colorado State University. Using speed from the track, Sourkraut helped the CSU team win the intercollegiate national championship.

At 27, Ole Sourkraut continues to be a trustworthy mount for the entire Barrett clan. (Photo by Gavin Ehringer)

Billy Jack Barrett, the manager of the U.S. Air Force Academy Equestrian Center in Colorado Springs, knew Sourkraut as a foal and followed his progressing career. In 1983 when Barrett needed a safe horse for a three-star general, he turned to Henderson.

Sourkraut didn’t disappoint and continues to be a reliable mount for dignitaries 20 years later. 

“I kept Sourkraut from then on, using him to put world leaders on for safe mountain trail rides,” Billy Jack says. “I’ll bet Sourkraut has safely carried more influential dignitaries and generals on rides than any horse in history.”

Barrett is proudest of the horse’s influence in the life of his own VIPs.

In August 1988, Ole Sourkraut became an official member of the Barrett family when his registration papers were transferred into daughter Krista’s name for her ninth birthday.

Ten years later he would change other kids’ lives as well, after the Barretts were contacted by a child psychologist about a child who needed a mentor. 

“I knew Sourkraut could do more for this boy, who had been written off by the system as a total lost cause, than all of the modern medicines and counselors in the institution,” Billy Jack says.

He was right. The boy was Dusty, who along with his sister Daphne were adopted by the Barretts in 1999. The family’s story, including Ole Sourkraut, has been featured on ABC’s “20/20.” The successful change in the kids’ lives led the Barretts to adopt two others as well. The now 27-year-old gelding continues to carry the family’s eight kids – Krista, Rachael, Dusty, Jennifer, Daphne, Rebecca, A.J. and Clara – on trail rides, over jumps and in speed events including barrel races, pole bending and team penning.

“He’s used for everything,” Anne Barrett, Billy Jack’s wife, says. “He is one of those truly unique horses that adjusts to whoever is on him.” 

From the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers to a child with a troubled past, the kind gelding is an ambassador for the American Quarter Horse.

American Quarter Horse Racing Journal August 2003