“What started me out in the Quarter Horse business,” wrote Edward “Geech” Partin in a letter in 1977, “was when I was growing up, I read a lot about Steel Dust and other great Quarter Horses.”
Partin brought the first quarter-type horse to Florida in 1934. That first quarter-type horse was a stallion named Kip by Pal O Mine. Shipped to Partin in Kissimmee, by train, Kip arrived shacked up in a car with a herd of tail-chewin’ bulls.
“He was a ratty-lookin’ buggar when he got here,” Partin said. “I had lots of explaining to do about my great stud horse.”
Partin did not have to explain much of anything after the stocky little stallion started winning match races on Sundays after working cows on the ranch all week. The stallion sired a grand total of 15 foals, one of which was a 1941 colt named Adios Kip. Adios Kip sired Little Dick Priest, who in turn sired Go Dick Go, the 1966 champion 2-year-old colt and winner of that year’s All American Futurity.
Never straying far from the Little Joe lines, Partin bought Balmy L, out of Balmy Days by Little Joe. Balmy L sired 158 foals, three of which were out of the mare Misty Day by Everett (TB) – B Day, Little Misty and Misty B. B Day became an AAA runner, Little Misty was first-chair in Partin’s broodmare band and Misty B was one of Partin’s favorite horses. In 1962, Partin bought Balmy Whiz, a son of Whizaway.
Partin became an AQHA Director in 1946. He served on the AQHA stud book and registration, racing and youth activities committees. Partin served two terms as president of the Florida Quarter Horse Association and was a member of the Florida Horse Breeders Advisory Council.
Partin died in 1994. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1996.
Biography updated as of March 1996.