Leverne Perry

Fast horses were Leverne Perry’s passion, and he dedicated a lifetime of service to ensuring their success. An all-around horseman who made his name in rodeo and racing, Leverne became executive director of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association in 1987 where he presided over the association’s inauguration of the Mardi Gras Futurity in 1988 and the first $1 million purse for the Breeders Futurity in 2012, both for accredited Louisiana-bred foals.

Leverne was instrumental in legislation allowing the expansion of gaming in Louisiana, which led to increased purses and breeder incentive funds. A fierce activist for Quarter Horse interests in the state, he was especially effective in political efforts to ensure that Quarter Horses got their fair share of the gaming revenue, which greatly boosted Louisiana-bred Quarter Horses and made the state-bred program one of the most lucrative of all states.

Born January 4, 1932, Edward Leverne grew up in the bootsteps of Jesse, a cowboy who taught his son the ideals and skills that shaped his life. As a teenager, Leverne began roping and rodeoing and always had an eye for fast horses. He dismounted long enough to serve with the U. S. Army in Japan. Returning home to rodeo, he saddled a fast horse, picked up his twine and roped calves across the South and at Madison Square Garden. The 1960 Louisiana state champion all-around cowboy, Leverne was later president of the Amicus Club Rodeo Association and inducted into the Louisiana Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2002.

As a breeder, he registered his first American Quarter Horse in 1967 and continued breeding mares for nearly five decades. He raised Louisiana champions and AQHA regional champions, and when his father wanted a race-bred mare, Leverne found the Sinn Fein mare Scoopie Fein for $1,000 for him and bred her to Streakin La Jolla. After his father died, Leverne named the resulting sorrel colt in honor of “the greatest man (he) ever knew.” The 1994 champion 2-year-old who grew into one of the breed’s top all-time leading sires of runners, sires and broodmares, Mr Jess Perry through August 2023 has sired 165 stakes winners and the earners of more than $60 million, including world champion Apollitical Jess and eight other champions.

Leverne cofounded the LQHBA Youth Scholarships. He also hosted the Saturday morning television show “Leverne Perry and the Little Wranglers,” which ran nine years in the 1960s, and he served as auctioneer at numerous fundraising events for youth. He also helped establish the first therapeutic riding program in central Louisiana and worked with special-needs children at St. Mary’s School in Alexandria.

Leverne received the LQHBA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 and entered the association’s Hall of Fame in 2016. His efforts were not limited to the Bayou State, however. He served on the AQHA Racing Committee and the graded stakes and other subcommittees, and spent no little time and effort boosting the industry anywhere he could, for which he received the Gordon Crone Special Achievement Award in 2011.

Leverne was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2023.