Quinby Demmitt

A farmer by trade, Quinby Demmitt learned the value and thrill of owning fast horses.

Following his father’s death in 1928, Demmitt, his mother and sister moved to Meade, Kansas.  Demmitt farmed and raised wheat, corn, grain sorghum and cane.  He also raised Angus and Hereford cattle.

In 1935, Demmitt and two associates built and operated a cattle auction barn known as the Meade Sales Company.  Ten years later, Demmitt owned several hundred head of horses from the Matador Ranch in Texas, and sold his interest in the sales company.

Demmitt competed in tie-down roping at the professional level in the Rodeo Cowboys Association, and enjoyed match races.  One of his favorite horses was Miss Reed McCue, by Reed McCue.  She was unbeaten in match races and lost only a few times in scheduled races.  The bay mare produced five AAA running horses for Demmitt including Impudent, Arrive, Arrived and Jayhawker Bar.

Demmitt was a member of the AQHA Board of Directors from 1953 to 1971, and was named an AQHA Honorary Vice President in 1972.  He served three years on the youth activities committee and 13 years on the racing committee.

The roper was a director of the Kansas Quarter Horse Association and was a founder and the first president of the Kansas Quarter Horse Racing Association.  In 1951, he spearheaded the inauguration of the Kansas Futurity.

Demmitt died in 1992 at 85, and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1994.

Biography updated as of March 1994.