Roman’s Straw Man stood out as a stallion ahead of his time. He had a balanced body and easygoing attitude, both of which he passed on to hundreds of foals.
Appaloosa Horse Club Racing Hall of Fame member J.E. Baker of Oklahoma City bred the Quarter Horse mare My Straw (ID) to Hayes’ Roman Cloud, a stallion now in the ApHC Hall of Fame. J.E. then sold the mare in foal with Roman’s Straw Man to David Best of Cassopolis, Michigan.
The mare foaled the blanketed chestnut colt on February 10, 1971. J.E. then purchased the colt back as a yearling. Later the stallion came under the ownership of Randall Hambrick of Marietta, Oklahoma, and then DKG of Alachua, Florida, which moved to Aubrey, Texas.
Roman’s Straw Man raced as a 2-year-old, earning $4,187.22 and an official ApHC record of 3-1-1-1 with a third place stakes finish in the Texas Futurity after setting the fastest time in the trials. He also made AAA time on the track before retiring from running at the end of his first season.
Although he impressed the Appaloosa racing crowd, Roman’s Straw Man made the biggest impact on the breed as a sire of halter, performance and race horses.
He sired 439 foals. His racing get collected a total $116,904.74 on the track with 26 starters, 12 winners, two stakes wins, four stakes places, six racing registers of merit and one racing bronze medallion.
He sired 116 performance horses that collected 5,395.1 points and 134 halter horses that earned 3,009 points. His foals have collected 207 registers of merit, five have earned 11 halter superior event titles, nine club championships, eight versatility championships, 51 bronze medallions, eight silver medallions, 31 bronze superior achievement certificates and one silver superior achievement certificate.
Roman’s Straw Man won get of sire six times at World and National shows during the late 1980s.
The stallion died in 1991 at the age of 20.
