Lifetime Achievement Award
ABRA Hall of Fame

Orange Passion: The Equine Program

Linda Cline’s life has taken many unexpected turns, but it always seems to turn out for the best. Along the way, she enjoys opportunities to share her blessings with others. She met her future husband, Charlie, on a blind date in 1954, when Linda was in high school and Charlie was a junior-college cadet at Claremore’s Oklahoma Military Academy. They married three years later, and remained together until Charlie passed in 2012. They also raised two children and had plenty of professional success. 

The couple joined Charlie’s brother, Neil, to establish and run Cherokee Lines trucking company from1963 until 1990. The business thrived, peaking at more than 100 trucks and even more trailers, hauling across t h e 48 contiguous states. The Clines moved from Oklahoma City to Cushing in 1967. In 1985, they purchased the country acreage on which they planned to retire. The next year, they bought the 17 horses that established Char-Lin Ranch, now a renowned producer of registered quarter horses and Angus cattle.

Char-Lin Ranch grew to more than 2,500 cattle and 300 horses, earning more than 200 world and reserve world championships before downsizing in recent years. Neither Cline attended OSU, but they credit much of their success to the faculty’s willingness to visit the ranch, working with and teaching them. They fell in love with the institution where their daughter, Amy,earned a journalism degree and their son, Cary, sent his two daughters.

With OSU helping Char-Lin Ranch establish such a successful beginning, the Clines immediately started helping the equine program. Along with donations, they opened their ranch to student tours and hired countless OSU students. They also allowed the Department of Animal Science to use their animals for teaching opportunities, judging team practice, clinics and contests. They even donated several world-class horses to improve the genetics of OSU’s teaching herd and endowed a professorship.

In 2014, Linda made a major gift to fund the state-of-the-art Charles and Linda Cline Equine Teaching Center. It includes a teaching barn with stalls for foaling mares, a small indoor arena, classroom, conference room, feed and tack room, a wash rack, treatment area and offices. OSU Extension Services can host workshops and learning opportunities for students, 4-H clubs and FFA chapters, as well as the general public.

Linda was recognized by OSU with two major awards in 2015. The Department of Animal Science presented her the Distinguished Service Award, and she was named a DASNR Champion. Cline supports many non-OSU causes as well, including the Right Path Riding Academy, which provides therapeutic horseback riding for those with special needs. She also supports Special Olympics, as well as Love, I.N.C., which helps people in need and purchases Christmas presents for children. Another cause close to her heart is Shiloh Camp, a day camp for inner-city children in Oklahoma City. First United Methodist Church of Cushing benefits from Linda’s service on the finance committee as well as her baking and floral-arrangement expertise. Linda also established a youth scholarship through the American Quarter Horse Association.

JJM Sunny Pine is a 1997 dun stallion and is a KBHA western pleasure futurity champion as a 2 year old, an ABRA World Champion in 3 yr old western pleasure, a Superior western pleasure horse and an ABRA champion with his extra points being in trail.

To date he has sired 81 ABRA, IBHA and several PtHA World and Reserve World Champions plus 9 World Show All-Around saddle winners.

He has also sired an All American Quarter Horse Congress Top 3 winner among countless ABRA/IBHA Honor Roll Champions and year end award champions in multiple states.

He was bred by John Murnane, owned, shown and promoted by Tracy Hockett Moore and is currently owned by Tim Scott of Anderson, Mo.

Meet Favored by All, a 2009 ABRA Buckskin Stallion sired by A Good Machine out of Bar Lights Lady, bred by Billie J Snip out of Golden City, MO. His impressive show record includes 19 Open ABRA points, ABRA Champion, ABRA Performance Versatility, ABRA Supreme Champion, ABRA World Show Awards, and 2011 Reserve World Champion 2-Year-Old Longe Line. He has sired over 55 offspring, all with impressive show records, including siring multiple World & Reserve World Champions.

Ken became involved with the American Buckskin Registry Association (ABRA) in April 1991, after his first Buckskin filly was born. Ken and his wife Deb became very involved with the Oklahoma Buckskin Horse Association (OBHA) in the next few years, showing and serving on the Board of Directors.

In November 1999, during the ABRA Convention, Ken and Amy Cain embarked on a mission to move the ABRA World Show to Tulsa, OK. This initiative, which they had been working on in collaboration with the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, was a testament to Ken’s proactive approach and his ability to drive significant changes within the organization.

In 2000, the World Show moved to Tulsa, where Ken took over as its Manager, managing all aspects of the show. At that time, the World Show team mainly consisted of volunteers.

As the show grew, the ABRA started hiring workers for the show, and Ken stepped back from the board position to become show manager, dedicating his time to that position.

When Georgi Jones resigned from the ABRA in 2008, the office was moved from California to Oklahoma. The ABRA BOD asked Ken to take her position on the Board.

Ken has worked hard to make each world show better than the one before. ABRA now has 282 classes in the world show, 8 futurities, 20 saddles given for the All-Around awards, and 5 saddles for reserve All-Around. We have gone from 280 stalls to 400 stalls. A Job well done by all ABRA board members over the years.

The parameters for this award are closely related to the influence and contribution a stallion makes to the American Buckskin Registry Association. With over 200 registered foals in the US, Dun Goin Steady, aka Tex, has made an enormous contribution to the color industry by producing get that are willing, versatile, and beautifully built.

His offspring are winning AQHA awards, NSBA World Champion titles, IBHA and ABRA multiple world titles, and futurities nationwide. His dam, Spring Rock Gold, was an ABRA All Around champion herself winning 8 ROMs, AQHA points and awards, and Western Pleasure Futurities. Her sweet disposition came through in Tex; he continues to put the nicest minded citizens you’ll ever find on the earth.

Tex earned 17 points in his first Western pleasure class in 2006 with Stephen Stephens on board and the 3 yr old WP futurity. It was the best day of our lives to watch him win that day. Our hopes and dreams had come true. Now 20 years old, he is still going strong in the breeding shed and producing some of the finest-looking horses on the planet.

We want to take this time to thank the many supporters, clients, customers, and horse families that have proudly shown their babies, bred back their mares, and continued to be the best advertising there is just by showing up with their wonderful equine partners in and out of the show ring. You are the reason we are here today, so thank you.

I nominated Amy Cain for this award, knowing she would humbly accept and try to resist, but I insisted. Over the past two decades, I have worked closely with Amy on the ABRA Board of Directors, at conventions, and during the ABRA World Show every year. I have never seen someone work so hard to protect the integrity of ABRA and also be a part of its incredible growth and success at the same time. Her devotion to this organization is second to Georgi Jones, our first Hall of Fame inductee.

I have witnessed her tirelessly pour over numbers and reports year after year to keep us on track with our stewardship of the financials, her career as an Accountant has served us incredibly well, and we are lucky she is willing to share her talents with us. Amy was there my first year on the board and has been there ever since. Her historical recollection has protected us from making past mistakes over again. Also, it keeps us grounded in our quest to preserve our forefathers’ ideals moving forward in the color industry.

When you see Amy at the world show, tip your hat, give her a wave, and let her know we appreciate her because, as you all know, this is purely a volunteer position!

~Gena Loper