Joe Hancock, Joe Reed, Joe Reed II and Little Joe. The name “Joe” is synonymous with American Quarter Horse stallions. All the Joes were legends in their own right, and Joe Cody was no different.
Born in 1952, Joe Cody was by Bill Cody and out of Taboo by King P-234. Foaled on Tom Cochran’s ranch in Buckholt, Texas, the sorrel colt had a heritage to uphold.
Robert F. Roberts of Tyler, Texas, bought the sorrel colt in 1953, and registered him in 1954. With Doc Spence in the saddle, Joe Cody was an AQHA Champion by 1955. The sorrel was shown almost exclusively in cutting and reining, and always placed in the top three.
In 1964, C. T. “Tom” Fuller of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, bought Joe Cody and moved the stallion to Willow Brook Farms. Fuller was familiar with “Joe’s” offspring and decided to own the ol’ man himself.
Joe Cody went to work as a stud and sired horses that won in reining, cutting and other AQHA events. Joe’s offspring also won in other associations such as the National Cutting Horse Association and the National Reining Horse Association.
At the 1974 AQHA World Show, Joe Cody’s daughter Tawny Cody won the senior reining class, and Joe’s son High Proof won the junior reining.
Other notable offspring were Cassandra Cody, Topsail Cody, Corona Cody, Paprika Cody and Betsy Bar Cody. His foals were known for their unsurpassed reining skills, and the trait passed down to the second, third and fourth generations. Joe Cody’s grandson Topsail Whiz is leading AQHA and NRHA sire, and sired Wrangle Whiz, the third-place finisher at the 2005 NRHA Futurity Champion KR Lil Conquistador is a fourth-generation descendant of Joe Cody.
Joe Cody died in 1989 at 37, and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1995.
Biography updated as of March 1995.