About The O.H.Corral Team
It all started when Pat and his brother Denis, bought their first Quarter Horse – a buckskin yearling named “No Return” in 1975 from Greg McCamley. The buckskin, was by the exciting palomino cutting stallion, “Hollywood Return”. Thirty three years later, Pat, Denis and their families are still competing and winning on this bloodline.
After finishing school, Pat worked on some of biggest stations in the Northern Territory and Kimberley region, so he knew that horses had to be good to ride, but also tough and good in the bush. Rodeo was his sport, so he became interested in Quarter Horses.
Liz grew up in the beautiful Manumbar district and her roots are steeped in the horse industry, with her father John Smith Snr being a horseman of renown, and great success. John had a team of successful camp horses, showjumpers and hacks that won all over the eastern states. These disciplines were what all the family followed, however in 1984 Liz, changed courses from Camp drafting to the rodeo arena, where she concentrated on roping and barrel racing.
“No Return”, with his exceptional speed, started as a Steer Wrestling horse. Showing his true versatility, something that the “Hollywoods” are renowned for, Pat then began to Rope and Tie on him. He carried an enormous number of competitors to the pay window, all over Australia, winning in excess of $150 000. He was the beginning of our admiration for the “Hollywood” bloodline!
Pat and Liz decided to marry in 1987. A daughter, Lacey-Jae was born in 1989, and Cassidy-Anne came along in 1997.
“We never thought about getting into the breeding side of horses, but we owned and used some great horses of this bloodline before, “Holly’s Bobcat”, “Hollywood Goldfinger” and “Hollywood Humdinger” to name a few. When a stallion by “Hollywood Return” came up for sale in 1988 (four years after “Hollywood Return” was exported back to the USA) we weren’t going to miss out on him. His name was “Hollywood Showdown”. He was out of “Penny Plummer”, an imported sprint mare by “Black Deck” out of “Miss Ballistics”. “Penny Plummer” produced several great cutting horses, one of which was “Rocket Return”. “Showdown”, with his impeccable temperament, went straight into the rodeo arena, where he won several awards, including the NRA Heeling title in 1991 for Pat. He took numerous cowboys and cowgirls to the winners’ circle, including many beginners.
In 1992, a change of scenery for the O’Hallorans – They relocated to Cental Queensland where they currently reside. The Central Rodeo Cowboy’s Association was in its infancy and both Pat and Liz took an active role in the development of the Association. Both took positions as Event Directors and then the Executive Board, where Pat sat as President for several years. At this time, they rodeoed quite extensively throughout Queensland. The gooseneck had space for 6 horses, which covered the 6 events they competed in. Rope and Tie, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping ( Heading and Heeling), Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing. 3 of our horses were by “Hollywood Return”, 1 was by “Anne’s Hollywood” and 1 was a great grandson of “Hollywood Gold”. There was only 1 out of the 6 that was not a “Hollywood”. These horses were the team that took them to numerous wins, buckles and titles.
At the end of 1994, Pat, Liz and Lacey-Jae flew to the USA for 3 months. This trip was to be a “Learning” trip. They went to the Josey Ranch to train with Martha and R.E. Josey, World Barrel Racing and Roping Champions. Judy and Gary Townsend, Barrel Futurity Trainers, were also part of the Josey Team and proved to be great teachers and horse people. The last part of the trip was spent with Larry Mahan. Larry was 6 times World All Round Champion Cowboy, but after rodeoing, he proved that he was a horseman by winning the Non Pro Cutting Futurity. Larry combined this with natural horsemanship learnt from Tom Durrance and Ray Hunt to become a fine teacher and mentor.
With a renewed enthusiasm they returned home to apply what they had learnt to the horses that they had already bred. By then another “Hollywood Return” stallion came up for sale. “Hollywood Moonshadow” was the last foal to be bred by old “Hollywood” before being exported back to the US. He was out of the exceptional sprint mare “Gunalda Girl”. She won numerous sprint races, held track records, and was named Champion Quarter Horse Mare of the Brisbane Royal for 3 consecutive years. Pat, Liz and Denis bought “Hollywood Moonshadow”. His great intelligence and fantastic versatility saw him take out many wins in the Rodeo, Campdrafting and Show arenas. He was unable to compete after sustaining a serious injury, however this did open the way for more of the younger horses to step up to the plate – and step up they did!
Pat and Liz continue to breed, train and compete on the horses that they have bred. “We have studied the bloodlines that have continued to win in the Rodeo, Reining, Cutting, Campdrafting and Show arenas. The foundation of our broodmare band consisted of these bloodlines. Now we are in the second phase of our breeding program, where the fillies retained by “Showdown” and “Moonshadow”, are now being bred. Part of our program is concentrating on line breeding the “Hollywood” to retain the traits – cow sense, good bone, and athletic ability. We believe the progeny from these mares will offer an outstanding outcross to the more modern lines available in Australia as well as overseas.”
“Pat started winning in the ‘70s on these horses, we continued winning in the ‘80s, us along with many others kept winning in the ‘90s and we’re still winning in the 2000s, God willing, we will be breeding horses and winning on them for many more years to come!