Harriett Peckham, known as the first lady of American Quarter Horse racing, was a one-woman dynamo who exploded through glass ceilings. Twenty-four years after her death, her influence still profoundly impacts the industry.

The Houston native is one of 16 women in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, and this summer, she was inducted into the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame.

As a girl growing up in Houston, Harriett and her brother, Snider Carlton, boarded riding horses near the old Arrowhead Park, where the two siblings became interested in Quarter Horse racing.

In 1950, Harriett married William Peckham, a Houston businessman also interested in horses. The couple, along with Harriett’s brother, started acquiring blue-blooded racehorses.

In partnership with Frank Vessels Sr., founder of Los Alamitos Race Course, the Peckhams purchased three-time world champion Go Man Go. The couple also bought Rocket Bar (TB) after their stallion, Brazos Bar, died. 

By 1972, Harriett was divorced and owned the sprawling Buena Suerte Ranch, Spanish for “good luck.” The Roswell, New Mexico, ranch housed stallions, broodmares and racehorses.

With the help of veterinarian Leonard Blach, Harriett built the ranch into a premier breeding operation.

“I met Harriett in 1969 or 1970 when I working in Santa Fe,” Dr. Blach said. “A Cadillac drove in and two blondes got out – they were Harriett and Sarah Henderson. They said they were looking for Dr. Blach, and I said, ‘You’re looking at him.’ They said they were moving to New Mexico and they had bought 320 acres in Roswell.

“Walt Wiggins Sr. told Harriett that she needed a good vet, and he recommended me.

“She told me that she had the stallion Go Man Go, and that pricked my ears up. I thought this was a great opportunity and she’s for real.”

Buena Suerte Ranch opened in 1972, and supplementing Go Man Go in the stallion lineup over the following years were Easy Jet, Rocket Wrangler, St Bar, Mr Master Bug, Sparkling Native (TB) and Real Easy Jet. Rocket Bar had died in 1970, before Buena Suerte Ranch opened.

As many as 800 mares were bred during a breeding season at Buena Suerte Ranch.

“There was no other farm at that time that bred that many mares. She was a trendsetter in the breeding-farm industry,” Dr. Blach said.

The incredible stallion lineup was supplemented by Harriett’s emphasis on broodmares and their care.

“We had private mare care, which was Harriett’s No. 1 priority, and we had two 100-stall barns with paddocks behind each stall,” Dr. Blach said. “Her object was individual mare care. She wanted great mare care. She had experienced other farms not having individual mare care. Now, it’s totally different. She established a standard in the industry. She was really a leader.”

“If nothing else,” Harriett once said, “the Buena Suerte Ranch made everyone get on the stick and start taking care of mares.”

Harriett’s broodmares included Streakin Six’s dam, Miss Assured; Pie In The Sky’s dam, Miss Jelly Roll; Little Blue Sheep’s dam, Miss Olene; and Decketta.

Hy Harriett, a stakes winner racing in the lat 1950’s, was owned by Harriett and her then-husband, William Peckham. She produced Go Harriett in 1962, and a bloodlines dynasty started.

Go Harriett produced stakes winner Go Together.

“Harriett was known for her broodmares,” Dr. Blach said. “That was her biggest interest. She had a lot of great mares that started with Hy Harriett, and it came down to Go Together. That line is a big baseline in Ed Allred’s bloodlines today.” (Dr. Allred is Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading owner and breeder.)

Go Together was the 1970 champion mare and champion 3-year-old filly. She set Ruidoso Down’s 440-yard track record of :21.71 when she won the World’s Championship Classic.

Go Together’s first foal, by Jet Deck, was the winner Jet Together. Enter Dr. Allred, an 11-time champion breeder and a direct link to some of the best racehorses in recent years.

Dr. Allred purchased Seperate Ways (out of Jet Together), Making Up (out of Jet Together), Jetsetting Girl (out of Jet Together) and Add A Dash (out of Go Together).

Seperate Ways, by Hempen (TB), produced 1999 champion 2-year-old colt and leading sire Separatist, 1989 champion 2-year-old gelding Way Maker and stakes winner Make It Anywhere.

Making Up, by Master Hand (TB), is the dam of Forgive Him. She is the dam of stakes winners Forget It and She Forgives.

Jetsetting Girl, by Master Hand (TB), is the dam of stakes winners Fixin To Fly, Bridlewood and Girl Secrets.

Add A Dash, by Dash For Cash, produced winner Higher Math. She is the dam of 2005 champion 2-year-old Higher Fire, the dam of All American Futurity (G1) winner Fly Baby Fly.

Dr. Allred’s connection to Harriett and her mares is one breeder’s connection. There are many more breeders who have tapped into Harriett’s legacy.

She died in 1995 at 64, and Buena Suerte Ranch no longer exists as a Quarter Horse facility. Yet, the legacy of Harriett and her ranch still lives in today’s horses, and in the annals of American Quarter Horse history.

Harriett, who was an AQHA life member, a member of the AQHA Racing Committee and a gold patron of the American Quarter Horse Foundation, was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2006.

She joined Easy Jet, Rocket Bar and Go Man Go in the Hall of Fame.

Hear how Harriett Peckham started Buena Suerte Ranch as a single mom of four teenage girls. Just when it looked like she was losing everything, she doubled down – and turned the ranch into a success. In this video, Harriett’s daughters offer personal insights during the opening of a 2016 exhibit at the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum spotlighting the female members of the Hall of Fame.