Leininger Selected As Montana Cowboy Hall Of Fame Inductee
Robert David “Bob” Leininger of Westby has been selected as the living winner for District 1 by the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center.
He was born Sept. 22, 1930, to David John and Hildur Amelie (Nelson) Leininger in Ambrose, N.D., and moved to Westby in 1946, where he has lived since. He married Dorothy Bundt in 1949, and they had four sons, Lynn, Keith, Les and John. Together, they built a life that revolved around horses.
Growing up, he was occupied with farming, ranching and riding horses. In 1957, he purchased his first stallion, began raising registered quarter horses and became involved in the quarter horse industry. The American Quarter Horse Association has since recognized him for 50 years of breeding American Quarter Horses.
He was both a founder and former president of the Mon-Dak Quarter Horse Association. He organized and managed the Mon-Dak Quarter Horse Sale and Futurity. From 1979 to 1993, he was a director of the AQHA, where he served on public information and marketing committees. He was instrumental in the development of the AQHA Incentive Fund, a multimillion- dollar program involving paybacks to stallion and foal nominators and owners. He is a lifetime member of the AQHA, the Montana Quarter Horse Association, and the Alberta Quarter Horse Association. He also served as a former president of the Sheridan Saddle Club, of which he is now an honorary member.
He aimed to produce “American Quarter Horses that could do anything.” He saw early success in his goal in 1965-66 when three of his horses proved their versatility and earned their AQHA Registers of Merit in different disciplines: Camelot Gil in barrel racing and reining, John B. Quick in racing and Sue’s Honey Bee in cutting. John B. Quick went on to earn a AAA rating in racing under Leininger’s training, and Camelot Gil, his first stallion, went on to be shown in cutting, pole bending and Western pleasure. Camelot Gil was also used as the family riding and ranch horse and, on him, Leininger won the 20-mile race from Wolf Point to Poplar the two years it was held. Camelot Gil produced 39 foals and was gelded at age 13 to be shown by the Leininger’s sons in youth horse show classes.
His horse operation expanded and, in 1967, he started the Northwest Breeder Sale, held in Plentywood. There, he also held his own Leininger Ranch production sale from 1967 to 1971. In 1972, after building a sale arena, he moved his production sale to Leininger Ranch where he held the annual sale for nearly 20 years. During these years, the ranch had up to 150 head of horses at any given time, including stallions, saddle horses and a band of 70 broodmares.
When selecting stallions, he turned to his breeding goal: “a middle of the road type of horse, very pretty, with lots of conformation and athletic ability,” which proved successful, as one of his stallions, Sonny’s Super Star, was the National Champion of Getof- Sire winners in 1982-84, a very honorable endeavor. Sonny’s Super Star also earned his AQHA Register of Merit in Western Pleasure. Another of his stallions, Impressive Redneck, was the National Reserve Champion of Get-of-Sire winners, behind Sonny’s Super Star, for two years.
Leininger Ranch stallions sired numerous successful horses in all disciplines, winning countless shows. In 1977, Donna Idland won the Montana Barrel Racers Association state champion title, riding John’s Quick Time, a horse sired by John B. Quick. He sold horses to buyers all across the United States and Canada, as well as to buyers in Australia and Germany.
In 1990, Leininger decided to disperse most of his horses and sold 120 head. He wanted to remain active in the horse industry, so he and Coup Nehring partnered to form the Leininger/Nehring Sidney Livestock All Breeds Horse Sale, held biannually in Sidney each May and September. In 1998, he moved the sale to Bowman, N.D., where it became further successful. In 2003, he decided he had been managing horse sales long enough and turned the operation over to Nehring. Leininger continued to acquire horses, however, and sold them in Bowman and Billings.
While most of his life revolved around horses, he also raised cattle and farmed. He harvested his first crops in the fall of 1960 and continued to improve on the farm ground. He purchased newer tractors with greater horsepower and more efficient machinery. He and his son, Keith, farmed 6,000 acres, including spring wheat, durum, peas, lentils, mustard and corn. His sons all helped him with the tractor work so that he was able to spend time training and showing horses. Leininger Ranch held annual cattle drives each fall to move their cattle from summer pastures in Fortuna, N.D., to the ranch near Westby to winter and prepare for calving. Today, his granddaughter, Lexi, manages the ranch’s 300 cow-calf operation.
The Leiningers, now married 71 years, have nine grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. They lived continuously on Leininger Ranch from the day they were married until 2011, when they decided to spend their winters in Mesa, Ariz. They handed the reins to the younger generation; however, they always return home to the ranch each spring.
Leininger’s legacy of the hundreds of outstanding horses he produced and his immeasurable contributions to Montana’s horse industry will continue to leave an impact on the American West as long as there are cowboys.
