Every Select Online Sale sets out to fulfill buyers' dreams, but the April 2024 sale's offering of an embryo by The Darkk Side out of SS Blacks Lil Kitty did a little more than the average buy.
The last family photo the Perkins took before Kolt's passing. | Courtesy Tierney Perkins
Clarksville, Texas's Tierney Perkins purchased the embryo in memory of her late husband, Kolt, who died tragically in a boating accident in September 2023. Kolt left behind his two children with Tierney, as well as a long cowboy tradition at their family's . Kolt was a horseman and a cattleman, and he loved nothing more than sharing that legacy with his wife and children.
So when Tierney saw the chance to buy an embryo out of SS Blacks Lil Kitty, a mare that has put more cow into her offspring than any in recent memory, and by The Darkk Side, the hyper-talented stud who boasts a size 2 shoe and nearly $100,000 in judged rope horse earnings, she jumped at the chance to add the resulting foal to the Perkins Ranch Remuda.
SS Blacks Lil Kitty
"Kolt loved Once In A Blu Boon," Tierney said of
. "He loved something a hard-working cowboy didn’t have to baby. A strong bone and big foot meant a lot to him. I know he would really like The Darkk Side... Lord knows I wish Kolt were here for me to ask his opinion every step of the way, but I know he'd be super excited about this embryo."Kolt was also an advocate of Solo Select's Melanie Smith and her honest-to-goodness online sale format, which is why Tierney has leaned on The Select Online Sale to help continue to build her late husband's horse program since his passing. Tierney purchased stallion Boons Reflection, the 2018 son of Once In A Blu Boon, in The Select Online's Thanksgiving Sale in 2023, to continue to build Kolt's program to provide a horse herd and business for their two sons, Bleu, 13 and Burr Lewis, 2.
The Darkk Side
"I stay close to Melanie because I know he approved," Tierney said. "I’ve made big investments, but ones I feel are worthwhile. I know he would approve in his program...It’s a really gloom time for our household, and this redirects our season into something intentional and inclusive of Kolt and in honor of his legacy. He will always be the center of this household. I don’t know, I hope my boys really get the horse bug. I want them setup like Kolt was working toward. I could be so lucky to do him justice."
