Page 48 - December 2017

A New Venture
In 2016, with Merle’s encouragement and input, Kurt took his veterinary career in a
new direction by launching Stonewall Equin
Texas, for horses of all breeds and disciplines
. There, Kurt consults with individual horses’ veterinarians to formulate an individualized
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Rehabilitation and Fitness (SERF) in Stonew
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treatment plan incorporating the center’s many treatment modalities:
• Hot/cold salt hydrotherapy spa
• 12-foot submerged treadmill
• Vibration plate therapy
• Europeanstyleeight-horsevariable-
programmed walker that allows the horse free
movement at any pace, duration and direction
• Pulsatingelectro-magneticfieldtherapy(PEMF)
• EQultrasound using thermal and non-
thermal effects and acoustic shockwave
• 5/8-mile training racetrack
• New (rentable) covered arena
The arena allows horse owners to come
out periodically and ride to gauge their horse’s progress, as well serving as a venue for barrel
races and other events. “We also plan to put on some horsemanship clinics, focusing on getting youth and people who may be mid-life and always wanted a horse, to get involved in the Quarter Horse,” Kurt says. “It doesn’t matter what discipline you’re involved in; horsemanship is horsemanship. We may eventually have a cutting clinic or a roping or barrel racing clinic as well.”
An All-Encompassing Brand
Merle and Kurt’s goal is to bring Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch back full circle. “It got to the point that people forgot that we raised great ranch horses,” she says. “We had a big commercial cattle operation and raised great remuda horses.”
One of Fulton Ranch’s greatest ranch sires was Peppy San Badger, aka Little Peppy (Mr
San Peppy – Sugar Badger, Grey Badger III),
an NCHA and 2008 AQHA Hall of Fame inductee that won the NCHA Futurity in 1977, the NCHA Derby in 1978, a Reserve World Championship in 1980, and the NCHA Finals in 1981. Peppy San Badger traced back to the King Ranch foundation lines and returned there when Tio Kleberg wanted a Mr San Peppy son to replace their retiring sire. According to his Hall of Fame induction writeup, Little Peppy sired 2,325 AQHA registered foals that earned more than 7,200 points and won more than $25 million. (Peppy San Badger’s grave marker stands at the King Ranch headquarters along with Old Sorrel, Wimpy, Assault, and others)
Fulton Ranch also bred the 1968 filly Fickle Miss (Mr Aledo Bar - Poco Violet Hill, Poco Dell), who was both High-Point Halter Horse and a World Champion.
In 2016, Merle encouraged Kurt to launch Stonewall Equine Rehabilitation and Fitness (SERF), a facility for
horses of all breeds and disciplines with individualized treatment plans incorporating the center’s many treatments options.
On the racing side, Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch has several 2-year-old fillies on the track, plus 5-year-old He Is The Risingstar,
by Mr Jess Perry and out of Dash For Cash daughter Meddlin Mischief. Equibase ranked him 43rd by wins in 2015. “He’s a great stakes horse,” Merle says. “He was late maturing
so we brought him home, turned him out, castrated him and he kept growing and growing. Now he’s 17.1 and a great distance horse. He was only beaten once at 550 yards.” He earned back-to-back wins in both the Paul B Ford Memorial Handicap and the Barbra
B Handicap in 2015 and 2016, and won the TQHA 550 Stakes in 2017.
They have several 2-year-old fillies that they plan to send to their broodmare band when they finish their track careers: First Be Graceful (First Down Dash-Thrill And Grace, Mr Jess Perry), Passion With Panash (Valiant Hero-Fashionisanattitude, Streakin La Jolla) and Faith And Destiny (Mr Jess Perry-Daring Difference, Victory Dash). “Daring Difference won the Heritage Futurity, was the fastest qualifier for the All American, and ran sixth in the finals. She’s going to run like her mama; she has a lot of heart,” Merle says of her daughter Faith And Destiny. Also headed to the broodmare band are
Dying Inside (Separatist – Ought To Be Famous, First Down Dash) and Valentine Empress (Valiant Hero – Race Valentine, Strawfly Special).
So, if there’s one word that describes Merle and Kurt Harris — and indeed, the entire Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch operation — it’s versatility. “I wanted to bring this ranch back to everything that it stood for and to participate in every area that this ranch had once participated in, including racing,” Merle says. “That was my primary thought when I was headed to what I wanted to do in ranch versatility.”
Driven To Succeed
Tim says that Kurt and Merle share many
of the same attributes. “They are both very hard working and driven to succeed,” he says. “My mother is running a business that is, for a lack
of better words, in a man’s world. She’s always thinking: What can we do; what can we change about the horse business that gets us out of the box we’re in. She’s always trying to find those creative new paths. Then she takes time to listen to other people and digest what they say, to evaluate things and come up with her own conclusions.
“One thing she’s doing that’s very much out of the norm, in my opinion, is that she really
46 SPEEDHORSE, December 2017