Page 24 - Appaloosas Now October/November 2020

THE LEOPARD CENTRE, ANNA MCNALLY, MISSOURI
By John Howard
1) What made you want to breed and raise Appaloosas?
I have had a lifelong love with theAppaloosa breed.
The first time I saw an Appaloosa was in the June 1973 Appaloosa News magazine that I found on a trade
table at a horse show I was riding at in New Zealand. I still remember every page of that magazine and I was hooked. When I was ten years old a friend at school took their thoroughbred mare to the first Appaloosa stallion in New Zealand, Sunrise Personality, and I remember only that I was going to have an appaloosa one day. My first Appaloosa was purchased in Australia and I bought him home to New Zealand with me on
the plane in 1984. My real dream was realized in 2004 when I married and moved to USA, and purchased my first foundation appaloosas, Ulrich Jewels Ruby and Rockalena’s Eclat, followed by Polar Birdsong and Eclat’s
Surprise. The last three I mention were all bred by Frank Scripter and it really was a dream come true for me.
My first stallion was BBR My Regal King, a modern but deeply bred Appaloosa with perfect conformation and flawless temperament.
2) In your herd who is your favorite mare and why?
Production-wise my best producer is Zuni Turquoise TLC, she is fourth generation of my bloodlines, she has had three foals, all of which I cannot fault.
Herd-wise I like them all, each an individual, each with its own unique qualities that I have selected for over the last 16 years. I cull heavily for temperament. They have to have excellent conformation meaning I try to match the right mare with the right stallion. Finally color comes last, but I feel like I have achieved the ‘icing on the cake’ also.
24 Appaloosas Now - October/November