Page 25 - Appaloosas Now October/November 2020

CONVERSATIONS MEET THE BREEDER
3) What’s your end goal with your breeding operation?
To continue to produce breed improvement in each successive generation. To breed a foundation Appaloosa who is consistent and to breed what I expect to produce. To produce many generations of Appaloosa to Appaloosa blood with no outcrossing to other breeds. To produce a horse free from any genetic diseases and faults and to produce a horse that everyone wants. To keep my operation small in order to achieve the above. By breeding only the best to the best, and producing quality and never quantity.
4) What are your goals with your foals?
To go out and ride with the best, to do a wide variety
of ridden disciplines, to stay healthy and sound, even when old. Versatility is what I strive for, being able to do whatever you want, and do it well. I have bred foals that have gone on to be top English prospects, Western Performance, Ranch, mountain horses and trail riding. The most important thing is that the owners who have these foals give them lifelong homes and enjoy and have fun with them.
5) What are your favorite bloodlines?
I started with the leopard bloodlines of Ulrich Ranch in Montana, and the Frank Scripter Ghostwind bloodline from Michigan who got many of his stock in turn from Moneycreek. This turned out to be a golden cross with
the best of both bloodlines combining to produce exactly what I was looking for. Good color, good
size, good conformation, and good temperaments. I outcrossed these two bloodlines with other foundation Appaloosa lines and avoid, if I can, the infusion of modern appaloosas who have genetic and conformation traits I don’t want to introduce. I also like the bloodlines of many of the early breeders, although I avoid the Mighty Bright bloodline just because of the large amount of white markings it produces (splash/paint characteristics).
6) Do you promote those lines in your breeding?
Of course. I do believe that the foundation Appaloosa
is a horse who will outlast a modern bred horse in its hardiness because of its roots in the native American culture, many of the horses I have bred can be traced directly to the ghostwind lines of the nez perce and iron cloud horses of Lakota in South Dakota.
7) What is your outlook on the Appaloosa breeding world right now?
The foundation Appaloosa will always be the different breed because of its unique color and qualities.
I believe in future years the foundation Appaloosa will stand as its own breed, and the modern Appaloosa who has more quarterhorse blood infused in its blood, will become a subdivision of the quarter horse breed, along with paints, each under their own branch of
the quarterhorse umbrella. So in my own opinion the foundation appaloosa future looks bright, as more people discover its unique color and talents.
Appaloosas Now - October/November 25