THE QUEST: To gather up & preserve the last & best quality
individuals of the oldest and purest remaining Old Western Curly Horse
bloodlines.
The bloodlines that we are concentrating on are what we believe are
the rarest and highest quality bloodlines from the Old West, and include:
Bad Warrior, Native American, Fredell, and occasionally an Aishihik or Cypress
individual. These bloodlines are already blended to some degree, but are
still distinct. They each include a few outstanding individuals that more
than prove their worth for the future. And they are disappearing fast.
THE DREAM: For years I have been collecting what I believe are the
few last outstanding individuals of the highest quality bloodlines of the
original Old West Curly Horses of America. The purer bloodlines and the highest
quality have been my criteria. I have watched them dwindle in numbers over
the years, and believe these higher quality hypoallergenic horses need to
be preserved. The temperament on these Curly Horses are apparently even better
than is typical of many other bloodlines of Curly Horses (according to my
many buyers who have owned the other lines, and reported back to me that
they thought the "Puppy-Dog" personality was a myth until they bought one
of mine.) And, these horses are beautiful. With their gorgeous conformation
they stand tall alongside any other registered AQHA or APHA or ApHC ranch
horse, and shine. They are admired by other equine breed owners. This is
very often NOT the case with other Curly Horse bloodlines (here, out West,
I mean). And they are USEFUL. They are smart, easy to train, and love people,
especially children. Some have enough old foundation AQHA bloodlines that
they exhibit excellent working cow sense.
THE COMING TOGETHER: I have been struggling to hold on to what I consider
the last & best Curly Horses in the West. But I have champagne taste
on a beer budget; it hasn't been easy; especially since I went through a
financially devastating divorce. But when Tracy began her search for that
special horse for Dominic - and found me - I found what these fancy Curly
Horses have been needing: A real future direction & home, and support
for a very special preservation breeding project.
Tracy Robinson-Dalke has a dream to set up a facility that will help lots
of kids like her special Dominic. When she and I met online I believed we
each had 2 parts to a greater puzzle, and we are determined to put it together
and make it work. Over the course of last winter we spent many hours on the
computer and formed a partnership. She came & met me at my house outside
of Billings Montana, and I went out to the Missoula area and met with her
& her family. I loved Tracy's idea of starting a special needs riding
facility.
I sent Tracy the last of my best *Seekers Warrior daughters. With Tracy,
we have gathered a couple more of these awesome *Warrior mares. Now they
are back together again, (!) and comprise a band of Warrior bloodline mares
that may have no equal.
Then, the great stallion *Rush River Slash, who carries 50% Fredell blood,
became available from Sue & John Weaver in Arkansas. Suddenly another
missing piece of the puzzle fell into place. Sue graciously agreed to send
*Slash (and a big beautiful gelded son of his), to Old West Curly Horses
in the summer of 2006. *Slash is the ideal outcross herd sire for our band
of fancy linebred *Warrior mares. And in the future, *Seekers Warrior can
run with *Slash's non-Warrior daughters. Our preservation project has now
really taken shape with some of the most outstanding individuals in the
stockhorse type of the Curly Horse "breed." Now we can continue to produce
more of these outstanding individuals of this rare breed type, and prevent
them from disappearing altogether.
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