Finding the Perfect Match

Ain't she cute?!!

Oh hell, they are all cute when they are little! I love all baby horses, really, really love them!

In 2005 I started looking for "the" mare. Not just the right mare, but "the" perfect mare for Casper. The pedigree had to be comparable, the temperament had to be exact, the size and future abilities had to be present and the color had to be right. That is the problem with us Appaloosa breeders......we have a big list of criteria to meet before breeding can actually happen.

I looked and looked and I had noticed this little filly as soon as her photos became available........she was cute cute cute! Far away from me too. But the more I looked, the more I kept coming back to her. She was simply adorable. I wondered how she would grow and what her parents were like. So I did my usual himming and hawwing and feet dragging.

Until I took a trip down to California in the fall of 2006 to pick up my then 4 yo filly. I had taken Casper along to "ride" and Jewel had been getting some training and exposure. On my drive back, I planned to stop in and meet this now long yearling filly. Well, it was a good deal for her owner and myself. I fell in love and her owner got her sold! She loaded up and made the 14 hour trip home w/o a hitch! Another trooper has arrived at F1F! This was very special cargo!

Misty has as deep an Appaloosa Pedigree as Casper. Her Grandsire was a very well known horse, competed by his owner Dee Banks with points in HUS, Trail and WP. Her Granddams were also well bred. Her dam was huge, over 16 hh, which told me Misty could more than likely inherit size. She was a very pretty mover as a yearling (still is!) and took to her long line lessons easily! She is also just sweet, sweet, sweet!

As for color.......yes, color is very important! Being an Appaloosa Breeder means we must strive to breed a visible Appaloosa. Producing more fewspots is not a bad thing, just not altogether desirable. Yes, we need to have good quality fewspots available, but we also need to provide the buying public with recognizable Appaloosa horses and a fewspot......well, that is just a white horse to most people. Misty is a very dark buckskin, some call it a sooty buckskin. She has a smattering of white snowflakes across her loins and the most striking striped hooves you ever saw! She also has huge hooves, almost throwback huge! Trimmed up they are beautiful, allowed to grow and they remind one of the phrase "platter footed"! So she is kept well trimmed.



At 3 years old now, Misty is lovely. She is 15.2hh and still filling out. Her undersaddle training started in July 2008 and she is just as easily trained as Casper. She practically threw the saddle up on her back by herself!!

After a few years of riding her and showing her, she will be ready for breeding to Casper. But for now, she is learning and will be competed. She is part of our plan for producing deeply bred Appaloosa horses. She has all the required qualities, now she has to prove it under saddle!

next blog............Sales are hard on a Breeder