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Enloe Quarter Horses History Part II - And
Then There Were Quarter Horses...
by Kris Enloe
In the late 1980's and early 1990's Doug was in the Army and I was in college at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. I had never lost the love for animals, and probably would have went into a field like animal genetics, but guts and gory isn't my thing and in order to get that type of degree, biology and dissection labs were in order. So, I opted for degrees in Marketing and Logistics instead - both fields I also love.
During that time however, I started to learn about grullas. I had only ever seen one in person and was just mesmerized by the color. It was extremely rare in Minnesota, and not very popular at all. Even the Pretty Buck horses that I had seen were dun, bay or brown, not grulla. That is, until I came across a horse named Pretty Buck Zeb owned by the Del Clement at Flying U Ranch in Missouri. Del Clement had been advertising Zeb in a magazine called "Buckskin Horses", a small publication out of Louisiana. The web didn't really exist at the time, so there was no web searching to be had, just hard core research. After speaking with a few horsemen with grullas for sale, I quickly realized an outright grulla purchase was not in my current budget.
After
graduating from college in 1992 and Doug finishing his tour in the Army, we
spent life like many city folk, braving traffic. We would wait for the
weekend and then spend at least 2 hours commuting "up north" to visit my parents
and do outdoorsy type stuff. After a brief stay, we would then have to
commute back to the rat race. We did this many weekends, for almost a year
and a half. Tired of having to lock down everything we owned, and with a
job offer from my dad to help out in the family business, we made the move "up
north" and I started working part time for him and kept a part time status with
my Twin Cities employer. Doug enrolled in a local college, and we were on
the hunt for property. In 1994 we found our farm, just one mile off a
major highway and just 2 miles from town. It was a 100 year old farm site,
and it looked it. Back prior to the turn of the century, it was used by
the local railroad company as a conductor's house. Complete with three
poorly designed additions, pink carpet and blue walls, 1300 square feet of "home
sweet home" was ours. It even had a set up for 2 horses. Life was
good...
Enter HKS Netta, a.k.a. "Barb". With horses still on the brain, and now the prospect of having them a close reality, we went to an auction house in southern Minnesota on the lookout for grullas. We came across this slicked up, halter type mare - gorgeous, and super gentle. She was good sized, and red, just like I had wanted as a kid. Her sire was an Iowa horse named Burner Two by Barnburner and her dam was also Impressive bred. HYPP wasn't really a big deal back then, and Barb had not been HYPP tested at the time. Luckily, she did turn up N/N when we later tested her. Impressive bred horses were known for their stubborness, but aside from feet trimming, she was a gentle giant and it was obvious that was her temperament from the moment we saw her.
Barb was at the auction with her trainer and was no-saled in the ring. We followed them back to their farm and made the deal. Barb would stay with the trainer for a few more months of riding and I could come down to learn Western Pleasure and formal trail. It sounded good at the time. My background was informal trail and WSCA games, so this would be a new adventure. Although I really liked formal trail, WP is just not my thing. Barb wasn't the typical peanut pusher of the time, but I really liked spending more time outside the arena than in one. I didn't believe I should own a saddle that cost more than my horse and was terrified at the thought of cleaning all that silver on the tack. So, I gave up WP and settled in for a comfortable ride.
Barb was a great journey back into horses for both Doug and me. She offered a confidence booster after being off horses for a few years, and also a sign of independence. After losing Trixie the way I did, I could be sure she wasn't going to be sold without me knowing. During Barb's training stay, I also asked if we could throw in a breeding to Staunch Avenger, a son of Conclusive that he stood. He agreed and we would have a new foal in 1995.
Enter Bonnie Baron, a.k.a. "Bonnie". Even though Barb was still at the trainer, we decided we wanted a pair of horses so we could each ride. We found Bonnie during a search of the local paper. Bonnie was my type of horse, old style, old foundation, very Poco Bueno looking. I had read that browns were good for producing the grulla color and so we took a look at the mare. After seeing her pedigree, I was sold. Bonnie was by Baron Two by Baron Bell. She had Two D Two, sire of Two Eyed Jack on her papers. Very heavy Pitzer Ranch foundation breeding. Bonnie was actually foaled on the historic Sunup Ranch here in Minnesota. Sunup was and still is, eye candy for any horse person. Rich in history and knowledge, the ranch was an annual trek we made each year just to dream of the possibilities of owning a colt from one of their studs, perhaps a son of Two Eyed Jack, Zan Parr Bar or Skips Poquito. Or the one special horse that always stood out above the rest, Heza Peponita. A son of Peponita out of a King Ranch branded mare.
| Brandy Bay Bubbles and Nettie, Barb's first foal in 1995 | Bonnie Baron, 1995 | Barb and Nettie | Doug's Mom, Margaret and Princen, AKA "Rags" in 1995 |
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We brought Bonnie home in a rented trailer, and we could figure the rest out later. I had become a subscriber to Buckskin Horses and in the annual stallion issue that had come out the past January, there was a grulla stallion listed from Minnesota! We jumped at the chance to take a look at him and he was a beauty. 15.1 hands, foundation lines, nice muscle. We booked a breeding for Bonnie right there, had her cultured clean and Coggins tested by the vet, she was down at the breeder just a few short weeks later.
Bonnie offered some good lessons for us, as we thought about getting into the breeding business. Although I had been raised on a dairy farm and had seen plenty of calves born, I wasn't as well versed as I should have been regarding horses, breeding, and the dishonesty that can go with it. After Bonnie had been at the breeder for about 21 days, they called and said she had been bred, everything went normal and to come pick up our mare. When we got there, I noticed Bonnie had what looked like an infection spewing out of her backside. I asked what had happened. They said, "Oh, that's normal and some mares just do that when they are just out of heat. It will be cleared up in a day or so." Gullible me, I said "OK, let's just hope she's bred and we get our grulla!" She seemed a little weak, but I didn't know the mare that well and off we went.
Well, Bonnie wasn't OK. The next day we had the vet out. In fact, she had a massive infection that had been stewing in her and nearly killed her. It damaged her enough that 2 equine vets recommended never breeding her again due to likely scar tissue build up. To top it off, the stallion owner refused to give our breeding fee back, or even part of the breeding fee back. Lesson One: Educate yourself about breeding before jumping into it. Lesson Two: Only use reputable breeders that know what they are doing. Lesson Three: Honesty is extremely important in the small horse world. If we ever become breeders, always be fair to the mare owner. Granted, things happen. I didn't blame the stallion owner for Bonnie's infection, but I did blame him for not contacting us about it. I really feel a stallion owner should know symptoms of obvious infection. Her symptoms were beyond obvious. Our contract stated that we had to breed that mare to the stallion. She wasn't breedable. They did not work with us at all. It was a sad ending to our first attempt at getting a grulla foal.
After things settled down and Bonnie healed, Doug and I spent the rest of the summer and fall enjoying our two mares. Barb was definitely bred, but because we had ridden her all through the first part of the pregnancy, she did fine with easy riding.
In January, 1995, we purchased Princen, a.k.a. "Rags". Remind you of anyone? She looked a lot like my first mare Trixie, and I just had to have her even though she bucked me off during my first test ride on her. She only bucked when entering into a lope and otherwise was a rock and completely trust worthy with cars, etc. We figured Doug could ride Rags and I would ride Bonnie while Barb was taking care of her new baby.
An Enloe Quarter Horse tradition was started on Memorial Day, 1995. Burnetta Avenger was born on a holiday and through 2006, each year we have had at least one foal born on a family birthday or holiday. She was so cute, but scrawny compared to her dam's big halter build! I think she was halter broke before she could stand and was such a fun foal to have around. We nick-named her "Nettie". We decided she needed a friend to play with and we purchased a red dun weanling named Royal Freeda (still thinking grulla) to be her pasture mate. Our herd was starting to grow...
Coming Soon...History Part 3 - Our First Grullas!