About Starburst Appaloosas

My small farm in northeastern Colorado was the result of a childhood dream........ I've know all my life that I wanted to raise colorful horses. I decided on Appaloosas in December of 1981.

I was at a horse auction before Christmas when a breeder ran 13 fuzzy 5 month old foals through. Most had color, but I honed in on a small loud leopard mare. I bought her, named her Chrystals Majesty, and the rest, they say, is history.  

Although Chrystal never got over 14.2 hands, she was perfect in every other way! Gentle, had an Indian Shuffle trot, smooth lope, and you could take her anywhere and do anything with her. She was calm and quiet. I rode her on the JCTR, showed her, and bred her twelve times in 17 years. I wanted to reproduce her leopard hide, so started studying color genetics. By hit and miss, I learned how to get fillies, and finally, get the color I wanted. I was also watching many  breeders whom kept crossing out until there weren't many Appy genes left, and noticed that leopard fillies were not common from these crossouts.

On May 16th 1996, Chrystal delivered me her last foal born in my lap. A BLACK and white LEOPARD FILLY by Mighty Black Bart!!! I had finally gotten the filly I had been waiting for! I deemed her "Chancie" (one in a million Chance of getting a black leopard filly!) and her registered name was MyChrystalChandelier. She was my dream girl!  Chancie was the same as her Mom, but better..She grew to 15.3 hands, has 4 ROMS and has a Superior in Color.

 

After much research and study, I decided I wanted blooded Appaloosa mares with concentrated leopard genes up close; blacks, bays, and grullas; sweet movers and good dispositions with overall good conformation. I look constantly for certain lines to cross into each other. These leopard lines include Plaudit, Bandito (i.e. Cowboy Justice) Bambi E (i.e Sully Lancer) Ha-Dar, and Nugget Jim. These lines have the most concentrated leopard plus I always look for black color because of the high market demand for good contrast - black just sells better!

As a small breeder, I do not own a stallion, but have fallen in love with shipped semen. Every mare is different and the best way to find out what crosses best with my mares is to try different stallions. I encourage all breeders to be very selective in their breeding program. And I believe in trying to bring Appaloosa back to a "blooded breed". All my mares are from 75% to 93% blooded Appaloosa with as many leopard lines as I can get. 

So to all Happy Appy Lovers, HAPPY TRAILS and SWEET DREAMS!! (especially in the spring!)