courtesy the horse club /artist: ginny hogan
ApHC studbooks; and setting up the foundation for the Appaloosa Museum. Today, the club resides in a commercial space in Moscow, with the museum adjacent. In 1991, a “living exhibit” was installed behind the museum, where each summer and fall a different Appaloosa is pastured. When she met George, Iola didn’t know a thing about horses. But George changed all that. He gave her an equine education, complete with riding lessons. The year that Iola got her pick of foals the Hatleys owned, she chose an Appaloosa colt named “Apache Double.” One of the most successful Appaloosa racehorses ever, he won 18 of his 21 starts. “I always could tell when a horse was good,” remembered Iola. “Something about their hips that could tell you. This horse was so calm, he’d win a race and then go eat grass.” In 1973 at the Portland Meadows Sweepstakes, Apache Double ran 5 furlongs in 1 minute, 40 seconds, a record that, while tied, has yet to be beaten. The ApHC has registered more than 700,000 horses and, as of 2013, over 15,000 Appaloosa owners in 27 countries count themselves as members. It’s a breed registry with a preference for color, meaning that while color is appealing, it’s not essential. According to Steve Taylor, executive director, “Just because you breed an Appaloosa to an Appaloosa doesn’t mean you’ll get a spotted horse. About one third of the horses registered each year are solids.” Unlike other registries, the ApHC permits Appaloosas crossed (known as outcrossing) with other breeds to register. “Because the genetic pool was originally so small, you could breed your ApHC mare to an American Quarter Horse, Jockey Club Horse (Thoroughbred) or World Arabian Horse. Native Americans raced their Appaloosas from the beginning, so it made sense to outcross them with Thoroughbreds,” said Merida McClanahan, marketing director for the ApHC. Rosa and Jon Yearout, members of the Nez Perce tribe and owners of M-Y Sweetwater Appaloosa Ranch, have been breeding Appaloosas since 1974 and aim to preserve bloodlines from what they call the Old Herd, reputed descendents from Chief Joseph’s horses. These ancestors of horses who escaped the attention of the U.S. government and found their way onto ranches around the West where they were prized stock horses. “Foundation lines are found in horses that most resemble the original Appaloosa bred by the Nez Perce. It’s as close as you can get to what an Appy should truly be,” explained Rosa. M-Y Sweetwater Appaloosas attract Appaloosa collectors from all over the world. “We get a good mixture of buyers—a lot of people want to use them as jumpers. I once saw our stallion, Ciikowis Timina (meaning Brave Heart in Nez Perce), jump over a 6-foot-high round-pen fence like it was nothing. Not a long running jump, just one, two strides, up, up and over!” said Rosa. Athletic ability aside, Yearout believes their horses are iconic of the original breed. “I think a lot of people are intrigued with the Nez Perce story and our family’s story. We try to keep in touch with our historical connection through our horses,” she explained. What began as a horse from another continent and evolved into an amalgam, bred by a tribe who made him part of their culture, is today an all-purpose equine, beloved by rock stars and ranchers, at ease in the stockyards or a crowded cathedral in Manhattan. He is far more than a genetic phenomenon, he’s a horse of the people.
appaloosa facts ★
A true Appaloosa doesn’t have to possess a spotted coat, but, according to the Appaloosa Horse Club, it must have the following traits to be registered as an Appaloosa:
– A striated line pattern defining its hooves.
– Mottled or freckled skin around the horse’s eyes, muzzle and genitalia.
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Appaloosas come in a wide range of color and pattern combinations:
– Leopard: a solid white horse with dark spots all over its body.
– Few spot leopard: a mostly white horse with a bit of color around the flank, neck and head.
– Snowcap: blanket of white generally covering the horse’s hips with a contrasting base color.
– Snowflake: The opposite of a leopard, a dark horse with white spots. White spots tend to increase as the horse ages, distinguishing it from a traditional roan.
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Two spotted horses can produce a solid foal; Mother Nature makes the call.
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“Maamen,” which is the Nez Perce word for Appaloosa, comes from the word, “Mormon” (in the Nez Perce language there is no letter ‘r’). At one time, the Mormons were thought to have traded spotted horses with the Nez Perce, hence the name.
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Spotted horses carry the LP gene, or leopard gene, which determines their coat color and pattern.
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The breed standard falls between 14.2 to 16.2 hands tall (a hand is 4 inches).
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Appaloosas typically weigh between 950 and 1,200 lbs. In their expedition throughout the Northwest, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered the Nez Perce tribe and their horses, and Lewis had this to say regarding the Appaloosa in a journal dated 1806: “Their horses appear to be of excellent race; they are lofty, elegantly formed, active and durable; in short, many of them look like fine English coarsers and would make a figure in any country. Some of these horses are pided (sic) with large spots of white irregularly scattered and intermixed with the black, brown, bey (sic) or some other color.”
Summer 2013 | sunvalleymag.com 83