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Studley was his name when I bought him and it's stuck. I found Studley listed as a Buckskin Appaloosa Pony
Stallion in an obscure internet ad after many months of monitoring every classified ad site I knew of looking for a pony stallion.
I immediately called to go see this little stallion and picked up my neice on the way.
On arrival, the owner was a 17 yr old high school student who broke QH's for extra money. She had a few horses
and ponies of her own and it was obvious she really liked this little stallion. Studley was in a large stall in her
small barn with another, taller pony mare. He was just a 2 yr old so he wasn't so much to look at but he was very
friendly and "not" buckskin. "Did you see that?" I whispered to my neice. "He's champagne, not buckskin".
She looked at me and grinned. The owner put her mares up and brought this little pony out into the barnlot
where we could get a better look at him. It was late fall and a bit muddy so he was a little wooly but not bad plus
he was straight and correct with no big faults. He was also very nice to handle and while he knew he was a stallion,
he did not act it.
I asked about his history and she said her boyfriend bought two of these little guys at a sale. They were both
out of registered miniature horses and they grew too tall to register so they were bought for a good price.
She had them to train and sell and the other little guy had been so ill tempered she gelded him, broke him to ride
and sold him right away. She told me that Studley was exceptional. She stated he was wonderful to handle from
day one and was easy to train. After she hopped on and rode him around, my neice hopped on (bareback with just the halter
and lead for reins) and off down the road she went. Somewhere in the story the girl said "and can you believe
this little guy is gaited" and about everything after that was blurred. My neice came riding up on Studley
with a big smile on her face. I do know I got my checkbook out and paid for him so he is mine :)
| Studley |
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We are offering Studley at stud to approved mares. To be approved, the mare has to be 14.2 hands or under, excellent
temperament, must show me they can foxtrot and must be a clean, healthy mare. These things are non-negotiable.
His fee is $200 with mare care $6/day with or without a foal. We have a breeding chute but may also have to utilize
creative ways to get the taller mares bred, including the old faithful creek bank. Studley is as good with the foals
as can be and I've used him as a weaning buddy.
| Studley soaken wet after a bath - 2 years old |
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Okay, so I told my dear husband that we needed Studley to be a teaser stallion for the mares here to be bred to our gaited
mammoth jack <big grin>
He knew better though and yes, every mare here "LOVES" Studley so he's been worth his weight in gold, or should I say
champagne?
He's been a very effective teaser for the big mares but his "real" job was to breed my lovely, 13.3 hand refined, MFT
mare. Erin (Harmonee's Pure Perfection) is a fantastic, ground eating mare that was born broke to ride and has the nicest
temperament. Small enough to be considered a pony herself, I had briefly considered selling her due to the small size
mules she was producing. I waited until spring, when Studley would be age 3 to breed him and the first mare bred
was my little 11.1 hand appaloosa pony mare Sheena. A month later, I took Erin down to the dry creek bank to get her
in a low spot to breed her and the wait was on!
While waiting, I went about getting things together to register Studley. He could not be registered as a Miniature
Horse, but he did qualify to be registered with the International Champagne Horse Registry. Since I did not have
access to any history on him, genetic testing was done to determine his true color. He is Amber Champagne Appaloosa.
That means he is a bay color (plus he is also homozygous for black so he cannot produce a sorrel). Champagne on a
bay colored horse is called Amber, plus he also has a few appaloosa spots on his rump with a tiny white blanket
but his appaloosa gene is heterozygous so 50% of his foals will not have any appy genetics.
| Lil Champagne Tease - ICHR registered |
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