My love of the Appaloosa began in 1965 when my good friend, Mary Lichtle, helped me find my first horse, a green broke Appaloosa mare.  Lady and I learned a lot together with Mary’s help!

A “few years” later Mary Burger became a world champion barrel racer and I was lucky enough to meet J.B.’s Sham-O-Kin.  I fell in love and brought him home from Tennessee as a two-year-old.  Sham-O-Kin produced some beautiful foals with Lady and outside mares, advancing his ApHC papers from Tentative to Permanent based on production.

I hated selling foals so I stopped breeding them while my husband, Mark, and I raised four children.  We all enjoyed ice hockey in the winter and showing leased 4H horses in the summer.   When I thought about breeding Appaloosas again it seemed the ApHC was promoting crosses with other breeds!  I remembered talk of closing the books so this shocked and disappointed me and at the time (pre Facebook) I thought no one else cared.  I was discouraged and gave up breeding Sham-O-Kin even to outside mares.

Lady had passed and J.B.’s Sham-O-Kin was alone in the barn when Tom Taylor contacted me looking for him.  We shared a love for the Appaloosa and Sham-O-Kin in particular.  That meeting led to the lease of Tom and Linda’s mare, K Bar Sugarbear, for the sole purpose of preserving the legendary bloodlines Sham-O-Kin and Sugarbear carried.  J.B.’s Sham-O-Kin was 30 when he sired JBS Sham Again.  (i.e., J.B.’s Sham-O-Gin if the ApHC hadn’t just banned special characters in names.)  Sham Again earned grand prize in County 4H as a weanling and went on to place fifth in a very large class at the Indiana State Fair, possibly the youngest in his class with a June 25 foal date and his dam by his side!  Stallions can’t be shown in 4H and he was created to produce so that was the extent of his show career.  We are not a show family.

I was delighted when Tom founded the Foundation Appaloosa Horse Registry (FAHR) to preserve and protect the breed we both loved – the authentic Appaloosa by blood generated from the horses selected by the ApHC founders as the Foundation of the breed.  I’m excited to have discovered Real Appaloosa Breeders, another like-minded group dedicated to the authentic Appaloosa, including solids!

I am also pleased and excited about progress the International Colored Appaloosa Association (ICAA) is making toward producing a modern ICAA purebred.  They have chosen a goal of eight generations of ApHC horses of today to be designated as ICAA purebreds.  I am proud to say that JBS Sham Again is contributing to that goal.

I have finally been able to continue my mission to preserve and protect the true Appaloosa and Sham’s legendary bloodlines with Sham’s gorgeous and athletic foals to carry on his Hall of Fame,  foundation, and racing bloodlines – bloodlines not available this close from younger stallions sired by younger stallions.  Sundancing Chelsea O  is in Michigan, Joker Nava O Sunbear is in Ohio, SNR Ivory Rose is in Texas, ALP Midnight Joker is in Pennsylvania, and SR Firefly Finale is in California.  You can follow their careers on their pages of this website.

With JBS Sham Again’s sudden and unexpected passing in September 2017, my involvement with this wonderful breed will continue in new less heart-wrenching directions.  I am building a library of the “Appaloosa News” magazines from the day they began and will be  sharing articles, pictures, and history much like you can see now on my scrap book page.

May all your days be Appy!  ~~~Kay

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