Why Gypsies?
As with almost everyone who sees a Gypsy horse for the first time, I fell in love with the physical appearance of the breed. I wanted to own one, but I wasn’t sure that the breed was suited for our ranch lifestyle.
In 2010, I found a very traditional looking Gypsy cross named Shy for sale and bought my very own faux Gypsy. Very soon I found out why his name was Shy. He wanted nothing to do with people and was very standoffish. After several months of learning to trust us, he began to show his playful personality and his unflappable demeanor on rides and working cattle. He was my buddy.
Several years passed and I began to worry about which horse would be my next dependable sidekick. I needed a Shy backup. After doing research on the Gypsy breed, I realized that the things that I liked most about Shy were inherited from his Gypsy blood. I began to search on the internet, and I found a blue-eyed piebald Gypsy that looked like he could be a much hairier brother to Shy.
In the course of this search, I also looked at many Gypsy farms. It was during this time that I realized a new passion. I wanted to breed Gypsies. I already had the land and infrastructure to support horses (we already owned quarter horses), so it was an easy step to take. Luckily my husband encouraged me, and in 2016 I bought my first Gypsy horses.
As time goes by, I appreciate this breed more and more. Their gentleness, love of being with people, calm temperament, and trainability are only some of their many good qualities. As hard as it is to see my much-loved horses leave, it is wonderful see someone else’s dream of having a Gypsy horse join their family realized.
Ranch History
We bought our ranch in 2010. We immediately started running cattle on it, and had to have horses in order to gather, doctor, brand, and move our herd. We purchased quarter horses for this purpose.
After caring for quarter horses for several years, it was an easy transition to go into breeding Gypsy horses in 2016. We bought five mares and 3 weanlings that year, and in 2017 our first 2 foals were born on the ranch. Using our own studs along with occasional outside studs, we breed our own stock to train. We do not produce many horses a year, but they are among some of the best trained Gypsy horses that you can find.
Our Gypsies are trained here on our ranch. After weaning is completed, they go through a couple of weeks ground work program, and then they are put back out to pasture until they are started under saddle. We have found that the preliminary ground work class helps their confidence tremendously when they come back for training. Very quickly they are ready to help us work our ranch. They are used to check fences and cattle, gather and sort cattle, and trail ride. They are exposed to everything from machinery to wildlife giving them a very calm and level headed approach to seeing and experiencing new things.
In 2019 we began showing 3 year old Enzo and Faith, who were purchased as weanlings. Not only was it an avenue to expose us as a Gypsy farm, but it was also a way to expose our horses to new and different experiences. We have continued to show and participate in breed shows, stock shows, and playdays, concentrating on western performance classes.