![]() ![]() One afternoon, Al McCaw, a Quarter Horse breeder and an owner of one of On the ranch, belonged to a local veterinarian by the name of W. The 25 head of horses, still running wild Had been on 2500 acres located just West of the Miramar Air Force Base in Yearling fillies which appeared to be prize quarter horses. Who the year before, had been on a horse roundup and had purchased several Ron and Chic had become friends with some of the cowboys in the valley, Ron named their horse operation Valley Mist Farm. While still in school, Ron had startedīoarding horses on the 3 acres in Mission Valley, in San Diego,Ĭalifornia, which he and his Father, "Chic" Johnson, had leased several In 1957, Ron Johnson graduated from high school and started buying and It was an exciting time for newcomers to the breed who realized the opportunity, challenge and potential for improving the Appaloosa through Others were breeding for and promoting the Quarter Horse or stock horse Were out crossing to Arabians and other breeds for more refinement and Were common headed and definitely lacked the conformation and refinement ![]() Of course for their unique color patterns. Popular, not only for their great dispositions, stamina and endurance, but During that period, Appaloosas were becoming In the late 50's the Appaloosa Horse Club and the Appaloosa breed was It is such a treasure of Appaloosa history that I didn't want to lose track of it - so below is Ron's story. As you can see from her pictures, her color has changed drastically and she has turned to a beautiful animal.Ron Johnson posted his story on the internet on a Yahoo group. MACHACHA TEXAS FULLShe was sired by 5 time world champion halter stallion, Twenty Twenty Vision, and she is a full sister to Striking Vision who you already have on your site. She is 3 years old now and will be four in March of 2012. Right now we're concentrating on Light Snow's training as a saddle horse and will decide on a specific discipline once we find her strong points. ![]() She is proof of the wonderful minds and temperaments that these horses have. Boy was I wrong! She did every exercise perfectly without a mis-step. Seeing as she had only had a few months of training before we stopped, and her being so young, I assumed I was going to have to start all over again. Now that my dad is doing great and progressing wonderfully I picked back up on Gretchen's training. Needless to say, that rocked my world and Gretchen went for almost 6 months with no training. Then in May of this year, 2011, my dad was in a really bad accident and the doctors were giving him a 30% chance of survival. She picks things up very quickly and is very dependable. In a short time I was riding her under saddle and she has the most beautiful, smooth as glass gaits. I don't think there's any such thing as a perfect horse but Gretchen is as close as I've ever come. I truly believe you could set a bomb off right on top of her and she wouldn't be phased. She's smart as a whip and has the most amazing temperament. She's the first horse I've ever trained completely on my own from the beginning and I couldn't have found a better horse to begin with. So I started training Gretchen as best as I knew how. I promised they would have a good home with me and a week later I brought them home to East Texas. Ron must have seen something in me that he liked because when our visit was over he told me, "I would like to give you Gretchen and her mother." I had originally thought that Appaloosas were stubborn and hard headed but now I know I was seeing poor examples of them. I talked with Ron for well over an hour and a half about everything Appaloosa. But there was something there that I couldn't put my finger on that I couldn't ignore. To tell the truth I was not impressed with her color and actually found her quite ugly to begin with. At the time she was solid red with a small lacey blanket on each hip and a white mane and tail. He was stunning to look at and I thought he was drop dead gorgeous, but as we spent time hanging out with the horses in the pasture something kept drawing me towards Gretchen. ![]() His name is Foggy Night and he was a coal black with a really nice blanket over his hips. Originally when I went to Ron to buy a horse I was interested in a gelding that was born the same year as Gretchen. I am hoping to continue what Ron started, and with his guidance, that "Gretchen" will be the mare to revive this old bloodline. ![]()
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