Nestled
under
the Montana Rocky Mountain Front, our Prairie Breeze Quarter Horse
ranch sits on 260 acres of prime irrigated land on the Greenfield Bench.
In addition to all the horse pastures, we raise barley, horse hay and a
few oats.
We
have been raising winning Quarter Horses for over 39 years. Our
foundation broodmares were primarily Sugar Bars and Leo bred. Throughout
the years we have added the bloodlines of Rebel Cause, Three Bars, Dash
For Cash, Top Moon, Ribbon Page, The Signature and Zippo Pat Bars. (photo at right,
Larry and Royals Danni Leigh x Royal Three Charge
winning the 1999 MBG Sale Halter Futurity).
Our
introduction to "fancy" bred Quarter Horses came from a wonderful
visit and tour of the
Classy Bar horses raised by Doug & Nancy Dear on
their legendary Birdtail Ranch at Simms, MT.
The year was 1968 and it was
one of those pivotal times in your life. After seeing what was the most
beautiful,
nationally known set of broodmares, we knew the direction we
wanted our own breeding program to take. Doug, now deceased, was not only
a well-respected AQHA judge, but an outstanding horseman, historian and
wonderful friend. We miss his stories! Nancy Dear continues to this day to
be a very special lady and "mentor". Such a wealth of AQHA history she
has. She has been there and done it all, and has been a leading AQHA
breeder for over 60 years, an honor few will ever achieve. She remains on
the top ten list of leading breeders of AQHA champions today. So our
broodmare band began in 1971 with the addition of Classy Bar (Sugar
Bars/Leo) bloodlines and continues to this day with their grandget. We
later became annual consignors to their Birdtail Ranch Sale from
1982-1996, it was a special time.
(Classy Bar photo on left) (Sugar
Bars photo on right)
Hats
off to Douglas and Nancy Dear, 60-year breeders of American Quarter Horses
at their Birdtail Ranch, Simms, MT. They had the honor of being inducted
in the AQHA Hall of Fame in March 2011 in Dallas, TX. The Dears were
influential in the 1954 establishment of the Montana Quarter Horse
Association and later with the Alberta Quarter Horse Association. Doug
died in 1999, and a scholarship in his name assists Montana students with
their college education. Nancy is still involved with the family's
breeding program, one that has placed the Dears 12th on the list of
breeders of American Quarter Horse Champions. (RIP Nancy, 1919-2013). As a
side note, Doug and Nancy were instrumental in the original breeding
program of Prairie Breeze QH in the '70s - '80s with the addition of four
Classy Bar daughters to our broodmare band. We were also guest consignors
in the Annual Birdtail Ranch QH Sale for 14 years. We have been truly
honored to call them friends. Doug and Nancy, we know you will be riding
with the angels in heaven, we sure do miss your great stories.
In
June 1980, Mary Kyler invited me to take a trip south to Walter Merrick's
historic "14 Ranch" in Sayre, OK to pick up some of her mares that were
there to be bred. Merrick's ranch was the home of Easy Jet, (then deceased
Three Bars), Hempen, tb and many other stallions. We saw it all!! There
were literally hundreds of visiting mares, plus the Merrick broodmare band
of a hundred plus mares. We asked if we could hang around the barn for a
few days and just observe the breeding operation of all these mares. It
was my introduction to Artificial Insemination and I was simply
fascinated. The whole "14 Ranch" organization could not have been nicer
letting Mary and I just hang around on palpation (this was before
Ultrasounds gained popularity) and breeding days along side their whole
crew. Walter, now deceased, is still one of the most respected and well
known horseman, being inducted to the Hall of Fame for three
organizations, AQHA, APHA and APHC. Well, it was another pivotal moment in
my life, and a few short years later, Larry and I were off to AI School in
Canada. We have used AI on our farm ever since. (Photo on left Hempen,
tb)
We
have learned a lot through the years! And you never know where the trail
will lead you. In the spring of 1989, two of our mares had full term twin
foals. We saved all four babies and they all grew up to maturity! But we
needed a nurse mare or two and vowed never to do that again! Since that
year, we have our veterinarian check all mares on the farm with Ultra
Sound to detect pregnancies. (Classy Michelle on the right, April 1989)
After a frantic phone call to dear friends, Ed and Mary Kyler, we headed
up to their ranch at Cascade, MT to borrow a wet mare. (March 1989,
Sugar Flash on left). Our lives were about to change forever with
this eventful trip to collect a nursemare for our twins. They gave us an
older wet mare, Bar Gem, who had lost her foal. She was an own daughter of
the legendary Three Bars. What a kind and intelligent mare! She did an
outstanding job of raising the twin. We were so impressed with her
"smarts". Thus the Three Bars bloodlines came into our breeding program
for good.
At
that time, Kyler's had three beautiful daughters of Three Bars,
tb, we were in awe again! While collecting Bar Gem, the Three Bars nurse
mare that day, we saw Ed exercising his stallion, Royal Three
Charge, SI 103, MQHA Race Horse of the year for Montana (Royal's
dam was one of those Three Bars mares we saw, Three Loves,tb).
We had to have him! Kylers agreed to sell us half interest in Royal, and
he remained with us the last 20 years of his life. Royal remained vibrant
and sound to the ripe old age of 30 yrs. And he is buried out in our back
pasture next to Miss Jordash. Many of the mares in our broodmare band are
Royal Three charge daughters. They are some kind of producers! Ed and Mary
have been our very special friends for over thirty years now have allowed
us to buy several of their royally race bred mares for our broodmare band.
When they decided to cut back some, they also generously agreed to sell us
their fancy black stallion, Profit Increase, SI
96 sired by the Legendary First Down Dash. It can't get
any better than this...we are having so much fun. (Pictured on the
left, Three Loves and Royal as a weanling)
October,
2009, Mary Kyler, who has been involved in Quarter Horse racing for more
than 30 years, received the Mildred N. Vessels Special Achievement Award
from AQHA and the beautiful race horse bronze from Scoop Vessels. She and
her husband, Ed, have dedicated themselves to a lifetime of raising and
racing American Quarter Horses. From their ranch in Cascade, Montana, they
have bred 41 winners from 67 starters, including eight stakes winners.
( Photo on right, Mary Kyler and Scoop Vessels of Vessels Stallion farm).
Over the years we have been privileged to own and stand, Rebel Rocket, AA, AQHA Champion x World Champion Race horse, Rebel Cause, SI 100, featured in the Legends books; Lancer Cat x Classy Bar, sire of AAA (Sugar Bars/Leo); the black, Superior Race horse, Noor Charge, SI 92 x black stallion, Tiny Charger, SI 100; Ribbon Page, AQHA Champion palomino stallion sired by AQHA Champion, Jay Page; the jet black stallion, Pretty Classy Zip x Noor Charge, SI 92; and Royal Three Charge, SW, SI 103. They all lived long lives, brought us such joy, and they are all buried here at the ranch.
We currently stand two stallions; our jet black stallion
Profit Increase, SI 96, SW by World Champion Race Horse and All-
Time Leading Race sire, First Down Dash, SI 105; and our young bay stallion,
Royal Three Dash- aka Dr J, who was sired by AAAT stallion,
Royal Three Charge, SW,
SI 103 (who we put to sleep this past year due to old age at 30 yrs old).
Dr. J is out of our grand old mare, Miss
Jordash, SI 107, SW by the legendary Dash For Cash. They are both
nominated to the Valley Girls Breeders Barrel Futurity/Derby in WA.
Profit's foals are also eligible for the Diamond Classic Races held in
Billings, MT, Montana's Barrel Breeders Incentive, Speedhorse Races, Iowa
QHA Racing Double Gold, the 5-State Breeders Barrel Futurity/Derby and we
are on the Waiting List for Future Fortunes. (Photo of Larry halter
breaking a Profit foal, it is so Easy!)
We have a select band of 18 beautiful, proven broodmares with plenty of black type! Many are AAA, and ROM RACE. They are daughters and granddaughters of Chicks Beduino, Dash Ta Fame, Royal Three Charge, First Down Dash and many have pedigrees including the close up bloodlines of Easy Jet, Zippo Pat Bars, Leo, Dash for Cash, Three Bars, Sugar Bars, Rebel Cause, Ribbon Page. Our weanling foals are sold yearly at the ranch and at the Montana Breeders Group Horse Sale held annually over Labor Day Weekend in September at the fairgrounds in Great Falls, MT.
Our goals have always been to breed and raise pretty, "athletic all-around
horses" who stay sound and have quick speed, plenty of "cow" and willing
trainable minds. Our horses have had great success on the track, as well
as in the show arena, the rodeo arena. They have had long careers as
outstanding ranch and pleasure horses as well. We have raised proven
winners in Team Roping, Steer Wrestling, Breakaway Roping, Barrels, Longe
Line, Pleasure and Halter as well as Racing. Our horses have the
conformation, good feet, excellent withers, and the "ride" to do it all.
(on left, Larry and Ferrari talking it over)
We have a full equine breeding facility with an attending equine reproduction veterinarian, Dr. Kurt Johnson, DVM, lab, large foaling stalls electronically monitored 24 hours a day, individual mare paddocks with shelters and irrigated pastures. To hasten valuable boarding and breeding time at the farm, Larry raises all of the oats and horse hay (grass/alfalfa mixed) we feed.
Quality care for our mare/foal "guests" are a primary goal at Prairie Breeze. It comes with lots of TLC and at reasonable rates.
All mares visiting Prairie Breeze enjoy the addition of our new 60' x 80' Barn with big foaling stalls with outside runs and automatic waterers. They also get to enjoy the large turn out paddocks with sheds and lots of shelter and windbreaks.
The coffee pot is always on, take time to come see us. We will take the time to show you around and see our beautiful horses! We love to talk "horse".
