Paha Ponies

Annie Get Your Gun

Annie Get Your Gun (SMR# 4115, HOA Pending)

  • Parentage:
    • Dam (Mother): Chocolate Lady (SMR# 3062).
    • Sire (Father): Troubleshooter (SMR# 2187) – My favorite bloodline, hands down.
  • Why Troubleshooter’s Bloodline is Special:
    • A perfect capture of the “old-blooded” horse in modern times.
    • Represents a great cross of:
      • Book Cliffs.
      • Old Choctaw (tracing back to the Trail of Tears horses).
      • Huasteca (Mexican) blood.
  • What is Huasteca Blood?
    • A story shared by Sharon Schkofsky explains its origin:
      • In the 1950s, a group of mustangers, including Gilbert Jones, wanted to find truly “old-time” mustangs, which were becoming scarce in the U.S.
      • They traveled to Mexico, near Mexico City, and acquired horses from the Huasteca people.
      • These horses were brought back to the U.S. in a furniture-moving truck.
      • Although some horses weren’t viable breeders, the Huasteca blood became an important addition to the Spanish Mustang lineage.
  • About Annie:
    • She’s the only horse I’ve named that “stuck.”
    • I originally bought her years ago for another project.
    • She later went to Oregon as a broodmare with Beth Dawson but eventually returned to me.
    • I’m so glad to have her in my life!
  • Early Memories with Troubleshooter Horses:
    • When I was first getting into these horses, I knew of a few breeders in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
    • While visiting family near Pringle, I decided to take a road I thought some breeders lived on.
    • Suddenly, I saw a couple of horses in a pasture and immediately recognized them as Spanish Mustangs.
    • About half a mile later, I came across a farm gate that read: Caballos de Destino Spanish Mustangs.
  • Meeting Sharon Schkofsky and Dave Reynolds:
    • I pulled in, knocked on the door, and was greeted by a lovely older cowgirl in her 70s wearing a floral cowgirl shirt.
    • That visit turned out to be unforgettable.
    • The horse I saw earlier, a black mare named Zorra (Troubleshooter x Chatos Star), became the foundation for what I’m doing here at Paha Ponies.