The Model Horse Gallery Library

Colorado Rangerbred

by Didi Hornberger

Are you desperately in need of additional halter classes in which to show off those multiple Appy-colored models? Gosh – how can we possibly squeeze half a dozen of our favorite Appies into halter breed classes at our model shows, with many of our shows now limiting models to 2 per class per exhibitor? How on earth are we going to be able to to show more of our beautiful Breyer, Stone, and other Appies???

Well – here's one suggestion, if you haven't already discovered the Colorado Rangerbred!

http://www.equisearch.com/breeds/eqcolorado1734/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Ranger

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/coloradoranger/index.htm

http://www.coloradoranger.com/

http://www.equiworld.net/uk/horsecare/Breeds/rangerbred/index.htm

While the CRHA (Colorado Rangerbred Horse Association, Inc.) horses are renowned for their Appaloosa coloring, the registry is not a "color registry". Eligibility for registration in the CRHA studbook requires that a horse's direct lineage trace back in an unbroken line from one of two foundation stallions, either "Patches #1-Z, or "Max #2-Z".

Solid colored horses whose direct lineage traces back to Patches #1-Z or Max #2-Z are also recognized by the CRHA studbook. Forbidden in the registry are any horses which have Paint or pinto breeding within the last 5 generations. Also forbidden are any horses of known Draft or Pony parentage within the last 5 generations.

Further, Rangerbreds may contain only the bloodlines of Appaloosa, Arabian, Thoroughbred, or American Quarter Horse breeds.

The Colorado Rangerbred has an interesting history. General Ulysses S. Grant was taking a world tour in 1878, during which time he developed a friendship with the Sultan Hamid of Turkey. Before leaving Turkey, the Sultan gifted General Grant with two fine desert stallions. One was a gray Siglavy-Gidran Arab named "Leopard", and the other was a blue-gray Barb named "Linden Tree". Both stallions are listed in the studbooks of both The Jockey Club and the Arabian Horse Club. Leopard wad foaled in 1873 and stood 15.0 hands.

Both stallions were imported into the United States and were first taken to Virginia, where they were used briefly as foundation sires for a new breed of light harness horse. However, when the invention of the horseless carriage effectively ended the era of the light harness horse, the two stallions were sent west to Nebraska, where they were bred to the native mares of the Colby Ranch. Some of the foals they sired were colored or spotted, and these foals drew the attention of Western breeders for their quality and attractive colors.

A band of broodmares from the Colby Ranch, all sired either by Leopard or Linden Tree, as well as a black eared white stallion named "Tony", who was double bred to Leopard, were acquired by A.C. Whipple of Kit Carson County in Colorado. An extensive line-breeding program using Tony and his sons was later established by the Whipple family.

One of the CRHA foundation sires was one of Tony's sons, the stallion named "Patches". The other foundation sire, "Max", was a son of "Waldron Leopard". Both stallions were purchased by Mike Ruby of the Lazy J Bar Ranch in Colorado in the early 1900's. There they were used as the foundation sires for a new breed, in which the unusual spotted coloring was seen more and more frequently. This new breed was officially named "Colorado Rangers", which were horses originating in Colorado which were bred and raised under ranch conditions.

The CRHA breed registry was founded in 1935 by Mike Ruby. Originally the registry was only available to CHRA members, with a fifty member limit imposed. Because of this, many horses with Rangerbred heritage were unable to be registered with the CRHA at that time. However, those unregistered horses with "loud" color patterns were gladly accepted into another breed registry, which came into being several months later – the Appaloosa Horse Club.

The fifty member limit rule was lifted in 1964, when registration in the CRHA was opened up to all horses meeting pedigree requirements. Since then, additional Appaloosa bloodlines with Rangerbred connections are still being recognized through continued pedigree research.

Rangerbred horses may be registered as Appaloosa, but not all Appaloosas are eligible for registration with the CRHA without the required pedigree. According to the CRHA, one in eight Appaloosas is of Rangerbred heritage.

Somewhat interestingly, the CRHA Home Office has moved many times over the past 50 years, and it is currently located in Pennsylvania. Their contact information is: Colorado Ranger Horse Association Inc, R. D. #1, Box 1290, Wampum, PA, 16157-9610. Phone: (412) 535-4841

So! Here is another "breed classification", (Other Purebred) for those oh-so-handsome Appaloosa models! And, yes – you may also show some of our your solids there as Rangerbreds as well, so long as they show recognizable characteristics of one of the four permitted bloodlines – Appy, Arab, TB, or QH. But, please – help your judges out with those solid-colored "Rangerbreds", with a bit of documentation!

Back up to Library
Return to the Model Horse Gallery Home Page