Stallions/mares 2008 Foals for sale 2007 Foals for sale Mares/Geldings for sale
Dreamer Horse Farm, raising fine Nez Perce, Akhal Teke and Appaloosa horses, was started in spring of 2006, by owners David and Karen Fisher.We have been trail riding together since we met in 1984. Our honeymoon ride was a grand unforgettable adventure on horseback down the Sierra Nevada mountains, that ended short after 4 weeks as most of our horses (those of Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred breeding) became too thin for us to continue through a section of rocky sparse trail consistently over 10,000 feet. We promised each other that one day we would redo this ride on new horses that could go the mile. The Nez Perce horse is, we believe, the answer to that promise we made in a meadow 19 years ago. Early in those trail days we found out what an incredibly hardy mount the Appaloosa can be. Patches, our best and toughest trail horse, was a small, old-style Apaloosa, not outcrossed with Thoroughbred or Quarter Horse as so many are today. Not only did she eat and drink a fraction of what our other horses needed, but she was so good on rough trails that she seemed like a different species. Instead of clambering and floundering when the trail got bad, she'd hop, light as a mountain goat (no matter what weight she carried), sometimes perching on a big boulder with all four feet together, perfectly calm and balanced while she studied for the best route ahead. She looked just like the hardy, stocky mounts we saw in old photos of the Nez Perce, and just like the horses that we later found in the pastures of breeders like Jon and Rosa Yearout, on the Nez Perce reservation.
The Akhal Teke had intrigued Karen, since she was a teenager. It was her dream horse, without her ever having met one. When I first fell in love with this beautiful horsewoman, I knew I would not have her to myself. Above her desk was tacked a picture of a fabulous Akhal Teke, metallic gold, built like a greyhound, a Mona Lisa of our marriage. And incredibly out of reach, both practically and financially. The Cold War was still on, and few of these horses had made it to the United States. She knew of one breeder in Virginia (Phil and Margot Case). She told me about the famed 2600 mile race from Ashkabad to Moscow, meant to test the endurance of Tekes agains other breeds. The Tekes proved superior, and completed the course (including 600 miles of near- waterless desert) in 84 days This was a horse that could do that Sierra Nevada trail.
In 1995 we were living on the Nez Perce reservation, shortly to leave, when we heard that the tribe was receiving a gift of four purebred Akhal Teke stallions, and that they hoped to use them to help restore the hardiness and athletism of their famed horses, much diminished through the years since 1877. The Nez Perce, with their neighbors the Cayuse, were the only native cultures on this continent that practiced selective horse breeding. Their new dream was to bring these horses back, to reemerge as breeders of great horses. More about this later. But we were a growing family then, without the time or money to ride as we used to, and left Idaho without ever going to visit these new horses. Ten years later, Karen's job took her back onto the Reservation. She e-mailed me pictures of two amazingly beautiful Nez Perce mares, Kicuy (Gold) and Lucy, full sisters, and a stallion Paxam, (War Dance). I told her to buy Kicuy. Later we managed to negotiate the purchase of Lucy and Paxam. We had read references in books to Tekes being obstinate and bad tempered. Karen said that this was not true of the horses she saw, but I wondered. To cut a long story short, nothing, in our experience, is farther from the truth. These horses were so interested in people, and in particular they were really wanting to bond to one person, and as the guy with the job of training, they were bonding strongly to me! I was rapidly falling in love! Ground and saddle training followed shortly for Kicuy and Paxam. After only five hours of work Kicuy was trotting through the waves at our local beach. Me with a grin as big as could be! She really did float, even in the shallow water!
Thirty hours in the saddle later, and several months later, we wintered in California's Anza Borrego desert. Kicuy did a 16 mile ride through hard California desert terrain, climbing at a canter and trot for 2000 feet, later descending 4000 feet down a tortuous trail with no other horse tracks in sight. With no water or feed all day, she finished looking and feeling like she could do it all over again, right then. This was a horse that was never ridden until she was over 5 years old. That had 30 hours under saddle. I knew that evening that we were onto a very good thing.
Dreamer Horse Farm is dedicated to raising more of this fine new registry. Why Dreamer? Because of our dreams of course, but also in dedication to the Dreamer Religion that guided some of those Nez Perce people who protested their ever-diminishing reservation boundaries, rebelled, and evaded the military might of the United States for 4 months, riding their fabulous horses. May their new breed lead them to great places. |
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The Nez Perce Breed Goals
Characteristics of the Nez Perce Horse breed: "Small noble heads are desirable as they show nerve and energy. The neck should be set properly and of significant length. Withers should be pronounced clearly and visible, the shoulder should be long and sloping and the back should be medium length. The croup should be long, muscular and of oval shape. A deep and wide rib cage should be connected to a substantial frame, representing a horizontal rectangle withlarge joints. The minimum size requirement for stallions as two and one-half year old are 14.2 in height with a heart girth of 70 inches and a cannon bone of 7 inches. The minimum size requirements for mares are 14 hands in height with a heart girth of 68 inches and a cannon bone which approaches 6.5 inches." "The Nez Perce Tribe, historically, were the only known group of people indigenous to North America who, after becoming a society revolving around a horse culture, selectively raised horses that stood up to tests of racing, endurance and stamina resulting in an economy that flourished with the demand for their horses and also resulted in acclaim of legendary proportions throughout the world. " From the Nez Perce Horse handbook
Dreamer Horse Farm Breed Goals Physical/conformation: Lean, balanced, and flexible, with an abundance of light, flat, slow-twitch (high endurance) muscle; hard dark or striped feet; long, correct legs (with "cow" hocks not considered a serious fault in horses with Teke breeding) long, low, straight, efficient precise movement (no tripping or floundering on uneven ground), a free-moving shoulder and floating, ground-covering gaits, superior balance and collection allowing work at speed up and down steep hills, well-defined withers, a long, light, elegant neck with naturally high head carriage, a refined head, (eyes with or without the white scelera typical of appaloosa coloring), light sparse mane and tail (breed characteristic of both Appaloosa and Akhal Teke horses), an overall sense of strength, grace and elegance in a body proportionately somewhat longer horizontally than square.
Physical/metabolic: Thrifty (able to thrive and maintain good weight on relatively little feed) with a naturally low resting pulse.
Temperament: Calm and energetic with plenty of "heart," intelligent, honest, kind, steady, trusting and inclined to bond with humans, yet maintaining independent judgment. Unlike many comparable "range" breeds, our horses have been carefully selected by their original "horse culture" breeders for their amiable dispositions--not flighty, mean, "wild" or stubborn, Akhal Tekes, Old Herd Appaloosas, and Nez Perce Horses are all exceptionally easy to start and train, and, in our experience have been unfailingly delightful partners.
Coloring: Pretty colors and Appaloosa colors are nice when you get them, but should never be given precedence over the above mentioned goals.
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