When you name your ranch How's Come
Ranch you are naturally going to beg an occasional question. When your
ranch becomes recognized for producing quality Appaloosa horses, you might
just end up answering one like: "How's come your so successful?"
The answer for this Butler, MO horse breeding business is, in a word,
"family."
Founders Don and Linda Law both liked horses
before they met t was natural that shortly after their marriage they
bought a grade mare together. "She had some age on her, but we wanted
a horse," says Don Law. Not long after they purchased her they had
the mare bred to a local Appaloosa stud, Hands Off, which they chose
because they liked the idea of having a spotted baby. "We were quite
excited to see what the baby would look like," says Law. Tragedy,
however, stuck instead. The Law's pregnant mare was killed during a bad
storm.
Saddened, but not deterred at the lose of their
mare and pushed on by the thought of a spotted baby; the Law's bought
another mare that was already bred to an Appaloosa stallion. Unbeknownst
to them though, this stud was a cross bred Paint -- a big no, no with both
the American Paint Horse Association and the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC)
registries. The Law's colt was born with both Paint and Appaloosa markings
and the Law's made a decision which seemed simple at the time but would
alter their future. They decided that if they were going to breed a mare
again, they were going to have their own stallion - one with the right
markings, genetics, disposition and a pedigree of which they could be
proud.
Just over the Kansa line, the Law's found Hite's
Red Hoss, a young registered Appaloosa stallion they felt had a good
nature and positive future. They brought him home in the bed of their
pickup truck equipped with stuck racks. A few months later, they hauled
their new stallion, which they had dubbed "Little Hoss," to his
first horse show in the same rig.
"Back then, they had a big, big Appy show in
Kansas City," recalls Don Law. "At the time, the ApHC required
all the horses to be entered in the halter classes, and although our horse
was not a halter horse, I took him into the show ring to compete against
50 other stallions." The judge walked right past them; not giving
them even a once over. "It was then I decided that if I were ever to
become a judge, I would never just walk past a horse," says Law of
the experience. "We never expected to even place in the class, but
every horse deserves a look."
The rest of the day improved and Law went on to
show the stallion in both pleasure and trail where he performed well but
didn't place. Then Linda Law showed him in the costume class and Little
Hoss won a ribbon. "We were so proud," says Don Law, still
beaming. "Our new horse behaved so well at his first show and won a
ribbon. We were hooked." The Laws went home, added two more mares to
their pasture and waited to count spots in the spring.
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