In
the great Pacific Northwest on 95 acres tucked away in the
foothills of the Willamette Valley, Rick and Toni Petersen breed
and raise all around Appaloosa Horses at their ranch Limited Spot
Appaloosas. The Petersen's stand six stallions, breed 15-25 outside
mares per year and have 20 of their own broodmares. They have 8-10
foals per year and since 1991, they went from 5 horses to 44 horses.
Not
only do they take care of the daily demands of the ranch, but
Rick runs a satellite communications company in Philomath,
Oregon and Toni is a special education teacher at Sweet Home
High School, in Sweet Home, Oregon.
The
Petersen's place an emphasis on the all around horse. Disciplines
include: Western pleasure, hunter in hand, trail riding and more.
They have raised two Reserve World Champions and had numerous
horses place in the Top 10 at
Nationals.
Etch A Marshall,
a 1994 ApHC, stallion out of Marshall's Dixie, a mare owned by the
Petersen's, and by the late Etch To Impress is currently standing
at Limited Spot
Appaloosas as a 100% color producer. During his Weanling year, the
Petersen's entered "Justin" in the first Etch To Impress Futurity,
held in Tacoma, Washington, at Pacific Rim Farms. With a $700
entry fee, only the best
of the best entered the competition. Etch A Marshall took top honors
and the Petersen's began establishing a respectable breeding program.
Doctor Debonaire, a 1995 ApHC, stallion,
own son of Debonaire Dude, winner of the Oregon Appaloosa Breeders
Futurity, earned the 1997 Canadian National Champion title in
suitability for dressage, 1997 Tall Timber Champion in suitability
for dressage, and many regional club championships. Doctor Debonaire
passes on an outstanding conformation, personality and movement
to his get.
Mr.
Tinsel Town, a 1996 AQHA stallion, out of own
daughter of Two-Eyed Jack and by Slick City an own son
of Littletown. Doing well in cutting training.
LSA
View:
The
Petersen's view each horse as an individual. They do not ever
want to lose sight of the importance of the animal. As breeders,
the Petersen's believe you must target your market and have
a public to sell your product to, keeping quality number
one.
The
Petersen's start their foals from the ground up. Mares are
video monitored when foaling, and Rick and Toni work hard to
be in the stall during this time to imprint each foal. The foals are handled daily, blanketed and their feet are trimmed.
The Petersen's have a strong belief that what you do with the
foals when they are little will stay with them.
In
addition to their day jobs and breeding operation, the Petersen's
also take an active role in their community. To
date, six orphan foals have found sanctuary at Limited Spot Appaloosas.
Rick
and Toni extend their facilities to a local 4-H group. They
enjoy watching and teaching the kids how horses and people
complement each other. Their goal is to promote the health of the breed to a group
of people interested in what's best for the horse, not just in
winning.
