In 1938, the Appaloosa Horse Club was formed. It set up rules and guidelines to help define the breed. The Appaloosa's coat comes in a variety of patterns: spotted blanket, blanket with no spots, leopard, snowflake, frost, and varnish roan. The Club also recognizes "solid" Appaloosas (no spots), as long as the other characteristics are present on the horse. Want to start seeing spots? Add an Appaloosa to your herd!
I used to ride a black semi-leopard Appaloosa in high school. You can read my tribute to him by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.Although many horses have spots, none are more famous than those of the Appaloosa horse. No one knows exactly how the spotted horses arrived in the Palouse River area of North America, but it is believed that they were brought with the first explorers of South or Central America. The word Appaloosa is thought to be derived from a mispronounciation of "a Palouse" horse (from that region).
The breed itself developed largely through the efforts of the Palouse and Nez Perce Indians, who took great care in breeding these horses for speed, strength and color. In addition to a spotted coat, other characteristics of an Appaloosa are mottled skin, white sclera (eyeball), striped hooves, and a thin mane and tail. Unfortunately, these prized spotted horses were almost completely destroyed in the late 1800's. As the Nez Perce were forced onto reservations during western expansion, their horses were killed or driven away so that the tribe could not retaliate. Fortunately, some spotted horses survived, and the Appaloosa still exists today.
DELERIUM
The horse at the top right of this page is a black leopard Appaloosa mare. She is an original finish Breyer #860 also known as the "Lady Phase" mold.
FAWLTY TOWERS
Fawlty Towers was my first attempt at remaking a model horse. She is the Breyer Stock Horse Mare #227 remade to an extended blanket Appaloosa mare with a lowered neck and slightly remade legs. To change her neck position, I had to cut off the neck at the base and re-attach it to the body; a square wooden rod runs inside her from her tail to her head. Her first live show was a showmanship challenge, where she took home many rosettes, one of which was first in English Trail!
OUTLAW'S TOUCH
This horse is the Black Horse Ranch Western Pleasure gelding repainted to a bay extended blanket Appaloosa gelding. I was the high bidder in a MEPSA auction for a repaint job by Karen Bartholomew. I asked her to paint him like the "WAP" Appaloosas seen in the showring. She finished him and delivered him to me at BreyerFest '98.
HIGH PLAINES DRIFTER
This bay blanket Appaloosa stallion is a NorthLight resin. He is somewhere between a traditional and classic-size model horse. He qualified for the North American Nationals at his first live show. Although I wanted a NorthLight when I was in high school, it took until I was an adult (with a paycheck!) to purchase my first one.
Photos and text Copyright 1998-2003 by Keri Krause. Please do not use this material without my permission. Thank you.
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