Spirit Horse Hill

In addition, breeders and owners describe these horses as hardy, long-lived, sound, easy keepers. They have gentle temperaments, are extremely intelligent and athletic, and are suitable to all ages and levels of riders. This is a versatile using horse, a generalist rather than a specialist, with a balanced conformation enabling him to perform many endeavors, remain sound and provide a smooth ride. Many Foundation Bred Appaloosas exhibit a unique smooth gait referred to as the Indian Shuffle which is widely sought after for its comfort. 

Foundation Appaloosas are recognizable by their conformation, feet, legs, tail carriage, head carriage, overall air, and their almost universal kind dispositions. They are easy to train, versatile, and make excellent companions and using horses, ready to do whatever you ask. They are also found in any number of color patterns, from fewspots that appear almost white to solids with no apparent Appaloosa characteristics.

Foundation Appaloosas are fully eligible for registry with the Appaloosa Horse Club, but they are also a secret treasure—these special horses carry high concentrations of the blood of the original Appaloosas that helped form the breed. For the most part they are the products of Appaloosa to Appaloosa breeding stretching out for many generations, and outcrosses (if any) are usually to old-line foundation Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, or Arabians.

There are several registries that are strictly for Appaloosas of Foundation breeding—the Foundation Appaloosa Registry, the Colorado Ranger Horse Association, the International Colored Appaloosa Association. You will find Foundation Appaloosas registered with all these as well as the American and Canadian Appaloosa registries. One thing unites them all, and no other horse in the world shares it: strict App to App breeding reaching back to the ones that started it all…the REAL Appaloosas…

Plenty-Coups, the most respected chief of the Crows, told his biographers how he and his fellow warriors felt when they went out on a war party:

"To be alone with our war-horses at such a time teaches them to understand us, and us to understand them. My horse fights with me and fasts with me, because if he is to carry me in battle he must know my heart and I must know his or we shall never become brothers. I have been told that the white man, who is almost a god, and yet a great fool, does not believe that the horse has a spirit. This cannot be true. I have many time seen my horse's soul in his eyes."