Curt Skjonsberg visits with some of the ranch’s 2009 foals. The ranch produced a total of eight foals last year, many of which were dun or grullo.
Brad Skoyen gives a little scratch to one of Royce Ranch’s 2009 foals. This black filly is 100 per cent Foundation bred and one they have decided to keep to add to their mare band.
Maggie Skjonsberg with one of the ranch’s Foundation Quarter Horses, a palomino mare. The foal in this photo, taken last spring, is less than 45 minutes old. The families keep careful watch when their mares are due and are present for most of the births.
Can you name the most popular horse breed in Canada? Well, unless you live under an equine-free rock, you’d probably say the American Quarter Horse, which easily tops all breeds when it comes to popularity and numbers registered on a yearly basis!
But did you realize that all Quarter Horses do not have the same type of breeding? Royce Ranch of Hines Creek, AB (west of Peace River) is committed to producing a very specific type of horse — the “Foundation” Quarter Horse.
Royce Ranch is represented by two families; parents, Curt and Maggie Skjonsberg and daughter and son-in-law, Brad and Jennie Skoyen. They currently own 38 horses, which include two stallions — RR Dun It Classy, a dun with 96.88 per cent foundation blood and Poco Mave, a grullo with 100 per cent foundation bloodlines, plus ten broodmares and many young horses at various ages and stages of training.
“I suppose the first thing I should do is explain exactly what a Foundation Quarter Horse is,” said Jennie with a laugh. “In 1941 AQHA gave a stallion named Wimpy the breed’s first registration number –0000001. This horse was typical of Quarter Horses registered at that time. Those first horses were “bulldog” type horses, with really strong bones and feet. They weren’t excessively tall, averaging about 15 hands high, but they were thick and well muscled. They tended to be quiet, dependable, and had a strong work ethic, especially when it came to working cattle, she explained. “The purpose of the Foundation Quarter Horse Registry is to promote, preserve and protect those original working cow horse bloodlines.”
The American Quarter Horse officially became a breed in the 1940s, but the AQHA continued to leave its main stud book open to Thoroughbred bloodlines. This Thoroughbred gene flow has altered many of the characteristics that typified the breed in the early years. Royce Ranch, along with many other breeders, prefers the earlier, non-Thoroughbred style of horses. “These Foundation horses are sensible, but hard working,” Jennie said. “They can rein, cut a cow and are a great pleasure on the trail.”
“Our horses are double registered,” Jennie said. “They all have their basic AQHA papers and they also carry papers with the Foundation Quarter Horse Registry located in Colorado. We’re one of the few ranches in Alberta that produces exclusively Foundation Quarter Horses — our foals are 95 to 100 per cent Foundation bred.”
Royce Ranch has had a lifelong interest in horses, but it was only 11 years ago that the families decided to become involved in Foundation Quarter Horses. “We decided that since we were already spending the time, money and effort in the horse industry, we wanted to raise something we could really be proud of,” Jennie continued. “Our Foundation Horses have done that for us. We built up our herd very slowly and carefully. It wasn’t enough to have good bloodlines; they also had to have excellent conformation. Many of our horses have show records in reining, working cow horse or roping events. They are all out of proven producers, and we insist that the bottom line (the mare portion) of their pedigree be just as strong as the top line (stallion pedigree.) As an added bonus we produce a lot of dun, red dun and grullo foals, which are fairly rare.”
The couples devote their time to their horses. “When the mares are due to foal we watch them 24 hours a day,” Jennie said. “We’re present when most foals are born, and handle and halter breaking them when they are small. Some of our offspring will sell as wean-lings. If we keep them longer then all four of us invest time into their training, teaching them good ground manners so they can be tied, loaded into a trailer, and have their feet done.”
There is often a lot of interest in Royce Ranch youngsters when they’re about one and a half years old. “This is the time when many will (show) and start in training for reining or cattle work. We keep that in mind when we work with them,” said Jennie.
“The horse industry is hard work,” she continued. “But I can’t imagine us doing anything else. Summer is especially hectic — often we’re at a show and have to rush home to do the haying! We aren’t rich; we’re just everyday people doing what we love. Our ranch motto is — ‘Our Foundation Quarter Horses aren’t our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.’”