About Curlies
A brief history of Curly Horses
The Damele Horses:
Curly horses are a very rare breed that were
discovered around 1900 in wild Mustang herds in Eastern Nevada. The
Sioux and Crow are said to have bred Curlies since about 1800, but it
is not known if these horses are the same breed as Curly horses of
today. There exist ancient drawings of Curly horses over the world, but
again it is unknown if they were related to today's North American
Curly horse, which in general has a dominant gene responsible for
curled body, mane and tail hair. The Damele family of Nevada were the
first to capture and regularly use Curly horses for ranch work in the
1930's. After a very hard winter in 1951/52, the Damele's general herd
of horses was wiped out, but a few Curly horses survived. Since so few
examples of this rare breed survived, the Dameles crossed the
intelligent, robust Curly horses with a working Arabian stallion,
Nevada Red, and later with the Morgan stallion, Ruby Red King. From
these crosses, the Dameles discovered that often the curly coat was
produced in the offspring. It was then clear to the ranchers that the
Curly Gene (in this case) was dominant. Other characteristics of the
Curly horse were also attractive; strong cannon bone and hooves, a
quiet temperment, intelligence, people oriented personalities, fast
learning skills, a robust body and excellent stamina. The Damele
bloodlines often have a sleek Morab (Morgan x Arabian) body type and
elegant movement.
The Fredell Horses:
The Damele family were not the only Curly horse
breeders. Also other ranchers crossbred the curly horses and today
there exist different styles of Curlies. One family is well known, the
Fredell family out of Boulder, Colorado. Francis Fredell received his
first Curly horse from his father as a gift. His father bred Curly
horses, and when Francis was old enough he started his own Curly
breeding program. Up to this point, these Curly horses were similar to
the wild spanish Mustangs in body type: small, fast, robust. But, as
Francis' wife Dora began to involve herself in breeding, she changed
the direction toward the American Quarter Horse. By 1983, most of the
Fredell Curly horses were between 75% and 90% Quarter Horse blood,
although they were still Curlies. The main bloodlines of these horses
are Mc Cue and Oklahoma Star.
The Bad Warrior/Berndt/Hammrich Horses:
Ernest Hammrich out of South Dakota was another
breeder with an interest in Foundation style American Quarter Horses
and Curly horses. He was a 50 year member of the American Quarter Horse
Association (AQHA) and also sold horses to the United States Calvary,
the Police Departments of New York and Chicago, and to the United
States Forresty Service. Mr. Hammrich also had an herd of Curly horses
stemming from an ancient bloodline, namely the Bad Warrior bloodline
which he collected and preserved. These Curly horses were originally
bred by the Sioux Indians before they were stolen by the Crow in 1801.
The Sioux family of Eli Bad Warrior, a neighbor of of Mr. Hammrich, had
the last of this rare type of Curly horse, as did Slim Berndt, who also
had a few examples. Mr. Hammrich gather these horses into his breeding
program. With his death he handed over much of his herd to the breeder,
Donna Vickery in Montana.
The Candian Curly Horses:
Curly horses were first brought to Canada by Ole
Skonskberg. The story goes that he caught his first Curly horse by a
waterhole and that it belonged to Indians. The pedigree of the Candian
Curly horses often includes a mixture of Skonskberg and Damele
bloodlines. In Canada there is also the Cypress bloodline stemming from
the horse Cypress Nicker, a half American Quarter Horse and half Curly
horse that had Thoroughbred (racing horse) blood. These horses are
sometimes very Quarter Horse or very Sport Horse in body type (tall,
fast, jumping horses with a lot of racing blood).
Curly Jim Line (fox trotter line or Walker's Prince T line)
In the mid nineteen-fifties a foxtrotting chestnut
Curly stallion, named "Curly Jim," started to breed mares in the Ozarks
(low mountain range covering southern Missouri, western Arkansas, and
eastern Oklahoma), right in the heart of where the Missouri Fox
Trotting horse developed. Thus most of his mates were fox trotting
mares, and some of his descenants are registered MFTHBA. Several of his
daughters were also registered as ABC foundation mares. His daughter,
*Blaze ABC 135, produced in turn *Walker's Prince T ABC 90, which to
date is the most prominent sire within his bloodline. Curlies from this
blood line are excellent saddle horses, sport good refined
conformations, smooth soft gaits, even temperments and plenty of mane
and tail which seem to shed much less than in the other curly blood
lines.
Subcatagories: Gaited, Dressage and Draft Curly Horses
Gaited Curly Horses are Curlies with special
movements such as the Foxtrot, Fast Walk, and Indian Shuffle. Dressage
Curly Horses often come from the Damele line and have Arabian and
Morgan blood in their pedigrees, most often from the founder of the
dressage line, *Spartacus. There are also large working drafts as well
as Mini ponies. All these different types of curlies have something in
common, they are often hypoallergenic for allergy suffeers.
Information courtesy of www.curlies-austria.com
