A horse
lover all her life, Annette Kart discovered Peruvian
horses in 1969, when she took a short ride on a mare named *Dulcinea”
imported from Hda.Casa Grande in the north of Peru. “I was
so excited by her strength, energy and smooth ride,” recalls
Annette, “I knew this was the type of horse I wanted to
breed.” Never one to procrastinate, Annette jumped into
Peruvian horses with the same enthusiastic attitude she
tackles everything.
I caught up
with Annette at the recent United National Show in Fort
Worth, TX. I was immediately impressed with her energy and
enthusiasm for the Peruvian horse. An enthusiasm I usually
find in riders who have just purchased their first Peruvian.
But after 35 years of owning, breeding, showing and judging
Peruvian horses, Annette still gets breathless and wide-eyed
with wonder when she talks about our wonderful breed.
“The truly
good part is that this is a breed that is still evolving and
must be watched over carefully”, Annette said emphatically,
“It is a man made breed and we are supplementing natural
selection. It is imperative that we protect this breed to
ensure that it meets its genetic potential.”
A
California native, Annette is the granddaughter of Thomas
Wilson of St. Louis, MO, who developed the bloodline that
pro-duced the world famous Standard bred trotter Dan Patch.
Annette’s mother never told her that her grandfather was a
horse breeder until Annette announced that she was going to
dedicate her life to breeding horses. Then her mother said,
“Well let me tell you about your Irish grandfather.” When
Annette asked her why she was never told about him before,
her mother said, “You have loved horses all your life and I
wanted to see if breeding was really in your blood.”
Annette has
been involved with horses since age 2, when she first went
on a pony ride. She screamed so loud that her mother had to
let her ride for 2 hours walking in a circle.
At age six
she walked four miles to a rent stable to clean stalls and
groom horses in exchange for an hour’s horseback ride. She
was a winner of the Tevis cup (100 miles in 24 hours) horse
race over the Rocky Mountain range and has the belt buckle
to prove it.
Annette riding Cascabel de Grana (J) in the show arena
Annette has
based her breeding program on some of the most important
horses in the Peruvian breed. She imported Sol de Oro (J) at
age 24. He was a son of Sol de Oro (V) recognized in Peru as
the “father of the breed”. Sol de Oro (J) became the
foundation stallion for her breeding program. Sol de Oro (J)
and his descendants have been used in Peru and in the USA in
the breeding programs of some of the finest breeders in
existence today, i.e., Jose Risso, Lima, Peru; Mike
Mewhinney, Stephenville, TX; Eduardo Rizo Patron, Peru; Jose
Musante Lacoste, Lima, Peru and Guatemala; Armando La Rosa,
Peru; Ed Houston, Thousand Oaks, CA; Richard Apsley, N.
Vernon, IN; Bellissima Farms, Scottsdale, AZ and Cheryl
Aldrich, in Poolville, TX. Annette was so impressed with
*Sol de Oro (J), that she renamed her ranch from Kart Farms
to “Hacienda *Sol De Oro (J)”.
Over the
past 35 years Annette has remained a fierce protector of the
bloodlines that are pre-potent for gait and style. Annette
has refined her breeding program over the years making
crosses mainly between Sol De Oro (J), Caramelo, El Cid,
Musante bloodlines, Pischera, Parodi Bloodlines and in some,
with a touch of Pucala.
In 1976,
she met Jose “Pepe” Musante Lacoste, while he was judging a
show in Santa Rosa, CA. They became instant friends. Pepe
Musante rode Sol De Oro (J) for many years in Peru before
the Agrarian reform and promoted the stallion as having the
finest gait of all the Sol de Oro (V) sons. Pepe’s father
Sr. Jose Musante Hertado was one of the founding members of
the Peruvian Association in Peru. After numerous discussions
about bloodlines and after hearing of Annette’s breeding
success with 24-year old Sol De Oro (J) he said to Pepe “I
want to give my last horse, that is the culmination of my 65
years of line breeding, to Annette to take to the United
States to help the American breeders improve gait and
timing”.
The gift
was made with the understanding that Granados de Musante
would never be shown, mainly because of his age and that for
the past 12 years he had not been ridden by professionals,
and was not in show form. As Annette tells it, one day after
Granados de Musante had been with her in California for a
couple of years Pepe Musante, a famous breeder and judge in
his own right, was visiting Annette’s farm to check on
Granados. Annette whipped out a bottle of tequila and next
thing they knew Granados was in the show ring winning
Champion of Champions Performance Stallion in front of the
famous breeder and judge, Jose Risso, Sr., who was the
former owner of Sol De Oro (J). What a small Peruvian world.
Annette Kart with Pepe Risso, Sr. and 24 year old Sol de
Oro (J) right after he arrived in the United States.
Annette
next imported the 24 year old stallion F G Cascabel, a
laureado breeding stallion in Peru. He was sired by one of
the greatest show horses ever in Peru, “Caramelo”. Caramelo
was also a laureado stallion and a son of Sol de Oro (V). FG
Cascabel’s dam, Feria, was of pure Parodi blood. FG Cascabel
was bred by the late Fernando Grana.
After his
death, his wife Pena Grana consulted with Fito Mattelini and
he advised her that “the best place for FG Cascabel to
finish his breeding career was in the hands of Annette.”
FG Cascabel,
also known in the USA as Cascabel De Grana, is the sire of
two of Annette’s outstanding stallions: HSDO Cascabel de
Grana (J), a 16 year old palomino stallion, the mirror image
of his sire, and HSDO Secreto Andaluz, a 14 year old liver
chestnut, El Cid look alike. Both stallions are in
exceptional condition and have clean, strong legs. FG
Cascabel De Grana is one of the most famous horses to ever
leave Peru. A lot of strings had to be pulled to get him off
of the infamous “Reserve de Raza”, a list of national
treasures not allowed to leave Peru. He is the beautiful
palomino stallion gaiting across the desert sands in the
film “The Peruvian Horse”.
Just 2
months ago Annette found, hidden away in Guatemala, another
famous breeding stallion *JJBN Emperador a grandson of Sol
de Oro (V), again mixed with the blood of Parodi and Musante.
He has won every competition he has ever entered, including
National Champion Bozal Stallion in 1996. Unfortunately he
lost an eye in an accident at the 1997 Nationals and retired
to breeding.
HSDO Cascabel de Grana
grazing on a hillside at
his home in Malibu, CA
“One could
study horses for a lifetime and never understand all the
subtleties that must be blended together to produce the
depth of gait, the conformation and the glamour of the
Peruvian Paso horse. It is a breed that keeps evolving,”
smiled Annette. “I am constantly studying, analyzing,
listening and learning. We are breeding a dream and striving
to produce a horse that will never really exist outside of
our imagination. That is what makes it such a fascinating
challenge.”
Annette has
been a carded judge of Peruvian horses since 1988. In
addition to judging in the United States, she judges in
Canada, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras. She judges major shows in these countries, working
alone or with judges from Peru and the United States. She
also conducts seminars on training, judging, showing and
riding the Peruvian horse. She teaches the old, but newly
re-discovered, equine communication skills known as horse
whispering. She uses natural horsemanship techniques which
she has adapted just for the Peruvian Paso breed. She has
taken the best the various programs that have emerged over
the past few years.
This equine
language is the most exciting realization to come along in
years. We now can speak to our horses and understand what
they are saying back. Now that everyone can learn these
communication skills, horses will be easier to own than
ever. This is a boom to the horse industry. We, as breeders
had better get ready. Incorporating these techniques into
training programs, producing more horses to sell and most of
all, promoting our breed to the equine marketplace will
enable us all to gain our fair share of the market. Our
breed is very tractable,” says Annette, “and responds to
this form of communication very easily.
She
laughingly says “The techniques are so easy to learn that
even an adult can learn them. The system really compliments
the training of our horses. Our Chalan’s are already using
great portions of it; they just don’t fully realize it. Once
the rest of it is shown to them they will be more successful
in all phases of training and winning.”
Annette is
one of the few breeders in the U.S. that has stallions so
closely related to the great foundation sires of the
Peruvian horse. She has spent most of her life protecting
and preserving these precious bloodlines. “It seems that
everything in my life has directed me to where I am now,”
smiled Annette, “My love of travel and my love of Peruvian
horses. I really do love my life!”
