~ Beyond The Curl ~
An American Bashkir Curly Horse is many things to me. We met and fell in love with our first REAL Curly Horses on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota. What we saw standing before us were sturdy animals with muscular builds and heavy bone sturctures, a strong curiosity, friendly easy-going dispositions, beautiful heads, and hard hooves that had never required trimming - animals living naturally on their own, and surviving the elements without aid from man. Untrained, and not accustomed to humans, you would think the foals would have been frightened, but instead, they came right up to us to see what we were, and willingly lingered in our presence. To say we fell in love with this breed would be an understatement!! The admiration and intrigue we felt toward these horses went beyond love, and has driven us to give a large daily portion of our lives (for the last 9 years) to preserve not only these rare horses, but the traits we found so unusual in this breed. Our admiration has continued to grow as we have worked with and amongst these incredible animals on our farm! We strive to produce quality animals with great dispositions, correct conformation, and all the other intrigue that is wrapped up in an American Bashkir Curly Horse.
Oh yeah......and did I mention curl? Another interesting characteristic of this amazing breed is their coat pattern. A lot of folks will only talk about the curl, but not here. A curly coat is an important trait for this breed, as it visually sets them apart from other breeds, but it is secondary in my books to so many of their other unique traits. This unusual hair fiber does make them hypo-allergenic, and that is a great thing for those allergic to horses! But once you have owned an ABC Horse, and have gotten to enjoy it's many wonderful qualities, I think you will agree that the curl is just sort of the "icing on the cake". We do not "force" the curl issue when describing our horses, and we are not so concerned with how much or how little, and whether or not that mane will stick around all year. We report these details strictly for other's information. But when I look at our Curly horses, I am looking beyond the coat. I am looking for disposition and those beautiful sleepy eyes, sturdy bone, hard feet and a willing heart, solid build with the muscle to get a job done and a beautiful head with a sweet expression. I am looking for an ABC Horse with roots and history......and to breed horses with a pedigree rich in ABC bloodlines. Their traits are strong and easily passed on, yet we strive to double up on the traits by keeping our breedings pure. You can get curl by breeding a curly horse to anything.....even a donkey!! But some of their most desirable characteristics may be lost in the process. If you are looking at our Curlies' photos, you may "notice" a distinctive lack of curl (and mane) in the photos. I purposefully photograph our horses in their "natural" state in hopes of helping others to look beyond the curl. There really is a wonderful horse under that coat!!! Some of us like icing on our cake - others do not......with the American Bashkir Curly Horse you can get both. The only difference is, that this "cake" is just as great without the icing!!! ~ Barbara Carroll
