MARCH 1997 BACK ISSUE
Part of Horse Previews Magazine website. Posted on 3/1/97; 10:00:00 AM.
Terry and Linda Threlkeld Win George Hatley Award
Moscow, Id. - Terry and Linda Threlkeld of Gallatin Gateway, Montana were the 1996 recipients of the George Hatley award. Named for the man credited with developing the Appaloosa Horse Club an as international organization, the award recognizes service to the breed. They will be honored for this achievement at the Appaloosa Horse Club Convention in San Antonio, Texas, February 27-March 2, 1997.Background Information: Terry & Linda Threlkeld
Throughout their years of working to build their Montana breeding operation from scratch, the Threlkelds never lost sight of a bigger picture, the betterment of the Appaloosa breed and those within the industry built around the horse. As breeders, this couple has experienced the highs and lows that come with the horse buisness. After seeing their stallion Goin For Approval to championship titles at the World Show and the U.S. and Canadian national shows, the couple lost the horse in late 1996 following an accident during routine testing. Despite the loss, the commitment the Threlkelds have shown to the Appaloosa breed is unquestionable.
A driving force behind the movement to study and approve the use of transported semen in Appaloosa breeding programs, the Threlkelds lobbied strongly for one of the most sweeping changes to ever be made in the regulations regarding the business of Appaloosa breeding.
The Threlkelds' breeding career began in 1983 with the purchase of W.A.'s Saucy Sue, a daughter of Red Eagle Jr. As the couple formed a plan to build a horse operation, they turned their attention to the broodmare herd at Sheldak Ranch in North Dakota. The Threlkelds purchased mares in foal from Sheldak Ranch with the hope of having on the ground a stud colt that could become the foundation of the program.
With the birth of filly after filly, they began purchasing stallion prospects, each time finding themselves dissatisfied with a horses prospects. Finally, the Threlkelds came across Goin For Approval, a son of Goer that was being offered for sale by Goer's co-owners Jim and Karol Nylund of Colorado. Longtime admirers of the Goer line, the Montana couple brought the colt home as a yearling and began prepping him for what would be an immediately successful show career. In addition to becoming a national halter champion once in the U.S. and twice in Canada, and earning a world halter title, Goin For Approval became the signature horse for the Threlkeld program and garnered his own following, even becoming the model for a line of Breyer toy horses.
As the interest in the Threlkelds' program increased and their breeding operation became better known, they began to recognize a potential for improvement within the horse business. Working with the Appaloosa Horse Club's breeders' committee, Terry Threlkeld was a key player in the study of a transported semen program and, as such a program's potential benefits became clearer to him, became a strong proponent of updating breeding practices to incorporate transported semen.
The Threlkelds see the allowance of transported semen as a means of encouraging the use of a divers range of Appaloosa stallions in a market often fond of Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred crosses.
"I'm convinced that we need this for the industry," Terry Threlkeld said in a December 1996 Appaloosa Journal interview. "I hope that more people will breed to different Appaloosas and that we'll see less outcrossing."
The Appaloosa Horse Club, situated in Moscow, Idaho, is the international breed registry for Appaloosa horses. Established in 1938, it is dedicated to preserving, improving, promoting and enhancing the Appaloosa breed. The ApHC is proud to offer their congratulations to Terry and Linda Threlkeld.
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