Candidate for ApHC Director - Territory IV
Candidate Territory IV ApHC National Director
I am excited to announce that I am running for the ApHC Board of Directors, Territory IV!
I am passionate about the Appaloosa breed and committed to supporting its members, strengthening our programs, and helping build a positive future for the ApHC.
I would be honored to have your support and your vote!
Elections are October 1- 31, 2026.
You must be an ApHC member by August 31st to vote!
Our History
We purchased our first Appaloosas in 2006 at the suggestion of Dan Laseter, a long time supporter of the Appaloosa horse, and huge fan of the great stallion Saint Plaudit. We spent the first year learning to ride and spent a lot of time at the Arizona Salt River. Pictured here is Miss Cocoa Gold, Sonja up. This was the first and last time I did a trail ride bareback, harder than it looks!
This pretty mare named Cocoa was a wonderful partner. With her I tried many events to include endurance riding!
Endurance
I spent a lot more time reading and learning about endurance than riding as Cocoa was 18 years old when we entered our first Limited Distance ride of 30 miles. I read everything I could about how to condition an older horse for a demanding event. I learned there is very little written for conditioning an older horse, so I applied all the advice from Endurance books to prepare Cocoa. Our first ride we came in 16th out of ~32. This photo is a couple of weeks after we competed at our first ApHC World Show in 2011.
Arizona Appaloosa Association
I joined the Arizona Appaloosa Association soon after we purchased our first Appaloosas and started assisting where I could. The members of this club are life-long friends, all our moments are cherished. In 2011, we applied for ApHC Exemplary Club of the Year and won! Such a thrill. We were the ApHC Exemplary Club from 2011 to 2015. I learned many lessons participating in this club, we put on trail rides, open horse shows, ApHC horse shows, jointly sponsor horse shows with other clubs and ran a stallion auction.
Racing
I enjoy researching the Appaloosa horse and consistently, the Appaloosa race horse was a pivotal horse for the breed. I am a believer in the all-around horse. When I decided to start breeding, I focused on the race horse because I know race horses can go on and succeed in other events. This is my now 7-year-old stallion, Return Of The King. He was not fast on the track, but his good mind proved he was versatile and won 2 National Reserve Championships in Jr Ranch Trail and Reining, and a Reserve World Championship in JR Ranch Trail under the guidance of Jim Jirkovsky. I will never be able to thank Jim enough for taking on a horse off the track and proving him in the arena. A really huge thank you to Caitlin Raysser for being willing to show a race horse at halter!
Racing
How hard can racing be? All the horse has to do is finish first, right? It's very hard!
This is our most successful race horse, Valiant Anthem. He tail lines to the great mare WeGo Melody, dam of Hall of Fame We Go Charge, the mare that produced four Hall of Fame race horses!
He loves his job and is super pretty. My plan is to show him in jumping after his racing career concludes.