Birthdate: April 28, 1989
Registrations: IPAA Foundation registered, ApHC (FPD eligible)
*Special Note: Howl is an astonishing 100% IPAA foundation blood, and all four of his grandparents are IPAA designated foundation stock! It is very rare to find these old "seed stock" horses so up close in a pedigree!
Color and Pattern: Howl is a blue roan (black with classic roan) leopard. He has slate and charcoal colored spots on his main body and then really deep black spots on his head, lower legs, and hip with black hairs mixed into his mane and tail. He is DNA tested negative for grey and heterozygous for classic roan.
Gait: Howl has a smooth walk, a nice slow trot, a nice fast trot with good freedom in the knee and hock, a smooth canter, and a huge rolling gallop with lots of high knee action.
Conformation: When Howl arrived here in June 2010, his muscling was quite light from years of inactivity and he was underweight from needing dental work done. We could see that he had nice, solid bone without being heavy in build: a nice hip, a nice set of withers, good chest, nice neck tie in , great legs and hooves, and a beautiful head. After living in a nice sized pasture all summer, fall, and winter and after having his teeth power floated, Howl is looking fantastic and showing off his conformation beautifully. Watch for new photos as he goes through an exercise regime this summer in preparation for live inspection this fall and continues to put on weight this spring and summer!
Personality: Howl definitely has more pep and spunk now that he can chew comfortably and he has better weight and muscle, but he is still a really nice boy! In the pasture he's gentle enough for our young children to groom, handle, and feed. Out of the pasture and on a lead rope, he's icely mannered until he spots our other stallion, and then it's all prancing and showing off like he's a spry young stud! He is intelligent and affectionate with people of all ages. His personality with mares is just as gentle - after breeding, he's inclined to "kiss" them, nuzzling and licking their shoulders and necks and the mares never have a scratch on them.
Activities: Due to the poor health of his last owner, Howl hasn't been trained or worked with much in recent years, although we've been told that he was broke to ride. His ground manners are excellent, so we are considering doing some additional training and skill refreshing despite his age. He will also be going this fall for live inspection, which will have both his conformation and movement inspected and rated by a USEF judge, who will also give us feedback on suitability.
Breeders and Progeny: Howl was bred and owned by Don and Suzy LaLonde of Michigan. Howl has 12 registered offspring, 10 of them fillies! Both of his colts are standing at stud, one a fewspot at Dorsey Creek Farm in Michigan and the other a noncharacterstic at DJ Appaloosas in Michigan. Howl's sire Doubleheart's Kid, black fewspot, is the subject of the cover photo of the book The Story of the Ghost Wind Stallions which was told by Don LaLonde to ghost writer and fellow Appaloosa enthusiast and breeder Frank Scripter. We are putting together a list not only of Howl's progeny but also where they are now and what they are doing. Check back soon for that new page!
Pedigree: His pedigree is very distinctive. Howl is a rare great-grandson through a direct male line to Siri Sheik. On his dam's side (she being from the very solid Garvin Heights program in Minnesota), he is a great-great-grandson of Bambi E, Money Creek Rockledge (also a grandson of Siri Sheik), and Flamingo of AA. Both his sire and dam are said to have been very beautiful horses who also were good riding mounts - my perfect combination! His pedigree is also notable because Don LaLonde did not stand his stallions to the public and his sire died young with only 5 registered foals produced, so this up close breeding to some great old lines is not something that can be found just anywhere! Note that although there is some controversy about the pedigree behind Howl's great-grandsire Siri Sheik, we've included it in his pedigree as it was believed by his owner/breeder Don Lalonde. The book and its story are a wonderful little something special to add to the overall incredible quality of Howl and his history, and we encourage you to read the book and enjoy it whether you believe it to be a faithful oral history or an embroidered passing on of stories. We may never have hard evidence about this part of his pedigree since it is all pre-Appaloosa Horse Club, but it's still interesting!
Breeding:
$500 live cover stud fee, includes a $100 booking fee - will go up after he is live inspected this fall!
mare care -- $3 per day after the first 7 days; extras such as exercise and grain negotiable; pasture board only
requirements for live cover breeding:
negative Coggins and tetanus and West Nile Virus vaccinations (rabies, EEE, and WEE recommended)live foal guarantee for first 96 hours
