At Burton Foxtrotters I breed for the old original fox trot that travels around 6 mile per hour & caps the tracks. I strive to keep as few generations between our foals & the old foundation stock as possible. Therefore I still have names like Kissee Fox on some of our papers - mostly brown papers, which I am very proud to have.
These bloodlines lean more toward the old saddlebreds that started the fox trot breed before the TWH influence became so popular. I made this decision consciously for a counter action with the TWH bred horses in order to preserve the true fox trot for future generations. Therefore these horses have very little TWH in their background. When it is there it will be through Zane Grey, Walker's Merry Lad, or the old Wilson horses.Because I believe that any breeding program should be from only the best of proven stock I model my breeding program after 3 breeders that have gone before me. Mr Lawrence Barnes of Ava MO, Mr Herb Roscoe of St Clairsville OH, & Mr Clyde Songer of Newton IL.
The first being Mr Lawrence Barnes who raised & trained Ramblin Red after purchasing him from Mr Rollen Clarkson of Protem MO as a yearling. Ramblin Red was my first Missouri Fox Trotting horse & is the reason I am still breding & raising foxtrotters some 25 years later.Red was born in 1962 & died in 1986. He was by Mr Clarkson's 'King' horse which was a working ranch horse. King has the Kissee breeding behind him repeatedly, Cadmus Dare, other old American Saddlebreds, & of course Old Skip of the Bill Dunn breeding that was such a renouned stud & fox trotter. King was born in 1957 & was the own son of Kissee Fox. Red's dam, Flaxy C, was Mr Clarkson's favored mare & the base of his breeding program. He told the story of riding to the one room school house each day behind his teacher on his teacher's favorite mare, Roxie. Man oh man, was she ever a good riding fox trotting mare. He told everyone in the countryside that he was gonna have a foal from that mare when he grew up. When he came home from 'his service in the war' his dad took him to the barn & gave him a young filly. That filly was Flaxy C, born in 1946 out of the Roxie mare. Roxie's dam, Crazy Snake, was not traceable because she was bought in a herd of horses at an auction. She got her name because she was practically unmanagable being herded home that day. She just wouldn't stay with the herd so they named her thinking she would never be managable. Turned out she was the best of the lot & very much in demand by the whole family & ranch.
I've spent many hours conversing with Mr Barnes on these horses & quizing him as to the individual horses that were the truer fox trotters. Mr Barnes was the secretary of the MFTHBA for many years & could almost recite the registry books to you. Therefore I have a heavy impact of his horses in my breeding program.
Mr Barnes has told the story many times of how he had 2 stallions at the time he sold Ramblin Red. He had Gold Man & Ramblin Red & couldn't decide which to let go so he let the buyer, Mr Jack Vinson of Cadiz KY pick his choice. Mr Vinson selected Ramblin Red & later won the Ky Grand Championship with him in 1969. One reason Mr Barnes really hated to see Red go was that they had been working on the 'cow pattern' & with very little effort Red had picked up on it & was 'really doing good'. Another reason was that Red was such a sweetie to handle & ride. Mr Barnes would tell of his elderly sister who hardly ever rode riding Ramblin Red on a trail ride up at St Louis & not having any problems whatsoever.
So my breeding program starts with Ramblin Red. I am currently standing his 23 year old son (only known son of Ramblin Red to be standing stud) Red's Flaxy Shadow. Thru Red, Shadow has Kissee Fox on his 4th line & Old Ted on his 5th. If you remember Kissee Fox is the grandsire of Golden Governor & great grand sire of Lady Anne & Old Ted is the grand sire of Lady Anne as well as many of the other greats in the ancestory of the fox trotting breed. Bill Dunn's old Skip stud is on Shadow's 6th line. The Bill Dunn stock were Morgan/Thoroughbred crosses.
(For a good article on these horses I refer you to an article written by Mr Claude Hibbard, a founding father of this breed, written several years ago that appeared in the early rule books & has since been published in the original Fox Trot Trackings book & again recently in The Journal, June 2002 issue.)
Shadow's dam was Penny an American Saddlebred daughter of Wing Commander & a Peavine mare. Wing Commander was: World's Grand Champion Five-Gaited Saddle Horse 1948 thru 1954; winner of the $2500 Five-Gaited Stallion Division of the $10,000 Stake at the Ky State Fair for seven years; winner of the $2500 World's Championship Five-Gaited Stake at the Ky State Fair 1948 thru 1953; winner of the $2500 World's Chamiionship Five-Gaited Stake at the Chicago International 1947 thru 1954; winner of over 200 Championships; & undefeated 1948 thru 1954.
Going back to Mr Barnes' horses. He built his breeding program around his old 'Vickie' mare. She was sired by Blankenship Diamond & out of a Paul David's Dan & a Blankenship mare. In Mr Barnes' estimation Blankenship Diamond was the greatest natural fox trotter in the country. He wanted to keep a great influence of Blankenship Diamond in all his breeding with Mitchell's Trigger & Yellow Jacket following close behind. His second 'Vickie' mare, Vicki's Flossy, was sired by Mitchell's Trigger & out of the original Vicki. Vicki 3 was a daughter of Vicki's Flossy & sired by Gold Man . Gold Man was sired by Golden Rawhide & out of a Yellow Jacket by Ozark Golden King mare. Now remember Blankenship Diamond is sired by Kissee Fox & out of Betty Fox who is also the dam of Golden Governor. Golden Governor's sire, Ozark Golden King was sired by Kissee Fox.
So many of these great old horses go back to Kissee Fox & Old Ted. But on most papers they are so far removed that there is no longer much of their influence on the horse you get. I'm trying to hold onto that influence, but do it without too much inbreeding. Just trying to hold onto the true 'old' foxtrot & sweet dispositioned horse.
I incorporate a lot of Gold Man. He is sired by Golden Rawhide who is a full brother to Lady Anne & his dam is by Yellow Jacket & an Ozark Golden King mare. He was a great stallion for our breed. I also enjoy the Vicki's Red Man influence for the bloodlines. Red Man is sired by Gold Exchange of the Dale Esther farms & is out of Vicki 3. Gold Exchange is by a son of Zane Grey whose dam is a double bred Cothan Dare mare. Gold Exchange's dam was by Golden Rawhide bred to his half sister who was also sired by Golden Governor. Mr Barnes' was a big admirer of Gold Exchange. He often told of the natural performance Gold gave to win the first ever Furitity Grand Championship.
If you study Mr Barnes' breeding program you will find that he usually went to Mr Dale Esther to get the outcrops for his breeding program. He took Red Ruby & bred her to Zane Grey to get Zane's Dude & he took Vicki 3 to Zane Grey's Warrior to get Major L. Old Paint came from Lazy Jane B being mated to Mo's War Paint who was a son of Mo Traveler
One regret Mr Barnes expressed was that he had not been able to incorporate more of the Cotham Dare bloodlines into his stock. He was so highly impressed with Cotham Dare mourned the scaracity of Cotham Dare stock in our breed. That is were Mr Herb Roscoe & his breeding program became of interest to me.
I met Mr Herb Roscoe & became an admirer of his breeding program that was focused on the true old fox trot. He too leaned heavily toward the old saddlebred bloodlines with a lot of Old Charley & Cothan Dare. Mr Roscoe had Little Charley's Duke that was a grandson of Old Charley & his dam was a Cotham Dare daugher. Then he had Charley who was a son of Little Charley's Duke & out of his favorite mare Trixie CC. Trixie was a Cotham Dare bred mare too.
Then I found out he & Mr Clyde Songer incorporated their breeding programs somewhat. Mr Songer I already knew because he tried to keep a strong influence from Ramblin Red in his breeding program. I grew to admire & appreciate all the hard work & dedication of Mr Songer who worked diligently to match up the old bloodlines without much TWH influence. Mr Songer had the old Jack of Diamonds horse which was from Shoshone's Baron & Rawhide's Sandy Ann. Shoshone's Baron goes back to Blankenship Diamond on the top side putting Kissee Fox on his fifth line. Shoshone's Baron has the old Ranger F-102 on him twice which puts Cotham Dare on his 4th & 5th line. Bill Dunn's old Skip stud is on Ranger's 3rd line. Jack of Diamonds G's dam was a Golden Rawhide daughter which puts Old Ted on JOD's 5th line & Kissee Fox on his 6th line & brings Danny Boy back in again.
Mr Songer incorporated Mr Herb Roscoe's Old Charley lines in his breeding as well as Boomerang W from the Woods, & Duncan's Fox which of course includes Mitchell's Trigger & Danny Boy. Boomerang W was a Danney Joe W & Dolly Ann W son which also brought in Cothan Dare, Golden Governor, & Old Charley(Note of warning: If you are studying Mr Songer's breed papers don't become confused if you can't find the names 'Jack of Diamonds G', 'Duncan's Fox', 'Boomerang W', etc. Mr Songer had a habit of changing names to become 'Songers Ambraw Jack', 'Songer's Ambraw Fox', 'Songer's Boomerang W', etc. The numbers will still be the same as original.)
I've told you about Shadow, but just as important are the mares he is mated with to produce these georgous foals. My operation is limited so currently I have 6 mares with 4 being bred for 2003 & 3 having foals by their side now that are for sale.
Let's start with Ky's Razzel Dazzel who is by Songer's Boomer & out of Ky's Anne Barnes. Those names should be a give away as to the names in her ancestory. Dazzel is wide chested & built to match it. She has a pretty head, a big bright eye & is ever so easy to handle. She is a natural fox trotter & works to buggy also. She is the dam of Ky Heart Stopper B, Ky's Ramblin Cannon B, Ky's Ramblin Dickens B, & Ky's Dazzeling Shadow B who is by her side now. Dazzel is a very 'smutty' apricot color having all the coloration of silver dapple on legs, body, mane/tail.
Ky Heart Stopper B is currently owned by Chad & Tami Duke of Elkton KY. 'Dakota' is catching a lot of attention at shows this year. He is a deep chestnut with all the markings of a silver dapple same as his mama. He is standing stud at Shady Oaks Foxtrotters in Elkton KY. You can contact Tami at Tamichad@apex.com or 270 277 6976.
Maden's Ramblin Dare-A-Lin (Dare) is a daughter of Ramblin Red & Fanny J. Fanny J was by Ace Edward who is of the old Wilson bloodlines. Fanny's dam was by a Golden Governor son & an old Ranger mare. Dare too is a very solid built mare & has an easy fox trot. She was the Ky Grand Champion Model horse for 1987. She is chestnut with a lot of silver mixed in her mane/tail. She has had several foals thru the years but currently has a filly by her side now who is a double grand daughter of Ramblin Red. This filly will have Kissee Fox on her papers twice. Shadow is the sire. Shadow & Dare are only 1/2 brother & sister.
Paint's Big Bess is sorrel & white spotted. I don't breed for color but I took this color in order to get more of Mr Barnes' bloodlines. Bess is true to her name. She is a big boned mare & beautifully proportioned. Sweet as the day is long & a great momma. Her sire is Old Paint & she is out of a Major L / Gold Man mare. She has a handsome black/white spotted colt by her side that is for sale. His sire is Flash's Fire Chief who is also Barnes' bred & is homozygous.
Curly Sue W is another Barnes' bred mare. She is black & is sired by Paint's Dude & out of Dude's Doll. This puts Vicki 3 as her grand dam both times. Suzy is just a perfectly built solid color mare. She had been running with cattle until this spring when I purchased her. She is so easy to handle that after a couple hours in the round pen she saddled up & rode. Suzy is only 3 so her foal next year will be her first. She is bred to Shadow of course. This should be a great nick
Another junior mare is 4 year old Sheza Flora Song 'Flora or Flo'. Flora is a deep chestnut with black mane & tail, a big star, & 2 hind socks. She has a beautiful short head with a wide forehead, a good chest, shoulders, hips, neck & legs - all put together really nice. Flora is also by Songer's Ambraw Boomer & is out of the last daughter of Ramblin Red. She is a natural at the fox trot & a great ride for me since I am a shortie. She is only 14.2 which I have a hard time finding. So far Flora has not been bred. She holds the championship title of the John R Vinson, Jr Memorial Stake class in Ky for 2001.
My youngest mare is Golden Goetz Exchange, 'Gracie'. Gracie is a 2 year old golden palomino filly from Golden Exchange & a double Ramblin Red granddaughter. We are waiting for her to grow & develope a bit more before we start working with her. She is a sweetie to work with & built really nice with a natural fox trot. Don't plan to breed her until 3 or later.
These horses have beautiful conformation with pretty heads & butts, good chests & bone & just put together beautifully. They are naturally gaited & take minimum training to be under saddle & out on trail or buggy. They love people & are a joy to handle & work with. I breed & sell foals so if you see something you like you might want to put in an order.
