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Appaloosa History - Roy W. Kline

Over twenty years ago, I found an Appaloosa breeder who would greatly influence the direction of my own breeding program at Wolf Oak Appaloosas. The breeder was Roy W. Kline. This piece is written in his honor.

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Roy was in his early seventies when I first made his acquaintance in the 80s. I followed Roy's Appaloosa program over the years until he sold his last few mares and stallion in 1999. He owned Appaloosas for over 40 years and had them until he was in his early 90s. How many folks are "that" dedicated to the Appaloosa horse? His Appaloosa program left behind a legacy of leopard spotted horses, as Roy loved his spots. Roy passed away in August 2003, at the age of 93.

Roy was always claiming from the first day I met him that he had one foot in the grave. It was true he was not feeling well, and was going for surgery in a couple of weeks. At that point he priced several of his mares, and being totally overwhelmed by what I had seen in his barn, I was eager to take him up on his offerings. After scraping our pennies together, we managed to buy a leopard mare with a leopard colt at her side. The mare was Kline's Nava Kay,.

Roy survived the surgery even though he had convinced himself he would die. I always got the feeling he regretted selling me that mare, and he would not have offered her if he had not been facing surgery. (It was one of those being in the right place at the right time incidents.) Our relationship with Roy developed over time, with Roy always claiming when asked how he was, that he didn't "feel so good." He always looked much the same to us - a weathered farmer who worked hard and spent a lot of time outdoors. He was one of those -maybe typical- old time breeders who did not advertise much nationally, and so was never widely known, nor were his horses. He was a charter member of Sundance 500 International, and a member of the Colorado Ranger Horse Association, as well as Appaloosa Horse Club member #3096. Wanting to share Roy's spotted horses with the Appaloosa world, I penned a short biography about Roy and his horses for the Rangerbred News in 1985. And so his story unfolds:

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Early Days

When Roy was 20, circa 1930, his uncle bought a bred roan mare at a local sale. She foaled a white colt with black spots on his rump. Roy came down with a case of spotted fever at that point and wanted to buy the mare and foal, but had no place to keep them. It would be many years before Roy's case of spotted fever got some relief and he bought his first stallion, Al's Buster #10549, a red roan by Cochise S F-2121 out of Al's Princess #8551, foaled in 1960. "Buster" started his breeding program with different mares coming and going. By this time Roy had his own farm in the rolling hills of a valley in central Pennsylvania, far from main roads. His main source of livelihood was as a dairy farmer with a 50 head herd of registered Aryshires, which were sought after in the Aryshire world.

The only horse that was still at Roy's farm in the early 80s from his original stock was a mare he referred to as "the Buster" mare. Even though she carried the greying gene, Roy kept her because she was easy to catch if his horses got loose. Being in his 70s, Roy didn't like the idea of having to chase horses over the countryside. Most of his fences were one strand of electric fence wire, which they would occasionally go through. So he kept "the Buster mare," whose registered name was Kline's Twister ApHC #142203. Her dam was a registered Quarter mare.

Since Roy considered only leopards with many spots as "producing color," he was disappointed in his color production until he and a friend attended a Haz-Cliffe sale in Ohio in 1970. Appaloosas from Montana were in this sale, and Roy purchased a red leopard filly, Nava Jo Candie(see first photo), and a black leopard colt which he named Holy K Smoke (pictures of his offspring on Smoke's page). This colt was sired by Holy Smoke, hence his name Holy K (for Kline) Smoke. This colt was also Sundance bred through his dam.

Holy K Smoke became Roy's Number One stallion, and his crosses on the Montana filly, a daughter of Navajo's Candy, was the cross for which Roy had been waiting. Gorgeous, loud leopards were produced. When Roy had accumulated a number of leopard daughters of Smoke, he bought another stallion in 1979 to cross on Smoke's daughters - Kline's Prince (pictures of his offspring on Prince's page). Kline's Prince was a red leopard stallion of Rangerbred, Prince Plaudit and Sunspot Revel bloodlines. He crossed well on Smoke's daughters.

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The Busy Years

By 1982 Roy had so many Appaloosa on his farm that he held his own sale. He offered 30 head and sold approximately 20 of them. Roy was beginning to look for another stallion to use on his Prince daughters.

Tragedy struck when Smoke passed away unexpectedly. Roy was really devastated. Smoke was his pride and joy - Roy credited Smoke with producing all those leopards. The search for another stallion was put on hold. Meanwhile he had a group of Prince daughters that were of breeding age. When he had too few mares to warrant keeping Prince, he sent Prince to a sale. He offered him to us for $500, but I did not want to add the 1/2 Quarter blood into my herd. For a time he used either his niece's Appaloosa stallion - Skip's Reward, or he used his friend's Quarter Horse stallion. The mares came through and produced color, but Roy wasn't entirely satisfied, and still wanted his own stallion.

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The Last Decade

In 1991 Roy accepted a son of WOA Sarcee's Candy, WOA Ramblin Candy (Rambo) to use as his herd sire. Rambo was to be Roy's last stallion, using him from 1994-1999. When Roy eventually gave up his horses, Rambo came home to Wolf Oak Appaloosas.

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The Future Kline Appaloosas

Roy's two oldest mares, the Buster mare and Joker's Moon Girl failed to conceive and they were sent to the sale. After he sold a red leopard Prince daughter, Roy had two mares left-Kline's Tiny Joker and Kline's Blossom. These chestnut mares and Rambo consistently produced chestnuts, from solids to leopards.

Two of the leopard colts have become established sires in other programs. One is Kline's Candy Saiela, now in Gunnison, Colorado at the Buckhorn Ranch. He has sired eight foals so far, seven of them well colored. The other colt, Candy K Tahintate, was with the C3 O'Bryant Ranch in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has sired a few spot filly and two fewspot colts. Tahintate has been sold to Jason Wilkie of North Carolina.

One leopard filly , Kline's Joker Candy, is now at Wolf Oak Appaloosas. There was another leopard filly that died shortly after birth. Roy's last filly, a fewspot/snowcap, along with Roy's last two mares, were sold to McClure, PA. Kline's Tiny Joker foaled a solid chestnut colt in 2000, the last product of Roy's Appaloosa program. Kline's Blossom was euthanized in 2002.

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Another Kline mare, Kline's Royal Time, is now at Colleen Perchinski's farm in central Pennsylvania. Angel, as she is known, is a daughter of Kline's Prince and Roy's old mare, Joker's Moon Girl.

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Roy would be terrifically proud of these descendants, for most are beautifully spotted...for Roy surely loved his many spotted leopards.

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Afterword

It was through Roy that I learned about Timberline Stock Ranch via a mid-70s Sale Catalog that Roy shared with me. I contacted Timberline and was able to purchase "Candy" (WOA Sarcee's Candy). With Candy, my first Kline mare "Nava" (Kline's Nava Kay), followed by her dam, Nava Jo Candie and Nava's daughter, Ms Kline's Navajo, Wolf Oak Appaloosas was headed in a leopard direction. I will always appreciate Roy's contribution to my program, and always adore the Appaloosas he raised over the years.

More photos of Roy's horses can be viewed by visiting Holy K Smoke's page and Kline's Prince's page, as well as viewing unidentified photos of Roy's Appaloosas on the Kline Photo Gallery.

End of the Roy Kline Story

The above information is the truth to the best of my knowledge. Bringing any errors or discrepancies to my attention will be appreciated.

Photo of Kline's Candy Saiela courtesy of Jan Coury, Buckhorn Ranch, Gunnison, CO. Kline's Royal Time and foals courtesy of Colleen Perchinski.

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This page last updated on December 10, 2003.   ©2003, 2004 Wolf Oak Appaloosas/Appaloosa Territory