| News Curly Horses Happy Horses! For Sale *Registration* Our Herd Training/Riding Service/Import Allergies/Testing Where? Accomodation About Us Links Auf Deutsch! |
The Curly HorseA brief history of Curly Horses
 Curly body hair and mane. The Damele Horses:Curly horses are a very rare breed that were discovered around 1900 in wild Mustang herds in Eastern Nevada. The Sioux and Crow are said to have bred Curlies since about 1800, but it is not known if these horses are the same breed as Curly horses of today. There exist ancient drawings of Curly horses over the world, but again it is unknown if they were related to today's North American Curly horse, which in general has a dominant gene responsible for curled body, mane and tail hair. The Damele family of Nevada were the first to capture and regularly use Curly horses for ranch work in the 1930's. After a very hard winter in 1951/52, the Damele's general herd of horses was wiped out, but a few Curly horses survived. Since so few examples of this rare breed survived, the Dameles crossed the intelligent, robust Curly horses with a working Arabian stallion, Nevada Red, and later with the Morgan stallion, Ruby Red King. From these crosses, the Dameles discovered that often the curly coat was produced in the offspring. It was then clear to the ranchers that the Curly Gene (in this case) was dominant. Other characteristics of the Curly horse were also attractive; strong cannon bone and hooves, a quiet temperment, intelligence, people oriented personalities, fast learning skills, a robust body and excellent stamina. The Damele bloodlines often have a sleek Morab (Morgan x Arabian) body type and elegant movement.  The Fredell Horses:
The Damele family were not the only Curly horse breeders. Also other ranchers crossbred the curly horses
and today there exist different styles of Curlies. One family is well known, the Fredell family out of
Boulder, Colorado. Francis Fredell received his first Curly horse from his father as a gift. His father
bred Curly horses, and when Francis was old enough he started his own Curly breeding program. Up to this
point, these Curly horses were similar to the wild spanish Mustangs in body type: small, fast, robust. But,
as Francis' wife Dora began to involve herself in breeding, she changed the direction toward the
American Quarter Horse. By 1983, most of the Fredell Curly horses were between 75% and 90% Quarter Horse
blood, although they were still Curlies. The main bloodlines of these horses are Mc Cue and Oklahoma Star.Information on Fredell (English) http://www.geocities.com/rushriverslash/Fredell_M-M.html The Bad Warrior/Berndt/Hammrich Horses:
Ernest Hammrich out of South Dakota was another breeder with an interest in Foundation style
American Quarter Horses and Curly horses. He was a 50 year member of the American Quarter Horse
Association (AQHA) and also sold horses to the United States Calvary, the Police Departments
of New York and Chicago, and to the United States Forresty Service. Mr. Hammrich also had
an herd of Curly horses stemming from an ancient bloodline, namely the Bad Warrior bloodline
which he collected and preserved. These Curly horses were originally bred by the Sioux Indians
before they were stolen by the Crow in 1801. The Sioux family of Eli Bad Warrior, a neighbor
of of Mr. Hammrich, had the last of this rare type of Curly horse, as did Slim Berndt, who also had
a few examples. Mr. Hammrich gather these horses into his breeding program. With his
death he handed over much of his herd to the breeder, Donna Vickery in Montana.Information on Hammrich (English)http://www.curlyhorses.org/ernie.html The Candian Curly Horses:Curly horses were first brought to Canada by Ole Skonskberg. The story goes that he caught his first Curly horse by a waterhole and that it belonged to Indians. The pedigree of the Candian Curly horses often includes a mixture of Skonskberg and Damele bloodlines. In Canada there is also the Cypress bloodline stemming from the horse Cypress Nicker, a half American Quarter Horse and half Curly horse that had Thoroughbred (racing horse) blood. These horses are sometimes very Quarter Horse or very Sport Horse in body type (tall, fast, jumping horses with a lot of racing blood). Curly Jim Line (fox trotter line or Walker's Prince T line)In the mid nineteen-fifties a foxtrotting chestnut Curly stallion, named "Curly Jim," started to breed mares in the Ozarks (low mountain range covering southern Missouri, western Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma), right in the heart of where the Missouri Fox Trotting horse developed. Thus most of his mates were fox trotting mares, and some of his descenants are registered MFTHBA. Several of his daughters were also registered as ABC foundation mares. His daughter, *Blaze ABC 135, produced in turn *Walker's Prince T ABC 90, which to date is the most prominent sire within his bloodline. Curlies from this blood line are excellent saddle horses, sport good refined conformations, smooth soft gaits, even temperments and plenty of mane and tail which seem to shed much less than in the other curly blood lines. 
Subcatagories: Gaited, Dressage and Draft Curly HorsesGaited Curly Horses are Curlies with special movements such as the Foxtrot, Fast Walk, and Indian Shuffle. Dressage Curly Horses often come from the Damele line and have Arabian and Morgan blood in their pedigrees, most often from the founder of the dressage line, *Spartacus. There are also large working drafts as well as Mini ponies. All these different types of curlies have something in common, they are often hypoallergenic for allergy suffeers.
Champion Indiana State Champion at Third Level Indiana State Champion at Second and Third Levels in the Young Rider Division Indiana State Champion at Fourth Level First in USDF All Breeds at First, Third, and Fourth Level Curly Horses in Austria
Curlies Austria focusses on both the Damele bloodline, with its concentration on Morgan and Arabian elements, and separate from this, the stockhorse bloodlines of the Bad Warrior lines with American Quarter Horse elements. Recently, a young colt has been aquired that should support the Bad Warrior lines with an emphasis on Appaloosa lines as well. Curlies Austria's philosophy and goal is this, through thorough examination of the bloodlines and pedigrees and scrutinizing examination of conformation, to select the best possible quality Curlies for our customers and breeding program. In order to reach these goals, the Zierler Family has been involved in developing and establishing Curly quality inspections and a studbook for Austria. All of Curlies Austria breeding stock are inspected at Stallion or Mare inspections and must pass requirements in order to be accepted for breeding. In Fall 2004 the first studbook was established. As an example, our mare *Grulla Vaquera Lark, a stockhorse type, obtained 83.5 points at her inspection, the highest scoring mare in Europe.  Curly Horse about 1906. |
Images from: Sue Weaver/Wolfmoon Curlies, Donna Vickery/Crow Country Curlies, und Kim Hughes
 |
In April 2003, the Zierler Family began their Curly Horse breeding program. In total, eight
horses were imported. Two stallions and six mares laid the foundation for the program with
two separate breeding bloodlines or types. In June of 2004 the first Curly foal was born in
Austria from an imported mare. At the end of 2003, the first Curly gelding was imported from
America to Salzburg for Evelin Dick, an allergy sufferer who is still riding her Curly today.