It all began with a little girl's dream of having her very own pony. Bedtime each evening over the course of a year included a prayer asking God to give her a pony. The reluctance of her father soon gave way to a special little Shetland/Welsh mare named Gretchen. Immediately, she became part of our family, greeting each person with a nicker as they stepped out the back door. She provided countless hours of enjoyment and companionship over the years. She had a wonderful life, enjoying full run of several hundred acres in her retirement years, even helping herself to the ranches next door. It was this wonderful pony that inspired our love of ponies, and showed us what dear members of the family they can be.

The 1980's found us living on Lonetree Ridge Ranch in Boonville, a very rural area of Northern California. While living there, we were given two mares, a special gift from a friend. Tawny Mara and her daughter, Lonetree's Katy O. were beautiful Welsh/Arab mares that brought to us the desire to have foals born on our ranch. With the lovely addition of Lonetree's Katy Bay, another Welsh/Arab mare, we decided to launch a search for the perfect stallion to breed to our mares. Our search in the surrounding areas yielded nothing more than a few average Quarter Horses. We decided that what we really wanted, was to breed our mares to a Welsh stallion. None of our mares were purebred, and after all, Welsh crosses wonderfully with any breed.