Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse News

2008

Summer Issue

 

Farm of the Month

 

WILLOW CREEK FARM

by Mary Marshall

The majestic golden palomino stallion Crown Royal has been the central focus of the breeding program at Lonnie and Milyne Potter’s 96-acre Willow Creek Farm in Cynthiana, Kentucky.

This gentle 16-hand stallion has a string of multi-breed registry championships to his credit, including three-year-old stallion champion, spring classic champion, world grand champion at halter, and reserve in high point four-year-old and older open conformation. Regardless of his string of impressive victories, Crown Royal is best known for siring gentle, beautiful, and talented offspring that include the likes of Royal Crown, Peep ‘N Tom, Crown’s Revenue, Gold, Green’s Sunny Delight, and many others.

Crown Royal is a wonderful horse who has sired some amazing foals,” said owner Lonnie Potter. “We have been blessed to have him. He is so gentle and versatile; he can show off in the ring, has been ridden in parades, and is so mellow on the trail a beginner could ride him. His foals are just like him, kind and versatile, great family horses, with that smooth gliding gait that makes the breed famous.”

Crown Royal is sired by the foundation stallion Moon, another signature golden palomino described by his owner Tracy Petrie as having “more heart and soul than I’ve ever known. He consistently reproduces his strength and temperament.”

Lonnie reflected on his early years with the mountain horses, then relatively unknown to the outside world, while growing up in the Appalachian mountains sixty-plus years ago.
“We did everything with those horses,” he reflected. “They were strong, gentle, low maintenance. There were very few cars during my youth, and we would ride the horses up and down the roads, work them behind a single point plow, and haul coal and timber with them. You have to understand that these horses were very much a part of our everyday living, we depended on them for our livelihood. They had to be versatile, tough, and gentle natured to perform the duties expected of them.”

According to Lonnie, the mountain horse has evolved from an economic necessity to a coveted trail and show mount largely in part to it’s versatility.

“The primary function of the early mountain horses had nothing to do with showing,” Lonnie continued. “They were work horses, we depended on them for our existence. All the qualities that grew out of necessity; temperament, toughness, stamina, and gait were required.”

Lonnie and Milyne’s son, also named Lonnie, breeds and shows Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses at Mountain Gait Farm in Denison, Texas. He stands the stallion Magic Rain, and trains a competitive show string.

“The breed is addictive,” Lonnie said with enthusiasm. “Once you’ve ridden a mountain horse, nothing else will compare.”