While trying to begin our story we discussed the many starting points and finally settled on the 1999 APHA World Show. Of course there are things that came before and after that, but for us that was the pivotal point where the decision was made to get back into horses. I have had horses most of my life (just “Tony the Pony” types), just like my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents in Oklahoma.  During the time my horse crazy daughter Shelly was old enough to enjoy them at home, we lived in Alaska where it was almost impossible to have one.  Chanci grew up with a father that loved them and occasionally had one for the kids to ride.  So it was only natural that eventually we would get back into them. 

    1999 started with a visit from daughters Valerie and Shelly. While visiting from Oregon where they both lived, Shelly talked the family into getting in a car and driving the long, hot trip from Houston to Ft Worth to watch the APHA World show.  Shelly was firmly entrenched in her horses back home and couldn't pass up the chance to see the classes while in the same state - no matter how far away it was.  Luckily we were just in time for the halter classes which were Shelly's favorite.  Unfortunately the rest of the family thought there were more interesting classes running in the other arenas!  We all spread out and when we reunited we had stars in our eyes. With all the stall decorations, trade show shopping, and glitzy outfits Chanci thought horse showing was pretty alluring.  The car ride home was full of “what if's”, and by the time we turned back into the driveway of our Houston townhouse Chanci had decided to buy a broodmare and breed for a baby of our own to show at “that BIG show” someday.

    We sold our ski boat that hardly ever saw the water and sent Shelly on a long and arduous trip to find just the right mare.  She ended up selecting Obvious Della (Suzy).  She was a tall, shapely daughter of Obvious Conclusion- a horse Shelly assured us had won a big World Show like the one we had just seen, and she was in foal to a Paint.  It sounded perfect!  Since we had no room for her in the Townhouse she stayed with Shelly in Oregon and had her first baby for us. It was a solid colt. So we kept on dreaming and remembering those wild colored horses under the lights. 

    In the mean time we began to think it might be more fun to move out of the city and buy a farm of our own. Thus we began another long,arduous trip and finally bought a bare piece of land in Rosenberg. We designed and built our own house and barn and couldn't wait to have a horse to feed out the back door.  While driving home one day I passed a field just up the road with a paint mare standing alone in it.  After a short conversation with her owners I brought her home.  Bonnie fit our needs perfectly. She tried to come in the back door with Chanci at dinner time and she loved the attention we showered on her.  Soon we began to think she needed a companion and we bred her to Prestigidator for our first foal.

    The next year Suzy had another solid colt, and Shelly encouraged us not to give up. She suggested we try to breed Suzy to a quarter horse to recoup some of our board and breeding fee losses since Suzy didn't want to put any color on her foals.  Here at home Bonnie foaled out a filly with so much white on her we could have colored 3 horses. So we reluctantly agreed not to sell Suzy and decided we were ready to bring her to Texas. After all, we had been through the foaling with Bonnie and had smooth sailing.  So Suzy got onto a truck, and when she stepped off that ramp we realized what we were in for.  She was the Queen of the Castle and she trained us how to manage her. 

    Shelly selected Playgirls Conclusion to breed Suzy to, even though in the past she had been bred to him and had produced foals without a show record.  She was firmly convinced that this was the way to go with Suzy. While shaking my head I wrote out that check and prayed it would work. 

    Our anticipation of our first REAL halter baby grew, as we waited for February to roll around.  At 5:00 one January morning while I was in the shower Chanci ran back in from her morning feeding rounds and told me Suzy had a baby.  I laughed and she again repeated, "I'm not kidding!"  Knowing Suzy wasn't due for another 3 weeks I grabbed the phone and dialed Shelly while I ran out to see our baby.  She was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. A dainty, perfect headed filly bounced around the stall while Suzy calmly watched her.  I proudly announced the arrival to Shelly, who immediately squelched my enthusiasm.  "Dad, she's only 320 days old, you better get John Stern (the Veterinarian) out there and pray she's okay."

    Again we thought our dreams would slip away, but John felt she was healthy and strong. Just to be on the safe side I delayed my skiing trip with Valerie, her husband Bryan and Chanci in Colorado for 3 days.  Those days were the beginning of my bond with Annabelle.  She grew and got stronger and never had any of the side effects Shelly warned us about with such an early baby.

    And the story goes on from there.  We started to show her and the calls to Oregon grew more frequent.  Lots of discussions, arguments, and encouragement kept us on track got us to where we are today.  We even fly Shelly down to show with us at the Houston Livestock Show.

You can visit Annabelle on our Show Horse page and see what a beautiful mare she has grown into.

    Suzy had another beautiful filly for us the following year (not too early this time), and Chanci had her first halter horse, since Annabelle was clearly mine.  The rough road to the shows smoothed out every time we went to them and learned more.  We met many wonderful people who were willing to lend a hand and encourage us not to give up.

  We have had several riding horses, and we still have our first born – Abbey - with all that white; she reminds of us of how we got here.  Despite the ups and downs of this business we have grown to love it, and wouldn't trade it for the world.  So you'll notice the button at the bottom of the page for Shelly's web site “O'Hara Stock Farm”.  Please visit her to see who we blame this whole thing on!

    Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to learn about us. Drop us a line if you see anything you like! Chanci and I would like to give you a big Texas sized welcome if you are ever in the area.