Our stallion, Maple Squirrel’s Legacy Son is the result of a long search for a true mountain horse. I was looking for a horse that could be hitched to a plow in the mornings and tackle the trails in the evenings. I needed a horse with a superb disposition, solid conformation and an excellent gait. That search eventually led me to Lou Ellen and Kirby Johnson’s farm in Bowling Green, Kentucky. There, in a pasture full of young studs, I found a couple of colts that might fit the bill. One was a coming four year old stout black and the other, a lanky chocolate who was coming three. Both were sired by Maple’s Squirrel’s Legacy- a direct son of Maple’s Squirrel. I spent two days watching their herd dynamics, how they moved, and in particular, how they related to people. At one point, a plastic bag blew over from the road and across the pasture. One snorted, the other, out of curiosity, walked over and sniffed it. I had found my boy.

Since that time, Sonny has proven himself to be a true using horse all while being an active breeding stallion. It is difficult to find anything that spooks him. On his third ride, he was so calm that we went to check cattle. On a trip to the badlands of North Dakota, he earned the nickname “fearless” because he would go anywhere I asked. When I just want to go for an easy, relaxed ride, Sonny is the one that I tack up– I can let him gait out to cover the miles or ask him to plod along while I throw a leg over the horn to enjoy the scenery. He is a joy to ride. In addition to trail riding, Sonny is used regularly for logging, driving, and working our garden. For the past three years, he has brought in nearly every stick of firewood we use to heat our home, and we heat with firewood exclusively, so this is a lot of wood.

The true joy of riding Sonny is his gait. Sonny has a perfect, evenly timed saddle gait that is smooth as silk. Sonny is so strongly gaited that he will hold gait over uneven terrain, going up or down moderate slopes, over obstacles, all on a loose rein. He also demonstrates his powerful gait while pulling logs. The Maple’s Squirrel line is noted for their even gait and ability to pass that on to their offspring. When I saw a video of Maple’s Squirrel gaiting, I could not believe the similarities in how Sonny and his grandsire moved. Squirrel had a powerful saddle gait, that was perfectly even and resulted in a very smooth ride. Squirrel didn’t have a lot of lift to his gait, and was a classic example of the “little ol’ shuffle gait” that Sam Tuttle loved so much.

Everywhere we go, people comment on Sonny’s outstanding beauty, yet he is not above an honest day’s work skidding logs. Sonny stands 14.3 hands and weighs around 1000 lbs. He has been pasture and hand bred and is exceptionally gentle with mares. He is available for breeding via private treaty to approved outside mares.

Sonny’s foals inherit his quiet, unflappable disposition and are wonderfully curious. Sonny puts a nice hip and shoulder on his foals as well. We can’t wait to get his first foals under saddle and see what their gait is like!

Sonny’s Pedigree

Sonny is registered and certified to breed with the RMHA. Sonny is exceptionally well bred, going back to Tobe seven times and also has many true mountain horses found in both the sire and dam’s lines. He has very few unknown bloodlines yet has a nice dollop of known outside blood to ensure genetic diversity. He is just under 30% Tobe and is PSSM1 negative.

More pictures of Sonny