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| I will always respect the man who introduced me to the quarter horse for many reasons...He is my Dad and I love him... because he said I could. Life is good. |
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| Our first barn, a 3 stall cow barn, saw many good horses. We have made a few changes to the structure but never any changes between myself and my Daddy. Life is truly good. |
| Smokey Sunset ROM ~ Reining Sire: Smokey Bill James Dam: Bar V Whisken Dusty was my first Quarter Horse. She was raised and trained by the late Jack Dreher of Bainbridge, OH I recently learned that "Dusty" was the first quarter horse to receive an ROM in reining East of the Mississippi. |
| SL Koontz giving his only great-grandaughter,Shayna few pre-class instructions. To most of his friends at the Quarter Horse shows he is know as Sam or the man in the suit. He has been mistaken for a "Judge" because of his suits and his white hat. Everyone is so nice to him and he loves the attention. This show season he has traveled to Philippi, WV, Lexington, VA and Greensboro, NC as well as the Winfield, WV shows. Quit a bit of travel for an 87 year old. To those of you who "cared" for Daddy this show season, I cannot thank you enough. The offers of cool drinks, the chairs you carried around the pen, offers to use your golf carts...thanks is not enough. |
| Caught in deep thought while watching Radical Black Jack at an AQHA show in Winfield, WV Photographer Ed Connor ~ Conner Photography located in Teays Valley, WV. If you are looking for an excellent equine photographer you may contact Ed at 304-755-0618 |
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| S L Koontz at 84 years of age riding "Feature Event". At 88 years of age he is still involved with the horses and visits the barn several times each day. He is up every morning and in the barn while horses are fed. He returns for the evening feeding each day. Weather never affects his routine. He is in the truck when it is time to pick up grain or hay. He never hesitates to let me know when I'm wrong. He has had heart surgery and his eyes are failing but he can still pick a good horse. |
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| SL and Trainer Dan Borelli at an AQHA show in Winfield, WV a few years back. Danny was one of Dad's favorite people. He loved talking horse talk with Dan because he was a man who "knew" horses. The fact that Danny trained Radical BlackJack might have something to do with Dad's thinking. |
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| Jack Dreher riding Smokey Sunset as a two year old. |
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He has heart and he has a dream and his dream is about a horse. He asks on Monday where we are showing the next week-end. His luggage is packed and ready to go into the vehicle on Wednesday so he can be ready to "go show". He has traveled from points in PA to Raleigh, NC, Lexington, VA to Murray, KY. He loved his three week stay at the Quarter Horse Congress. He loves to travel and loves a good horse. To know this man walking around with cane in hand, always wearing a suit and tie and an interesting smile is to know a true horseman. ~ Thank you and God Bless |
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| S L Koontz |