Article 1 - Raleighs Full Moon
by Dan Kemp
"I see the moon, and the moon sees me.." That is the opening line in a famous nursery rhyme. For one lucky horsewoman, that is more than just a children's verse. In so many ways, the moon has been a significant part of her entire life.
Raleighs Full Moon, an APHA Cremello stallion is, well, like the moon. The connection with the moon doesn't end there, however. Raleighs Full Moon, affectionately known as "Moon", is owned by Catherine McCall, owner of Moonrock Ranch and she has her own connection with things out of this world.
Catherine McCall grew up loving horses. Her parents gave Catherine her first horse when she was a toddler. It was a rocking horse. As a youngster, she acquired her first real horse. Her older sister got a car, Catherine got her horse. Her relationship with horses has been ongoing since then.
Her father, Robert McCall, was an illustrator for the U.S. Air Force when he was in the military as a young man. Later, he went to work for N.A.S.A. and became the primary illustrator being in charge of visually creating the concepts N.A.S.A. was presenting to the politicians and public. He has been celebrated in many ways, including meeting President Reagan, and being a guest on the Today Show. He has consulted with producers of "Star Trek" and the Disney space movie, "The Black Hole." He also created the famous image of the space station used in promotional materials and the movie "2001; A Space Odyssey." The original and three others he created for that film hang in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum . He has created artwork for many other museums and public buildings and has published several books containing his work. At Houston Mission Control, there is an observatory room and his drawings are all the way around the room. A mural of his also adorns the visitor center.
His passion for flight led him from his role as Air Force illustrator to becoming a fine artist, specializing in celestial scenes and things whimsical associated with space. There are three shows of his work which tour in the United States . Catherine coordinates those tours and the sale of T-Shirts with images of his work screened on them in the museum gift shops. In Catherine's living room hangs a rather large painting titled " Wyoming ." It is a surreal scene of majestic mountains with a ghostly, futuristic space colony, complete with people frolicking on little personal flying machines, reminiscent of the way people fool around with jet skis on a lake. Another painting he did from the back deck of her home, is the hills that tower above the communities of Gilroy , San Martin and Morgan Hill . It is done in the style of the California Realist Movement of the early 20 th Century. He finished it off with whimsical "flying saucers" zipping around exploring everything. That was created when Catherine's children were young and needless to say, it was a great hit. Most of his works, however, are serious and extraordinarily beautiful scenes of celestial bodies and views of outer space. "Once you become interested in space art, you know McCall," says Catherine of her father.
Besides Moonrock Ranch, Catherine operates McCall studios, which offers over the internet prints and lithographs of some of his work. Thank keeps her very busy dealing with collectors interested in her dad's work. He is 83 years old, in good health and still works at what he loves so much; Producing commissioned works of space art.
"The Moonrock concept didn't come from some Hippy thing," she says. It is a celebration of her dad's artwork. Also from her parents' artwork, she developed appreciation for beauty, color and form. She thinks it's a natural extension to love colored horses.
Her breeding philosophy is simple. She is producing performance horses for family or show. As important as any single thing is disposition. Besides the above, what Catherine wants most from her breeding program is "Palominos, like Trigger, with big blazes and lots of chrome; High white stockings." The breed is less important to her than it used to be. During the traditional barn tour, she showed us Arabs, a pinto Saddlebred, and a Half-Arabian Buckskin Overo Paint gelding she bred out of her mare BF Perfection. Except for the Paint gelding, an Arab gelding and one baby, all her horses are in the breeding program. Besides Purebred Arabians, she breeds Pintos, both Half-Arabian and Saddlebred and Paints.
She identifies with the mare owner because Catherine bred her mares out for many years before purchasing her first stallion. Along with all the other criteria she used for choosing the outside stallions for her mares, were questions that she would ask herself about the owner of the stallion. Were they people she could deal with, were they credible, what were their motivations, what if there was a problem, how would they handle it? Those were some of the factors she considered.
One of the most important criteria for her, now that she is a stallion owner and on the other side of the equation, is that the breeders who bring their mares to her stallions really want the baby and are not just breeding the baby for a monetary reward."I don't want to make babies who are not going to be treasured and valued. I want babies that people want to keep because they love them, because they give back." She gave a lot of thought to the Palomino color. There are certain criteria she can offer through Moon other stallion owners simply cannot offer. Those are: Size, the loftiness, length of neck, bone, a really really nice mind, and of course, golden color. Besides showhorses, Moon babies can be excellent family horses, a quality Catherine thinks important.
Moon is a foundation bred Cremello Quarter Horse stallion. He has three lines to Skipper W, and two lines to Poco Bueno. Because he is Cremello, he is registered with the APHA, FSHR, ACWHA, and PHA. With the exception of about 12 TB's every horse in his seven generation pedigree is American Quarter Horse. Being foundation bred brings with it disposition, athletic ability, intelligence, and in his case since he is Skipper W, color. All other things being equal, color adds a tremendous advantage to Moon's foals. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted a golden horse. Unfortunately, Arabians don't come in that color. With the purchase of Moon, I can offer Half-Arabians that look purebred and come in shades of gold. Understanding the genetics of blue-eyed Cremello horses has given breeders an appreciation of what the dilution gene can do for color. Cremello will produce golden Palominos and Buckskins, and they produce them every time when bred to chestnuts and bays. To some, Moon looks like a Warmblood, to others he resembles a Thoroughbred. His large bone and tall frame add height and substance to even the most petite mares. His foals also Moon's long neck and tall smooth body. One of the most remarkable qualities of his foals have in common is their trainable, kind mind. Trainable, balanced, riding horses of color sell; Moons foals are immediately appealing and elegant. My breeding program outcrosses the horse that won the West with the fiery horse of the desert - both proven, ancient bloodlines. And they are graced with golden color."
Some breeders express concern about the babies they might get. The most common concern is "What if I get blue eyes?" Catherine has studied diligently to be able to explain to each breeder, depending on what breed and color their mare is, what the chances are for getting certain physical characteristics, like a 16hh baby, or one with blue eyes. She will be frank about the possibilities for size, color and eye color. She will also tell the breeder exactly what she will do for the breeder if something they are not breeding for occurs. "The babies are really what we are doing here, and they need to come onto homes where they are going to be treasured."
Moon is four years old and stands 16 hands. Just before he turned three, he became ill and required surgery. That was performed by UC Davis.Twice. The experience left him very weak and frail. Plus that, the incision running almost the length of his belly would not heal. Three months of stall confinement with a large truss wrapped around his mid section would be required in order to give him any opportunity to heal, let alone fully recover. Catherine had him in a special stall at home, near the house where she could get to him quickly if needed. The truss would have to be removed every few hours and the bandages replaced. The stall was equipped with closed circuit TV. "It was the most incredible thing, he tolerated it very well. I never had to drug him to keep him quiet. He didn't get mouthy or too cranky." She thought he handled it incredibly well and is very proud of his patient and forgiving attitude during his entire ordeal. She thinks highly of U.C. Davis and their staff at the Large Animal Clinic. During his convalescence they were constantly in touch and very professional.
One of the qualities that makes this young stallion so special is that he is a survivor. Desperately ill at a very young age, undergoing two major surgeries and a very long convalescence, and today is this happy, gentle, healthy young stallion ready to take on the world.
It has evolved from there. "He is a sweetheart, and proven to be with all he went through during his convalescence. It really tested him as far as whether I would deal with him. If I had found he had any bad traits in his personality, I would have stopped. He showed me that he could endure a lot of physical and emotional stress and confinement. But he showed me he could also bond with somebody and give back. He always gave back. Moon also proved his babies are sweet. You can add this fiery Arabian blood and you can add the typed, and you get something that's pretty color and has the size and type."
The first year Catherine stood Moon, he sired 5 foals. She stood him at her farm and they did all the work. The next year she stood him at Mt. Pleasant Stallion Station and he sired 8 foals. This year, after a winter of recuperating from his surgery, he has bred 20 mares and a large foal crop is anticipated in 2003.
An exciting event occurred recently. Catherine received a call from Cindy Morgan saying the shoer she used at Mt. Pleasant Stallion Station (where Moon stands at stud), Hal Irby, wanted to breed two mares to Moon. His wife is a Hunter/Jumper person and they were looking for a stallion with good, big feet and who had lots of bone. He went on to tell Cindy he liked Moon's structure and his mind. To Catherine, it is the ultimate compliment when the stallion's shoer wants to breed his mares to him. In another interesting development, Patti Bailey, owner of the Arabian stallion REMINGTON STEELE, bred two mares to Moon. Her reason was that there was a new interest in Palomino and Buckskin endurance horses and she was going to breed for that new demand. Catherine describes Moon as a very "scopey" mover who can change leads effortlessly. "He's sweet and trainable. He has never offered to buck or misbehave. Anything I ask him to do, he says 'OK' and does it. Whatever you want him to do, you just make it clear to him and he'll do it."
She originally fancied and owned Arabians, so much of her knowledge is of Arabian bloodlines and pedigrees and she originally purchased Moon to compliment her mares. The value of Moon to her and because of his ability to sire babies with color, is she can offer him to mare owners of other breeds. Because of that, she is quickly learning much about these other breeds and what motivates the owners of those horses. Much of what she is learning about what motivates those owners can apply to any horse, but another part is breed specific.
A selection of Catherine's mares who will be bred to Moon or already have been are: BF Perfection (RHR Scimitar x BF La Crème) AHR Super producer who has had foals, many of them Half Arabian colored horses, Symbolized Love (Harlequin Magic Maker x Fantastique) ASHA-the only Saddlebred Pinto daughter of Harlequin Magic Maker. In foal to Fameous Design for a purebred Saddlebred, possibly homozygous foal. CR Celestial Psyche (Padrons Psyche x Fadjurs Suzanne) AHR Arabian, Sabino mare with loads of chrome will be bred to Moon for Palominos with type and flash.
Pictured on the cover are all Moon's babies. He is at the top left. A couple of those foals of note are presented as examples of what he is producing. CR Crème Bruleh was bred by Catherine. He is a yearling gelding out of BF Perfection. He is shown by his proud owner, Lavonne Parker. CR Crème Bruleh was evaluated by the American Warmblood Society and became certified in early April 2002. He was placed first in Halter for his age group at several shows. At the recent Pacific Coast Sport Horse Classic, he earned a score of 75.6 In Hand. He has been showing since 11 months of age. Pictured at the gallop is CR Apollo Moon at 10 days old, a Half Arabian Palomino colt and full brother to Crème Bruleh.
She is for all things that are new. She grew up in an environment where her parents were always examining what ifs" so new colors or types of horses or ways of doing things or new marketing horizons are interesting concepts to her.
Catherine spends many hours on the phone and email and is available to her clients and prospective clients. She is gregarious and interacting with people is something she enjoys.
Moon's stud fee is $950. For breeders of Half Arabians he is AHA Breeders Sweepstakes Nominated. Guaranteed to produce Palomino and Buckskin when bred to non-gray mares. For owners of unregistered mares, Catherine added Moon foals can still be registered with several color registries, including Palomino and Buckskin registries. She has information for any breeders who are interested. There has been a variety of breeds Moon has crossed well with.
For further information on Moon, or his foals for sale, please contact Catherine McCall via email at cmoonrock@earthlink.net or call (408) 683-2502.