Deer Run Stables is nestled in the rolling prairie of central Missouri, where the lush, green grass grows waist high in the summertime. What better place to breed beautiful, healthy foals? And what better setting to enjoy the flashes of golden and buttermilk coats as the babies cavort next to their copper- and chocolate-colored dams?
Deer Run's breeding program is focused on the rare and beautiful Hispano-Arabe horse, but with a colorful twist- palominos and buckskins. The Hispano-Arabe is a cross between an Arabian and an Andalusian or Lusitano horse, blending refinement and power to produce the perfect sport horse for today's amateur riders.
Thanks to the extraordinary stallion Saphiro, owned by Dennis and Ginger Vosburg from Oakridge of Rainey Valley, our breeding program offers both quality and color for the rider who really wants to turn heads.
Deer Run Stables is also dedicated to the concepts of natural horsemanship. The owner, Rachel Steffan, is a student of Pat Parelli's approach to training. Many people either have no idea what that means, or have a preconceived (negative) notion of what it entails, often after seeing or knowing people who claim to be adherents of the system, but in reality, have only just started, or are not truly doing what the program teaches.
To see how the young horses are handled at Deer Run Stables, and make your own determination of the value of the program, click on the play button of the video at the top of this page, and see a Deer Run Stables foal being haltered for the first time, at one month of age, after being exposed to natural horsemanship since birth.
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UPDATE FOR 2008:
Updating this website for 2008 is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but for now, at least, no more mares will be bred at Deer Run Stables. Those that follow the horse industry will know that a combination of factors including changes in horse slaughter regulation, drought across much of the country, and concurrent increases in the price of hay and grain have caused the horse market to freeze like a deer in the headlights.
While the worst effects have been felt among low-end breeders churning out unremarkable, often unregistered and untrained stock, the mid level-- where I consider Deer Run Stables to be placed, has certainly not been left untouched. And I, for one, do not intend to be the person that someone can point to and say "If only the small breeders had cut back, we wouldn't be in this situation." I've cried many tears over this decision, and some of them have been tears of fear over what to do with a band of green broke and unbroke broodmares who no longer produce income, but whom I don't dare sell in the current economic climate, for fear of where they'll end up. I tell myself that things will work out as they are meant to over the coming couple of years, and in the mean time, I can always work more hours at my non-horsey job.
As it stands now, I still have one remaining young horse who is waiting to make someone's dream of horse ownership come true. You can see him by clicking on the "Horses For Sale" page. And if you think he might be for you, but are put off by the price, please know that what money I make from the sale will be going immediately and directly to paying for training for the broodmare band, to give them a new, and much more secure, lease on life as riding horses. Thank you for your patience in reading this, and, particularly, to all of those people who have purchased my foals over the past years.
Sincerely Yours,
Rachel Steffan, Owner
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