sport horse snippets
Art Deco’s Inspiration By Gigha Steinman
I
f you ask any pinto sport horse breeder to list the most influential colored stallions in North America, Art Deco will most likely be at the top of the list. The flashy black and
white tobiano pinto stallion has even been credited by many for bringing pinto Warmblood breeding to the United States. Art Deco provided the foundation for owner Liz Hall’s pinto breeding program at Silverwood Farm—and to her credit, Liz and her stallion developed a popular niche of colorful sport horses. Art Deco was born in 1983 and imported by Anne
Gribbons in 1987, at a time when pinto Warmbloods were virtually unheard of. His sire Samber stood in the Netherlands and was the first and only pinto Dutch Warmblood stallion to be approved for breeding by the KWPN (Dutch Warmblood), and there were no pinto Warmblood stallions standing in the United States. Meanwhile Liz Hall, an amateur rider with a fondness for
pintos, was becoming interested in breeding pinto sport horses. There were no pinto Warmblood stallions available at the time, and few pinto mares. She saw an ad for Art Deco and went to see him, and as she recalls, “the moment I saw him I knew that he was exactly what we where looking for.” Art Deco became the cornerstone of the Silverwood Farm
pinto breeding program. He was the first pinto Warmblood to be approved for breeding with some of the mainstream European Warmblood registries, and in 1993 he became the first pinto stallion to be approved for breeding by the Oldenburg Registry of North America. And he wasn’t just a pretty horse—he was a proven performer as well. Art Deco competed through Grand Prix dressage and also showed in the hunters, jumpers and even eventing successfully. He qualified four consecutive years for the AHSA (now USEF) Championships at Grand Prix with rider James Koford, and won multiple high score champion awards at Grand Prix. He also left his mark through many offspring. Some
worth noting are his stallion son Indian Art who evented to Intermediate level, was a proven show jumper and competed through Prix St Georges dressage before being sold as an amateur mount and gelded in 2011. Another son, the Premium black and white pinto Oldenburg stallion Arts Aero, stands at Blazing Colours Farm in Canada. A third son, State of the Art, stands at Boulder Ridge Ranch in Canada. And of course there is Hall of Fame, an Art Deco son still standing at Silverwood Farm who is approved by Oldenburg (OHBS), Oldenburg (ISR-NA) and RPSI.
52 May/June 2013 Jim Koford on Art Deco His influence didn’t stop with the hundreds of foals he
sired. In fact perhaps Art Deco’s biggest contribution to pinto Warmblood breeding was the attention he brought to colored breeding, the doors he opened for pinto Warmbloods and the pinto admirers who were inspired by his success. Patty Brantley of Flying Colors Farm owns the stallion
Claim to Fame, an Art Deco grandson. She credits her breeding program to the success of Art Deco and Silverwood Farm’s breeding program which motivated her to breed pinto Warmbloods too. “Liz was a trailblazer in the pinto Warmblood world,” Patty recalls. A pinto mare by Art Deco and two Thoroughbred mares in foal to Art Deco became the foundation of Patty’s own breeding program. She then bred one of her Thoroughbred mares to Hall of Fame, an Art Deco son, and in 1998 Claim to Fame was born. Claim to Fame was the only tobiano pinto stallion to ever win at the prestigious Devon Hunter Breeding Show according to Patty, and he is approved RPSI. Sadly, Art Deco passed away in February this year. He was
thirty years old and still actively breeding. Liz believes he probably had a heart attack and died peacefully. “He was the basis of everything I have done with my horses and breeding program; I am heart broken, but am thankful that he lived a long and happy life and that his passing was peaceful,” she says on her website. The pinto breeding world has lost a legend, but Art Deco’s
incomparable influence will live on, not only through his hundreds of offspring (and their offspring), but also through the breeders who were inspired to breed pinto Warmbloods themselves.
Suzanne Sturgill
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