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beloved Cris, were quite literally on the brink of extinction. He was sad for all the times that he had felt that his little horse with the big heart was somehow inferior to the Quarter Horses, all the times that he had made up stories about her pedigree rather than saying that she was a Choctaw Horse. Bryant felt that he had betrayed the horse that had given him so much and he was determined to make it up to her by doing everything within his power to conserve the last of the Choctaw Horses.
The Rickmans diligently searched for any remaining pure Oklahoma Choctaw Horses. When he found them he swapped one for one of his high dollar Quarter Horses. By 1981 they had nine mares and three stallions. With the assistance of Dr. Phillip Sponenberg, a professor of genetics at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and advisor to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Bryant and Darlene began a breeding program that still continues to this day.
It has been an amazing, and sometimes heart wrenching forty plus years. The Rickman family has sacrificed much to keep the horses alive. Several times the herd has faced disasters, one of which in the mid nineties resulted in a massive loss of lives of the already rare horses. Then in 2008 the loss of major grazing leases on timber company owned land forced the removal of the horses to smaller confined pastures requiring much supplemental feeding which has again taxed the resources of the Rickmans in an area has been under drought for several years. Today, at age 72, Bryant makes the round trip of 93 miles every other day to the various pastures in order to check on and feed his horses. He manages about 300 head of horses of both the Oklahoma Choctaw and Gilbert Jones strains of Colonial Spanish Horses. He also serves as chairman of the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association, which registers both strains.
“Without Bryant and Darlene there would be no Choctaw horses (and I’ve been working with him on this for over forty years or so, and therefore know well what I am talking about here). There also would be no Jones line of horses. Without dedicated long-term conservators like Bryant and Darlene working though very lean years, these genetic treasures would simply not exist.”
Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD
Professor Pathology/Genetics
Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
The Rickmans diligently searched for any remaining pure Oklahoma Choctaw Horses. When he found them he swapped one for one of his high dollar Quarter Horses. By 1981 they had nine mares and three stallions. With the assistance of Dr. Phillip Sponenberg, a professor of genetics at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and advisor to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Bryant and Darlene began a breeding program that still continues to this day.
It has been an amazing, and sometimes heart wrenching forty plus years. The Rickman family has sacrificed much to keep the horses alive. Several times the herd has faced disasters, one of which in the mid nineties resulted in a massive loss of lives of the already rare horses. Then in 2008 the loss of major grazing leases on timber company owned land forced the removal of the horses to smaller confined pastures requiring much supplemental feeding which has again taxed the resources of the Rickmans in an area has been under drought for several years. Today, at age 72, Bryant makes the round trip of 93 miles every other day to the various pastures in order to check on and feed his horses. He manages about 300 head of horses of both the Oklahoma Choctaw and Gilbert Jones strains of Colonial Spanish Horses. He also serves as chairman of the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association, which registers both strains.
It has been an amazing, and sometimes heart wrenching forty plus years. The Rickman family has sacrificed much to keep the horses alive. Several times the herd has faced disasters, one of which in the mid nineties resulted in a massive loss of lives of the already rare horses. Then in 2008 the loss of major grazing leases on timber company owned land forced the removal of the horses to smaller confined pastures requiring much supplemental feeding which has again taxed the resources of the Rickmans in an area has been under drought for several years. Today, at age 72, Bryant makes the round trip of 93 miles every other day to the various pastures in order to check on and feed his horses. He manages about 300 head of horses of both the Oklahoma Choctaw and Gilbert Jones strains of Colonial Spanish Horses. He also serves as chairman of the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association, which registers both strains.
an area has been under drought for several years. Today, at age 72, Bryant makes the round trip of 93 miles every other day to the various pastures in order to check on and feed his horses. He manages about 300 head of horses of both the Oklahoma Choctaw and Gilbert Jones strains of Colonial Spanish Horses. He also serves as chairman of the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association, which registers both strains.
Family bonds
Sharing a lick
Friends come in all sizes