November 7, 2008 — A long legacy of ranching and horse breeding has caught the attention of Road to the Horse boss wrangler Thomas Saunders and led him to the Bath Brothers Ranch, owned by Randy and Laurie Dunn, in Laramie, Wyo. Beginning in the spring of 1868, the Bath family started raising horses and cattle in the territory of Wyoming, and they still reside there today, almost 150 years later.
During the running of the remuda in the 2009 Road to the Horse, competitors John Lyons, Tommy Garland and Richard Winters will choose one lucky colt from Bath Brothers Ranch to complete the competition with. Ten 3-year-old geldings have been chosen from the ranch based on their quality, conformation and disposition. Together, Saunders and Bath have looked at these horses for a period of months to decide which ones would best suit the competition.
“The first thing we look at is quality. I really like their blend of pedigree and it is a bloodline we have never tried before. Bath Brothers have been doing this for a long time and it’s an ideal ranch-type horse that will challenge the competitors,” said Road to the Horse boss wrangler Saunders.
Bath Brothers runs about 65 Blue Valentine bred mares and has 6 grandsons of Blue Valentine at stud. Since the late 1980s they have concentrated on a Blue Valentine and Driftwood cross because it is such a time tested and proven cross. Each year a production sale is held for these outstandingly bred horses in cooperation with Chip and Kathy Merritt, Sam Shoultz and Ken Matzner and Dick and Dianne Van Pelt. The annual Come to the Source Sale features weanlings through 3 and 4-year-olds and older mares.
“These horses have a great disposition; they’re easy to start, bigger boned, deeper horse that has a lot of stamina and heart. They also have a lot of mental capacity and are able to adapt to different situations. We feel honored that we were asked to participate in Road to the Horse and it’ll be interesting to take our horses down to Tennessee,” said Randy Dunn, owner of Bath Brothers Ranch.
Nutrena®, a Road to the Horse sponsor, is providing the feed for this year’s colts from Bath Brothers Ranch.
Road to the Horse features friendly competition among the world’s top horsemen. The colt-starting challenge combines the love for the horse, the love of competition and the love of education and entertainment. Hosted by Rick Lamb, of RFD-TV’s The Horse Show with Rick Lamb, this event has something for everyone.
Road to the Horse is proud to partner with many outstanding companies including Horse & Rider magazine, Mustang Makeover, Cinch, Cruel Girl and Gist Silversmiths. For more information on Road to the Horse, visit www.roadtothehorse.com.
