About Us

FORTUNE HUNTER. AN OLDENBURG BRED STALLION, PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN WARMBLOOD!! | home

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About Us

Hello!! First let me thank you for visiting our WEB page! I hope you like it and find it informative. My name is Tanya Holliday. I have dreamed of having an opportunity to raise quality sport horses since the day I started competing at local Hunter Jumper Shows at the age of 16! Through God, the help of wonderful friends and the support of my family, the dream has come to life!!! God has been so good to me! He has answered so many prayers, put such beautiful people and horses in my life!

I remember being in a local feed store looking at the magazine rack. There laid this magazine with this INCREDIBLE horse on the cover!! I told the lady at the counter, that someday I would have a horse like that!! Well, that was in April of 1991. The magazine was the "Arizona Horse Connection". On the cover was a stallion named "First Class", owned by Fiesta Performance Horses. Matter a fact, I still have that magazine! I read the article, over and over. I thought I should call to make an appointment to see "First Class" in person. I spoke with Patty Melde. Patty invited me to come down to the farm and take a look. I could not wait! All of their horses were beautiful!!! Patty showed me a Hannovarian colt by Diamont, that was for sale. He was a beautiful dark bay with four white socks, a neat blaze and so sweet! I had to have him!! We made a deal! I named him "K.B.", after my late grandfather. Unfortunately, "K.B." fell ill and had to be put to sleep a short time later. I was crushed!! I called Patty to let her know,. She was very sympathetic and knew how much I wanted a foal, especially out of "First Class". She told me that she didn't want to put "K.B."'s memory to shame, but had this new pilot program started that was approved by the Oldenburg Registry. The Germans approved a cross breeding of seven Arabian mares to "First Class"! She said the first foal on the ground was a beauty! I told Patty that my currant situation would not let me afford to buy another horse. My dad was just diagnosed with Cancer and my family needed my financial support. Well, to show you how beautiful of a person she is, she wanted me to own that foal! She knew that I would show him and be a great home! We worked out a deal! I came home with "First Edition" in matter of days!

Over the years, Patty and I became really good friends. I leased an Oldenburg mare, "Cindi", that Patty had just bred to "First Class". Cindi was a sweetie!!! I took her home when she was 28 days pregnant! I was so excited! This was going to be my first "baby"! Cindi had the best of everything! About 8 inches of shavings in her stall, the best hay and pellets, the best grain and was groomed everyday! I talked to her tummy everyday too and bought her lots of stall toys! I went a little nuts! Cindi gave birth to one of the best presents that I have ever received! "Fortune Hunter"! I call him "T.J." (Tanya & Jesus, my answered prayer)! I fell IN LOVE with that little boy!! He thought that "I" was "Mommy" from the very beginning! We have a beautiful friendship! He is quiet the horse! I am so very proud of that fellow! He is so smart, has beautiful conformation and is a gorgeous mover! Plus, there is more to him than just being a beautiful animal, he has this aura about him, you just want to touch him! He looks so powerful, almost fiery but is as sweet as a puppy dog! He is different from any horse I have ever met!

T.J. has had a life full of injuries! It really seems unfair, but it is true. He had a serious injury around the age of 18 months. We had a "Micro Burst" land on my property. It did SO much damage! He was hit by one of the stalls that was ripped out of the ground by winds racing at more than 178 mph! It was a blunt hit, no major tearing of the skin. I thought he was the one with the least damage. I figuered he would be body sore for a couple of weeks and that would be the end of it. It turns out that I played down the seriousness of this accedent. T.J. received the worst of it. Rocky was so badly torn up, I concentrated on him for weeks. A couple of the other horses had external injuries that kept me busy too. A few weeks went by. I noticed that he was doing this weird walk. After many vet visits, x-rays, injections, acupuncture, massages, horse "Healers", pchycics, race track "non-vets" who have seen everything plus many other "things" that I have tried. It has come down to severe nerve damage in his back. There is really no cure. Not with out surgery. Very expensive dangerous surgery. I do not want to put him through that. I admire T.J. so much, he will do anything for me. I don't want to risk losing him. As long as he is not in pain, he will be with me. He is still ridable and one would never notice that he had such an injury. But standing out in a field or in his stall, he will get a pain that sends a wave of tremors to his back end. It breaks my heart to see this. Besides this terrible time, he seems happy and I hope to have him for a very long time. It has been told to me, the more active I can keep him, the better. So he is still exercised. This is the reason that his show career has been so limited.

Now that T.J. has grown up, I have started breeding him to selected mares. He has 8 foals currently on the ground! Soon there wii be 4 more in the next couple months! So far, so beautiful! He is throwing so much of himself! They have all been boys and they ALL move FANTASTIC! I have been told that "Lancelot" (2 years old now) who is at a HUGE barn here in Arizona, is the best behaved and most trainable one in the barn! Even compared to the six year olds! T.J. has thrown his temporment over and over too! I have foals out of other stallions, they do not show the eagerness to learn and to please as T.J.'s do! He and his get are unbeatable in that department!!!

Well, now you know how I came to this spot in my life! It was not easy and I am NOT a wealthy person. It has taken years of sweat and tears. I feel I have gained lots of experiance from the people I know. I look at both the mare and the Stallion and try to imagine how they can improve each other. I want to make the most beautiful foals! So far, I have been on the right track! I have bred some incredible horses! They speak for themselves! I'm very proud of every horse I own, or have owned. I am a small breeder, but my dream is still in the making! I hope to breed a horse or horses that would do America proud in the Olympic Arena. BIG Dream, but so far my dreams are coming true, why not go for the Gold!

I hope to honor God, the Melde's, my family and friends by being the best person in this business. I would love to take this moment and publicly thank God, my mom (Betty Samson) for her love and support, Kay Samson (Late Stepfather) who taught me that no matter what you are faced with, you CAN be happy!, my husband (Jon Holliday) for showing me how to be strong, for his love and for his support of my love of animals, the Melde's for breeding such beautiful horses, that I made that phone call that got me where I am today and lastly to my horses, thank you for all the nickers, licks and smiles you have given me!

This is K.B. shown here at 9 months.

This is "Rocky" and one of my closest friends, Darlene Preston. Tanice Gree is now the proud owner!

This is "Cindi" with "T.J." when he was four months old.

Below are some of our mares and horses that we have bred...

Above is (L-R) Hollie, Missy and Lancelot. Hollie is Arab/Irish Hunter, Missy is an Irish Hunter, Lancelot is Irish Hunter/Oldenburg. Jonny Brown and associates are now proud owner of Lancelot!

Above & Below at 3 months is Easter, Old/DWB filly, by Edina & Vladimire. Julie Smith is now the proud owner!

Below on the Right is Hollie and the Right is Edina!

Missy, is now the proud owner of Edina!

Below is Missy and the Right is Lancelot getting imprinted.

Missy at Westfalen inspection getting scores from 8 - 8.8 on jumping!