Belle Reve Farm (original) | |
---|---|
Town/City | 13 mi west of Lexington |
State | Kentucky |
Province | Woodford County |
Country | United States |
Established | 1985 |
Disestablished | 1999 |
Owner | William Shatner [1] |
Area | 76 acres (31 ha) [1] |
Produces | American Saddlebred horses |
Status | private |
Belle Reve Farm is a horse farm located in Versailles, Kentucky that was owned by actor William Shatner, a breeder of American Saddlebred show horses.
His stallion Sultan's Great Day was a two-time world's champion performer, and the farm's premier breeding stallion until his death in 2004. Great Day sired 95 foals that have won 342 ribbons at the World's Championship Horse Show in Louisville, KY. Great Day was named Saddle Horse Report’s leading sire of world's champions in 1994 and 1996, and was a Top 10 sire throughout his career.
Belle Reve Farm is the name of two horse farms in Woodford County, Kentucky, near Versailles, Kentucky, that were owned by actor William Shatner. [2] The name Belle Reve is French for "beautiful dream", [3] only grammatically incorrect (since "rêve" is masculine, it should be "beau rêve").
Shatner had been interested in horses since the age of 15, when he would ride at a rental stable near his home in Montreal. He rode in roles in multiple films, including White Comanche , The Bastard , and bareback in Alexander the Great. [4] [5] He and his wife Marcy Lafferty Shatner bought an 18-acre (7.3 ha) horse-breeding farm in Three Rivers, California, in 1979, that she named Belle Reve Ranch; they used it for Quarter Horses. [6] [7]
Shatner became fascinated by American Saddlebred horses in 1983, when filming an episode of his television series T.J. Hooker in a barn where several were stabled. He referred to encountering saddlebreds as "a religious experience", and a "love affair", and bought two of them that same day. [7] [8] When he later sought to buy more, the California seller referred him to a friend in Kentucky, horse breeder and trainer Donna Moore. [8] Under Moore's direction, Shatner acquired the champion black American Saddlebred stallion Sultan's Great Day after seeing him at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in 1985. [9] [1] Later that same year, the Shatners bought Moore's 87-acre (35 ha) farm on Shannon Run Road in Versailles, Kentucky, to raise Sultan's Great Day and his other horses, and kept Moore on to manage it. [8] [10] [11] In 1992, Shatner purchased the Weber farm comprising 141 acres (57 ha) on Dry Ridge Pike. [12]
In 1993, the colt barn at the farm caught fire and five horses were killed. [13] In 1995, Shatner divorced Marcy Lafferty and as part of the divorce settlement, Shatner was awarded Belle Reve Farm, and Lafferty was awarded annual breedings to Belle Reve's standing stallions. [14] [15] Lafferty set up her own nearby ranch named Poser Farm, where she owned and bred from Belle Reve's Voodoo Magic, a foal of Sultan's Great Day. [16]
In July 1999, Shatner sold the Shannon Run Road farm for approximately US$500,000 to the owner of Came the Son, another foal of Sultan's Great Day; she renamed it Rigby's Green. [17] [18] In 2007, it was sold again and renamed Diamond View. [19] Shatner kept the name Belle Reve Farm, and moved it to a larger farm he bought, also in Woodford County near Versailles. [18]
In 2001, Shatner remarried horse trainer Elizabeth Anderson Martin. [9] They divided their time raising Saddlebreds at the 360 acres (150 ha) Belle Reve Farm, and Quarter Horses in Los Angeles. [9] In 2012, Belle Reve was part of a therapeutic riding program that benefits Horses for Heroes. [20] Donna Moore died in 2014. [21] In 2019, the Shatners divorced, splitting four horses, with Elizabeth keeping the Versailles home, and William Shatner keeping the Three Rivers ranch, and "all horse semen". [22] [23]
The farm breeds American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses, [24] which are exhibited in horse shows. [25] The stallion roster includes the Champion Saddlebred, Call Me Ringo, who performed in harness at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington. [26] [27] A former stallion was Sultan's Great Day. [28] Sultan's Great Day was the premier American Saddlebred that stood at Belle Reve. He sired many champion performance horses, such as Great Day's Token, 1992 Junior Exhibitor Five-Gaited World's Grand Champion, Royal Scot's Curtain Call, a grand gaited mare, Simply Mahvalous, 1989 Three-Year-Old Fine Harness National Futurity World's Champion, Day By Day B.R., 1989 Two-Year-Old Five-Gaited World's Champion, and Royce, 1989 Kentucky Futurity Two-Year-Old Fine Harness World's Champion. [29]
The Byerley Turk, also spelled Byerly Turk, was the earliest of three stallions that were the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock.
Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 and Interstate 75, at Exit 120, in northern Fayette County in the United States. The equestrian facility is a 1,224-acre (495 ha) park dedicated to "man's relationship with the horse." Open to the public, the park has a twice daily Horses of the World Show, showcasing both common and rare horses from around the globe. The horses are ridden in authentic costume. Each year the park is host to a number of special events and horse shows.
The Morgan horse is one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. Tracing back to the foundation sire Figure, later named Justin Morgan after his best-known owner, as well as mares of the now-extinct Narragansett Pacer breed, Morgans served many roles in 19th-century American history, being used as coach horses and for harness racing, as general riding animals, and as cavalry horses during the American Civil War on both sides of the conflict. Morgans have influenced other major American breeds, including the American Quarter Horse, the American Saddlebred, the Tennessee Walking Horse, and the Standardbred.
The American Saddlebred is a horse breed from the United States. This breed is referred to as the "Horse America Made". Descended from riding-type horses bred at the time of the American Revolution, the American Saddlebred includes the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Morgan and Thoroughbred among its ancestors. Developed into its modern type in Kentucky, it was once known as the "Kentucky Saddler" and used extensively as an officer's mount in the American Civil War. In 1891, a breed registry was formed in the United States. Throughout the 20th century, the breed's popularity continued to grow in the United States, and exports began to South Africa and Great Britain. Since the formation of the US registry, almost 250,000 American Saddlebreds have been registered and can now be found around the world, with separate breed registries established in Great Britain, Australia, continental Europe, and southern Africa.
The Narragansett Pacer was one of the first recorded horse breeds developed in the United States. It emerged in the 18th century (1700s), and was theorized to have been bred from a mix of English and Spanish breeds, although the exact cross is unknown. The Pacer was associated with, and bred in, the state of Rhode Island and the area of New England; as horse breeding shifted to Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1700s, it became extinct by the 20th century.
WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Outstanding Breeder. WinStar Farm owned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer, and 2016 Belmont Stakes winner Creator. Notable stallions that have stood at stud at Winstar Farm include two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow, leading sire and broodmare sire Distorted Humor, and Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic winner American Pharoah's sire Pioneerof the Nile.
The Dutch Harness Horse, or Tuigpaard, is a warmblood breed of fine driving horse that has been developed in the Netherlands since the end of World War II. Their studbook is kept by the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland or KWPN. The breed is based on the native Groningen and Gelderland horses, which were formerly indispensable in agriculture and transportation services. Strict selection procedures and a clear breeding aim enabled breeders to produce a refined, high-stepping horse within a few decades. While with 40 sires and fewer than 2,000 broodmares the population is not large, Dutch Harness Horses are highly recognizable. In the past few years, a handful have come to North America, where they are used as sport horses and saddle seat horses alike.
Harlem Globetrotter (1980-2012) was an American Saddlebred stallion who won nine World Championships and also became a successful sire.
A Celebration of Horses: The American Saddlebred was a half-hour television special about the American Saddlebred horse breed. It was scheduled for four national releases from November 1993 to October 1995 on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States on 56 regional affiliates, and was also broadcast into Canada. The program starred actor and horse enthusiast William Shatner. Most of the segments were taped on location with Shatner at his Belle Reve Farm, and at the Lexington Junior League Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky.
Sky Watch was a five-gaited American Saddlebred show horse. He won four open World's Grand Championships and five stallion World's Grand Championships in the World's Championship Horse Show.
Donna Moore (1931-2014) was an American Saddlebred horse trainer. She trained horses for William Shatner at his Belle Reve Farm, and owned her own stables near Versailles, Kentucky.
Sultan's Great Day was a black American Saddlebred stallion sired by Supreme Sultan, out of the mare Supremes Cassandra. Great Day, as he was commonly called, was a twice World's Champion Fine Harness Stallion. In his debut performance, he earned the title 1983 2-year-old World's Champion fine harness stallion. Other prestigious wins followed during his 2 and 3 year old years. He was retired to stud at the age of 4, but was shown a few more times in later years. Great Day was referred to as "one of the most prolific sires of world's champions throughout the 1990s". He sired 387 registered offspring of which 106 were ribbon winners, 63 were futurity ribbon winners, and 24 went on to become champions in their respective disciplines.
Rex McDonald was an American Saddlebred stallion. He was only beaten three times in his show career and had an influential career as a sire.
Bourbon King was an American Saddlebred stallion. He was known for being the founding sire of the popular Chief family of Saddlebreds.
Supreme Sultan was an American Saddlebred stallion. He was a chestnut, and was sired by Valley View Supreme, out of Melody Olee. Sultan was sold to Barlite Farms as a yearling, was shown as a 2-year-old, but then repurchased and returned to Ruxer Farms. During his lifetime, he sired multiple champion offspring in nearly every division of American Saddlebred horse show competition and set leading sire records. Noted for his refinement and action, his impact as a sire modernized the Saddlebred breed in both the United States and South Africa. As a result of his influence on the breed, at his death he was buried at Kentucky Horse Park and a bronze statue of him stands atop his grave.
The horse industry in Tennessee is the 6th largest in the United States, and over 3 million acres of Tennessee farmland are used for horse-related activities. The most popular breed in the state is the Tennessee Walking Horse - developed by crossing Thoroughbred, Morgan, Saddlebred, and Standardbred horses in the 19th and 20th centuries - and it became an official state symbol in 2000.
Mary Gaylord McClean is an American horse breeder, horse owner and exhibitor, businesswoman and philanthropist. McClean owns and shows American Saddlebred horses and Hackney ponies, on which she has won multiple Championships. Many of her philanthropic ventures are horse-related.
Elisabeth Goth is a horse breeder, horse exhibitor, and businesswoman. She owns Elisabeth Goth, LLC in Kentucky and raises, shows and sells American Saddlebreds. She has won multiple awards and Championships in the horse industry. She is the vice president of the United States Equestrian Federation.
Redd Crabtree (1935–2015) was an American Saddlebred horse trainer. Crabtree, the son of notable Saddlebred trainers and saddle seat riding teachers Helen and Charles Crabtree, who owned Crabtree Stables, won three Five-Gaited World's Grand Championships and multiple World's Championships in the World's Championship Horse Show. He was president of the United Professional Horsemens Association, vice president and a director of the American Saddlebred Horse Association and was inducted into three Halls of Fame. Redd Crabtree died on January 19, 2015.
Top of the Mark is an American Saddlebred horse who won the Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship in 2016 and 2017. He was named a Horse of Honor by the United States Equestrian Federation in 2016.