At Cotesbach, we have been breeding pure bred Foundation American Quarter Horses since 1994, specialising in high Foundation bloodlines in pretty colours, registered with the National Foundation Quarter Horse Association of America. We probably have the highest number of NFQHA registered Quarter Horses in the country but our aim, above all, has always been to produce good looking, versatile, easy going youngsters. Our customers range from Western show people through Polo and Polo Cross players to farmers wanting to round up their stock the western way and families simply looking for a good looking all round, easy to handle mount, which is, above all a good family friend.
Our two stallions, golden palomino, Sedgehill Gold and platinum grullo Hollywoods Blue King are the perfect foundations of our breeding programme.
We have a breeding herd of ten very carefully selected mares, chosen for their looks, bloodlines, foundation percentage, colour and, above all, their old fashioned, laid back temperaments. We have collected our breeding stock over the years, importing, sometimes targeting foals before they are born from their parents’ bloodlines and type, and sometimes not being able to resist keeping a home bred filly, allowing them to mature, training them in Western riding at the age of three to see how they perform under saddle and breeding with them after that. This means that the background breeding of our mares is known to us - both for performance and temperament.
We breed around five foals a year. These are allowed to grow up in the herd, learning manners the natural way from their dams and the other mares and playing with their brothers and sisters. We wean as late as we can – never earlier than six months – so that the foals get the full benefit of their mothers’ milk – and weaning is then a more natural and rather less stressful process, producing foals ready to go to their new homes, happy and well balanced.