Emerald is one of those rare horses that come into our lives that change EVERYTHING! We purchased Emerald in 1996 from a bankrupt petting zoo in the small town of Kanab in southern Utah. She was in terrible condition and was mostly forgotten in the corner. The only reason we even bought her was because we liked her long neck. Little were we to know that she would become the matriarch of our entire breeding program.
We brought her home and bred her to our newly acquired bay stallion Sunrae's Ruff N Tuff. The next year she had the beautiful bay colt MMMTC Diamond in the Ruff , he placed third the first ever MWMHO breeders futurity in a class of over 19 horses! Wow were we excited! Later 'Tuffy' also acquired his hall of Fame in halter and he is nearly finished with his Hall of Fame in driving.
In 1998 we had purchased another new stallion Happylands Topper, we wanted a black and white, so we bred Emerald to Topper. We were so excited to have her foal a black and white FILLY! MMMTC Top Crystal Reflection was also a great show horse, she won reserve in the futurity that year and continued on to be a great show horse winning many Grand and Supreme Halter Championships, and then went on to earn her Hall of Fame in halter. Additionally she produced a mulitiple National Top Ten horse. With Crystal's Hall of Fame award Emerald also received her first National recognition, she received her Superior Dam Hall of Fame award. We were so pleased with Crystal that we bred Emerald to Topper each year after that.
Emerald's third baby for us was MMMTC Top Mirror Image, she won the futurity as a weanling and went on to win many Supreme halter championships, and her Hall of Fame in Halter. Later she won Reserve National Champion in youth halter! Plus she went on with her sister MMMTC Top Elegant Inspiration to win Reserve National Champion Get of Sire. We taught her to drive and in just two short years she won many driving championships and earned her Hall of Fame in driving. Next came MMMTC Top Elegant Inspiration, from the moment she was born their was only one word to describe her, elegant! She too won the futurity as a weanling and grand champion mare under all the judges, she won and won in her show career all the way up to National Champion in halter! Plus of course many supreme halter championships and her Hall of Fame in Halter. Emerald then received her next Superior Dam Hall of Fame award. The last baby we had from Emerald was MMMTC Top Ultimate Impression, she too won the futurity and Grand champion as a weanling and went on to win multiple National Top Ten awards along with Supreme Halter championships and her Hall of Fame in halter.
Emerald was never in very good health. It was always a struggle to keep any weight on her and she was so picky we could hardly get her to eat anything. She was offered free choice hay and GRAIN! We had tried everything and the vets had tested her for everything. They couldn't find anything wrong with her but she was never just quite right. Since Emerald had given us five babies in a row and with her health the way it was we decided to give her a year off to try and recover. She was never the same after, her health never improved and we were never able to get her in foal again. Four years later in February of 2005 she had finally had enough and her system began to shut down. Even though the vets told us she wouldn't make it and to not even try and save her we just had to try. She was at the vet clinic for about 24 hours and continued to get worse, we finally decided that it was time to let her go and we made the hard decision to have her humanly put down to end her suffering. We will never forget what she has given to us and we hope her legacy will continue to live on though her beautiful daughters and granddaughters.
