We started out to purchase *1* horse shortly after moving to the foothills of the Ozarks in SW Missouri in August of 1999. We thought we would enjoy trail riding, so we naturally thought of the state's official horse, the MIssouri Fox Trotting Horse. We started with more than one (our broodmare, Angel, is one of our original horses) and enjoyed trail riding in the immediate vicinity of SW MO. We continued to grow our horse herd, first getting into foundation bred Quarter Horses, before soon realizing that Bob's passion was working horses on cattle. We slowly began to replace our foundation quarter horses with the more modern cutting bred Quarter Horses. We continued riding trails with our Foxtrotters, purchasing a living quarter horse trailer and expanding our riding into other states. Though we enjoyed the personality of the Foxtrotting horses (and an occasional trail ride on one of the Quarter Horses), we decided we wanted something with a little smoother ride. We found a two-year-old buckskin tobiano mare (Tan) down in MS and once we started riding her, we knew that Tennessee Walking/Spotted Saddle Horses were the way we were going to go. In 2011, we decided to bring our Quarter Horse mare herd down to minimal numbers, and keep only those that had either earned NCHA money and/or produced NCHA money earners, and breed them to the best stallions that we could afford. We also decided to increase our mare herd with Tennessee Walking Horse mares and invest in a quality stallion. Our goal with our Tennessee Walking Horses is to produce smooth gaits, sound minds, good conformation (nice hips, pretty heads, good chests), along with color. Our foal numbers will be limited in 2012, but we are excited about the ones that will arrive! We have purchased a couple of stallion prospects and plan on picking the best for some lite shod training in the future. Check back when you can - or come by to see us - we are always happy to show you around the ranch!
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Bob Willett  Bob has had a varied career, but he has always had a love for horses. He grew up in Jonesboro, AR and learned to ride on TN Walking Horses. He attended ASU in Jonesboro before joining the Air Force and spending 11 years where he learned to fly. He also went to farrier school at the Oklahoma Farrier's College in Speery, OK. Throughout his different career paths of flying, managing a Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse breeding farm, farrier, training retrievers professionally for hunt tests and field trials, he has always kept his love for horses. Once settled in MO, the opportunity to own horses arose. Bob discovered his passion for cutting and would be on a cutting horse every day, if time permitted. Though cutting is his first love, he also enjoys trail riding, especially adventures along the lines of Snowy River. Bob is semi-retired, but still does some farrier work here at Willett Ranch. He has three children: Shawn Willett, a landscaper in NC; Jessica Willett, a school teacher in TX; and Peter Willett, an instructor in welding at Tyler Junior College and owner of Willett's Welding Service in TX. |
Adrienne Willett, DVM Adrienne grew up in Dumas, AR where her father was a cotton/soybean/rice farmer and her mother was a school teacher. She learned to ride on several grade quarter horses beginning at age 5, and competed in local saddle shows in barrels, poles, western pleasure, flag race - really, in any class the typical saddle clubs hosted. She attended veterinary school at LSU (Geaux, Tigers!) and practiced in small animal medicine for 14 years before going into veterinary industry. She is currently a Senior Technical Services Veterinarian for Bayer Animal Health. Though Adrienne likes the cutting horses, her favorite activity with the horses is to trail ride - on gaited horses. Her time is limited by the travel that she does with her job, but she has enjoyed riding in SD, CO, WY, MO, AR, and TN, with other states mapped out for the future. |
This page was last updated on:
02/08/12
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