Three Bars Queen - ApHCC Hall of Fame

Owner: S & L Lovenskiold
Uller Farms, Aldergrove, BC

Three Bars Queen is a mare who truly has done her share in contributing excellence to the Appaloosa breed. She was foaled in 1967 on the Rimrock Ranch in Colorado, owned by noted breeders, Lorne and Vera Knisley, and was sired by the immortal Three Bars and out of the Champion Appaloosa foundation mare, Black Pepper Queen. Graced with vivid color, Three Bars Queen first gained fame by being known as the only red leopard mare ever sired by Three Bars, the immortal Thoroughbred stallion who recently was given the honor of being inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. Three Bars only sired five Appaloosa horses in total and his impact has been so enormous in the equine industry as a whole, that he is considered a foundation sire for several registries.

Lured by the promise of plentiful pasture for their horses, the Knisley's decided to leave Fort Collins, Colorado with their horses in tow, for Rocky Mountain House in the Canadian province of Alberta. They continued to follow their goal of producing quality Ranger Horses and Appaloosas and much interest was generated by their breeding program. Their good mare, Black Pepper Queen had the suckling, Three Bars Queen at her side when the Knisley's were asked if they would be interested in entering the pair in one of the biggest Appaloosa shows around. It was agreed and they were shown at the 1967 International Appaloosa Show in Red Deer, Alberta and were ultimately awarded 'Champion Dam and Foal', with Black Pepper Queen going on to become 'Grand Champion Mare'. Such interest in this twosome was generated that they were even amongst a small handful of Appaloosas in which genetic research was done regarding coat color inheritance. The project was chronicled in the Canadian magazine, "The Appaloosa", in 1972 and was entitled "A Study in Genetics".

In 1972, the Knisley's began a new journey in life when they decided to pull up stakes in Canada, and make a long and tedious move to the Middle East. They kept only a select handful of their Colorado Ranger Horse stock, including a colt named "Bar d'Or", a leopard son of Three Bars Queen and sired by their CRHA stallion, Rio Dinero. Eventually, through some planning and decision making, they presented King Hussein of Jordan with Bar d'Or as a gift. The colorful stallion spent many years at the Royal Jordanian Stud, undoubtedly lending a real colorful twist to the scene of beautiful Arabians that were so loved and cherished by His Majesty, King Hussein. In a gesture of gratitude, the King awarded Bar d'Or to his Stud manager as a gift and after some time passed, the stallion found his way to Scotland, where he is still used for stud purposes.

"A Kingdom for my Horse", is a book written by Vera Knisley and was published in 1988. Within its pages is a fascinating chronicle of the history of the Colorado Ranger Horse Association and many of its most notable people, and their horses.This is a tremendous true story which includes many interesting details of the Knisley's move overseas, as well as their involvement in building a horse registry. Featured on the cover is a photo of Bar d'Or, sired by Rio Dinero and out of Three Bars Queen.

In 1996, Bar d'Or helped promote his "Royal" Three Bars Queen breeding by way of a shipment of 180 pipettes of frozen semen sent to South Africa to add a new dimension to the available Appaloosa gene pool.

At the 1972 Rimrock Ranch dispersal sale, Sheldak Ranch in Sheldon, North Dakota purchased Three Bars Queen, where she was used for a short period of time as a broodmare. Crossed with Mighty Tim, the resulting offspring included "Mighty Three Bars", a champion sire in Kentucky, and another colorful stallion, "Tim's Bright Bars". Three Bars Queen changed hands for a third and final time in 1977 when she moved to Uller Farms in Mount Albert, Ontario, and foaled her third Mighty Tim offspring, "Ullita". This top Ontario show mare went on to Texas to make her name in the cutting pen. Uller Farms, owned and operated by Severin and Laila Lovenskiold, was one of Ontario's leading breeding/show farms in the '70's and early '80's with multiple Futurity winners, Year End Award & High Point earners, and National Champions. They now carry on their successful breeding program in Aldergrove, BC. In 1978, Three Bars Queen was sent to the court of the Eclipse Award Winning Thoroughbred Sprinter, “Shecky Greene”, (Noholme II x Lester's Pride). With a suckling filly at foot, this mare made the trek from southern Ontario, Canada to the famed Walmac Farm in Kentucky, which almost paralleled her own dam's destiny date with Three Bars. Like mother, like daughter!

In Kentucky, Three Bars Queen was treated royally and why not?… She was! Beneath her vibrant leopard coat was the blood of champions, and she was treated no less than any famous mare that set foot on the Walmac property! The result of this breeding was "The Ulltimate", a vivid red leopard colt and a carbon copy of his mom. This fine stallion embarked upon a show career in halter and in each show he competed in, he never failed to become a Grand Champion, and has gone on to sire several Futurity Champions, Year End Award Winners and Grand Champions!

Consecutive pairings with Uller Farms National Champion stallion, "Mighty Norsk", saw a number of highly colorful and athletic horses produced. Ullbar, an outstanding leopard stallion, became a Canadian Gold Medallion Sire. Ullvita, a few-spot leopard, won Futurities and was a Halter Champion. One year, Three Bars Queen was bred to an outside stallion, which resulted in a palomino blanketed colt who went on to become a Halter Champion.

In November of 1999, Three Bars Queen was honored by being inducted into the Appaloosa Horse Club of Canada Hall of Fame.

Fifteen foals does not a producer make, however fifteen foals of outstanding quality carving a niche of their own is truly the progeny of a producer. The ultimate compliment is that a few of her offspring went directly into breeding programs instead of taking the traditional route in the show ring first. With the passing of Three Bars Queen in June of 1993, the Appaloosa breed truly lost one of the great ones. With offspring located from coast to coast in Canada, the USA and Scotland, her legacy does live on.

story by L. Munro