We started off in Paints by accident, we bought a riding horse for Vicki, Duco’s Pink Lady, who was a minimal marked Overo Strawberry roan. After we had purchased the mare, we found out she had Paint registration papers and so the interest grew. Shortly after we purchased two mares in foal to Paint stallions.The following
year, we purchased the loud overo halter futurity champion mare San When
we moved back to Queensland from Victoria in 1998 we changed our breeding programme
to aim specifically for the Paint performance horse market ie. Reining,
Our Sabino mares (no overo in bloodlines) bred to Peppy Shaker are producing an average of 80% colour, but the trick is the Sabino mares must have parents or grandparents that are visible Sabinos to have the depth of genetics to carry through and give the higher percentage of regular Paint registered offspring without the lethal white factor.
We are now breeding up a band of broodmares including Peppy Shaker daughters that have a solid concentration of Doc Bar, Peppy San, Mr San Peppy, Hollywood Gold and Jewells Leo Bars bloodlines with trainable minds and are of a good type. These mares will be used to outcross to an unrelated future sire.
This future sire, it is envisaged, will be totally unrelated with no Doc Bar.
The Twin Oaks breeding programme is based on Peppy’s Doc Bar*, ( Peppy San x Fizzabar) at first subconsciously, but once I had taken an interest in bloodlines and started to look for cool minded horses with real talent we kept coming back to him as they don’t come any better bred.
We are breeding with a long term goal in mind, we do not wish to fall into the category as breeders of numbers, but as serious breeders of an established style of Paint Horse with trainable minds, conformation that will hold up under a demanding training schedule, with a higher than average success rate in the performance show arena.
Jim Page and Richard Bull have been a big influence in breeding direction and crosses that breed on, plus I have studied what bloodlines have performed well with particular bloodlines that they have used.
Jim Page thinks outside the box compared to most breeders. Friends Peter Hall, Alex Hough and Cathy Marsh have been supportive of our ideals over the years and given constructive advice when asked.
Jesse, the eldest, used to ride but is now more into computers than horses, but has helped out and had some input. He was responsible for the name Squid O’Lena. This filly was breach birth and was “wind swept”, therefore as a newborn foal in his opinion, with her large dewy eyes and legs all over the place, she reminded him of a squid.
Candice has been fortunate to finish in the top six Paint Youth Nationally during the qualifying period for the last two USA Youth team trips and therefore had the opportunity to compete at the World Paint Horse Show twice.
On the last trip, Candice won the hipology contest (comprehensive equine knowledge), having attended Longreach Pastoral College has helped prepare her for the horse industry. During 2003 she has been in Texas, USA gaining experience with Lindy Burch and J.B. McLamb in the cutting horse industry.
Sheridan, the baby of the family, qualified and competed with the PHAA Youth Team at the 2002 World Paint Horse Show. She has competed on her horse, Twin Oaks Smoak to achieve many National and State awards. She is wishing to pursue a career in the horse industry also.
When the Queensland property, Myora, located on the Logan River at Beaudesert was purchased, it was set up as a breeding/agistment centre to accommodate the Thoroughbred walk-on industry and also to cater for the Equine AI industry.
The vet shed with its vet room, crushes, flood lit foaling pens, the heavy netting safety fenced paddocks for containment of mares with young foals, underground irrigation all help to make life easier in maintaining the stud.
Maybe
the budding trainers or Vet will one day use the facilities to kick-start their
own careers.
One horse that has helped evolve Twin Oaks into the stud it is today is the studs 'matriach' San Antonio Rose, dam of both Peppy Shaker and his full sister San Antonio Pep.
~Vale~
Dam
of: |
Antonio
Pep 
This
involved changing out some of the broodmares we had to the likes of Queen of Oaks,
(Doc’s Freckles Oak* x Tequila Doll) full sister to Oaks Chelo, NCHA Reserve
Futurity Champion, Yulgilbar Neat N Elegant (Playboy Roy* x Winderadeen Pure Elegance)
Full sister to Yulgilbar Little Senor, NCHA Futurity finalist, Yulgilbar Missouri
Playboy, NCHA Derby Finalist and Toowoomba Cutting Derby Champion, Freckles Fancy
Spin (Doc’s Spinifex* x Dainty Fancy Oak) plus breeding to the likes of Gay
O’Lena*, frozen semen (Doc O’Lena x Gay Curl ) the only crop out son
of Doc O’Lena, Acres Destiny*, Smokin’ Doctor*, Ultimate Roc, and Dry
Diamond*. 
It
does help that Peppy Shaker has four out of the six horses within two generations
are visible Sabinos in his pedigree. The other two are Overo. San Antonio Rose
and her sire Diamond Jim Jnr* are a line there is not much of because Diamond
Jim Jnr died during his second season due to injury. There are only five registered
PHAA horses sired by Diamond Jim Jnr*. 
It
has been said that Doc Bar horses are hot to handle. Twin Oaks Cleopatra carries
four crosses to him and they don’t come any more cool minded than this dynamic
mare, who, with Natasha Backhouse aboard has set new goal posts in the reining
arena.
Our
children have played an active roll in the development of the stud. 
Of
course having a computer technician in the family is a huge benefit. 
Courtney,
our second son, is a lover of all creatures big and small. It’s been a battle
to contain his menagerie to save us being turned into a Noah’s Ark. He has
competed and placed at National and State levels. He is hoping to gain a high
enough OP score to gain entry into a Vet course at Qld. University next year and
specialise in large animals, namely horses. 
During
the couple of years Beaudesert AI Centre and Myora Thoroughbred Lodge was run
it was very successful with a high percentage of return clients, but due to Murray’s
work commitments and therefore the use of costly labour, it was closed down. This
has left us with a first class facility in which to nurture the growth of our
Paint horse stud. 
Foaled
13.11.81- Deceased 11.99
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