Horse History

In The Beginning... Windy Hill Symphonie 019563 (1970 - 1986) (Windcrest Music Man 12458 x Royalton Diantha Darling 08430) 1974 Reserve World / National Champion Jr. Western Pleasure Horse 1976 Reserve World / National Champion Western Pleasure Junior Exhibitor 1977 World / National Champion Carriage Single Horse 1979 World / National Champion Stock Horse (Reining

I got my first Morgan mare, Windy Hill Symphonie in 1970. I had fallen in love with Morgan horses when I was in the fifth grade (1959??) I was the typical horse crazy girl, since about age 2. I had never seen a Morgan, just read about them. While in Vet school, I decided to treat myself to the purchase of a Morgan mare after I passed the comprehensive exams at the end of the second year of study. The third year was "easy" compared to the first two years. There were only 4 other "girls" in my class. We were resented by most of staff and classmates, I hated TAMU, it only looked good to me in the rear view mirror. Now the student vet school population is over 60 % female, times change!!! In 1970, I bought Symphonie, a beautiful, liver chestnut filly, in Plunkamin New Jersey when she was only 5 months old. Her sire, Windcrest Music Man, a handsome black son of Waseeka's Nocturne, was one of the leading (top ten) performance Morgan sires in the nation. Her dam, Royalton Diantha Darling was from a well respected and established family of Morgans known as Lippitt. The owner of Royalton Morgan farm, Dana Kelly, was a close friend of Robert Lippitt Knight, owner of the Green Mountain Stock Farm in Randolph Vermont, the founder of the Lippitt family. They shared the same bloodlines which were designed to concentrate the blood of the original Morgan foundation stallion, Justin Morgan or Figure. These men stuck to the original "type" of Morgan horse instead of going the way of popular fashion and adding "outside" blood to make a taller, more "Saddle" type horse. Windcrest Music Man was from the Nocturne dynasty of Morgans, known for performance, especially fancy motion in particular, but most characteristic was a long neck, big eye and clean throat, while the Lippitt family was known for extreme type. Anyone knowing what a Morgan was supposed to look like, could recognize a Lippitt as a Morgan. There other attributes was Morgan versatility (able and willing to be multi tasked), compact bodies, thick necks and big hearts. Symphonie got the best attributes from both sides, a golden cross that was already fairly well recognized (Nocturne x Lippitt). She had the little tiny ears, great big eyes, small head, clean throat, compact body, and EXTREME versatility! At maturity she was 14.2 h and weighed about 900 lbs. In 1974 she was shown all over the U.S. and was the top rated horse to try to beat in the Western Division. She won many prestigious titles and in 1974 earned her first National Title as National Reserve Western Pleasure Horse. She continued to earn World champion titles in Western Pleasure Junior Exhibitor, Antique Carriage Single Horse, and in 1979 World Champion Stock Horse (Reining)! PLUS she competed successfully on at Nationals in the Justin Morgan Competition, usually against stallions MUCH bigger than she. The Justin Morgan competition had four separate events; a 5/8 mile Running Race , 5/8 mile trotting race in harness, A progressive weight added Stone Boat Pull and competition under saddle in the show arena. In her first year to compete in Justin Morgan, she was dead last in the trotting race, but she knew that it was a race and kept breaking to run to catch up!! A few minutes later in the second 5/8 mile, under saddle running race, she broke fast and took an unbelievable lead, 10 to 15 links ahead of all the stallions, she gave all she had in the running race, and to a screaming crowd, she got caught in the final stretch by the big 16 hand stallion and was called second in a nose to nose finish against the stallion that came to Nationals ONLY to compete in the running race, (there were 5 other stallions in the race, she was the ONLY mare and she was 6 months pregnant!) It was a photo finish without the camera, the judge gave the victory to the huge chestnut stallion). The next day she went on to win the Stone Boat Pull, and place very high in the undersaddle competition but, because of her last place in harness, she was awarded a third place in the Justin Morgan Competition. She won the National Carriage competition at that same show.

I could go ON and On about Symphonie, she was incredible, extremely willing and smart as well as a beautiful Champion and National Champion producer. I got eight foals from her, she went to 8 different stallions, I was seeking that golden cross, but, each of her offspring were fantastic. I still have one of her daughters, a 25 year old mare, Concert Prima Donna, and out of the 12 Morgans I "own", all but two are direct descendents of Symphonie. One that is unrelated is Fuzzy (Concert Indigo Moon), my black stallion would have been, but, since I had planned to take Donna to Stillwater Indigo, a 30 year old, FULL Lippitt stallion owned by a Vermonter that moved to Florida, but, I took Road's Moonwind (aka Lila), my black harness champion mare to Stillwater Indigo instead. I couldn't breed Lila to Symphonie's son, my gorgeous black bay, champion, Concert Celebrity, since he hated her. He didn't like black mares for some reason, his passion was for blonds, especially those with a flaxen mane! So I sent Lila to Indigo instead of sending Donna.

When I lost Symphonie prematurely, due to a horrible accident, her son, Concert Celebrity (aka BRIT), became my number one horse. His sire, Foregone Conclusion, was by Waseeka's Showtime, another giant in the Morgan world and a son of the immortal Waseeka's Nocturne. Brit inherited all the versatility of his wonderful mother (Symphonie) and he was soooo beautiful, tiny ears, huge eyes, clean throat, very balanced, and willing to do whatever the task. He competed and won in nearly every division and was especially competitive in Western Pleasure and Carriage events. My joy is driving a carriage horse! and Brit was terrific in carriage. I lost Brit in the flood of July 2002, we got 40 inches of rain in two days at the ranch, and he was swept away in a wall of water. He was 19 years old and had produced two Reserve World Champion Reining daughters and a host of performance champions and companions.

All of this stuff is old history and I haven't even told you about Fuzzy, who became the Reserve World Champion Reining horse the first year shown, and the World was only his second show. He is so kind and although not as gorgeous as Brit was, he makes up for it in genuine kindness. I now have a collection of a five broodmares; three beautiful 2005 foals that are for sale; two stallions; two five year old Fuzzy mares that I'm keeping for future broodmares and my driving pair; and one 25 year old Symphonie daughter named Concert Prima Donna.

Key factors about our horses...

• They are raised in the rugged Texas Hill Country, so they know how to run in rocks, hills, and through running streams.

• They have a strong physical constitution, with excellent legs, feet, lungs and heart!

• We breed for a willingness to please, which will allow them to make a best effort to perform whatever "sport" or work that their owner could ask of them. This also makes them easy to train since they are smart and want to work.

• Concert horses have proven to make excellent "Sport Morgans": and have excelled in cross country, endurance, combined driving, jumping, dressage, western performance (reining champions), as well as the less rigorous pleasure show ring and always excel as loving companions.

• They have the finest Morgan bloodlines, combining true Morgan beauty with proven athletic ability.

Goat History

Getting Started

In 1994, a Morgan horse friend of mine, Brenda Rummell, suggested that I buy some goats “to help pay for my horses”. She,was already deeply involved in the newly emerging American Boer Goat industry with the purchase of several full blood Boer goats. I started off cautiously, by buying a few crossbred Spanish / Dairy doe kids and, within just a few weeks I purchased a half-Boer doe kid that was a product from a straw of New Zealand frozen semen. I had a LOT to learn about raising goats. This story is just a Cliff’s Notes on how Concert Brass evolved.

When my crossbred and percentage does accumulated, I decided that I needed a full blood buck. My first Full Blood was a solid red Buck kid, Mr. League, a son of Hershey’s Chocolate. I was encouraged by his breeder, Troy Powell, to put him with Sisters II in Carlsbad TX, (Beth Mason and Becky Sauder) to prepare him for the upcoming National show, where he did amazingly well. After the show, I used him on my small herd of percentage does. I gave away his first crop of 17 wethers, to 4H kids in Uvalde and surrounding counties for show wethers. Every child won a ribbon, and one of his solid red sons was selected by Frank Cradeck as the Grand Champion Wether at the Uvalde County show.

Beth and Becky became my mentors, and through their continued friendship, I was able to purchase quality individuals with the finest genetics. In 1997 they selected my first Full Blood doe, 2SIS Johanna, from the Powell –Holeman herd of lovely doe kids. Johanna was successfully campaigned all over Texas and she placed third at the 1997 ABGA Nationals. In 1998 Johanna produced CBM Taba, a Tabu daughter. Taba also enjoyed success in the show ring. Johanna still rules at Concert Brass.

Show Bucks: NBBG Rembrandt And NBBG Renoir

I thought that campaigning a show buck would make the greatest impact in name recognition, so I purchased a prospective show buck at the 1997 Natural Bridge Boer Goat Production Sale. One of the Wuest boys helped me select several prospects before the sale, and I took home the big Tsjaka kid that I named Rembrandt. I sent him straight away to Beth and Becky, and he had a respectable, although not stellar, career in the show ring. The next year, I was able to buy his replacement, another Tsjaka son, directly off the Natural Bridge farm, and I named him Renoir. I used painter names since they wore crayons during the breeding season, and vigorously applied color to their does. Renoir was also sent directly to Beth and Becky to see if he was a show buck, and he was definitely a show buck. When Renoir came home to “paint”, I still had less than a handful of full blood does. During that same time period, I was given the golden opportunity to join a buck syndicate formed by Sisters II. The buck was 2SIS K76 Sherman, the son of BBGF Tabu and BBGF Dot, both reining 1997 ABGA National Champions. My best full blood doe, Johanna, was bred to Sherman, and I still have their two beautiful daughters Yo-Shua and Yo-Shauna. Later, I did purchase a full blood Tsjaka granddaughter I nick-named “Cracker” just for Renoir. Cracker had triplets, and I still have the two long, elegant does CBM Crepes Suzette and CBM Honey Biscuit.

Then Came JLF Gogo

I needed some superior full blood does, so I asked Beth and Becky to preview Lynn Farmer’s 1999 fall production sale and pick out the “best of the best” for me. They selected JLF Gogo, a yearling Mojo Magic daughter. Norman Kohl and Ewing Downen also wanted Gogo, so when the bidding ended, Gogo was THE “Top of the Sale”, and she went home with me. Beth and Becky also picked out a doe kid FSE 9186, another Mojo Magic daughter, off the farm, that Lynn allowed me to purchase after the sale. I named her Jemimah, (FSE 9186 Jemimah Jo) after the biblical daughter of Job, known to be stunningly beautiful. My first breeding attempt with Gogo was a flush with Renoir, but that was unsuccessful. However, through The Sisters connection, I was able to have Gogo bred to Don Smith’s fine buck, Ram H Tobias. That breeding resulted in my best breeding doe, CBM Treasure.

The Pair-A-Docs Partnership

In 1998, Dr. Bob Dressler was looking for a buck to use on his herd of lovely does in Barksdale, TX. He had developed a good working relationship with Ewing Downen and had a lot of his genetics. I had met Bob and Gale years before, when they worked at Glenlock Farms, a multi-million dollar Arabian Horse breeding facility. Bob had developed a special talent for horse photography, and we worked out a trade. I asked him to take promotional photo’s of Renoir in trade for using my share of 2SIS Sherman breedings on his does. Sherman came to work on Bob’s ranch, but at the time, Bob, like me, had a lot of percentage does and didn’t have a large herd of full bloods. After I sold Renoir, we decided that we might both benefit from finding a potential show buck that we could share. That didn’t happen, however, after I bought JLF Gogo, he asked me if he could buy a portion of her. He also purchased half of Jamimah. Soon we had several goats “in partnership” so, I suggested that we call our new venture Pair-A-Docs Partnership, since we were both veterinarians and the 2DOX prefix was started. Bob wanted to take JLF Gogo to Pipeline, however Ewing, fresh from his National triumph, would not accept outside does. This gave me the opportunity to talk Lynn Farmer into taking Gogo to be flushed to her dynamic buck HMR Sumo. The flush resulted in four kids: 2DOX Governor, 2DOX Godiva, 2DOX Mango and 2 DOX Tango. (I put “go” in all their names!) In 2003, Bob ended the partnership and, he kept the Pair-A-Docs name and 2DOX prefix. As a result of the partnership, I feel most fortunate to have three of JLF Gogo’s offspring: CBM Treasure, 2DOX Tango and 2DOX Turbo and I also have FSE 9186 Jemimah Jo and her 2003 Bingo daughter, 2DOX Chess.

Concert Brass And Bar None Meat Goats


Through the years, I have been very fortunate to develop strong and lasting friendships with Morgan Horse and Boer Goat breeders and showmen. In early 2004, I was blessed by connecting with Robin Walters, Bar None Meat Goats in Seguin Texas. Robin LOVES to show goats (she is often in the winners circle!), she puts on several goats shows each year, she is a meat goat judge, she is a breeder, AND she has great connections in the goat business. Last year she campaigned three of my doe kids with great success. We are now working together to breed some of my better does artificially and naturally to outside bucks. She will be campaigning a couple of my doe kids this fall (so look for the Brass Horns!). If you are interested in finding a 4H or Breed Ring show prospect (does or wethers), Robin can help you find what you are looking for.

Paradigm Shift: Sustainable Ranching With Premium Goats

In April 2005, Lucas Burger, came to our ranch for consultation. He gave me the vision of 30 premium, productive, full blood does residing on the ranch. With my interests and training in nutritional healing and homeopathy, I have been moving toward holistic ranching for a number of years. My consultation with Mr. Burger was more about learning the ranching practices in South Africa, rather than breeding strategies. I already have a strong genetic base in my goats, and now the challenge will be to select hardy, structurally correct, individuals that can thrive in a natural environment. Even the South Africans pull the “show goats” for special nutritional supplementation, however, much of the year they live in their rugged, desert environment. The browse in South Africa is nutritionally superior to what is growing in the Texas Hill Country, so it will take soil augmentation and the establishment of better forage, before the goats can reach their genetic potential on browse alone. Too many Boer goats in the U.S. live within sight of their feed tub, and the move to sustainability will require them to learn foraging skills. I am studying Allan Savory’s books on holistic management, and this paradigm shift is not going to happen quickly or easily, but I am convinced that this shift is vital for anyone that has a ‘big picture’ vision of a better future. If you are interested in exploring this concept with me, I would be delighted to exchange information with you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Catherine Tull-Linton, D.V.M.  |  Homeopathic & Holistic Practitioner
8721 CR 336  |  Sabinal, TX 78881
(830) 988-2335 - Home  |  (830) 486-7459 - Cell  |  Email: ctull@medinaec.com