LULUS APPALOOSA STUD
INTRODUCTION:
Situated just outside Moorreesburg, Western Cape, nestled in an oasis created by the Berg River is where you will find Lulus Appaloosa Stud.
The stud is owned and run by myself, Mandy Serdyn and my husband, Kobus. After years of searching for a horse that could withstand our extreme terrain and temperatures, we fell in love with the Appaloosa Breed, not only for their colour, but their characters and charisma.
We acquired our first two Appaloosa's in 2005, our first crop of foals arrived in 2006, with the colour and typical docile dispostions which we aimed for. From then on, we caught a serious bout of "Appaloosa Fever" and it was all systems go, dragging my poor husband around the country side, purchasing from various breeders and array of bloodlines to fit our requirements to create Lulus Appaloosa Stud. One simply cannot get enough of a good thing.
Our breeding programme, although small, remains exclusive, with a wide variety of modern and South Africa Foundation Appaloosas. We continously strive to breed towards better conformation and remain strict in our criteria when selecting from outside studs - if necessary.
Our horses are fed throughout the year - one thing hold in high regard is to make sure our horses get everything (and probably more) than what they need to not only produce healthy, strong foals, but also to withstand our terrain and temperature conditons.
Our mares are stabled at night in the winter months and out during the day, but in summer, where the temperatures can reach a whopping 45+ degrees celcius, are stabled during the day and out at night.
Scans on pregnancies are done on regular intervals throughout the mares gestation period to monitor their pregnancies, confirm no twins and to make sure that the mares are in good health. It is of paramount importance to us, that our mares recieve only the best care and attention, whether they are in foal or not - the same applies for all our horses.
Foaling at Lulus Appaloosa Stud is an exciting event. Producing only 2 - 4 foals a year, we are present at just about every birth and if necessary will intervene to assist the lady in waiting. Our vet is on standby throughout our foaling season.
Our foals are handled within a few hours of birth and thereafter are handled daily to and from the paddocks with their moms. They are taught within a few days of birth to pick up their little hooves, stand and lead. From around 6 weeks old, they are taught to stand tied and receive their first deworming to ensure they get the best start to their lives as well as being healthy and growing to their full potential.
OUR BREEDING CRITERIA:
We believe in sticking to a very strict breeding criteria and over the last few years, we have managed to ACE it. You will not find an Appendix B, Appendix A or basic section animal in our breeding program. The reason for this is we aim to produce quality Appaloosa's with no to minimal outcrossing. Unfortuantely, the Appaloosa is South Africa had to start somewhere and some of the initial breeding stallions arriving in South Africa in 1970's where not of pure descend, this is strictly why we only breed forward with Studbook Propers and continue to purify our bloodlines.
Breeding with Appaloosas, or any animal for that fact is not just throwing a male and female together and waiting for the resulting progeny - there are many factors coming into play such as disposition, trainability and compatibility of stallion with the mare and vice versa. The resulting progeny must ALWAYS be an improvement on the parents - an aim every breeder should keep in mind.
Although, personally, we do not outcross to any other breed - we are not against it for other breeders or owners wanting to add the traits of our stallions into their programmes.
All our horses are registered with the Appaloosa Horse Breeders Society of South Africa and SA Studbook.
AIMS AND GOALS:
Our aims at Lulus is to produce foals of superior quality that can and will excel in all disciplines, for children to adults, in the show ring and out. Our horses are family, our passion and our friends. Each one is an individual and each foal is part of our family. When purchasing from us, we expect them to be treated the same way as we treat them, with love, care and compassion.
One of our aims when starting the stud was to eventually breed from our homebred stock only and therefore invest more into our ever growing herd. We are proud to say that we have reached the point with our stallions and are of the opinion that these stallions offer all the correct attributes to produce superior foals from our mares. Our 2019 fillies will be joining our broodmares later as replacements for our aging ladies.
Visitors are always welcome at the stud by appointment to view the horses. You will be surprised to realise that love at first sight is a reality and not just a saying.
Contact Mandy Serdyn : 082 398 5400 or email: mandy@clubelani.co.za
