Searching for Yanci horses
We are writing a book about the horses who came from the 795-acre Yanci Ranch in Winters, California. We need your help locating Yanci horses.
These are special horses. In 1996, a sport-horse breeding partnership dissolved, and one of the partner’s top-quality Appaloosas and Percherons were turned out to free breed. Over the years, horses of other breeds were added to the herd, including Thoroughbreds, Paints, Quarter Horses, mustangs and apparently at least one Trakehner.
Between 2000 and 2013, roughly 500 horses were sold primarily but not exclusively through auctions--and it is these horses we would like to track down. Between 2000 and 2012, about 40 horses were sold annually, and in 2012 the ranch went up for sale and an estimated 200 horses were given away and sent to auction. A few of the
horses were solid colored, but the majority were patterned. So far, we have located dozens of incredible Yanci horses, but there are potentially hundreds more out there.
We are using DNA from these to construct a family tree, and we are also working closely with geneticists for The Appaloosa Project at The University of California–Davis to analyze the interesting patterns that resulted from free breeding, especially given the uncharacteristic introduction of breeds rarely crossed with Appaloosas.
Many Yanci horses are exceptionally well-built and athletic, and we have found them performing in disciplines from Mexican Rodeos to endurance. Many have shown an affinity for jumping. Some were found as far as 2,800 miles away from the Yanci Ranch.
Please visit our website yanciranchhorses.com to read about our project and browse the pictures. If you know of a grade horse you think could be from Yanci Ranch, we’d love to hear from you. Renee Boice and Robyn Rominger Grass Valley, California