September 16, 2004

Pet of the Week: Monster

When Almaden resident Scott Sansom’s father asked him to name the Colorado Ranger born on the latter’s Arizona ranch, the only name that came to mind was Monster—he was huge! And Sansom knew when he saw the leopard patterned Monster for the first time he would be a great endurance equine and that “the color was just a bonus.”

Monster and Sansom have competed in four 50-mile and other endurance races where both animal and rider must be in peak physical condition. Sansom is also a member of the Quicksilver Endurance Riders where the pair has accumulated numerous miles riding together. Not only that, but “Monster loves it,” according to his proud owner.

The origin of the breed began in 1878 when General Ulysses S. Grant’s friendship with Sultan Hamid of Turkey resulted in the presentation of two equines, a desert Arabian named Leopard and the other, a Barb named Linden Tree, that continue to impact almost every breed in the United States to this day. The stallions arrived in Virginia in 1879 where they spent several years with Rudolf Huntington who hoped they would become a new breed of light harness horse. The advent of the “horseless carriage” ended the dream.

Near the turn of the century, Leopard and Linden Tree were moved to General George Colby’s ranch in Beatrice, Neb. With their matings, a new type of versatile equine was born with a reputation of a “good using horses with a lot of ‘cow.’” Their offspring were brought to Colorado.

The Colorado Ranger is not a color breed and have a wide variety of shades and patterns: from solid bays, browns, blacks, sorrels, chestnuts, grays and roans to colorful blankets and, like Monster, leopard. All Colorado Rangers equines must trace their pedigrees to sires of the breed, Patches and Max, dating back to the early 1900s. Developed by Mike Ruby, who is credited with keeping meticulous hand written records of every mare, stallion and their offspring bred, the horses were known for their reputation of working ability, good disposition and stamina. Ruby showed two of his stallions at the National Western Stock Show in Denver in 1934 and the breed was officially named Colorado Rangers. Soon after came a breed registry.

But even with Monster’s impressive heritage, he’s still just a horse at home.

“He does all the normal stuff, eats, plays, does his business,” Sansom said at a recent Quicksilver Endurance Rider event regarding the 7-year-old gelding. “But he does dominate the other five horses in the pasture—he’s the leader. And he loves endurance rides. He’s my favorite horse.”

—By Jeanne C. Lewis

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