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Equine head-turners are gaining a following |
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Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
Local woman breeds North
American Curly Horses
BY CHRIS COWBROUGH
S-E Editor
At first sight, they look for all the world and late winter corral like horses with permanents. Striking, distinct curls make the North American Curly Horse unique anywhere.
Too much time spent at an equine hairdesser.
Sheryl D’Uva breeds this rare horse on her small farm near Colville. To say D’Uva is enthu¬siastic about her small herd of Curly horses is an understate¬ment.
“These horses are fairly rare and have so many good charac¬teristics,” D’Uva said on a recent visit to Cozy Nook Curly’s. “It’s really easy to fall in love with them. They are pretty addictive.”
The full and proper name is Bashkir Curly Horse. The ani¬mals (there were 10 Curlies at Cozy Nook on this day) are striking with their unique curly coat patterns. The hair can look like crushed velvet, or take on a wavy pattern. Then there are the Curly horses with what looks like a tight perm over the entire body.
D’Uva’s daughter, Kristal, and a friend, Jessica Lane, move eas¬ily among the Curlies of Cozy Nook.
That was no accident. This hardy, outgoing breed responds to humans like oversized ca¬nines.
“They are so calm and laid back,” Kristal says as she intro¬duces KC Prince Charles, better known as Chuck. Chuck and his dreadlocked main is the founda¬tion stallion at Cozy Nook Curly’s and a real gentleman. Chuck has been with the D’Uva’s for two years.
Curious animals
The animals have a natural, curious nature and possess a calmness and gentle disposition that makes them unique as a breed.
“Nothing seems to ruffle or bother them,” D’Uva says. “They just have great dispositions.”
D’Uva, who says she is trying to downsize the number of Curly horses she has on her five acres, is hooked on the breed—for a lot of reasons.
“One thing about their hair that’s worth noting is that Curlies have a hypoallergenic coat,” D’Uva says. “People aller¬gic to other horses can own and ride Curly horses without any problem with the usual allergies.
“Kristal is allergic to horses, but not to Curlies,” she added.
Two-year-old Buzz Light Year sidles up to the visitor to the cor¬ral and gives off that “pet me” and “talk to me” look.
Curious is as this buckskin Curly does.
These are horses with curly coats and dispositions of Golden Retrievers. Only these “Golden’s” you can easily saddle and ride.
Kristal is actively involved with the breed in the Colville Light Horse 4-H Club.
“They like it when you talk to them,” Kristal says with a knowing smile.
Time for some small talk with a Curly.
D’Uva says that as far as performance goes, the Curly Horse is a no-nonsense animal that is very intelligent and learns quickly.
Something of a mystery
“You just can’t go wrong with this horse,” she says.
Historically, the origin of the Curly Horse remains something of a mystery. Several theories abound. One is that the Curly Horse came from the Bashkir region of Russia. To date, nothing has been proven, other than the breed likely first showed up in North America in the early 1800s as Native American horses.
D’Uva says the breed makes sense—and scents—in a lot of ways.
D’Uva hopes to host an Air Scent Detection Clinic sometime this spring.
“This involves our horses following a scent,” she explains. “We are working on them locating people and we are trying to start up a mounted search and rescue…they are quite a successful breed when it comes to detecting these scents.”
If you’d like to learn more about the breed, call 684-1695 or check out Cozy Nook Curly’s at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or www.cozynookcurlys.com
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 March 2008 )
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