Press Release

Buckeye, Arizona, December 25, 1999: On Christmas morning, Crobar Folly died from complications of a severe bacterial infection.  The 5-year-old buckskin stallion was owned and bred by Natalie J. Nelson of Circle Nat Quarter Horses in Buckeye, Arizona.

     Crobar Folly became Circle Nat Quarter Horse's herd sire the spring following the unexpected death of his sire Paradise Folly who died of complications of sand colic at the age of 11.  Paradise Folly was by Paradise Seeker by Impressive and out of Skip's Lily by Skipper W.  Bay Seeker was out of an own daughter of an AQHA Supreme Champion Goldseeker Bars.  Out of over 3 million registered Quarter Horses only 45 have become AQHA Supreme Champions!  Plus, Goldseeker Bars was the ONLY AQHA Supreme Champion to sire an AQHA Supreme Champion.  Skip's Lily was a product of the late master breeder Hank Wiescamp, Skip's Lily was by Skipper W out of a Skipper W daughter!  However, in the horse breeding business a stallion can not stand on his pedigree alone, most mare owners what to see a show record or a produce record.  Paradise Folly was a ranch horse, working cattle and siring the remuda string for previous owner George Blackmore of Durango, CO.  When purchased by Nelson the well-bred stallion was used in North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) competitions.  The team was in the in the Top 5 at the 1995 NATRC Estrella Mountain Ride placing ahead of many Arabians on Nelson's home turf!   In 1993, Natalie Nelson meet Glenn Lang who worked for some of the top rodeo contractors in the nation.  Lang trained the stallion to pick up cowboys from bareback and saddle broncs.  All this still did not attract the mare owners, so Nelson decided to show one of his colts.

     When Crobar Folly was born Circle Nat Quarter Horses was just beginning, with only 3 horses in their pens, Paradise Folly, and 2 broodmares, Luck Has It by Dry Doc Junior owned by Lang and a mare leased from Tammy Dougherty, Devils Jazzy Girl by Sun Deviled.  In March of 94 Devils Jazzy Girl foaled a white face buckskin colt outside Nelson's bedroom window.  "Glenn stayed outside with Jazzy while she was in labor and told me to go back to sleep, that it be awhile" recalls Nelson.  In reality, Glenn just wanted to make sure that there was a live foal before letting Natalie see the long awaited foal. "This is the colt you otta show, he's a good one." Glenn told Natalie as he stood up for the first time.  It took several days for the pair to come up wit a suitable name, they both decided on Crobar Folly.  "Cro" for Croton Oil that was in his dam's papers, "Bar" for Three Bars which he traced to 8 times and "Folly" after his sire.

     Shown by a novice amateur, who never had shown a horse before, Crobar Folly was Natalie's first show horse.  At the teams debut, Crobar Folly stood Reserve Champion at a local open show at the tender age of 4 months!  Together they achieved multiple AQHA grand and reserve grand championships, circuit championships, 7 Hi-Pt State Reserve Championships. Only to be beaten out on State Championships by a California breed horse Proof Of Tardee by Tardee Redwood who was the 1997 AQHA Hi-Pt Amateur Halter Stallion in the nation!  Crobar Folly qualified for the 1997 AQHA World Show in Amateur Halter 3-Y-O Stallions and 8.5 AQHA points in open and amateur halter with a total of 32 grands and reserves. 

     Nelson got a lot of practice at the local shows and showed every weekend in 1994 and 1995 where there wasn't an AQHA sanctioned show somewhere in the state.  In 94 the team won The Show Circuit Hi-Pt Open Stock Colt.  In 95 he was the Blue Ribbon Horse Show Grand Champion Stallion Overall and Champion Yearling Stallion

     Crobar Folly also won a futurity as a weanling, the Grand Canyon Futurity Open Division where he defeated all of the champions from every division.  The futurity was held by the Arizona Pinto Horse Association and was open to all breeds.  He competed against quarter horses, paints, Arabians, and National Show Horses.

     Crobar Folly was double registered with the American Buckskin Registry Association (ABRA).  The buckskin stallion was never defeated in his home state in ABRA sanctioned halter.  Which earned him yet another title as the Arizona State Champion Buckskin Stallion in 1998.  He was also the Arizona State Reserve Champion Dun Factor Horse in the same year.  "This was a huge achievement due to the scoring system with the ABRA which deducts points for white markings and adds points for dun factor, Crobar Folly was a buckskin with a star, strip and snip and left hind cornet.  Plus he only had 1 of the 6 dun factor items judged!  He made it up in the conformation scoring" according to Nelson.

     Crobar Folly's greatest achievement was at the 1996 ABRA World Show where he placed 3rd in 2-Y-O Open Stallions and 3^rd in Amateur All Ages Stallions.  In that same year, he stood Circuit Champion Amateur 2 Year & Under Halter Stallion and Reserve Circuit Champion Open 2-Y-O Halter Stallion at one of the largest AQHA show circuits in the nation - The Arizona Sun Country Circuit.  The team returned to Topeka, KS to compete once more in the ABRA World in 1999 placing 4^th in Open Aged Stallions and 6^th in Amateur All Ages Stallions. "All done with a novice amateur at the end of the shank on a shoe string budget. If you have a dream chase it - before it goes away.  I did - so can you!"  encourages Nelson.

     The young stallion's oldest foal crop will turn three in 2000.  To date, siring one halter futurity money earner who also has APHA halter points TPR Something Folly..  Nelson intends to show an AQHA Incentive Funded palomino daughter, Crobar Dolly in 2000.

     Crobar Dolly debut in her first AQHA sanctioned show January 7^th at the Arizona National Livestock Show with hopes of coming home with a blue ribbon in her sire's honor.  Nelson entered the ring with a picture of her beloved stallion in her blazer pocket.  "We where showing Dolly in Cro's honor and prayed for a blue ribbon" Nelson recalls "They say God works in mysterious ways, we got our first blue ribbon due to the other contestants not showing up!"  However, contestants did show up at the Arizona Sun Country Circuit, now the World's largest quarter horse circuit, where Nelson showed Crobar Dolly to a reserve circuit championship in open yearling mares!  The team is currently leading the state in Open Yearling Mares with the AzQHA.

     The 2000 foal crop hold high expectations of a possible stallion prospect.  However, only one of Circle Nat's mares is bred to Crobar Folly, a buckskin mare by the name of Hellena Will by Scott Will Win by Scottish Will by Scottish.  Hellena Will is the dam of Blue Eyed Paradise (by Paradise Folly), Sablewood (by Tardee Redwood), and Crobar Dolly (by Crobar Folly).  Earlier in the year, Sabelwood was in foal to Crobar Folly, but she aborted at 5 months.  The most anticipated mare to foal is The Paradise Legacy a result of the second foal crop.  The 4 year old buckskin mare was sired by Paradise Folly and out of Glenn's mare by Dry Doc Junior, making her a half sister to Crobar Folly.  The Paradise Legacy was bred to Perpetual Cool Kid an own son to Perpetualism a World Champion and an AQHA Leading Sire out of an own daughter of Ima Cool Skip another World Champion and AQHA Leading Sire.  Even though if a stallion is born, there will be a 2 to 3 year wait until it can be breed.

     Circle Nat Quarter Horses also stands a half brother to their beloved stallion who is out of registered quarter horses with DNA on file but is a an unacceptable color for registration by the name of Blue Eyed Paradise.  "Glenn doesn't want to raise paint horses - he's been there done that, so he won't let me breed our mares to Blue because he has APHA papers - But I'm working on changing that!" explains Nelson who will be attending the AQHA convention in March to propose that the AQHA ruling that disallows white horses, with pink skin and blue eyes to be removed from the rule book.

     Crobar Folly was truly a great horse, he accomplished so many things in his short lifetime with a novice amateur at the end of the shank.  "I can't even imagine what we could of done with someone who knew what the heck they were doing!" says Nelson.  "But, in my book, Cro will always have a pedestal to my heart, he taught me so many things, how to show, confidence, hope, and determination; he will greatly be missed and difficult to replace.  I consider myself extremely lucky to have such a horse, and blessed to have part of his legacy that he left behind."   Due to the association of Circle Nat Quarter Horses being associated with this great stallion the name is being changed to Cross 5 Quarter Horses.  "We've had the Cross 5 brand for a couple of years now" explains Nelson "but, we didn't change our name since everyone associated Crobar Folly with Circle Nat Quarter Horses.  Now is our opportunity to change our name with the new millenium and the passing of Crobar Folly."

     With the lack of a suitable stallion for the 2000 breeding season, Nelson and Lang spent long hours searching for a new stallion.  "I wanted to have an own son of a world champion " said Nelson.  What they found was a 16.1 hand 1994 sorrel stallion sired by a 2 time AQHA World Champion, Sonnys Securitee out of a daughter of a World Champion, Tardy Impressive!  His second dam is by Goldseeker Bars!  Oddly enough, the stallion's name is "A Sign Of Securitee"!  Both Natalie and Glenn feel quite secure about this stallion that they have nicknamed Dollar.  "Dollar will nick real well on our Paradise Folly and Crobar Folly mares!  Plus we are planning on crossing Dollar's sorrel fillies on our Blue Eyed Paradise stud to get some top notch palominos!"

     "They say that the Lord knows what he is doing and all things come to those who wait"  Nelson states " we lost a close friend a couple of days before Christmas, and Cro Christmas morning , when I'm feeling blue, I just picture the two on a ride through a beautiful paradise and it brings a smile to my face."  Rest in peace Cro we're going to mss you.