About Us
OUR BREEDING PURPOSE
Our family-run American Quarter Horse breeding operation is located in Northeastern Oregon, on the steep south-facing slopes of the Wallowa Mountains in the historic Grande Ronde Valley. Our horses and foals thrive on steep terrain, developing thick bone, muscle, tendons, and hard, durable feet. They are exposed to the realities and challenges of life as horses coexisting with predators, rattlesnakes, cattle, elk, and deer, while navigating rocky, loose slopes moving to food and water.
At Broken Spur Quarter Horses, we continue to breed for the true all-around, using, and working American Quarter Horse. Our in-house program produces reliable, high-quality performance stock that meet the needs of large-scale ranches across the country that depend on horses of substance. They are specifically bred to endure the demanding workload year after year, ensuring ranches can depend on them to operate efficiently and profitably.
Our horses are sought after for their power, stamina, longevity, willingness, and ease of trainability—excelling in all aspects of arena performance, ranch work, mounted shooting, OHSET, 4H, family trails, and more.
Follow us on Facebook: @Broken Spur Quarter Horses
Call or Text: 541-570-0132 for current information or availability.
USING -WORKING CONCEPT
"Ranch grit. Arena versatility. Timeless durability."
The true all-around using and working American Quarter Horse has been diminished in much of modern breeding. Unlike the past—when horses were the primary means of transportation, plowing fields, pulling wagons, moving cattle hundreds of miles, or packing meat out of the mountains—modern breeding practices no longer revolve around necessity. Instead, today’s modern programs often focus on producing horses for narrowly defined competitive events, which has restricted both build type and conformation. Cutting horses have, in some cases, been reduced to what resemble Quarter Ponies rather than Quarter Horses; speed-event horses are often too hot and difficult for the everyday horseman to manage; arena rope horses are bred primarily for tying down or heeling smaller calves, rather than possessing the height, weight, and substance needed to handle mature cattle on a working western mountainous ranches; and halter horses may be eye-catching in the show pen but lack the form, fit, and function to actually be put to task on a working ranch, bred for appearance rather than utility and durability.
Our breeding program is devoted to producing the all-around using and working American Quarter Horse—a horse capable of meeting the real-life demands of large-scale Western ranching while remaining versatile enough for arena performance. We aim to raise horses that can rate easily for both novice and professional riders, transition from yarding adult cattle in open country to moving with smoothness and fluidity in a reining arena and carry the standing-start speed and athleticism to succeed in timed rodeo events when called upon.
We breed for a practical and durable build: horses standing 15.1–15.2 hands, averaging 1,200-1,250 pounds, with broad chests, strong lower shoulders, deep cinch girths, and powerful hips. Our ideal type combines substance with athleticism—heavy bone, well-developed muscle and tendon, and a tough set of thick, hard feet built to last.
"Strength, Stamina, and Substance—Born to Work."
STALLION CONCEPT
" Legendary Bloodlines. Proven Performance. Lasting Durability"
Our breeding stallions represent some of the highest concentrations of Lucky Blanton (1936) and Driftwood (1932) genetics still present today. Each stallion has been carefully selected—or produced in-house—to exemplify the physical traits, genetic strengths, and foundational qualities that best complement our broodmares.
For over eight decades, Lucky Blanton and Driftwood bloodlines have proven their value in producing horses with grit, raw power, sound bone, strong muscle and tendon, durable feet, athletic ability, quick standing-start speed, a strong work ethic, and an innate ease of trainability. These characteristics remain at the core of our program.
Through intentional breeding strategies and the preservation of proven genetic crosses, we continue to refine and elevate the quality of horses we produce with each successive generation.
"Driftwood over Hancock equals Golden Cross, Lucky Blanton over both equals Secret Sauce."
Pictured: Sundance Blanton (2005 Red Dun) — 20.31% Lucky Blanton (1936), 15.1 hands, 1,350 lbs (scaled), #1 shoe. His AQHA papers carry both Lucky Blanton and Doc Bar. He is the product of a 60-year ranch and rodeo breeding program established by the late Robert H. Hadley, Sundance Wyoming.
BROOD MARE CONCEPT
"Power-Bred Mares. Performance-Born Foals."
Our broodmare band has been carefully built around powerfully constructed mares with Hancock, Driftwood, Lucky Blanton, and Quincy Dan bloodlines—mares of substance whose foundational tail-female lines consistently pass on power, speed, and stamina not just to their foals, but to subsequent generations. Not all mares possess this ability, and this is where breeding practices diverge. Some breeders focus primarily on producing impressive pedigrees with horses that perform adequately at limited tasks. We, however, breed for functional excellence, using pedigrees as a guide to create Quarter Horses capable of performing any task asked of them while still exhibiting raw physical power, speed, and endurance—whether closing ground on bolting stock in wide-open ranch country or bringing home checks in timed rodeo events.
Our broodmare band represents a multi-generational, decades-long in-house effort to produce the best possible all-around using and working American Quarter Horses.
"Pedigree with Purpose. Performance with Power."
Pictured: Speedy Blue Button, 2010 Bay Roan, 1,250 lbs, #0+ shoe. She is the product of a 40yr Central Oregon ranch and rodeo breeding program established by the late Mel Asher and his wife Diana, who still comes to visit at foaling time. Button exemplifies the foundational genetic makeup and build type that the Broken Spur breeding program is designed to replicate.
2024 Coming Yearling Fillies displaying Foal Crop Uniformity
Our program is built with a focus on uniform foal crops possessing, athleticism, power & speed.
"All-Around Versatility" Emma Patton & "Super Frico"
2025 Rouge River Horse Asc. Ranch Reining, 2nd place Novice, 5th Non-Pro. First reining competition, only a couple practices beating out specifically bred, more petite reining horses and pro trainers with a 16 hand 1,275 lb sledgehammer. They also run barrels, poles, rope and team pen.
Contact Us
Broken Spur Quarter Horses
Located in the Northeastern corner of Oregon, near La Grande 13 miles off I-84, Cove 97824
Call/Text: Vince 541-570-0132 letteriello@hotmail.com Visit Us on FB / Broken Spur Quarter Horses
