Surprise!?There are two more black Clydesdales

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The story of Chief, believed to be the last black Clydesdale in Wallowa County, as reported in the Nov. 19 issue of the Chieftain, touched many readers’ hearts and memories.

However, it turns out that Chief isn’t alone in the county after all, even though black Cyldes are rare.

There are two other black Clydes who still reside in the county, though a few miles distant from Chief’s pasture on the Kooch place just outside Enterprise.

The two other black Clydes are Jake and Trooper, both geldings now owned by Brad and Anne Stephens of Joseph.

Anne described Jake as “a magnificent 12-year-old gelding, who lost his sight in one eye at age 4 and was never used in the hitch.”

Though Jake was originally part of the same herd as Chief, owned by Kooch, because of his blindness he was given to Cindy Sloan of Joseph and now belongs to the Stephenses.

“Creighton thought Jake was the best horse he ever bred – and he really is beautiful,” Anne said.

Trooper was born in Baker County out of one of the Kooch mares, but was not part of the Kooch breeding program.

“He is not as ‘fine’ a horse as Creighton liked to breed, and never had his tail docked the way Clydesdales do,”” she said.

“He is a sweetheart and handsome, but not the champion looker that Jake is,” she said, adding that they got Trooper from Gail Tally of Enterprise.

“So there is a little bit of that wonderful herd left in Wallowa County, a few miles from the Kooch ranch,” the proud Clydes’ owner said.