SBHA Officers

Steve Dobrott - President

Steve Dobrott has managed Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch for the last 18 years where he has trained and used Spanish Barbs for ranch work including gathering bison. He and his wife Jane “discovered” the Wilbur Cruce Spanish Barb strain while employed as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. He first brought these horses to the attention of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) that soon led to their capture and placement with selected breeders. He was instrumental in convincing the Spanish Barb Breeder’s Association (SBBA) to take in the Wilbur Cruce horses under its “umbrella” until they eventually could be registered on their own merits as Spanish Barbs, and recognized as a distinct strain within the SBBA.

His many affiliations, besides being an SBBA member since 1995, have included: Trustee for the New Mexico chapter of The Nature Conservancy; Board Member of the Hillsboro New Mexico Water Association; Board Member of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Youth Council; Sponsor of the Native American Youth Practicum in cooperation with the Native American Fisheries and Wildlife Society; and, the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Steve and Jane live on the 400 section Ladder Ranch in south central New Mexico where they have bred, raised and trained Spanish Barb horses for placement with conservationists starting breeding groups in the Midwest and Southwest. Steve’s horse training techniques include a mix of Pat Parelli, Buck Branaman and Clinton Anderson styles. What impresses Steve about the Spanish Barb is, “their ease of trainability, sensibility and mild temperament.”

Silke Schneider - Vice-President and Secretary

Silke Schneider’s interest in rare breeds was ignited in the early 1980s when she lived in the outback of northwestern Australia, working to keep maladapted cattle and horses alive and productive. From 1984 until 1993, Silke Schneider Vice-President and Secretary

Silke Schneider Vice-President and Secretary

her spirit of adventure led her to the Biosphere II project in Southern Arizona where she served as their Animal Systems Manager. Part of the project required creating an agricultural “biome”, where again, well-adapted animals were needed; such as goats that could birth easily and give consistent milk on low or no-grain diets. In 1987, Silke began a dialog with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and says, “I was shocked to learn that many of these animals are now rare breeds.”

Silke graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Animal Science and then worked as a Research Associate with Drylands Institute in Tucson, Arizona. She later re-located her ranch, with her husband and desert ethnobotanist Richard Felger, PhD, to Silver City, New Mexico. She has a M.A. in elementary education and is currently is a teacher in the Early Childhood Education Program at Western New Mexico University.

Silke is a full member of the Long Riders Guild, and she has been a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London since 2004. She has been on the Board of Directors of Rare Breeds International since 2001, and also served on the American Livestock Breeds Conservatory Board of Directors from 2002 to 2010. She has been Vice President of the Spanish Barb Breeders Association since 2004. Silke published her first book in 2007, “Arizona’s Spanish Barbs – The Story of the Wilbur-Cruce Horses.” She is a conservation breeder and raises the Wilbur-Cruce strain of Colonial Spanish horses (Spanish Barbs).

Maggie Engler - Treasurer

Maggie is a life-long horsewoman, having begun riding at age eight. Maggie Engler - SBHA Director

She was not able to own her own horses until she met the Spanish Barb, while in her mid-forties.

Maggie’s lifelong vocation and avocation has been working in environmental education and in particular, with youth. She is currently the Executive Director of Wildlife Experiences, Inc., a Rapid City South Dakota, a non-profit organization using living birds and other animals to teach people about the natural world. She and her team regularly visit the classrooms of from pre-school to grade 12 students, giving demonstrations and lessons about the need to preserve and enjoy the natural world. She has also served several years on the Black Hills area Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.

Maggie adds, “I am very intrigued by the Spanish Barb breed, its remarkable history, and the remarkable qualities of the individual animals.” As a way to give back to the breed, she serves on the SBBA Board of Directors. Maggie is looking forward future to hopefully spending more time enjoying her more Spanish Barbs for trail riding and as part of a deliberate preservation breeding strategy. Her two Barbs, Saya and Lucido, “remain the light of my life”..

SBHA Directors

Mike Bruce

For Mike and Spanish Barbs it was simply love at first sight when he first saw Esteban. Mike Bruce - SBHA Director

pon learning of their remarkable history and their critically endangered numbers, it made it easy as there were not enough people who wanted to preserve this important piece of American history. The connection with General Crook and his mule, mules being the only animals the cavalry that could maintain the pace and stamina the Apache horses (with their mostly barb blood lines) made me like my mules more but put the Barbs on the top.

Mike Bruce is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has completed graduate studies in economics and finance at New York University. As a manager of institutional equity portfolios his responsibilities include portfolio strategy and risk management. He received a BA in 1969 from Hamilton College, and has analyzed and invested in public and private equities for over forty years. Mike has served as an outside director of several public and private companies.

Mr. Bruce‘s personal interests include training bird dogs, horses and mules, competing in clay target sports and fly fishing at his ranch in Durango, Colorado.

Mike and his X Aguila enjoy shooting and trail riding, and together they enjoy the challenges in the Colorado X Range. mountains. Tubac, Raven and Aguila,

Heidi Collings - Registrar

Heidi Collings is one of those “horse crazy” girls who never grew away from them. Heidi Collings - SBHA Registrar

She recalls that she, “grew up with horses in her blood,”and has worked with many breeds throughout her life. She has a breadth of experience in horsemanship which includes: breeding, training, showing, ranch and cattle work, extensive trail riding (rim to rim of the Grand Canyon), and is assisting in therapeutic riding courses. When asked, Heidi said that she, “enjoys her relationship with her horses, most of all.”

Heidi was introduced to Spanish Barbs in 1995 and immediately recognized their unique and wonderful traits. Heidi and her husband Jerry - were hooked, and began their relationship with the breed by assembling their own breeding herd. Together, they now live on a 22,000 acre New Mexico cattle ranch where they raise and train Spanish Barbs.

Heidi joined the SBBA in 2000 and has been very active member and volunteer. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2003. She has hosted several of the organizations annual meetings, helped write numerous publications and helped to manage the SBBA website. She has prepared for and recently accepted the critical role and responsibilities of Registrar. She is a gifted horse trainer with insight into how to build the most thoughtful and gratifying partnerships with Spanish Barbs, from foals to stallions. Heidi is committed to making known the many talents and traits of Spanish Barbs.

Marjorie Dixon

Marjorie holds a B.A. in Psychology and Child development at the University of Nevada and a M.S. in Family Studies from Arizona State University. Her profession as an educator and practitioner of child development ultimately led to he

r work with horses. Upon retirement she found that it was a natural progression from her work in child development to that of breeding and training foals.

Marjorie’s passion and goal continues to be keeping horse herds in the most natural environment possible as they breed and raise their young. She started the Stronghold Herd in Southeastern Arizona in 2002 on a thousand acres in the high desert. There she provides for the stallions and mares to roam freely until it is time to bring in the foals to socialize them to humans. She and her husband Jerry divide their time between Tucson and Rancho San Gabriel near Benson, Arizona where they raise both cattle and Spanish Barbs.

Her choice of the rare breed, the Spanish Barb, ultimately lead her to join the Spanish Barb Breeders Association where she currently serves as Director. Marjorie is a natural organizer and has supported the organization by writing newsletters, articles, and by hosting numerous breeders meetings. She is known and appreciated for her hospitality and her boundless energy for preserving - the first horses of Arizona.

Kay Hughes

Kay Hughes holds a M.A. in Educational Administration from the University of Nebraska. Kay taught and worked as a high school media specialist/computer specialist in eastern Nebraska for twenty years. In the early 1980’s she worked to establish her school district’s computer program which quickly became a model program for other schools in the state. In addition to her expertise in establishing media, business and computer centers, Kay has also written environmental education curriculum in ecology for grades K-12.

Kay has been active in environmental and livestock organizations for the past forty years, holding many leadership positions. As members of the Nature Conservancy, Kay’s husband T.R. served on the Nebraska State Board of the Nature Conservatory, and both have been active as advocates for the Cheyenne nation, and the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society. Together they founded the Great Plains Buffalo Association in 1996, and the also the Nebraska State Buffalo Association.

Kay Hughes and her husband T.R. Hughes currently own the RimRock Ranch in Northwest Nebraska where they raise buffalo and Spanish Barb horses. Kay has been a member of the Spanish Barb Breeders Association since 1985. She originally purchased a Spanish Barb gelding for pleasure riding and in 1997 expanded to a breeding group of mares and two stallions. She has concentrated on preserving older threatened bloodlines and gait. Among her many talents are; newsletter production and layout, grant-writing and sculpture, not to mention herding buffalo. Kay has the gift of having “an eye” for selecting and matching stock for breeding.

Rebecca Chandos
Becky Chandos and Zapada

I have loved horses since I was a child. Luckily my husband full filled my childhood dreams and gave me my first horse as a Christmas gift, and then later another as a birthday present.

I was originally drawn to the Colonial Spanish horses while researching Arizona as a place to live when we retired. Today, my husband and I live on 40 acres in Southeast Arizona with 3 dogs and my Lambert Morgan Dan. Now I’m working with a Preservation Breeder with over 30 of these wonderful animals. While working with the horses I found them truly intelligent, level headed and hearty horses.

I also am involved with the Spanish Barb Breeders Association as an officer. Coming from a teaching and management background, I am enjoying the change in focus and freedom to pursue helping preserve the genetics of these historic horses............... a worthy cause!