Wap Clarification

Leopard Rock Sport Horse Appaloosas

THE ‘WAP’ NAME CLARIFICATION

Shalako Summer — the 14.3hh dam of Wap Spotted, both of whom were owned by Cheri Moats

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The following information is to dismiss certain misconceptions about the illustrious “Wap” name which is present amongst those who are not aware of the facts:

Wap’s Spot 2 was the founding stallion of the Wap line and owned by the inimitable JG Appaloosa Sport Horses of Pa, USA. He and his son, Wap’s Reflection, are the Top Producing Appaloosa Sport Horses stallions of all time.

There is some misunderstanding about a stallion called Wap Spotted which was bought in utero and owned by Cheri Moats. The story of Wap Spotted goes thus: JG was given a 14.3hh mare [called Shalako Summer - see photo below] as part payment of a debt. Cheri Moats was employed by JG Appaloosas at the time, and JG sold the mare to Cheri Moats, with a choice of breeding to one of their stallions, as the mare did not fit in with their breeding programme. Cheri bred her to Wap’s Spot 2 and the resulting foal was Wap Spotted. The only link between the line bred “Waps’’ which JG Appaloosas have been producing for over 40 years and Wap Spotted - is he was one numerous foals sired by their stallion. JG did NOT breed Wap Spotted and they did not own him. It was also incorrectly claimed that Wap Spotted was ‘the founding stallion of the ApSHA’. He was the first horse registered, not ‘the founding stallion’! [The entries were processed in the order in which they were received and numbered accordingly.]

There is far more to a sport horse than simply the name and slick advertising… Check for yourself! Visit www.jgappaloosas.com to read their clarification and see the quality they have been producing for over four decades.

Mares are of the utmost importance in the breeding programmes of both JG Appaloosa Sport Horses and Leopard Rock Sport Horse Appaloosas. Some breeders concentrate almost exclusively on the stallion line and do not know that the mare line is of paramount, possibly more, importance. Both the sire line and the dam line of the dam play a huge part in future generations. Strong mare lines are vital in breeding quality horses. Purchasers should always check the pedigrees top and bottom - and investigate the dam lines thoroughly. Only then will you see what type of horse you are really purchasing and what you can expect your foal to mature into. If you are a breeder, you will see what might pop up in the foals you breed. Genetics can often skip a generation or three - very often resulting in something not particularly desirable hidden way back in the pedigree...

One of the claims made in Wap Spotted’s adverts was along the lines that he could ‘improve’ sub-standard mares of low quality. This is not a breeding principle which we subscribe to. Mares of inferior quality should not be bred with. One should strive for perfection in every foal one breeds and we believe the only way to achieve this is to breed with horses which are of superior conformation and ability throughout the entire pedigree.

If one considers the very low percentage of the Wap’s Spot 2 bloodline which many of the horses claiming the ‘Wap’ title have, one would understand that these horses are really no more “Wap” than any other of the dozens of other horses which appear in their pedigrees. To explain: theoretically, at most the first cross from Wap’s Spot 2 will create a horse that is <50% Wap’s Spot 2. The second cross will be <25% and the third cross will be a very small maximum of 12.5%!!! Further cross breeding (which accounts for the majority of these supposed ‘Wap’ horses), lowers that percentage to such a negligible amount that it becomes a non-issue in their pedigrees. However, due to the universal fame which the “Waps” of JG Appaloosas have attained, many have included the ‘Wap’ prefix in their horses’ names however distant and slight the connection might be..

Before this stage is even reached, these horses have lost the ability to perpetuate the phenotype and genotype which would make them a distinctively ‘Wap’ horse...