Monty Williamson said of his barn full of cutting horses they are “a play pretty that got out of hand.” In 1992 Monty thought he wanted to get a cutting horse so he bought a couple of fillies to raise and have trained. “There was a period there where you could sell weanlings at a nice price, so I purchased two, three, maybe four more mares,” he recalled with a smile and a sly glance at his wife, Georgia. “I had the good fortune of owning a stallion named Docs Halestorm, and the bad habit of keeping all the fillies. Most of our broodmares are Halestorm daughters.”
The Williamson’s WPH (Williamson Performance Horses) Ranch has 15 broodmares, seven yearlings, eight two-year-olds, six newborns and four more on the way. For several years Monty chose to breed to several leading sires using shipped semen. In 2007 he purchased PCR Peppys Oak. “The guys I bought him from nicknamed him Emmit because he has more muscles than Emmit Smith of the Dallas Cowboys,” Monty laughed. Emmit is a son of Peppy San Badger and has a current lifetime earning of $41,862.
Where they’ve been
Monty and Georgia Williamson have lived 39 years on their farm located between Mtn. View, Mo., and Willow Springs, Mo. They began dating when Georgia was a high school senior and married soon after graduation.
Three years ago Monty and Georgia built an indoor riding arena and hired a full time trainer, Stacey Breazeale. “Part of our success is because of how well Stacey trains horses. We’ve gotten lots of compliments on how nice a foundation our colts have,” Monty said. “She works to get the colts solid on all the basics before we put them on a cow.”
WPH horses are just beginning to get into the hands of people who are showing them. “Some have accumulated AQHA points in Team Penning and some are NCHA money earners,” Monty said. “We try to match the horse to the rider. We won’t sell someone a horse that won’t work for what they want.” WPH Ranch has sold horses in seven states throughout the southwest, Indiana and Arkansas.
Where they’re going
The Williamsons hope that by next year they will be offering family style ranch vacations on their 500-acre Texas County farm. “We’re looking to keep a maximum of three cabins,” Monty said. “Our goal is to offer a situation that isn’t real commercialized. Family vacations with western flavor and a unique ranch experience. They already have one cabin near the river that runs through their farm; if they have a good response to their Western Horseman ads they plan to add more.
For many years Monty baled his own hay from the farm, but in the past several years an increased workload combined with the need to provide fescue-free hay for the broodmares forced him to purchase locally produced hay as well as prairie hay from western Missouri. With a lightened workload and the increased cost of hay in recent years, Monty has gone back to baling his own hay.
Monty likes the 11 percent protein and 7 percent fat in Scott’s Trail Mix for his performance horses. For his broodmares Monty prefers MFA Easy Keeper Edge because of its high roughage content and 5 percent fat.
All the horses are vaccinated for West Nile and tetanus and are kept on an 8-week deworming program. Additionally, broodmares are vaccinated with Pneumabort at the fifth, seventh and ninth month of pregnancy.
“I wouldn’t discourage anyone from getting into the farming business or enjoying horses, but do your homework first,” Monty advised. “Do your business with reputable breeders. Honesty and integrity are probably one of the most important things in establishing yourself in the horse or cattle business.”
