Currently J.W., Belle and Andrew Hendrix have 50 Foxtrotter horses on their 700-acre Boston Mountain Foxtrotter Ranch near Witts Springs, Ark. When J.W. was 4 years old his family moved from near Bass, Ark., on the Buffalo River to Witts Springs in order for the children to attend school. He has lived at that location since; some of the property is the original home place that once belonged to his dad. J.W. has been involved in cattle and horses for many years.
“We chose Foxtrotters for their gentle disposition and their nice conformation,” Andrew said. “They’re really sure-footed, and their stamina is excellent. They’ll ride and last all day. Most Foxtrotters have a shorter back and round hips, with nice shoulders and front end. The way they are built is one reason they are such a pleasure to ride.”
“Storming Nellie is the mare I ride,” Belle said, “because she is so smooth. Andrew trained her, and this year we took her to Berryville, Ark. to the Southern Classics and won 1st place.”
The Hendrix family has been raising registered Foxtrotters for the past six years. They put up 500 round bales of hay, enough to feed the horses and their cattle herd through the winter. In addition to the horses, they have 100 head of cattle, Charolais and Saler cross. The farm has five spring-fed ponds and a number of fresh-water springs and concrete water tanks that hold water from the springs. Because of the good reputation they’ve built in their horse sales, even when the horse market is bad, J.W. and Andrew agreed, sales are still good for them.
“Back in the 1990s horses were selling good, but lately changes in prices have been up and down,” J.W. said. “We’ve done pretty well with ours because we’ve had them trained. They’re real gentle.”
“We had Foxtrotters as far back as I can remember,” Andrew added, “but started with registered horses six years ago. I was probably a year old when I first started riding.”
Andrew does most of the training, which includes starting young ones, training for trail riding, field trial, setting gaits and showing for performance and model. In age, their horses go from yearlings on up and the oldest is a 25-year-old mare.
They have 10 brood mares and two stallions on the farm for breeding purposes. They also have two stallions that they show, Southern Sunrise’s Romeo, sired by world famous Southern Sunrise, and his maternal brother Jazz’s Southern Rebel, sired by world famous Southern Jazz. Both stallions are from Cassey’s Golden Touch, direct daughter of Missouri Cassey Jones.
“Rebel is a 3 year old sorrel stallion,” Andrew said. “He stands around 15.2 hands, and is very gentle. His smooth gait makes him a pleasure to ride, a great show horse and a nice trail-ride horse. He’s in his first year of showing, and has won Reserve at the 2009 Spring Show in Ava, Mo. He won Reserve at the Mid-American show in Springfield, Mo., and this year won reserve at the National Breeders Cup also in Springfield.
“We make our living here on the farm,” Andrew added. “We butcher our own beef and pork, raise a big garden and can and freeze vegetables for the winter. We try to keep chickens for eggs, but they are hard to raise, because of predators. We’re working towards becoming as self-sufficient as possible.”
