The Years of Controversy

1979 was a year of controversy with the Appaloosa Horse Club. In January, Chardy Shealy wrote an open letter to the Sundance membership:

"I happen to be fortunate enough to know a large number of very dedicated, honest breeders of fine quality Appaloosas. In terms of the future of the animal, that is the sunny side of the picture. The bleak side is that these people have invested large sums of money in this breed, and their efforts go mostly unrecognized. Because they are rarely BIG talking, BIG politicking and BIG money-pushing, they hold little clout. Yet I am willing to bet that these are the very people who make the long term meaningful efforts in promoting the Appaloosa. Time and again, they have said it is foolish to outcross to non-Appaloosa roans and greys, and a gamble to outcross to solid breeds, and why not have the Appaloosa compete against Appaloosa rather than Appaloosa competing against colored up Thoroughbred or Quarter horse. They frown often on blue eyes and paint markings. Yet the ApHC marches on in its self-serving way and wonders why they lose breeders."

Other members wrote about other concerns with the ApHC and members were encouraged to use Sundance F-500 stallions in their breeding plans. ApHC Director Mary Hare, a strong proponent of Sundance F-500, resigned from the ApHC Board stating:

"My decision to resign is both personal and political! The personal will remain personal, however as for the latter, I attempted to be an optimist, and I kept hoping that each meeting would improve - but they have gotten worse! The straw that broke the camels back was the firing of George Hatley! I cannot support, with a clear conscience, the current direction and decisions made by the majority of this Board, especially the short lead time given to the Point System implementation and the increased Registry Rates, the rescinding the Grey/Roan Rule, the recent ApHC personnel changes, the Rule Book printing delay, and finally the proposed ApHC relocation. There is no way I can try to "convince" my constituents that all these things are "super, peachy keen" simply because a majority of Directors voted this way! When I betray them I also degrade myself." Despite or because of the ApHC controversies, the Sundance 500 International Newsletter became the primary source for information regarding the problems with ApHC. One member, King Rockhill, wrote: "Please continue to share information about the state of the ApHC. I have come to appreciate your newsletter as an unedited and unbiased source of a variety of thoughts and opinions. This type of exchange of thinking is vital if the ApHC is to continue with any integrity. In fact I have encouraged others to subscribe, because I have not found another single source of information that does as good as job."

Chardy Shealy, past president of Sundance, made the following observation in a letter dated July 1, 2002, when asked if Sundance would have been as popular or important during this time if the ApHC had not been going through crises.

"The ApHC was badly distracted for years (and may still be) by a fundamental flaw in its organization structure. Its corporate organization was never properly set up for a business of that eventual size. There was room for plenty of "corporate games" and there were plenty played. Sundance 500 International on the other hand was composed of people who were often long term breeders of Appaloosas, often respected for their integrity, and trusted by many of the ApHC management and some of the Board. As a result the ApHC hierarchy tended for years to pay close attention to the opinions and ideas expressed in the Sundance 500 Newsletter. Individually we were not infrequently consulted by those decision-makers at the ApHC."

When Sundance 500 international celebrated its 6th anniversary in October 1979, there were 285 active members. The organization continued to flourish, probably because of the role it played as the only source of information in this era of big changes for the Appaloosa, where the ApHC was incommunicative to the membership