The Members Speak

The April newsletter reported that Mary Farmer was now Secretary and Treasurer. The newsletter contained a letter complaining about the new Sundance spirit and asking that things go back to the way they were with Mary Manley. The newsletter reported on the results of a membership survey, which indicated that the members wanted more member profiles, more ApHC news, more training tips and viewpoint articles, more historical articles, more ads and photos, more letters and the board minutes. The survey indicated that members were not interested in puzzles, trivia and other filler. This newsletter responded to results of the survey and had more of the requested material. In May, the organization announced an art contest. Jane announced that Leslie Stromeyer would be editor starting in November.

Sundance 500 celebrated its 16th anniversary in October 1989. Jane writes: "Oh how Sundance has changed since its humble beginnings. It was an idea of a few Sundance bloodline breeders intent on promoting their colorful horses, then evolved to include all Sundance bred horse owners. Eventually Sundance 500 became a sounding board during the turmoiled years of the ApHC, then infused with new life, began to preserve the past while working on the future of the Appaloosa. It is the new and the old blending together to not only produce colorful, quality Appaloosas, but to work toward improving the public's view and uses of the Appaloosa through grass roots clubs, as individuals and on the National and International scenes, to learn from each other, to generate new ideas and to grow and share the future."

The December 1989 newsletter contained a letter from Leslie Stromeyer to the Board stating that the success of Sundance 500 International does not rest on the acts of one person but on the participation of all members. It stated there were 90 members and the membership list would soon be published in the upcoming newsletter. Leslie explained her reasoning for spending the amount of time generating the newsletter and was distraught with some of the criticism and practices of the current leadership. Unfortunately, the letter aired some of Sundance 500 International's problems and cast a negative light on the leadership. As a positive, her letter did ask for help from the directors and members in stating: "I also want to take this time to thank all the directors that have sent in material, ideas and have given me your feedback on the newsletter. And do urge all your comments and opinions as to content, areas of research, especially facts about old-time leopard horses and their human counterparts."

Hard Times To Follow

The 1990 newsletters continued to contain member input and reprints of articles from Appaloosa News. There were occasional new articles and new photos of older horses.

During the April-May timeframe, there was again some controversy within the organization and several Board members, including Leslie Stromeyer, resigned. By August 1990, Jane Kilberg had also resigned and Sherry Byrd was elected President. Mary Farmer, acting as temporary editor,
published a newsletter in October of that year. By February 1991, Sherry Byrd had resigned as president and Gene Carr became president and appointed Jane as acting editor. The organization was experiencing some financial problems and there was a recommendation that they establish a
bookkeeping system and have a monthly review of expenses. Sundance 500 International was going through very difficult times.

The controversy seemed to continue into 1991. Mary Farmer resigned her positions in April. In May, Elaine Whitworth was appointed as acting Secretary, Treasurer. In June there was a decision that the newsletter size would have to be reduced because the cost of printing and mailing had exceeded the money that the organization collected as dues. The July edition contained word from the President that the Board was working on a Sundance 500 International budget and encouraging members to give their advertising support. The directors were trying to maintain the "Sunny" spirit, but the organization still could not regain the spirit that Mary Manley seemed to have instilled within the organization. This organization founded almost 20 years before would still continue to struggle to survive for another year. In a few years Sundance 500 International would see massive growth in the membership.

The October 1991 newsletter focused on the issue of linebreeding and announces that the Board would be gathering information from breeders who actively linebred Sundance 500 horses. John L. Baker had discussed this idea with Gene Carr. "An Appaloosa may trace to Sundance F-500, but if the blood is to survive, the bloodlines must be linebred."  He also mentioned Lee Warne as one breeder who concentrated on Sundance F-500 bloodlines. There was a proposal to print a listing of horses with the number of times that the horse could be traced to Sundance 500.
There is no indication that such a list was ever published, but the system was eventually incorporated into the Sundance Bloodline Certificate numbering system. The letters after the number indicate the number of times a horse traces to Sundance F-500. ['-A' = 1 time to
Sundance, '-D' = 4 times to Sundance and so on]












This newsletter issue also contained an article from Ralph Cannon about the beginnings of Sundance 500. A survey was sent to the membership in November 1991. As of the December 1991 newsletter, there were 147 members in the organization.

Trouble still persisted the Sundance 500 International Board of Directors. In January 1992, the Board approved the initiation of legal action against a prior board member for the return of Sundance 500 International property. There was ongoing controversy during 1992, with some complaints and threats of a lawsuit against Sundance 500 International for slander by the editor. Harry Edward resigned as Vice President, but praises Gene Carr's leadership. In August, Don Potter was nominated to fill the Vice President vacancy. By December 1992, the membership had increased to 171.


Sully's Baby Grand, a double bred Sundance F-500 mare, with a leopard filly from Lee Warne's herd in South Dakota
Sundance 500 Grows in the 1990s

This past segment of Sundance 500 International's history was not all pleasant. This article was written to provide a summary of events about the organization, and not to point fault or cast blame. After all the turmoil and conflict concluded, Sundance 500 International appeared to
be on the right track as the membership steadily grew year after year during the 1990's. During these years we see a shift in the leadership and a change in Sundance 500 International's philosophy. The member's opinions varied on these new changes. The membership roster will soon grow to over 700 members.

The final article on Sundance history will coincide with the start of our 30th year as an organization and celebrate our upcoming 30th Anniversary in October 2003 when the first Sundance 500 International newsletter was printed.