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Cheri Moats had always been fascinated by English riding disciplines, and was trying to build an Appaloosa sport horse breeding program. Moats was only vaguely successful with her first Appaloosa stallion – he possessed good breeding, temperament, and conformation, but he couldn’t produce horses near his own quality. But when a “windswept, giraffe backed foal” named Wap Spotted was born on a cold February day in 1987, Cheri Moat’s luck would change – and Wap Spotted’s name would become forever intertwined with Appaloosa sport horses worldwide.
Wap Spotted’s pedigree carried hints of greatness on both sides. Wap Spotted’s sire, Wap’s Spot 2, was a loud bay near-leopard stallion that produced several halter and English performance event winners. Wap’s Spot 2’s pedigree carried the name of Appaloosa History stallion Wapiti twice, as well as the names of History stallions Double Six Domino and Mansfield’s Comanche. Shalako Summer, Wap Spotted’s dam, was also a bay near-leopard. She was a champion herself, and her pedigree boasted the name of famed Appaloosa stallion Prince Plaudit twice. Wap Spotted was named after the Appaloosa coat pattern called “wAp spotted” (‘w’ standing for the white gene and ‘Ap’ standing for the Appaloosa white gene). Around the barn, however, Wap Spotted was simply known as Teddy.
The year of Wap Spotted’s birth was also the year the Appaloosa Sport Horse Association (ApSHA) was founded, and Wap Spotted became their founding stallion, ApSHA #F1. He was also registered in the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC), the International Colored Appaloosa Association (ICAA), the International Registry for Colored Sporthorses, the American Warmblood Registry and the American Warmblood Society.
Wap Spotted was shown successfully for two years thanks to encouragement Cheri Moats received from a close friend. Though his show record is small, it is impressive – he won two year-end high point awards from the Maryland Horse Show Association. Sadly, Wap Spotted’s show career was cut short by an accident, but Moats had big plans for the stallion beyond the show ring.
In Wap Spotted's first few foal crops it was plain to see his value as a sire. One of Wap Spotted’s first foals, Wap’s Con Game, while out of an unremarkable Thoroughbred mare, was himself outstanding. Wap’s Con Game went on to compete successfully on open hunter circuits where it was uncommon to see an Appaloosa competing. Wap Spotted was able to do what Cheri Moat's first stallion could not – sire horses as good or better than himself. The Wap Spotted gelding Vincent became the New England Horseman’s Council halter champion gelding in 1997. Two of Wap Spotted’s foals have competed and won at the prestigious Dressage at Devon event. NF Theodore, a loud black leopard stallion, was the overall champion Appaloosa sport horse at Dressage at Devon in 1998, and his half-sister Wapsicle was also a champion at the show. Other champion get of Wap Spotted include the mares Kismet Specialty and Classic Tradition, who are now, along with stallions like NF Theodore, producing champion Wap Spotted grand-get.
By the early 1990’s Cheri Moats already knew there was a market for Wap Spotted’s foals, so she took the initiative to take Wap Spotted’s stallion services to the next level by offering frozen, transported semen to inseminate mares nation and world wide. At the time, shipped semen was not approved by the Appaloosa Horse Club and foals born from such methods weren’t eligible for ApHC registration. Furthermore, Wap Spotted was often outcrossed to warmblood mares, and the ApHC only registers foals resulting from Arabian, Quarter Horse, and Thoroughbred outcrosses. But Moats knew many owners weren’t interested in the ApHC papers – they wanted high quality, colored sport horses that could compete aggressively in open show circuits. People who wanted the ApHC registration papers “either waited for the ApHC to approve shipped semen or bit the bullet and shipped their mares” to breed to Wap Spotted. Shipped semen was approved by the ApHC in the late 1990’s, allowing Wap Spotted's popularity to grow even more.
Today Wap Spotted’s offspring can be found competing worldwide in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and of course, the United States. Wap Spotted consistently sires exceptional foals out of all types of horses – from everyday grade mares to champion show mares. His offspring are most often well over 16 hands high with the large bone and long, graceful stride typical of horses bred for English riding disciplines. Wap Spotted’s foals compete regularly and successfully on demanding American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) circuits. The Appaloosa Competitive All-breed Activities Program (ACAAP) implemented by the Appaloosa Horse Club allows Wap Spotted's ApHC-registered offspring competing in open breed competition to be recognized and rewarded by the ApHC for their accomplishments. Wap Spotted’s get excel in a number of events from dressage to jumping to driving, some even competing in western riding events. Wap Spotted has been featured in magazines such as Appaloosa Journal, Hunter & Sport Horse, and Horse Illustrated; he was featured in a 1991 “Horses of the World” calendar, and in 2000 his image was made into a Breyer model for the company’s 50th Anniversary. Wap Spotted resides at McCoy Farms Sanger, California..
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