The American Horse Lovers Club

There was a time when Quarter Horse foals born with excessive white were a source of shame for the men and women who bred them. These babies, commonly referred to as “culls” or “cropouts,” were usually given away to neighbors, labeled as suitable only for children, exiled as work horses to remote cattle ranches, or sometimes killed to save the reputation of their owners’ breeding programs.

The excuse for these actions was simple: the birth of “colored” horses indicated impure bloodlines. They were simply not good stock.
This was the world into which a loudly painted black and white mare named Calamity Jane was born on Independence Day 1949.

“Calamity,” as she became known, was not registered. She was not born to greatness or expected to be much of anything. However, during her lifetime, she was praised by some of the most influential horseman in history, became one of the first horses to travel cross-country by airplane, was singled out to meet an American president and, along the way, destroyed a lot of the prejudice against colored horses.

Because of her notoriety, when the American Paint Stock Horse Association (APSHA) was formed in 1962, Calamity was chosen to be one of its first registrants.

APSHA and its successor, APHA, each reserved their first 20 registration numbers for stallions. Twenty-one in both registries was given to Calamity.

This is her story.