The Secret Horse: Quest for the True Appaloosa

HORSE WHINNIES I know.

I have been breeding Appaloosas here in New Zealand since 1996.

I've... All my life, I've loved the Appaloosa,

ever since I was a little girl.

The colouring, good bone, good personality.

They're versatile. You can do anything with them.

They're...they're not just for racing or just for

trail riding, they can do anything.

I've always been interested in where they came from.

The Appaloosa Horse Club was founded in 1938.

A group of farmers and ranchers from the Northwest areas -

the corners of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

We believe that the horses originated from the Spanish

herds that came over to the New World.

Your eyes are red.

I have never believed they came from Spain.

I have always thought they came from Asia across the Bering Strait.

For 40 years, I've preached that. And for 40 years, they've laughed at me.

It's not hard to believe

that some of the first horses in North America

came by way of the ice bridge across the Northwest

and the Alaska-Canada part of the world.

But we still believe that they came from the Spanish horses that were

brought over to the New World,

as some of the other stockhorse breeds that are here now.

Anyway, on a Sunday afternoon,

I had taken care of all the horses

and I was going to come in for two hours

and just sit down and veg out.

And I thought I was turning on Around The World In 80 Days,

and it turned out to be Around The World In 80 Trades,

in Kyrgyzstan.

And I thought, "Well, this is kind of interesting. I'll watch it."

No, he won't walk away.

You don't want to walk away after all this.

32,500 and he has got a great horse.

After the first intermission,

here comes this guy riding a gorgeous Appaloosa named Martin.

And I stood up in my lounge and screamed.

I'm sure people thought...

If they had been around, they would have thought I was for sure crazy.

Anyways, at that point, I thought, "I have got to get hold of this guy,"

and try to convince him that he needed to go with me

to Kyrgyzstan to find that horse, to find Martin.

Now, I never thought I'd be here again.

Yep.

I'm glad I'm back, Munarbek.

-It feels good to be back.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah.

Wow, it's a trip down memory lane.

You know, four years ago, it was so different here.

So many people.

And you over there, watching.

There was a bar across here.

And I had all my horses tied up along the bar

-and I was trying to sell them to various people.

-Yeah, yeah.

I lost a load of money.

No, no, no.

Yeah!

No...

-Yep. It wasn't.

-It wasn't?

-No.

THEY LAUGH

Oooh! I'm losing money on every single horse.

I didn't really know that he was potentially, you know,

this lost, special breed of Appaloosa horse.

How many of the Kyrgyz horses, would you say,

look like Martin

and have the spots that maybe are Appaloosa?

A small proportion?

But there is something about Scott and her passion for this horse

-that I just thought, "I've got to help her."

-Yeah.

Shall we go, we pick up Scott?

-Yeah.

-And then we see if we can find the farmer we sold Martin to.

-Yes.

-We're going to find this horse.

-Sure, let's try.

CONOR LAUGHS

-I thought we'd...

-Nothing like feeling lost in the world!

I thought we'd lost you. I was waiting here for about 30 minutes.

They took us out down there.

And they had changed it, but they didn't tell us.

If I didn't know any better today, flying from Bishkek to here,

I would have sworn I was either over New Zealand or over North Idaho.

So...

Mountains are the same. Valleys are the same.

Oh, that's lovely.

So, the horses are possibly the same as well.

It was a landmass at one time.

And they know that animals moved across it,

so there wouldn't be any reason in the world...

Horses move to find food, to find grass.

The Lewis and Clark expedition, which was the original explorers,

wrote in their journals that there were tens of thousands

of these spotted horses.

As a breeder, I know you don't get tens of thousands overnight.

This all takes time.

When the Spanish came, there wasn't nearly enough time to even get

the horses to the Pacific Northwest to even start that breeding.

What do people in the United States say to you

when you say that to them?

They think I've lost my mind.

The only way that we can conclusively prove this

is to find a foundation Appaloosa, like Martin,

and take samples and have those samples DNA tested. Is that right?

DNA and measurements. All kinds of measurements.

What characteristics is it that Martin needs to have for you

to be sure that he is a genuine foundation Appaloosa horse?

He needs to have sclera around his eyeball.

They are the only breed that has that.

No other breed has it.

He has to have spots or colouring.

They don't all have spots or colouring, there are solids,

but it sticks out if you have the spots.

Striped hooves.

Good confirmation.

They usually always do because they can't do the shuffle

unless they do have good confirmation.

-What is the shuffle?

-Indian shuffle.

That's what we refer to it.

It is an even four-beat,

only one hoof on the ground at a time.

And smooth.

A very, very smooth ride.

Once you have been on a horse that shuffles,

you'll never go back to anything else.

Mm-hm. So we need to go over the plan for tomorrow.

We have good news because six weeks ago,

I sent Munarbek a photograph of the farmer that I sold Martin to.

-Yes. OK.

-And Munarbek has tracked him down.

Let's hope he just really loved Martin,

because if he did, he'll still have him.

-Sure.

-You get attached.

And we even know his name.

Tashbalot.

And he lives how far from here?

Really?

I can hardly wait.

We are going to see if we can find Martin.

We know Martin's owner now,

that is our trip today.

I was up bright and early, waiting to do this.

I am in Kyrgyzstan because I think we are finding the original Appaloosa.

Most Appaloosas, especially in the United States,

those that have been exported around the world,

have been crossed with other horses,

so they are crossbreeds, they are not the real Appaloosa.

We don't have many of the real thing left.

They think about 109 of the real McCoy.

THEY GREET IN KYRGYZ

Hi. Remember me?

THEY LAUGH

HE SPEAKS IN KYRGYZ

I sold you a horse, do you remember that?

HE TRANSLATES

Do you still have it?

HE SPEAKS IN KYRGYZ

-Oh.

-Oh.

Does he know who he sold it to?

Another guy called Saeb from the same village?

OK.

Can we...can we reach him?

OK. So we have to find Saeb.

He is home, good.

OK, great.

Let's hope.

And how far is it?

I hope Martin's standing in the front yard.

OK, we're here. Yay.

HE GREETS IN KYRGYZ

THEY SPEAK IN KYRGYZ

You know Martin.

Do you still have Martin?

No?

HE TRANSLATES

THEY SPEAK IN KYRGYZ

Does he know who he sold it to?

THEY SPEAK IN KYRGYZ

So we're at a dead end.

-Are you very disappointed, Scott?

-Yeah.

LAUGHING SADLY: Yeah.

HOLDING BACK TEARS: I don't want to do this.

Very.

We might see him in a field, we don't know.

Stranger things have happened.

When I shipped a horse to Australia, my friends in Christchurch

called and they said, "She's down here in the paddock."

Cos they delayed her shipment by three days.

So you never know.

We might see him when we're driving the roads.

But I would've liked to have found him.

SOBBING: I just hope he's at a good home.

Make sense?

The value of finding a true Appaloosa is -

I can take a good stallion, a couple of good mares and integrate them

into my blood line and we can continue to produce a quality breed.

Those horses are dedicated to the riders. Holy hell.

First time, yeah.

-How are you enjoying it?

-I am loving it!

The horses are doing it because they like to, you can tell that.

-Are you surprised by that?

-Yeah, very much so.

Well, Summer had me so scared, saying, "They beat their horses, Mom,

"you're going to hate it."

You knew I'd enjoy this, didn't you?

LAUGHS: See?

I have seen amazing horsemanship,

absolutely amazing horsemanship.

Young kids, bareback, full bore,

four rounds around the field. That's...

You'd never see that in the States.

I don't think you'd see that any place else in the world.

Truly.

I've been jumping out of my seat.

SHE GIGGLES

And how I wish my daughters were here to see this.

They'd... They wouldn't believe it. Summer is an excellent rider.

She would've been one of those going with them.

HE SPEAKS KYRGYZ

CHEERING

We don't know for sure, but I didn't see any Appaloosas out there playing.

Yes. There's a reason

-for each breed.

-Exactly.

-And this is what I try to tell people.

"Stick with what you've got."

Because Mother Nature made that horse.

And she knew what she was doing.

-They didn't crossbreed.

-Exactly.

-Yay!

I used to have an old guy tell me,

"If you have horses for your girls, they'll never be interested in boys."

So that was... And that was true.

I wasn't interested in boys until age 17.

I dated a Spaniard for a while.

They just have hot personalities. I think...

Quite different than English or...

Jamaicans are cute.

Do you think the same applies to horses?

Yes. Every breed has a different personality.

Akhal-Tekes are aggressive.

Thoroughbreds are hyper.

We call them hot.

Percherons, your draft breeds, are more docile.

If I was a horse, Scott, what breed would I be?

SHE LAUGHS

Would I be an Appaloosa?

No.

SHE LAUGHS

Yes.

Munarbek is laid back enough that he could be an Appaloosa.

Munarbek, why are we stopping?

Let's go.

There aren't any Appies here.

-No, I don't see any.

-But I'll bet you next time,

there will be Appies cos they've seen what you're interested in.

-It depends.

-There might be 20 Appies here by then.

Yeah, yeah.

In... Sure.

If you were in the US, in the market for an Appaloosa stallion,

what would you be expected to pay?

It just depends.

Some of them are 5,000, some are 100,000.

-100,000?!

-Yeah. If they're good.

Right. What about your beautiful stallion?

-I would never sell him.

-How much...?

Never ever ever would I sell him.

I was offered 100,000 in the States.

And then they came back and said 150,000, and I said no.

If you were to prove there was a link,

a DNA link, between the Appaloosas here and the Appaloosas in the US,

you wouldn't necessarily be able to pick up a stallion

here for 1,000 bucks and sell it in the US for 100,000 bucks?

No, because you don't have the pedigree behind it.

But you might be getting a better stallion here.

My thinking is that these horses are probably...

..a much older breed.

So I think I would be infusing old blood into my line,

which to me is a good thing.

Now, I imagine for people who've

invested 100,000 in an Appaloosa stallion, the last thing

they want is a load of cheap Kyrgyz Appaloosa horses being injected...

In terms of simply numbers,

you'd be multiplying the supply by a factor of hundreds...

-That's right.

-..which means the price is just going to...

It's a business.

I don't have a business.

Aren't you a horse trader?

Ach...

I have turned down so many people

because I know the first thing they'd do would be crossbreed my horses.

And I just won't do it.

Do you think you like horses more than people, Scott?

Now, yes.

SHE LAUGHS

Maybe then, too. I don't know.

I know how to read horses.

And I think horses are very truthful.

What about you, Munarbek?

THEY SPEAK IN KYRGYZ

Who is this lady that we've picked up?

Yeah.

OK.

So that we will be successful with our trip.

SHE SPEAKS IN KYRGYZ

IN KYRGYZ:

Accident.

-Do we stop?

-Yeah, yeah. Let's turn.

What can you see, Scott?

I would say he was probably killed.

Can you go around to the other side?

Is there a body?

Yeah, whoever was in there is dead.

What are they looking for?

Much too bad.

-Have you ever lost a horse, Scott?

-Oh, boy.

CHOKED UP: I lost one to a lightning strike.

I lost another... Came home, he was on the ground.

We don't know what happened.

We think an aneurism, we don't know.

I lost one that got his head partly under the fence.

And if a horse can't lift its head, it'll die.

Lost Brady that way.

Not good.

-Still miss them?

-CHOKED UP: Oh, boy!

Yeah.

You pick up the pieces and you go forward.

HE GREETS IN KYRGYZ

And these are mountains all along this side and all around this side?

So that's why the president said this region is just

cut off from the rest of the country.

-There's no other way to get there?

-No other way.

-OK.

How high?

-Metres?

-Metres.

Have you ever known a 69-year-old lady to go over that pass before?

-He's worried about you.

-I know. I'm worried about me.

-Cheers.

-Here's to a good trip.

Good luck.

DISTANT HOWLING

We'll teach you horse language.

I hope so. SHE LAUGHS

We hope. If I can't, we're in big trouble.

I'll never live it down.

Will I?

I can manage. Don't worry, I'll stay on.

I just said, if I fall off, go on without me

and I'll get myself up and going.

But you can ride, can't you?

Yes, I've been on a horse for a long time, just not in the last 12 years.

But I can do it. Don't worry.

Are we going to take dogs with us?

We shouldn't at that altitude, should we?

Yes.

Now, I don't have any...to grab hold of, do I?

No.

Is it going to stay or is it going to go?

SHE LAUGHS Oompa!

I oompa-ed. I'm here.

Now, where is my other stirrup? Oh, I'm good. That's a good side.

Yep, good, good, good.

I wish I would have married a cowboy.

I'm so horsey and none of my husbands were horsey at all.

How many husbands have you had?

Do we have to do my life history?

-I'm interested. We have nothing else to talk about.

-Five.

-Five husbands?

-Five husbands. I'm like a Zsa Zsa Gabor.

SHE CHUCKLES

Left all of them. Absolutely...not the answer.

So, number one was...?

Number one was for one day.

Wait, it's interesting also.

-Very interesting.

-One day.

-First husband was for one day.

-Yes.

-One day, only one?

Yes, one day only.

And then there was Bill and he was the best man at the first wedding.

-So, you like the best man more than the groom?

-Yeah, I think so.

-OK.

Well, the groom misbehaved. That's all it took for me.

-On day one?

-On day one.

-Oh, well, at least you found out early.

That's right! Wasn't that a good thing, huh?

Husband number two, we moved to the state of Washington

from California and he decided he didn't need to bathe.

Lovely guy, lovely guy!

So, we got back to Flagstaff, Arizona,

and the psychiatrist called me

and said, "I've got him clear down to primal scream."

And I didn't know what primal scream was, but I soon learnt.

-So, that marriage kind of ended on that.

-Right. So, number three?

Number three was full Cherokee.

The day of our wedding he never drank in the year that I knew him

before and the day of our wedding, he started drinking.

And his relatives were all there and they said,

"Oh, no, he was doing so well with his alcoholism."

-Until you came along.

-SHE SIGHS

-I guess I drove him to drink.

-You drove him to drink.

-That's right.

-Anyways...

-So, number four?

-Yes, number...

number four was Jerry Conaster and I met him in Chewelah, Washington.

And I had been in a terrible car accident

and I think he saw money from the settlement from the accident.

-Oh, man!

-I truly think that was it, so...

Yes, so that one lasted three months.

-Three months?

-Three months.

-Wow!

-You make your mind up pretty quick, don't you?

-Yes, I do.

-In and out.

-Well...

LAUGHING: ..if it's not a good sign, you get out of there.

-And number five?

-Number five...

Number five, who was number five?

Should have ended it whole lot sooner than I did.

Number five was Dale Engstrom, a geologist...

AKA everything else.

And he kept saying every time I'd ask a question, he'd say,

"Oh, because of your car accident you don't remember."

And then I'd think, "Well, maybe I don't remember

"because of the car accident," so lasted...lasted...

knew him for two years, got married, lasted 15 years.

No. No.

Why, are you asking, Munarbek?

-You couldn't kidnap Scott?

-No.

-But I know some guys.

-No! No!

We could get you kidnapped, Scott. We could arrange a kidnapping.

-Yeah, yeah!

-No. I don't need that.

-Or 69.

-Or 69...

Then she's lucky(!)

-Did you kidnap your wife, Munarbek?

-Me?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-Your wife knew you were going to kidnap her, didn't she?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah.

-HE SPEAKS KYRGYZ

-Let's unload the horses.

Are you kidding?

SHE GRUNTS Dismount.

I'm going, I'm going.

I may not be able to walk. I'm there. Thanks.

-We have to first install our camping and then...

-OK.

-OK.

-OK, so I take my tent.

Well, let's see. Where do I want to go?

Are you going to stay here?

That's the rain guard.

Or is this the rain guard?

Not warm.

So, is that colder last night than normal for this time year?

How cold does it get in these mountains in winter?

-In the winter or just a bit later?

-In the winter?

Oh, you've got to be joking.

I thought I was going to die of hypothermia last night.

CHUCKLING: I could not believe how...

I was shaking and I thought, "This is great,

"I won't even get to see the horses."

-Eggs. It's ready.

-Thanks(!)

Scrambled eggs this morning.

-It's good, it's got the odd crunchy bit.

-Crunchy?

-A little bit, in places.

-Mm.

I wonder why.

It's good for your knees.

I'm on a mission.

That's the whole idea of this whole trip is to find the Appaloosa.

I feel... Mm.

CHOKED UP: I'm going to get emotional.

I really feel this is necessary.

It's got to be proven.

So sick of all the stories and people fighting over it

and it'd just be nice if we can prove it.

-Well, there's only one thing in our way.

-That mountain!

SHE LAUGHS

I don't feel good. I'm dizzy.

-You are not enjoying this, Scott?

-No.

Not at all. Not at all.

I'm freezing to death. I know it's beautiful up here, but I...

I think I've got flu or something. I don't know.

That's the valley.

Yes, I see it down there.

-Huge valley.

-You can see just the...the lake.

-Just see the edge of the lake.

-Yeah.

-That's where the nomads live.

-Yeah.

-You can see why no-one bothers them.

Yes. And I want to get down there.

-OK, let's get down there.

-Let's get down.

-Munarbek says you have to eat an apple.

-No.

Is this a bit harder than you thought?

No, I think it was the elevation

because I had a terrible headache coming down.

I don't think I've been at... Well, I've been at the elevation in jets,

but not... CONOR LAUGHS

-You know if...

-Not on a horse.

-I was going to say,

if you go over 10,000 feet in a plane, you get oxygen.

-Mm.

-Mm. Right? So...

-We were...we were over 12,000 feet.

-I know!

I'll survive.

I'm told I'm a survivor.

-What, riding?

-For riding, yes.

-OK.

-Yeah, I don't think we're going to see any horses tonight, are we?

-No.

-We are going to be lucky to get there before dark.

-Yup, yup. Sure.

OK.

TRANSLATION:

Does this horse even have a name in Kyrgyz culture?

In some places they call it something slightly different.

Here they call only Chaar.

Look, over there. That's an Appaloosa.

Two herds.

Aren't they beautiful?

-Wow.

-And gorgeous stallions.

-Absolutely gorgeous stallions.

-That is such...

an amazing sight.

Speechless.

SHE GIGGLES I'm thrilled to death.

How does that rate with the...lifetime experiences?

Top-of-the-line.

Other than child-bearing, top-of-the-line.

Yeah, for sure.

Just beautiful.

I actually have a tear in my eye.

Did you? Did you? Oh, listen to us talk. Dream come true.

I've been crying, haven't I? Hmm.

CHOKED UP: Just look at them. Real special.

Everything I was hoping for...and more.

-Right, Scott.

-I'm ready.

Well, they definitely got the Appaloosa bum.

He's got sclera, too.

Striped hooves.

Yes, but look at all the colours.

That's a good sign, too.

-Mottled skin again?

-Yep.

-Yep.

-We have everything.

-Really?

-Yeah. Everything's there.

-Scott!

I know.

That's it. You got it.

That is the shuffle, gentlemen.

-It's not a pace.

-Yep.

-Indian.

-Indian shuffle.

-Or maybe Kyrgyz shuffle.

-A Kyrgyz shuffle, yes.

Should I... I better go get my tape measure, huh?

OK. Getting everything.

-You can just...talk to these...

-Yes.

-..can't you?

Yes, I will talk to them when I get in there.

Do you want to get them to form a...an orderly queue?

And you'll just do them one at a time?

-Do want me to just call them in and...?

-Call them in one by one.

-Yeah.

-Come in number one?

It's time for your beauty shot?

WHISPERS: You are so bad!

Come on, guys. Let's go.

You going to go and pull 30 hairs out of his head?

No, he is.

He's absolutely pure black and white and that's gorgeous.

He needs an Indian name.

OK. Number 30 - Chaar Suulu, stallion, black and white.

I feel like we are kind of halfway through a story, now.

Yeah, well, we need to be through DNA and then we'll...we'll be better.

But I never thought I'd be in Kyrgyzstan looking at this.

Well, I think you've got another interested breeder in Munarbek.

You think? I hope so.

I think...

I think they aren't aware because they have

so many of these horses, they aren't aware of how scarce they are.

They aren't in other parts of the world. I guarantee you.

I mean, if I hadn't seen you riding out on Martin, I would have

been oblivious to what was here.

This is horsey paradise.

But if it turns out that the Appaloosa in the States

-and these Chaar horses...

-Yeah.

..here in Kyrgyzstan are just...

two genetic mutations that happened in different

continents at different times,

what will you feel, then?

I'll have to live a whole lot longer.

SHE LAUGHS

Make more babies. No, I'm sure they are. There's no doubt in my mind.

So, we took the Kyrgyz data and put it into the analysis

of the geographic races of spotted horses

and comparing them to North American spotted horses.

What we got was this tree diagram where

individuals are clustered based upon how genetically similar

they are to each other and the closer they are on the branches,

the more closely similar they are.

And we get a very distinct cluster right here in the middle that is

only composed of the North American horses and the Kyrgyzstan horses.

It clearly supports the possibility of the Asian

ancestry for these horses.

Do you get a sense here then that we are rewriting

the history of the Appaloosa?

This very strongly suggests that Asia is the more likely source.

We are looking for Scott Engstrom's place.

-Yeah, it's right here on the left.

-On the left? Thanks.

The day has come.

She's got no idea that I'm turning up.

I just know that she's going to be a little bit surprised.

-Scott?

-HE LAUGHS

What are you... SHE LAUGHS

Why didn't you tell me? I've got to get another bed made up.

Well, I thought I'd come and tell you in person...

What?

-We got the DNA results back from Kyrgyzstan.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Guess what?

They match? Am I right?

-You were right, Scott.

-I knew I would be.

I knew when I saw Martin what I saw, so good.

Good, good, good. Yay!

I knew that! I don't know how to explain it, but I...

-I knew there wouldn't be any question whatsoever.

-You did know it.

-I did know it.

-You did know it.

-That's right.

And you keep saying how do I know it, I don't know how I know it.

I just knew it.

Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. I'm thrilled.

-Let's sit down. I've got a lot to tell you.

-OK.

-OK.

-I'd love it OK.

-Let's go.

-All right. I can't believe you are here.

I just can't!

Scott, now that you've had time to think about all the DNA results

and what that means, what next?

That's what I want to know. Are we going back to Kyrgyzstan?

Is that what you'd like?

I'd like to bring back at least one mare,

preferably two or three,

put them to my stallions and get even a purer breed than what I have now.

Are you not worried that this is...

That breeding your horses with the Kyrgyz horses is just another

-type of crossbreeding?

-No, it's not crossbreeding at all.

It's enhancing the breed.

The whole idea of this adventure was to go find the origin

of the Appaloosa. To find the real...

..the real, original horse.

So to bring the real, original horse to my horses

and if I can infuse the real blood of the original Appaloosas,

then I'm just doing a good job.

In my heart of hearts, it's the right thing to do.

More importantly, we found the real McCoy.

That was the greatest thrill of all.

If I came to you and I said... and I said,

"You know, I've...I've found...

"found these horses and they've got spots and they've got sclera...

-Guess what they are, yes.

-"..and they've got striped hooves

"and they've got... I've seen their anus.

"They've got the mottled skin as well. What do you think that is?"

Yeah, no kidding!

I mean, would your first reaction...be well...?

I'd have said, "Well, you must have gone to South Dakota or some place."

-What, because of the landscape?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It's extraordinary, isn't it? That you think, "Well, that looks...

"looks like an Appaloosa and smells like an Appaloosa."

Well, I'm glad I didn't say that I would discount any theory, right?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Well, today is 27 October,

and now I am...

in the village where lives our Chaar Suulu.

I have met with the guy, who is the owner of Chaar Suulu.

We had a very tough discussion...

..and...and well, finally I succeed to get Chaar Suulu. It was...

It was not easy, but I succeed.

I paid the...

I paid the double price for Chaar Suulu, which

I never would do in my life, but the fact is that I have already done it.

But anyway, anyway I'm happy.

I am happy.

Well, maybe you can't see any emotion on my face

but you have to believe me, I am very happy.

It's... Everything is deep in my heart.