AFFECTIONATELY CALLED “JERRY” THIS IS OUR STORY. IN THE FALL OF 2008 WE BEGAN SEARCHING FOR OUR NEXT MALE TO COMPLIMENT OUR BREEDING PROGRAM. WE PRETTY MUCH KNEW WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR. DOING ILR DATABASE RESEARCH, I WAS DRAWN TO SOME SPECIFIC BLOODLINES. I COMPILED A LIST, AND SENT THIS LIST OUT TO A FEW SELECTIVE BREEDERS. DURING THIS TIME I CONTACTED BARB & JERRY MCROBERTS. FROM THE PHOTOS THEY SHARED WITH US OUT OF THEIR HERD OF YEARLING SURI MALE PROSPECTS, WE SELECTED A CERTAIN BLACK AND WHITE MALE. OUR SELECTION WAS BASED ON THE TOTAL PACKAGE OF THIS MALE: HIS CORRECTNESS, THE STRENGTH THROUGH HIS TOPLINE, HIS HIGH TAILSET, HIS DENSITY OF BONE, AND CORRECT LEG PLACEMENT AS VIEWED FROM THE PHOTOS. HIS COLOR WAS A POSITIVE FACTOR TOO. JERRY SHARED BACK THAT THIS MALE WAS OUT OF TWO FULL ARGENTINE NON SURI ANIMALS AND THAT HE WAS KEEPING HIM. TO HIS KNOWLEDGE HE WAS THE ONLY SURI MALE OUT OF SUCH A CROSS. HE ALSO SHARED THAT SOME MAY NOT AGREE WITH WHAT HE WAS DOING. HE WAS CROSSING ARGENTINES ON SURI’S TO PRODUCE SURI ANIMALS WITH MORE BONE AND COVERAGE. MY COMMENT WAS THAT WAS EXACTLY WHY I WAS LED TO THEM, FOR THAT SAME GOAL.

I HAD BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE JUDGED MGF ARGENTINE DON MACHO, AS A JUVENILE, WHILE JERRY WAS SHOWING HIM, AND HE WAS A TOUGH MALE TO GET AROUND.

AT THE AGE OF THREE WITHIN ONE WEEK “JERRY” WENT FROM NOT BEING HALTER BROKE, TO BEING HALTERED AND LEARNING TO LEAD, TO LOADING INTO THE TRAILER AND BEING TRANSPORTED FROM NEBRASKA TO IOWA WHERE I MET HIM IN PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THE LFA EVENT. HE REMAINED STALLED FOR THE FEW DAYS WHILE WE WERE THERE DURING COMPETITION. HE WAS ALWAYS A COMPLETE GENTLEMAN EACH TIME HE WAS HANDLED. HIS CALM DISPOSTION IS AMAZING. A FEW DAYS BEFORE WE BECAME AQUAINTED WITH EACH OTHER I FOUND OUT HE WAS BORN ON MY BIRTHDAY. AS I HAVE SHARED IN THE PAST, WE FEEL IT IS NO ACCIDENT THIS MALE NOW COMES TO OUR FARM IN MICHIGAN. WE BELIEVE THAT HE WAS CREATED BY THE MASTER’S HAND AND WAS HAND SELECTED TO BE A PART OF OUR HERD. WE HOPE WE DO JERRY and BARB MCROBERTS PROUD WITH THIS MALE IN OUR BREEDING PROGRAM. WE SURE WILL TRY.