Once you’ve seen Gypsy Vanner Horses on a calendar or in an advertisement it’s hard to forget their romantic, natural beauty or their elegantly flowing manes and tails. If you are fortunate to see one of these relatively rare horses in real life, you’ll also immediately notice their kind eye, friendly manner, and people-oriented temperaments.

Laura and Paul Robideau, who own Lake Ridge Gypsy Horses, have the enviable position of owning twenty of these magnificent horses. The beautiful lake-edge farm in New Germany, Minnesota, is home to many equally gorgeous imported Gypsy Vanners.

This particular herd of horses is not only beautiful, but famous as well. They’ve been featured on Mark J. Barrett Calendars, as stars in The Gypsy Vanner film, and on the home page of The Gypsy Horse Registry of America (http://gypsyhorseregistryofamerica.org/CMS/).

Long-time horse breeders Laura and Paul became interested in Gypsy Vanners several years ago, attracted by the breed’s stunning natural beauty. As Laura states, “Gypsy Horses have a strong, romantic appeal and long, flowing manes – and they are quite people-loving. Soon after finding out about the Gypsy Horses, we flew across the country to see them in person at an Equine Affaire. Three weeks later, we were in England to select our foundation stock!”

Once in England, Laura and Paul were very particular about the horses they imported. “We looked literally at hundreds of horses before choosing the ones that we did. We picked horses based on conformation, temperament, athletic ability, and a kind eye. We chose a variety of colors, too, including piebald, skewbald, buckskin and chocolate palomino.”

While in England, the Robideaus also extensively researched the history of the breed, including talking at length with the Gypsy families who had bred the horses for several generations. What Paul and Laura learned about the breed impressed them even more.

“Just as their name indicates, these horses were owned and bred by the Gypsies. They not only pulled the caravans for their owners, but actually became part of the family. The horses were bred for solid temperaments and for toughness. As an example, the horses would come right into the camps of their owners at night, and sometimes had to eat whatever was available – even tree branches!” says Laura.

This combination of beauty, temperament, and versatility is aptly displayed in Lake Ridge’s Gypsy stallion, Lake Ridge British Sterling. As Laura states enthusiastically, “Sterling is beautiful, smart, and willing. At the Gypsy Cob and Drum Horse Association inspection in 2008, he was awarded first premium in both conformation and riding.”

“Sterling is also very athletic, as shown by the fact that he’s currently training Third Level Dressage. At the same time, he has a great temperament for just about anything you want to do with him. For example, he’s been used as a therapeutic riding horse for a boy with Down syndrome and is also a wonderful trail horse. He also passes his wonderful disposition to his offspring. In fact, we’re donating one of his offspring to Trinity Therapeutic riding school. Of course, like many Gypsy Vanners, Sterling has also been successfully shown in carriage classes.”

In addition to standing Sterling at stud to outside mares, the Robideaus breed several of their own mares each year and offer the young horses for sale. Like Sterling, the Lake Ridge mares are easy to train and possess great temperaments. To illustrate, Laura recounts a story about Gypsy Princess, who was only a halter-broken three year old when she was imported. In a mere three weeks’ time, Laura broke the mare to saddle and used her for an exhibition at the Minnesota Horse Expo in front of 50,000 people! The weekend after the Expo, Laura took the mare on a three-day trail ride with seventeen river crossings. As Laura sums up, “Gypsy Horses are a great match for people who want a gorgeous horse to ride and enjoy.”

Lake Ridge Gypsy Horses can be viewed at www.lakeridgegypsy.com. For more information about available horses, contact Laura Robideau at info@lakeridgegypsy.com or 320-485-4144.