If there’s one thing people who know him best would tell you about Fritz Leeman, it’s that he brings the same high level of determination and enthusiasm to everything he does. It’s why his business, Brewster Dairy, is the largest producer of all natural Swiss cheese in the United States. And it’s the reason he has been able to build one of the most admired breeding operations in the pleasure horse industry, standing such decorated stallions as Lazy Loper, How Bout This Cowboy, Willy Be Invited and until his death earlier this year, Invitation Only.

            Fritz always had a pony or a horse around when he was growing up but it was not until he and his wife, Carole, started a family and their children expressed an interest in horses that they got serious and bought two from a business associate at the cheese plant.

            One thing led to another, and the next thing they knew the kids were involved in 4-H, showing at the county fair and eventually competing at American Quarter Horse Association Shows across the United States as well as at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and the AQHA World

Show. Fritz and Carole’s children have long since retired from the show arena but their grandchildren continued to compete and granddaughter, Katsy, still does today.

Fritz and Carole started building Leeman Farm on 200 acres in the rolling hills of northeast Ohio in a town called Massillon in the 1970s.             

Over the years they have grown alfalfa, corn, beans, sunflowers – and butterflies! But they are most passionate about the foals they raise there.

            As the family’s love for competition grew so did the breeding operation. First came Marshall Coker, a 1976 stallion by Swift Solo and out of Silverstone, who sired many champions – in both English and Western events. Next came Snazzy Story, a 1981 sorrel stallion by Story Man and out of Little Gypsy Miss. He claimed over $36,000 and multiple championships.

        Leeman Farm was beginning to establish a reputation for being a breeder of top AQHA performance horses.

        In 1997, the Leemans bred a daughter of Snazzy Story, by the name of Roseys Story, to Invitation Only, just as the legendary sire was beginning what would turn out to be an illustrious career in the breeding shed. Little did Fritz know at the time that he would one day own Invitation Only. The resulting foal, a black stallion named Willy Be Invited went on to win the Congress 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure with Fritz and Carole’s daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, in the saddle. He also placed in the Top 5 in Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show; and earned 113 Open Western Pleasure points and 39 Hunter Under Saddle points. 

        He is the sire of AQHA World and Congress Champions. Some of his most decorated offspring include: multiple PHBA World Champion Cowboys Aint Easy To Love; AQHA Reserve World Champion Details Of Willy; Congress Masters Limited Open Hunter Under Saddle Reserve Champion Willy Big Dreams and Willy On The Green, an AQHA Youth World Champion, NSBA Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Maturity Champion and Congress Limited Open Maturity Hunter Under Saddle Champion.

        “Willy’s foals have great longevity,” Fritz said. They are known for their big, sweeping hocks and short backs. The Hunter Under Saddle babies have big, ground-covering trots as well.”      Willy Be Invited still stands to a full book of mares at Leeman Farm. His 2019 stud fee is $1,500 with special considerations for repeat customers, multiple mares, World Champions or World Champion producers.  He is enrolled in the Tom Powers Triple Challenge Trust, The Southern Belle Invitation, Go For The Gold Stallion Service, Michigan Futurity, NSBA Stallion Incentive Program and NSBA Breeders Championship Futurity.

            In 2010 Fritz purchased How Bout This Cowboy, a 2007 sorrel stallion by Dont Skip Zip out of Ms Jackie Krymsun. 

            “I was very impressed with How Bout This Cowboy because he had big bones and a stronger body than the majority of other horses,” Fritz said. “I knew he would provide a great outcross on everything we had bred.”

            In the show pen, How Bout This Cowboy was the 2009 Congress 2-Year-Old Maiden Western Pleasure and was Reserve Champion in the 2-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure. A month later he was Reserve AQHA Word Champion in the 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure. How Bout This Cowboy has lifetime earnings in excess of $35,000 and is the sire of How Bout At Midnight, AQHA World Champion in the 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure and Congress Reserve Champion in the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure. He is also the sire of How Do U Figer, a 2017 AQHA/APHA filly out of Go Figer. How Do U Figer is a NSBA World and Tom Powers Champion and Congress Reserve Champion in Longe Line with earnings in excess of $20,000. 

            “How Bout This Cowboy’s foals have pretty heads, short backs, good hips and and good bones and feet,” Fritz said. “They are tight joggers with deep sweeping hocks. They mature early and have great minds.”

            How Bout This Cowboy is standing the 2019 breeding season at Leeman Farm for a fee of $1,500 with special considerations for repeat customers, multiple mares, World Champions or World Champion producers. He is enrolled in the Tom Powers Triple Challenge Trust, The Southern Belle Invitation, Go For The Gold Stallion Service, Michigan Futurity, NSBA Stallion Incentive Program, APHA Breeders Trust, NSBA Breeders Championship Futurity, Western Pleasure Super Sires.

            Fritz and Carole truly enjoy the horses and say they are humbled when mare owners choose to breed to one of their stallions. It’s part of the reason that, when in 2015 Mike and Rochelle Farina decided to sell leading sires Invitation Only and Lazy Loper that the couple jumped at the chance to own them.

            “We needed to improve our breeding program and I just wanted to offer Invy a place to retire to,” Fritz said. “He was one of the largest influences in the industry and I thought that even if I never got to breed a mare to him, it would be exciting just to have him in the barn.”

            The Leemans did get several more mares bred to Invitation Only before his death last month, with the last, out of Congress and World Champion producer, Wildly Available, born in 2017.

            “Fortunately, we do have some frozen semen remaining for purchase by selected individuals using the ICSI procedure and we will be breeding some mares to him, including Cool Lookin Lady and Wildly Available,” Fritz said.

            They are also thrilled to have on the stallion roster AQHA World Champion and Congress Reserve Champion Lazy Loper, a 2001 bay stallion by Gota Lota Potential and out of Hint Again. Lazy Loper is the sire of foals earning over 70 World Championships, Congress Championships and Reserve Championships, including AQHA World Champion and Congress 2-Year-Old Coughlin Western Pleasure Champion, Lope With Grace; AQHA World Champion, Congress Masters Western Pleasure Champion and a multiple Congress champion, One Lazy Investment; Multiple Congress and World Champion Lazy Holla Dayz; and multiple World and Congress Champion sire, No Doubt Im Lazy. 

Lazy Loper is a multiple honor roll sire, AQHA Top 5 sire and NSBA Top 5 Leading Money Earning Sire.In all, his foals have earned over 38,000 points and logged $1.8 million in earnings.

            “He is truly a gentleman,” Fritz said. “His foals are early developers with great movement and even better minds. Anyone can train a Lazy foal and they go do their job and remain quiet and happy.”

            Lazy Loper is standing the 2019 breeding season at Leeman Farm for a stud fee of $2,500. His foals are eligible for the Western Pleasure Super Sires, West Virginia Futurity, NSBA SIF, BCF, APHA Breeders Trust and Southern Belle and Tom Powers Triple Challenge.

            The farm consists of 60 stalls within four connected barns, a large indoor arena and plenty of pastures and turn-out spaces. It is also a USDA export facility for semen to Europe, Israel and Australia.

            Randy Yoder is the farm manager and has been with Leeman Farm since 1981. Greg Bender is the herd manager, trainer and handles the yearlings and the care of broodmares. Lauren Erk joined Leeman Farm in 2015 as the breeding manager. She handles all marketing, breeding and sales.

            Leeman Farm has certainly grown and improved over the years and the awards have been many. But the Leemans say the accomplishment of which they are most proud is the friends they’ve met over the years.

            “It is great to see the accomplishments achieved by our stallions, even more so when it is one bred by a customer,” Fritz said. “It’s a bigger risk taken by a breeding customer since most are carrying their own foals so there’s only one opportunity each year. It’s also been very rewarding to see offspring born overseas as they have even more expenses and there are so many stallions from which they can choose.”

            Recently the Leemans have expanded into the world of Reining. They now own and stand Congress Champion and Silver Medalist for the FEI Junior Riders Team in 2017, Footwork Revolution, a 2010 dun stallion by Einsteins Revolution and out of DS Fancy Footwork, that has been Katsy’s amateur partner. With lifetime earnings of $114,000, Footwork Revolution is also a Reserve AQHA World Champion in Amateur Reining and has 40.5 AQHA points in Open and Amateur Reining. His first foals arrived in 2018 and the Leemans are excited to see what the future holds for these youngsters.

            Katsy remains deeply involved in the horse industry. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Auburn University and now has joined the family’s business. She works at the dairy but also lives and works on the farm, learning everything she can from her grandparents and the staff at Leeman Farm.

            For additional information on Leeman Farm or to arrange a breeding to one of the stallions, you can visit www.LeemanFarm.com or call (330) 837-8598.