They say that the best time to find the perfect horse is when you are not looking. And although, Anneene Miller, has been hoping to either raise or purchase a stallion to represent Starland Ranch, for some time now, up until recently she had not found one that checked all her boxes.

That has all changed with Right Onn, a 2019 colt by Hubba Hubba Huntin out of Miss Allocations.

“He has charisma and eye appeal plus great conformation and looks to go with his big front leg and correctness,” she said.

Anneene and her husband, James Gustafson, own Starland Ranch LLC, a 160-acre facility in El Reno, Oklahoma that includes a show barn, arena barn and lush pastures for mares and their foals. With Anneene’s 46-year background breeding American Quarter Horses (plus an additional five years raising Appaloosa horses), Starland has produced numerous successful show horses, including Cool Cruzen Lady, To Cool To Be Hot,The Batchelor, Moonrageous, Swagger Machine and Made Mighty Cool, just to name a few.

So it’s not surprising that the bar is high when it comes to selecting a stallion to represent their operation. But Annee determined fairly quickly that Right Onn could be “the one.”

For the past several years now, Michigan trainers Dwayne and Amber (Hanson) Pickard have helped Anneene with her Hunter Under Saddle show horses. Most recently they have been showing Rockstar Status (Elton) with tremendous success. When he was just a 3-year-old, Elton helped Anneene win the AQHA Level 1 Amateur Select Hunter Under Saddle World Championship title and the Reserve Level 1 Amateur Select Hunter Under Saddle at the Quarter Horse Congress in 2021, where he was Reserve in the Limited Open 3-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle with Brian Isbell in the irons. Amber also piloted him to a Reserve Congress Championship in the 3-Year-Old Limited Open Hunter Under Saddle there as well. This year, Annee and Elton won the Level 2 Amateur Select Hunter Under Saddle at the AQHA World Show. They also placed fourth in the Level 1 Amateur Select Hunter Under Saddle at the Quarter Horse Congress.

It was there that Right Onn first appeared on the radar. Dwayne and Amber spotted him at roughly at the same time, as Ryan Painter was riding him in one of the warm-up areas for his client.

“I saw Ryan riding this horse and liked him right away,” he recalled. “I texted Amber and she replied, ‘I was just about to text you the same.’”

Both Dwayne and Amber rode the youngster and loved him. That’s when Dwayne told Anneene, who had expressed her interest in owning a stallion, that she should check him out.

Anneene said the “wow factor “was obvious from the first time she saw him, but an impromptu visit to the youngster’s stall convinced her.

“I went in the stall to have a conversation with this horse,” she explained. “I picked up all his feet, rubbed his head and ears, and asked him if he wanted a new home? Seriously, I was very impressed with his quiet and kind nature and that was rewarding being around him knowing he was a young stallion in a strange place. So, at that point our negotiations began.”

Right Onn had been entered in the 3-Year-Old Open Maiden Hunter Under Saddle class at the Championship Show in Ocala prior to its cancellation, so his experiences at horse shows is limited.

The Pickards have been hard at work molding Right Onn into their program a little better and the plan is for Amber to show him for the first time in Florida at the Gold and Gulf Coast circuits in Green Hunter Under Saddle.

“Ryan did an amazing job training him so it has been easy to ride after him,” Dwayne explained. “He has a great topline, he’s gorgeous pretty and a good mover. As far as being a stud prospect, those attributes all factor into that as well. When you look at him, you think wow he’s got the breeding and the presence.”

Plus, the Pickards think Right Onn is a horse that Anneene will be able to ride as well.

“We are so very excited to embark on a show career with Right Onn and Amber showing him initially, then myself in the future,” she said. “We may venture into Performance Halter Stallions in the future as well.  He then will go to the breeding barn to prove himself.  I have no doubt he will sire fantastic off spring as he has everything going for him from genetics to movement to pass on.”

And while Anneene waits, she is also looking forward to watching how Best In The Spotlite progresses in the Pickard program. The 2020 mare by Good Better Best and out of Oh So Beautiful will make her debut soon with Amber in the irons.

Dwayne and Amber say they are fortunate to have someone as dedicated as Anneene is to her horses in their program.

“She is always about the horse,” Dwayne said. “Some people are just wanting to do whatever to win but to her, the horse comes first.”

The same is true of Starland’s western horses. Under the direction of Texas trainer Aaron Moses, Moonrageous, a 2015 black gelding by Only In The Moonlite and out of Suddenly A Cool Lady that Anneene bred and raised, has a dossier most would envy. He is an AQHA and NSBA World Champion as well as a Congress Champion. Just this year, Anneene won the Amateur Select Western Pleasure at the Quarter Horse Congress while Moses piloted him to a Championship in Senior Western Pleasure.

Anneene says she’s fortunate to have great teams – like Pickard Hanson Show Horses and Aaron Moses Show horses – supporting her in the show arena. But she gets equally excited about the Starland breeding program.

With great mares that are great producers, Starland has raised some of the best pleasure horses in the country over the years.

Their most prolific mare, in terms of show winnings, is Suddenly A Cool Lady (Venus), the Congress Masters Western Pleasure Champion in 2011 with Gil Galyean.  Venus has lifetime earnings of $146,123, making her the fifth highest money earning mare, according to AQHA. With only 13 foals to date, her offspring have competed at the highest level. In 2018, with only six foals on the ground at the time, Venus offspring (sired by three different stallions and with three different trainers) earned three Congress Championships.

“We are so proud to own this mare and she is the queen of the barn of course,” Anneene said.

Starland also owns the only full sister to Cool Krymsun Lady and she has been a great producer as well.

“We also own Shes Blazing Cool who produced The Batchelor and several other show horses,” Anneene said. “We have several other great producing mares, most with very similar bloodlines as we are very high on that bottom bloodline in our breeding program.”

Starland has 10 foals coming in 2023 and Jim and Anneene say they are excited to see how the crosses they selected turn out.

“No matter how long or how hard you study pedigrees it is still a gamble to some degree on what you will get,” Anneene admitted.” The breeding business is tough, from getting the mare in foal, or embryo to survive in a recipient mare. Then you pray for a normal delivery and a healthy foal. You then go through the problems of health issues, or injuries on the foal or yearling until it is ready to start in training.  After that, you hope all that has transpired in raising this individual  it will become a star in the show pen.  It is so much work and there are so many heartaches being a breeder when you have big problems. I have always said, the horse business can be the highest of highs, or lowest of lows.”

But Jim and Anneene can also not imagine anything more rewarding.

“We are very blessed to have had such great success with a small breeding program that I have immersed my life in,” Anneene said.

Her love for horses was ignited when she was just a child and she has dedicated her life to the Starland operation, which was named in honor of the 1976 AQHA World Champion Halter stallion Skipa Star.

“I loved him dearly and even had many horses sired by him including a stallion, One Tuff Star, who I stood by myself from 1989 until his death in 2011.

Starland always has several great prospects for sale at home or in Texas with Moses. You can contact Anneene at (405) 850- 5055 if you are looking for a special individual.

And, hopefully, in a few years, Starland will have some top quality Hunter Under Saddle prospects by Right Onn to offer to the public, if Anneene and Jim have anything to say about it.

The Pickards have a lot of faith in the plan and in Anneene and Jim.

“Anneene has a lot of grit and is very witty with a fun sense of humor,” Amber explained. “She is always playing practical jokes on Dwayne. And Jim, he is a saint. He always wants to make sure Anneene is happy.”

Amber said Anneene’s strength is that she’s truly addicted to horses.

“She is a true horsewoman so she understands every aspect of this business the good, the bad even the ugly,” Amber revealed. “She’s a very determined rider and always trying to push herself to be better.”