Judy Yancey

Warmblood Stallions Breeding Program

Meet Judy!  She is one of North America’s most experienced warmblood breeders with more than 40 years in the business. Judy is a pre-eminent importer and distributor of frozen warmblood semen who handles hundreds of doses each and every year from many of the world’s top warmblood stallions. She is a pioneer in the industry who began her journey in 1975. Judy grew up in Texas in a family of ranchers where she spent her childhood horseback riding and exploring the vast land of the area.

  • Judy Yancey - Yancey Farms
    Photo by Susan Sexton

In 1974 she read an article in The Chronicle of the Horse Magazine about warmbloods and at that moment, she knew she wanted one of her own. Being a 3-Day Event athlete at the time, the idea of a warmblood for competing was exciting. She researched and decided on a Trakehner Stallion named BEAUTE who became her eventing and dressage partner for many years. BEAUTE was the first warmblood to come west of the Mississippi in the U.S. that year in 1974. She then purchased a mare in foal to BEAUTE, resulting in her very first Trakehner foal in 1975, which started her breeding career.

In 1981, Judy was contacted by Uwe Heckmann and Dr. Roland Ramsauer of the Oldenburg Verband. They were introducing the concept of a Sporthorse Registry into the United States and they reached out to Judy because she had a famous Trakehner stallion at the time who was DONAUWIND. This was the beginning of her Premium Oldenburg breeding program. Seven years later, in 1988, Judy began importing frozen horse semen and kickstarted her business with a national marketing program a few years later. She represented the stallions DONNERSCHLAG, LAROME and WALZERTAKT from Gestut St. Ludwig. That first year, 42 mares were bred through the frozen semen program which was successful and encouraged her to expand and seek new stallions to add to her list.

When selecting stallions to represent, Judy has always chosen them based on if she would want to uses them in her own horse breeding program. She would breed them to her mares and would purchase extra doses to sell to other breeders. Basically, she chose stallions based on her personal criteria for the amateur owners’ market that she serviced. And, most importantly, they had to be from the German Oldenburg region or breeding program.

Judy is a pioneer in the United States breeding programs. She is also someone with great respect for horses and maintaining the quality of a breeding foundation. She believes that all new breeders need to determine their own goals and beware of fads and trends in breeding. Trends change. But fundamental breeding of quality horses does not change and staying committed to excellence is essential for success.