We Wake Up With Purpose

Where It Began

Neither of us set out to become breed conservationists. The path there was more accidental, and more inevitable, than any plan we could have made.

It started at Mill Swamp Indian Horses — a breed conservation and educational non-profit here in our own backyard. Samantha had grown up with horses, fifteen years of them, and Tim had come around simply to learn enough to be useful — to help her get back to what she loved. Mill Swamp was where we both first met a Choctaw horse. It was also where we began to understand just how rare they were, and what that rarity meant.

What drew us in wasn’t just the history, though the history is remarkable. It was the horses themselves. The way they bonded with people. Their intelligence — steady and deep, not flashy. The endurance that centuries of survival had bred into them. These were not performance horses built for a show ring. They were something older and more honest than that.

That number still surprises people. It surprised us too, a little — until it didn’t. When a horse is that willing, that steady, that genuinely present with its rider, the miles accumulate almost naturally. In Tim’s first full year of riding, he logged more than 1,000 miles. He did it again the second year.

At some point along the way, this stopped being a hobby and became a calling.

Building the Program

Deciding to breed Choctaw horses is one thing. Finding the right stock is another entirely. We made contact with a breeder in Northern Virginia who held Foundation Stock from the conservation effort following the 2008 herd gather — a pivotal moment in the effort to stabilize the breed’s genetic future. We selected our breeding stock from her with careful diligence, prioritizing bloodline diversity and temperament alongside physical type.

The land came next. We purchased our 25.46 acres in Surry County in 2022. The home was built by 2023. The land itself was native cutover — not a pasture handed to us, but a landscape we’ve been steadily shaping, watching native Virginia hardwoods and pines reseed naturally alongside the paddocks we’re building out. We’re developing a pasture rotation plan that keeps at least one paddock resting for a minimum of 45 days per season, so the land can sustain what we’re asking of it long term.

This is a working farm, not a showplace. Every decision we make — from fencing to feeding to which foals we raise and which pairings we pursue — is made in service of the breeding program and the horses in our care.

Grain. Hay. Handling — the daily, quiet work of keeping Choctaw horses what they are meant to be: gentle, bonded, human-oriented animals. That gentleness isn’t a given. It’s maintained. It requires presence, consistency, and the willingness to show up without exception. We do.

What Makes a Choctaw Horse

The word “Choctaw” in breed conservation carries more history than a single tribe. The Choctaw conservation effort formally recognizes horses descending from Choctaw, Cherokee, and Huasteca strains as Choctaw horses — these three lines form the core of what the registry considers 100% Choctaw.

The fuller story reaches further. After the Trail of Tears brought the Five Civilized Tribes to Oklahoma, the breeding continued — shaped over generations by the Chickasaw, Cheyenne, Comanche, Creek, and other nations whose horsemanship and stewardship helped define what these horses became. The Choctaw horse, understood fully, is a living record of Indigenous land, culture, and survival across centuries of American history.

Our program specializes in Choctaw and Cherokee strains. Every horse we breed carries that history forward.