Ima Frosty Lena is more than a World and National champion reining horse. This colorful and athletic stallion is also an ambassador of Appaloosas who gets people talking.

By Michelle Anderson

A frost-colored stallion ridden by a fireman entered the darkened World Show arena in 2001 during the freestyle reining competition. The music started, the stands quieted, and a solemn reverence fell over the crowd.

Just more than a month after September 11, Ima Frosty Lena and trainer Terry Thompson paid tribute to the heroes lost in the tragedies. Eyes filled with tears and people stood in salute. In one powerful performance, Ima Frosty Lena slid into the Appaloosa world's spotlight.

Something Special
There's something special about Ima Frosty Lena. Maybe it has to do with the National and World championships he's collected, the money he's won in the National Reining Horse Association, his exceptional athletic ability or even the potential shown by his first colt, Ima Frosty Lena Jr. But mostly it's in the way people talk about him.

"He's super intelligent, super gifted, super talented, has a great personality, correct build and conformation, and he's sound," Terry says. "You'd have to go a long way to find anything wrong with him."

Frosty"s success in the reining pen has drawn attention away from several admirers, namely his different owners who've maintained and promoted the stallion. Terry purchased Frosty for a client and has since guided the stallion's career and overseen his sale from Ricky Little of Marshville, North Carolina, to Shawn and Tracy Reynolds of Columbus, New Jersey.

"He's my buddy," Terry affectionately says. "He and I became intertwined. I'm the one who's closest to the boy."

Terry's relationship with Frosty started in 1999, after Terry watched the then 3-year-old colt compete at the NRHA Futurity Championship Show in Oklahoma City. Frosty placed third out of 48 in novice horse open with Rocky Dare on board. Rocky trained and rode Frosty for his father and the horse's breeder, Jack Dare of Tombstone, Arizona.

It's In The Breeding
In 1996 Ms High Five produced a frosted little colt at Jack Dare's Florida ranch. Jack, at the insistence of a friend, had decided to breed an Appaloosa reiner that could win at the World. He'd spent two decades breeding top Quarter Horse and Paint reiners and cutting horses, and he saw Appaloosas as a new challenge for his breeding program.

But first, he needed the right stallion. Based on breeding, Jack leased Ima Little Lena for two seasons. The stallion has proved his might as a performance horse before standing at stud and covering Jack's mares.

As a 4-year-old in 1988, the stallion won the reserve World championship in cutting. In 1991 he won a reserve National championship and followed up with the World championship later that same year. After Jack's lease ended, Ima Little Lena moved to the Netherlands in 1998, where he became a European champion.

"Ima Little Lena was just one of the super-athletic horses of his day, and he passed it on to his get," Jack explains. "I picked him because he's a son of (NCHA Triple Crown winner) Smart Little Lena (AQHA). Of course, Ima Little Lena was also out of Wa Jo's Freckles, a two-time Appaloosa World champion cutting horse."

Wa Jo's Freckles also produced Appaloosa leading performance sire Ima Doc O'Lena by Doc O'Lena (AQHA) for owner Jimmie Miller Smith of Geary, Oklahoma.

"I bred a lot of foundation Quarter Horses and Appaloosa mares," Jack explains about his breeding program. One mare standing in Jack's pasture was Ms High Five, a daughter of Appaloosa Hall of Fame reining stallion High Sign.

"She was a super mare," Jack says about Frosty's dam. "You could walk out to her with a piece of baling twine, put it around her neck and lope circles on her. I had a dozen or so foals to pick from by Ima Little Lena, and Ms High Five had the best baby."

That baby, Ima Frosty Lena, not only met Jack's goal of breeding a World champion, but also became one of the Appaloosa industry's top reining stallions and a prolific NRHA money earner.

A League of his Own
After Frosty entered Terry Thompson's training program in Aubrey, Texas, it didn't take long for the pair to start winning in NRHA and Appaloosa competitions. In 2000 Frosty and Terry brought home the National and reserve World reining championships. The same year, Terry and Frosty made 11 NRHA goes, capturing eight bronze and pewter trophies and never placing below second. The stallion followed his 2000 season by collecting NRHA money and wins with Terry's assistant trainer, Tracy Lee, riding in 2001.

"None have done what he's done," Terry boasts about the stallion's string of wins. "There's nothing else in his league."

Terry attributes Frosty's success to the horse's naturally strong work ethic and docile temperament. His great mind, fluid movement, athleticism, and consistent training make him a great horse. When the stallion enters the show pen to perform, he's all business, and the crowds adore him.

"The word stallion doesn't apply to him," Terry says about Frosty's attitude. "He just walks in, does his job, walks out and doesn't raise hell. As far as doing his job, he's the best of any of the horses I've been around. He's a trooper, a warrior; anything you want to say good about any horse, I'd say about him."

Run for the Rookie
Frosty's next challenge came with his new owners, the Reynoldses, who purchased the stallion in late 2001 at Terry's recommendation. Tracy had worked for Terry, but Shawn had only ridden for a few years when he first met Frosty.

"Terry told me to go ride this horse," Shawn explains about his first time riding the stallion. "He already had Frosty saddled. I asked, 'Where's his bridle?' and Terry told me, 'Nah, just take him out like this." At first Shawn thought Terry was kidding.

"As soon as I got on Frosty, he just put his head down and went," Shawn recalls. Riding without a bridle, Shawn loped Frosty, did spins and changed leads. "By the end I was giggling," Shawn now reflects with a smile. "I was having so much fun. That was our relationship; just so much fun."

Frosty had sold himself to Tracy and Shawn, who started making plans to purchase the stallion.

A month later, Terry and Frosty won freestyle reining at the 2001 World Show, scoring a 280 for their bridleless "Hero" tribute to September 11. The performance earned a standing ovation and landed the talented pair on the January 2002 Appaloosa Journal cover. By late November, The Reynoldses bought Frosty as Shawn's non-pro mount.

With Tracy's support and Terry's guidance, Shawn pointed Frosty toward the 2002 Horse & Rider Magazine Rookie of the Year for the NRHA. They finished third for the award and brought home non-pro championships from the Appaloosa National and World shows that same year.

In 2003 Shawn and Frosty won another non-pro National championship. "Shawn became such a horseman over the past year, and it's because of Frosty," Tracy says.

"He made my non-pro career," Shawn adds. "Everyone always says you just get one great horse in your life, and I'm like 'Man, that was him.'"

At this year's National Show, a rumor circulated about the Reynoldses selling Frosty. In the end, non-pro Stuart Millstone purchased the stallion with plans to move Frosty to Windemere with Patrick and Teresa.

"It was really hard because he'd become more than just a horse to us; he'd become a pet," Tracy says. "I know from the business aspect, he shouldn't have been a pet, but he was. Shawn and I discussed the pros and cons. The word got out that we were selling him, and that surprised a lot of people who thought we'd have him forever, and I kind of thought that too. It was a hard decision to make."

New Goals
Patrick and Teresa believe in the versatile Appaloosa. They have a youth program at their barn and stand stallion Zippos Sensation (Zippo Jack Bar, AQHA x Hullo Annie), who competed in hunter in hand and all-around events before sustaining an injury. "We've always taught our kids to be versatile, uplifting and fun," Teresa says. They practice the same philosophy with their horses.

Over the past decade, the couple has watched reining grow in popularity. Patrick particularly felt the draw of the sport, and he's sought the reining wisdom of both Terry Thompson and fellow Floridian Dave Moore. Patrick and Teresa started sketching a plan for bringing a reining stallion to their barn and creating a breeding program. After discussing their independent but parallel ideas, they went for it.

"We decided that if we were really going to do this, we'd go out and get the very best reiner in the Appaloosa breed," Patrick says. "We've watched Frosty over the years, so we'd noticed the horse and thought he'd make an excellent addition to our equestrian center. It all just fell together."

"Our goal is to advance Frosty's future and promote him," Teresa notes.

"We'd like to see him get his superior," Patrick adds. They plan to continue challenging Frosty mentally by adding western riding, halter and trail to his show resume.

"He's not going to be the typical stallion where you buy them, breed them, and that's it," Patrick says. "He really enjoys going out and working. Every morning when I go out and tack him up, he's ready to go to work."

The Next Generation
Frosty has shown extensively over his lifetime, spending more time winning in the pen and leaving less time for the breeding shed. The Reynoldses are the first to admit they bought Frosty as a show horse, not a breeding stallion. But over the years, he's bred a limited amount of high-quality mares, and just this year Ima Frosty Lena Jr hit the show scene.

Sometimes the right horse comes along at the right time. From the way people are talking, that right horse for Appaloosa reining is Ima Frosty Lena.

This article was reprinted from the December 2003 issue of Appaloosa Journal, ppg 99-102.