mini scoop
In Memoriam
Barbara Naviaux
AMHA was saddened to hear Barbara
Naviaux passed away on October 23, 2017.
Barbara was a true pioneer of the AMHA
and the Miniature horse breed. Those who
knew her said she is a very strong-willed
individual who voiced her opinions and
concerns about the breed openly, but always
treated everyone with kindness and respect.
Barbara became very well known in the
Miniature horse industry as an author of
many magazine articles and books. Perhaps,
her most influential title was her book,
Miniature Horses; Their Care, Breeding,
and Coat Colors.
Many champion foals were produced with
the Barbara’s Rodabi-J prefix which came
about by the clever use of her four son’s
names- Rob, Dave, Bill, and Jeff. Barbara
was a hands-on breeder, gentling each foal
herself and completing the initial train-
ing for each horse and only then would
she turn her charges over to a professional
trainer for finishing. Even in her eighties,
she maintained a small herd of high-quality
Miniatures on a 6.5-acre farm in Placerville,
California.
Barbara was very involved with AMHA,
serving three years on the AMHA Board of
Directors and then Chaired the Standard of
Perfection Committee in 1998. She then
originated the Genetics Committee and
subsequently served as Chairman of that
newly formed committee. The standards
used today in the AMHA registration
department are those she helped build while
leading these two committees. In 2016,
AMHA awarded Barbara a coveted “A”
Award for her lifelong service to the as-
sociation. Her greatest ambition was always
to produce and promote the most correct
American Miniature horse possible.
12 Miniature Horse World
WINTER 2017
Gene Carr
Gene Carr from South Dakota passed away
on October 25, 2017. Gene was a carded
AMHA judge since 1994 and a true icon
in the entire horse industry, both US and
Internationally. He left a vast legacy of
knowledge in his writings and produced
champion horses in several breeds includ-
ing Quarter Horses, Appaloosa and Pony of
the Americas where he was involved as early
as 1958.
Gene’s passion for learning led to a pursuit
of studying genetics in the Appaloosa Horse
breed. Intrigued how one horse with few
markings could produce offspring with a
color blanket and many markings, Gene
worked to isolate the color pattern gene
in Appaloosas. After studying pictures and
lineage of over 2000+ Appaloosa horses –
he succeeded in isolating the gene and pub-
lished the work - Homozygous Appaloosa
Coat Patterns. This led to opportunities to
become an international renowned horse
breeder and an international horse judge of
15 horse breeds in North and South Ameri-
ca, Europe, Australia and South Africa.
Honored by his peers as the South Dakota
Horseman Of The Year in 2004, he was in-
ducted into the PTHA Judges Hall of Fame
in 2006 and honored by the POA associa-
tion as a POA Diamond Premier Breeder
(0nly six breeders have achieved this in the
history of the breed). Gene will be sorely
missed by many in the horse industry. May
he rest in peace.
Lucky Four
Rebelchase
Rebelsupreme
(4/2/2007-10-23-2017)
Wade Burns and Jon Woodring of Lucky
Four Farm had to say good bye to Lucky
Four Rebelchase Rebelsupreme after a long,
tough batt le to save him. Lucky Four was
honored to have had the privilege of own-
ing this great little 28 inch stallion from
birth. He was World Champion in both the
Futurity and Open Class as a yearling and
was never shown again.
Lucky Four Rebelchase Rebelsupreme
was shown by trainer Mike Rosauer and
was always a consistent winner. He was
named “Phil” when Mike picked him up to
show him. Phil Lipani, Lucky Four’s farm
manager told Mike, “This will be our next
World Champion.” Mike said “Well, we will
just call him Phil.”
He was the sire of 34 foals, 8 who are World
Champions and 2 who are Reserve World
Champions. He was also named AMHA’s
Top Futurity Sire in 2012.