Tarver Hancock Horses | Foundation bred Quarter Horses

Welcome; One of the few top sources of deep quality, Gary Tarver of northern Wyoming breeds world-calibre Hancock Horses that trace back to the best using horses when most cowboys didn't feel mounted unless they were on a Hancock. Since those days, cattle in arenas have gotten smaller and many cowhorse lines have evolved into smaller horses. But if you are looking for old original foundation, smooth-moving big country horses that can catch & work a cow, you are in the right place. Gary's horses are linebred Mr Roan Hancock, with Blue Valentine (Salty Roan and Gooseberry), Texas Blue Bonnet and other select strains within the Hancock bloodline. Gary has used these horses himself ranching and roping all his life. He has supplied others over the decades with great ranch & cow horses for arena work, rodeoing, and for use in other top breeding programs. Because of the market, Gary only has a handful of his old broodmares running with his stud. Most of his young mares are in another pasture.

CAVEAT: The following remarks are strictly my opinion, so take that for what it's worth.

1.) Even in this market, you get what you pay for, in fact, especially because of this market, you get what you pay for.

2.) There are plenty of breeders out there who breed Hancock horses. Only a few Hancock horses have the linebred pedigree, fault-free conformation, movement, temperament, and size that Gary's do, let alone throughout their whole breeding program.

3.) Oh, and as a sidenote, Gary's horses are all black, and roan. Other than selecting for black legs & feet, he doesn't pay attention to color but selects for all the other (right) reasons. Plenty Coup Hancock is homozygous for the black gene as well as the roan gene. Most of us won't buy a horse solely because of its color, and certainly won't breed one only because of its color, but if the blue roan cowboy color is what you are looking for, you won't have to sacrifice quality to find that here. Also note that Gary does have a couple roan + grey broodmares of Badger and Buck Hancock bloodline; so all of their foals will be black based and roan, but half of their foals will also inherit the greying gene, and will eventually turn grey.

2008 filly by Plenty Coup Hancock (NFS owned by neighbor)

The first thing you will notice when you visit Gary's herds is their uniformity, and consistent quality. There isn't a bottom end in his foal crops, and you will find your selections will be based largely on personal preference for color etc. I don't know if there is another herd in the Hancock bloodline with this much line-breeding, consistency, look-alike babies, and uniform quality in nearly every horse. I am convinced that this is no accident, and is the result of years of using & riding the best horses & breeding those horses wisely & honestly. I consider myself to be very discriminating, and I find it easy to help Gary market his horses because I believe in them: I would be proud to own them myself.

2008 stud colt by Plenty Coup Hancock out of Peach Tarver
(sold) Major Tarver - 2008 colt by Plenty Coup Hancock out of