Ortegas Pursue Dream in Middle Tennessee

By Sarah Gee
©Voice, April 2006

Kris and Dino Ortega love middle Tennessee and they love Tennessee Walking Horses. Walking horse enthusiasts since the late 1960s, they have been planning on relocating from southern California to middle Tennessee since the early 1980s. They finally bought their dream property, part of the original S.W. Beech farm in Belfast, Tennessee, and made the move in 2005. Their intention for what they’ve dubbed Stonehedge Manor is to start one of the only mare-care/foal-care facilities serving the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.

All around animal lovers, Kris and Dino, as stated above, became involved in walking horses in the late 1960s. In 1980, Kris rode Another Lady Ann to the Amateur Three-Year-Old Mare World Championship under the direction of Sammy Day. In 1984, Another Lady Ann became the first Tennessee Walking Horse mare to produce a foal via embryo transplant. That year, Prides Generator was exhibited at the Olympics in Los Angeles and the Ortegas bred Lady Ann to him and transplanted the resulting embryo into a Quarter Horse mare.

While walking horses have always been a sort of hobby for the Ortegas, cattle has been a way of life. Dino has been very involved in the cattle industry since the age of 16 when he began breeding registered Holsteins. Over the years, he has become one of the top fitters (trainers) and showmen of cattle in the country. He and Kris have bred, raised, and shown All Americans for several years and during the 1980s and 1990s, Dino worked for one of the largest bull studs in Mexico fitting and showing cattle. Upon moving to Tennessee, Dino began acquiring a small number of Black Angus.

So, why did the move take so long? Well, back in the early 1980s, when the Ortegas made the decision to move and actually obtained a contract to purchase historic Milky Way Farm in Giles County, Tennessee, the real estate market in California experienced a dramatic downturn and they were unable to sell their farm. Then, Dino began fitting and showing cattle in Mexico and it was just more convenient to travel between southern California and Mexico than between middle Tennessee and Mexico. So they pushed their plans back a bit, and when the time was right they made their dream move.

Highly qualified in the areas of breeding management and foal-care, they intend to start a mare-care/foal-care facility at Stonehedge Manor. The facility will be devoted solely to mare care and foal care. With no stallions being stood, the Ortegas will be able to direct their full attention to the wellbeing of the mares and foals under their watch. Their plan is for mare owners to bring their mares in prior to foaling. The Stonehedge crew will foal out the mares and get the foals off to a good start, and then re-breed the mares on their foal-heat. They also plan on providing a place for orphan foal care. The Ortegas personally own 15 broodmares and have had an excellent success rate of getting them in foal and getting the foals on the ground. In cattle they boast a .01 mortality rate in calving. Both have taken several courses in reproductive science and breeding management and they are experienced in all the latest breeding technologies. They are more than qualified to turn Stonehedge Manor into the premier mare care facility in our industry.