"My farm ranks very high on the
list of top breeding farms in California," says owner
Celeste ("Cici") Huston. "We have gathered the
finest bloodlines of the most magnificent stallions one could
choose to breed to their mares. I've been breeding paints for
the last fourteen years, and I ain't dun coloring yet," she
quipped.
"The mares here range in all the spectrum of exotic
color pattern, from dun to palomino and buckskin to grulla,
which makes our foaling season very exciting!"
Cici, a dedicated horsewoman herself, is one of the most
spirited members of the Valley's equestrian crowd.
As a girl, she was a student at the Montecito School for
Girls, a lovely facility which has since been converted to an
upscale retirement home, Casa Dorinda. But when Cici was a
student there, the girls were permitted to keep their own horses
on the premises.
"I had been horse-crazy for years," she says,
recalling how she was enchanted by the many bridle trails
winding through the woodsy grounds.
Her interest in horses grew, and after leaving the school,
she trained and rode in horse shows for years, working first
with Saddlebreds and then spending twenty years showing
Arabians.
Her association with horses has been a unifying theme in
her sometimes tumultuous life. Her skill and talent with horses
has given a special impetus to her relationships. In the 1980's,
she bred a Top-Ten Arabian mare in partnership with Ronnie
Burns, son of George Burns. Through her friendship with Bo
Derek, she became interested in Andalusians.
Her "rainbow of magnificent horses" ranges from
a rare silver grullla to striking black and white Paints. She
searched nationwide for the American Quarter Horse stallion TM
Cody B Smokin, her rare silver grulla, finally finding him in
Michigan.
Cody clearly demonstrates the dun factor, a pattern that
can include a dark stripe along the middle of the back, a dark
mask, striped legs, and web like patterns on the chest. The
total effect is to make the horse resemble and equine
eland-truly a horse of a different color.
Cielo Celeste Farm also stands a striking black tobiano
stallion, Bold Win, who carries the bloodlines of Moon Deck, Top
Deck, Pee Wee King and Skipper W. He has sired over 64
registered American Paint Horse Association foals, including a
2002 National Barrel Race Champion. At age 24, he's still going
strong and is in great demand.
Cici's third stallion is a cutting-bred stud named
Colonels Gotaspot, a black overo*, minimal white grandson of the
great Colonel Freckles, who crosses back five times to King
breeding.
His presence is reminiscent of his five-time crosses to
King 234, with classic foundation Quarter Horse appeal. "I
found Gotaspot in Texas, "Cici recalled, "and I got
lucky with Bold Win, as I found him not far from where I was
living at that time."
With Cielo Celeste Farm, Cici's girlhood dream has come
true. She made it happen-from high fashion model to high power
horsewoman. Now that she's living her dream, she is committed to
breed and promote cutting, working cow and ranch horses of high
quality with great temperament and wonderful color.
"We start all our young ones with a super foundation
of basic training, so when they go on to the pros, they are
ready to mold," Cici informed us. "In fact, we have
one leaving next week for reining training with Phillip Ralls
(son of world class reiner, Ron Ralls)."
Cici and her staff welcome all inquires about any of their
stallions, and would love to give guests an opportunity to view
not only the stallions, but also to see all of the awesome
horses for sale at this lovely five star facility. There are
palominos in an amazing array of beige and tans, with creamy
blond tails, and Paints who trot up to you and seem to smile,
they are so friendly. You won't want to leave the rainbow horses
of Cielo Celeste Farm.
*"Overo" and "Tobiano" are two of many
highly abstruse terms used to describe the various color
patterns of Paint horses.
