The History of CJ Ranch

Greetings! Originally started on 25 acres along the banks of the Tilton River near Morton, WA, CJ Ranch, owned by C.G. "Neal" & Johanna Nielsen (and ran with the help of our children and grandchildren), has been breeding Arabian and Half Arabian horses since 1991 and Black Angus cattle since 1998. Johanna and Stephanie have also been showing our Arabian and Half Arabian horses on the Class A, Regional and National level since 1992.

The Ranch

The 1400 acres that make up CJ Ranch was carved out of the land by the former owner, Woody Jones, using hands and horses. Woody created the 100 acre hay meadow and even cultivated some of the range land, at left, which makes up the balance of the ranch with teams. Living in a time when good quality farmland  and wilderness are converted to strip malls and housing developments, we feel very fortunate to own this little section of paradise. Life moves at slower pace and we are surrounded by nature's beauty.

Following the traditions and beliefs that created this ranch, we believe in balancing wildlife and domestic animals. In conjunction with NRCS' (Natural Resources Conservation Service) EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) cost share program we have created three ponds, put in a well on the range so there will be water year round for livestock and wildlife, and replaced ancient fences with quality ones to help keep the livestock out of Cottonwood Creek. Farms and ranches selected for EQIP must meet strict standards in order to receive compensation. Our hay is grown naturally without the use of pesticides or herbicides. Irrigation is achieved via subirrigation. We are working on minimizing what little spot herbicide spraying we do elsewhere by using our goats to control weeds whenever possible. We must be doing something right because it is common to see wildlife from the house... including in the front yard!

The Horses

Back in 1991 we went to an all-breed horse auction to find an 8-10 year old broke Quarter Horse gelding that Stephanie could game on and show in 4-H.  What we left with was two unbroke, hardly touched 4-year-old Arabian mares. To this day we don't know what caused us to do that, however it started something that is still going strong!  We bred one of them, SJ Naturita (a *Naturel daughter), to a Paint, Sonny Dee Fox.  At the time we didn't know anything about breeding, but our goal was to produce a pinto.  Well, we ended up with a chestnut without spots and thus he was named CJ Spotless.  CJ Spotless, was the 1997 Region IV Half Arabian Western Pleasure Futurity Champion and has gone on to win many other awards in Western Pleasure, Ladies Side Saddle, Equitation, Walk/Trot and Horsemanship.

Shortly after aquiring the two mares we traded our grade Appaloosa for a Half Arabian gelding that we were told was a kids horse and could be ridden saddle seat as well as western.  What we weren't told was that he was safe on the trail, but that he was ring sour and unsafe in the ring!  Well, Stephanie lasted one year in 4-H with this horse before he was sold, but he put a fire in her to ride saddle seat at Arabian shows.

At the same time, Johanna bought a nice Al-Marah bred western pleasure Half Arabian to show on the Arabian circuit.  She did well (especially considering she didn't have a trainer) and even qualitfied and showed at Region 5. "Gus" was a fun horse to ride and Johanna learned a lot on him.  She eventually sold him to a hunt club where kids learned to jump on him!

This interest in showing led us to attend the 1993 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show as spectators.  While there, we were connected with Erin LaCroix.  She had a talented Arabian Country English Pleasure gelding, OH Bright Idea+/ (right), for sale. At the time he had been a Scottsdale winner and a US National Top Ten Open Country Pleasure horse.  We brought him home and worked with him.  In the spring of 1994 Stephanie and "Brighty" went to their first show.  Despite not having a trainer and not knowing much about what she was doing Stephanie still managed to bring home a Reserve Champion ribbon in the AOTR Championship class – beating out several National Champions with "big name" trainers.  At this show we hooked up with Chris and Sonya Bickford and the rest is history!  Riding Brighty, under the guidance of Chris and Sonya, Stephanie garnered the 1994 Canadian National Reserve Championship JTR 17 & Under and the 1995 Canadian National Championships in both JTR and JOTR 17 & Under. "Brighty" was also Top Ten Ladies Side Saddle English with both Stephanie and Sonya. Brighty won numerous National Top Tens, Regional Championships, Reserve Championships and Top Fives for us. Besides Country Pleasure and Side Saddle English, Brighty also was a Country Pleasure Driving and Equitation horse.   In 1997 we sold Brighty so that we could move on to a new challenge and someone else could enjoy him.  This was a very special horse and we were lucky to have had him.

In 1994 we started breeding English horses.  While most of our foals were Class A quality, the majority of them went on to be everyday riding horses.  For example, one local ranch bought two of our Half Arabian/Half Saddlebred youngsters to use for moving cattle. Another example is our purebred Bask Flame son, CJ Windfire (left). "Hank" spent his entire life on the ranch until he went off to "get a job" in 2003 with Melissa Barter-Bradley as a Country Pleasure and Show Hack horse. Besides being a 2004 Top Five Region 6 Show Hack AAOTR 40 & Over winner, "Hank" also is a Class A Country Pleasure winner. Until his "big break," he was used on the ranch to move cattle and ride the range. At the end of the 2004 show season we brought Hank home to be a ranch horse. He's been belly deep in ponds, moved and sorted cattle, gone through thick brush, has had a 6-day-old baby sit on his back and has been ridden side saddle while a TD20 dozer (BIG) worked 100 or so yards away from him. Hank is for sale.

Even though we love high stepping English horses, we now breed working horses both for in the show ring and out on the ranch.  We have two beautiful Arabian mares with working western bloodlines that we use in our breeding program. HSABintu Al-Bahri (right) is an Al-Marah bred mare by AM Sea Captain++. Zees Pet is a double Xenophonn granddaughter. Learn more about the mares, including their pedigrees, over on the Foundation Horses page.

Our young ranch-bred Half Arabian mares and gelding as well as our purebred 2009 filly show potential of being really talented horses. All four are intelligent, athletic and well muscled with a great hip and shoulder. The two mares, CJ SnappleBahri and CJ Zeebra, show promise as reiners and/or cow horses. The gelding, CJ The Magician, shows promise as a hunter or sport horse. All three are by a foundation-bred, well-built grullo AQHA ranch stallion, Oakies Ginger Snap.  Additionally, our 2009 Arabian filly features the "golden cross" of AM Sea Captain++ and Dreamazon+++.  Read more about these youngsters over on the Sales page.

Over time we have had a lot of nice horses. We do not have enough room to go on about every single one, however there are two geldings we still own that we want to mention.

Bar CL Docs Bahar (left) is an awesome Half Arabian cutting horse. Bahar had a highly successful career as a cutting horse on the open circuit prior to us purchasing him. While we don't show him, we do put his skills to good use. He knows just where to be when dealing with difficult cows or bulls and isn't afraid to get right in there. He also has one of those great Arabian minds... Stephanie showed him in Hunter Pleasure and Johanna's practiced saddle seat and reining maneuvers on him. Bahar is also an excellent baby sitter for little kids.

Karamat+/ (right), our beautiful and talented Arabian Reining horse, definitely ranks up there as THE special horse. He combines talent, beauty and personality into one package. "Kermit" is the 2006 Canadian National Champion AAOTR 40 & Over with Johanna. He has several Canadian and US National Top Tens that he has won in Open and AAOTR 45 & Over. Kermit's placed in both Open and AAOTR at Scottsdale. Additionally, Kermit has won numerous Regional Championships, Reserve Championships and Top Fives in AAOTR, ATR and Open. Kermit earned his Legion of Honor in one year alone! We cannot say enough about this wonderful horse! Johanna has Kermit at home now and is doing all of the work herself. His unique training program includes cantering the 100 acre hay meadow. It's paying off because this pair were Region 4 Reserve Champion AAOTR and Top Five Open and Region III Reserve Champion Open and Top Five AOTR.

CJ Ranch currently has a total of three National Championships, one Reserve National Championship, 15 National Top Tens, plus numerous Regional Championships, Reserve Championships and Top Fives and Class A placings (including Scottsdale Reserve Championships and Top Tens).

Be sure and check out our Sales page -- you might find your next horse!

The Cattle

When we moved to our 1400 acre Idaho ranch in 1997, we decided to add Black Angus cattle to our herd of horses. Our goal has always been to produce functional breeding stock with low to moderate birth weights and high growth potential. We first purchased 11 quality cows from Noah's Angus Ranch in Cambridge, Idaho. Then we purchased the Bon View New Design 1407 son Leachman New Design 3009J from the former Leachman Cattle Company of Billings, MT. Leachman New Design 3009J was an amiable bull who consistently produced good looking, friendly calves with easy births who excelled in the feedlot and as natural, grass-fed beef. He and his offspring have all been easy to work on foot as well as on horseback. "Arnold" had to be put down due to an old hip injury that was slowing him down too much. Despite having a difficult time moving he still managed to breed about 40 cows within two months during his last breeding season with us.  Arnold's bloodlines live on in many of our cows.

Since those initial purchases we have added heifers and cows from Thomas Angus Ranch (Baker, OR) and the former Van Nice Angus Ranch of Silver Star, MT. In the fall of 2001, we purchased another bull, the Twin Valley Precision E161 son Thomas Precision E161 1132, from Thomas Angus Ranch. He put two calf crops on the ground for us. While we no longer own this bull, we retained several of his female offspring for breeding. View both bulls' EPDs here.

We now have two nice Black Angus bulls from Bear Mountain Angus.  These bulls crossed with our cows have made some really outstanding calves. Once again, we have stuck with bulls with low birth weights and high growth EPDs. These two bulls are also relatively easy to work on foot.

All of our females are selected for ease of birth, excellent maternal instincts and great udders, plus the overall picture -- we don't want to look out the window at a herd of ugly cows. We want our females to be good looking and feminine with nice strong frames and calves that are even better. The ability to adapt to rugged terrain is required on the summer range -- all of our cows and heifers possess these traits. They are also easy to work on foot and horseback.  In a nut shell, our cattle herd is pretty low maintenance. 

Our calves excel in the feedlot and as natural, grass-fed beef with an above-national-average number grading out as Certified Angus Beef. All of our calves have made Choice or better (2001+). As part of our continuing commitment to quality Johanna has individual certification in The Idaho Beef Quality Assurance Program sponsored by the University of Idaho Extension, and CJ Ranch has Level I ranch certification in the same program. Additionally, we are always working to improve the health and production of our hay and alfalfa fields. This translates to higher quality feed for our animals and, ultimately, improved health for our cattle and higher quality beef for the consumer.