For the Love of White Horses

by Curt Arens

Childhood memories and her love of white horses brought Carley Daugherty back to north-central Nebraska where she and her husband, Dean, are working to restore a unique horse breed and the ranch where she grew up.

Each morning, when Carley opens the whitewashed door to the barn at White Horse Ranch, she knows her “babies” will be waiting to greet her with a soft nuzzle from their velvety noses—her “babies” being five beautiful white foals that are the future of the American White Horse breed and their namesake ranch.

Carley, who grew up on the ranch with her sister and brother, always has had a special bond with the horses after caring for, training, and performing with them as a member of the renowned White Horse Troupe in the 1940s.

“Horses are just like people,” Carley says. “Each one has its own personality. I love working with them.”

In 1989, Carley and Dean moved back to Nebraska from their home in Phoenix, Ariz., accepting the responsibility of restoring the horse breed and the 2,400-acre ranch, along the Niobrara River, five miles south of Naper (pop. 119).

The ranch’s legendary white-horse herd was founded in 1917, when Cal Thompson mated his Morgan mares to a white stallion called Old King. Their numbers had dwindled to one animal, however, when the Daughertys were asked to return to the ranch by Cal’s widow, Ruth, shortly before she died.

Over the last 12 years, the Daughertys have worked to rebuild the ranch—and the herd—to their former prominence. With help from white-horse supporters and community volunteers, the couple has restored ranch buildings, including a museum honoring the White Horse Troupe, and the herd has grown to six mares, three yearlings, five foals, and one stallion.

“Carley and Dean work real hard at it,” says Mayor Vernon Goodman. “The ranch was pretty run down when they moved back.”

Carley first set eyes on White Horse Ranch when she was 6 years old. She came to the ranch in 1947 with her brother, sister, and mother, who had been hired as a camp cook.

After living at the ranch that summer, Carley’s mother became ill and returned to Iowa to nurse her health. Carley and her siblings remained at the ranch. “The Thompsons raised us like their own children,” Carley recalls.

At the time, the couple operated a riding school at the ranch for youngsters who needed a helping hand. From that school, the White Horse Troupe was born. Young Carley toured with the troupe of 20 youths and 40 horses, which garnered national attention while performing across North America with stars such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. She and members of the troupe mastered trick saddle riding, jumping skills, and Roman riding (standing on a moving horse’s back).

When Cal died in 1963, Ruth was forced to sell many of the horses, though she continued to dream of restoring the ranch and its herd. When Ruth died in 1990, her sister, Ruby Shumaker, was entrusted with the ranch. The ranch now is owned by Ruby’s children, Bob Shumaker and Betty Ruth Whipple, and managed by Carley and Dean, who are training the next generation of white-horse performers.

They are teaching 16-year-old Megan Gotschall, of Stuart, Neb., (pop. 638) and her brother, Trevor, how to perform with them, just like the Thompsons taught Carley. The new troupe performs several times a year at fairs, expositions, and church gatherings around Nebraska.

For the last two years, Megan has spent long summer weekends at the ranch learning to trick ride and helping with chores. “Carley and Dean are kind of like another set of grandparents to me, and the ranch is like a second home,” Megan explains. “They are great people.”

The Daughertys also are keeping the ranch’s family atmosphere alive by hosting Bible schools and youth camps. They use their horses as part of their White Horse Ministry, speaking to church groups about faith. Dean also fills in for church congregations that don’t have a resident pastor.

Each summer, the Daughertys open the ranch to visitors just like in the old days. They have relied on their love of horses and strong faith to rescue the historic ranch from obscurity and to ensure a future for those beautiful white horses.

Curt Arens is a farmer and freelance writer & photographer in Crofton, Neb.

first appeared: 4/29/2001