By Jessica Grutkowski
Portraits by Molly Kennedy
Leslie Butzer founded Ponies & Palms Show Stables—aptly named, as a pony breeding operation based in Boca Raton, Florida—in the 1990s with the goal of breeding championship hunter ponies. “When I first got started in the breeding world, I quickly realized that many ponies were bred for in-hand showing. I observed pony stallions from the West Coast that were long-backed and had exaggerated necks—they looked nothing like the hunter ponies we see in the ring today,” Leslie said. “Trying to jump a long-backed pony is like trying to jump a dachshund! It simply doesn’t work.”
With the help of Little Brook Farms’ Gary Duffy, an ‘R’ hunter judge who shares Leslie’s passion for pony breeding, Leslie fine-tuned her program. “He helped me source wonderful mares and has become an integral part of Ponies & Palms,” she said.
Gary is far from the only team member that makes Ponies & Palms what it is today: Leslie also shares the pony passion and business with her family, including a husband and daughter who are veterinarians and at least one amateur equestrian daughter. Ponies & Palms is fulfilling the goal that Leslie began with: breeding championship ponies, with the “Boca” prefix.
How long have you been part of the horse world?
Ponies have been a main theme in my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up riding Shetland ponies and went on to become Girls’ All Around Champion in the Northern Arrowhead Circuit. I dabbled in a little bit of everything, from barrel racing to English pleasure and pony jumpers. I had an Arabian-Thoroughbred, and we were very competitive. He was amazing and extremely versatile.
How did you get started in breeding/showing?
I have always been enamored with the Welsh breed and knew I wanted to breed the top division ponies in the country. I started my breeding program with a stallion pony named Bristol Houdini, a descendant of Criban Victor, one of the founding fathers of Welsh Ponies.
Tell us about your training methods, especially with your stallions.
Training young stallions is critical in producing child-friendly ponies. We use natural horsemanship training methods, which differentiates us from other breeders. Our ponies are desensitized and put in every situation possible before they are even under tack. We teach them to remain calm to minimize flight response. This is important to me when breeding ponies for the circuit. Children have much busier schedules these days, and as a result, many spend more time training at shows. Ponies have to be more “push button” than in the past.
What great stallions have been part of your program?
Boca’s Entourage (EMC Entourage x Land’s End Poseidon), aka Sampson, won the USEF Small Green Pony Hunter National Championship last year with the great team of rider Lilly Herzog and trainer Danielle Menker. We were able to successfully show Sampson as a stallion pony on the ‘A’ circuit for an entire year, and he finished a few points shy of HOTY Champion in the USHJA 2’3″ Hunter Division with Marielle Golden. I don’t think anyone else has shown a stallion pony on the ‘A’ circuit for that long, mostly because they aren’t well-behaved enough to! After a year of showing, we finally gelded him and collected 100 samples—enough to breed for a lifetime. We are elated to have bred a pony, brought it up the ranks, and then to win at Pony Finals—it’s not an easy feat.
Currently we have Boca’s Magnificent, a 4-year old stallion (Boca’s Marvellous x Raquel). We also have Boca’s Good Magic (Boca’s Marvellous x Boca’s Blue Nile). Magic’s dam is Boca’s Blue Nile, aka Lucy, a beautiful, small grey pony who successfully competed at every major ‘AA’ show on the circuit in her heyday.
Magic is one of our fanciest stud colts. He has exceptional movement, has won many championships in hand and was eighth at Devon with the outstanding Drew Taylor. Drew shows all my young stock on the East Coast Hunter Breeding Circuit. Her generational experience and training program are unmatched. Drew and Miss Marvellous also won at Devon 2023 in the Two-Year-Old Hunter Pony Division, and Drew showed Rico Suavé II to third at Devon in 2023.
Rico Suavé II, the cloned 4-year-old stallion pony that shares the exact genetics of the famous Rico Suavé, is the most exciting result of my career. My husband is a veterinarian and was one of the first in the U.S. to clone a dog. We worked with ViaGen to clone Rico, and my daughter, Dr. Lindsay Butzer DVM, made a video about it for her YouTube channel. Believe it or not, you can clone a pony for less than you can buy a pony of this caliber.
Cloning genetically proven ponies like Rico will help increase competition and better the sport. A big part of my philosophy is that you shouldn’t be standing any animals that aren’t proven. That’s why we spend resources to train and show our stallions on the circuit before we offer them to breed. It takes time to make sure the ponies are safe. Professionals have shown countless stallion horses—like Redwine and Popeye K—but never ponies. We are really the first.
What’s your favorite thing about what you do?
I love being there when the babies are born. I love playing with the foals and imprinting them. I truly enjoy the entire process, from breeding and breaking them to bringing them up the ranks in the correct fashion. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the entire process through. The best is when we get texts or calls from other professionals who loved seeing a pony of ours in the ring. It means we’re doing it right.
We’ve had countless success stories with our ponies over the years. Aside from those mentioned earlier, Spellbound has won at every indoor final, including the title of Grand Hunter Pony Champion and Large Pony Hunter Champion with Caroline Passarelli at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Like Rico, he is one of those ponies we would have loved to have kept a stallion, and a candidate for cloning.
What’s your biggest achievement in the horse world?
Cloning Rico is truly the biggest achievement in my career. We have hand-picked five mares to breed him back to, including Sampson’s dam, and are excited for the results. We’re super excited that Miss Marvellous is in foal to a Rico Suavé II baby. Many people were interested in outside breeding but we are not offering that at this time.
What are your goals for the future with your farm and your ponies?
We look forward to getting Rico Suavé II into the show ring after some more training. We can’t wait to see the results of his offspring.
His cloning has generated a lot of excitement around the world. We’re currently working with Delfina Blaquier, who has a special interest in starting the discipline of hunters in Argentina, where polo has traditionally dominated. I’m interested in working with people who want to improve the breed. It’s not about the money for me; it’s about helping improve the quality of the competition.
What’s the best thing about your life?
I put a lot of time and resources into fulfilling my dream and it’s been an amazing journey. I’m very fortunate and blessed to have a large, supportive, animal-loving family. I have six children, including twins, and several pets. My husband, Brian, is a fabulous veterinarian, as is my daughter Lindsay, who was instrumental in the cloning process of Rico. My daughter Lisa, who is also a talented amateur equestrian, grew up to become as passionate as I am about breeding ponies. There is no better feeling than to share this with my daughter, and I hope to one day be a three-generational family business with my grandchildren. Nothing would bring me more joy.
For more information, visit poniesandpalms.com or Instagram @poniesandpalmsshowstablesllc
Photos by MoKenn Media
