The Wonderful People at Our Magnolia Ranch in Katy, Texas
Doug Kneis & His Wife Elaine
Doug Kneis is a life long horse lover, and has been one since childhood. His passion started as a six year old, with a room full of plastic horses on shelves mixed in with army men, tanks, cannons, and hot rods. Doug's wife Elaine, in her urging, convinced Doug to get back into horses in 1999. Doug started Gypsy MVP in 2001 after owning his first two of the breed when they numbered only twenty in the United States. Gypsy MVP strives to handle every situation with the utmost compassion, and drive to please.
A Horse Buying Experience in England
Appleby looks like what a medieval English village should look like. The River Eden loops through a green valley, and a Norman castle stands guard over this sleepy, ancient town. But it is June now, and the peace and quiet has been replaced with the sounds of hoof beats, the creak of wagons, and the cacophony of voices shouting in every language imaginable. Children race horses down the streets. Colorful Bow Top wagons line the roads up to the auction hill.
In the middle of it all is a wiry, middle aged, Texas oil man. Doug Kneis is in Appleby to attend the three hundred year old horse fair. Doug is buying, but he is trying carefully not to let any of the sellers know it. The Gypsies in town today are Irish and Scottish Travelers, or Hungarian-Slovak in origin. They might call themselves Black Dutch or Rom or Romnichels, but to the rest of the world they are simply the Gypsies, a nomadic people, feared and despised by some.
This is the famous Appleby Gypsy Horse Fair, and Gypsies from all over Europe are here with their beautiful horses. Most widely known as Gypsy Cobs, or Tinkers, and bred primarily to pull the richly decorated and ornate Gypsy bow-top wagons, the Gypsy Vanner represented the best of a half-century breeding program of these magnificent horses… a “proper Vanner” as the Gypsies will say when describing the best bred horses, suitable for pulling the vans the Gypsies call home.
The horses are amazingly beautiful animals that are smart and friendly. Indeed, one of the first people to introduce the breed to America advertised them as “A Golden Retriever with
hooves.” ™
Kneis got into the horse business in an odd way. His wife Elaine talked him into going to a horse show outside of Houston, and, unbeknownst to Doug, picked up a bidding paddle. When a lovely white Arabian came up for bid she handed the paddle to Doug and said, “I want that one!”
W
ith a horse now part of the household, they decided to buy a few acres and build a barn. Maybe not the traditional way to go into the ranch business, but it worked for them.
One day Doug was at the feed store to pick up some treats for his new horse, when he saw a package with a drawing of a magnificent horse with a long flowing mane and tail.
“What kind of horse is that?” he asked the owner of the store. “I don’t know”, was the answer, “But he sure is pretty!” The image of the horse stayed with Doug, and when he got home he called the company that manufactured the horse treat and asked them about that horse on the box.
“It’s called a Gypsy Vanner” he was told, “and there are a few in America, but mostly the Gypsies of Europe have ‘em”, was the answer he got, and from that moment Doug Kneis pretty much gave up his day job in the oil patch and became a horsemen.
He learned quickly that dealing with the Irish and Scottish Travelers or the Eastern European Gypsies was very difficult. In the first place there is no written record of the breed. The Vanner can be traced back to Clydesdales, Highland Ponies, Friesian, Shires and who knows what else. The Gypsies set out to create a perfect caravan horse. It had to be very strong. It had to be small, no more than 15 hands high. Its temperament must be friendly and engaging. If a horse flinches at the traffic whizzing by or if it can’t be still while the children play around it, the horse is traded away. After all, its life will be spent pulling the family home in that Gypsy wagon. And, oh yes, it had to be spectacularly pretty!
Then there is the old saying, “Gypsy Gold does not clink and glitter, it gleams in the sun, and neighs in the dark.” Add to that a common belief that all Americans are rich and don’t have much horse sense and Doug found that if he liked a horse, its price shot through the cloudless Northern British sky. Now Doug travels to the Horse Fair and feigns disdain over every horse he sees, while secret agents buy the horses for him.
Today on their small spread near Katy, Texas, not far from the skyscrapers or Houston, a herd of fifty Gypsy Vanners frolic in the green pastures of Magnolia Ranch. Eye candy for people driving by.
Doug swears he never meant to get this deep in the horse business; it just happened. That first one he bought led to another, and then another, and before long people were driving by asking what those things were with the hairy legs and flowing tail. The real cowboys and ranchers around Katy just didn’t get it. One said, “Why, they cost as much as a sports car!”, and that gave Doug an idea. He rented a booth at a prestigious New York luxury lifestyle car show and shipped a few of his stallions to the Big Apple. 
While the men milled around the Ferraris and Masarattis, the women and kids stood at the stalls and petted the Gypsy Vanners. Finally one was marched up the red carpet for its turn at the auction. Frankly no one was sure they would sell, but at least it seemed like a good break from all the high powered car auctions. As a magnificent stallion named “Warlock” stood regally on the stage the bidding took off. $45,000…50…60…80, finally $125,000. Doug Kneis realized, in New York, at a fancy car show, he really was in the horse business.
Today he sells his horses from $13,000 to well over $100,000 to people who are real ranchers, or want-to-be-ranchers. It is not unusual to have someone make a purchase, then ask the Kneis’ to board their horse ‘til they can get a barn built, or in some cases buy a ranch for it.
The horses look like a child’s toy, which has led many young ladies to find them on the Internet and write Doug asking for one for Christmas. Recently a little girl wrote to say she had seen Warlock’s picture on the Internet and had saved up $300 dollars to buy him.
Doug and Elaine love to show off their horses, and really hate to sell one. Like the Gypsies, their gold does not clink and glitter, it gleams in the sun, and neighs in the dark.
Ann Bevan
From Doug Kneis: "I met Anne Bevan through a VHS tape that I received from a friend. She was so funny and real to me. She had a dilemma on her hands. Anne knew a Gypsy gentleman named Joe who had been a family friend of hers for many years. She had grown up with the gypsies, and played with their children and horses since she was a toddler. Joe had a stallion, Dazzle. This horse was the envy of many other Romany families who were breeding the Vanner types. Joe realized that his health was failing. Knowing that someone was always trying to steal this stallion from him he decided to do the best thing and that was to leave Dazzle to someone he trusted. That person was Anne.
I saw a video of Anne Bevan who propped a camcorder, an ancient one at that, on top of a pillow in her living room in England. Her cry for help was the beginning of our relationship. 'Please', she said, 'Take this stallion to America before he gets into the wrong hands here.'"
Today Anne is the president of Gypsy MVP UK. What does that mean? It means that this wonderful lady has the ideals of our vision: The horse always comes first, not the people that want it. She has taught the entire staff at Gypsy MVP why we do what we do. Anne has a gut-wrenchingly honest opinion on everything. She is honest whether you like her opinion or not!
Anne has spent her life with horses, and with Gypsy families living next door. She is trusted by not only us, our customers, and Gypsy families, but by anyone she meets. Anne also breeds Arabian horses by World Champion stock, and competes with great successes at the State and International level with her horses.
Anne Bevan, her husband Simon, and daughter Charlotte have a life mission. They want people in the United States to know that they are there to look after you and your best interests. Then again, the horse comes first. They will never let you buy a horse that is not right for you and your family. Anne will simply say, "No," if the horse is not a perfect fit. Anne, Simon, and Charlotte Bevan are lifetime members of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society US, and their mission is to try and safeguard everyone in the United States from making a bad purchase.
Erica Barton
Erica is the operations Manager for Magnolia Ranch and is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Gypsy MVP. Additionally, she rounds out her duties as the head trainer for all Gypsy MVP horses in the US. Her job is to make sure horses are obedient in hand, and under saddle, for ring riding and trail riding, or any discipline a buyer wants their new horse trained for.
Every MVP horse Erica works with trailers, body clips, picks up feet, ties and has impeccable manners when it leaves the ranch. She will not hand the “keys” of a horse to a new buyer unless she knows they can handle the horse. She works directly with MVP horse purchasers to make sure that horse and owners are compatible and will not allow any MVP horse to go to someone she does not approve of.
Sometimes Erica feels that a horse is not right for a person or family. When this happens, she works hard with Doug Kneis and Anne Bevan, her UK counterpart, to find a horse that is what she calls "a perfect fit." Erica has never met a horse she could not train, or a horse she did not like. She sees promise in every horse and gives each new horse confidence and trust. Erica Barton is a professional and an asset to the MVP team.
Gerald R. Wheeler
Gerald R. Wheeler is a new addition to the MVP staff. It is important to have great photos to truly represent the magic in this breed and Gerald sure does this for us. Gerald is a world renowned poet and equine photographer. He lives in Katy, Texas with his wife Carol.
He can only photograph the horses that MVP has already imported to Texas, so don't blame him for some of the so-so pictures we have taken in Europe. Gerald has won many awards for his work and MVP is lucky to have him on our staff. If anyone would like to contact him regarding his photography, visit www.runningcolors.com
Photo by Heather Wheeler.
