The Kieckhefer family bought the K4 Ranch, 35 miles north of Prescott, in 1941 and will celebrate 84 years of ownership in 2025. Over the years the family has supplemented its holdings with property in California and southern Arizona. The cattle operations now total over 185,000 acres, running 3,000 mother cows. Wanting to improve the quality of the K4 ranch horses, Robert (Bob) H. Kieckhefer began raising Quarter Horses in the 1940s, registering the first of them in 1943, just three years after the formation of the American Quarter Horse Association. Some of the first horses he bought were the reputable RO branded horses from the neighboring Greene Cattle Company. K4 Ranch has consecutively registered horses for over 80 years with the AQHA. Within a decade of starting its horse program, the ranch was producing horses that were winning championships at racetracks and in show rings all over the West, in addition to raising good using horses. Bob was very active in AQHA, serving as president in 1976, and being inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1994. One of the K4’s early stallions was Hank Will, a son of Tonto Bars Hank purchased from Walter Merrick. Hank Will went on to become Arizona’s first AQHA Supreme Champion, earning points in Racing, Halter, Tie Down Roping, Heading, Heeling, Hunter Under Saddle, Working Cow Horse, Reining, Pole Bending and Western Pleasure. Chuck Sheppard went to work for the K4 as manager in 1959 and greatly influenced the quality of the K4 horse program. A top hand, World Champion Team Roper and Pro Rodeo Hall Of Fame Inductee , he continued to spread his knowledge for over 42 years, training, showing, and racing many champions. The Sheppard and Kieckhefer families merged when Chuck’s daughter, Lynda married Bob Kieckhefer’s son John in 1970. K4 Ranch
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