The Sheppard and Kieckhefer families merged when Chuck’s daughter, Lynda married Bob Kieckhefer’s son John in 1970. In 1963 Chuck and John were instrumental in purchasing the great stallion Driftwood Ike, the most famous son of AQHA foundation sire Driftwood. He stood at the ranch for 17 years and had a tremendous influence on the ranch’s breeding program. His colts were sought after by many rodeo cowboys throughout the years, and several of the mares being bred at K4 today still have Driftwood Ike on their papers. In 1997 Cee Booger Red breeding was introduced into the program and the line has crossed very well on the Driftwood bred mares. Quick learners and very athletic, Cee Booger Red horses are highly sought after by ropers and barrel racers. Other stallions in the program include sons of Popular Resortfigure (the 2002 AQHA Superhorse and son of Dual Pep), and Fiesta Royale (son of Royal Shakem, who is the sire of many racing and barrel racing champions). K4 Ranch now runs 32 broodmares with the bloodlines of Driftwood Ike, Tuffy Ike, Orphan Drift, Drifts Vaquero, Ike’s Last, Harlan, Oklahoma Star, Colonel Freckles, Cee Booger Red, First Down Dash, Chicks Beduino, Valiant Hero and Sunfrost. Today Rick and Sarah Kieckhefer manage the K4 horse program. Rick is a National Finals Rodeo qualifier in calf roping, and Sarah is a 22-time Turquoise Circuit qualifier in barrel racing. K4 horses have been some of the most successful arena performance horses in the country, and today the ranch continues to strive to produce top all around ranch horses, rope horses, and barrel horses.
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