Neal and Pam Christopherson

The stable name traces to a ranch they once owned in the Oregon outback: "Bar C" was how they branded their cattle. But while Neal and Pam Christopherson are proud of their home state, and have achieved a great deal there, even they couldn't make horses pay in those gulch-carved scrublands, under those huge empty skies. "Telocaset, Union, Oregon," Neal says. "Snows an inch, drifts 10 feet. Cold country." But horses are tough, no? "Well, they are," replies Neal. "But we lost a heck of a nice Quarter Horse colt...