It all began in 1988 with a man named Dennis Thompson on a small ranch in South Texas. Dennis was raised in Indiana where he worked in marketing research designing and marketing animal products such as Silver Shampoo and Hamilton Halters. He moved to a small ranch in South Texas where he raised four girls alone for seven years. Then one day, his daughter, Tracy Thompson called him from her job in San Antonio where she worked at a pet food store. A woman had come in, single, lover of animals and perfect. Her name was Cindy Tergerson. 

Dennis met Cindy at a pet convention and in 1990 they got married. Their love and passion with animals was so strong and outstanding that the Outdoor Life Network created a show about their relationship with animals. In 1995 the two went two Great Britain on a business trip. It was there that Cindy laid eyes on Bill, a gorgeous black and white Gypsy Vanner stallion owned by Gypsies. They fell in love at once and somehow convinced his owners to sell him. Bill was renamed Gypsy King and imported to America, with another stallion, Cushti Bok, therefore becoming the first two Gypsy Vanner stallions to be imported to America. 

Cindy and Dennis imported the sixteen more Vanners, founded the well known Gypsy Vanner Horse Society, Cushti and King being the foundation stallions, before tragedy struck. 

For fourteen years Cindy and Dennis were married, then Cindy was killed in a car accident. The world of Gypsies paused for mourning. Dennis and his daughter Tracy manage Gypsy Gold farm in Florida together. 

Cushti Bok was born in 1991 and was bought by Cindy and Dennis at the Appleby Fair, the oldest horse fair in the world. His genetics were traced across three countries and he was imported to America, become first Gypsy Vanner stallion ever to be imported to America. Not long after Dennis and Cindy went to Great Britain on a business trip, where they saw the sire of a filly they were going to buy. His name was Bill and he was stunning.

The Thompsons watched the stallion and his offspring for two years, began calling him The Gypsy King(which he was renamed), and then bought and imported him to America too. He was compared to a proud lion and became the most well-known Gypsy Vanner stallion in the world. 

There are approximately 3,063 Gypsy Vanner horses registered in the US. Gypsy Gold has eight stallions, nineteen mares and I believe one gelding, not all theirs, one mammoth mule and one ring-tailed lemur. You can actually tour the ranch in Ocala, Florida, and meet the animals, Dennis and,of course, the horses. 

Well, there's your dosage of Gypsies for the day, I hope you enjoyed this food for thought.