Written by Claire Binkowski
This story originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of Premier.
Behind every great horse is a breeder whose dedication began long before the first step into the show pen. Breeders are the backbone of the industry—thoughtfully pairing bloodlines, nurturing young horses, and investing years of patience, knowledge, and heart into each life they help bring into the world. Their work is fueled by passion and built on vision, responsibility, and an unwavering belief in what the next generation can become. They are the stewards of quality and integrity that sustain the industry at every level. This series shines a light on the small breeders whose work lays the foundation for it all. Their influence is woven into every stride, every partnership, and every success.
Amy Darnell Fobbe’s introduction to horses came early—at just six years old—when she climbed, fearless and determined, onto half-broke cow ponies at her great uncle’s ranch in Nebraska. The ponies were wild enough to give most adults pause. “They were mostly feral,” Amy says, “but you couldn’t keep me off them.” On the drive home from that trip, her parents—who at the time only had minimal experience with horses—decided riding lessons might be a fun childhood activity for their daughter. “They had no idea what they were starting,” Amy says, laughing. In that moment, they unknowingly opened the door to a lifelong calling.
Amy’s first formal riding instruction, and her introduction to the AQHA industry, came under the guidance of trainer Peter Frost, who coached her through most of her youth and helped lay the foundation for everything that followed. Her first Quarter Horse, a foundation-bred Poco Bueno gelding named Sir Poco Pete, was the kind of horse every young rider dreams of. “Randy was the world’s best kid horse,” Amy says. “We owned him for the rest of his life.”
Invitingly Hot
Moxies In Motion
Sheza Good Moxie
Not every partnership came as easily. One of Amy’s next mounts, Zippo Eli Lu—a talented but challenging gelding later dubbed “Evil Eli, Prince of Darkness”—tested her resolve and pushed her riding skills to a new level. “He truly taught me how to ride and how to think outside the box to get where you want to go,” she says. The effort paid off, culminating in multiple Superiors, a Performance Championship, and a defining All Around win at the 2000 Toronto International. “A lot of sweat, tears, and early mornings went into that horse,” Amy adds, “but he’s also the one that convinced my parents I was in this horse thing for the long haul.”
By the time her youth career came to an end, Amy had become accustomed to buying young prospects and developing them into competitive show horses. “We didn’t have a ton of money to spend,” Amy says, “so buying young ones and putting the time and effort into them was how I got nice horses to show.” In the early 1990s, she and her parents took the natural next step, beginning to breed some of the mares Amy had shown. What started as a way to carry on the legacy of their favorite show horses quickly evolved into a passion of its own. These weren’t just pedigrees on paper—they were partners Amy had ridden, learned from, and deeply believed in. The entire process captivated her. “I loved going to the stallion farms,” she says. “Talking to the stallion managers, studying the horses, trying to find the perfect match—it all mattered.”
Amy’s early years as a breeder came before the internet reshaped the industry, in a time when breeding was built on face-to-face connections and firsthand experience. Mares were hauled to stallion farms, conversations unfolded in barn aisles, and decisions were made only after seeing horses—not photographs—standing in front of you. “You got to meet the stallions and see the babies in person,” Amy says. “I really miss those days.” That era instilled a lasting sense of responsibility—an understanding that breeding meant creating something worthy of pride—a lesson that continues to guide her program today.
Slowly but steadily, Amy and her parents built Darnell Quarter Horses into a small but successful breeding program at their Hidden Creek Farm in Maple Plain, Minnesota, centered around a select group of exceptional mares. When Amy’s parents eventually traded Minnesota winters for Ocala, Florida, most of the mares followed, where warmer weather made foaling and raising young horses easier. During that time, Amy focused on her career as an ER nurse and starting her own family, while remaining deeply involved in breeding decisions and continuing to show horses bred by her family.
After the loss of her mother, Anita, in November 2023, Amy began transitioning the breeding program back to its roots at Hidden Creek Farm, now owned by Amy and her husband Todd. This year marks a turning point: for the first time since her parents moved south, all breeding and foaling will take place exclusively in Minnesota.
The operation remains intentionally small—just three mares and typically one or two foals each year—but deeply personal. “I don’t have endless resources,” Amy says. “I just do the very best I can afford to do. As a family, our goal was always to raise the kind of horses we wanted to show. That’s still my focus now, while also being mindful of the market and where it is shifting.”
Over the decades, a handful of horses have come to define Amy’s philosophy as a breeder. One of the earliest was Invitingly Hot, known as “Mouse,” a 1998 black mare by Invitation Only and out of Hotrods Cover Girl. Mouse became the family’s first true standout, earning multiple Superiors, Youth and Amateur Performance Championships, and nearly 500 AQHA points across halter, showmanship, pleasure, and horsemanship. “She was our first big timer,” Amy says. When Mouse went on to a new home, she found a second chapter as a beloved walk-trot horse and later a successful broodmare, producing a Congress champion. “She really changed what we believed was possible,” Amy says.
Years later, another horse underscored that belief. Sittin On Kruze, a 2016 gelding by The Krymsun Kruzer out of Ima Duplicated Lady, embodied everything Amy values. Known as “Dexter,” he found early success in the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle futurities under the guidance of Paul and Tammy Thurston, but his most meaningful accomplishments came after he was sold. “We sold him to a small fry exhibitor,” Amy says, “and he went on to place Top 10 in the Youth 11 & Under Hunter Under Saddle at the Congress,” while earning points across multiple events. “There is nothing better than breeding horses with minds that make them exceptional youth horses. I feel really strongly about breeding for brain and longevity.”
If one mare shaped Amy both as a competitor and a breeder, it was Moxies In Motion. Widely regarded as one of the greatest hunter under saddle mares of her era, “Hummie” dominated the futurities as a 3-year-old in 2006 and followed that with three AQHA Honor Roll titles the next year. “She was bionic,” Amy says, crediting trainers Wayne and Judy Davis for bringing out the mare’s extraordinary potential. Though Hummie’s breeding career was short, her impact was lasting. Several offspring went on to win at the Tom Powers and NSBA World Championship Show and the Breeders Championship Futurity, and one daughter—Sheza Good Moxie—now anchors Amy’s current program.
Hot N Moxie
Sittin On Kruze
Hubbout Those Eyez
“In the show ring, Hummie taught me confidence,” Amy says. “She just needed me to trust my homework and stay out of her way. Watching her transition into a broodmare made me fall in love with breeding all over again.”
That love was reaffirmed in 2024, when the first baby to show from Amy’s independent program exceeded every expectation. Hubbout Those Eyez, sired by Easy On The Eyez and out of Hubbout A Drink, burst onto the Hunter Longe Line scene, winning everywhere from The Premier to the Congress under trainer Travis Born. “To have the very first one out of my program do that well was such a thrill,” Amy says. The colt’s momentum carried into 2025 with a standout Congress performance in the Maiden 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle. “I can’t wait to see what their future holds.”
That same year also brought a different kind of validation. In 2025, Amy showed the first riding-age baby from her program, Eye WishIt Was True (Easy On The Eyez x Digger Heels In 16), in the 3-Year-Old events. With trainer and close friend Jessi Lueth handling much of the daily work while Amy navigated new motherhood, the season delivered wins at The Premier and strong finishes at the NSBA World Show and the Congress. “It truly takes a village,” Amy says. “I’m pretty independent, but I’ve learned I really can’t do any of this on my own.”
Those milestones reinforced a belief Amy carries far beyond the show pen. For her, breeding comes with a deep obligation to the horses themselves. “I see it as a big responsibility to find a purpose for every horse I bring into this world,” she says. “Not all of them will be show horses. Some become trail horses, lesson horses, or reliable family mounts, but every one of them has a purpose.”
