Starland Ranch

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34 – July/August, 2023

By Brittany Vermeer

Just west of Oklahoma City in El Reno, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, sits a small but mighty horse breeding operation that was built by the persistence and ingenuity of a single mother. Now in her 47th year of receiving the AQHA Breeder Award, Anneene Miller has come quite a long way since raising her first foal back in 1962.

Now, Anneene and her husband, Jim Gustafson, are the proprietors of Starland Ranch, LLC–a name that has become synonymous with the impeccable care, thoughtful pairings, and attention to detail that permeates every aspect of their breeding program.

Agricultural Roots

Jim Gustafson was raised on the reservations of South Dakota where his father worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a school administrator and basketball coach. Jim grew up riding and taking care of horses and cattle. After high school, he joined the Marine Corps and served in the Vietnam War. Nearly 30 years later, Jim met Anneene, who reintroduced him to the horse industry.

Anneene Miller grew up in the farming communities of Texas and Oklahoma. Both of her parents met while flying airplanes during World War II. Although she grew up in a family of pilots, Anneene’s interests were firmly rooted here on earth.

She got her first horse when she was 10 and her first Quarter Horse when she was 12. In 1962, she bred and raised her first foal by the stallion, Harlan. That filly named “Like” helped Anneene purchase her first two-horse trailer that was custom-painted to match her truck.

“The love of horses started early on,” Anneene says. “When I was young, all I wanted to do was ride. Later, I moved to Colorado, got my teaching degree, got married, and even drove race cars. I had my pilot’s license and was working on my instrument rating, but I realized that flying wasn’t for me. Then, as a single mother, I focused on raising Halter horses. It’s been a long journey. It’s been great, but not without some heartache.”

Anneene remembers the first horse her parents purchased from JE Baker in Oklahoma City. That’s where a young trainer named Ted Turner got his start. “I met Ted in the 1970s, not knowing he was going to become such a great person and my trainer later on in life,” she says.

During the ‘70s, Anneene remembers how she could buy a horse in Oklahoma for $1,500-$1,800, bring it back to Colorado, and turn it for $6,000. She did this with one or two horses a year, and money was easy. But the market changed in 1975 with the government gas crisis. Anneene got divorced and moved back to Oklahoma in 1983 where she worked as a teacher and officially started the horse business that we now know as Starland Ranch.

Where Stars are Born

Click here to read the complete article
34 – July/August, 2023