AQHA Honorary Vice President, American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame member and 60-year cumulative Quarter Horse breeder Mildred Janowitz died in December 2014.
Mildred was born on November 7, 1918, in Denver. She grew up on Cook St. and was the daughter of Louis and Elizabeth Fogel. She also had one sister, Gertrude, seven years her senior. Mildred loved school and that is where she developed her love of writing and journalism. She excelled in this and joined every club and newspaper she could at the high school and college level to perfect her skills.
In 1940, she met Jack Janowitz, a pharmacist. They began dating and eventually married. Jack had a dream to become a horse breeder and together they took the leap of faith to achieve this goal. They began to develop some of the best Quarter Horses and Palominos under the name of Horse Patch Farms at Franktown, Colorado. Their horses were known as the “sweet” horses and they worked hard to represent the best of the breed.
Mildred and Jack began to train their horses for competitions and shows, and were instrumental in various horse organizations and events over their career, including AQHA, the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association, Palomino Horse Breeders of America, National Western Stock Show and Colorado State Fair.
Their goal was to raise a beautiful Quarter Horse with a perfect golden color that could win at halter and performance events alike. With the bloodlines of their foundation sire, Horn’s Stormy Gold, and Sucaryl, a son of Sugar Bars, they bred and raised champions in the show arena and also some that made it to the track.
The palominos raised on Horse Patch Farms were featured in a 1970’s Marlboro advertising campaign. Jack and Mildred were later inducted into the Palomino Horse Breeders of America Hall of Fame.
Jack died in 1994, leaving Mildred to run the operation. As of 1997, she had 24 broodmares. She used four stallions: Moolah’s Choice, Rosy Sweet Choice, Andrew R Sweet, and Lee Bee Sweet.
The Janowitzes were honored with several awards and merits over the years, dating from the 1940s all the way into the 21st century. Mildred was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2004.
Mildred and Jack never had children. However, they redirected their efforts into the lifelong love of all animals and raised many horses, dogs and cats, and loved very much all of the other creatures that roamed their ranch.
After Jack’s death, Mildred stayed very active with her writing, speaking, traveling and horse operations. She was known to be very fierce and strong-willed on the issues she believed in and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. If you knew her well, then you would probably say she was tough on the outside with a warm heart on the inside, a product of her upbringing and years of working on the ranch. She spent the last years of her life at her beloved house in Franktown where she wanted to be, and kept her body and mind as active as possible into her 90s. She always kept a photo of Jack by her side and always shared the great stories of their incredible life together.
In the words of Frank Sinatra, Mildred “did it her way.” However, we can now hope that she in a better place with Jack again where they can start a new adventure together.
She is survived by a niece, great-nephew, several friends and many generations of animals and bloodlines that she worked so hard to develop. Mildred has asked that any donations please go to the aforementioned organizations above or any charity of your choice that works hard to protect and love the animals and creatures of the world.
