Situated on slightly more than 130 acres near the historic town of Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia, Wiloma Plantation has been the home of the Bandy family since 1987. Listed on both the Virginia and National Historic Registry, the house was built in 1842. The farm itself was part of a land grant from George III. The pastures and bottomland along Catawba Creek, which earlier hosted Indian tribes native to the area, are today filled with horses – Arabians, Hackneys, and Saddlebreds. The original herd has grown from a few handpicked mares and Oran Van Bandy, who was the last and best son of the great Park horse and living legend Oran Van Crabbet. The herd has multiplied and currently includes 6 National Champions, including National or Reserve Championships in Pleasure Driving, English Pleasure, Park, and Halter.
The Wiloma breeding program is based on a careful blending of Crabbet and Polish Arabians to produce maximum motion at the trot along with extreme length of neck combined with flexion at the poll. In addition, Hackney horse bloodlines through the Halstead and King horses, Hackney Pony blood through Heartland and Dun Haven lines, Dutch Harness Horses from the Ritsma Breeding Program, and Saddlebred horses whose bloodlines trace back to Wing Commander, Sultan’s Santana, and Oman’s Desdemona Denmark are being bred as purebreds, as well as being outcrossed on the Arabian horses. Utilizing these three programs will produce a blend of the best attributes of each breed resulting in the ultimate Half Arabian, as well as great purebred individuals in each breed.