Beyond Beauty | August 2025

By Sarah Hill

Photos courtesy Lapke/Sachau families

Lapke/Sachau Performance Horses, Dunlap, Iowa, focuses on strong genetics from award-winning bloodlines.

Working with horses on a cattle operation can instill a love for both species, and John Lapke, Lapke/Sachau Performance Horses, Dunlap, Iowa, has been committed to raising high-quality Quarter Horses for 35 years.

“I grew up in a large cow-calf family, doing everything on horseback,” John Lapke said. “This is what started my interest and love of horses.”

After going to college in the mid-1990s, Lapke began a breeding operation along with his father, Ed, and brother, Tim, raising and showing rope horses. The family hosted their first production sale in 2000.

Their first really successful show horse was Genuine Doc O Lena, a 1996 stallion by Genuine Doc out of Rosezana Lena, an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) World Champion daughter of Doc O’Lena. Genuine Doc O Lena accumulated close to 600 AQHA points in his career, and his genetics left a lasting mark on the Lapke/Sachau herd.

“Eventually, we gravitated into showing in the cow horse and reining events,” Lapke said.

In 2012, the operation reduced their mare numbers and shifted to selling foals through private treaty and online sales.

“We eventually grew our mare numbers again, and I partnered with a longtime friend, John Sachau, on several well-bred mares,” Lapke added. “We brought back the live auction in 2023.”

Today, the operation includes John and his wife, Kari, and their daughters, Olivia and Violet; Ed and his fiancée, Jane; Tim and his wife, Jamie, and their children, Aubrey and Gus; and John Sachau and his wife, Brinda and their daughters, Whitlee and Wrynn. Lapke/Sachau Performance Horses has also worked with special guest consigners Ryan and Kelly Sonnichsen and their children, Sophie and Sawyer.

Pretty, Yet Sound

Fuel N Shine and Lena Gallo are two other sires that the Lapke/Sachau operation has had great success within the show ring and reining events. Fuel N Shine is a 2004 son of Shining Spark and is out of Boomerita, a daughter of Boomernic. Fuel N Shine won the 2008 AQHA World Championship Junior Working Cow Horse.

Lena Gallo is a 2000 son of Gallo Del Cielo (Rooster), winning $178,000 as a National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity Open Finalist as a three-year-old. Lena Gallo was also the NRBC Reserve Champion as a five-year-old and was the individual gold medalist for Team USA in Manerbio, Italy, in 2008.

“We aim to produce pretty, straight-legged, conformationally sound horses,” Lapke said. “We try to incorporate versatile bloodlines that can excel in most all Western disciplines.”

Lapke and Sachau monitor which bloodlines are dominating the show world and work to include those bloodlines in their stallion battery or brood mares. “Although I love our foundation lines, I feel that every generation should be better than the last,” Lapke added. “We don’t hesitate to add new genetics.”

Lapke and Sachau are fond of colored horses, while not giving up on quality. Their 2025 sale will include foals by sons of Hashtags, Wimpys Little Step, Playgun, Shining Spark, Metallic Rebel, Peptoboonsmal, and others. Complete listings are available on their Facebook page and sale catalog.

Best Possible Product

The broodmares graze on brome grass pasture in the spring and summer and begin a grain regimen around July 1. Foals start grain also by July 1 and receive dewormer at three weeks of age. Their broodmares graze cornstalks and soybean stubble during the winter and eat supplemental hay as needed.

Lapke/Sachau Performance Horses uses print advertising and social media to advertise for their sale and mails out sale catalogs upon request. Their sale is held live on CCI.Live.

“We work with Skye Mize from WhoaZone Equine for building our catalog and handling our social media advertising,” Lapke said. “We couldn’t do this sale without all of her hard work.”

Looking forward, Lapke/Sachau Performance Horses plans to continue producing versatile, athletic and pretty horses, while adding new genetics to provide their customers with the best possible product.

Annual Performance Horse Sale:

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Dunlap, Iowa - Bid online: cci.live

learn more at learn more www.facebook.com/LapkeSachauPerformanceHorseSale