Pluto III Fantasca, aka "Tuna" was bred and raised at Tempel Farms in Wadsworth, Ill. Trained to Grand Prix standard by Alf Athenstadt, Alf and Tuna entertained thousands of horselovers in the Tempel Farms performances, both at home and on the road. Tuna and Alf performed all the steps and movements of the high school in a solo number that was the highlight of a performance. When some soundness issues made the rigors of constant training and performance more than were appropriate to ask of him, Tuna retired at age 19 to our farm, originally to the light duty of a Grand Prix Schoolmaster for me. A pasture accident that resulted in a bowed tendon and ended Tuna's riding career for good proved to be a happy misfortune. For had he remained sound for riding I would never have retired him to the breeding shed and the Lipizzan breed would have been denied one of America's most influential sires.
It was obvious from the beginning that the old man was stamping his get with his quality and temperament. His offspring began to dominate the biennial Lipizzan evaluations conducted by Dr. Jaromir Oulehla, retired Director of the Spanish Riding School and the Piber Stud Farm. Each year from 1997 onwards, one of Tuna's get has been the highest scoring Lipizzan in North America, with siblings not far behind in their scores. In 1999 Pluto Gisella scored an impressive 87.5% - the highest score of that year's evaluation. When Dr. Oulehla returned in 2001 the then 2-year-old Pluto Gisella bettered his previous effort with a score of 90% - the highest ever given to a North American Lipizzan at that time. Since it is quite rare for a more mature horse to receive a score higher than its foal score, we were elated. But the pressure was on when Dr. Oulehla returned for the 2003 evaluations. Could the 4 year old Pluto Gisella hang on to such a high score? Hang on he did and bettered it yet again - achieving the incredible score of 93.5%! Dr. Oulehla officially penned on his score sheet, "Best stallion in N. America." No horse has yet surpassed the score of this handsome Pluto III Fantasca son.
 Tuna was always the gentleman and a favorite of all who met him. He was an ambassador for the Oregon State Veterinary Teaching Hospital, receiving government dignitaries during a stay there. One of the grandest horses I've ever known, his last foals were born in his 31st year. We have three sons and two daughters of Tuna on the farm today and when I see them playing in their pastures it almost seems as if he hasn't left us after all. A list of Pluto III Fantasca's get and their evaluation scores is below.