by
Hannah Farber
| Sep 25, 2026
Long before Baroque Farm had its name, its founder Anna Hill had already fallen for the breeds it's built around. Andalusians came first, a passion that started in her teens and led her to Dr. Alvaro Lebreja of Mexico, the man who got her started in the breed and has stayed part of her life ever since.
The Highlands came later, but the pursuit was just as deliberate. In 1994, she began researching the breed in earnest, which eventually took her all the way to Scotland in search of the perfect stallion, guided by Cameron Ormiston and Audrey Barron along the way. She'd trained at riding school in the UK, where native ponies had already become a passion of their own.
A Name From the Height of Fashion
The farm's name reaches back further than either horse. Baroque refers to the historical era when the styles of horses the farm breeds were at the height of fashion, ridden by the nobility of Europe. It was an era of opulence and grandeur, and the name stuck the moment they started working with Spanish horses.
The Highland side of the farm carries its own piece of history too. The prefix of every pony that's born on the farm is Lagniappe, which comes from Anna's Louisiana roots, a Cajun French term for "a little something extra."
Finding Them Their People
Ask what she loves most about the farm, and the answer comes back to one moment: watching a foal born and seeing months of work come into fruition. "It is like Christmas when you see what you get," she says.
But the story she comes back to most isn't about any single horse, it's about all of them. "The great horses we have had here, their love for their people totally moves us," she says. "We love finding them their people, the right people. These animals are family, not just a horse with a name."
Bringing an Endangered Breed Into the Spotlight
The Highland pony is an endangered breed, and many people have never seen one in person. That's a big part of what she hopes a new website will change. She wants more people to discover both breeds and see what makes them worth knowing.
Why Hired Hand
When it came to choosing a website partner, the decision came down to how the sites looked and worked. "I liked the set up and professional look," she says.
That professionalism showed up in the process too. In her own words: "Angie was great, she did whatever was asked, never rushed me, and was nice even when I bugged her."
If you're a breeder building something worth noticing, Hired Hand Software can help make sure the people looking for what you have can actually find you.