Happiness Is …
The 3rd Annual Arabian Foal Festival! A ugust 22 - 23, 2015, L o s o L i vo s , CA by Theresa Cardamone
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … those are the inalienable rights that the Founding Fathers chose to highlight in the Declaration of Independence. In the idyllic Santa Ynez Valley, Arabian horse breeders have taken those words—focusing especially the last one—to heart in creating the Arabian Foal Festival. Designed to get back to the grassroots pleasure that Arabian horses can provide, the 3rd Annual Foal Festival features amateur handlers, inexperienced young horses, and fun! 232 | A R A BI A N HOR SE T I MES
Foal Festival
This year, the increasingly popular Foal Fest will move to a more spacious setting at Montanero Farms in Los Olivos, Calif., on August 22 – August 23, in order to accommodate the increased entries. It is clear that folks are looking for an alternative to the intense pressure that horses and horsemen are under at the upper level shows. As the show is geared toward supporting amateur handlers in showing their own unseasoned horses, rules such as regulating excessive clipping, no posed “stand up,” and no whips, have been adopted. In fact, the rules call for carrots or other treats as incentives to get the horses’ attention! The Foal Festival is the brainchild of a team of professional horsemen and breeders and is fast becoming one of the most popular events on the Arabian horse calendar. The Santa Ynez Valley has been at the vortex of Arabian horse breeding since the early ‘70’s or longer. Less than an hour’s drive from Santa Barbara, through the coastal mountains, Santa Ynez continues to draw breeders from around the globe who share a love of the Arabian horse. The Arabian Foal Festival is a collaborative effort of Santa Ynez Valley residents, old and new, to return to the kind of community events that fueled the development of the Arabian as the people’s horse in past decades. If the success of the first two years is any indication, horse fanciers of all kinds will enjoy this year’s wonderful event in its new setting. n
Volume 46, No. 2 | 233