Looking Back … PASSION OF LIFE—Interview with David Boggs

PASSION OF LIFE—Interview with David Boggs

by Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka & Jeffrey Wintersteen Originally published in Araby Magazine Nr.2/2013 (6)

Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka: In which point of your life are you at present? Do you feel that you are fulfilled, happy and your dreams came true?

David Boggs: What a thoughtful way to begin this interview. Thank you, Izabella, for speaking to my heart first. This IS where it all begins for those of us who love the horses, isn’t it––and the reason that it all goes on. So, in answer I will tell you in all honesty that this moment in time is the very best in my life. I am fulfilled. I am happy. The dreams of my youth––along with heart-held hopes that developed along the way––have all come to fruition and gone well beyond. God has given me so many remarkable blessings. I have a strong and loving family, with three daughters and a son who give me immeasurable joy. And one of the best blessings is that Courtney and Lyndsey, Emma and Jake are all––just like their parents––in love with Arabian horses. We have a great time trail riding as a family. We share the joys and the sorrows of horse breeding. And together we manage a very large business known as Midwest.

David and Padron (NL) 1977 (Patron (RU) - Odessa (NL)/Bright Wings (GB))

IZ: Did you think at the beginning that you would continue your father’s passion and concentrate on the breeding Arabian horses only?

DB: Nothing else, no other career, no other love affair, ever really occurred to me. I was born to live my life with horses. My father started with the Arabian horse in 1950, many years before I was born, and I grew up knowing and loving this breed above all others. I have a high regard and great respect for all breeds. But the Arabian is the heart of my heart. I am one of 8 children in the Boggs family. All of my siblings have an affinity for the horses. Behind the scenes, my sister, Judy, does an amazing job as our breeding manager at Midwest. In the forefront or our horse life, my younger brother, Bob, and I carry on the passion and the dream of our father. We are the fourth generation in a family of horsemen. Our grandfather was a veterinarian, and his father was a broker of many breeds of horses. Thanks be to God, our children carry on as the fifth generation in this legacy.

IZ: When did you decide to go into ‘show business’ and develop and perfect your talents as a trainer and handler?

DB: Since I was a young boy, the horses have been the center of my life. There was never a time when I considered the horses to be work. For me, this horseman’s life has always been a labor of love. I studied hard in school, but only so that I could finish quickly and get back to the horses. I graduated from high school in 1975 and immediately opened the doors of the stable that would grow to become Midwest. So, in answer to your question of “when”, I would have to say, always. Dad was a showman and he taught us to follow in his footsteps. We learned early on that a beautiful horse could be even more elegant and lovely when presented to exhibit-well its best qualities. Our father had a great sense of how to move with and around a horse, we watched and learned and pushed the envelope to develop our own styles. We always wanted to do our best and make him proud. He loved the horses and all of us to the very end and, I’m sure, beyond.

IZ: You became one of the big stars of U.S. and world show ring;, could you tell us how many times horses you have trained and handled won the title of U.S. National Champion and which titles you value the most?

DB: You are so very kind, but it is not we humans but the horses that are the stars. I have had the great honor to be the caretaker and handler of some of the finest Arabian horses in the world and their success has been my success! My national show career all began with the Polish-related stallion, Kaborr, entrusted to me by my dear friend, Mr. Tom Chauncey. I had the honor of presenting this son of the great Polish sire, *Nabor, to the Canadian National Stallion Championship and to the United States Reserve National Stallion Championship, where he stood second to the pure Polish giant, *Aladdinn. In 1979, four years after I graduated from high school, I had the joy of running beside Kaborr when he was named World Champion Stallion at the Salon du Cheval in Paris. This was a thrill of a lifetime! It was my first journey out of the United States. And it was there that I met a beautiful lady, a lady who was destined to be a tremendously influential person in the world of the Arabian horse––and in my life. Her name? Izabella Zawadzka. I will be forever grateful for your kindness to me. And I will treasure, always, the wonderful memories of my time in the stables in Paris with the fine Polish horsemen.

IZ: I will never forget your spectacular entrance at the Paris World Championships a long time ago (end of seventies or beginning of eighties?) with the mare Penalba. You looked like a sunny boy, somebody from a different planet, wearing a black tuxedo, white lacelike jabot, the gloves, light lacquer shoes and leading the snow-white mare, silver shining, all made up, with big eyes, open, large nostrils, with ornamental diamond like halter, prancing and dancing. Your appearance was something so unusual for Europe in those days when the horses were presented in traditional breeding like way with no makeup and show training. Of course, Penalba got the World Champion Mare title! Do you remember that event, what was your impression?

DB: Oh yes! Penalba stood tall and elegant, then and always. With her huge dark eyes and her exquisite face, she was as beautiful as she was correct. She was an angel among us, and I’ll never forget her. Penalba’s sire, Kilimanjaro was one of those majestic kings to me. And her mother, the exotic *Pionga remains, even today, one of the most beautiful mares I have ever known. Mother and daughter were owned by Bob Stratmore of Make Believe Farms in California. Bob also owned the horse that would become my equine soul mate, my very best friend, and the stallion that changed the face of the Arabian breed in America. His name was *Padron.

The good Lord brought us together when *Padron was only 2 years old. From that day until his passing at the age of 30, the magnificent and charismatic *Padron was the dearest of all living horses to me. Years later, the big red beauty still holds a part of my heart, a part that will always belong to him alone. As fate would have it, *Padron left to the world a dynasty that became the very core of our Midwest breeding program––and of many others as well. You see my beautiful friend gave us a son that became the international legend known as Padrons Psyche. Psyche in turn gave us the king maker himself, Magnum Psyche ––perhaps the most perfect horse I have ever been blessed to know. The undeniable greatness and potency––that began with my beloved *Padron––was proliferated through his sons and grandsons, and is present, today, in the bloodlines of most American and European Arabians that grace the best breeding programs the world over.

IZ: What do you think about a show scene nowadays, what has changed, which are the positives or negatives of these changes? IZ: You have created the most powerful and successful Arabian horse show and marketing empire in the world, how long did it take you, and which strategy and tools have you used to acquire this level?

DB: I followed the advice of my father and the other great men in my life. As a young man, I had the great pleasure of being close to a number of mentors––great men the like of Mr. Tom Chauncey, Mr. Gene LaCriox Jr, Mr. Robert Stratmore, Mr. Dan Gainey, Mr. Dick Ames, Mr. Walter Mishek and Mr. Jay Stream. All leaders and men of great vision, they taught me to never give up my dreams, to prepare my heart for highs and lows, but to never, ever quit. I enjoy immensely the pleasure of showing and handling the Arabian horse, but my truest passion, the place where my unbridled enthusiasm truly lies, is in the business of Arabian horses, the creation of a strong market, the bringing together of new friends, the bringing along of new enthusiasts, people destined to fall in love with the horse as I did when I was a small child. The business known as Midwest has been my life’s work and its development will continue, always. The strategies I use are those shared with me by the good men I mentioned here, along with tools and methods I’ve learned through experience along the way.

DB: I have no negatives, only positives to say. We travel together on this road of life, all of us, and we have learned many things and have made many changes, for the better I believe. As an extended family of Arabian horse lovers, we all cherish this extraordinary breed. And I believe that to us all, the wellbeing of the horse and the breed is paramount. From where I stand, the style of presentation today is absolutely wonderful and very kind.

IZ: Do you think it is good to introduce the European - ECAHO judging system and so called ‘International’ category shows to the American show program?

DB: This would be your great gift to all American breeders and enthusiasts. You have many great horseman and horsewomen that could extend the possibilities and knowledge and share new and different ideas of judging and breeding. If the future of the Arabian horse is to survive––and thrive, it must be with all of us together. I have very fond memories of many conversations with great breeders and judges from the European nations. I remember my first visit to Poland with Mr. Wayne Anderson to see the stallion Pepton. I was amazed at how beautiful and ethereal the horses were. I remember traveling to Russia to Tersk Stud and touching the face of Aswan, the grandsire of my *Padron. I remember my visit to the stables of Professor Fritz Koenig in Germany, where I met the white stallion, Nuri Schalan; and on to the stables of Silvia Garde-Ehlert and meeting Kilimanjaro and Neshe. The great and gorgeous animals I saw on that trip were the ultimate examples of the Arabian horses of my dreams. The kindest person I with whom I became acquainted in Europe was the elderly lady, Mrs. Blaauwhof, the breeder of *Padron, who took me to the very spot in her humble stables where the exquisite red colt, my *Padron, was born in the year, 1977.

Magnum Psyche (US) 1995 (Padrons Psyche (US) - A Fancy Miracle (US)/Sasaki (NL))