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Maay 2010 M 20010 10 $$77.5 .50 50
www.ahtimes.com May 2010
*Magnum Chall HVP x Major Love Affair • Limited Stud book
2010 WORLD CUP SUPREME GOLD CHAMPION PRESENTED BY RODOLFO GUZZO
Proudly owned by Robert & Dixie North • 760.789.3208 • www.NorthArabians.com Shown and standing in Europe for 2010 at Schoukens Training Center, Belgium • +32 (0) 494.14 13 34
for the extreme . .
Shael dream desert Ansata Shaamis x Elettra
Felicia
RLC
Glenn Jacobs photo
Shael Dream Desert x Camelia K
A RABIAN B REEDERS W ORLD C UP G OLD S UPREME C HAMPION J UNIOR M ARE Congratulations to owner Sheikh Ammar of Ajman Stud!
Make Arrangements for your visit to Freeland Farms today and experience some of the finest Arabian breeding stock available in the world.
Freeland F A R M S
Contact Pam Jump ~ 260-341-4047 ~ pam@freelandfarms.com www.freelandfarms.com
BIDDING STARTS SATURDAY, JUNE 12TH ~ BIDDING ENDS ON SATURDAY, JUNE 19TH AT 5 PM
CSP Justa Winter Day—2008 H/A Half-Hackney C Mare (HS Justatemptation x Halsteadʼs Winter Day [Hackney]) Big-boned filly with a good stride. Sport horse.
CSP Danze ToThe Music—2009 PB Ch Gelding (Vegaz x Music Nthe Air [Afire Bey V]) Fancy and upright. This one will be dancing! CSP Wave On—2009 H/A Ch Gelding (Mamage x Callawayʼs Second Date [ASB by Callawayʼs Blue Norther]) Winner of the Jackpot weanling class at the 2009 NSHF. Awesome prospect! Rock N Roell—2009 H/A Ch Gelding (Afire Bey V x Express Yourself [CH Captive Spirit]) Full sibling to Elegant Expression and Extreme Expression--both national champion country pleasure horses. Vegaz Lights—2009 PB B Colt (Vegaz x Illuminati [Matoi]) Very pretty and very talented! Could be a superstar! Name Pending—2009 PB B Filly (Mamage x All Aglow SCR [AA Apollo Bey]) A bay Mamage filly is a rare find!
CSP Rockin Out— 2008 PB Blk Gelding (DS Mick Jagger x Mattatoska [Zodiac Matador]) Beautiful, upright, and good size. Outstanding show horse prospect. CSP Worthy Wager—2008 H/A Ch Mare (Vegaz x Worthyʼs Take A Bow [ASB by Worthy Son]) English/Country prospect. Sporty style and attitude. Golden Nugget SKF—2008 H/A Ch Gelding (Vegaz x Doubletrees Gold Accent [ASB by Fox Creek]) Good size and motion. MD New York Dancer—2008 H/A Blk Mare (Mamage x Dance With Desiera [ASB by Harlem Globetrotter & out of CH Town Dance by CH Yorktown]) Dam is full sister to CH Harlem Town. Magnificent pedigree! Royal Flush SKF—2008 H/A Ch Gelding (Vegaz x Hillcroft Princess Royal [ASB by Merchant Prince]) Very necky!
CGR Errosa In Motion—2007 PB B Mare (Baske Afire x Carly [A Major Fire]) Very Barbary-like with a Baske Afire neck.
Callawayʼs Second Date—2004 ASB Ch Mare (Callawayʼs Blue Norther x Callawayʼs Anticipation [The New York Times]) Her 2009 foal by Mamage won the Jackpot weanling class at last yearʼs NSHF. We have had this horse under saddle and she is very exciting. Currently in foal to Vegaz; foal NOT included.
CSP Mamages Music—2007 PB Ch Mare (Mamage x Music Nthe Air [Afire Bey V]) Very upright and pretty-faced filly with good motion. CSP Simply Iresistibl—2007 H/A Ch Mare (Mamage x Vanityʼs Gal [ASB by Evanʼs Captain Vanity]) 4 white socks. Extremely hooky neck. Full sibling to CSP James Dean. EXCELLENT USN Futurity prospect. Rare Temptation CSP—2007 H/A G Mare (A Temptation x Santanaʼs Rare Essence [ASB by Sultanʼs Santana]) Will be ready for the 2010 USN Futurity. Lots of potential! Temptress MIA—2007 PB G Mare (A Temptation x Firefly NA [Afire Bey V]) Dam was national champion English pleasure mare. Outstanding filly with outstanding pedigree!
MD New York Dancer
Comic Strip
MS Electra Glide
Mats Fancy—1990 PB G Mare (Zodiac Matador x Flight-O-Fancy [Rezus]) Has great hocks and produces motion. Mattatoska—1992 PB G Mare (Zodiac Matador x Bint Mi Toska [Naborr]) Classic broodmare with classic pedigree. Great producer and beautiful! Music Nthe Air—2000 PB B Mare (Afire Bey V x Miss Wisdom [Wisdom]) Extremely upright. Tail female is same as Afires Heir. Full sibling to Scottsdale champion English Pleasure Jr. horse.
CSP Hot Tamale
Justa Jigolo
Major Precision
Mizter President VA
MS Y II Chez
Apollogetic Lady—2006 H/A G Mare (AA Apollo Bey x Cedar Creek My Ridgefield Lady [ASB by Cedar Creek J.R.]) Broke to ride, just came back in the barn for training and doing great! Looks to be a very good country pleasure prospect. Great motion behind. Hasnʼt been shown yet. Berry Expressive—2004 H/A Blk Bay Gelding (IXL Noble Express x Im Berry Wild V [Huckleberry Bey]) Country/English style with round motion. Almost ready to show! BSF Shakira—2006 PB Ch Mare (SF Specs Shocwave x Elzeda [Alegro]) Beautiful, well-balanced filly possessing many qualities of superstar sire. Out of a national champion producing mare. Broke to ride. Excellent broodmare. Comic Strip—1999 H/A B Gelding (Justafire DGL x LA Mirabella [ASB by Sultanʼs Great Day]) NSH 2009 national champion equitation mount. Extremely sound. Has a great look that really sets off a rider. CSP Angelfire—2005 PB Dark Ch Mare (Afire Bey V x Barbarys Angel [Barbary]) 4 small whites and a star. Extreme hocks. Excellent prospect for the 2010 USN Maturity.
Mystic Jazz
Sofia Loren
Kalico Lady—2004 H/A B Tobiano Mare (My Rocky Mountain High [ASB] x Selket Lilli May [Furno Khamal]) Big and halter pretty paint. Very high-headed. Just started in her performance training. Lifetime Thrill—2006 H/A Ch Gelding (Mamage x Prime Time Thrill [ASB]) Stylish hunter. Well started under saddle. Beautiful mover. Ready to start show career. Major Precision—2005 PB B Stallion (DS Major Afire x HL Infactuation [LF Fifth Avenue]) Impressive show record! 2008 Canadian National Res. Champion Futurity Colt, IA Gold Star Champion Halter & Liberty. Full brother to National Champion Mare, Major Love Affair. Hasnʼt been shown yet under saddle, but in full bridle and ready to go. Midnite Confession—2006 H/A Dark Bay Gelding with star (Baske Afire x Super Flare [ASB by Super Supreme]) Country pleasure. Not shown yet. but has been used for amateur lessons. Level headed and beautiful. Mizter President VA—2004 PB Ch Gelding (MHR Nobility x Miz Margeaux V [Huckleberry Bey]) Country pleasure/ show hack. Region 11 Top Five Country Pleasure Jr. Horse. Beautiful!
CSP Hot Tamale—2003 H/A Blk Bay Mare (Mamage x The Vintage Rose [ASB by Night of Roses]) 4 white socks. 2010 Scottsdale 1st place and 2009 USN Top Ten H/A English Pleasure amateur. Very fancy!
MS Bud Light—2004 H/A Half-Hackney Ch Gelding (Electra Courage Sirius x Chez Mon Ami [Chez]) Very flashy with 4 white socks. Big trot, broke to drive. Heading to his first horse show!
Echellon—2005 H/A Ch Gelding (Mamage x Express Yourself [CH Captive Spirit]) Very sporty! Not been shown yet.
MS Electra Glide—2005 H/A Half-Hackney B Gelding (Hartzett Electra Sirius x Pro Baska [Promotion]) Lots of motion! Ready to show soon!
Ffireman—2002 PB B Gelding (Khaffire x Sweet Flame [Le Fire]) Country pleasure, show hack, equitation. 2008 Youth National Res. Champion Country Pleasure. Very upright and handsome!
MS Y II Chez—2000 H/A Half-Hackney G Gelding (Kingʼs Kat x Chez Mon Ami [Chez]) Lots of energy and motion. Exciting! Scottsdale and regional winner in H/A English Pleasure open division.
Focus Celebration—1997 PB B Gelding (MFA Celebrity x Focus Filigree [Prince Fanali]) Excellent and safe amateur mount. Shows in country and show hack. Very consistent. Could work for a very beginner rider. Halsteads Big Man—2004 H/A Half-Hackney G Gelding (Ariberry Bey V x Halsteadʼs Little Lady [Hackney]) Country pleasure. Big, strong and sensible. James Brown—2006 H/A Blk Bay Gelding (Mamage x Watch My Success [ASB by CH Captive Spirit]) Tall 16.3 hand awesome country pleasure horse making his debut in the show ring later this year. NSH national champion halter horse. Stunning! Justa Jigolo—2001 H/A B Gelding (Justafire DGL x Superiorʼs Jodie Lynn [ASB by Supreme Heir]) Big, beautiful. Scottsdale winner in country pleasure and driving. Regional champion in amateur driving and regional Top Five in H/A Country amateur. Ready for equitation!
Mystic Jazz—2002 PB Blk Bay Stallion (Pension x Mattess [Zodiac Matador]) Currently shows in country pleasure amateur. Keeps getting better and better. Very striking horse! Pheobes Asensation—2005 PB Ch Mare (A Temptation x Pheobe Afire [Afire Bey V]) Big and stretchy. Great pedigree! Very little training. Looks like her mother! Second Millennium—2004 PB B Mare (Millennium LOA x Infinity CSP [Mamage]) 2008 USN Top Ten Country Pleasure Amateur. Super smooth, very easy to post, and very sound. Sofia Loren—2005 H/A B Mare (Revival [ASB] x CR Berry Brandy [Bayberrychask V]) Country pleasure. As a 4-year-old, was Region 11 Top Five H/A Country AAOTR 18-39 horse in large class, and only her 2nd show! Very sporty and a blast to ride! Walks great.
Chris Wilson, cell 612.723.0266 • Shan Wilson cell 417.848.3943 Preview all these horses in our new combined facility in Springfield, MO!
May 2010
Contents 1 Magnum Magnum Psyche—The Spirit Of The Red Horse … And The Man Who Loves Him by Mary Kirkman
100
100
2010 Arabian Breeders World Cup Show—Biggest And Best Yet! by Linda White
124
A Day In The Life Of An Arabian Horse Trainer by Colleen Scott
138
Advances In Equine Reproduction by Linda White
144
Arabian Mares—Images Of Eternity by Linda White
156
A Conversation With AHA President Lance Walters by Mary Kirkman
164
Leaders Of The Times—GH Maryn by Colleen Scott
144
166
One Man’s Opinion—Thoughts On The State Of The Arabian Horse Industry, Part II by Bob Battaglia
172
Alexander Keene Richards—The Story Of Genius Undermined by Andrew K. Steen
188
In Memoriam: Claude Pacheco, D.V.M. (1945-2010) by Linda White
190
Trainer’s Tip by Thiago Sobral
192
The Arabian Horse In History—The Wahhabi Wars, Part III by Andrew K. Steen
206
172
On The Cover: Magnum Psyche (Padrons Psyche x A Fancy Miracle), owned by Haras Mayed. (See story on page 1 Magnum.) 4 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Amateur Access: The Mindful Rider by Jeff Lovejoy
6
Comments From The Editor
196
Times For Amateurs by Keri Schenter
198
A Leg Up by Heather Smith Thomas
203
Calendar Of Events
210
Handy Horse Tips by Lee Bolles
212
Looking Ahead
215
Index Of Advertisers
With so many email blast ads filling in-boxes everywhere, it is important for your ad to stand out from the rest. Weʼll do that for you.
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Equine Communications Inc Creative services for print ads • email blasts • websites • video direction • stallion cards • farm brochures Earn credits towards marketing products, email blasts and more. Contact Jenn Trickey 805.331.5946 • jenn@equinecom.com
M AY 2010 | 5
Comments From The Editor Publisher Lara Ames Editor Kevin Ludden Contributing Writers Linda White Mary Kirkman Colleen Scott Advertising Account Executives Mike Villaseñor Kandi Menne John Diedrich Production Manager Jody Thompson Senior Designer Marketing Director Wayne Anderson Graphic Designers Tony Ferguson Tammi Stoffel Design Support Jan Hunter Editorial Coordinator Proofreader Charlene Deyle Office Manager Circulation Robin Matejcek Accounts Receivable Circulation Editorial Assistant Karen Fell
The Arabian Horse In History The other day I received a phone call from a subscriber, and she asked me, “Why do you call the historical articles ‘The Arabian Horse In History,’ when, in fact, they often have very little to do with Arabian horses?” I understood her point immediately, because it had been discussed previously here at the magazine. My answer to the subscriber was that I believe without the backdrop of events in history, there is no context in which to fit the development of the Arabian horse as we know it today. The study of history, complete with all its intrigues, carnage, discoveries, and inventions, gives us a reference point and an understanding in our own lives in which to ground the current events that shape our world today. It is no different with the Arabian horse, who as one of the world’s oldest breeds, has evolved through centuries of history. In this month’s issue, I want you to meet a man that played an important part in the history of the Arabian horse in the United States. The man’s name is Alexander Keene Richards, and he was the first individual from the western hemisphere to import purebred Arabian horses directly from the Bedouin tribes. This was no small feat back in his day, and it speaks to his passion for horse breeding and the Arabian horse.
Director of Interactive Bill Konkol © Copyright AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Articles or opinions published by the AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times are not necessarily the expressed views of the AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times. AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times. is not responsible for the accuracy of advertising content or manipulation of images that are provided by the advertiser. ARABIAN HORSE TIMES (ISSN 0279-8125) Volume 40, No. 11, is published monthly by AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times, 299 Johnson Ave., Suite 150, Waseca, Minnesota 56093. Periodical postage paid at Waseca, Minnesota 56093 and at additional entry offices. Single copies in U.S. and Canada $7.50. Subscription in U.S. $40 per year, $75 two years, $105 three years. Canada $65 one year, $125 two years, $170 three years, U.S. funds. Foreign Subscriptions: $95 one year, $185 two years, $280 three years, payable in advance, U.S. funds. Sorry, no refunds on subscription orders. For subscription and change of address, please send old address as printed on last label. Please allow four to six weeks for your first subscription to be shipped. Occasionally ARABIAN HORSE TIMES makes its mailing list available to other organizations. If you prefer not to receive these mailings, please write to ARABIAN HORSE TIMES, Editorial Offices, 299 Johnson Ave., Suite 150, Waseca, MN 56093. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographic materials. Printed in U.S.A. • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the ARABIAN HORSE TIMES, 299 Johnson Ave., Suite 150, Waseca, MN 56093. For subscription information, call 1-800-AHTIMES (in the U.S.A.) or 507-835-3204 (for outside of the U.S.A.) Arabian Horse Times • 299 Johnson Ave., Suite 150, Waseca, MN 56093 • Tel: (507) 835-3204 • Fax: (507) 835-5138 1-800-AHTIMES • www.ahtimes.com
6 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
To conclude, I want you to ask yourself these questions: Where and how did the Arabian horse cross your life’s path? How is your “history” created with the breed? The answers will no doubt be significant, and, I believe, will allow you to better understand and appreciate how the Arabian horse has woven its way into the tapestry of your life and into our collective history as Arabian horse enthusiasts.
Kevin N. Ludden Editor
U.S. National Champion
**Marwan *M Mar arwa w nA All SShaqab haaqa h qab b & Sh SShalina hal alin ina EEll JJamaal am maa aal
beaut y and t ype Producing
admired around the World! Marhaabahs Melody (x *Soho Carol daughter) Owned by Susan Snyder
The Marhaabah Legacy Group Chris Anckersen, Manager 864-647-7588 • anckersen@aol.com www.Marhaabah.com
2010 Fee $2,500 Incentives Available Multi-Program Nominated Sire SCID & CA Clear
M AY 2010 | 7
WHY does Midwest consistently have winning results?
Midwest Congratulates the buyers an 2010 Region 12 Championships
of horses offered in the White D
Collection Sale and new purchas
Midwest breeding stallions in Sc
GA Clio Dulaine
PA Millan Always
Anna Marie BHF
Arose Is Arose
Bella Versace DH
Eccentric Valentino
Taleed El Qardabiyah
PA Millan Always
HP Martina
www.MidwestArabian.com 8 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
TALENT ...
yers and sellers
White Diamond
purchases to the
s in Scottsdale.
EXCEPTIONAL HORSES ...
D E D I C AT I O N & T E A M W O R K !
M AY 2010 | 9
Midwest Congratulates Region 12 Champions ... ANNA MARIE BHF — Region 12 Champion Mare AOTH - AJ Marino AROSE IS AROSE — Region 12 Champion Half-Arabian Mare Stock/Hunter Type BEAUTY OF MARWAN — Region 12 Reserve Champion Yearling Sweepstakes Filly BELLA VERSACE DH — Region 12 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly CALVINTINO SRA — Region 12 Reserve Champion Yearling Sweepstakes Colt ECCENTRIC VALENTINO — Region 12 Reserve Champion Stallion GA CLIO DULAINE — Regional 12 Champion Half-Arabian Mare Saddle/Pleasure Type PA MILLAN ALWAYS — Region 12 Champion Gelding AOTH - AJ Marino PA MILLAN ALWAYS — Region 12 Champion Gelding TALEED EL QARDABIYAH — Region 12 Reserve Champion Mare VALENTE LD — Region 12 Reserve Champion Two-Year-Old Gelding VVALIANTE — Region 12 Reserve Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
Vvaliante
Valente LD
Beauty Of Marwan
Calvintino SRA
MIDWEST BREEDING AND TRAINING STATIONS ELK RIVER, MINNESOTA DAVID BOGGS ~ 612-328-8312 MIDWEST@SBWIRELESS.NET TRAVIS RICE ~ 612-919-6134 TRAVISMIDWEST@SBWIRELESS.NET HP Martina
www.MidwestArabian.com 10 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
MIDWEST ...
BREEDING, TRAINING, SHOWING,
& MARKETING YOUR CHAMPIONS!
M AY 2010 | 11
New Foals, Great Prospects ... There’s nothing like it!
12 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
A ND W E’ V E CA PT UR ED T HEM ON OUR
New
SA LES DV D.
Call for complete sales list and DVD. Irwin Schimmel • 360-256-9432 • Cell: 503-367-4997 P.O. Box 814, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123
M AY 2010 | 13
Region 12 Spotlight Stallion • Breeders Sweepstakes Nominated • AEPA Enrolled Sire • SCID Clear Trained and standing at Showtime Training Center Contact Tish Kondas at 770.252.3300 • cell: 678.427.0595 www.showtimetrainingcenter.net Proudly owned by Rod & Jacqueline Thompson Contact trainer Mike Miller at 865.388.0507 www.SmokyMountainParkArabians.com
14 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Baske Afire
Afire Bey V Mac Baske *El Ghazi
RY Fire Ghazi
RL Rah Fire
Huckleberry Bey Autumn Fire Baskevich AH Meditation Aloes Elektra Le Fire Raha Melima
M AY 2010 | 15
16 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
M AY 2010 | 17
Over the Top Sales Offerings! PUREBREDS PARK P PA RK
MD AQUARIUS (Aequus x Classically Yours) 2000 bay mare. One of the most thrilling park horses in the Arabian breed. Ready to take an amateur to a national championship. ENGLISH
INDEPENDENCE DAY HS (Afire Bey V x Nobel Fashion) 2003 bay gelding. Fancy country English pleasure horse. Suitable for the amateur rider. DA BOMBAY SAFIRE (Triften+/ x FM Tanzanite) 2006 grey gelding. National caliber English pleasure junior horse.
EMPEROR OF ANZA (Anza Padron x Empress Of Bask) 2006 chestnut stallion. By a national champion English pleasure horse and out of a national champion English pleasure and pleasure driving horse, this colt has all the talent to be a national English pleasure horse himself and the breeding to be a great sire. COUNTRY ENGLISH PLEASURE SF BITTERSWEET (Afire Bey V x SF Sweet Elegance) 2003 chestnut mare. A beautiful mare with a pedigree to match, she will make an excellent broodmare or country English pleasure horse.
ROXBURY (Hucklebey Berry x Parting Glance) 1999 bay gelding. 2008 National Reserve Champion Country Pleasure Driving and 2007 National Reserve Champion Country English Pleasure AOTR. Great minded and suitable for any rider. This horse has a big career ahead of him. BB NOBLE HEIR (MHR Nobility x Barbary Dancer) 2000 chestnut gelding. Outstanding country English pleasure horse for the youth or adult amateur rider.
MOMENTUM LOA (Millennium LOA x Baleek) 2002 bay gelding. Top Ten Country English Pleasure horse. Excellent adult amateur or youth horse.
AFIRE’S VICTOR (Afire Bey V x Vallejo Victorie) 2006 chestnut gelding. Young, exciting English prospect. Looks to be good minded enough for amateur with open potential. Ready to show in 2010. Scottsdale Reserve Champion Country English Pleasure Junior Horse.
STACHOWSKI FARM INC.
SV JUSTAJOY (Hucks Heritage V x Justaara) 2000 grey mare. Broodmare/show horse supreme. Excellent pedigree for breeding. Top wins in country open/amateur and country driving.
Mantua, Ohio • 330-274-2494 E-mail: info@stachowski.com Jim Stachowski: 330-603-2116 Peter Stachowski: 330-620-0194
www.Stachowski.com
GALA DE BASKE (Baske Afire x Gala De Cognac) 2005 chestnut mare. Flashy, fancy moving country horse. Will make an excellent amateur horse. National level. HUNTER
JUST DANCE (Baske Afire x Darkadia) 2004 SA RAPID FIRE
18 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
bay gelding. Tall, stretchy gelding. Well started— will make a great amateur mount.
MD AQUARIUS
INDEPENDENCE DAY HS
EMPEROR OF ANZA
ROXBURY
SV JUSTAJOY
GALA DE BASKE
SF STICKER SHOC
ROCK SOLID
CMJ HOT MONICA
MARIOPALOOZA
POP STAR
FIRE AWAY RJ
HALF-ARABIANS ENGLISH
COUNTRY ENGLISH PLEASURE
SA RAPID FIRE (Afire Bey V x PF Lady Cameo) 1999 bay gelding.
JJ SPECIAL EDITION (Baske Afire x Endless Legacy) 2005 chestnut
Multiple National Champion English Pleasure Horse. Also, 2009 National Champion Pleasure Driving AOTD. One of the greatest!
gelding. Beautiful country English pleasure horse.
SF STICKER SHOC (SF Specs Shocwave x She’s Real Bad) 2006
MARIOPALOOZA (Apollopalooza x Marjo) 2006 bay gelding. Big, handsome gelding. Would make an excellent equitation or amateur horse.
chestnut mare. National English pleasure potential. Well started. 2009 National Reserve Champion English Pleasure Futurity.
POP STAR (Afire Bey V x Precisely Poppy) 2002 chestnut gelding.
ROCK SOLID (Promotion x Stage Fright) 1995 bay gelding. High
National quality country English pleasure horse for the open or amateur rider. Will take you to the top!
stepping, fancy gelding. Numerous national top ten wins. Region 14 Champion Pleasure Driving AOTD and English Pleasure AOTR. Youth, adult amateur or open. Also drives.
CMJ HOT MONICA (Monaco x Hot Flashez TSA) 2003 bay tobiano mare. Beautiful, flashy, extremely talented mare. 2008 U.S. National Top Ten Half-Arabian English Pleasure Junior Horse. Ready to continue her career! HUNTER
VANDERBILT WP (Oran Van Bandy x Premiers Evening Starlight) 2002 grey gelding. Tall, beautiful, multi-champion hunter horse. Will be a national quality horse.
FIRE AWAY RJ (Baske Afire x Cara Me Away) 2004 bay gelding. 2009 U.S. National Top Ten Country Pleasure Junior Horse. Exceptional quality will make this one a standout in the country division—a top amateur horse. FS NOBLE DANCER (IXL Noble Express x Highpoint’s Dirty Dancer) 2005 bay mare. Three months under saddle and will be a national caliber country English pleasure horse. Very suitable for the amateur rider.
Visit our website to view videos www.Stachowski.com M AY 2010 | 19
#1 SIRE FOR 12 STRAIG HT YEARS!
Capture the action! 20 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Basic Recession 101 ... panic feeds recession! Chill — Breed Your Mares!
BREEDERS' IMPORTANT MESSAGE Call today and inquire about our 2010 BREEDING STIMULUS PLAN regarding breeding to the most renown Arabian stallion in the world, Afire Bey V, and the dynamic IXL Noble Express. Nowhere in the country, are there two Arabian stallions of their breeding status and impact under one roof. Don't wait — Afire Bey V is 25 and his semen is like a 5-year-old's. Be ahead of the market and have that great inventory of high-quality Arabian horses ready to meet the demand! Be the one with the goods!
Contact Shea Stables. Owned by Maroon Fire Arabians. 810-329-6392 • www.afirebeyv.com
M AY 2010 | 21
Catch a 2-Year-Old! They're in the pasture ... just waiting to be discovered! Tons of talent and all are sired by Multi-National Champions — A Noble Cause, A Temptation, Afires Heir and Matoi. Several out of National Champion Mares. Full siblings to National Champions.
BUY THEM NOW or take a chance and bid on the Cedar Ridge Internet Auction in July. Bidding starts July 24, 2010.
Visit our website for sales and breeding information
www.Cedar-Ridge.com 22 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
AMES DISTINGUISHED (A Noble Cause x G Kallora) Colt, Arabian AMES NOBLEMAN (A Noble Cause x G Kallora) Colt, Arabian G Kallora, by El Ghazi, is dam of National Champions Ames Lora, Ames Jasmine and Reserve National Champion Matalora.
AMES PROFESSOR (A Temptation x National Champion, Ames Lora) Gelding, Arabian A NOBLE LOOK (A Noble Cause x Justa New Look) Gelding, Arabian CAMILLA AMES (A Noble Cause x National Champion, Ames Toi Love) Filly, Arabian DOLLY AMES (Matoi x Ames On My Own) Filly, Arabian MELISSA AMES (Matoi x La Ghaza) Filly, Arabian NOBLE BEY (A Noble Cause x National Top Ten, Olympia Bey) Colt, Arabian NOBLE EDITION CRF (A Noble Cause x HV Trinidoll) Colt, Arabian Half-sister to National Champion, Ames Toi Love.
NOBLE JESTER CRF (A Noble Cause x Drue's Delight) Gelding, Arabian NOBLE SUPREME CRF (A Noble Cause x Multi-National Champion, Toi Jabaska) Colt, Arabian POCKETFUL OF TOI (Matoi x Pocketful Of Starlike) Filly, Half-Arabian TOI FABULOUS (Matoi x Fantacy Watch) Gelding, Half-Arabian Full-brother to Multi-National Champion Toi Slamtastic CRF
TOI SENSATION (Matoi x Alpha Phi) Filly, Half-Arabian Full-sister to National Champion Toi Supreme CRF Half-sister to Multi-National Champion Smarty Ames
TOI SPECIAL CRF (Matoi x Electra Special) Filly, Half-Arabian
The Ames Family 952-492-6590 ~ Jordan, Minnesota
M AY 2010 | 23
24 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
M AY 2010 | 25
MargaretMarinho MONDODESIGN
Adandy Farm ... for over four decades.
Perfection is attained by slow degrees. she requires the hand of time. — Voltaire
Performance ~ Halter ~ For Open & Amateur Competition Breeding & Sales
26 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
P.O. Box 2016 Greenwood, Delaware 19950 farm ~ 302-349-5116 Cathy Vincent ~ 302-236-6665 halter, Rob Langlois ~ 810-252-2515 asst. trainer, Tim Phelan ~ 585-943-4333
www.AdandyFarm.com
M AY 2010 | 27
JUST AMAZING NA
28 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Photo by Guzzo
2010 filly • Ever After NA x NNL Just A Heat
JUST AMAZING NA (below & facing page) 2010 filly • Ever After NA x NNL Just A Heat (Pictured with her friend Grace McNally.)
GYPSY LOVE NA (below) 2010 filly Ever After NA x EA Gypsy Echo Congratulations to HH Prince Saud Bin Turki Fahad M. Bin Jalawi Al Saud of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the purchase of this beautiful filly.
Ever After NA is sired by *Sir Fames HBV Proudly bred, owned & offered at stud by Robert & Dixie North
WWW.NORTHARABIANS.COM For information contact Breeding Manager Mike McNally at 760.789.3208
Photo by Guzzo
LEAH NA 2010 Filly • Ever After NA x Lee Anna PSY
M AY 2010 | 29
A WINNING TEAM Bob Battaglia Jeff Lovejoy
Training ~ Sales ~ Instruction ... at the top of the game for over four decades!
▲
Offering two winning Half-Arabians ▲ HL DAKOTA CHIEF (HL Spellcaster x HCF Pocketful Of Starlike) PENELOPE KREWSE (Krewe x Sultans Final Dawn) Visit our website for more sale horses and videos.
W W W. B AT TA G L I A FA R M S . C O M Scottsdale, Arizona • 480-585-9112 • Bob Battaglia • Russ Vento Jr. (In memoria in aeterna) 30 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
The things you hold most precious are at their most vulnerable when you travel and exhibit. We understand. We’re here to help.
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Horse Mortality
Excess/Umbrella Liability M AY 2010 | 31
"The best way to describe Fernando and Magnum is that they are soul mates! It is impossible to think of one without thinking of the other. They often say people are like their animals, and this is the case with Fernando and Magnum. Each is exceptionally gifted and a true pleasure to be around. They each give so much to the Arabian horse community—we would all be so lost without their influence!” —Barbara Chur
Ma gn u m
P s y c h e
the spirit of the red horse . . . and the man who loves him.
by Mary Kirkman
2 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Magnum Psyche has been at the top of the Arabian game for so long that it is easy to view him as a sort of institution, something larger than life. fe. fe To his owner Fernando de de Santibanes, however, h hee iiss n not ot ot an institution. He is a fr Those ffriend. riieen nd d. T d. Th ho osse who have observed the relationship he rre ela lati tion o sh hip p between the globe-trotting Arabian ottttiin ng gA rabi ra abi b an an sstallion tall ta alllio ion ion with the list of national naal ch cchampionships ham mpi pion nsh hip ips an aand nd the th he Argentinean banker-turned-horseman, nod yes, tur un need d--h ho orrssem ors man, an, no an n od that th hat at y es, es the partnership has be been successful—but most een n ssuc uccceess ucce uc ssfu sfu ful— l— —b bu ut sa ssay ay it it iiss mo m ost st successful on the personal say, the ers rson onaal on al sside. iid dee.. IItt iss aapparent, ppaarren pp ren ent, ent t, tthey heey sa h ay, y, iin n tth he stallion’s attitude ass h hee re his owner, rrecognizes ecco oggn niz zess h i o is wner wn eerr, an aand nd re rreflected efl flec ecte ted ted in the serene warmth mth ho off Fe FFernando’s ern rnan ando do’ss fface aacce as as h hee welc w we welcomes ellccom omess Magnum’s overture. ee..
Magnum Psyche is now part Santibanes family’s is n ow sso ow o much mu uch ch a p arrt o off tthe he S a ti an tibane bane ba n s fa am miily y’s ’s Haras Mayed that hard two, Magnum’s att iitt iss h ard to ar ard to sseparate epar ep arat ratte th the he tw wo,, sso oM Ma agnum gn num m’ss story actually began years before when gan an ssix iix xy eeaarss b efor ef ore his his birth, hi birth bi rth, rt h, w heen Fernando Fern Fe ern rnan ando o and his family decided ecid ec ideed d tthat hat h hat ha ho horses orses rssess w would ould ou db bee a ggo good ood d recreation. They y ssel selected eleeccte el ele ted Ar A Arabians rab a iiaan nss ffor orr ttheir o heirr p he pur pursuits, ursuit ur suitts, su s, aand n nd Fernando’s international rna nati tion ti tion nal al b business usin us ines ine ess eex ess experience xpe peri rien ience enccee p en provided rovi ro v de vi ded their initial contacts. years passed, his dedication nttaaccttsss.. As ntac As tthe h y he eaars r p aassse sed, d, h d, is d is ed dic icat a io at on and personal charm place the South haarrm m ggave av ve th them em map laacee iin n th he So out uth h American Arabian biian b iaan n ccommunity. om o mm mu un niity ty. y.
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 3
“Magnum Psyche became the most important
By 1993, Fernando had put together a small herd and acquired the
stallion of the Arabian breed. He is an incredible
picturesque Haras Mayed, about an hour from Buenos Aires. As he
combination of conformation, pedigree and the
refitted the farm to suit the needs of his operation, he continued
ability to transmit these characteristics to his
to attend shows, solicit advice and broaden his knowledge of
foals. I remember when he was a yearling; I loved
Arabians. It was in those early years, on a trip to the Brazilian
him, but nobody could say then how he would
Nationals, that he met Americans David Boggs and Johnny
perform as a stallion. When Fernando bought
Downing, and struck up friendships that were the first step on the
him, I was happy, but worried about production—
road to Magnum.
but then, since the first foals, he showed that he was ‘the guy.’ I’m happy that we had more
“Fernando was different,” Johnny Downing recalls. “He had a
than 30 foals by him in our program in Brazil,
passion for what he was doing. One of his goals was to be a
and every time I go to the U.S. and Argentina,
breeder of Arabian horses, and he told us that right up front. He
I always find new foals that are incredible.
wanted to breed some of the finest horses in the world. We could
Fernando and Joaquin de Santibanes are great
tell that he was passionate about it.”
breeders, and that’s another combination that makes the Arabian horse always better.” —Polé Levy
He remembers their early time together clearly. “My friendship with Fernando started right away because we share a mutual interest in art. When we visited him at his apartment in Buenos Aires, I realized he had some incredible Latin American art, some really esoteric pieces that probably a lot of people wouldn’t know about, but I knew all of the artists he was collecting. We formed a fast friendship based on our appreciation of art and Arabian horses, which we both see as art.”
“He was extremely kind, very much a gentleman, and very enthusiastic about the Arabian horse,” David Boggs recalls, adding that Fernando’s affinity for *Padron and the *Padron bloodlines gave them common ground immediately. “He really wanted to learn more about bloodlines and pedigrees; he loved the idea of having a breeding program in Argentina. We enjoyed each other’s company at the Brazilian Nationals, and discussed looking for some top quality broodmares. It was a great time for our paths to cross, because I knew where there were some great horses available. Together we put together a phenomenal collection.”
It was not long before Midwest was advising Fernando on the A Fancy Miracle
4 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
development of his breeding program. “We had some of his horses
here in the U.S.,” David recalls. “His lead sire at the time was ZT
“It has been said that ‘there’s something
Sharello, who was Egyptian/Ansata-bred, and he was crossing
about the outside of a horse that is
him on Gainey and Spanish mares. Then his direction changed to
good for the inside of a man.’ It is very
*Padron and the Bey Shah line, and eventually we started looking
obviously true, when you watch Fernando
for that special colt or stallion.”
when Magnum is near.” —Bob Boggs
Meanwhile, on May 2, 1995, just outside Ocala, Fla., a chestnut colt by Padrons Psyche was born to the mare A Fancy Miracle, by *Sasaki. Bred by Jay and Lisa Havice, the youngster who would be Magnum Psyche showed class from the beginning. By May 1996, he had already changed hands three times—the third being to Midwest clients John and Tracey Benoit. David remembers standing on the rail at Region 12. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Magnum,” he says. “I attached myself to the handler as he went back to the stalls, and fortunately I was in the front of a very long line of people that wanted to purchase the colt. We were able to do the negotiations and put it together within the day.”
Five months later, in Louisville, Ky., Magnum Psyche notched his first national title, claiming the U.S. National Championship in the Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Colts class.
Scottsdale 1997 marked Magnum Psyche’s first connection with the Santibanes family, but it was not with Fernando. A teenaged Joaquin de Santibanes represented Haras Mayed that year, more or less “looked after” by Boggs and the Midwest staff. Joaquin was more than a kid on vacation, however; for a couple of years, he had been shoulder-to-shoulder with his father on the search for the right stallion to head their fledgling program. In February, watching as
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 5
“Watching Fernando interact with Magnum
David Boggs not only trained Magnum Psyche but handled him
through the lens is quite magical. Studying
almost exclusively, Joaquin was astute enough to study the colt
Fernando, we watch his expression soften as
intently. Then he called home to his father and said, “I think we’ve
he gets close to Magnum. Then, if you watch
found our stallion.”
closely, you can almost see his breath match the breathing of Magnum, slow and steady,
Initially hesitant about buying a stallion prospect so young,
as if they communicate without words. The
Fernando finally succumbed to his son’s and David’s advice. “We’d
connection they have to each other is amazing
already looked at two or three national champion stallions that
to watch. The photo of Magnum and Fernando
were available,” David recalls, and adds that the stallions hadn’t
with head pressed to head is probably the
quite fit their requirements. “We were looking for the *Padron
closest we have come to capturing this
bloodline, a step back, and the correct individual. Magnum had
magical connection on film.”
the *Padron blood, and his conformation and type are as perfect as
—Victor and Lori Ricigliano
Fernando, Joaquin and I had ever seen.”
Purchasing the promising youngster did not prove to be easy, however, as the Benoits were not especially interested in selling. It tookk eeight to ight ig ht m on o nth ths an aand nd thre th hre ree tr tri ips to ip to tthe he U he nite ni ted St SStates Sta tat ates es b y Fe FFernando ern rnan ndo do took months three trips United by
6 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
to get the deal done. During that time, the stallion bred his first
“Magnum and Fernando—consistency, strength,
mares. By the opening of 1998, Magnum, who was living full time
faith and the ability and challenge to plan for
at Midwest, was preparing to go back to the show ring and also
greatness. ‘To do the impossible you have to see
was seeing his first foal crop.
the invisible.’”—Roxann Hart
Everything could have changed at this pivotal time. Fernando de um m Santibanes could have taken Magnum home to Argentina to grow into thee herd sire he envisioned for Haras Mayed. But he didn’t. Coming 3, Magnum was poised to make his name—and for a variety of reasons, Fernando was ready to help him. The year 1998 put Magnum Psyche on the map, as he embarked on an h ambitious schedule, roaring through six shows. By the end of the year, h hee had annexed stallion championshipss at the Buckeye, Region 15, the Canadian Nationals (unanimous), and the U.S. Nationals, with David on the lead.
“Magnum is a modern stallion. Sometimes you see what a stallion has produced, and they are
“It didn’t take long for the rest of the world to see his quality,”
beautiful babies or 2-year-olds, but they don’t
Johnny Downing says. But in coming years, the news got even
turn out to be beautiful stallions and mares. With
better. “His babies won right away.”
Magnum, he produces great stallions and great mares. He has national champions on both sides—
“He was ahead of his time,” veterinarian Mario Zerlotti offers
mares and stallions—and that doesn’t happen
in describing Magnum’s particular appeal at the time. An equine
every time.”
reproduction specialist, Zerlotti has worked with and observed
—Dr. Mario Zerlotti
many Magnum offspring through the years. “Fernando and David gave the opportunity to Magnum to show who he is—the great mares for him to breed, a great program behind him in advertising and promotion, and following the offspring so that they are shown and promoted the right way. A stallion needs to have a good owner; you need to understand how important all that support is.”
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One key to Magnum’s early and lasting success was
By the turn of the millennium, foals from Magnum
the quality of the broodmare herd assembled for him.
Psyche’s earliest crops were hitting the show ring.
“Fernando—Haras Mayed—purchased probably 30 or
Maggdalina, from the 1999 group, was U.S. National
40 horses through Midwest,” David says. “Today, he
Reserve Champion Yearling filly; in 2002, she went on to
owns more Bey Shah daughters than anyone in the
win both the U.S. and Canadian National Championships
world. Between 10 and 15 Bey Shah daughters were
for Futurity Fillies. That same year, Amelia B was U.S.
handpicked, one by one, and some of those produce
National Champion Yearling Filly and PA Magnanimous
the best Magnums. For instance, Shah Maali produced
was the Canadian National Champion Junior Stallion—
JJ Senor Magnum, who is now a leading sire of national
but they were just the heralds of what would be a tidal
champions in South America and an international
wave of national champions from Magnum Psyche. At
breeding horse as well. The combination of Magnum and
first they came in halter, and then over the years, titles
the Bey Shah daughters has been phenomenal.”
began arriving in performance, most notably western pleasure and the hunter division.
It became apparent early on that Magnum was important to Fernando on a deeper level than simply as a
In 2004, the stallion himself returned to the national
foundation of the Haras Mayed program. “It wasn’t long
spotlight. In an unprecedented move, Magnum Psyche
before I noticed that he loved Magnum,” David recalls.
was entered in the U.S. National Stallion Championship.
“He was in constant contact with me. Communication
“It wasn’t a decision taken lightly,” Boggs admits. “There
is very important to Fernando, and several times a
was a lot of discussion between Midwest and Fernando
week—sometimes many times a day—we’d touch base.
and Joaquin. But you have a lot of people coming into
He wanted to know how Magnum was doing, where
the industry each year, which is a blessing, and it had
we thought he should go next, what kind of mares we
been enough years since Magnum had won that a lot
thought he should breed. We discussed bloodlines and
of the new breeders had never seen him. We had a lot
how they would cross with Magnum, what opportunities
of interest in the Magnum bloodlines and breeding, and
were available. It’s really never stopped growing. His love
Fernando and I just felt that win, lose or draw, for people
for the horse and his admiration just continues.”
to see him, to feel the magic of Magnum Psyche, would
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do nothing but surge the breeding program and pay tribute to those
“I was not around for the Bey Shahs and the
foals that were already born. And I thought physically he looked
*Padrons, but in my opinion, Magnum Psyche
better than he ever had before.”
is unparalleled not only as a show horse, but as a sire.”—Lucky Lurken
That Magnum Psyche won his second title as U.S. National Champion Stallion was almost anticlimactic; his son Jaayd finished reserve to him, Maggdalina was named U.S. National Champion Junior Mare, Magnum Chall HVP was U.S. National Champion Junior Stallion, and the Magnum son Maximuss was U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt. In Half-Arabians, Rohara American Idol added the title of U.S. National Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Colt. There was no question: the Magnums had arrived.
In the years since, the awards have kept coming. Magnum Psyche is perennially the leading halter sire at Scottsdale, the U.S. and Canadian Nationals, and sometimes overall leading sire.
Even as his career in the United States was just gathering steam, Magnum initiated a presence in South America. In 1999, he went home with Fernando de Santibanes, and has spent part of the year— summer in the southern hemisphere—at Haras Mayed ever since. For Fernando, those are the sweetest times, the times he has only to walk outside to see his stallion.
“Fernando has a love for this horse, and the horse for him,” David says. “They go for walks when they are at the Scottsdale farm
MM AY AY2010 2010| |MAGNUM MAGNUMHALL HALLOF OFFAME FAME81 9
together. He’s not a trainer, so Magnum doesn’t have to do anything or be anything but himself with him. He’s very proud of Magnum; he respects Magnum and he honors Magnum. I think that he wants Magnum to be all that is possible, and this is why he allows the movement of the horse so many times when his personal level absolutely wouldn’t need that. If he could wear his pajamas out and feed carrots to his horse every morning, he’d live happily ever after. But he knows it’s the best for Magnum and it’s the best for the Magnum children and their future and the market of the Arabian horse.”
“When the horse is in Buenos Aires, if you visit Fernando, you see how he loves the horse,” Johnny Downing agrees. “He goes in his stall and gives him big bear hugs, and Magnum nuzzles him. There is really a personal involvement with the horse; this is not an Lyndsey Boggs
absentee owner. I think that’s really a testament to Fernando, because he loves them as animals and sees them really and truly as art. It was a perfect fit to have Magnum go to Fernando.”
“Fernando is a businessman and he’s been very successful all his life,” observes Lady Georgina Pelham, of Haras La Catalina in Argentina. She has been a friend of the Santibanes family since 1991, when they were new in the industry. “But money isn’t the only thing in life; it’s very important, and the good you can do with it is very important, but you have to have some passion in your life. Your heart has to be touched, apart from your family. A man like Fernando needs that outlet—having something that really makes him passionate. He can go and watch Magnum in the pasture, and be happy looking at him and realize he is happy.”
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"We have been richly blessed by Magnum and the Santibanes family. It is an awesome privilege to share our lives with this great horse, who despite his magnificence, is kind and gentle beyond measure. Magnum is always a gentleman. We can even put our four year old son, Jake on his back knowing he will be safe.
We deeply and profoundly appreciate the Santibanes family. We are grateful with all of our hearts for the trust they have placed in David—who has been Magnum's partner in destiny's dance ... and the development of a dynasty." —Terry Anne Boggs
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That first year, Magnum Psyche announced his
a plan. I can’t tell you how many good things David did
presence in Argentina by winning its National Stallion
for Magnum Chall HVP, not only the showing, but the
Championship. Since then, his foals have regularly made
promotions and the timing. It’s a huge commitment.”
him leading sire at the show. Lurken says that from the beginning of his involvement “The reality is that Fernando and his family have done
with the Magnum family, he was aware of Fernando’s
for that horse what probably nobody else could ever do,”
devotion to the stallion. “The day I bought Magnum
says Lucky Lurken, who owns the Magnum Psyche son,
Chall HVP, Fernando came over and gave me a big hug
Magnum Chall HVP. “Coupled with David—David drove
and said, ‘this is a great day.’ I didn’t catch it, I guess,
the whole deal—you still have to have a good quality
when he told me, but as time has gone on, I’ve realized
horse, and Magnum Psyche is the best thing on four feet
that for me and my family, Fernando is so right.
I’ve ever seen.” “Fernando and Joaquin have been so supportive,” he When planning the career of Magnum Chall HVP, Lurken
continues. “We couldn’t have had it happen without all
admired the commitment and foresight that marked
of them. They’re just really great people. When Magnum
Magnum Psyche’s development. “Magnum Chall HVP is
Chall HVP was younger and we showed him, they
beautiful and I love him to death, but you have to have
would be there. They didn’t miss a thing. Even when
12 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Magnum Chall HVP wasn’t at Midwest, Fernando came to see him. Fernando is a quiet man, but he’s very intelligent, and I’ve never met anybody who is behind the horses the way he is.”
Johnny Downing tells a story that illustrates the strength of Fernando’s attachment to Magnum Psyche. “Maybe a year or two after Fernando purchased him, there was a buyer for Magnum,” he says. “They were offering a lot of money. It would have been a lot of money in commission for David and for me, but even we agreed that Fernando shouldn’t sell the horse. I think all of us knew then that Magnum was really an incredible horse, and it was such a perfect fit for Fernando to have him.”
With his dual citizenship, Magnum has had a significant impact not only in the United States and Canada, but also the South American Arabian scene. His foals are present for the ribbons routinely at the national championship shows, and populate the herds of the leading breeders. And as the years have gone by, his sons and daughters have extended his influence to Europe and the Middle East as well.
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“The thing that has made Fernando a success in
“Nobody could have imagined the impact and how profound it
the horse business—apart from being who he is,
would be with Magnum until he got under way,” David says. “He
the kind of person he is, and the study he’s put
was absolutely the most beautiful yearling colt I had ever seen,
into it—is this absolutely enormous love he has for
and a great show horse, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he
Magnum Psyche. It’s wonderful to see. I’ve been
was going to be a great sire. Rarely are the two combined. But he
in the business 44 years, and I have very special
turned out to be—I think today he is the leading living sire in the
horses who I would never dream of selling and
world, with more than 1,200 foals—the leading import and export
who are close to my heart. I think that goes for
sire of horses into and out of the United States. So the blood of
Fernando too.”
Magnum is used all around the world.” —Lady Georgina Pelham
“He’s the kind of horse who changes the Arabian business in the whole world,” Mario Zerlotti affirms. “To me, he’s an icon for the industry—he and the stallions he has produced. If you look over the world in every country, there is a son that is a major stallion, like Magnum Chall HVP, JJ Senor Magnum, WH Justice, JJ Magnum Gold, Justify, and others. He has sons producing great stallions in South America, the Middle East and Europe. It’s not just what he is producing, but what his offspring are producing now too.”
As he ages, Magnum is still going strong. In 2009, in another nearly unprecedented move, he returned to competition at Scottsdale. “It was really the last jewel in his crown,” David Boggs explains. “He had never shown at Scottsdale. He resides in Scottsdale half of the year; between going to Argentina and flying back to Scottsdale, he would have been there for the presentation and breeding, so there wasn’t a lot of stress on the horse.”
At the age of 14, Magnum Psyche was named Supreme Champion of Scottsdale. “He’s as perfect now as he ever was as a yearling or a 2-year-old,” says David. “He could show whenever he wanted. At Scottsdale, the response from people was overwhelming.”
“I saw him the first time at David’s when he was a yearling in the stall, and he was beautiful that day,” Lucky Lurken remembers. “The last day I saw him was at Scottsdale when David showed him, and he was the best I’ve ever seen him—he took my breath
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M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 15
"I have loved Magnum since the first moment I laid eyes on him, and I have loved Fernando and Joaquin de Santibanes since the day I met them. All the words I've had the honor of writing in regard to Magnum and his friends fall short. I simply can't find enough superlatives to describe the unique perfection that IS Magnum—nor can I express the beauty of spirit possessed by his people, the father and son who love him. Thank you Fernando, thank you Joaquin, thank you David. It has been a great blessing and a great joy to journey beside the "Family Magnum" along destiny's road." — Jo West Lauter aka JL Hardesty, author of The Lost Legend Trilogy
away. The curious thing is that Magnum Chall HVP is the same way. We bought him at 8 months old and he was 9 recently. He looks better today than he did when he was 3. It’s amazing.”
“I think longevity is very strong in the Magnum horses,” David agrees. “They start as refined youngsters, almost a bit too feminine—even some of the colts—but as they mature, they maintain that refinement. These older stallions look magnificent.”
And every year, more Magnum youngsters arrive to ascend the ranks. “In terms of market, the Magnum Psyche foals have dominated throughout the years,” David notes. “They really have been the trendsetters of what some of the best horses have been marketed for. They have been internationally received by new breeders and entrepreneurs, so there is a solid foundation that surrounds Magnum and the marketing program. It has been a great union between Haras Mayed and Midwest.”
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“Magnum is a horse that was created to bring joy and happiness to the hearts of Arabian enthusiasts and aficionados … a being that the good Lord above spent a lot more time on. Magnum and Fernando were meant to be together, and with the entourage headed by David Boggs, Fernando has allowed Magnum to become all he can be. Thousands of tests from now, his name will still ring and never be forgotten. What Magnum has done for the Arabian breed, no words can truly describe.”—Travis Rice
As time has passed, Fernando has expressed his support for Magnum in his support for the breed as a whole. “He’s an ambassador for the Arabian horse business and he wants to help the market any way he can,” says David. “He’s been there worldwide to donate breedings to charities and different functions, and he’s nominated the horse for almost every program that has been. The birth of the Magnum
“Throughout the history of the Arabian horse,
Psyche Futurity is a good example. It’s been completely financed by
it has been proven that it takes a stallion with
Fernando, and we’ve given away hundreds of thousands of dollars
incredible type, conformation and genetics to
to the owners and breeders of Magnum foals. It’s a way to support
become a great sire. It is also proven that without
and say thank you to the people who have supported Magnum and
a benevolent and dedicated owner, a stallion will
use him in their breeding program. Fernando’s helped out whenever he could, and he and Magnum have done it together. It’s a love affair you have to see.”
never achieve his ultimate potential or his ultimate place in history. The Arabian breed is blessed to have this great combination in multi-international champion and leading sire Magnum Psyche, and owner/breeders Fernando and Joaquin de
“Fernando and Magnum—it’s like Magnum is a member of his family,” Lucky Lurken reflects. “They’re like one; you don’t even think of Magnum without Fernando.” ■
Santibanes. “Fernando and Joaquin’s foresight, breeding prowess, dedication, friendship and love for everyone in the Arabian breed have allowed Magnum to achieve the honor of being the Arabian breed’s greatest sire—at the youngest age ever for a stallion. Their dream has been accomplished, and now fuels the hearts and souls of Arabian breeders around the world, allowing them to also produce their own champions through Magnum. “Fernando and Joaquin, with their friend David Boggs, who is like family to them, have created an Arabian icon that will last forever and never to be equaled: Magnum Psyche!” —Walter Mishek
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UNIT E D S TAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON STA L L I ON C AN AD IAN N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON STA L L I ON B R AZ ILI A N N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON
MAGNUM CHALL Magnum Psyche x Taamara HVP ~ 2001 Stallion
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HVP
RD
CHALLS ANGEL Magnum Chall HVP x Bey Angel TGS
2009 & 2010 Scottsdale Signature Stallion Champion Filly 2009 Arabian Breeders World Cup Champion Yearling Filly 2010 Arabian Breeders World Cup Silver Supreme Champion Junior Mare Owned by Pegasus Arabians
Contact Sandro Pinha ~ 480-226-0001 Sandro@sandropinha.com www.ArabiansInternational.com
LUCKY & RAEGEN LURKEN Rochester, Minnesota
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T H E C H A M P I ON M A K E R
Bettina MP (WH Justice x Om El Belinda Estopa) 2010 Arabian Breeders Cup Yearling Filly Bronze Supreme Champion
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
Bess Fa’Izah (WH Justice x Sharon El Kendal) 2009 Dubai Senior Champion Female 2006 World Junior Champion Female
FM Gloriaa (WH Justice x Psity Of Angels) 2009 All Nations Cup Junior Champion Filly 2009 World Junior Reserve Champion Female
WH
Panarea By Palawan (WH Justice x Palawan) 2006 World Junior Reserve Champion Female
JUSTICE
Magnum Psyche x Vona Sher-Renea ~ 1999 9S Stallion ta allllilio ion
Sire of World, European, All Nations Cup, p , Mi M Midd Middle i dd ddle d le le E East, ass t, t, p ioo nnss International and National Champions
EQUID SYSTEM LTD. Thierry, Catherine & Thomas Kerjean ~ Villa Gu G Guardia uar ard dia (C di ((CO), CO) O), Ital O) IItaly It tally
www.wh-Justice.com
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M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 21
UN IT E D S TAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON STA L L I ON
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
C AN AD IAN N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON STA L L I ON
LD
PISTAL
Magnum Psyche x Halana ~ 2000 Stallion
Two-Time United States National Champion Senior Stallion Canadian National Champion Junior Stallion
RANCHO LAS POTRANCAS Felix Cantu ~ Mexico City, Mexico United States contact: Johnny Downing ~ johnnyjoed@aol.com ~ 480-200-7618
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WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
Magnum Psyche x Zolina ~ 1999 Mare
24 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
SIX-T IME N ATI O N A L CH A MPI ON MA RE P R ODUC I N G N ATI O N A L CH A MPI ON S !
MAGGDALENE Magnum Psyche x Maggdalina
Canadian National Reserve Champion Futurity Filly Bred by Misheks Arabians Congratulations to new owner Israa Waleed Giuma
DM
MAGGDAL SHAKKAB Marwan Al Shaqab x Maggdalina
Canadian National Champion Futurity Gelding Owned by Don Manuel Farms Bred by Misheks Arabians
Maggdalina is in foal to WH Justice for 2010
Strawberry Strawberr r
Banks Farm
Barbara B Ba rb rbar bar ara Chu Ch Chur hur ur ~ East Aurora, New York www.StrawberryBanksFarm.com www S ww
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 25
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM 26 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
F OU R-T I M E U N I T E D STAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A MP I ON & C A N A D I A N N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON
JJ
LA ESTRELLA Magnum Ma M aggn agn num mP Psyche syych h x WA Marlaina Lee ~ 1999 Mare
Brazilian Br B raz a illiaan N National Champion Mare Dam Daam off Scottsdale Champion Filly D
HRH PRINCE HOSSEIN ZIAEE AND MR. JAHANGIR HADI AZAMI. M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 27
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM 28 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
S E V E N- T IM E N AT I ON A L RE SE RV E C H A M P I ON M AR E UN I T E D STAT E S A N D C A N A D A
GAA
MILLENIA
Magnum Ma M aggn agn num um P Psyche syych h x Bey Cherie Amore ~ 2000 Mare
In ffoal In oal oa al too D Daa V Vi Vinci inci ncci F FM and Ajman Moniscione for 2011
LUTETIA ARABIANS Gerald Kurtz ~ Stud Manager ~ tel: +33 625 64 85 75 lutetiaarabians@gmail.com or geraldkurtz@mac.com M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 29
TALEED EL QARDABIYAH Magnum Psyche x Jamaara FA
30 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 31
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
S C O T T SD A L E C H A M P I ON
TALEED EL QARDABIYAH Magnum Psyche x Jamaara FA ~ 2005 Mare
Scottsdale Champion Five-Year-Old Mare with David Boggs
Mme. Israa Waleed Giuma Ben Zaied Notre Dame Decenily, France
32 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 33
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM 34 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
UNITE D STATE S RE SE RV E NATIONAL C H AMP ION
LADY SERENADE
BHF
Magnum Psyche x Bey Serenade SF ~ 2001 Mare
To be presented by David Boggs at the 2010 Brazilian Nationals
HARAS JM José Alves Filho ~ Maisa Tucci Alves Rua Oquirá, 325 - São Paulo - Brazil CEP 05467-030 (55-11) 3255-9959 / 3021 2147 ~ (55-19) 3879-2964 / 3879-1002 7729-0672 nextel ~ harasjm@spo.matrix.com.br josealvesfilho@rebic.com.br ~ www.harasjm.com.br
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 35
UN IT E D S TAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
WE S T E R N PL E A SU RE J U N I OR H ORSE
Available for purchase
MIDNIGHT MAGNUM Magnum Psyche x Pele Bey ~ 2001 Stallion
United States National Reserve Champion Western Pleasure Futurity Sire of National Champions
SANDWOOD FARM Dick & Bradley Jenkins ~ Powhatan, Virginia Contact: GARLANDS ~ 804-598-3657 ~ www.TommyGarland.com
36 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
BR A Z I L I AN NATI ONAL C HAM P I ON
*FAUSTO
CRH
Magnum Psyche x FHF Xantal ~ 2003 Stallion
Region 12 Champion Stallion Leading Juvenile Sire
OAK RIDGE ARABIANS Don & Janey Morse ~ Freeport, Illinois M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 37
WO N D E R D OW N U N D E R — T H E M AGNUM P SY C H E I N F L U E N C E AT M U L AWA
MAGNUM FORTY FOUR Magnum Psyche x WH Nashahna, by Bey Shah
Australian East Coast & National Stud Show Champion
WWW W.M MIDWEST IDWEST TAR RABIAN ABIAN.COM
United States and Canadian National Reserve Champion AAOTH Sire of numerous Australian and International Champions
38 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
MULAWA KARISMAA Magnum Psyche x Karmaa, by Kaborr
Australian National Champion Yearling Filly
B R E E D ING W ORL D C L A SS A RA B I A N S
BECAUSE Magnum Forty Four x Befame, by Fame Maker R
Australian East Coast Champion Stallion Australian Champion Yearling Colt Australian Reserve Champion Junior Stallion
PARADA Magnum Forty Four x Presence, by GLF Apollo
Australian, East Coast & National Stud Show Champion Junior Mare Australian Triple Crown winner Undefeated & Unanimous on every occasion in the last show season.
MULAWA ARABIAN STUD Greg & Julie Farrell ~ Jane Farrell ~ Berrilee, NSW Australia julie.farrell@mulawa.com.au ~ +61 412 517 188 www.mulawaarabians.com.au M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 39
The consistent cross with Magnum Psyche ... Ames Mirage, by Brass
UNITED S TAT E S N AT IO N A L C H A M P I ON
AMES CHARISMA
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage
40 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
CANADIAN N AT T IO I O NA N A L C H A M P I ON ON
AMES IMAGE Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage
Congratulations to Fernando de Santibanes on the great success of International Champion and leading sire, Magnum Psyche. Pictured with 2009 filly, Olympiaa (Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage)
CEDAR RIDGE ARABIANS The Ames Family ~ Jordan, Minnesota ~ 952-492-6590 M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 41
XANTHUSS Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
Regional Champion Iowa Gold Star Champion
MAGNUM SHOWCASE CRF Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage
Regional Champion
DIVINE DESTINEE GA Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage
National Top Ten Iowa Gold Star Champion
CEDAR RIDGE ARABIANS The Ames Family ~ Jordan, Minnesota ~ 952-492-6590
42 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
OFFER I NG TWO 2010 FUL L -S I S TER S B Y M AGNUM P S YCHE OUT OF AM ES M I RAGE .
WWW.CEDAR-RIDGE.COM M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 43
UNIT E D S TAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON A N D
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
CAN AD IAN N AT IO NA L C H A M P I ON F U T U RI T Y F I L LY
NBW
ANGELS KISS
Magnum Psyche x BHF Dark Angel ~ 2003 Mare
In foal to Da Vinci FM for 2010 via embryo transfer
GEMINI ACRES Jim & Sally Bedeker ~ Morris, Illinois
44 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
T WO - T IM E UN IT E D STAT E S N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON AND C AN AD IAN N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON H A L F -A RA BI AN
MM
MAGNUM BUTTERFLY
Magnum Psyche x Flameworthy ~ 2006 Mare
In foal to Da Vinci FM for 2010 via embryo transfer
GEMINI ACRES Jim & Sally Bedeker ~ Morris, Illinois M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 45
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
CAN AD IAN N AT IO N A L RE SE RV E C H A M P I ON M A RE
MAGNUM JULEP Magnum Psyche x Beyon Fire ~ 2002 Mare
In foal to Da Vinci FM for 2010
46 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
UNIT E D S TAT E S N AT I ON A L RE SE RV E C H A M P I ON MAR E
DD
CROWN JEWEL Magnum Psyche x Crown Victoria ~ 1999 Mare
In foal to Da Vinci FM for 2010
GEMINI ACRES Jim & Sally Bedeker ~ Morris, Illinois M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 47
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
Magnum Psyche x S Justatinkerbell ~ 2004 Stallion
2009 Punta del Este, Expo Outo単o and Expo Prado Champion Stallion and Grand Champion Region 14 Champion Stallion United States National Top Ten Futurity Colt
HARAS LOS PALMARES Punta Deleste, Uruguay ~ www.HarasLosPalmares.com.uy
48 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
2008 B R AZ I L I A N N AT I ON A L C H A M P I ON Y OU N G STA L L I ON
JUSTA MAGNUM
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 49
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
BR A Z I L I AN NATI ONAL C HAM P I ON
VAN SIRENA Magnum Psyche x Malika Van Ryad, by Ryad El Jamaal
Two-Time Brazilian National Champion
HARAS VANGUARDA FÁBIO DINIZ DE ÁVILA ~ CAMPINAS (SP) BRAZIL ~ FCORRESP@SUPERIG.COM.BR
50 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
THE MAGIC CROSS OF M A G N U M P S Y C H E A N D RYA D E L J A M A A L
WE INVITE YOU TO VISIT HARAS VANGUARDA AND SEE THE INCREDIBLE ARABIANS AVAILABLE. WWW.HARASVANGUARDA.COM
M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 51
C HAM P I ON
MAGNUMS ANGEL
JD
Magnum Psyche x OFW Heaven Sent ~ 2004 Mare
WWW.MIDWESTARABIAN.COM
“Magnum and Fernando—consistency, strength, faith and the ability and challenge to plan for greatness. ‘To do the impossible you have to see the invisible.’” —Roxann Hart
ROHARA ARABIANS Owner R. Kirk Landon Karl & Roxann Hart ~ Orange Lake, Florida 352-591-4661 ~ rohara@windstream.net ~ www.Rohara.com
52 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
I N T E R NATI ONAL C HAM P I ON
*CALIBER H Magnum Psyche x Shahnas Julle H ~ 2007 Stallion
2010 Nuestros Caballos, Buenos Aires, Unanimous Champion Senior Colt 2009 Palermo Show, Buenos Aires, Reserve Grand Champion Stallion 2009 Rio, Reserve Grand Champion Stallion 2008 Region 12 Champion Yearling Colt LONGUINI HORSE TRAINING ~ RINALDO LONGUINI LONGUINIHT@YAHOO.COM.BR ~ WWW.LONGUINIHT.COM.BR
HARAS LA CATALINA Georgina Pelham ~ Buenos Aires, Argentina M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 53
U N I T E D STAT E S NATI ONAL C HAM P I ON FI L LY
AMELIA B Magnum Psyche x Amety B ~ 2001 Mare
Dam of National Champions
Owned by LAZY B ARABIANS Managed by O'NEILL ARABIANS LLC Rory & Sue O'Neill ~ Cave Creek, Arizona Mobile: 602-821-8220 ~ www.OneillArabians.com
54 MAGNUM HALL OF FAME | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
C AN AD IAN N AT I ON A L RE SE RV E C H A M P I ON
MOMENTUM
NA
Magnum Ma M agn gnum mP Psyche sycch sy h x Mona Lisa V ~ 1999 Stallion
Canadian Ca Cana anaaddiian an N National a iioonnaal Re at R Reserve ese Champion Western Pleasure Open U Un nit ited eedd S taate tes Na N United States National Top Ten Western Pleasure Junior Horse Owned by TBBG, LLC ~ Omaha, Nebraska 59 92 23 23 Contact: Linda Brown GEM ARABIANS 402-426-2882 ~ 402-672-5923 gemarabians@abbnebraska.com ~ www.prairiegemstables.com M AY 2010 | MAGNUM HALL OF FAME 55
NATIONAL CHAMPION JJ SEﾃ前R MAGNUM
NATIONAL CHAMPION JJ APHARINA NATIONAL CHAMPION JJ ELBRONZ HARAS MAYED Fernando & Joaquin de Santibanes ~ Buenos Aires, Argentina www.HarasMayed.com
Thank you to everyone around the world for your support, guidance and especially, your friendship. — Fernando
YOU CAN HEAR THE ROAR OF THE CROWD ...
YOU CAN FEEL THE ROAR OF THE CROWD ...
NEXT MONTH, YOU CAN SEE IT!
SHF
A P O L L O P A L O O Z A
X
S M S
F O R E V E R
B A Y
Owned by: THE ENCORE SELECT GROUP Standing at: Cedar Ridge Arabians Contact Mike Brennan, breeding manager 952-492-6590 • www.Cedar-Ridge.com M AY 2010 | 91
Congratulations on a successful 2010 Las Vegas World Cup Horse Show!
EL CHALL WR (Magnum Chall HVP x Major Love Affair) AHBA World Cup Gold, Supreme Champion Junior Stallion Marketed through & presented by G.A.T. • Owned by North Arabians
RODOLFO GUZZO Rodolfo Guzzo Brasil: +55 (19) 8139 9739 USA: +1 (619) 200 6464 E-mail: guzzoat@gmail.com
w w w . G u z z o AT. c o m 92 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
RD MARCIENA (QR Marc x NW Siena Psyche) AHBA World Cup Gold, Supreme Champion Yearling Filly Marketed through & presented by G.A.T. • Owned by Haras Boa Vista
S H A E L D R E A M D E S E RT Sire of International Champions including Felicia RLC Marketed through G.A.T. — special thanks to co-agent Jeff Sloan. Owned by Freeland Farms Sire of:
FELICIA RLC (Shael Dream Desert x Camelia K) AHBA World Cup Gold, Supreme Champion Junior Mare Marketed through G.A.T. • Owned by Ajman Stud
EVER AFTER NA
SW ABRAXAS
(*Sir Fames HBV x Entaicying NA) AHBA World Cup Bronze, Supreme Champion Senior Stallion Presented by G.A.T. • Bred & owned by North Arabians
(Ever After NA x Midnight Pashahn) AHBA World Cup Bronze, Supreme Champion Yearling Colt Presented by G.A.T. • Bred & owned by Southwest Arabians M AY 2010 | 93
QR Marc x NW Siena Psyche
with Rodolfo Guzzo
94 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Thank you to breeders Shirley & Murray Popplewell and Claudinei Machado of Rae-Dawn Arabians, for the opportunity to own RD Marciena. Also, thanks goes to Sandro Pinha of Arabians International and Rodolfo Guzzo for their support, care and presentation of this beautiful filly.
lucianocury@mac.com Proudly owned By Haras Boa Vista, SP Brazil Luciano Cury • Mobile +55 11 96321595
M AY 2010 | 95
Ever After NA x Midnight Pashahn
with Rodolfo Guzzo
Proudly bred & owned by Southwest Arabians Greg & Veronica Cowdrey 602-793-3364 • 602-741-3364 southwestarabians@hotmail.com www.SouthwestArabians.com Presented by:
AT 96 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
M AY 2010 | 97
TRJ (Eden C x TR Copperclassique)
2010 Scottsdale Junior Champion Colt AAOTH with Ross Danielson
98 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Arabian Breeders World Cup Supreme Top Ten Yearling Colt with Gary McDonald
Arabian Breeders World Cup 1st Place Junior Colt ATH with Ross Danielson
2010 Arabian World Cup Silver Supreme Champion Colt ATH
6835 East Peak View Road Scottsdale, Arizona 85266 Gary McDonald 602-692-3204 E-mail: mcdonaldarabians@q.com Holly McDonald 480-329-0737 www.mcdonaldarabians.com
www.DanielsonArabians.com
Ross, Terri, and Jonathan Danielson 3616 20th St. N.E • Buffalo, MN 55313 Home 763-682-6399 Terri’s Cell 612-247-9842 Ross’ Cell 612-709-0121 E-mail: info@danielsonarabians.com
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2010
Arabian Breeders World Cup Show— Biggest And Best Yet! Written by Linda White Photos by Glenn Jacobs
100 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
WO ORLD RLD RL D CU UP P
M AY A Y 2010 200 0 | 101 101
WORLD CUP
When the Arabian Horse Breeders’ Alliance (AHBA) created the World Cup, their hope was that the show would become prestigious, and that it would attract competitors from all over the world. When the 2010 event drew to a close, all lingering doubts disappeared. In only four years, those expectations exceeded the ABHA’s most fervent hopes. Increasing numbers of the world’s finest horses—mature stallions and mares, junior colts and fi llies, and geldings—fi ll class after class at this elegant desert locale, brought there by internationally prominent exhibitors to compete for prizes exceeding $80,000. “We had more than 250 horses and over 300 class entries!” says a jubilant Robert North, who manages the AHBA Auction Futurities. North is an original AHBA board member. “The Salon du Cheval gets 80 to 100 horses, and the All Nations Cup in Aachen, Germany, attracts about the same number,” he estimates. “That would make the World Cup the largest show of its kind in the world.” The World Cup competition features only halter classes.
102 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
“This was our most successful show ever,” notes Scott Benjamin, the World Cup’s Center Ring Coordinator. “We had more than 400 people at Thursday night’s gala! The party gave people a chance to put competition aside for an evening. The club was fantastic and had a terrace from which we could see the spectacular Las Vegas skyline. The city is a terrific venue, and everyone had a great time.” “This isn’t just another horse show; it’s an event,” agrees AHBA board member Scott Bailey. “We all enjoyed the gala’s new venue, Club XS, at the Encore. The club was glamorous and sophisticated—a perfect setting for our exhibitors.” “Also, we were a little more innovative this year,” states Benjamin. “We expanded our categories to include yearling, junior and senior championships, plus a full top ten in every class. This sent a lot more people home happy. This year’s supreme championship awards were gold, silver and bronze, like the Olympics: gold for champion, silver
WORLD CUP
for reserve champion, and bronze for third place. It was a risk, but it turned out very well.” Member Phyllis La Malfa, who cuts the show’s checks, refers to colleague Scott Benjamin as “our man in center ring,” whose role necessitates that he be present for all sessions. He and La Malfa are just two of the many dedicated ABHA members who work tirelessly throughout the year.
“Our system differs from the traditional European judging system in that we give separate scores for head, and for neck and shoulder,” North continues. “Th is creates one extra category, but it adds to this system’s appeal, we believe. For example, with head and neck/ shoulder scored together, as in the European system, a horse could have a beautiful head, but not much of a neck, or a gorgeous neck and shoulder, but a very plain head … and still be given a high score. The World Cup’s system of separating head score from neck/shoulder provides a more accurate evaluation of two important conformation points.” Class scores in each age group qualified the highest-scoring entrants to compete in their various World Cup supreme championships. In Sunday’s supreme championships,
Photo by April Visel.
The Arabian Breeders World Cup Scoring System was an instant success. In this international system, six judges award points in six categories. Each year, the six-judge panel has represented the most distinguished candidates. Knowledge, experience and integrity are universal among them, enabling the World Cup to maintain an honest image and standards that are acknowledged as the highest possible. Th is fair, unbiased judging protocol has generated almost no disagreements, show officials have reported each year. Clearly, the system has borne the
scrutiny of its global patronage, and has been approved. Lists of horses competing and countries represented have grown steadily.
Judges: Debby Cain, Corky Sutton, Marianne Tengstedt (center), Murilo Kammer, Marie-Louise Van Wyk and Peter Pond.
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WORLD CUP
however, the horses were judged comparatively, as they are in show halter championship classes in Europe and most other countries, excepting most USEF-recognized United States Arabian halter competitions. The class was lined up in two rows. Selecting the gold, or first place, champion from the front row was mandatory, but the silver (second place,) bronze (third place) and the top ten winners could be pulled out from either row. “We tried to give out more prizes, and deservedly so,” Benjamin explains. “We sent many more people home happy, this year. We give out very nice garlands, trophies, ribbons, and other awards. Most of our exhibitors tell us that this is the best, most elegant horse show they attend, and that the World Cup is their favorite, or second-favorite, ranking next to the Salon du Cheval.” “Our champion yearlings and our 2010 junior champion stallion were U.S.-bred, but all the other champions came from Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Poland, and Belgium. The Arabians that competed here in 2010 were owned or bred by people in 19 different countries—countries from every continent except Antarctica!” he marvels. “Those countries included Poland, Germany, the United Arab Republic, England, Qatar, Argentina, Australia, Belgium and many others. Our judges are to be commended, because the quality was very deep; these were the best horses from around the world. It was gratifying and exciting to see entries scored and placed with no hint of bias or favoritism.” “From an owner’s perspective,” states Scott Bailey, “the show offers purebred breeders and owners an elegant venue—a world-class event. The World Cup is an excellent opportunity to showcase their horses and breeding programs in a high quality setting.” “We were a little concerned that this year’s entries would reflect the current world economic climate,” says North, “but it appears that our break-even to small-profit position is continuing. When we first began planning this, probably six years ago, the original board members contributed to a startup fund to put on the first World Cup. It is very expensive to put on an event like this, in an expensive location like Las Vegas,” he reminds us, “but our revenues have been substantial enough that we will be around another year.
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WORLD CUP
Lisa Niemi accepting the 2010 World Cup Ambassador Award.
“We pick judges from all over the world,” he continues. “We select professional judges and breeders, rather than trainers. Th is creates no pressure, and no hint of bias or favoritism. Each July, the nine-member board selects the next year’s judges. We have a complicated balloting system, and because our board members come from all over the world, the process doesn’t happen quickly. Selecting judges is a careful, lengthy process, and may take three or four weeks.” In the six years since its formation, he adds, only one original member no longer serves on the AHBA Board. The group has grown larger, however, with several new members added. Board members serve two-year terms. Confidence in the show’s judging method has increased every year. (Rumor has it that even in Europe, replacing the existing system with the AHBA World Cup’s has been mentioned.) The 2010 judges flew into Las Vegas from five of the world’s seven continents. This esteemed international assemblage included: Debby Cain and Corky Sutton, both of the United States; Brazil’s Murilo Kammer; Peter Pond from Australia; Marianne Tengstedt of Denmark; and Marie-Louise Van Wyk from South Africa. There is seldom argument over such authoritative, international judges’ decisions, which only adds to the young show’s stature and credibility.
Bob North points out that the show is constantly evolving. After each year’s event, the board collectively evaluates, listens to recommendations, and makes changes that will help make the World Cup even better the following year. The 2010 assessment has already begun. The World Cup is solidifying into a unique, first-class Arabian horse showcase. For four days in April, this breed’s unrivaled beauty, tremendous character, versatility, and athleticism shine brilliantly in the desert sun. Audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with equines discover that the purebred Arabian horses they are enjoying far outshine any casino’s glittering temptations. “Our goal has been to bring breeders and owners from around the world together at a positive, fun, exciting, glamorous competition with a well-earned reputation for fairness and integrity,” says Scott Bailey, summing up his own assessment of the event. “We have succeeded in reaching—even exceeding—that goal, which is probably the World Cup’s most important achievement.” Next year, plan to make your Las Vegas trip the third week of April to get in on the World Cup’s fifth anniversary celebration. Move over, Manhattan! The minute they set foot in Las Vegas, World Cup visitors and participants realize (or already knew) that this, too, is a city that never sleeps. ■
M AY 2010 | 105
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Futurity Yearling Filly ATH Championship
Champion Donna Psyche NA (Padrons Psyche x Donna Fantastykah RB), shown by Michael Bills for owners Robert & Dixie North Family Trust.
Reserve Champion Estancia W (MPA Giovanni x Gianna J), shown by Stuart Vesty for owner Anna Wiechmann.
Futurity Yearling Colt/Gelding ATH Championship
Champion Ucello J (MPA Giovanni x Khenya PGA), shown by co-owner Indira VanHandel for co-owner Lawrence Jerome.
106 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Reserve Champion Paladin LL (Magnum Chall HVP x NV Gypsy Dancer), shown by Austin Boggs for owner Leslie Lurken.
WORLD CUP
Mare/Filly ATH Championship
Silver Supreme Champion Om El Excella (Al Lahab GASB x Omel Bint Shaina), shown by Janina Merz for owner Om El Arab International.
Gold Supreme Champion So Adiva (QR Marc x LC Gabriele), shown by owner Mark Browning.
Bronze Supreme Champion Shai Laurel (Simeon Shai x Avjem Primavera), shown by Cindy Morgan for owner B. Ann Wilder.
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Stallion/Colt ATH Championship
Silver Supreme Champion TRJ Ethan (Eden C x TR Copperclassique), shown by owner Ross Danielson.
Gold Supreme Champion and Senior Stallion 4 Years Old winner Om El Al Azeem (Al Lahab GASB x Om El Beneera), shown by Janina Merz for owner Om El Arab International.
Bronze Supreme Champion Troubadour PA (Magnum Chall HVP x Psyches Secret), shown by Dean Wikel for owner Pegasus Arabians. 108 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
WORLD CUP
Gelding ATH Championship
Silver Supreme Champion H Aiden H (Eden C x Suzanna MPA), shown by Jaime Stachler for owner Elite Arabian Horses International. Gold Supreme Champion For The Record KA (Nadir I x Prima Dona KA), shown by owner Angela Larson.
Gelding Supreme Championship
Silver Supreme Champion and Junior Gelding 3 & Under winner RD Nevaska (Nevada TBA x RD Jada Bey), shown by Claudinei Machado for owner Barrie Padgham.
Gold Supreme Champion and Senior Gelding 4 & Older winner For The Record KA (Nadir I x Prima Dona KA), shown by Jordon Simons for owner Angela Larson.
Cox Communications Arabian Freestyle Liberty
Champion RSA Troublesome (Sirius Trouble x TF Psyches Angel), shown by Ted Carson for owner Jeana Karlovich. M AY 2010 | 109
WORLD CUP
Yearling Filly Supreme Championship Saadiya CA ( Justify x Lady Zoe Hadidi), shown by Frank Sponle for owner Daneisha Brazzle.
Love Sweet Love (Ever After NA x Sweet Psyrrender), shown by Sandro Pinha for Rodolfo Guzzo for owners Robert & Dixie North Family Trust.
Silver Supreme Champion and Junior Filly Of 2009 ( January-March) winner Kharalisa BPA (Khadraj NA x Rhapsody In Gold), shown by Greg Gallún for owner Timestone Arabians LLC. Psolitaire (Pstrategy x LV Markelle), shown by Andrew Sellman for owner Belvedere Farm LLC.
Ensemble DDA (Eden C x Angelina Showlee), shown by Greg Knowles for owner Carolyn Steppe.
Gold Supreme Champion and Junior Filly Of 2009 (March-April) winner RD Marciena (QR Marc x NW Siena Psyche), shown by Rodolfo Guzzo for owner Luciano Cury.
DM Endless Romance (DA Valentino x TC Padron Batiste), shown by Claudinei Machado for owners Murray & Shirley Popplewell.
Miss Ali Anna SWF (WH Justice x Miss Psyche), shown by Jeff Schall for owner Al Shahania Stud.
Bronze Supreme Champion and Junior Filly Of 2009 (May-August) winner Bettina MP (WH Justice x Om El Belindi Estopa), shown by Steve Heathcott for owners Jon & Mindy Peters and Om El Arab International. 110 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Royal Envie (Eden C x San Jose Javiera), shown by Raphael Curti for Greg Gallún for owners Mark Davis, Cindy McGown and Greg & Nancy Gallún.
WORLD CUP
Yearling Colt Supreme Championship EVG Giovale (Pershahn El Jamaal x Gisele), shown by Greg Gallún for owner Evergreen Arabians LLC.
Fabian TRF (Eden C x RD Fabreanna), shown by Jordan Simons for Andrew Sellman for owner Tangle Ridge Farm.
Silver Supreme Champion and Junior Colt Of 2009 ( January-April) winner Faconnable (Marwan Al Shaqab x Francescaa), shown by Andrew Sellman for owner Mystica Arabians. AJ Fenjan (Ajman Monescione x RGA Kouress), shown by Frank Sponle for owner Ajman Stud.
Auteur (Arbiteur x Indira Rose), shown by Ricardo Rivero for owner Laetitia D’Arenberg.
Kodiak M (Thee Masterpiece x Kilitra M), shown by Matthew Gales for owners Terry & Pauline McLaughlin.
Gold Supreme Champion and Junior Colt Of 2009 (May-July) winner Cavalli (DA Valentino x Aspyn), shown by Sandro Pinha for owner Pegasus Arabians.
Xclusive W (Selket Marque x Psylver Psyche VF), shown by Gil Valdez for Sandro Pinha for owner Willms Arabians.
TRJ Ethan (Eden C x TR Copperclassique), shown by Gary McDonald for owner Ross Danielson.
Bronze Supreme Champion and Junior Colt Of 2009 (April-May) winner SW Abraxas (Ever After NA x Midnight Pashahn), shown by Rodolfo Guzzo for owners Veronica & Greg Cowdrey. M AY 2010 | 111
WORLD CUP
Junior Mare Supreme Championship Mar M Marwanna wanna AD D (Ma (Marwan Marw rw Al Shaqab x Cibylla El Yllan), shown by Andrew And An drew rew ew w Sellman Se S llm lllmaa for owner Al Khalediah Stables.
Abiline A Abi linee P lin PCF CF C F (L (Lega (Legacy egacy ega cyy Of O Fame x Breath Of Spring Psy), shown by Sandro S droo Pinha San Pi Pin n for owner Sam Peacemaker.
Silver Supreme Champion and Junior Filly Of 2008 (April-July) winner RD Challs Angel (Magnum Chall HVP x Bey Angel TGS), shown by Rodolfo Guzzo for Sandro Pinha for owner Pegasus Arabians. Chanel Chane Cha nel e AF el F (M (Magnum Magn aagnu gn g u Chall HVP x Lalique AF), shown by Terry Ter ry H Ho Holmes o for owner Janet Aston.
Aria Ariaa Delphine Ari Delp Delphin hiine (El (E Nabila B x MC Bessona), shown by Rodrigues JJoaoo Ro Joa Rodr R odrigu igues es fforr owner Arabian Park Arabians LLC.
Gold Supreme Champion and Junior Filly Of 2008 ( January-April) winner Felicia RLC (Shael Dream Desert x Camelia K), shown by Frank Sponle for owner Ajman Stud.
Valent Val entyna ynaa F (Psytadel x Veronia), shown by Valentyna Mat M atthe thew the wG a s ffor ale o own or oowner wn Dr. Ghanem Mohamed Obaid Al Hajri. Matthew Gales
Julianna Z (TF Psymreekhe x Mysandra VF), shown by Gil Valdez for Sandro Pinha for owner Gemini Ranch LLC.
Bronze Supreme Champion Om El Excella (Al Lahab GASB x Omel Bint Shaina), shown by Gerard Paty for owner Om El Arab International. 112 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
VBF A Paradise (A Jakarta x MSP Marashah), shown by Steve Heathcott for owners Birte & William Ferguson.
WORLD CUP
Junior Stallion Supreme Championship Apalo ( Justify x Gloria Apal), shown by Andrew Sellman for owner Belvedere Farm LLC.
LC Athens (Regal Actor JP x Genevieve C), shown by Ricardo Rivero for owner The Athens Partnership.
Silver Supreme Champion and Junior Stallion Of 2007 winner OFW Magic Wan (Marwan Al Shaqab x Magna Prelude), shown by Michael Byatt for owners Harold & Dolly Orr. Paso Doblle (Magnum Psyche x Bey Challina JD), shown by Jordan Simons for Gilberto Valdez for owner Pegasus Arabians.
PA Paschal (Om El Shahmaan x Paris To Rome), shown by Ted Carson for owners Horace Penny & Melinda Penny Canady.
PCF Vision (Marwan Al Shaqab x Veronica GA), shown by Sandro Pinha for owner Sam Peacemaker.
Gold Supreme Champion and Junior Colt Of 2008 ( January-March) winner El Chall WR (Magnum Chall HVP x Major Love Aair), shown by Rodolfo Guzzo for owners Robert & Dixie North Family Trust.
Etaya Sudan Amir (Imperial Mistaar x Etaya Amira), aya Ami Am mir ira), shown by Silvio Moraes for owner Jenniferr Parsons. Par arrson on ns.
FA Nikeese (Sir Fames HBV x Original Psyn IA), shown by Matthew Gales for owner Leonard Robinson.
Bronze Supreme Champion and Junior Colt Of 2008 (March-July) winner Troubadour PA (Magnum Chall HVP x Psyches Secret), shown by Gil Valdez for Sandro Pinha for owner Pegasus Arabians. M AY 2010 | 113
WORLD CUP
Senior Mare Supreme Championship Maraysia (Marwan Al Shaqab x Aysia), shown by Ted Carson for owner Al Khalediah Stables.
Om El Beladeena (Al Lahab GASB x Om El Benedict), shown by Gerard Paty for owner Om El Arab International.
Silver Supreme Champion and Senior Broodmare Any Age winner *Negma Al Shaqab (Safir x Kajora), shown by Michael Byatt for owner Al Shaqab Member Qatar Foundation. Pinga (Gazal Al Shaqab x Pilar), shown by Raphael Curti for Greg Gallún for owners Frank & Frank Partners, LLC.
Zantasia (Padrons Psyche x Tuuzan), shown by Greg Knowles for owner Joanne Lynn Disario.
Gold Supreme Champion and Senior Mare 9 Years & Older winner Eagleridge Passionata (Sanadik El Shaklan x River Oak Dimity), shown by Frank Sponle for owner Ajman Stud.
EVG Ghislenne (Pershahn El Jamaal x Gisele), shown by Greg Gallún for owner Evergreen Arabians LLC.
Imaani (Psytadel x SA Anna Linah), shown by Sandro Pinha for owner O. Piessens.
Bronze Supreme Champion and Senior Mare 6-8 Years Old winner Gloria Apal (Psytadel US x SA Misha Apal), shown by Robert Boggs for owner DST Arabians. 114 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
AMK Sofia Loren (Desert Heat VF x Felecia Bey), shown by Ricardo Rivero for owners Michael & Patricia Kosta.
WORLD CUP
Senior Stallion Supreme Championship Om El Al Azeem (Al Lahab GASB x Om El Beneera), shown by Gerard Paty for owner Om El Arab International.
TF Royal Shabaz (Falcon BHF x TH Maya Naufali), shown by Michael Wilson for owner Curtis Westley.
Silver Supreme Champion and Senior Stallion 6-8 Years Old winner Art Dekko TT (Audacious PS x HC Amareea), shown by Jeff Schall for owner Noel Bosse. Major Jamaal (Soho Carol x Maya El Jamaal), shown by Silvio Moreas for owner Pomeroy Arabians Intn’l. and Langstroth & Co. Ltd.
Masquerade PA (Armani FC x Cazsandra), shown by Sandro Pinha for owner Pegasus Arabians.
Om El Babylon (Om El Shahmaan x Om El Bandeira), shown by Ted Carson for owner Cedarbrook Arabians LLC.
Gold Supreme Champion and Senior Stallion 9-11 Years Old winner Escape Ibn Navarrone-D (AS Sinans Pacha x Navarrone P), shown by Frank Sponle for owner Ajman Stud.
Gemini VII (Legacy Of Fame x Precious Legacy), shown by Gil Valdez for Sandro Pinha for owners Rolyn & Judith Schmid.
Mastermind M (Thee Masterpiece x JAL Salita), shown by Matthew Gales for owner Mastermind Group.
Bronze Supreme Champion and Senior Stallion 5 Years Old winner Ever After NA (Sir Fames HBV x Entaicying NA), shown by Rodolfo Guzzo for owners Robert & Dixie North Family Trust. M AY 2010 | 115
ECAHO A- RATED M ENTON , F RANCE J UNE 19 & 20, 2010
www.MentonArabianHorseShow.com 116 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Enter your most classic horse ever owned, past or present, in the Arabian Horse Times’ MOST CLASSIC ARABIAN CONTEST.
Win a color, in-depth story on you and your farm. All entries will be published in the JULY issue of Arabian Horse Times. ENTER MORE THAN ONCE; ENTER MORE THAN ONE HORSE. DEADLINE: June 15, 2010 $100 ENTRY FEE PER PHOTO
Visit ... www.ahtimes.com For accuracy, all copy must be typed or printed legibly.
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Sire _____________________________ Dam _________________________________ Sex _____________________________ D.O.B. ________________________________ Owner Name ____________________________________________________________ Farm Name ______________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________________
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Address, phone Complete the contest form and send along with color photo and payment to Arabian Horse Times. ($100 entry fee per photo) Digital images accepted — supply in jpeg format (300 dpi). E-mail to: jaytee@ahtimes.com. Credit card number _______________________________________________________ Name on card ____________________________________________________________ Exp. date ________________________________________________________________
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The winner will be selected by the staff of the Arabian Horse Times. M AY 2010 | 117
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Conway Arabians M AY 2010 | 123
A Day In The Life Of An Arabian Horse Trainer by Colleen Scott
Photo by April Visel.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
WANTED: Horse trainer. Must be able to: strip and clean stalls; repair fencing, mowers and other farm equipment; diagnose equine aliments well enough to know when to call for veterinary assistance and when to doctor himself; back, park and maneuver a multi-ton truck and trailer through unfamiliar cities; utilize Quicken® in order to keep track of client billing; locate needles in haystacks (known as finding lost shoes in order to nail back on horses’ feet); locate and purchase for pennies on the dollar top quality, proven, appropriate mounts for clients; give exciting, educational lessons at impeccably kept facility; create comfortable home away from home environment with plants, furniture and food at horse shows; mediate between competitive, Type A personality clients participating in same division; coach said clients to unparalleled victories at renowned national horse shows; console clients that inexplicably do not achieve their goals; get along with client’s horse show entourage of husband, mother-in-law and children; be equally fluent in pre-teen and middle-age language of female clients. Must be willing to sleep at barn to tend to sick horses or foaling mares, dine on hours-old fast food in barn alleyways sitting atop tack trunks, vacation in exotic locales such as Tulsa, Okla., or Columbus, Ohio, and forgo many other interests and hobbies in order to ppursue said career. Must also be able to train horses.
M AY 2010 | 125
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
Have a vision of being a horse trainer? Does it include spending sunny days riding talented, beautiful and cooperative horses; hanging lots of rose garlands on the wall; enjoying quiet evenings at restaurants with family and friends; taking time off for long vacations, choosing your own hours—and finally, riding off into the sunset on a handsome steed you’ve bred and trained yourself? It sounds like a fantasy life, perhaps one every horse enthusiast, at one time or another, has desired. Fantasy, yes. Reality, no. The horses aren’t always talented, beautiful or even cooperative. The evenings aren’t often free. The vacations are few, and the hours are sometimes chosen not so much by the trainers living out their dream jobs, but by the horses, which by their nature, always seem to be interfering with the most careful planning. That is just the complication of the horses, not to mention the clients who own them. We caught up with a few of the industry’s top trainers and found that although their schedules, hours, routines, etc., would make the hardiest among us cringe, there is one thing they have in common that makes them successful and makes them all say they couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living—passion for the Arabian horse.
The Job Description While the want ad may be slightly exaggerated, today’s “horse trainer” wears many hats, some of which are not related to horses at all. Let us take a look. First, it is the trainer who is primarily responsible for the overall health and care of the horses in his or her charge. While every situation is unique, even with a large on-site
126 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Tom Theisen, trainer at Conway Arabians, Chatfield, Minn.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
staff, all of the leadership and decision-making comes from the trainer. Besides being versed in equine nutrition, it is the trainer that clients or staff look to when questions or issues arise concerning the horses’ health. Is the horse too fat? Too skinny? Is the scratch deep enough to call a veterinarian or can it be treated with any variety of common medications? Is the mare about to foal or will it be another three days? Besides the general health and well-being of the horses, the trainer is often responsible for facility maintenance and management. Again, depending on the situation, there may be other staff to handle these matters, however, most trainers didn’t start out with staff. Or, in other cases, perhaps they think they can do the job the best. Tom Theisen, trainer for Conway Arabians, Chatfield, Minn., starts his day dragging the arena. “I arrive at the barn every morning by nine and have given myself the chore of dragging the arena because of course (in my mind) nobody else does it as good as I do,” he says. All the trainers we talked with have a staff, responsible for everything from cleaning stalls to readying horses. No matter the number of staff members, when there are other people and their schedules involved, management, both of time and people, becomes a critical skill. The Midwest operation has 40 full-time employees, with Boggs keeping them all on the same page by conducting staff meetings several times a week. At Stachowski Farm, both Peter and Jim are careful to keep to a schedule so their employees know what to expect. Jim Stachowski of Stachowski Farm, Mantua, Ohio.
“We start everyday at 8 a.m., maybe take a 15-minute lunch break and work until 5 or 5:30 p.m.,” Jim Stachowski says. “When you employ other people and they are getting horses ready for you, you have to keep the machine going and be as efficient as you can.” Another hat most all horse trainers wear is that of marketing specialist. Whether they are selling
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
their own business to potential clients or selling horses, they have to be versed in advertising. With the advent of social networking, many trainers are also finding themselves having to learn about new ways to communicate, such as YouTube®, Facebook® and Twitter™. Alan Clanton of Clanton Performance Horses launched his own training business just after the 2009 U.S. Nationals. “I’ve been amazed by how much we’ve done using a Facebook® account. Not only are we able to communicate with our existing clients, but we also are able to ‘talk’ to a lot of people about our services or horses,” he says. Besides marketing expertise, a certain amount of accounting savvy is also paramount to any trainer’s success. Budgeting, including planning for eventual retirement, and monthly billing are also part of the job description. While nearly all of them employ a tax expert to assist in tax planning, the responsibility of tracking finances on a daily basis falls to the only one uniquely qualified to do so—the horse trainer. Ask a trainer why he got into the business of training horses, and you’re not likely to receive the response “because I love working with people.” No, most of them got into the business because they loved horses. Working with people just happens to be a collateral benefit. The dynamics of a horse and rider or horse and handler relationship are far more complicated than those of the relationship between a golfer and his club, a baseball player and his bat or a swimmer and the water. Both humans and horses are living, breathing, thinking beings with good days and bad. Lucky there are horse trainers/coaches/psychologists/therapists along for the proverbial ride. “I really enjoy working with all the clients,” says Clanton, “but it can be challenging from time to time. At home, you have the job of keeping
128 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Alan Clanton of Clanton Performance Horses, Peculiar, Mo.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
things fresh and interesting while trying to achieve specific goals. At shows, you have the role of getting both horse and rider to peak at the same time, executing what they’ve been working on at home. You have to try to factor in a lot of variables and make the experience a learning one, good, bad or otherwise.” So, besides the horse and facility care and maintenance, the marketing, the accounting and the people skills, a horse trainer needs what else? He needs the ability to actually train a horse, and just like the people, each horse is different. Most every trainer works or handles each horse every day, depending on that horse’s age, level of training and show schedule. So, what does a day in the life of a horse trainer look like?
The Hours Since many trainers own their own businesses, setting hours is one of the perks. Think banker’s hours via an ATM machine. That is right, trainers’ hours more resemble those of an ATM machine than a banker’s 9 a.m. to 5 p.m./closed on weekends and holidays. There is no such thing in the horse world. Cathy Vincent of Adandy Farm, Greenwood, Del.
Those of us who have been around the barn already know most trainers keep long hours, work up to six or seven days a week and take little, if any, time off. Again, several variables come into play that impact those hours. Even those trainers with a large staff keep long hours, as the number of staff members is in direct correlation to the number of horses that are in training or need care on the grounds. Cathy Vincent of Adandy Farm described a trainers’ typical day when she tried to put her finger on the time they end their day. After
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some consideration, she determined, “It really doesn’t end. I don’t think it ever ends.” Just what she means by that was very apparent when we received responses to questions and phone calls for this article. One trainer responded near 10 p.m. on a Friday. Another, on Saturday afternoon, and yet another, in the early evening while driving to a horse show. While most trainers strive to keep a routine and do have typical hours, those hours are normally at least six days a week and are often stretched by unexpected problems (i.e. sick horse, equipment failure, late appointment, etc.), lessons, visits, horse shows, or sales presentations. “That’s just the nature of our business, ” says Jeff Lovejoy of Battaglia Farms. The daily schedule at Battaglia fluctuates with the changing Arizona seasons, a necessity for them given the climate. “We will start our day at 5, 6 or 7 a.m., depending on the time of year and how hot it will be,” says owner Bob Battaglia. We will end our day at 3, 4, or 5 p.m. depending on the time of the year—unless someone is visiting or looking at horses, then there are no set hours.” At Prairie Gem Stables, the home of Prairie Gem Arabians, Linda Brown keeps incredibly long hours. “I’m up usually at 5 a.m., and the barn is open from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.,” says Brown. With a busy lesson program on top of a training, breeding and marketing program, Prairie Gem prides itself in being closed to the public on just four major holidays a year. In some cases, when a trainer works for a specific breeder or farm owner and accepts only a handful of outside clients, the hours and responsibilities might not be quite as grueling. In Theisen’s case, he is particularly thankful for the opportunity to enjoy what he calls a
130 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
Jeff Lovejoy, trainer at Battaglia Farms, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bob Battaglia of Battaglia Farms, Scottsdale, Ariz.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
“real life.” “I’m fortunate to work at a private farm so horses are fed at 5 p.m., and we go on and are able to have a real life, imagine … a real life! Thanks, Pete! Thanks, Lori!” Eric Krichten, who trains for Cedar Ridge Arabians, concurs that working for a private farm can provide more opportunity for what one might consider normalcy. “Working for a private farm allows me to focus on one thing and one thing only— training.” Krichten’s days, however, are still long, generally from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. If the hours at home throughout the year aren’t enough to make even the strongest of work horses falter, the hours trainers keep at shows will. Even veteran trainer Peter Stachowski says it is still hard to function at shows given the scant amount of time leftover for sleeping. “I think your body starts to run on adrenaline,” he says. “If you sat down, you’d be so tired, you would probably fall asleep.” At the big shows, he estimates the Stachowski team gets by on just three to four hours of sleep a night. Despite having a staff of 40, Boggs finds himself keeping a schedule that might make one weary just by looking at it. “Since we do business around the world, it is always daylight somewhere,” he says. Taking his iPhone® to bed at night has become habit, with Boggs confessing to e-mailing in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep. “I can hear it beeping every time somebody sends me something too,” he adds. “So, if I want to get any sleep I have to turn it off.” Linda Brown of Prairie Gem Arabians, Omaha, Nebr.
Routine Is Key Although dealing with both the animal and human element on a daily basis makes it difficult to stick to a routine, every trainer we talked to has one and says it helps make the day run as smoothly as possible given all the variables. Some trainers’
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routines begin before they even leave home. Clanton enjoys breakfast with his wife. Boggs starts his day at the gym. Lovejoy professes to love organization. “Because of this, my daily routine is incredibly important to me,” he says. “When I stay consistent from day to day, I am able to keep better tabs on the horses, the staff and know where to pick up where I left off with my projects, so to speak. I attribute our ability to maintain fairly solid eight-hour days to this routine.” According to Battaglia, the routine is simple. “All the horses get worked every day. Each horse has its own riding/driving/lesson or is turned out depending on their show schedule and how young or finished they are. “If a horse is already trained and not going to a show, we must maintain their condition by jogging (driving) or riding short periods of time,” Battaglia says. “If going to a show, they are worked longer and harder to improve muscle and stamina. So, each horse’s routine changes. I believe in turning the horses out once in a while; it keeps them fresh and happy.”
Eric Krichten, trainer at Cedar Ridge Arabians, Jordan, Minn.
Lovejoy credits their strict adherence to routine to keeping surprises to a minimum. “Bob and I run a very tight ship, which seems to keep any unexpected incidences at bay. We are very fortunate to have a knowledgeable and responsible staff. Their attention to every detail of a horse’s well-being plays a vital role in making training operations run smoothly,” he says. The routine, according to him, even extends to horse shows, where the team endeavors to keep exactly the same schedule. On a daily basis, once at the barn, many trainers start the day by arranging their horse work order on a white board. Krichten likes to work his
132 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
David Boggs of Midwest, Elk River, Minn.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
more seasoned horses first, as he says it typically helps him “start the day out right.” Because he is at a large farm and has access to staff that take on other responsibilities such as maintenance, he says his days go the way he has planned them 99% of the time. Theisen is extremely regimented in his daily routine, especially lunch time. “I’m definitely consistent in my daily routine,” he says. “My first horse is saddled and ready to go by the time I’m done with the arena. Everyone knows I go to lunch at noon, not 11:50, not 12:05, but noon! After lunch I generally spend the afternoon with younger horses that require more time,” he says.
Peter Stachowski of Stachowski Farm, Mantua, Ohio.
However, all the planning and routine in the world doesn’t mean things will go that way. Theisen says that is part of the reason why trying to keep a schedule is so important. “As hard as I try to keep a normal routine, no two days are the same,” he says. “Things never seem to go as planned, which is why I try so hard to stay overly organized with my time. A good day is when you end up somewhere in the middle leaning towards the day that was planned.” Vincent says that in spite of her best intentions, there are always unexpected things that crop up throughout any given day. “There is always somebody walking in or calling looking to buy a horse or somebody calling late in the day for a shipment. There is always something messing up the schedule, especially this time of the year when we are busy with breeding, foaling and showing,” she says. Peter Stachowski admits that while the actual working of horses is a pretty solid routine, there is always something that comes up to change the schedule. “When you have animals, something always comes up,” he says. “It is a consuming job.” The addition of new family members can also put
Shan Wilson of Chrishan Park, Springfield, Mo.
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
an added wrinkle in a trainer’s routine. This is very much the case for Shan Wilson of Chrishan Park. “I have learned to be much more flexible now that my wife and I have our son, Eli,” says Wilson, “and I like to spend as much time as possible with him.”
Technology—A Mixed Blessing Nearly everyone agrees that the last decade and the advances in technology have made the business side of horse training a whole lot faster and easier. Krichten recalls times on the road physically having to stop and find pay phones. Jim Stachowski used to spend a lot of time waiting for faxes at hotels. Others speak of rushing to the post office to overnight videos that can now simply be posted on YouTube®, delivering product not just to one person, but also to multiple people at one time. Vincent, although she is pleased with the speed at which she can reach people, does find some technology to be slightly intrusive. “I’d just as soon pick up the phone and call people. I’m not quite as advanced with texting and e-mailing,” she admits. “You can’t train horses and run a breeding operation sitting in front of a computer all day.” What Vincent does see as a great advantage is how some technology has brought a bigger audience to the breed. She cites live-streaming of shows via the Internet as having made the Arabian horse more accessible to wider audiences. Boggs, who likely has the most active website in the Arabian horse industry, says that not only has technology, including the use of radios to communicate instantly with staff, changed the day-to-day operations of Midwest, but it has also had a profound impact on how their team sells horses.
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A Few Of Their Favorite Times Of Day It isn’t a big surprise to find out that none of the trainers in this story named Internet-surfing, posting on Facebook®, or client billing as their favorite things or most cherished times of the day. In fact, it isn’t a stretch to find that most of their favorites still revolved around horses. Theisen cites his favorite as quality time with an individual horse. “My favorite thing in life is working in a quiet arena, one on one, just me and my horse. I’ve always said how grateful I am to be able to make a living doing what I love. I work with people I enjoy, and we’re all like kids in a candy store. We watch horses that were raised here on the farm come into the barn, learn, and become whatever it is they are meant to be,” he says. Both the Stachowksi brothers enjoy the end of the day, when they’ve successfully worked through the 18 to 24 horses on each of their respective lists for the day. Brown, who says she has the most fun with her horses and riders, says she can’t wait for her lesson clients to appear at the barn. “We always have a great time,” she says. Before Boggs heads the one mile down the road to his home each night, he spends a few quiet moments walking through the barn. He says much of his time on a day-to-day basis is dedicated to administering the business side of Midwest, and his time spent “hands-on” with the horses is a little more limited. “I enjoy any chance I get to do something hands-on,” he says. Battaglia says the views of the Arizona skyline that mark the beginning and end of each day are
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ARABIAN HORSE TRAINER
spectacular in themselves. “My favorite two parts of the day are watching the beautiful sunrise and the sunset here. There is nothing more beautiful than Mother Nature, except maybe a mother and foal playing in a pasture.” Don’t be surprised to catch Clanton at the local Sonic® enjoying a 15-minute break with a Blast— especially on a nice, sunny day. Even though it is just a short one, the few minutes away re-energizes him. Mowing is something Jim Stachowski enjoys doing when not working horses. “I enjoy landscaping and mowing the grass fields, trying to get them in perfectly straight lines,” he says. His brother still likes tinkering with machinery, although he says the opportunity doesn’t present itself very often anymore.
Life Outside The Barn Between the responsibility of having up to several hundred horses in their care (at Midwest, there are more than 300, with more than 40 foals being born this year), marketing horses, giving lessons, maintaining facilities, and going to shows, the calendar doesn’t leave much time for extended family vacations or even free weekends. Although nearly everyone wistfully speaks of loving to travel, it isn’t often possible for horse trainers (unless, of course, it is to shows or on horseshopping expeditions, which can sometimes be combined with vacations). “Traveling is something I think most of us love and deserve,” says Theisen. When trainers do have time off, whether it is just a day or several, their interests are as varied as their personalities. Boggs just purchased a pontoon boat and rented a lake home for part of the summer. With the advances in technology, which he considers a great blessing, he can spend time fishing and boating with his family, without missing a beat in the daily operations of Midwest.
Vincent, although she hasn’t taken a vacation in years (too many to count), does enjoy quiet evenings with a glass of wine and a view of the barn. “You can’t get me away from the barn,” she says. Battaglia, who says he has to leave the farm in order for his time to feel like a “day off,” enjoys shopping, cooking classes, museums, and the theater. He also likes to visit Las Vegas to see the entertainment and do a little traveling “if I have the time.” Theisen has always been involved in theatre and live stage performing and singing. Krichten is a Harley-Davidson aficionado, riding as much as he can. Brown cherishes the time she spends with her grandchildren, playing, singing and going on hikes. Clanton, although he hasn’t taken a day off since starting his own business last November, does enjoy going to movies, out to dinner and is looking forward to some fishing this summer. “You have to make time for yourself,” Lovejoy states. “I love going out to dinner—almost too much. I keep a weekly routine of yoga classes, going to the gym, and making sure to set aside time for friends.”
“When trainers do have time off, whether it is just a day or several, their interests are as varied as their personalities.”
While some trainers have better luck than others making time for themselves, they all cite a passion for what they do—and that is what ultimately drives them to work as hard as they do. “We eat, drink and sleep it,” says Boggs, describing Team Midwest. “The horses keep me going,” says Vincent. “They’re always different. Each day, I can’t wait to get out there and see what they’ll do.” Boggs professes to still get butterflies each and every time he enters a show ring. “I love showing a great halter horse,” he says. “If those butterflies ever go away, I’ll know it is time to quit.” ■
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Embryo Transfers Stallion Management & Semen Shipping Equine Cloning Gene Banking
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Advances In Equine Reproductive Science And Technology
Now Measured in Light Years Part 1 by Linda White
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ADVANCES IN EQUINE REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Breathtaking advances in equine reproductive science and technology are hurtling past our traditional beliefs and practical applications at light speed, making many long-accepted practices seem like something out of the Dark Ages. Veterinary practitioners and horse breeders’ imaginations are igniting and heading off in pursuit of fantastic, hopeful possibilities that were undreamed of even a few years ago. Here is a mind-bender: Injecting an already-sexed gamete into a single egg, inconceivable since the dawn of time, is a very real practice in 2010. As recently as the 1950s, some horse owners still wormed their herds with comfrey tea, while cutting-edge veterinary practitioners battled internal parasites with highly toxic organophosphates like blue, smeary Dyrex (trichlorofon) boluses, administered with a balling gun. Artificially inseminating cattle was quite common by the mid-20th century, but to more conservative breeders, applying the procedure to horses still seemed noxious and patently chancy. “Artificial Insemination (AI) is not generally practiced except as supplemental to stallion service,” wrote a disapproving Dr. J. Kays of the Ohio State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine in 1953. “Critics of this method say there is great danger of carrying infection into the uterus.” Fifty-seven years later, despite said critics’ dire warnings about tampering with Mother Nature, artificial insemination technology has advanced to a point where it routinely facilitates procedures beyond Dr. Kays’ and his contemporaries’ wildest fantasies. What was once far-fetched science fiction has become reality.
Beyond AI—Frozen Semen One of the first frontiers for veterinarians exploring AI’s unlimited horizons involved the semen used. Frozen semen technology has advanced considerably in the last several years, says Dr. Mario Zerlotti of Equine Reproduction, Ltd., a USDA-approved facility that provides embryo transfer, mare and stallion management and breeding, and collecting, handling and transporting frozen and liquid cooled semen. He has performed more than 2,000 successful embryo transfers in his 20-year career. The Brazilian-born veterinarian came to the U.S. in 1999 to work for a large Arabian ranch, and when he left there, launched his own practice in Pleasanton, Texas. “Our numbers doubled each year until 2008, when things slowed down, reflecting the overall world economic slowdown, but today our numbers are coming back up. Today, we ultrasound, rather than palpate, mares to more precisely determine follicle maturity. Insemination has to take place very close to ovulation, but many times, mare owners may not know what to look for, or don’t have the time to stay with their mares. That is why an onsite veterinarian raises successful conception statistics. “In addition to performing embryo transfers, we keep some surrogate mares, all of which belong to us. We may implant the embryo in a surrogate, and take that surrogate, or recipient, mare to the client after she is checked 60 days in foal … or we just send the fertilized embryo to you, to implant in your own recipient mare. We also keep clients’ donor mares.
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Most mares naturally ovulate during the night, so we give them synthetic hormones to do some of the work in synchronizing the donor mare’s estrus cycle with the recipient’s.”
identical genotype,” explains Zerlotti. “We first tried the procedure at a veterinary practice I was in near Sao Paolo, Brazil. We perfected the technique, and then we started doing embryo transfers in large numbers.”
While studies continue to show that conception rates generally are lower with frozen semen than with liquid cooled, the results often depend on the expertise with which the semen is handled after arrival at its destination. An on-call or onsite veterinarian can improve the breeder’s odds of insemination leading to fertilization, Zerlotti suggests.
The article states, “Previously, twin pregnancy, assumed to be monozygotic (derived from fertilization of one egg by one sperm) had been reported after embryo transfer, but genetic analysis was not performed. This report details a monozygotic twin pregnancy after transfer of a single embryo that is confirmed by DNA typing of microsatellites.” Whoo-e-e-e! Fantastic stuff.
“Mare management includes doing a full assessment of the mare’s reproductive abilities so we can provide her owner with a clear idea of his choices. We evaluate the mare’s soundness as a donor or recipient mare. We then recommend a protocol for settling hard-to-breed mares. Embryo transfer is appropriate for enabling older mares that can no longer carry a foal to still be productive. Embryo transfer can give a breeder access to the breed’s top mares, because he doesn’t have to buy the expensive mare. He can buy an embryo and have it implanted in a surrogate mare he doesn’t have to buy, either.”
Simply Amazing!
“While studies continue to show that conception rates generally are lower with frozen semen than with liquid cooled, the results often depend on the expertise with which the semen is handled after arrival at its destination.”
For an even more exotic venture into the realm of possibility, Zerlotti is addressing the dilemma of twin foals. “Monozygotic Equine Twins After Embryo Transfer Verified by DNA Typing,” reads the headline of a December 2008 article posted on the Equine Reproduction Ltd. website. “Monozygotic means that the stillborn twins had
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Double Trouble? Cloning livestock first came to the public’s attention in 1996 with Dolly, the sheep. The first equine (mule) clone was performed by the late Dr. Gordon Woods and his team. The first horse clone was performed in Italy by Dr. Cesare Galli and team. Reactions were mixed, even among livestock- and human-reproduction specialists. The breakthrough technique’s moral, spiritual and long-term scientific implications were debated endlessly.
The furor had not settled down entirely by November, 2006, when the announcement came that a 30-year-old barrel racing wonder horse had been cloned successfully. “Dr. Mario Zerlotti of Zerlotti Equine Reproduction Ltd., in Boerne, Texas, has performed the miraculous feat,” announced articles and press releases. Today, the Viagen company actually performs commercial horse cloning.
ADVANCES IN EQUINE REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
According to “Second Horse Same as the First,” an article by John Whisler posted online in the February 1, 2007, San Antonio Express-News, the process had involved taking a tissue sample from inside the old horse’s lip and growing the sample in vitro (in a medium or artificial environment) so that DNA could be extracted and implanted into a single “empty” egg, from which all genetic material had been removed. Dr. Zerlotti grew what was now an embryo in vitro for a few days more. He then implanted the embryo in a surrogate, or recipient, mare. In that instant, Zerlotti’s procedure added a new dimension to what had been viewed as maybein-the-distant-future scientific wizardry—cloning. Hundreds of miles northwest of Boerne, Texas, Dr. Fernando CamposChillon and his team at Equine Reproduction Innovations, Inc., Wellington, Colo., are performing their own brand of exotic scientific wizardry. They use sexed sperm, injecting a particular equine sperm cell (spermatozoon) into a single egg harvested from a donor mare. “Equine Reproduction Innovations (ERI) solves the challenges of infertility at the level of the oocyte (egg) and sperm,” proclaims the ERI website’s opening paragraph. “ERI was established to commercially serve clients with mares and stallions that cannot reproduce by routine clinical procedures, or needing to maximize their horses’ existing fertility.” That tidy statement doesn’t begin to cover the miracles and wonderments ERI’s brain trust turns out routinely.
Bovine Breakthroughs, Equine Excellence “The ERI team is a combination of disciplines which is the company’s foremost asset,” says clinical manager Dr. Campos-Chillon. “Th is includes state-of-theart reproductive medicine, human standardized embryology, and impeccable mare management.” Campos-Chillon is a graduate of the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine who received his Master’s degree at California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and Ph.D. at CSU’s Animal and Biotechnology Research Laboratory. His clinical training came at CSU’s Equine Reproduction Laboratory. He also has received board certification from the American College of Theriogenologists (theriogenology is the veterinary study of multi-specie reproduction). The advanced work with bovine reproduction technology and molecular biology that came next equipped him with tremendous resources to bring into equine territory. “There are a lot of similarities between the two species,” he offers. “There has been lots of research into reproductive physiology in cattle. The driving force there is financial, directly related to maximizing milk production in dairy cattle and raising beef cattle’s metabolic, or food processing, efficiency. Both kinds of cattle are year-round producers, while horses tend to be seasonal. “The difference between artificial insemination’s success in cattle and reduced success in horses occurs because equine semen is far more sensitive than is bovine semen to environmental factors such as
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changes in temperature or careless handling. When equine semen is cooled or frozen, for example, the stallion spermatozoa, which have a much more fragile membrane composition than bovine sperm, can more easily be damaged or destroyed,” Dr. Campos-Chillon explains. “In cattle sperm, the membrane composition is considerably stronger. There are intrinsic differences in embryo physiology in cattle versus horses. For example, disrupting the equine embryonic capsule after day six, when the capsule is formed, is not productive. Your pregnancy rate goes down immediately, because the embryo will not survive. “This is not an issue in cattle. You can split a cattle embryo in half and get two identical, viable embryos; this feat is usually unsuccessful in horses. Although, the first cloned horse was the result of splitting the embryo in half. Two babies were created, but this was very unusual. That procedure is so seldom successful that it is not commercially feasible.
“There are several ways to sex an embryo,” Campos-Chillon continues. “Cloning is one, because the two animals’ DNA is identical; doing fetal sexing at day 60 is another. Sexing the semen is a third option. The first truly scientific, documented semen-sexing studies began in the late 1990s. The egg carries only its own X chromosome. In the semen, you have the sperm population, with each sperm bearing either the X or Y chromosome. If the X-bearing sperm adds its X chromosome to the egg’s X chromosome, the result will be XX: a female. If the Y chromosome-bearing sperm contributes its Y chromosome to the egg’s X chromosome, the result will be XY: a male.
“These professional teams offer breeders subtly different emphases on the everchanging, yet deceptively constant, specifics of equine reproductive science and technology.”
“Another difference is that a cow embryo implants itself on the same horn of ovulation, while a horse embryo migrates constantly, until day 17. Bovine professionals have already sold millions of doses of dairy bull sexed semen, with very few genetic abnormalities expressed. Meanwhile, the horse industry has not been able to make use of this technology until very recently, which is our current endeavor. We also do an embryo biopsy after day seven. We take a few cells with micro-manipulation tools, and then we extract and analyze the DNA for gender, genetic defects or other anomalies.”
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Sex Stats Become Textbook Lit
“The number of X or Y-bearing spermatozoa in the semen is random, so the semen volume is irrelevant. The number of sperm in the semen is not important, because the sperm are analyzed and sorted one by one. Using a micro-manipulation tube, we select one sperm.”
Sexing semen is a relatively new addition to reproduction technology. The process became commercially available in 2004 through Sexing Technologies, a company with labs in Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Brazil, and, most recently, the Netherlands. Dr. Larry Johnson from Texas A&M University is the inventor of the technology. Dr. George Seidel, professor at Colorado State University and member of the National Academy of Sciences, did and still does cutting-edge sexed semen research.
ADVANCES IN EQUINE REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
“When the technology was developed and a patent was issued, XY Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., bought the patent,” explains Sexing Technologies marketing director Gustavo Toro in a Cattle Today article by Heather Smith Thomas. He adds that Sexing Technologies, headquartered in Navasota, Texas, is sexed semen’s largest known provider. The sex of spermatozoa in semen can be determined because the X chromosome has 3.8 percent more DNA than the Y chromosome. First, the semen is stained with a fluorescent dye and passed through a flow cytometer that sorts the sperm that are flowing by in single droplets. An insertion rod in the flow cytometer is charged by a laser, causing the sperm, dyed with a fluorescent dye, to glow. The fluorescent dye causes the larger X chromosome to glow a little brighter than the Y chromosome, because the X chromosome has 3.8 percent more DNA and absorbs more fluorescent dye. A laser within the flow cytometer then determines each spermatozoon’s gender from the brightness of its glow, or fluorescence. The flow cytometer next sorts the sperm in to three groups: X chromosome-bearing sperm; Y chromosome-bearing sperm, and trash, or indeterminate waste. Thomas adds that processing sexed semen for shipping or freezing takes three to four times longer than does processing un-sexed semen. Another advantage is that the laser sexing process sorts out dead or damaged sperm that can potentially harm or destroy the embryo. Dr. Campos-Chillon’s favorite colleague is his wife, board-certified theriogenologist and ERI clincian, Dr. Joy Altermatt. Dr. Altermatt’s special areas of expertise are oocyte collection, follicular dynamics, mare reproductive management and fetal sexing. ERI president and team member Dr. T.K. Suh is a former CSU professor whose broad-ranging knowledge and experience with oocytes, embryos and sperm physiology adds 20 more years to the ERI’s already vast capabilities in equine reproductive science and technology. Cindy Reich has been ERI’s barn and facilities manager since the company was initially created. She met
Doctors Campos-Chillon and Altermatt during her five years at CSU. An equine management professional for the past 25 years, Reich has consulted with and/ or worked for some of the largest, most prominent Arabian breeding farms in the U.S. and Europe. A second generation horsewoman, she is a popular, highly respected USEF-licensed Arabian horse judge who routinely adjudicates at shows around the world. Reich earned a Bachelor of Science degree in bio-agricultural science from Colorado State University, and completed her Master’s thesis in animal reproduction at University College in Dublin, Ireland. Reich is one among legions of realistic reproductive specialists who understand that many factors, some of them nasty surprises, can come into play when breeders face infertile or marginally fertile mares, young or old. The Equine Reproduction Innovations (ERI) team offers those breeders sophisticated, highly advanced fertility services. Many factors can reduce or limit conception, even in a world-class “Fertile Myrtle.” The ERI team’s perfecting the single sperm-single egg procedure is eminently helpful in such cases, almost always increasing the incidence of success. For the record, being able to perform the most advanced reproduction techniques has not dampened the ERI team’s enjoyment of the simplest of breeding approaches for the simplest of breeders’ needs. Zerlotti Equine Reproduction Ltd. and Equine Reproduction Innovations, Inc., are two of a growing number of equine reproduction specialty companies operating throughout the United States. These professional teams offer breeders subtly different emphases on the ever-changing, yet deceptively constant, specifics of equine reproductive science and technology. ■ Watch for Part II of “Advances In Equine Reproductive Science And Technology: Now Measured in Light Years” in next month’s Arabian Horse Times. Linda White is a third generation horsewoman, and veteran stallion and broodmare manager and AI tech, who studied equine reproduction and physiology at Ohio State University, albeit post-Dr. Kays.
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Arabian Mares —
Images Of Eternity by Linda White
“ … Boundless, endless and sublime— the images of eternity.” —George Gordon, Lord Byron (1812)
Think of the Arabian mare as a kind of equine Fabregé egg: a beautiful, delicate creation, with an exquisite miniature treasure inside. She is valuable—“beyond pearls of great price,” wrote long ago poets, and through the centuries, the science of equine reproduction remained almost the same as it always had been. Was your wonderful mare a problem breeder? Sadly, you just had to accept that she might not be able to pass her valuable genes on. Now, however, we are seeing changes in equine reproductive technology that deliver undreamed-of options for mare owners. In only the past few years, a bright new horizon has opened for serious breeders.
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IMAGES OF ETERNITY
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even a few years ago. One is Dahess, Qatar National Champion Race Horse in 2005 and 2006, and winner of €844.942.59. Dahess stands at the French National Stud, and is owned by a syndicate. He is managed by French Bloodstock Agency. Another exceptional race sire available through CreRun is Nivour de Cardonne, winner of $302,000, as well as one of the world’s richest, most prestigious Arabian races, the Kahayla Classic, run on Dubai World Cup Day. From Nivour de Cardonne’s first two foal crops came two Darley Award winners, and other stakes-winning offspring have followed.
Race bred colt, In X Hess pictured with his mother Easter IA.
Cre-Run Farm Alan Kirshner and Deborah Mihaloff Glen Allen, Va. More than 25 years ago, Arabian racing stole Deb Mihaloff and Alan Kirshner’s hearts. Mihaloff began breeding Arabians in the 1970s. She and Kirshner are names familiar to most Arabian horse devotees. The husband and wife are Markel Insurance Co.’s foremost equine insurance professionals, trusted and respected by Arabian owners, breeders and trainers all over the world. Cre-Run Farm’s lush green pastures and well-appointed facilities in Doswell, Va., just outside Montpelier, have become a renowned source of Arabian race prospects, horses that are then campaigned to much-admired race records and thrilling, wire-to-wire performances. Breeders from a dozen countries in Europe and the Middle East regularly visit Cre-Run, where they select and export bloodstock they can be confident will enhance their own racing programs. Frozen transported semen has been a welcome boon for Arabian racing, creating an opportunity for breeders everywhere to mate their mares to the world’s best race sires, irrespective of the geography. Cre-Run provides frozen or liquid cooled semen from several top racing sires that were inaccessible to North American breeders
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“In the U.S., we are still the stepchild of Thoroughbred racing,” Mihaloff concedes, “but in Europe and the Middle East, no Thoroughbred person would dare say anything negative about Arabian racing. Paris, France, has the biggest Thoroughbred turf race in Europe, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which has a €4 million purse (the world’s richest Thoroughbred turf race). To increase public awareness of Arabian racing, the country of Qatar sent delegates to Paris, where they urged the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe committee, France Gallop, to allow an Arabian race, to be called the Qatar Arabian World Cup, to run the same day as the Arc. Qatar made a five-year commitment to add $670,000 (€450,000) a year for the Qatar Arabian World Cup. “Now other countries are trying to one-up Qatar. Dubai has the Kuhayla Classic, a $250,000 race, run the same day as the Dubai World Cup. Concurrent with the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., the United Arab Emirates is sponsoring a $50,000 Grade 1 Arabian stakes race at Keeneland, the first time in history that an Arabian race has ever been run at Keeneland. And last year, Ascot ran its first Arabian race, the same day as their big King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes!”
HRH Prince Hossein Ziaee Jahangir Hadi Azami, Agent Karaj-Tehran, Iran “JJ La Estrella is one of the most decorated Arabian mares in the world,” states David Boggs, who knows, because he exhibited her to many of those honors. “She was five times a national or international champion, and
IMAGES OF ETERNITY
showstopper mares cost more than $1 million, and embryo transfer allows the purchaser to have a better return on his investment. Today’s advanced technology enables an exceptional single mare to produce multiple, register-able offspring every year. This increased productivity also increases the mare’s value significantly, and will give her owner the opportunity to see the result of various crosses, much sooner.”
Lazy B Arabians Beverly Halquist Scottsdale, Ariz.
JJ La Estrella
a Scottsdale unanimous grand champion mare. She was an exceptional show horse, and she is proving to be a terrific mother.” HRH Prince Hossein Ziaee purchased JJ La Estrella (Magnum Psyche x WA Marlaina Lee, by Bey Shah), a foal of 1999, in December 2009. The smooth, elegant chestnut beauty began her show career in February 2001 at Scottsdale, where, although only a 2-year-old, she won the Arabian mare breeding class for amateur owners and was named 2001 Scottsdale Champion Arabian Breeding Mare AOTH. For the next seven years, JJ La Estrella piled up U.S. and Canadian national titles, several regional championships, and numerous class “A” show championships. Retired from the show ring in 2008, JJ La Estrella’s offspring, sired by various stallions, unequivocally establish her as one retired show ring celebrity who definitely can be referred to as a top producer. “In Iran, where she will be going, four foals out of a single mare can be registered each year,” explains Boggs, “so four recipient mares are carrying JJ La Estrella babies, sired by Da Vinci FM, DA Valentino, WH Justice and Magnum Psyche. Some of these
Beverly Halquist had never owned a horse before, but the minute she saw Amelia B (Magnum Psyche x Amety B, by Eternety) she was smitten. “That’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!” she told surprised friends. “Bev bought Amelia B a month after she was named 2002 U.S. National Champion Arabian Yearling Breeders’ Sweepstakes Filly,” says Rory O’Neill, who met Halquist a few days later. Today, in addition to managing and training from the state-of-the-art 35-stall facility at Halquist’s picturesque, five-acre Lazy B Ranch, O’Neill and his wife, Suzanne, also manage Halquist’s own Arabian horses. One of those, naturally, is Amelia B. She has produced nine foals, most of those by embryo transfer.
Amelia B
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“The veterinarians recommended that we harvest two oocytes from her every year,” explains O’Neill. “Then, every third or fourth year, she gets to carry her foal. In between, she is just a princess.” He laughs, looking pointedly at Halquist, who rolls her eyes in mock disbelief. “Dr. Greg Byrne does our reproductive work. He f lushes the two oocytes here at the farm and sends them to Royal Vista, in Fort Collins, Colo., to be implanted. The recipient mares are shipped here after they are 90 days in foal.” Why harvest only two oocytes, when unlimited foals can be registered per year? Halquist is quick to respond. “Two is enough to have on the market,” she states. “Keeping her offspring less plentiful enhances the value of each one.” Amelia B has been bred to seven well-known stallions, producing champion after champion. Why those particular stallions? “Each of them has great smoothness and refinement, as does she,” O’Neill explains, “but they also have good size. Each one is just enough different from the mare to make the crosses work.” Amelia B’s babies are winning national championships, regional titles and futurity tri-colors left and right, both
Ritida
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in the United States and as far away as Australia and Brazil. “Amelia B has allowed Beverly Halquist to travel, meet people, and enjoy many new experiences because of her involvement with Arabian horses,” O’Neill says. “Amelia B is truly a catalyst of relationships, love and hope. She was an expensive first horse for Beverly, but she has more than paid for herself.”
Maroon Fire Arabians/ Shea Stables David and Gail Liniger/Tim and Marty Shea Castle Rock, Colo., and St. Clair, Mich. When you ask Marty Shea to name one or more of the most significant mares she knows, she replies, “Two of the greatest mares in the world are right here: Brassmis (Brass x EE Msindependence, by MHR Nobility) and Ritida, a black, Dutch Harness mare. Tim and I saw Ritida in Holland at 2, liked her and bought here. She is a Majesteit daughter, and has been bred only to Afire Bey V. That cross has produced Half-Arabians that have won more than a dozen national performance championships. “Probably the most wellknown of Ritida’s Afire Bey V foals is Adams Fire, who has won 11 U.S., Canadian and Youth National HalfArabian performance championships. Rose Taylor has Ritida’s second Afire Bey V foal, Sister Christian RA, a filly of 2006. She was the most talked-about horse at the 2009 U.S. Nationals. Joel Kiesner has Eves Fire, Ritida’s next filly; she will be going to Tulsa for the 2010 HalfArabian English Pleasure Futurity. Ritida’s 2-yearold, also with Joel Kiesner, is the fabulous
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Emperors Fire. Her yearling and weanling are here at Shea Stables. We have also bred Ritida by embryo transfer, hoping to get her replacement, but we have not yet achieved that.” The world Arabian horse community knows that Afire Bey V has been the U.S. Nationals’ number one halter and performance sire for the 12th consecutive year, and at the Canadian Nationals for the 11th consecutive year. He has lived at Shea Arabians since his breeder, Sheila Varian, sent him there to be trained as a 3-yearold. When David and Gail Liniger purchased Afire Bey V at 4, Tim and Marty Shea helped the Linigers assemble a remarkable collection of mares to go to him. His progeny, out of those mares and a wide variety of other phenotypes and genotypes, have made Afire Bey V a phenomenon as a sire, with numbers that can exceed those of any other stallion in Arabian breed history. A second mare lives at Shea Stables whose record with Afire Bey V is fast approaching Ritida’s. “Brassmis is a purebred Arabian mare, younger than Ritida,” Shea continues. “Her first foal was the filly Queen Afire, who won a 2006 U.S. National Top Ten in Arabian English Pleasure AAOTR 18-39, with Kellye Dearth. Her second foal was Afire Storrm, a 2001 filly who won U.S. and Canadian National Championships in Junior Mares; was 2004 U.S. National Reserve Champion Junior Mare; 2005 Youth National Champion Mare JTH 17 & Under; 2006 U.S. National Top Ten Country English Pleasure Junior Horse; and 2007 Youth National Country English Pleasure Top Ten JTR 14-17.
Midwest Training Centre David Boggs Rogers, Minn. When asked to name a mare or mares that had a significant impact on his life, David Boggs responds without hesitation. “I have been very blessed to have led many United States, Canadian and international champion and reserve national champion mares. I would name NH Love Potion, Bask Calonett, David Boggs La Duquesa, WN Antigua, Amber Satin, JBK Mystic Fawn, GAA Millenia, JJ La Estrella, Maggdalina, Bey Serenade SF, GA Honisuckl Rose, Europa El Jamaal, Halana and RD Shahara Bey, for starters. Every one of those mares is or was a wonderful mother. I have been very fortunate that every superstar show mare I have had over the years has had a kind, loving disposition. There has never been one I have hesitated to breed.”
“Brassmis’s 2002 Afire Bey colt, Afires Heir, was 2008 unanimous U.S. National Champion in English Pleasure with Joel Kiesner. He won the 2007 junior horse national championship, and he was unanimous U.S. National Champion English Pleasure in 2008 and 2009. The horse has never received a second place ribbon to my knowledge. Afires Heir currently has 130 registered purebred and Half-Arabian foals.
Has embryo transfer been a good thing for the Arabian horse business? “Absolutely,” Boggs replies. “Embryo transfer has made a huge difference in those great mares’ productivity. It used to be that if you got one foal every year out of a top mare, you considered yourself really lucky. Reproductive technology has advanced so much over the years. Embryo transfer allows us to harvest and implant up to four embryos from a single mare every year, and to register all four foals. Increasing those mares’ productivity and adding their offspring to the world’s Arabian gene pool helps the whole breed.
“You know,” Marty Shea says thoughtfully, “buying Brassmis and having her turn out to be the great producer she is was a stroke of good fortune. She happened to be in a Cedar Ridge production sale, and I liked her pedigree and her looks. I bid on her over the phone!”
“Midwest Station II has been the heart of our breeding center for probably 20 years,” Boggs continues. “We have state-of-the-art equine reproductive equipment, and the people who know how to use it and get results. We have 40 to 60 foals born at Midwest each year, and the last several years, we have been breeding around 400 mares
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them. We give horses away every year to good, loving homes, where they will make ideal fi rst horses for families. They’re perfectly useful as family horses or 4-H projects, for trail or endurance riding, or even for showing on the local level. We have done that for years, as far back as when Dad would trade a colt to a kid for painting a fence!”
North Arabians Robert and Dixie North Ramona, Calif.
Bob and Dixie North
a year, most with cooled or frozen semen.” Many of Midwest’s larger clients have no horse facilities of their own, so Boggs and his staff manage perhaps 250 clients’ animals, many of those recipient mares. “That means we become caretakers of other people’s breeding programs,” Boggs explains. “Many of our international clients, especially those from the Middle East, leave a mare they have purchased here at Midwest to be maintained on a professional basis. Because Midwest is a full service facility, we can breed the mare, care for her during pregnancy, foal her out, and wean the baby. We can then train, show and market the foal for the client, if that is his or her choice. Whatever our clients need, we can do, or can advise them. “Every year, we get to handpick the very best of each year’s foal crop for every stallion standing at Midwest,” he adds. “Breeding the best to the best increases the odds of producing a superior foal, but not every one is going to be a superstar. “We have a responsibility as breeders and caretakers to those horses, and we do not take this lightly. We never sell those offspring at rock-bottom prices or discard
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“We have so many lovely mares here,” says Dixie North, smiling, “that it’s hard to narrow it down. One of the most special mares is WA Marlaina Lee, by Bey Shah. She is a champion show mare, an Aristocrat mare, and she has produced three national champions. The most notable are JJ La Estrella, who has multiple national championships, and Belvedere PSY, by Padrons Psyche, a South African reserve national champion. “WA Marlaina Lee has produced 12 foals to date, some of which were Scottsdale top tens or better. The filly Margarita PSY, by Padrons Psyche, we have retained to replace Marlaina Lee. This year, Marlaina Lee’s daughter Lee Anna PSY, by Padrons Psyche, produced a gorgeous filly by Ever After NA that we have named Leah. We hope to take her to Scottsdale and Las Vegas next year. “Promises PSY (Padrons Psyche x Petronella SRA, by Bey Shah) has given us some of our best show fillies. She had a very bad accident at the trainer’s as a yearling and lost most of the vision in one eye, so she was never shown. We always keep a f ly mask on her, because her damaged eye is so sensitive to light. She is a calm, laidback mare, very sweet, and loves her babies. She has carried four foals. Petra SF, by Sir Fames HBV, was sold to the Middle East after she won the Las Vegas World Cup yearling futurity. Promises Kept SF, also by Sir Fames HBV, won the 2009 Scottsdale 2-Year-Old Fillies AAOTH class and the Junior Fillies AAOTH
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Championship. Promises PSY’s 2010 filly, Promise Me Fame SF, looks like a special filly, also,” she adds. “Entaicyng NA is by Aicyng and out of Bint Bay Beau,” North continues. “She produced several champions and a glorious son, Ever After NA. He has been 2007 Canadian National Reserve Champion 2-year-old, 2008 U.S. National Reserve Champion Futurity Colt, 2009 U.S. National Top Ten Junior Stallion, and has won his class at the Las Vegas World Cup twice. His foals have been outstanding. “Entaicyng NA is the special love of the farm. She is calm, intelligent, willing, sweet, beautiful, and the best of mothers. If the need ever arose, I know this mare would take on and raise another mare’s foal.”
Prestige Farms Irwin Schimmel Hillsboro, Ore. Irwin Schimmel and his children—and today, his grandchildren—have been riding and driving their Arabian horses to national performance championships for many years, “But in the last 12 years,” Irwin says, “I have really gotten involved in breeding. We have 14 mares bred this year, either by embryo transfer or carrying their foals.
all the same price and pretty much alike in quality, but people are going to reach for the name brand first. The brand name is recognizable, which makes them trust it. Breeding Half-Arabians is like that. You go to top Saddlebred stallions, and breed them to your good purebred mares. Their Half-Arabian foals are sired by name brand stallions, in which people have more confidence than they do in something unknown. They have read, seen, heard positive opinions about, or had personal experience with the name brand. This creates higher, more well-defined expectations. The name brand is the one they want to see first. Prestige’s mares are all name brands. I take them to stallions of my choice, always keeping in mind what is going to cross well, and what is going to sell. “I don’t stand a stallion,” he responds to the question. “That way, I’m not locked into breeding all my mares to that horse. I have sold half a dozen good stallion prospects, because I don’t have to breed them, but I go with the name brands. For example, I bred a Matoi daughter to MHR Nobility, and got a gorgeous filly. I have a full sister to Baske Afire and Empress of Bask (Afire Bey V x Mac Baske). I have a full sister to IXL Noble Express (MHR Nobility x RY Fire Ghazi, by *El Ghazi), as well as a full sister to RY Fire Ghazi herself. And I have another *El Ghazi daughter out of a full sister to Hucklebey Berry (Huckleberry Bey x Miz Bask). Add to that a couple of good Barbary daughters. These mares are all name brands.
“What is my philosophy about making breeding choices?” he asks rhetorically. “The common wisdom is that the better the mares, the better the foals will be, but that is not necessarily true. I look at pedigrees. This mare may not have short legs, but how many short-legged ancestors are there in her pedigree? You want to breed pedigree to pedigree— carefully—to get what you want. But you also want to be sure that the individuals you are breeding already are pretty close to what you’re after. “Breeding horses is like stocking a shelf in a supermarket,” he explains. “You have four different brands,
Irwin Schimmel and his grandson Cole.
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“I sell my horses. Everything here has a price. If somebody wants it more than I do, they can buy it. Our 2009 foal crop was so good that I didn’t think they could get any prettier or more athletic. We have had 10 foals thus far in 2010, however, and I think they are prettier, and just as athletic. All have that name brand marketability, with sires like MHR Nobility, Afires Heir, Baske Afire, SF Specs Shocwave, Afire Bey V, Vegaz, Majesteit and Undulata’s Nutcracker.
Thundering Hooves Arabians Brenda Brown Oral, S.D. Brenda Brown has been drawn to unusual-colored horses since she was a little girl. “Silver, the Lone Ranger’s horse, was white, but not a cremello!” she
says, knowing that her statement is correct. Brown is eminently familiar with coat color genetics. “Cremello is a double dilute coat color, and there are none in the Arabian horse world—probably because of the blue eyes that go along with the color.” (A cremello or pseudoalbino—ccr at the C locus—has pink or grey skin, blue or hazel eyes and an almost white coat. See Equine Genetics and Selection Procedures, from Equine Research Publications, © 1978.) “Half-Arabian registration is available only to horses with one purebred Arabian parent,” she adds. “That is why I am considered a rogue. My two senior stallions are out of true, dilute palomino sisters that are 63/64 linebred Arabian, both registered Half-Arabian. Both Thundering Hooves stallions are registered pinto breeding stock. My senior stallion is by MJD Corona De Oro, and Unforgettable SS is his dam. Allussive Gold SS has two approximately 90 percent cremello Arabian sons. One is out of a 63/64 registered Half-Arabian palomino mare, CW Gold Surprise, that belongs to me, and the other belongs to Wendy Nickerson Gough and Peter Gough, of Portrait Arabians WNG, owners of Behold Ice Gold WNG. “I have partnered with Peter and Wendy Gough, and we will be doing business as Double Dilute Specialists® (DDS). Our goal is to breed high quality, dilute and double dilute part-Arabians, and to raise the standard for quality and elegance of high-percentage Arabian cremello and palomino foals.” Behold Ice Gold WNG, a cremello colt, is by Allusive Gold SS, who also will stand at Thundering Hooves Arabians starting this year.
CW Gold Surprise HAHR 6A347916, a 98.4 percent Arabian palomino, and her 90 percent Arabian cremello filly, Isis DDS
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“Behold Ice Gold WNG is everything we could want in a breeding stallion,” says Brown. “His high percentage of Arabian blood and classic Arabian good
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looks make him the perfect choice to set type with. We also breed to a dozen different top quality Egyptian, Polish, Crabbet and Russian stallions, which makes our program unique. Also in the DDS program is a black-liver chestnut Simeon Shai stallion, and two chestnut mares that produce palominos, chestnuts and possibly blacks, with their genetic makeup. We are creating our own ‘look’ and family line.”
Major Love Affair has seven registered purebred foals at this writing. “All her foals have been produced by ET,” explains Lisa Camacho. “This year she gave us a beautiful Magnum Chall filly by embryo transfer. We never intended to make a business of breeding Arabians, but when El Chall WR, Major Love Affair’s 2008
Windrose Farm Don and Lisa Camacho Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Lisa Camacho has had horses—always Arabians and Half-Arabians—since she was 13, and she and her husband, Don, started their own Arabian breeding program in 1992. “Don bought a 1987 colt, Farlyns Shah Bey (Bey Shah x Shan-A-Non, by *Pierscien) as 3-year-old,” she explains, “and he became the base of our program. We stood him for 13 years. He sired a lot of great horses. We kept two of his daughters for our program, but when transported semen came along, we said, ‘Let’s not stand a stallion anymore.’ Today, we have three base mares: Major Love Affair, the two we bred, and we will be adding Major Love Affair’s oldest daughter, WR Bey Loved (by ATA Bey Starr), foaled in 2006. The two Farlyns Shah Bey daughters we have kept are WR ShahNel (x TA On Fire, by Safire) and Lillian (x Knickers IK, by Ibn Kamim).” The Camachos bought Major Love Affair (DS Major Afire x HL Infactuation) as a yearling, and proudly watched as she was named 2008 U.S. National Champion Mare and 2006 U.S. National Reserve Champion Mare AAOTH. The mare also won three U.S. Top Tens: as a yearling in 2001, as a futurity filly in 2003, and as a senior mare, in 2007.
Major Love Affair
Magnum Chall HVP colt, sold, we were absolutely thrilled! He went to good people, and we are so pleased that he went to them, because they cherish him. We had an offer on Major Love Affair, too, but we wouldn’t sell. “She has given her foals her beautiful neck and front end, and her beautiful expression,” Camacho continues. “Even standing in the stall, she is absolutely stunning. She is very kind, is a dream to work around, and she has the biggest heart in the world. Everything you ask of her, she will do. Her two Magnum Chall HVP fillies are just like her that way.” The Camachos get two foals by embryo transfer from Major Love Affair each year. “Every one of them has had great quality,” Lisa says, “and with one great mare, you don’t need a lot of others.” ■
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Equine Reproduction Innovations Equine Reproduction Innovations would like to congratulate :
Taylor Ranch Arabians on their first pregnancies by *Muscat and *Nariadni: *Muscat x TR Silk Whisper (Sanadik El Shaklan x Silk Bouquet) *Nariadni x Lisa Mine (RD Ariel x *FA Mona Lisa)
Cedar Ridge Arabians on their first pregnancy by Brass: Brass x Afire Inmy Eyes (Afire Bey V x Angyl Eyes)
Offering the following services: Embryo Sexing ICSI Fetal Gender Determination Oocyte Transfer Frozen Semen Embryo Transfer Sexed Semen Legend program via ICSI: *Aladdinn, Bey Shah, Brass, *Muscat, *Nariadni, Ruminaja Ali Via frozen semen: Abha Qatar *Aladdinn - AHR 177073 b. 1975 (Nureddin x Lalage) U.S. National Champion Stallion 1979, Third leading sire of Arabian horses. Taylor Ranch • www.taylorarabians.com Abha Qatar b. 2007 Chestnut colt (Marwan Al Shaqab x ZT Ludjkalba) European Champion Junior Colt, All Nations Champion Junior Colt, World Champion Junior Colt. Limited breeding available via frozen semen. Owned by Al Mohamadia Stud, Saudi Arabia, HH Prince Abdullah Bin Fahad Al Saud. Farm manager: Dr. Bruce McCrea • www.almohamadiastud.com Bey Shah - AHR 134556 b. 1976 (Bay El Bey x Star of Ofir) U.S. Reserve National Champion Stallion, 1980 Leading sire of halter champions. Shellbird, Inc. • www.shellbird.com/main.html Brass - AHR 205794 b. 1979 (Bask x Tsanar) Sire of countless National Champions in halter, English pleasure and park. Supreme sire of National Show Horse (NSH) Champions in halter and performance. Cedar Ridge Arabians • www.cedar-ridge.com *Muscat - AHR 177179 b. 1971 (Salon x Malpia) U.S. National Champion Stallion 1980, First “Triple Crown” stallion to win Scottsdale, Canadian National Champion Stallion and U.S. National Champion Stallion in the same year. Taylor Ranch • www.taylorarabians.com *Nariadni - AHR 177083 b. 1973 (Nabeg x Nariadnaia) Halter and Performance Champion. Taylor Ranch • www.taylorarabians.com Rumininaja Ali - AHR 134937 b. 1976 (Shaikh Al Badi x Magidaa) Bergren Family Arabians www.egyptianarabians.com/bergren
7890 County Road 96 • Wellington, CO 80549 info@equinereproinnovations.com www.equinereproinnovations.com Phone (970) 497-4664 • Fax (970) 692-8316
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A Conversation With AHA President
Lance Walters by Mary Kirkman
he p past few years have been tumultuous for the Arabian Horse Association. Like every other horse industry organization, it has faced the economic uncertainties of the recession. In addition, it has weathered the surprise of the misused Breeders Sweepstakes funds, debates over the new halter judging system, and complaints about the U.S. Nationals’ location and expense. Other questions, perhaps less strident but indicative of a growing anxiety among Arabian enthusiasts, have been raised: Was AHA, whose foundation organization, IAHA, was formed for the purpose of promoting the Arabian horse, doing enough marketing support? Was the Canadian National Show losing money? And then there was the latest observation that AHA was going broke. Increasingly, it was not uncommon to hear Arabian horse people wonder aloud, “Has AHA outlived its usefulness?”
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AHA AH A PRES RESIDENT R ESIDEN NT LANC ANCE A CE WALT ALTERS A L ERS
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AHA PRESIDENT LANCE WALTERS
For answers, Arabian Horse Times went to Lance Walters, president of the Arabian Horse Association since November 2008, and Vice President for four years before that. It was Walters who ordered the top-tobottom financial review which revealed that for years, the Breeders Sweepstakes trust fund and other restricted monies had been used for general operating expenses. Walters first points out that substantial progress in rectifying AHA problems has been made over the past two years. Most notably, a new executive team has been assembled. Glenn Petty, whose résumé in the equine industry is blue chip on many fronts, joined the organization as Executive Vice President in July 2008; a year later, Brad Short—whose qualifications Walters calls “the best I’ve ever seen for the position”—assumed the duties of controller; and in November 2009, Arabian owner David Corning, whose financial expertise is based on a successful career at Microsoft, assumed the duties of treasurer. To cut costs, the staff at the Aurora, Colo., headquarters has been slashed by 11 individuals, and an ambitious repayment program initiated to restore the Breeders Sweepstakes fund over a three-year period. Most importantly, Walters says, examination and streamlining of the organization is ongoing.
“In a lot of respects, I think AHA (in the past) was probably comfortable with its position and was willing to react, rather than being proactive.”
“Financially, we’re moving in the right direction,” he contends. “The debts are going down, not up, even though we’re in the middle of a really nasty recession. Given the opportunity, AHA will be able to succeed in meeting the expectation of our members, but it can’t be done overnight. It didn’t take 14 months to get
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here; it took years to get where we are, and it will take years to get it corrected.” What about going broke? “If you look at the documents from the last board meeting in April, Brad presented the Association’s financials,” he says. “The directors were able to see that we are moving forward. We’re paying $22,000 a month to Sweepstakes, and we’ve made every payment. People said we’d never eat into the inter-fund, and we have. I don’t know how else to explain it. AHA isn’t going broke.” Still, he understands the frustration and skepticism of some members. “In a lot of respects, I think AHA (in the past) was probably comfortable with its position and was willing to react, rather than being proactive. If you feel like you’ve been wronged in the past, it may take several years of success for you to feel more comfortable.” He agrees to discuss some of the questions raised about the organization.
These days, three of the most popular shows in the Arabian industry are Scottsdale, the Minnesota Medallion and the Iowa Gold Star, all of which developed their own successful futurities—at a time when AHA’s futurity, the Breeders Sweepstakes was in trouble. The Arabian Reining Horse Association and Arabian English Performance Association also created substantial futurity programs. What does this mean for AHA’s leadership potential? “Iowa, Minnesota and Scottsdale do a really nice job. We’re going to have to do the same thing—go and do a really nice job, and show people we can do it.
AHA PRESIDENT LANCE WALTERS
“AHA has been behind getting on that bus, in all honesty. We needed to rework our Sweepstakes program so that it could address the issues of potentially awarding more sweepstakes money with a bigger payout at U.S. Nationals, as well as a payout at regionals. The new Premium Breeders Sweepstakes program has an auction format with a prize money package. It was refined again as little as a few weeks ago to be cheaper and affordable for everybody now (the restriction of having to be part of our primary Breeders Sweepstakes program has been taken away). I think that’s extremely attractive and will offer significant amounts of money in a few years, and we’re optimistic that it will fit right in with Minnesota, Iowa and Scottsdale.
“We needed to rework our Sweepstakes program so that it could address the issues of potentially awarding more sweepstakes money with a bigger payout at U.S. Nationals, as well as a payout at regionals.” “Should it have been done 20 years ago? Sure. I agree with that 100 percent. But when you’re a Monday morning quarterback, it’s easy to complain and it’s easy to be intelligent. Certainly there were many people, including myself, that in the past discussed programs that would impress people more in terms of money. But you can only do so much with your capital, and if you’re giving all your capital away in prize money or lower fees, you can’t do other things your customers are asking for, such as providing free web advertising for horses, etc. “What you have to remember is that Scottsdale, Minnesota and the Iowa Gold Star are all shows. They aren’t obligated to provide services for 33,000 members. AHA, in addition to putting on shows,
has the responsibility of keeping all the records, defending the legal cases, having a Judges and Stewards Commission, providing judges and stewards’ training—there are probably more than 80 things that AHA has to do. Somebody has to carry the integrity of the Arabian horse, and there is nobody else out there to do it. If AHA doesn’t do it, we have a serious problem.”
There has been unease about AHA for a while now in the Arabian industry. What made AHA management finally realize that real changes had to be made? “I think it was more of just having a board that understands what your clients are asking, and an executive committee that while in the past it had understood what people were asking hadn’t been able to react as quickly. As a business person looking in, the more involved I became, the more it appeared that we needed to do a better job as far as what our customers were asking. Even in a recession you don’t batten down the hatches and hide; you get aggressive. For instance, I want them to come to U.S. Nationals. How do you do that? You start the new program that Sweepstakes is doing with the auction program.”
How do you respond to the suggestion by some people that AHA no longer put on the Canadian Nationals because it does not make money? “I hear all the time about Canada not making money, but it’s not true. It hasn’t made a lot of money for the last two years, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that’s the economy. If it was losing money, it would be something we’d take a look at immediately and say ‘what are we going to do here?’
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“If you run the show completely independent of everything, it makes about $40,000. When you do full allocations, I can make anything go into the red—but I am told by Dave Corning, who is reviewing our allocation system, that basically the system could be improved. As far as running the Canadian Nationals and it turning a profit, it did. If Canada went away, not only would we have to make up for that $40,000 we would lose, but we would lose a major marketing resource for our breed.”
Let’s talk about U.S. Nationals. Many people who show at U.S. Nationals say that its profit contributes a disproportionate amount to AHA (or in other words, only a small percentage of members pays what they consider an outsized amount of the Association’s bills). “I believe the people who say that don’t have all the information. A lot of AHA’s major record-keeping and expense also relates to the showing. All the records that we keep, and most registrations, are dealing with horses that are probably shown eventually. Right now, the IT system we are about to complete has out-ofpocket expenses of about $2.6 million. It’s part of the recordkeeping process that is going to take place which includes not only registrations, but show programs,
“My family has shown at Nationals, and I know the bills are up there, but I would question if it’s the actual cost of the stall and the class fee that people think makes it so expensive, or are they looking at a total bill?”
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awards based on shows and events, and so on. Keeping the records that we keep is not done inexpensively. You’re talking the competitions department and records department personnel, whose salaries and health insurance all have to be paid for. You start adding all those expenses up, and those are allocated expenses that have to be covered. “My family has shown at Nationals, and I know the bills are up there, but I would question if it’s the actual cost of the stall and the class fee that people think makes it so expensive, or are they looking at a total bill? Are they showing with a professional trainer who has a flat fee, or the hauling? We don’t have any control over that. We obviously charge for a stall, and for class fees and handling fees.”
How much profit is made on the U.S. Nationals and how much of AHA’s budget does it actually fund? “The reality is, what was the net profit (of the U.S. Nationals) last year? You’re talking about a net profit after allocations of about $700,000. I think there’s a misconception that ‘Oh, well, Canada made $40,000, Sport Horse made $140,000 and then with U.S., there’s a huge profit.’ You add those up and it looks like we’re making a ton of money, but in reality after allocation all our national events netted about $800,000. But again, you have to take salaries, health insurance, taxes on the building, payments to the city of Aurora (utilities, etc.)—regular expenses that anybody has—and then you end up with a net figure at the end of the year that just about covers all our bills. It’s been pretty obvious that the figure (of profit at that point) hasn’t been anything significant in quite a while.”
When speaking of AHA finances, the word “allocations” arises often. You say that the system that has been used by AHA in the past is not considered accurate.
AHA PRESIDENT LANCE WALTERS
“When we talk about allocations, in all fairness, we’re talking about many expenses charged to shows that the show commissions have no actual control over. For every amount charged against a show, we have to ask, is that an expense that is due to the show? That’s the key; we are trying to make sure that the expenses will be in the category where they belong. It is not a question of do we have enough income to pay the bills. It is making sure we know exactly where that money is going. And—if after we have an accurate system of allocations, we find that Canada isn’t making money, then we’ll take a look at it. But I’m told that that doesn’t appear to be the case.
“It is not a question of do we have enough income to pay the bills. It is making sure we know exactly where that money is going.”
“We are also talking about allocations for revenues such as sponsor or corporate partner revenue that should be shared with our national events since they have fulfillment responsibilities and associated costs.”
On the subject of reducing the cost of putting on the U.S. Nationals, how about using a qualifying system and having a smaller show? “If you actually did do that, do you create a show for the elitist? And if you have only 1,000 horses coming to Nationals, what do you have to charge to make a profit? Yes, you could do it, but what are the ramifications of that action?”
As a home for the U.S. Nationals, do you believe that Tulsa is best for the breed in the future? “You have to look at what the alternatives were. Basically, in the U.S., very few facilities can handle the U.S. Nationals. If we bring up Albuquerque or Louisville, you’ll get the same storm of letters we got when people wanted us to get out of Albuquerque and Louisville. Oklahoma City is a good facility, but it doesn’t have dates for us, and the weather for the dates that might be available is too hot. “We have to have 3,000 stalls under a hard roof. We talked about going back to Louisville, and you’d have thought we’d burned the American flag; everyone said ‘we’re not going back to Louisville, we can’t work there.’ But we’re always looking.”
We’ve talked about the cost and profits of the nationals shows. What about other sources of income within AHA? “There are a lot of areas of profit within the organization, from registrations to membership to awards programs. One of the things we’ve done in the last year is go through all those areas and start assessing their profitability to running the Association. We asked for the registration commission to decide if they could approve an increase there to help pay some bills, but our current breeding situation is an issue. With the recession, a lot of people are not breeding, so obviously the following year there are not a lot of registrations taking place. So that area certainly would be a deficit compared to what it was three or four years ago.”
One move that has received widespread approval has been the reduction in AHA personnel, as many members felt the organization
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was overstaffed. What do you see for the future on that subject? “We have a hiring freeze in place, but we’re handling the paperwork in the same businesslike, timely manner. At this point in time, I don’t see why we would need to increase staffing levels. I think the 40-44 level is correct. One reason the new computer system is important is that in the future, the computer will reduce some of our personnel requirements. For instance, you’ll be able to do many registration functions online.”
When the International Arabian Horse Association, which preceded AHA, was formed in 1950, one of its primary purposes was to promote
the Arabian breed. There is some question now as to how much promotion AHA does. How much support, for instance, has AHA given the new Arabian Horse Galleries? “Since the merger (IAHA and the Arabian Horse Registry, which formed AHA), promotion has been turned over to the Market Development and Promotion (MDP) Committee. You have to understand that the old IAHA just isn’t around anymore. In the last two years, money has been donated to the new Arabian Horse Galleries—$252,000 one year and $248,000 the other, if I’m not mistaken. This year, we’re using Half-Arabian funds to promote purebreds and Half-Arabians at the World Equestrian Games, and spending about $25,000 for promotion at events
AHA President Lance Walters with AHA Executive Vice President Glenn Petty.
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AHA PRESIDENT LANCE WALTERS
like Equine Affaire. We also have booths that are available for loan to any of our member clubs for local promotions. “In prior years, we typically spent over $350,000 per year for promotion through the MDP. Over the last five years, this has just been shy of $2 million. So, we obviously are fulfilling that mission.”
In the ongoing study of how to improve the Arabian breed’s situation in today’s world, one suggestion heard more often is that the number of regions, and therefore the number of regional shows, be reduced. “We’re mandated every five years to bring that up for review. I appointed a Regional Boundaries Ad Hoc Committee—Terry Andreasen, Pat Barton and Cecile Dunn—to look at that. The issues in the past pretty much lay within the regions themselves; most of them are separate corporations with separate treasuries. The review committee is looking at the potential of moving geographic boundaries, population boundaries, and so on—what might be acceptable to bring to the Convention floor for discussion. If that entails a smaller number of regions, and if that’s what the regions want, that’s fine.
“Bottom line, AHA has to service its customers. That’s my philosophy and I think it holds true.”
“The regions are a separate entity; I really don’t have a lot of control over them. AHA can make recommendations, but due to the financial and legal questions with the separate corporations, I don’t know how we could demand that Region 15 and Region 12 and Region 16 join into two regions, for instance. “When it comes to the number of regional horse shows, I think we need to look at how that would work. Too small a number sounds to me like a basketball tournament, narrowing the numbers down to a final at the Nationals. If you’re doing it in a step system like that, you have the expense of the first one, the second one, the quarter final, then the championships. That could get expensive. There are a lot of people out there with a lot of good horses; do we make it economically unfeasible for them to participate? Do we want to eliminate people because of monetary issues? That’s hard to do if you’re trying to be member-friendly.”
If you had one message for the Arabian horse public, what would it be? “My phone number and email address are on the AHA website. If you really want to know what’s going on, you can talk to me or Glenn or any of our executive officers. We’ll be as straightforward as we can. You can’t hide anything, because if you do, it comes back and bites you. “Bottom line, AHA has to service its customers. That’s my philosophy and I think it holds true. You have to do the work and it has to be done in a timely manner. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Things are getting cleaned up. The right people are in the right positions at AHA, and the attitude has changed. I think the negative perception that some people have has been there for a long time, and I understand that—but AHA is very different from what it was. It’s improving for the better.” ■
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Leaders Of The Times: May Calendar Feature
GH Maryn by Colleen Scott
Ed and Sarah Truitt of Loomis, Calif., became immersed in the Arabian breed—in the way many do—through their horse-crazy daughters. They started with Quarter Horses and then went to Arabians. They were even the proud owners of a mare originally sent to the U.S. as a gift to a high level executive from then King Hussein. (When the executive passed away, his widow told Truitt’s daughter to choose any horse from her barn when she learned the teenager missed her horses, having just moved to California from Texas without them.) While Truitt’s daughters eventually developed other interests, went to college, and started careers, Ed and Sarah nurtured their own love of Arabian horses, dabbling with a selfdescribed “backyard” breeding program.
he did compete in the halter ring, meeting with some success. While Ed enjoyed those successes and he and Sarah both enjoyed running their own breeding program, Ed Truitt confessed, “The horses eventually got smarter than me. I decided it was time to go to a professional.”
Over the years, Ed Truitt tried his hand at team penning, cutting and endurance riding, all on Arabians. Although he never formally competed in any of those disciplines,
“Jeff told me it was a small miracle that Maryn had progressed quickly enough to even be ready to compete at Scottsdale just two short months later,” recalls Truitt.
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The Truitts had just purchased the colt GH Maryn (NYN Hisani x GH Venture) from Canadian breeder Francis Fischer and chose Jeff Schall of Shada Inc., in Minn., to manage the youngster’s debut into the halter arena. Having acquired the colt in December, 2007, the 2008 Scottsdale Show came up quickly on the calendar. Even though Schall was optimistic about the colt’s chances, the preparation time had been less than ideal.
GH MARYN
“We couldn’t even believe we were there. Jeff told me to remain calm, go in the ring and just have fun.” The Truitts did have fun, and Ed brought home victories in both the yearling and junior colt classes. “To win the yearling class was incredible, but to go on and win the junior colt championship was the icing on the cake,” says Truitt. Following his Scottsdale win, Jeff took GH Maryn home to Shada to continue perfecting the youngster’s winning ways. “The wins with Ed at Scottsdale really validated for us that we had something special,” says Schall. The wins continued to accumulate. In June of that year, Schall led GH Maryn to the Region 8 Arabian Yearling Colt/Gelding Championship title in their first outing together. He followed that up with a Top Ten in the Arabian Yearling Colt/Gelding Breeders Sweepstakes Championship class at the 2008 U.S. Nationals. During 2009, Schall returned with Maryn to Scottsdale, where they were named to the Top Ten in the Two-Year-Old Colts class. The pair then went on to capture Second Place in the Stallions of 2007 class at the World Cup and Top Ten (third on the cards) at Canadian Nationals. “He is really the benchmark offspring of his sire, NYN Hisani, Canadian National Champion and U.S. National Reserve Champion Futurity Colt,” states Schall. “When I first saw GH Maryn, I saw a lot of the same attributes I had seen in his sire. I committed to showing him both as a yearling and futurity horse—something I don’t do very often. He really is a special horse. “Maryn has been consistently successful in his outings since he was a yearling,” Schall continues. “He has been shown to a number of different judging panels, and he is always at the top of the field. He is big, bold and beautiful. I believe that with the groundwork we’ve laid with this horse, and the way he’s developing this year, Maryn is a real contender for the U.S. Nationals Futurity class.” The Truitts are excited about GH Maryn’s prospects as well. “What I really like about this horse is that he is very animated,” states Truitt. “I believe that halter is like a living work of art. A halter horse should have a ‘look-at-me’ attitude.” Besides being attracted to the stallion’s impressive show attitude, the Truitts were also attracted to his conformation, particularly his legs. “When we first saw
GH Maryn (NYN Hisani x GH Venture).
him on a videotape, we were really impressed with the straightness of his legs. Horses will sometimes change over time, growing into their bodies, but if a horse’s legs aren’t straight from the very beginning, they never will be. Maryn always scores really high in the legs category,” says Truitt. Ed Truitt looks forward to someday showing Maryn again. However, in the meantime, he and Sarah enjoy being a part of the “Shada Red Zone.” “Sarah and I very much enjoy watching Jeff and our stallion together, and we also enjoy seeing all the people at the shows that we’ve met over the years.” Besides continuing his career in the open halter division, GH Maryn has started creating his own legacy in the breeding barn with one colt on the ground already in the Middle East. There’s another due any day out of the Truitt’s First Cyte mare, Emmelyne. “We’re excited about GH Maryn’s future as a breeding stallion,” says Schall. “I think he definitely has the kind of characteristics breeders today are looking for. Any day now we will see the first baby on U.S. soil, and we can’t wait.” ■ M AY 2010 | 165
One Man’s Opinion Thoughts On The State Of The Arabian Horse Industry, Part II by Bob Battaglia
This month, I first want to thank all of you who took the time to write to me with your observations on improving the Arabian horse industry in this country. I’ve included some of your comments in this column, as you all had suggestions that I think deserve attention. As I noted last time, I’ve experienced nearly all aspects of the breed. In addition to training and showing horses, I’ve been a breeder, managed stallions’ stud careers, and put on public sales. That and the decades I’ve been in Arabians, living through the boom years and the ones that were financially difficult, have given me a fairly comprehensive perspective in looking at the state of our breed today. There is no one simple solution to the issues we are facing; our decisions on how we go forward need to recognize how the various parts of our industry fit together, and deliver benefits across the board.
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ONE MAN’S OPINION
Our Show Calendar I’ll begin with the show horses. My thought is that we need to expand our show industry from the ground up, not the top down. Last month, I suggested that we eliminate our system of 18 regional shows and instead have four championships around the country, leading up to our national show. Several readers supported the idea of changing our regional structure. Mickey Aboussie wrote, “Years ago, Cindy Clinton, Kathie Hart and a group “My main point is of us at Bazy’s that we need to Think Tank start thinking out of proposed an idea for eliminating the box. Just look the regionals around: We live in altogether, a different world; holding East and West Coast we have to start National Semithinking differently.” Finals and a North American Championship Show as the big daddy. Funny how our ideas melded.” East and west or four semi-finals around the country, we’re on the same page. A change to fewer regionals would reduce the cost of showing for most people, as well as intensify the competition at the regional level. Most importantly, it would encourage more people to qualify by attending the smaller shows. At present, we are able to qualify at class A to class C events, but just try to find a B or a C show. In some places, they’re not available. If we change our system, that also would encourage the class A shows and the local clubs to become more active with promoting in their own region. Yes, there are some clubs that do promotion now, but there used to be a lot more of it going on. That is how we grow the whole breed, and it supports the breeding and selling of horses, which eventually equates to more action in the training barns and more participation at horse shows. I remember the days when the local clubs were the ones that promoted the Arabian horse. Interested spectators could then buy horses from local trainers and breeders and be involved in their own area. Right now, clubs have little incentive
to go all-out promoting Arabians by having the local, smaller shows because Arabian horses just don’t sell well enough. We all know that the market is strong for horses capable of winning at the national shows, but it is not nearly strong enough for all the others. Healthy local circuits—ones where you can have a reasonably-priced experience with a decent horse close to home, as well as qualify to move up to regionals and nationals if you want to, would provide the basis we need to build the breed. My main point is that we need to start thinking out of the box. Just look around: We live in a different world; we have to start thinking differently. Take education, for example. We’re a long way from the traditional classes most adults today attended. A new program called FMA Live, sponsored by NASA and Honeywell Corp., uses innovative teaching aids such as hip hop music, Velcro® and go-carts to teach middle schoolers science—and it’s getting good results. I’ve read that some schools are turning students on to learning by using their cell phones and iPod®s, instead of telling the kids to turn them off, as has been the rule in the past. Time moves on, and we need to move with it. “Out of the box” for my purposes here means a complete restructuring from the regionals through the nationals— and AHA, for that matter. We need to remember that it is expensive “For most people, it today to go to the would be desirable national events, to limit the number and somewhat of big shows and expensive to go to the regionals. For increase the number most people, it of smaller shows on would be desirable their calendar.” to limit the number of big shows and increase the number of smaller shows on their calendar. Not only does that give them more long weekends of fun, but also it makes those big, mega-title shows all the more important and impressive. Let me add that on a positive note, the Youth Nationals is surviving well. Parents will always spend money for their kids, and that show is exciting. It’s fun for the youth, and it’s very competitive. So, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. M AY 2010 | 167
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How Our Show System Affects The Sale Of Horses
“These days, we place so much emphasis on winning at the national shows that it is as if there is only one prize: the national championship.”
In my opinion, the way we regard our national shows is doing a disservice to our marketplace. These days, we place so much emphasis on winning at the national shows that it is as if there is only one prize: the national championship. A national championship is very important, no question about it; it’s what we all want to win. But it should not be the only title of real importance, and the horses capable of being first in their classes should not be the only ones with significant value. If you go to other breeds, to be top ten in the country is a huge, huge title. To be third, fourth, fifth or eighth at the Saddlebred World’s Championships is a big accomplishment, and they treat it as such. (Don’t let me be confusing. I’m not saying that we should change our recognition from “top ten” to numbered placings—“top ten” is fine. What I mean is that winning one of the first 10 placings should be recognized as a top-level achievement.) Yet, in Arabians today, we are so focused on being only the winner that we don’t seem to care about the honor of being top ten. That is particularly sad because on any given day, there are probably 20 horses who have qualified that could be national champion. Why is that so important? Because beyond the pride of achievement, the prestige of any award affects the value of the horse; a national top ten horse should command a figure high on the price scale. Instead, too many buyers want only the winners. Let’s look at the effect that has on developing a strong grass roots market for Arabians. The only horses that seem to be selling for big money these days are the halter horses, and many of those are selling out of the country. In the performance horses, everybody wants the high end. But there are some wonderful, wonderful horses for a lot less money that could win at the local or regional level. They might not be national champions, but unless you aspire to go there, why do you have to concentrate on the national shows? The national shows are supposed to be for the epitome of the horses. It would be helpful if we could help people coming into the breed to identify the level of participation that is real for them. There are far more horses capable of local-to-regional showing—and far more families able to finance that—than there are horses and people who should be targeting the national shows. We need to set up a system that accommodates “the grass roots,” as well as the people and horses who are focused on the national events.
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ONE MAN’S OPINION
Observations From Readers Most of the readers who wrote in not only commented on the issues that I have listed here, but also offered their experiences and suggestions for improvements in the breed. One person who took the time to email was Julie Cabana. You may remember her as Julie McCracken; at one time, before she took a break for marriage, family and career (as do so many of our young riders), she was a top-level amateur contender. She so hit the nail “Local shows should on the head that be economical I’m including her within reason and letter here almost simple. We have in its entirety.
to remember that in our pursuit for solutions we can’t make this too complicated either.”
“I have been on the sidelines quietly observing this industry and waiting for a chance to jump back in,” Julie wrote. “I feel like I only rate the attention of people in the industry if I buy an expensive horse and only show at a national level. Now, don’t get me wrong, yes, I would love to do that someday, but the reality is I have not just myself to think about when spending my money. I have my husband and daughter to consider. I have to be able to buy a horse and show that works within the family budget. So, what I’m trying to say is that the Arabian horse industry needs to create incentive for people to jump back in or for new people to step in. Now, if I’m feeling intimidated, I can only imagine how self-defeating it feels for someone who is trying to get into the industry for the first time. “I agree with you that we need to build from the local shows up and not from the national arena down. And, I also agree there should only be four regional championships. Like you said, it would make a regional win more prestigious and, if your horse won, it would only make him more valuable. “Local shows should be economical within reason and simple. We have to remember that in our pursuit for
solutions we can’t make this too complicated either. I’ve checked out other breeds and disciplines, and many smaller shows charge a flat rate. They do this in several creative ways: flat rate for the entire show, or flat rate for a division, or flat rate for a day, or show in five or more classes and pay a lower fee per class, or the more horses you show (as in per owner, not per trainer) than the larger your discount off of your show fees. How many times do we buy something just because it’s on sale or discounted? How do car dealers get us in the showroom to buy a car when we already have one? Incentives! Discounts! “I also believe we need to have a select few classes that are specifically ‘sale’ classes where every horse entered in the class is for sale. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a horse in the ring and wondered if someone would sell their horse, but was too shy to ask. Again, this goes back to thinking like a non-horse owner. If I’m too shy to ask, then I can only imagine how intimidated someone would be who knows very little about this industry. What a great way to get new people excited and eager to buy if they’re watching a class and they see a horse they like and they know it’s for sale. How cool is that? Or, you can do what Saddlebred breeder Joan Hamilton does at Kalarama Farm. She puts a red dot on the horse’s show number and, when the horse shows, that tells prospective buyers the horse is available. “I will give credit “We have to to the Arabian make our events industry for trying memorable, to showcase the Arabian horse with because that is what barn presentations will keep people and barn parties. I coming back to see believe they have done a very nice these great horses.” job doing this, and I know it is a lot of work. I will also give kudos to horse shows that create a fun array of activities for their exhibitors in the form of ice cream socials, pizza parties, and dances. Horse shows often end up being the family vacation, so it’s nice to offer something that exhibitors can share with their non-horse family that tags along. Perhaps, in the process, other family members will get involved once they feel more comfortable and see how much fun we have at our shows. How about a sports lounge? Arcade? We can do several things to attract the whole family. But, we have to create M AY 2010 | 169
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these opportunities—they don’t just create themselves. So, I believe the industry is starting to grasp this concept, and I see it as a positive step in the right direction. We have to make our events memorable, because that is what will keep people coming back to see these great horses. “I also commend those who have tried to offer more prize money at the more competitive shows. I can’t tell you how many times my non-horse friends have said, ‘You spend all this money going to horse shows and you don’t win any money?’ Good point. I think we have to really focus on this and I thank the visionaries who are already addressing this subject. “Finally, we have to remember that the most important thing in our consumer-based society is ‘perceived value,’ and right now we’re not doing much as a group to bring that to the table because when we finally do (and, eventually we will), that is when you will see me and my family back in the Arabian horse business.”
“We need to set up a system that accommodates ‘the grass roots,’ as well as the people and horses who are focused on the national events.”
Renee Smith expressed the problem that many dedicated Arabian horse owners face. “I recently took my two mares to a show with a friend,” she noted, “and I spent almost $1,500 when you consider gas, entries and lodging. Even though our family has a six-figure salary, I can only afford about three shows per year.” She went on to add, “I have given my older show horse to a young family who shows at open shows because she is a good representative of our breed. I try to help people with their horses and give encouragement when I can.” I applaud that Arabians are at open shows; we need more of them there to demonstrate our horses’ abilities in so many different disciplines, and the fact that they are not necessarily “flighty.” However, it is discouraging if people show there because our shows are too expensive, or they can’t find a show that is appropriate for their horses’ abilities. Both Mickey Aboussie and Harold Fenske offered suggestions for improving our shows in ways that would encourage new people and promote sales. “About seven years ago, I (proposed an idea) about promoting the Arabian horse by creating a system of evaluation of each horse based on a sheet resembling the CARFAX system …” Mickey wrote. “It proposed a system of presenting each and every fact on the horse and assigning points to it, to give any buyer a general idea of the quality of animal they were considering to purchase.” “The Arabian horse shows are missing out on a promotion by not making a show winner’s pedigree or bloodline available during or soon after the winners of a class are announced,” Harold agreed. “Typically, half of the competitors/winners in a class have been post entered. It is frustrating to drive five hours to a show, pay five bucks for a program and then not see the bloodlines or owners for a particular entry that catches your eye during the class. The winning entries are typically announced over a poor-quality speaker system and along with the shouts and whistles of the winner’s
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ONE MAN’S OPINION
fan base, much potentially valuable information is drowned out. Then the spectator has a decision—leave his seat and chase down the handler, hope to connect after the show (and stall areas always seem so busy after), or sit and watch the next class ready to enter the arena. “In this age of computers I would think that even with post entries, the pedigrees, owners, and farm information could be created on a single page or two for each class and then distributed to those interested—hire some kids dressed in bright yellow t-shirts to walk through the stands with the handouts or maybe rent an electric display like professional sports teams. “From what I have observed over the years, interest in pedigrees can become a disease that leads to all kinds of expenditures: horse ownership, breeding fees, travel and shows. I believe that Arabian shows could augment this addiction by helping interested observers connect the winning horses in each class to the farms and breeding that produced those winning entries.” Major changes or reasonable adjustments, they are all ideas to think about. It’s all about opening the door to more people becoming more involved in Arabian horses. The Arabian owners I hear from are committed to making things better, and to me, that is heartening. So much of the time, we seem stuck in in-house fighting, when what we need to do is reason for the whole breed. If we focus on creating a broader base, the breed and everyone involved in it will benefit. Once again, thanks for your opinions and suggestions—keep them coming! I can be reached at info@battagliafarms.com. ■
Trainer, owner and breeder Bob Battaglia has been involved with Arabian horses for more than four decades. He has lost count of the number of championships and reserves he and his amateurs have won at the U.S., Canadian, and Youth Nationals; more than 10 years ago, it passed 450. He has been named APAHA Horseman of the Year four times, Saddle Seat Trainer of the Year three times, and English Trainer of the Year. In addition, he is known as an instructor with a unique ability to communicate with amateurs. Among other industry contributions, he has taught at AHA judging seminars, been a member of the AHA Judges’ Steering Committee, been Vice Chairman of the National and Regional Classes Committee, and served on AHA’s Whip Study and APAHA’s Hoof Study Committees. For USEF, he served as Chair of the Show Standards Committee. He is a Large R judge, and was a founding member and past president of APAHA. As a breeder, he has contributed an impressive array of national winning Arabians and Half-Arabians.
“It’s all about opening the door to more people becoming more involved in Arabian horses. The Arabian owners I hear from are committed to making things better, and to me, that is heartening.”
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Alexander Keene Richards
The Story Of Genius Undermined by Andrew K. Steen “We had a man in this country, the late Alexander Keene Richards, who had the means and the courage to bell the cat, but, unfortunately, the Civil War arrested his work. It robbed him of his fortune and indirectly shortened his life, and now people point to his failure as proof of the worthlessness of the Arab cross. Had Mr. Richards been blessed with the income after the Civil War which he enjoyed before the war, the results of his breeding venture would have been far different. The man who would demonstrate to the average breeder the virtues of Arab blood must have the courage to face criticism and disappointment for a series of years. A family cannot be created in five or ten summers and he who works and waits in this field therefore should have a long purse.” Thus, the August 18, 1882, edition of The Turf, Field and Farm summed up the extraordinary exploits and misfortunes of America’s first Arabian horse breeder. Although several dozen Oriental horses of uncertain origin and purity arrived to America between 1730 and 1860, Alexander Keene Richards holds the distinction of being the fi rst person from the Western Hemisphere to import purebred Arabian horses directly from the Bedouin tribes. Prior to the American Civil War, Richards was a noted breeder of American racehorses and a lifelong student of their bloodlines. Having made a profound investigation of Thoroughbred lineage, he became convinced that the race horses of his epoch had lost much of the original stamina, staying
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power and quality that earlier generations of that breed had derived from the original foundation sires. He theorized that England’s greatest horse breeding achievements were all traceable to many of the original patriarchal Oriental sires, especially the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian, that had been imported to England in 1669, 1706 and 1730 respectively. Before he had reached the age of 25, Keene Richards deduced that the only possible way to rejuvenate and improve America’s Thoroughbreds was to return to the cradle of the breed, purchase new bloodstock and then reintroduce that untainted Arabian blood into the long-established bloodlines. He resolved to journey to the deserts of the Middle East to personally select and import pure desertbred Arabians to America. Aware that the fi rst generation crosses would probably not revitalize those flawed traits, he articulated his theory in these words: “That the English horse of the present day (1857) is inferior to what he was in the days of Eclipse, no one will doubt who examines the performance of that day. … Some writers contend that degeneracy is taking place; and that the best Arab blood must be resorted to. In crossing the Arab upon our stock we must not expect the fi rst cross to equal such prodigies as Lexington and Bonnie Lassie; but this cross will not deteriorate, and fi ne bone with vigorous constitution, free from hereditary defects, will be the result.”
ALEXANDER KEENE RICHARDS
Keene Richards’ Early Years
The First Expedition To The Orient
Alexander Keene Richards was born on October 10, 1827, and came from a long line of notable ancestors. His mother, Elleonora, who died when he was 3, was a direct descendant of Richard Keene, who had immigrated to Maryland from Surry, England, in 1641. Alexander’s father, Dr. William Lewis Richards, descended from the Marquis de Calmes. He was a Huguenot who had immigrated to Virginia and died during a cholera epidemic in 1833. Consequently, his son Alexander, whose health had been poor since birth, was raised by his maternal grandparents, Dr. William Billingsley and Hanna (née Bodien Wallis) Keene, at their 600-acre Blue Grass Park estate near Georgetown, Ky.
In 1851, following his graduation from college, Alexander’s grandfather gave him the funds to travel abroad in the company of Joseph Desha Pickett, one of his former professors from Bethany College. The objective of Richards’ first of four trips overseas was to recuperate his frail health. However, instead of spending his time sightseeing, the young man dedicated his vacation to the study of as many different horse breeds as possible.
As a young man, Alexander attended Bethany College in West Virginia and studied for a full term in Alexander Campbell’s bible classes. The famous preacher was the author of more than 60 religious books and the founder of the Disciples of Christ denomination. His followers were generally known as “Campbellites.”
The two men fi rst sailed to England, where no cast of horses escaped Richards’ scrutiny, including the heavy draft horses used by the London breweries. While there, he and Pickett attended the Epsom Derby and studied the horses at most of the leading Thoroughbred farms. At length, they crossed the English Channel and visited several important equine production centers in Normandy before proceeding to Paris and thence to Spain.
An 1857 Edward Troye charcoal sketch of Alexander Keene Richards, reproduced by Linda White.
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An 1854 Edward Troye painting of Alexander Keene Richards with the stallion Mokhladi.
The Royal Breeding Farm Of Aranjuez Since there were only a few railroads in operation on the Continent at that time, during most of their journey from Paris to the Spanish capital, they rode in a series of uncomfortable overland stagecoaches. In Madrid, Richards and Professor Pickett most likely met with General José Maria Marchesi, the Director of the Reales Caballerizas (royal stables), in order to obtain permission to visit the royal breeding farm, which was some 40 miles to the south, adjacent to the summer palace at Aranjuez. The farm, which was founded by the Catholic monarchs Isabel I and Fernando, had been in almost continuous operation since the early 15th century. In 1851, it
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had 457 broodmares and bred Andalusian, English Thoroughbreds, coach horses and mules. Although there were 1,132 equines of all breeds and ages, Richards undoubtedly was most interested in inspecting the 40 desertbred Arabians that had arrived in Madrid less than a year earlier. The famous Greek horse dealer Nicolás Gliocho had acquired 26 stallions, 12 mares and three foals directly from Baghdad and the Nejd Desert on behalf of Fernando Muñoz, the 1st Duke of Risanares, and his stepdaughter Queen Isabel II. According to all accounts, Richards “much admired” the so-called “Isabelina Arabians.” It is a foregone conclusion that he and Pickett probably also visited
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Pedro Colon de Toledo, the 13th Duke of Veragua, at his nearby Valjuanete farm, because at that time, several of the desertbred sires were servicing his private herd (the nation’s largest) of more than 400 Spanish mares.
The Barb Horses Of North Africa Traveling through Andalucía, the two men arrived at Gibraltar then crossed the Straits of Hercules. In the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Richards had the opportunity to test the resilience of the Barb horses bred by the Berber tribes, as the country had few roads and almost no wheeled vehicles. Using French passports obtained in Paris, Richards and the professor crossed into Algeria and traversed the entire northern periphery of the Sahara Desert. Along the way, they inspected the different breeding centers operated by the French government of occupation. He also inspected the Barb horses bred by the native chieftains, who for more than 10 years had fought alongside Abd-el-Kader (1808-1883). The nearlegendary rebel leader and his fearless warriors had held the French at bay until Abd-el-Kader was finally captured and sent as a prisoner to Paris. He was later exiled with his bodyguard to Damascus, Syria. After arriving in Tunis, Richards searched in vain for any traces of the Numidian horses that Hannibal had made famous in his attempted conquest of Rome. From a coastal port, Richards and Professor Pickett took a small sailing craft to the island of Malta and from there, by steamship, they sailed to Alexandria, Egypt.
The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death In Egypt, Richards and Pickett viewed the Dongola horses, then joined a small caravan which took them across the Sinai Desert and into the hazardous Wadi Musa (“wadi” being the Arab word for a dry river bed). At length, they arrived at the ruins of Petra, the spectacular ancient Nabateau capital that the Swiss explorer John Lewis Burckhardt had discovered in 1812.
Most accounts incorrectly credit him as “crossing into Arabia Petra by an entirely new route,” and erroneously state that “Richards was with the first party of Europeans that crossed directly through the Desert of Paran to the ruins of Petra.” In fact, the Viscount Castlereagh and his party made a very similar journey from Cairo to Damascus with a stop at the famous ruins in May of 1847. Because of the outlaws and brigands, Castlereagh had likened the Wadi Musa to the Biblical “Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Moreover, Austen Henry Layard had risked his life by traveling through the notoriously dangerous Wadi Musa region to Petra in January of 1840. Nevertheless, Keene Richards’ expedition into those bandit-infested wastelands demonstrates his courage and determination to obtain the finest purebred Arabians at any cost.
Sheikh Medjuel El Mezrab And Palmyra Continuing thru Hebron and Jerusalem, Richards and Professor Pickett arrived in Damascus. Despite stern warnings from American and English missionaries and consular officials, Richards hired Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab to escort him on a hazardous horse buying expedition deep into the desert and all the way to the ruins of Queen Zenobia’s magnificent lost city of Palmyra. Medjuel was one of the most remarkable and famous Bedouin sheikhs ever associated with the Arabian horse. Only two years after guiding Keene Richards to Palmyra, he married Lady Jane (Digby) Ellenborough and played an important part in her highly-adventurous saga. Some 27 years later, Medjuel would also provide Lady Anne Blunt with much of the information about the Bedouin tribes and their horses, which she included in her important books about the breed. Keene Richards, like Homer Davenport 55 years later, had friends in high places. Thanks to the intervention of President Franklin Pierce, Sultan Abdülmecid granted an Irad (imperial edict) to
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One of five Arabian stallions imported direct from the desert, between 1852 and 1857, by Alexander Keene Richards. The men in the painting are, left to right: General Richard Taylor, the son of President Zachary Taylor; Capt. Cuthbert Slocomb; and Alexander Keene Richard’s groom, (believed to be) the Syrian Yusef Bedra.
export his two stallions and a mare that he had purchased directly from the Bedouins (thereby shattering the myth that mares could not be exported from the Ottoman Empire). Massoud, a chestnut foaled 1844, had come from the Anazeh tribe and Mokhladi, a grey who was the same age, came from the Tarabine tribe, which dwelt most of each year in the Wadi Musa region near Petra. The grey mare Sadah was also acquired from the Anazeh and considered the best of the three horses. These were shipped under the care of a Syrian groom named Yusef Bedra. Richards regarded Yusef Bedra highly and wrote: “This man knew more about the horse of the desert than anyone I had met in the East.” Meanwhile the two Americans continued their journey to other European breeding centers in Austria, Prussia and Russia, where Richards paid particular attention to the renowned Orloff Trotter horses that he saw. Yusef Bedra arrived with the horses in August of 1853. In the same year, Keene Richards also bought one of the great race mares of the 19th century from the executor of James Jackson’s Forks of Cypress farm of Florence, Ala. Peytona (Glencoe x Giantess, by Leviathan) was bred to Massoud in 1854 and 1856. During the breeding seasons of 1855 and 1859, she was serviced by Mokhladi. Then, in 1858, Richards bred her to Fysaul, a stallion from his second importation. Massoud, who died of lung fever on April 23, 1859, was also bred to Mary Case and Eagle, whereas Mokhladi was bred to Blanche and Eagletta. Each of these Thoroughbred mares and their Anglo-Arab produce earned a place in the annals of American horse racing history, for in those days Oriental and part-bred horses were not excluded from the American Stud Book.
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New Orleans And Revolutionary Ideas In April of 1855, Keene Richards’ met with seven of Americas’ most prominent Thoroughbred breeders at the Metairie Course in New Orleans to solicit their support for his planned importation. Unfortunately, his radical proposal was not embraced by his fellow Thoroughbred breeders, with the exception of Dr. George A. Feris of Richmond, Texas, who affi rmed, “All present, except Richards and myself, vigorously opposed the fresh importations of Arabians. We met this by showing that all (previous) importations of modern date were mere commercial speculations and managed by unscrupulous men.” Richards voiced his opinion as to why the English had failed in previous attempts to reintroduce Arabian blood into their established bloodlines. “For years, the English have tried the modern Arab cross, but with not much success. After having examined the Arabs imported to England, as well as those on the continent, the questions arose in my mind—has the failure been owing to a degeneracy of the Arab, or has it been because so few pure Arabs have been imported. In investigating the character of modern importations, I found that most of them had been purchased on the coast of Syria or Egypt, and some
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from India—besides few, if any, of the modern importations have been well tested, on account of the strong prejudice existing in England against the Arab. This prejudice is founded upon the fact of the failure of the Arab cross for more than fifty years: and even in the time of the three great progenitors of the English horse, hundreds of so-called Arabs were imported which were worthless. With these facts before me, I determined to import the best Arabs who could be found in the East, and cross them with our best mares. … The result was equal to my expectations, and I commenced preparing to make another trip to the East, determined to spare no trouble or expense in procuring the best blood, as well as the finest formed horses of the desert.”
Artistic Company Richards probably had little difficulty convincing his cousin Morris H. Keene (who apparently acted as resident manager of his grandfather’s Transylvania Plantation) to join his second expedition. However, persuading Edward Troye to give up his professorship at Spring Hill College and to leave his wife and 11-year-old daughter must have been considerably more difficult. In those days, the art and science of outdoor photography did not exist. Satisfactory results were obtainable only in a studio. Richards asked Troye to accompany him on his 14-month journey in order to obtain sketches of Arabian horses executed on the spot and finished paintings later. (In 1877, for much the same motives, Polish Arabian horse breeder Wladyslaw Branicki traveled throughout the Near East searching for quality bloodstock in the company of Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, an artist who painted the horses and historic sites that they had seen.) Richards had another motive for asking the artist to join the expedition; thanks to Troye’s knowledge of equine anatomy, he was considered a top judge of Thoroughbred racing stock and his expert advice could only add to the probabilities of a successful outcome. Undoubtedly, Richards also agreed to
pay the living expenses of Mrs. Troye and their daughter, Anna, for the duration of the expedition to Europe and the Middle East. However, what clinched the deal was probably the fact that Edward Troye, like Keene Richards, was devoutly religious. The opportunity to see the Holy Land and paint scenes of Biblical history probably was an irresistible temptation. Shortly thereafter on June 15, 1855, Troye went to Kentucky, where he painted the racehorse Lexington, fresh from his defeat of Lecomte and from setting a new world record for four miles at New Orleans. Then, Troye sailed alone to England, where he executed a portrait of that country’s prime sire West Australian, who had won the 1853 Epsom Derby. Alexander Keene Richards, his cousin Morris Keene and Yusef Bedra sailed to England on a different ship.
Keene Richards’ Second Expedition To Syria Many of the details about Richards’ second expedition were derived from Edward Troye’s unpublished diary, part of which survives. After spending July in England, the four men traveled to France, which at the time was ruled by Emperor Napoleon III and allied with England and Turkey in the bloody Crimean War against Russia. While in Paris, Richards and his entourage not only toured the Louvre Museum and other famous sites, but also visited many of the nation’s important breeding farms. Then they headed south through the cathedral cities of France (Troye particularly described the cathedral of Rouen). By way of Lyon, the men arrived at the Mediterranean port of Marseilles, where they caught one of Messageries Maritimes Lines steamships that sailed to Constantinople every 10 days. In his diary, Troye recorded his delight at entering the Straits of the Dardanelles, sailing on the Bosphorus and viewing the Golden Horn from the deck of the ship. He devoted many pages to a description of Constantinople and the battlefields of the Crimean
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An Edward Troye painting depicting various elements of farming in Syria (June, 1856).
War, including Sevastopol, which had been evacuated by Russian armies only 12 days before their arrival. An extract from a long letter written by Henry Wood, the U. S. Consul at Beirut, which was published in the July 21, 1855, New York Journal of Commerce disclosed more details about the expedition: “In Constantinople Richards found an Arab mare of pure blood, that was attested under the seal of the American Vice-Consul of Aleppo; for the Arabs keep the genealogies of their horses almost as religiously as the Jews do of their families. The owner had paid $1000 for the animal and our American did not hesitate to pay whatever was asked, so struck was he with the animal’s graceful form and marks of fleetness. I must confess my ignorance of horses and horsemanship, but when I cast my eyes upon this child of the desert, her thin mane lying upon
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her neck like ringlets of silk, her clean limbs made up of nothing but bone and sinew, her wide nostrils indicating the fires which slept within, while her soft, clear and benignant eyes beaming with an intelligence and gentleness almost human, I could not fail to unite in my friends’ admiration. A gazelle itself seemed hardly lighter or swifter; for eighty miles a day, it could travel and follow it. A little ‘carnal pride’ I fear was mingled with the Louisianan’s equine esthetics; and no wonder, since Princes might covet his acquisition.” Lulie, the grey mare, was inscribed in the American Stud Book as “bred by the Anayza Arabs of the pure Koheyl Race.” From Constantinople Keene Richards, his companions, and the mare Lulie embarked by steamer to Beirut and arrived on October 1. Two days later their interpreter and groom Yusef Bedra suddenly died. Henry Wood recorded, “It is honorable to the character of our
The Edward Troye painting, “The Bazaar In Damascus.”
countryman that he (Richards) freely paid all the funeral charges of his erratic guide and companion, and even erected a handsome and expensive monument over the remains in the Maronite churchyard.” Following the funeral and a brief excursion to the fabulous ruins of Baalbek, Richards and his remaining two companions traveled to Damascus, where they rented a house. Because of Yusef ’s death,
Edward Troye and Morris Keene started taking Arabic lessons in order to communicate better with the various Bedouin sheikhs from whom they hoped to buy horses. Troye set up a studio and started working on one of his five so-called ‘Oriental paintings,’ which he planned to exhibit in America. One of these works, depicted the grey mare Lulie ridden by an Albanian officer, was called “The Bazaar in Damascus.”
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The Sea of Galilee as painted by Edward Troye.
The Dead Sea And The Holy Land On February 8, 1856, Toyre described this segment of the trip in detail. “We had been at some trouble to procure a Maker (sic Mucaro), that is a muleteer who makes it his business to carry our things at so much a day. We required 4 mules to carry our baggage. We had a horse a piece and one for our servant. Yuseph (the Dragoman) who has been our factotum, acting as our steward, purchased everything we needed. He was our interpreter, cook, bottle washer and
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scullion, in fact, he fi lled the variety of these several offices, but nothing could exceed his expertise in the department of cooking. We had a very large tent which required two mules to carry, made of goat’s hair, quite water proofed and spacious enough to accommodate ten persons.” The mule caravan proceeded by way of Mt. Hermon, Caesarea, Capernaum, and the Sea of Galilee (where Troye painted another landscape for his planned exposition), and arrived in Jerusalem 13 days later.
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“a melancholy sheet of water with the mountains of Moab as a background.” They then returned to Jerusalem, where they stayed for a week before returning by way of Beirut to Damascus, arriving there on April 3, 1856.
The Ford of Beth-Abram as depicted by Edward Troye.
Five months later, on July 31, 1856, Keene Richards wrote a letter describing his journey, using his pen name “Hadjee,” that was published in Porter’s Spirit of the Times (a magazine that often carried news about horses and the turf). “We have traveled through every part of Palestine and Western Syria without meeting a single horse that would do to import. Having stayed a few months in Damascus to gain some knowledge of the Arabic of the Bedouin Tribes, etc., we launched out (April) into those wild tribes East and South of Damascus, dressed as Bedouin Sheiks and well armed with Colt’s revolvers and Minie rifles. Mr. Troye was very hard to please, for in the course of his profession, you know, he has much to do with the horse, and is a thorough judge. We would sometimes see an animal that looked perfect, but something would be wrong about his pedigree, and however given a Bedouin may generally be to lying, he will always speak the truth about a horse. An oath, too, is always required by the buyer from the owner and from the Sheikh of the tribe.
Worth Its Weight In Gold
At that time of the year, the whole country was covered in knee-high grass, which reminded the Americans of Kentucky. The party continued south through the valley of the Jordan, where Toyre painted a scene at the Ford of Beth-Abram, the site at which according to tradition, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. On March 5, they reached the Dead Sea and Toyre spent 15 days painting what he considered his landscape masterpiece. Troye described the panorama as being,
In the same letter Richards explained his disappointment in not finding as many horses as he had hoped to encounter and his difficulty in dealing with some of the Arab horse breeders. “The sum demanded for a fine mare is something incredible to those unaccustomed to the Bedouin’s estimation of an extraordinary animal. I saw a mare of the most symmetric form and the purest blood. I wished to purchase her. A Bedouin never fi xes a price, but leaves you to bid until he is satisfied with the offer. I commenced bidding, and at last went to what considered a very extravagant price; but still the savage merely shook his head and showed his teeth. Then I asked him if he wouldn’t sell her if I doubled my offer. He threw out his arms, and pointing towards her, (then) asked me if I could load her with
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The Edward Troye painting of the Syrian groom Yusef Bedra with the stallion Massoud.
gold. I told him that was beyond my means. ‘Well,’ said he, ‘if you could, the gold would still be yours, the mare mine.’ Such is the Bedouin’s appreciation of his horse. And yet that mare stood chained in front of the tent, exposed to cold nights and rains, or ready at any time for a run of twenty miles over the burning sands of the desert.” Nevertheless, Keene Richards’ determination to fi nd the right horses eventually paid off. He described the horses that comprised his second importation in these words.
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“We at last selected two stallions and a yearling colt. One of the stallions and the colt are Nejd-bred, of the most perfect forms and purest pedigrees, the former (Hamdan) a dark grey being a Koheylan, the latter (Fysaul) a rich chestnut, and three years old of the same race. The other stallion (Sacklowie) is a rich bay, nearly four years old, bred near Palmyra, of the Sacklowie race. The horse Mr. Troye considers the most perfect animal he ever saw. He is very much like the Darley Arabian according to plates we have seen and resembles West Australian, but is a much more blood-like (spirited and/or refined) horse.”
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A Complicated And Costly Transit Richards and Morris Keene left Troye in Damascus to fi nish his artworks. Later the gifted artist traveled on his own to Italy, England and Belgium to visit members of his far-flung family, and eventually returned to America. The horses of the second importation arrived in Beirut, where Henry Wood noted that they “embarked at this port on board an English Screw Steamer to Liverpool … the cost of transport for each animal was $200, including feed from here to Liverpool (the cost of transport) will be more than doubled by the passage to New York and New Orleans.” More details about the complicated importation were provided in Keene Richards’ letter of July 31, which divulged that the horses were to be shipped from Liverpool on board the steamship Sultan. Henry Woods recorded: “The horses arrived safe at Liverpool on the sixteenth of July and left there on the twenty-eight of August for New Orleans. They should be at Georgetown, Kentucky, in the spring of 1857.” In Morris Keene’s letter of November 22, 1856, which was published in the Spirit of the Times, additional information was brought to light. “You will be pleased to know that Mr. A. Keene Richards’ second importation of Arabians arrived safely to Mobile, after a voyage of seventy-one days from Liverpool. They were accompanied by two dromedaries (male and female), two couples of English foxhounds, and an Arabian greyhound bitch, all in the care of a Dongolese groom, (who is) a cross between a Nubian and an Egyptian. Numbers of people have been to visit Garrett’s stables where they are to be seen … You may desire to know to which use the dromedaries are to be put, and be surprised when I inform you, only for the milk of the female to be supplied to the foals of the Arabian mares as is done in ‘Araby the blest.’”
Richards also imported a grey Barb mare named Zareefa, foaled 1853, from the Sahara Desert, who along with the three stallions was registered in Vol. 1 of the American Stud Book. Upon his return to America, Keene Richards published an eight-page pamphlet titled “The Arab Horses, Mokhladi, Massoud and Sacklowie,” which explained his motives for bringing Arabian horses directly from the Bedouin tribes of the Syrian desert to America: “Having inherited a love and admiration for the horse, and a desire to possess the highest bred and noblest type of his race, I determined to examine for myself the most authentic history of the horse, and without prejudice, select from stock I preferred— whether it might be at home or abroad—from the aristocratic paddocks of England, the Mountains of Morocco, the sandy plains of the Sahara, or the rocky deserts of Arabia.”
Transylvania In The Land Of Cotton Following Dr. Billingsley’s death in 1857, young Alexander inherited not only Blue Grass Park, but also his grandfather’s 1,036 acre Transylvania Plantation in Carrol Parish, La., which reportedly produced the astronomical annual income for those times of a quarter of a million dollars. Indeed, by most accounts, Keene Richards became “the state’s wealthiest resident and foremost property owner.”
Prize Money And Trophies In the March 14, 1857, edition of Spirit of the Times, Richards offered his stallions at stud for a fee of $100. As an added inducement, he offered enticing cash prizes and silver trophies valued from $50 to $500 for the get of any of his stallions that raced at the Lexington or Louisville tracks, in two mile heats the year they reached age 3, subject to the rules of the Jockey Club. His own stock was excluded from any of the prizes. In the same publication, William Williams of Tennessee, the eminent bloodstock authority of the times, rallied behind Richards’ controversial
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scheme and proclaimed, “The Arabians with us have not heretofore had a fair trial. Mr. Keene Richards purposes that his importations, made at great expense of time and money, shall have a fair chance for distinction; and we think his enterprise should have (our) co-operation, by sending some of our best mares to Mokhladi, Massoud, and Sacklowie.”
America’s First Purebreds William’s recommendation may have influenced the Hon. Balie Peyton to breed his famous mare Noty Price to Sacklowie in the spring of 1858. Of all of Richards’ stallions, Fysaul proved to be the most influential. Apart from the Thoroughbred mares Eagletta, Argentile, Blanche, Fysaul sired foals out of the imported Arabian mare Sadah, who produced the grey fi lly Haik in 1861. When bred to the Barb mare Zareefa, he sired a bay colt named Bazaar in 1861 and Benica, a bay fi lly, in 1862. Lulie produced two purebred fi llies, Kaffeah in 1861 and Maha in 1866, who upon maturing were bred back to their sire Fysaul. Therefore, Keene Richards holds the distinction of breeding the first purebred Arabians to foal on American soil.
The Winds Of Civil War During the American Civil War, Richards was an active Southern sympathizer and an ardent secessionist. When the conflict began, Richards evacuated most of his Arabian and Thoroughbred stock to Wellswood, a Louisiana plantation that was owned by his friend General Thomas Jefferson Wells. The estate served as a refuge for several breeders’ valuable horses because it was believed that they would be safe from confiscation by Confederate guerrillas
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and the encroaching Federal forces. In his book The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America, historian John Hervey wrote that Keene Richards outfitted a company of Confederate cavalry, all of whom rode Thoroughbreds, and that he “stayed in Georgetown to the last moment that his personal safety would permit.”
Thunderbolt Morgan Keene Richards also provided Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864) with a son of Glencoe I (a famous Thoroughbred sire of that era), who was considered one of his finest get and supplied other quality mounts for his men. Morgan is best known for leading 2,460 troops on a lightning raid across Union lines into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in June of 1863. During the 46 days of his daring invasion, his cavalry rode over 1,000 miles behind enemy lines, penetrating further north than any Confederate soldiers during the entire American Civil War. In the process, Morgan and his men captured 6,000 Union troops and militiamen, destroyed 34 bridges and disrupted the railroads at more than 60 places. Aside from stealing 2,500 horses, Morgan’s raiders diverted tens of thousands of union militiamen from other duties. The lightning speed of his cavalry earned Morgan the nickname “Thunderbolt.”
A portrait of Confederate General John Hunt “Thunderbolt” Morgan.
Morgan’s attack spread terror and fear throughout a large part of the Union states. Since the timing of his raid coincided with other incursions towards Pittsburg by John D. Imboden’s cavalry, many assumed that Morgan’s raid was part of a synchronized offensive to jeopardize commerce on the
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Ohio River and expand the war far into the North. Few were aware that Morgan’s offensive had been in violation of orders not to cross into Ohio, and that his audacious foray was not part of Robert E. Lee’s advance into Pennsylvania and the fateful Battle of Gettysburg. Morgan was killed at the age of 39 while attempting to escape capture on September 4, 1864, during a surprise Union raid on Greenville, Tennessee.
The Battle Of Shiloh And Gen. Breckenridge’s Escape John C. Breckenridge (1821-1875) had defended the southern cause in the U.S. Senate so vehemently that he was expelled from that high office and later commissioned with the rank of major general in the Confederate Army. Alexander Keene Richards joined his staff with the rank of major and took part in the momentous Battle of Shiloh. Following the Union onslaught, Breckenridge and his 12,000 troops were delegated the responsibility of rear guards to protect the Confederate army as it retreated through a blinding storm of rain and sleet at the cost of some 3,000 lives. Spencer Borden’s 1906 book The Arab Horse provides a excellent account of Keene Richards and his Arab-bred horses: “It is told that after the battle of Pittsburgh Landing (Shiloh) the Confederate General, Breckenridge, went to Georgetown, Ky., to Mr. Keene Richards, begging conveyance to Virginia as quickly as possible, as the Federal troops were pursuing him. Richards had nothing to offer but a pair of three-year-old half-Arab fi llies. These he hitched to a buckboard and started out. The Federals pursued on Thoroughbred horses, but though they gained for a while, their bolt was soon shot and they had to draw rein. The Arab fi llies never stopped until they had Breckenridge safely within Confederate lines.” Although defeated at Baton Rouge in August, 1862, Breckenridge defeated Union General Siegel
near Newmarket on May 13, 1864, and later joined Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. Towards the end of the great confl ict, Breckenridge served as Secretary of War from January 1865 until the South surrendered. Then he fled Richmond with Confederate President Jefferson Davis and other government officials, and ended up in Cuba. Later, he sailed to Europe and did not return to America until 1868. Breckenridge died at Lexington, Kentucky on May 17, 1875.
Reconstruction Because of the war and Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation, which freed the slaves, Richards, like thousands of other southerners, found that his vast cane and cotton plantation became worthless. He was declared bankrupt in Federal Court in Winchester, Ky., in 1868. Harvey C. Graves and James Grinstead, two of his Unionist friends, bought back Blue Grass Park and allowed Richards to live there. Richards hired two of his former slaves, named Ansel and John, to help rebuild his racing stable. According to A Kingdom for the Horse, by William Preston Mangum, Richards “reestablished his magnificent stable of racing stock after having had to disperse his stock during the war.” Keene Richards married twice. In 1857, he wed Sallie Pope, who died without bearing any children. After the war, in 1868, he married Mary Editha Wynn of Louisiana. His three daughters, Elleonora, Emily, and Carolyn, were from that union. On August 25, 1865, Richards was granted executive clemency by President Andrew Johnson. Nevertheless, the remainder of his life was plagued with ill-fortune. On April 19, 1875, a fire destroyed his Blue Grass Park mansion, but opportunely, not everything was lost. The Georgetown newspaper printed Richards’ letter thanking his “neighbors and friends, one and all who with promptness and energy came to my assistance and secured … while the house was burning, the valuable pictures, library and furniture.”
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Keene Richards’ Demise
importer that followed in his wake. Although Wilfrid and Lady Anne Blunt are often credited with the idea of enhancing the qualities and speed of the English Thoroughbred by reintroducing Arabian blood into their nation’s established bloodlines, Keene Richards preceded them by more some 25 years.
Richards resided at Blue Grass Park until his death due to pneumonia. An extract from his obituary, found in the archives of the Louisville Public Library, dated March 26, 1881, states: “The community was shocked to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Mr. Alexander Keene Richards which took place Fortunately, not all accounts at Blue Grass Park, near about his trail blazing Georgetown, Kentucky, endeavors are so negative. on Saturday March 19, in Among those who praised the 54th year of his life. A his efforts was Homer man of an amiable, kind Davenport, who wrote to and charitable disposition, Randolph Huntington in he was extremely liberal. 1906 and voiced his opinion With a good education that “Keene Richards has and fine natural talents, he never received justice: instead combined a speculative and of his plan being a failure, theoretical temperament; the very first colts that he which lead him into many had born in Kentucky, won costly experiments, notably every time they were shown, with Arabian horses. A against all competitors.” connoisseur in art, he spent large sums for paintings, Huntington, America’s first many of which still adorn Arabian horse authority, his house. … He was a defended Keene Richards’ devoted lover of the blood innovative breeding A rare stud bill of descendants from horse and the turf and experiment and declared, “It Alexander Keene Richards’ Arabians. while no one ever enjoyed takes twenty years to build racing with more relish that a foundation, then such Col. Richards, during his long and eventful career fi xed type will reproduce itself; will increase in size, through prosperity and misfortune, he never used substance and mentality by never introducing outside an oath [swore] nor made a bet of any description blood; always breeding within the family.” in his life. … He was buried on Sunday last in the beautiful cemetery at Georgetown, opposite to the The old adage that “no man is a prophet in his old homestead, within hearing of the music of the own land” seems to apply twice over to Alexander horses’ feet as they spin around the old course at Blue Keene Richards. He not only had the courage and Grass Park.” determination to ignore the conventional wisdom of his
Legacy Of A Trailblazer Frequently written accounts about Keene Richards’ Arabians dwell upon his alleged “failure to improve the speed of the American Thoroughbred,” which seems unfortunate, because his singular exploits had a positive effect upon that and other American breeds and paved the way for every Arabian horse
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times, but also placed his life in jeopardy by traveling to desolate desert regions that were notoriously lawless, to seek-out the finest Arabian horse breeding stock that money could buy. Although fate deprived him of the opportunity to prove his theory and fulfill his dream, every Arabian horse enthusiast owes Keene Richards a debt of gratitude. He was the first to foment the breed in the Western Hemisphere and the one who showed all of us the way. ■
ALEXANDER KEENE RICHARDS
EDWARD TROYE Edward Troye was born Edouard de Troy, on July 12, 1808, near (Calvinist) Lausanne, Switzerland. His Protestant grandfather was a political exile from France. His father was an artist of considerable renowned, one of his works ‘The Plague of Marseilles’ hung in the Louvre. Following the death of Edouard’s mother, his family moved to London where all of his siblings were educated in the fine arts. His brother Charles became established in Antwerp as a painter of historical subjects. One of his sisters Marie (Th irion) was a painter of medallions and lived in Verona, Italy. Whereas a second sister, Esperance (Paligi), was a linguist and musician who became the first woman admitted to the Paris Conservatory of Music. In England, Edouard anglicized his name to Edward and studied art at fashionable Soho Square, where he decided to specialize as an animal painter, adapting his styles along the same lines as England’s most renowned equestrian artists John Nott Sartorius (1759-1828) and George Stubbs (1724-1806). When about 20-years-old, Troye departed England for Jamaica where he became the
manager of a sugar plantation and painted only as a diversion, until 1831 when health began failing him. He then embarked for Philadelphia where he quickly became known in the art community and amidst the leading horsemen on the East Coast. In 1837, Troye traveled to Kentucky, which was becoming the national center for horse racing and Thoroughbred breeding. In 1839, he married Cornelia Ann Vandegraff, who like himself was a devout Presbyterian. During the summer of 1854, Troye painted two of his fi nest portraits of Keene Richards’ Arabians. The fi rst of Mokhladi depicts Richards standing in Bedouin costume, complete with lance in his left hand. The stallion is less powerfully built over the loins, but has more prominent withers than most modern-day Arabians. The second painting of the chestnut Massoud, more closely resembles the modern type Arabian. The Syrian groom Yusef Bedra is depicted in the latter painting near the Arab tent. By all accounts, Keene Richards was delighted with Troye’s paintings. In all, Troye executed 27 artworks for Richards, 10 of which were of his Arabian horses.
Throughout the ensuing three decades, Troye painted most of the great American racehorses and trotters, in addition to other farm animals. Over 300 of his paintings, including a few portraits of human beings, survive today. He was also an expert on racing stock and authored The Race Horse In America, which was published in 1867. Troye died suddenly on July 25, 1874, while visiting Richards at Blue Grass Park. He was buried in Georgetown Cemetery. His friend and patron Alexander Keene Richards designed his gravestone in the form of an eight-foot tall sculpture of a Greek muse.
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In Memoriam:
Claude Pacheco, d.v.m. (1945 – 2010) by Linda White
Claude Pacheco, D.V.M., departed this earth on April 6, 2010. Talented equine reproductive specialist and dear friend to many, Pacheco was an Arabian horse owner for nearly 30 years. During those years he bred and raised many halter and performance champions and national winners. His stallions included What The Huck and LV Cartel. (The “LV” stands for Pacheco’s Liberty Valley Arabians.) The 2009 Canadian National Western Pleasure Champion Rodan Ltd., with trainer Brett Becker, is (was) co-owned with James Vosburgh. “Rodan Ltd. brought him lots of joy,” offers his friend and client Patricia Rose. She and her husband, Dave Walters, bought their farm from Pacheco, “… and it was our good fortune that his friendship came with the farm. He loved it here, and continued to spend a lot of time with us. He did much of our breeding work for years, and my husband’s endurance gelding is by Claude’s stallion, What The Huck. His passing will leave a big hole in our lives, but his spirit will always be here, with us.” Pacheco initially bought What The Huck (Huckleberry Bey x La Bey, by Bey Shah) at 3, in 1994. Now 19, the handsome bay stallion is living out his last years in Morgan Mill, Texas, with Tessa Hege, Pacheco’s friend of more than 30 years. “Claude and I bred 32 horses together,” she tells us. “When I look out my window, I can see my four LV Cartel daughters, my three-quarter sister to Rodan Ltd., three Rodan Ltd. babies, and a mare in foal to What The Huck. “Claude was involved in so many horse breedings, sales and purchases for which he never got credit. For example, in 1998, he found RD Bey Shahmpane (Bey Shah x Bey Shahdar, by Bey Shah) at her breeders’ place. He strongly suggested to two friends that they buy her to breed to Padrons Psyche. The friends did both, and the result was 2005 U.S. National Champion Senior Stallion Enzo.” The gorgeous chestnut stallion was also named 2003 Scottsdale Champion and 2003 U.S. National Reserve Champion Junior Stallion. Earlier, he was named the 2000 U.S. National Champion Breeders’ Sweepstakes Yearling Colt. “Claude was no businessman, but he had a great eye for a good horse, and would literally dream about possible breeding combinations,” Hege continues. “When I moved from California to Texas, he drove over and helped me wrap legs and load 28 horses, then came down here and helped me get everybody settled. He could be exasperating at times, but I have never had a better friend.” 188 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
CLAUDE PACHECO
Claude Pacheco
“Claude was as generous with his time, as he was with his knowledge,” says friend and client Kathryn Wickstrom. “The same day I had a mare reject a newborn filly, Claude had a mare that lost her foal. He brought his mare to our farm, and stayed with us for four days. He took turns bottle-feeding our filly around the clock, until his mare bonded with her. His parents, Zack and Rebecca Pacheco, moved from Colorado Springs to the Sacramento, Calif., area before Claude, youngest of their five children, was born. He was born December 17, 1945, attended Sacramento’s Catholic schools through high school, followed by two years at a local junior college. He finished his undergraduate degree in Massachusetts, then returned to northern California and earned his D.V.M. at UC Davis. He graduated from vet school in 1975. Pacheco died at Sutter Medical Center on April 6, 2010. At the time of his death, he was living with his nephew, James Vaughn, and Vaughn’s young family in Grass Valley, Calif. Since the 64-year-old veterinarian’s passing, Vaughn and friend Pat Rose have heard from dozens of Arabian horse lovers. “The Arabian horse community has been wonderful!” marvels Vaughn. “Their common theme was my uncle’s kindness and his willingness to help anyone who needed him. When he had to breed a mare in the wee hours, he would show up at midnight, always cheerful. He loved horses and was happy to share his experience and expertise with others. He knew Arabian pedigrees, and remembered hundreds of horses’ performance and halter wins.” Equine marketing specialist Riyan Rivero’s experiences began with Pacheco when she was a young teen. “Claude was more than an amazing breeder and friend over the years,” she notes. “He always was willing to do anything for anyone. I know people often say that about the departed, but in his case, it really was true. He always made us laugh, and he was passionate about his horses. His love and devotion to his Padrons Psyche son, Rodan Ltd., were inspiring. Every time Rodan Ltd. or one of his foals showed, Claude was like a soccer dad, on the sidelines, overjoyed to see his kids performing. He will be greatly missed.” “He had the wisdom of a trained vet with four decades of experience,” adds Wickstrom, “but he had the unfiltered joy of a young man following his dream. And what a dream it was!” ■ M AY 2010 | 189
Trainer’s Tip Thiago Sobral—Making A National Champion Reiner by Kellie Carr
When it comes to winning national championship titles, trainer Thiago Sobral of Scottsdale, Ariz., is becoming an old pro. After taking home the U.S. National Championship in Reining in 2008 on TA Khalil, he turned around and won again in 2009 on Santanas Angelo. Winning one event was an honor, but winning back-toback titles is an unusually difficult accomplishment. So, what is Sobral’s secret to success? The secret is a whole lot of teamwork and paying close attention to what the horses need. Sobral works closely with veterinarian Dr. Greg Byrne and farrier April Canavan-Simmons to create a preventative-care program that keeps his horses healthy and working well. All three of the professionals also keep one thing as top priority—listening to the horse.
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Be Proactive Sobral takes a very proactive approach to training reining futurity prospects, first by taking precautions while starting them, and throughout the training process, paying special attention to the horse’s mental health. “We like to start our horses between 2 and 3 years old, depending on the horse’s physical and mental state,” Sobral explains. “At age 2, we evaluate and determine if they are ready to be started, and each horse is different. We set a program based on each one’s physical and mental shape. Some horses need more time to mature both physically and mentally, and we have to realize that not every horse is ready for the futurities, either. Those that aren’t, we spend more time on, and they make great open, amateur and youth horses.”
Trainer’s Tip Taking his time, Sobral says, is key to creating a successful Arabian reining futurity horse. Sometimes, that means taking a break from training and letting the horse go at its own pace. “I try to get them really quiet and really broke,” he says. “I spend a lot of time hauling them, getting them used to being on the road, and a lot of time at home working on the mechanics of it. I spend a lot of time just teaching them how to move their bodies, and getting their bodies underneath them. I want them really comfortable doing what they’re doing. “Both times when I showed my horses at U.S. Nationals, I knew exactly how much to ask for in the circles, stops, etc. It is a combination of spending time to get the foundation going well and knowing your horse. You have to know their limitations as well as their strengths.” Mentally Prepared Getting the Arabian reining horse mentally prepared is just as important as getting it physically able to do the reining maneuvers. Arabians, Sobral points out, are very smart, but can also be excitable. “I spend a lot of time getting them mentally prepared. Sometimes they start to feel like they’re getting ahead of me, but I make them back off, be quiet, and just enjoy the experience.”
Dr. Byrne agrees wholeheartedly with Sobral’s training methods. “It’s for their mental status more than anything,” he says. “We are trying to train them and show them, but also trying to preserve them so that they become good 10-year-old horses and (are) not used up by the time they’re 6. We’re pretty conservative with them. Some of the best, most valuable Arabians or Half-Arabians are in the 10- to 12-year-old range. Everybody can ride them, and they don’t lose their value; if anything, they increase in value because there are so few of them that are broke enough and good enough for non pros and kids.”
“Arabians, Sobral points out, are very smart, but can also be excitable. ‘I spend a lot of time getting them mentally prepared. Sometimes they start to feel like they’re getting ahead of me, but I make them back off, be quiet, and just enjoy the experience.’”
April Canavan-Simmons believes the most important part of her job as a farrier is balance, and listening to each horse and its individual needs. Listening carefully to the other members of the team also helps April do the best job possible. “I think working as a team with the trainer and vet to make sure the horse has a chance to do his job well, so everybody has the same goal, is extremely important,” Canavan-Simmons says. ■
Brazilian native Thiago Sobral has been riding horses his entire life. After moving to the U.S. and apprenticing under Benny Guitron in California, Thiago opened his own business in 2003. He currently trains from Loma Vista Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz., specializing in training Arabian and Half-Arabian reining and reined cow horses. He and his wife, Mistie, had a daughter, Isabella, in March 2010.
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T
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ARABIAN HORSE IN HISTORY
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by Andrew K. Steen
Ibrahim Pasha Before his second expedition, Mohammed Ali summoned all of his ministers and generals to determine who should take command. According to popular legend, he placed an apple in the center of a large carpet and proclaimed, “He who can bring me the apple without stepping on the carpet will command this expedition.” After each candidate tried unsuccessfully to grasp the apple by stretching out his arms, the consensus among the men was that the task was impossible. Then Ibrahim, at the invitation of his father, took his turn. Because of his small stature, no one doubted that he too would fail. Indifferent to their
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laughter, Ibrahim calmly squatted down, rolled up the carpet until the apple was within easy reach, and handed it to the Viceroy. The anecdote, first related by Arabic scholar and author William G. Palgrave (1826– 1888), is probably unlikely; nevertheless, it nicely illustrates the wisdom and resourcefulness that proved so essential to maintaining lines of communication and supply deep in the heart of Arabia.
The Conquest Of The Najd On September 23, 1816, the relentless Ibrahim Pasha departed Egypt at the head of a large army and proceeded directly to the core of the conflict. Over
THE ARABIAN HORSE
IN HISTORY the next two years, Ibrahim and his Egyptian forces played a game of cat-and-mouse with the Wahhabis, suffering continuous losses in men and materials, as they pursued the enemy. Repeatedly, Ibrahim met and crushed his adversaries, but on each occasion, the Ikhwan brotherhood’s resolve was reborn anew.
intention of keeping) that Feysul would be named governor of the Najd. With the arrival of reinforcements, two cannons, and additional stockpiles of provisions (left safeguarded at Bereydah), Ibrahim could continue his advance to Shakrah. The reinforcements consisted of 4,500 Turkish Albanian and Moorish troops, various Arab combatants, and roughly 10,000 more camels.
Ibrahim’s first encounter with the enemy came at Ma’Wiyah, where Abdullah Ibn Saoud attacked the Egyptians, only to suffer a resounding defeat. Supplemented by large Meanwhile, in late allied contingents from the December, 1817, Abdullah Beni-Kháled, Oteyban, continued to retreat, pushing Muteyr, Harb and Suhool his troops deeper and deeper Bedouins, Ibrahim advanced into the desert. Hoping to on the Wahhabi garrison deprive the approaching at Rus with 4,000 infantry Egyptian army of any and 1,200 regular cavalry. opportunity to live off the However, in overpowering land, the Wahhabis despoiled the town, he lost 3,000 the surrounding countryside men, a serious setback that as they went, even driving obliged him to withdraw his all the region’s cattle and remaining men. Undaunted, other livestock into Al-Hasa’s he pressed southeastwards vast, uninhabited Rub’ al Ibrahim Pasha in an 1846 portrait commissioned by towards Aneyzeh, capturing Khali (Empty Quarter) Louis-Philippe of France. Kabreh and Boreidah along desert. The following month, the way, while Abdullah Ibn a Turkish army arrived at Saoud retired farther south, to Bereydah. Shakrah, under command of French military engineer M. Joseph Vaissière, a mercenary in the Viceroy’s service. The city surrendered on January 22, 1818. The Capture Of Aneyzeh Although Vaissière spared the lives of the garrison, the Following a six-day bombardment, the fortress of Turks confiscated their arms and forced each man to Aneyzeh surrendered and the entire Kasim region pledge that he would never again serve the Wahhabis. submitted to the flinty Egyptian general. This Ibrahim Pasha then ordered that the fortifications at prompted his opponent to fall back yet again, to the Shakrah be reduced to rubble, hoping to guarantee town of Shakrah, in the Woshem district. With the their promise. capture of Bereydah, Ibrahim halted for two months, awaiting reinforcements. During this time, he swayed When Abdullah Ibn Saoud moved back to Dir’iyah, to his cause additional Wahhabi forces loyal to the Ibrahim Pasha judged it prudent to detour off the Ikhwan. Their number included the Sheikh of the direct route and to capture a town called Dhormah. Muteyr, one Feysul el Dawish, inflamed by an ancient He found spirited resistance at that oasis, where many feud with Ibn Saoud, whom Ibrahim Pasha persuaded of his men were killed. In retribution, all the town’s to switch sides by promising (a pledge he had no
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male inhabitants were put to death, and the soldiers brutalized the women. The entire town was pillaged and razed to the ground. The Wahhabi governor and his guard took sanctuary in the strong citadel and managed to escape with their lives.
Dir’iyah And The End Of Abdullah
on the condition that Ibrahim would guarantee that his life be spared. The wily Ibrahim answered that while he had no authority to bind the Sultan or his father to such a guarantee, he felt that both men were too generous to put their onceformidable enemy to death. Abdullah also pleaded for his family and beseeched that Dir’iyah and its citizens be spared. Ibrahim Pasha agreed, and a concord was reached. The unsuspecting Emir was dispatched at once, under heavy escort, to Cairo, where he was courteously received by Mohammed Ali and then promptly sent to Stamboul with a strongly worded plea for clemency.
Detained by rains in March, Ibrahim Pasha was forced to delay his advance on Dir’iyah until the following month. When the region’s roads and countryside were once again passable, he attacked the town with a force of 5,500 cavalry and foot soldiers and 12 pieces of artillery, including two modern howitzers. Late in May, an accidental explosion wiped out all of his ammunition stockpiles, However, Sultan Mahmud II was and the Egyptian army’s position implacable. He turned Abdullah became critical. His exhausted Ibn Saoud over to the ulema troops suffered greatly from (doctors of law), who questioned dysentery, and historians speculate him closely and pronounced that only Ibrahim Pasha’s personal him an incorrigible heretic. courage and good example saved For three days, the Emir was him from disaster. When the paraded in chains through the Wahhabis attempted to overwhelm streets of Constantinople. On their besiegers with a show of force, the fourth day, the Sultan’s men Abdullah Ibn Saoud their strike was repulsed and the publicly beheaded Abdullah Ibn opportunity lost, for soon after, Saoud just outside the Topkapi reinforcements and supply convoys from both Medina Palace’s main gate. As a warning to sympathizers, and Basra arrived, bringing much-needed ammunition his severed head was secured to the top of a marble and provisions to reinforce Ibrahim’s beleaguered column nearby. Thus, the first Wahhabi Wars army. Khalil Pasha’s approach from Egypt with 3,000 ended. The huge treasure Ibrahim Pasha took back fresh troops was more good news. to Egypt included entire herds of prized desert-bred Arabian horses. On September 15, 1818, facing impending disaster, Abdullah Ibn Saoud raised a flag of truce and The Aftermath requested an audience with Ibrahim Pasha. The Ibrahim Pasha’s expedition had been an act of petition was granted and he was received cordially, chastisement and retaliation. When he first appeared but Ibrahim Pasha informed the Emir that the first in the Najd, he was received as a liberator, rather condition for peace was his personal attendance at than a foreign conqueror. Once the Wahhabi Cairo. Abdullah requested 24 hours to consider, and government was crushed, he had the majority of his appeal was granted. After 24 hours, he returned its population’s sympathy, particularly in the Jebel to the Egyptian encampment and agreed to capitulate Shammar, the Al-Hasa and Kasim regions. However,
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THE ARABIAN HORSE
IN HISTORY the Sultan exerted little care in maintaining stability in the Najd, because he was so obsessed with his tenuous position in Europe and with being invaded by England, Austria or Russia. His treasury was empty, and his military position was too weak to allow him to engage in any more ambitious sorties. Ibrahim Pasha ordered that Dir’iyah be razed to the ground and never rebuilt. For the next 23 years, A painting of Mohammad Ali by Scottish painter David Roberts. the Najd continued as a province of Egypt under Mohammed Ali’s subjugation. Not since remote the Egyptians. These have contributed greatly to the times had an army entered Central Arabia, and diminution and deterioration of the race.” the Arabs of the interior had little suspicion of, or hatred for, their neighbors. However, to The first Wahhabi War secured Mohammed Ali’s the indigenous residents’ horror, the Albanian pre-eminence throughout the Moslem world, and and Turkish troops that remained, an army of his role as a savior of the Holy Shrines of Islam occupation, were soon subjecting them to cruel, contributed greatly to his consolidating power in inhumane treatment and oppression. Egypt and to his inf luence at the Sublime Porte. Following his conquests in the Sudan, Syria and Early in 1822, a Turkish garrison was massacred southwestern Turkey, the Sublime Porte granted at Riyadh, the new capital. This was followed by Mohammed Ali’s descendants the hereditary right successful Arab uprisings over the next two years at to rule Egypt. The old Viceroy died on August 2, the hands of Turki Ibn Saoud, who re-established 1849. Debate continues regarding some historians’ his family’s control of Aared. Over the next decades, descriptions of him as “The Napoleon of the East” a succession of self-serving Wahhabi rulers staged and “Mohammad Ali the Great.” ■ endless internecine wars and intrigues, and sporadically seized control of areas “The Wahabys’ defeat, the of Arabia’s interior.
conquest of Arabia, and
Famous English traveler and archaeologist Austen Henry Layard described the consequences of these renewed conf licts. In 1851, he attributed a great reduction in the number of desert-bred horses to, in his words:
the occupation of Syria by the Egyptians. These have contributed greatly to the diminution and
“The Wahabys’ defeat, the conquest of Arabia, and the occupation of Syria by
Austen Henry Layard
deterioration of the race.”
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Times For Amateurs To Be Competitive Part II by Keri Schenter
Life has a funny way of changing your perspective on a lot of things. I’ve been plotting the best way to write about the essence of what it takes to be competitive for months. I even managed to get Part One done. So, when I sat down to write Part Two several weeks ago, I thought about where I was competitively today versus 10 or 15 years ago, and was thinking about how far I’ve come. I am by nature a pessimistic person, but I allowed myself to be optimistically hopeful that what I thought was my competitive edge would carry me through our upcoming regional championship show. I like to think that my pessimistic nature is a good thing: When things go right, I’m happily surprised, but when things don’t go according to plan, I’m usually not that disappointed. Going into the regional show, Country and I were coming off a hugely successful practice show only two weeks before, and I had been able to put together some pretty good rides. By focusing on riding my horse the best that I could and enjoying my job in the ring, I really felt good about my progression and ability to be competitive. Suffice it to say, once the regional show was over, I didn’t have a ribbon from either amateur class to show for our efforts. I felt like I had let my horse and my trainer down, and while I knew what (big) mistakes I’d made
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in one class, I just couldn’t grasp what had gone wrong in the other—and no, I didn’t make those same mistakes, just others which were less obvious. When I got back to the computer to finish this article, I could only stare blankly at my screen, thinking “How can I write about being competitive when I’m not?” Who says I’m not? I do. Thus, we segue into Part Two. Last month I talked about watching, learning and talking to the professionals and other exhibitors whom you admire. We talked about lessons and practice, and the importance of dreaming big but allowing yourself to remain realistic. This month I need to talk about what I know holds me back more than anything—confidence—and some things you can do to increase your own confidence. I know I’m not a natural or gifted rider. However, I also know that what I lack in natural ability, I try to compensate for in practice, determination, and downright hard-headedness. I envy those people who can get on any kind of horse and apply their natural ability and finesse to get the best results. Yet, I also admire those who are more my speed. We take our lumps and bumps along the way and usually, hopefully, manage to pull things together and get a decent result. I’ve been told by every professional horseman I’ve ever worked with that I’m far too hard on myself, but I feel that if I let up and allow myself to be
Times For Amateurs complacent about my abilities—or lack thereof—I might lose sight of my goals and aspirations. I think my inherent desire to constantly challenge and test my abilities has allowed me to build a degree of confidence that helps get me through each ride, every class and every show. Confidence is a lot like ability or talent; some people may have it naturally, some people may have been able to develop and/or hone it, and others continually bump heads with it. Just like your ability to apply the proper cue and/or aid at the proper time to tell your horse what to do, your ability to recognize your own confidence is going to play a role in how competitive you can become. The inherent difference between physical ability and confidence is that you can be responsible for maintaining your own confidence even when the physical aspects of what is happening with your horse may not be going according to plan.
you don’t have to partake or follow along, but find ways to work towards your goals that are consistent with your own beliefs and morals. Keep doing what you are doing because you want to, and want to do it for your own reasons. Holding true to yourself and your vision speaks volumes about your commitment to getting where you want to go, and ultimately, that blue ribbon.
Remember, too, that everyone has his or her own version of how things should be, or what it takes to be competitive. I don’t believe there is any right or wrong way to develop your success, but I hope that my thoughts help you sort through the endless stream of suggestions and demands that are out there. Use the successful competitors you admire as role models, but don’t think you have to be just like them to find your own competitive sense or confidence. Take and use what works for you, and even consider what you may not agree with or believe in as learning tools to hone your own skills. Exude confidence when you are working with Confidence is something that you can control, and I am your horse and especially in the show ring. Sometimes a firm believer that if you look confident, others will see that means you have to dig you as confident. It’s similar deep into your psyche, but to being told that you should the minute you grin from smile before you answer “Confidence is something ear to ear and tell yourself the telephone, because the “I can do this!” you’ll be “sound” of your smile will that you can control, and I that much further forward be transmitted to your caller. am a fi rm believer that if you in your pursuit of success. So, it’s very important that look confident, others will as you are working to build Keep at it—and remember, your competitive skills, you see you as confident.” you’re not going to win also work to improve your every time. Remember confidence. That said, I also that even if you win the believe it is entirely possible blue ribbon, there is always room for improvement. to be overconfident, so without getting into that muddle Just because you are competitive at one show, that is of a discussion, I’ll just say practice your confidence no guarantee you’ll be as successful at the next. I have and see where it takes you. One of my very first riding taken, and continue to take, my share of reminders instructors told me that there are a lot of riders in the that you’re only as good as the judge thinks you are world who think they are better than they are, and a in comparison to those in the ring with you at that lot more who are better than they think they are. My moment. There will be times you win a ribbon you may pessimistic self always put my own abilities in the latter not deserve, and certainly many times you don’t win a category, and I love the sense of accomplishment I feel ribbon you do deserve. Take each ride, every class, and when I get stuff right. every show as a learning experience to build on, and if you’re like me, you probably don’t plan on quitting any Hand in hand with confidence and competitiveness time soon. So, just keep your chin up and look forward is another term that I have thrashed to death, that is to your next ride, your next lesson, and your next perseverance. Never give up. Keep true to your goals and opportunity to practice. Go forth and conquer, and enjoy ambitions, and be open to learning different things. If the ride while you’re at it. ■ you don’t like something or the way something is done,
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A Leg Up Giving Oral Medications To Horses by Heather Smith Thomas
I
f a horse is fussy about eating medications or oral supplements, the pills or liquids can be mixed with molasses and added to his grain. Some horses will refuse to eat “doctored” grain, however, and the only way to administer the dose is by oral syringe. This can be a struggle unless the horse has been conditioned to accept syringe dosing. Most horses are dewormed with paste or liquid squirted into the back of the mouth, and many medications such as pills or boluses are easiest to administer when crushed or dissolved and put into liquid form. Several types of drugs and medications are cheaper as pills than as pastes or injections, and easier on the horse if given orally rather than by injection. Sometimes, however, you encounter a horse that protests at having anything put into his mouth. He raises his head to avoid it, or may rear up or rush backward—or flip his head as you try to squirt the medication in, spilling part of the dose. One way to prevent protest is to give the horse lessons ahead of time. Train every young horse to accept this as part of routine handling. Even an old, spoiled horse that fights to avoid the oral syringe can be retrained, if you take time to rehabilitate him. The key to a willing horse is to make sure his experiences with dose syringes are good ones. If everything you put in his mouth
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tastes nasty, he will rebel. A struggle sets the stage for future battles. If most of the time you put good things in his mouth, he becomes a willing participant. Use applesauce, Karo® syrup or pancake syrup, molasses, brown sugar, or a few drops of molasses in warm water—anything the horse likes. To keep him willing, give him this treat daily by syringe for a few days before you deworm or medicate him.
“The key to a willing horse is to make sure his experiences with dose syringes are good ones.”
If you also put molasses, or whatever he likes, into the mix whenever you give any medication by mouth, it makes your job easier. Even when using a commercial deworming paste that you can’t mix anything with, a fussy horse will usually accept it if you give him a taste of his favorite treat right before the dewormer and smear some of the good stuff on the tip of the dewormer syringe. You also can give him a “chaser” of good stuff in another syringe after he has swallowed the dewormer. One advantage to using a liquid formulation of Ivermectin is that you can add a little molasses (by sucking the molasses into the syringe) just before giving it to the horse, and the dewormer will taste like molasses. Some paste dewormers are in a palatable base, but if your horse still doesn’t like the taste, the treat before and after keeps him happy. A bad-tasting or bitter medication such as phenylbutazone should always be sweetened with molasses or syrup. Pills can be crushed, then mixed with
A Leg Up syrup and water in the oral syringe. Even if a certain pill does not dissolve, the powder can be suspended in syrup or molasses water. Shake the syringe before administering it, so the solid particles won’t sink to one end. If a horse tends to spit out a thin liquid, add 10 to 20 ml of milk of magnesia. You can still flavor the mix with molasses, but milk of magnesia is thicker than water, less easy to spit out, and will buffer and soothe any gastric irritation caused by an ulcer-producing medication like phenylbutazone or aspirin. Another option for a crushed pill that tends to settle out is to use a thick base such as applesauce, yogurt or thick corn syrup, depending on what your horse likes. Once you discover what he likes best, he will look forward to the medication rather than trying to avoid it. When giving any type of oral medication, including deworming paste, first make sure the horse’s mouth is free of feed, or he can spit the medication out. If there’s a wad of feed between his cheek and his teeth, he will work that out with his tongue—taking some of the dewormer paste or medication with it—and you’ll lose part of the dose. Stick a finger in the corner of his mouth, where there are no teeth, and wiggle it to encourage him to spit out any food material before you give the medication.
his mouth, he will be less apt to protest when you stick a syringe into it—especially if those first syringes give him good-tasting treats.
“When giving any oral medication, place the syringe into the corner of the mouth and as far back on the tongue as possible, to deposit the medication at the back
When giving any oral medication, place the syringe into the corner of the mouth and as far back on the tongue as possible, to deposit the medication at the back of the mouth. Tip his head up until he swallows it, so he’ll be less able to spit it out. The farther back you eject the medication, the less he can taste it, and the less able he is to push it out with his tongue.
of the mouth.”
One way to train a young horse to accept oral syringes is to regularly stick your finger into his mouth. If he gets used to this and accepts your finger in the corner of
Always mix the medication and treat just before giving it. Don’t try to store pre-mixed medication and treats, since many medications break down after becoming wet and will not keep. Clean all syringes and mixing utensils thoroughly after each use, so there will be no residue left on them to spoil.
M AY 2010 | 199
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Calendar Of Events Items for the calendar are run FREE of charge on a space-available basis. Calendar listings are subject to change; please confirm dates and locale before making your plans or reservations. MAIL or FAX notices to Arabian Horse Times, Attention: Charlene Deyle, 299 Johnson Ave. Suite 150, Waseca, MN 56093; phone 507-835-3204 or fax 507-835-5138 or e-mail: charlened@ahtimes.com. *Due to the intrinsic nature of these shows, Arabian Horse Times cannot be held accountable for their validity.
REGIONAL SHOWS & CHAMPIONSHIPS MAY May 22, 2010, Region 16 Endurance Championship, Escoheag, Rhode Island. Contact: Cheryl Mastele, 860-349-1200. JUNE June 2-3, 2010, Region 1 Pre-Show, Del Mar, California. Contact: Jean Beck, 559-642-2072. June 3-6, 2010, Region 1 Championship, Del Mar, California. Contact: Jean Beck, 559-642-2072. June 3-6, 2010, Region 5 Sport Horse Qualifier and Offsite Championship, Auburn, Washington. Contact: Sharon Brodie, 360-435-9227. June 3-6, 2010, Region 11 Dressage, Hunter/ Jumper, Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Springfield, Illinois. Contact: Laurie Persson, 920-568-9073. June 5, 2010, Eastern Canadian Breeders Championship, Bethany, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Cathy Webb, 705-748-2225. June 6, 2010, Region 12 Hunter/Jumper Offsite Championship, Conyers, Georgia. Contact: John Gersch, 561-602-7122. June 8-12, 2010, Region 8 Championship, Denver, Colorado. Contact: Jo Anne Read, 303-648-3261. June 8-12, 2010, Region 9 Championship, Fort Worth, Texas. Contact: Melanni Hershberger, 480-443-3372. June 9, 2010, Region 10 Pre-Show, St. Paul, Minnesota. Contact: Mary Tronson, 763-755-1698. June 10-13, 2010, Region 10 Championship, St. Paul, Minnesota. Contact: Mary Tronson, 763-755-1698. June 11-13, 2010, Region 6 Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. June 12, 2010, Region 12 100-Mile Endurance Championship, Oneida, Tennessee. Contact: Eric Rueter, 865-986-5966. June 13, 2010, Region 12 Competitive Trail Championship, Oneida, Tennessee. Contact: Eric Rueter, 865-986-5966.
June 18, 2010, Region 10 Endurance Championship, Preston, Minnesota. Contact: Dianne Schmidt, 507-545-9936. June 18-19, 2010, Region 12 Youth Jamboree, Clemson, South Carolina. Contact: John Gersch, 561-602-7122. June 19, 2010, Region 10 Competitive Trail Championship, Preston, Minnesota. Contact: Dianne Schmidt, 507-545-9936. June 19-20, 2010, Region 12 Youth Jamboree, Clemson, South Carolina. Contact: John Gersch, 561-602-7122. June 19-20, 2010, Region 13 Dressage/Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Edinburgh, Indiana. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. June 21-22, 2010, Region 4 Pre-Show, Nampa, Idaho. Contact: Patricia Ann Hough, 253-847-8842. June 22-26, 2010, Region 4 Championship, Nampa, Idaho. Contact: Patricia Ann Hough, 253-847-8842. June 23, 2010, Region 13 Pre-Show A and B, Indianapolis, Indiana. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. June 24, 2010, Region 6 Pre-Show, Rapid City, South Dakota. Contact: Jean Fredrich, 701-725-4420. June 24-27, 2010, Region 13 Championship, Indianapolis, Indiana. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. June 25-27, 2010, Region 6 Championship, Rapid City, South Dakota. Contact: Jean Fredrich, 701-725-4420. June 26, 2010, Region 3 Endurance Championship, Walnut Creek, California. Contact: Amara Morrison, 925-229-2011. June 26-27, 2010, Region 10 Sport Horse/ Dressage Offsite Championship, Waukesha, Wisconsin. Contact: Mary Tronson, 763-755-1698. June 29-30, 2010, Region 14 Silverama, Lexington, Kentucky. Contact: Jean Hedger, 937-434-6114. JULY July 1-4, 2010, Region 11 Championship, Springfield, Illinois. Contact: Laurie Persson, 920-568-9073. July 1-4, 2010, Region 14 Championship, Lexington, Kentucky. Contact: Jean Hedger, 937-434-6114. July 3-4, 2010, Region 8 Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Estes Park, Colorado. Contact: Jo Anne Read, 303-648-3261. July 6-10, 2010, Region 5 Championship, Monroe, Washington. Contact: Patricia Ann Hough, 253-847-8842. July 8-11, 2010, Region 15 Championship, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Marilyn Norton, 217-563-2487.
July 10, 2010, Region 13 50-Mile Endurance Championship, Augusta, Michigan. Contact: Shelley Dake, 269-979-9472. July 10-11, 2010, Region 13 Competitive Trail Championship, Augusta, Michigan. Contact: Shelley Dake, 269-979-9472. July 11-13, 2010, Region 3 Last Chance Show, Reno, Nevada. Contact: Sharon Richards, 916-645-2288. July 13-17, 2010, Region 3 Championship Show, Reno, Nevada. Contact: Sharon Richards, 916-645-2288. July 15-18, 2010, Region 9 Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Waco, Texas. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. July 21, 2010, Region 16 Hunter/Jumper Qualifier, Syracuse, New York. Contact: Marlene Kriegbaum, 716-655-1536. July 21-24, 2010, Region 16 Championship, Syracuse, New York. Contact: Marlene Kriegbaum, 716-655-1536. July 28, 2010, Region 18 Last Chance Show, London, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Crystal Green, 705-440-9456. July 29-31, 2010, Region 18 Championship, London, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Crystal Green, 705-440-9456. AUGUST August 2, 2010, Region 17 Pre-Show, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. August 3-8, 2010, Region 17 Championship, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. August 6-8, 2010, East Coast Championship, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Susan Wagoner, 603-878-1447. August 7-8, 2010, Region 4 Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Sherwood, Oregon. Contact: Jean Beck, 559-642-2072. August 14-15, 2010, Region 3 Sport Horse Offsite Championship, Rancho Murieta, California. Contact: Kelly Denison, 530-666-1363.
SHOWS MAY May 20-23, 2010, Diablo Arab Spring Show, Elk Grove, California. Contact: Nancy Goertzen, 559-625-2631. May 20-23, 2010, NYS Horse Breeders Show, Syracuse, New York. Contact: Tari Weston, 315-695-1332. May 20-23, 2010, AHACO Arabian Horse Show, Salem, Oregon. Contact: Betty Engleman, 360-425-7798. May 21-22, 2010, Double The Fun Arabian Show, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Contact: Debbie Raszler, 701-725-4692.
M AY 2010 | 203
Calendar Of Events
May 21-23, 2010, NJHAHA All Arabian I and II, Allentown, New York. Contact: Joan Mitch, 610-914-7008. May 21-24, 2010, Westerner Spring Show I and II, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. May 22-23, 2010, Northern Minnesota Arabian Horse Show, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Contact: Debbie Raszler, 701-725-4692. May 22-23, 2010, Old Dominion Summer Fun Show, Doswell, Virginia. Contact: Ona Maria Morgan Jenkins, 804-590-2802. May 27-30, 2010, Buckeye Sweepstakes, Columbus, Ohio. Contact: Jean Hedger, 937-434-6114. May 28-29, 2010, Wisconsin Desert Horse (Badger) Show, West Allis, WI. Contact: Sally Epps, 920-992-3293. May 28-30, 2010, IEAHC Memorial Day Classic A and B, Spokane, Washington. Contact: Susy Birch, 360-540-4425. May 28-30, 2010, Montana Arab Show A and B, Billings, Montana. Contact: Becky Mcallister, 406-861-4929. May 28-30, 2010, Spindletop Spring Arabian Show, Katy, Texas. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. May 28-30, 2010, AHC Of CT Horse Show, West Springfield, Massachusetts. Contact: Marlene Kriegbaum, 716-655-1536. May 28-31, 2010, Larimer County Spring Charity A, Denver, Colorado. Contact: Anne Burton, 303-665-3307. May 29-31, 2010, Iowa Arabian Memorial Weekend A and B Show, Des Moines, Iowa. Contact: Gary Paine, 641-466-3320. May 29-30, 2010, Comstock AHA Desert Spring Show A and B, Carson City, Nevada. Contact: Shannon Johnson, 775-750-0237. May 30-31, 2010, WAHA Show, West Allis, WI. Contact: Sally Epps, 920-992-3293. JUNE June 2-6, 2010, Illinois/Arab Inc. All Arabian Show, Springfield, Illinois. Contact: Laurie Persson, 920-568-9073. June 4-6, 2010, GAHA Summer Classic A and B, Conyers, Georgia. Contact: John Gersch, 561-602-7122. June 4-6, 2010, Showtime 2010, East Lansing, Michigan. Contact: Sally Epps, 920-992-3293. June 4-6, 2010, NC PAHA Show A and B, Hughesville, Pennsylvania. Contact: Patricia McQuiston, 570-924-4836. June 4-6, 2010, Virginia Arabian Horse Show, Doswell, Virginia. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. June 4-6, 2010, Pacific Coast Arabian Sport Horse, Elk Grove. California. Contact: Kelly Denison, 530-666-1363.
204 | AR ABIAN HORSE TIMES
June 5-6, 2010, Indianhead Arabian Horse Show, Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Contact: Jan Lerud, 715-488-2834. June 5-6, 2010, GG Thunder Dressage and Sport Horse Show, Springfield, Ohio. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. June 5-6, 2010, Zone 9 Arabian A and B, Bethany, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Cathy Webb, 705-748-2225. June 10-13, 2010, AHAEC Summer Sizzler A and B, London, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Crystal Green, 705-440-9456. June 11-13, 2010, WA Midsummer Classic A and B, Monroe, Washington. Contact: Betty Engleman, 360-425-7798. June 11-13, 2010, Aurora Summer Show, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. June 12-13, 2010, Medallion I and II All Arabian Show, Wilmington, Ohio. Contact: Jean Hedger, 937-434-6114. June 12-13, 2010, Eastern Classic, Hamburg, New York. Contact: Marlene Kriegbaum, 716-655-1536. June 15-19, 2010, Midwest Charity, Springfield, Illinois. Contact: Cheryl Rangel, 847-537-4743. June 17-18, 2010, Shenandoah Valley Classic A and B, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. June 18-20, 2010, Hoosier Horse Classic, Edinburgh, Indiana. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. June 18-20, 2010, Red Deer Classic, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Aldona Tracey, 780-986-6731. June 19, 2010, Golden Gate Arabian Dressage, Santa Rosa, California. Contact: Sue Plasman, 530-695-0509. June 19-20, 2010, Shenandoah Valley Championship A and B, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. June 19-20, 2010, Island Classics Show A, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Contact: Wendy Don, 250-722-0162. June 19-20, 2010, Sunrise Summer Classic Horse Show, Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. Contact: Lesley Ahman, 506-832-7912. June 19-20, 2010, Shenandoah Valley Championship A and B, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Sherri Re, 281-513-5745. June 24-27, 2010, Summer Spectacular I and II, Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Contact: Ruth Charpie, 816-765-5683. June 25-26, 2010, WDHA Dressage and Sport Horse Show, Waukesha, Wisconsin. Contact: Candy Ziebell, 262-363-3640. June 25-27, 2010, Finger Lakes Arabian Summer Festival, Syracuse, New York. Contact: Marlene Kriegbaum, 716-655-1536.
June 25-27, 2010, Flagstaff All Arabian Show, Flagstaff, Arizona. Contact: Melanni Hershberger, 480-443-3372. JULY July 1-3, 2010, AHANE 56th Arabian Horse Show, West Springfield, Massachusetts. Contact: Lorelei Wyman, 802-244-1602. July 2-4, 2010, CAHC Estes Park Show, Estes Park, Colorado. Contact: Jo Anne Read, 303-648-3261. July 2-4, 2010, Pennsylvania Arab Games, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Contact: Patricia McQuiston, 570-924-4836. July 2-4, 2010, CRVAHA Prairie Pride Show I and II, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Contact: Cheryl Sproule, 306-752-4240. July 2-4, 2010, Wild Rose Horse Show, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Marion Enders, 403-227-0538. July 3-4, 2010, Milestone Summer Show, Campbellville, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Cheryl Smith-Ehrlick, 905-854-0762. July 7, 2010, Firecracker Classic, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Marilyn Norton, 217-563-2487. July 8-11, 2010, MSU Summer Showcase, East Lansing, Michigan. Contact: Sally Epps, 920-992-3293. July 9-11, 2010, Great Arabian Get Together, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Contact: Jan Lerud, 715-488-2834. July 9-11, 2010, Tulip Arabian Horse Show A and B, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Deirdre Doherty, 613-744-4917. July 10-11, 2010, Sport Horse Summer Fun, Tucson, Arizona. Contact: Melanni Hershberger, 480-443-3372. July 11, 2010, Summertime Celebration, Longmont, Colorado. Contact: Anne Burton, 303-665-3307. July 17-18, 2010, OVAHA Summer Sizzler I and II, Springfield, Ohio. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039. AUGUST August 4-5, 2010, Eastern Arabian Horse Show, Lexington, Virginia. Contact: Susan Wagoner, 603-878-1447. August 6, 2010, Gold Coast Classic, Watsonville, California. Contact: Nancy Goertzen, 559-625-2631. August 6-7, 2010, Arabians In Motion Sport Horse Classic, Sherwood, Oregon. Contact: Jean Beck, 559-642-2072. August 6-8, 2010, WAHA August Show, Jefferson, Wisconsin. Contact: Jan Lerud, 715-488-2834. August 7-8, 2010, Gold Coast Amateur Show, Watsonville, California. Contact: Nancy Goertzen, 559-625-2631.
Calendar Of Events
August 11-13, 2010, Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, Missouri. Contact: Lenard Davenport, 417-888-0686. August 14-15, 2010, Daffodil Arabian Summer Show, Puyallup, Washington. Contact: Lisa Gardner, 253-843-2748. August 14-15, 2010, Annual Magnolia Summer Sizzler A and B, Perry, Georgia. Contact: Nancy Baker, 828-817-0359. August 19-21, 2010, Wyoming State Fair, Douglas, Wyoming. Contact: Anne Burton, 303-665-3307. August 19-22, 2010, AHAM Summer Show, Mason, Michigan. Contact: Sara Ressler, 248-922-0148. August 22-September 5, 2010, New York State Fair, Syracuse, New York. Contact: Tari Weston, 315-695-1332. August 27-29, 2010, Oregon State Fair, Salem, Oregon. Contact: D. Roxanne Hood, 831-637-8510. August 27-29, 2010, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul. Minnesota. Contact: Steven Pooch, 651-642-2314. August 28-29, 2010, Fall Festival Arabian Horse Show, Newberry, Florida. Contact: Carlie Evans, 352-215-0710. August 28-29, 2010, Central Piedmont Arabian Horse Show, Raleigh, North Carolina. Contact: Nancy Baker, 828-817-0359. August 28-29, 2010, OHAHA Fall Show, Willminton, Ohio. Contact: Donna Auber, 330-274-2039.
DISTANCE/ COMPETITIVE TRAIL RIDE MAY May 22, 2010, My Back Yard 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Princeton, Illinois. Contact: Jen Allen, 815-303-1958. May 22-23, 2010, My Back Yard 25-Mile Competitive Trail Ride I and II, Princeton, Illinois. Contact: Jen Allen, 815-303-1958. JUNE June 5, 2010, Just Joe Crazy 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Gilroy, California. Contact: Becky Hart, 408-425-5860. June 5-6, 2010, Maplewood 50- and 25-Mile Endurance Ride, Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. Contact: Charlotte Tuhy, 701-526-3734. June 11-12, 2010, Distance Round Up 30-Mile I and II and 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Oneida, Tennessee. Contact: Eric Rueter, 865-986-5966. June 13, 2010, Distance Round Up 40-Mile Competitive Trail Ride, Oneida, Tennessee. Contact: Eric Rueter, 865-986-5966. June 12, 2010, NASTR 50- and 75-Mile Endurance Ride, Dayton, Nevada. Contact: Connie Creech, 775-882-6591.
June 12, 2010, The Pyramid Challenge 50-mile Endurance Ride, Lexington, Kentucky. Contact: Trisha Blackwell, 803-459-6501. June 18, 2010, Southeast MN 30-Mile Competitive Trail Ride, Preston, Minnesota. Contact: Dianne Schmidt, 507-545-9936. June 18-20, 2010, Strawberry Fields Forever 55-, I 50- and II 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Strawberry Reservoir, Utah. Contact: Dian Woodward, 435-719-4033. June 19, 2010, Southeast MN 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Preston, Minnesota. Contact: Dianne Schmidt, 507-545-9936. June 19-20, 2010, Prairie Smoke I and II 30-, 50-, and 75-Mile Endurance Ride, Bismark, North Dakota. Contact: Debbie Kolegraf, 701-258-6347. June 26, 2010, Zumbro Bottoms Boogie 50- and 75-Mile Endurance Ride, Theilman, Minnesota. Contact: Beth Lecy, 507-584-2237. June 26-27, 2010, Hopkins Creek 50-Mile Endurance Ride I and II, Manton, Michigan. Contact: Dennis Byard, 231-645-4642. June 27, 2010, Zumbro Bottoms Boogie 30Mile Competitive Trail Ride I and II, Theilman, Minnesota. Contact: Beth Lecy, 507-584-2237. JULY July 2-3, 2010, Endless Valley 50-Mile I and II and 100-Mile Endurance Ride, Spring Green, Wisconsin. Contact: Jill Feller, 920-387-5732. July 2-4, 2010, Endless Valley 25-Mile Competitive Trail Ride I, II, and III, Spring Green, Wisconsin. Contact: Jill Feller, 920-387-5732. July 9-10, 2010, Endure For The Cure 50-Mile Endurance Ride I and II, Washington, Illinois. Contact: Christopher Power, 217-648-2974. July 9-11, 2010, Endure For The Cure 25Mile Competitive Trail Ride I, II, and III, Washington, Illinois. Contact: Christopher Power, 217-648-2974. July 24-15, 2010, Salamonie Sizzler 50-Mile Endurance Ride I and II, Andrews, Indiana. Contact: Bev Staats, 260-435-6222. AUGUST August 1-7, 2010, Shore To Shore 50-Mile Endurance Ride I-VII, Oscoda, Michigan. Contact: Linda Hamrick, 260-602-9660. August 7-8, 2010, Pink Flamingo Classic I and II 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Cascade, Idaho. Contact: Sally Tarbet, 208-890-8899. August 14, 2010, Eastern High Sierra Classic 50-Mile Endurance Ride, Bridgeport, California. Contact: Suzanne Ford Huff, 775-783-9608. August 14-15, 2010, Pioneer Cabin 50-Mile Endurance Ride I and II, and 100-Mile Endurance Ride, Bismark, North Dakota. Contact: Juli Muscutt, 406-449-8639. August 28-29, 2010, Abi Khan Challenge 50Mile Competitive Trail Ride, Waynesville, Ohio. Contact: Mickie Newnam, 937-232-9256.
NATIONAL EVENTS July 24-31, 2010, Youth Nationals, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Contact: AHA, 303-696-4500. August 16-21, 2010, Canadian Nationals, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Contact: AHA, 303-696-4500. September 21-25, 2010, Sport Horse Nationals, Nampa, Idaho. Contact: AHA, 303-696-4500. October 22-30, 2010, U.S. Nationals, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Contact: AHA, 303-696-4500.
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS June 19-20, 2010, Mediterranean Championships, Menton, France. Contact: Christianne Chazel, 33-674-513448, chazel.c@wanadoo.fr; www.mentonarabianhorseshow.com August 6-8, 2010, 32nd Polish National Championship Show, Janow Podlaski Stud. Contact: 48-22-8606539, astojanowska@anr.gov.pl September 24-26, 2010, All Nations Cup and German National Show, Aachen, Germany. Contact: VZAP, 49-5113881180, info@vzap.org; www.vzap.org October 21-24, 2010, El Zahraa National C Show and 13th International Championships, El Zahraa, Egypt. Contact: Ahmed Hamza, 202-22983733, info@elzahraa-stud.org; www.elzahraa-stud.org December 4-5, 2010, Chilean Breeders Cup. Contact: M. Trinidad Del Campo, tdelcampo@achcca.cl December 10-12, 2010, World Championships, Paris, Nord Villepinte. Contact: Alice Wermus, alice.wermus@comexposium.com December 16-18, 2010, 7th Sharjah National Arabian Horse Festival, Sharjah, UAE. Contact: 971-65311155, frsan@emirates.net.ae; www.forsanuae.org.ae Correction: The judges for Region 17 on page 193 of the April 2010 issue are incorrect. The correct judges are: REGION 17 Red Deer, Alberta, Canada Lewis McKim – All classes Rick Moser – All classes Gary Clay – All classes and Trail Doreen Horsey – Dressage Colleen Hoffman – Sport Horse and Working Hunter/Jumper *Go to www.arabianessence.com or www.ecaho.org, for additional international shows and information.
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Amateur Access The Mindful Rider by Jeff Lovejoy
My focus here, in particular, is on the amateur competitor Try to think back to a time when you saw a performance who is only able to spend approximately one to two hours in the show ring from a horse and rider that was so a week, or perhaps less, in the saddle. These circumstances effortlessly breathtaking, so beautifully controlled, and are very common within the Arabian horse community. incredibly engaged. What would you suppose made all Because of the limited time for riding available to this the pieces come together? It can be assumed that the select group, it can be very difficult and often frustrating horse was a superstar with tremendous talent, and he was to understand or see progress in schooling and practice. supremely trained. However, consider for a moment what Thus, I am going to break down how we can shape our other factors contributed to this standout performance. outlook and focus to create more That horse did not make a pass down productivity and to fully enjoy the the middle of the ring on its own, riding experience. or so swiftly cut the corner to get away from the pack approaching it. Mental preparation and His transitions were not flawlessly “Mental preparation and conditioning are vital in successful executed by his own virtue. No, the riding. A rider must be able to fact is no great performance was ever conditioning are vital in understand his or her horse; listen turned in by a horse under saddle to a trainer; understand how to without the hands of a capable rider. successful riding.” transition from one gait to the next; how to gauge his or her timing; As an equitation-based instructor and etc. They must do all of this at the trainer, I have always focused on the same time and have a complete rider as a key player in the success understanding of how to maintain of a great ride in the show ring or at a solid position in the saddle. This home. The rider is the pilot. His or is not possible to do if the rider is not conscientious and her ability to guide a horse and maintain every move with actively thinking of how to approach each task. Let us precision and grace translates into the horse’s ability to look at what I would like to call the “mindful rider.” perform at his highest level. To go deeper into this concept, I would like to subtract the horse, for all intents and Any rider who competes should know why they take purposes, from the equation and look more closely at what part in such a demanding activity. Is it based purely on it takes for someone to become a more capable rider.
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AMATEUR ACCESS
“The “mindful rider,” as a general term, is a rider who understands his or her drive to succeed.”
enjoyment? As a competitor, are you receiving satisfaction from winning? Is the challenge of mastering something as unique as riding adding to your personal fulfi llment? These are all questions that run through my mind when I work with a student and attempt to understand his or her motivation. This is the key word—motivation. What motivates us to work hard and strive for perfection? The “mindful rider,” as a general term, is a rider who understands his or her drive to succeed. This drive is the singular objective that propels an individual to excel, and it is one of the most important things to consider. For most riders this comes in the form of seeking a challenge. Riding is challenging, and horses are so inspiring that we find ourselves driven to work hard and do well. When a rider has identified this objective, this motivating factor, he or she has laid the first brick in the process of paving their road to success. In addition to seeking out and establishing that singular motivating factor, the “mindful rider” should be responsible for understanding their trainer’s and instructor’s “language” or approach to teaching. What is their motivation? What are they hoping to attain in working with you and your horse? What do they visualize in a rider? Knowing the answers to these questions is
crucial. The biggest mistake and oversight I see among amateur competitors is a lack of understanding in the trainer’s approach. This is like taking an intense Business Management course, but never doing the homework, just simply showing up. As an amateur rider, you should study your trainer and know what his or her expectations are. In general, each division has a specific goal or ideal in how the horse competing must go. It is a safe assumption, however, that trainers and instructors, nearly 100% of the time, will pursue these ideals in their own unique way. If, as an amateur rider, you have entrusted your horse’s success and your riding education to a professional, make it your goal to understand them.
“I also encourage a proactive mindset. I want to see a rider making moves, subtly adjusting, experimenting, and being creative.”
Let us revisit the analogy of taking an intense Business Management course, but this time the homework is actually being done. As a “mindful rider,” you are taking part in the class and attempting to learn from the instruction being given. Leave the classroom, however, and put yourself in the arena on your horse’s back. Th ink back over the last few lessons you have taken with your trainer or instructor. What issues did you have? Were these continual issues from each lesson? Did you feel that progress was made, or did you simply make it through your ride and just feel good about it? Now, acknowledge
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the motivation factor that you established earlier. Do you feel that your lessons taken thus far have contributed to that factor? Have they been supplemental to your success?
felt with you or your horse. To avoid a defeatist’s attitude, take those blocks and look at them as small opportunities at victory. Say, for instance, that you have experienced difficulty with maintaining a solid leg position, and it is causing you to feel loose and insecure on your horse. Take this issue, identify it (on your own accord), and make it your goal to do all that you can do in your subsequent rides to find a stronger and more effective leg position. You will find that the more you work on that single issue, it will soon fade and disappear. Just like that you have achieved a small victory and have accomplished one goal. If you change your mindset and start thinking in this way, as you approach all areas of concern with you and your horse, you will notice a gradual change in a more positive direction.
Riding a horse, keeping it with a trainer, and taking lessons from that trainer all contribute to a collaborative effort. This is to say that the work cannot simply be left to the trainer and the horse. As the rider, you should hold yourself accountable to your motivation and begin putting your lessons to work. One of the biggest ways to achieve this, the total utility of your practice rides, is to avoid complacency at all costs. The “mindful rider” should be constantly questioning, identifying, working and achieving in an effort to continually grow. I like to tell my students before their lessons even begin what it was “The rider with the right in the last ride that caused them to struggle or evaluate what has been a attitude demonstrates continual issue for them. From there we establish a goal for the ride—a humility and is open general goal. This goal is always a small and attainable one ... something to making mistakes. that can easily be accomplished within a singular lesson. This is part of the
learning I also encourage a proactive mindset. I want to see a rider making moves, subtly adjusting, experimenting, and being creative. When a rider takes these notions and holds himself or herself accountable to making the ride productive, he or she will see greater benefit and achieve a better understanding of their horse. Make it your duty to identify your struggles. Stop and talk to your trainer if you are persistently having the same issue, time and time again. Try to figure out with them what the struggle is and why you are feeling what you are. Another very important factor is goal setting. There is perhaps no better route toward achievement. Think of breaking your rides down into pieces, or more specifically, building blocks, particularly those certain issues you have
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process.”
In the pursuit of establishing and defining a “mindful rider,” there is another thing that I must address. Fear. Most amateur riders do not let it go and allow it to create gigantic road blocks and mile-long plateaus. This is a toxic and lingering issue that nearly all riders face in some capacity. Just as it is necessary to identify issues that you are experiencing in your riding, so is it that you must identify your fears.
Come back to your motivation factor. Always acknowledge why you are riding and showing horses. This will be a guiding light for you and help to avoid setbacks. I have experienced working with people of all ages, and each of them possessed a trepidation toward something. I try to pick up on this source of anxiety or stress in the early stages of instruction, regardless of the rider’s level of experience. The sooner the fear is brought to the surface, the faster it can be controlled. If, for example, you have a fear of falling off, then set a goal or goals and work with your trainer. Perhaps, you can even take instruction on lesson horses and spend some quality time learning a fundamental seat and
AMATEUR ACCESS
leg position. Do exercises that increase your balance. The more work you are able to do to “safeguard” your riding, the less you will worry about falling. There is one more essential attribute to “mindful riding” ... perhaps the most important of all, because you cannot plan to succeed without it. This aspect is attitude—a resultsoriented attitude. This is a frame of mind that all riders should constantly strive for as they become more experienced, both at home and in the show ring. The rider with the right attitude demonstrates humility and is open to making mistakes. This is part of the learning process. The rider with this sort of attitude is realistic in what they expect from themself, their horse, and their trainer. An attitude like this will carry you through all levels of learning and growth. You will see that in riding with a results-oriented attitude, you will develop an understanding of the dynamics and the intricacies of your horse and its performance. Stop for a moment and think about how you approach your riding. Are you apologetic? Are you worried that you might harm the horse if you become more aggressive? Perhaps you are too aggressive. Would it suit you well to soften your approach? I like to think that a horse’s time under saddle is like his on-duty shift at work. He has a job to do. As his rider, you are the supervisor or employer. Your job is to establish what the horse’s job description is and how the duties are to be executed. What kind of attitude would it require to create this sort of employer-employee relationship? The rider with the right attitude will work to find this and put it to use to achieve their goals.
joy in our journey to becoming the best rider we can be. Regardless of the level at which you compete, or the amount of experience you have cultivated over time, one thing is certain; we have all continually learned something from these animals. If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed or see that you have hit a lull in your schooling, always acknowledge why you are challenging yourself. The unique joy that can be felt in achieving something with a horse, however great or small, is incomparable. Be mindful of this fact. It will compel you to continue on that road to success. ■ Jeff Lovejoy of Battaglia Farms, Scottsdale, Ariz., started showing Arabian horses very early in his life and quickly developed a passion for equitation. Since his years as a youth competitor, Jeff began working on the professional level, maintaining the principles he learned from equitation into training and instruction. Beyond the show ring, Jeff is an avid yoga practitioner and distance runner, having completed a marathon. The strength and endurance that both of these develop, he feels, are beneficial to better riding and overall well-being.
There are certainly many other elements that can help any individual evolve into a “mindful rider.” These are things that you should seek to understand from those you have sought help and instruction. Every one of us has experienced frustration and
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Handy Horse Tips Take Advantage Of Every Situation by Lee Bolles
I had the pleasure of meeting and watching renowned horseman Ray Hunt several years ago. I learned a lot from our brief encounter, but one of the things that really made an impression on me was his ability to use the environment to teach his horse.
cue to turn on the haunches. Everybody wins. (In case you are wondering, the horse did eventually walk by the cow after he tired of turning on his haunches.)
There are a lot of natural elements in our environments that we can use on a daily basis to make our work with the horses much easier. If you are trying to teach a horse If every day we went out to the barn, asked the horse to to get his lead, ask for the lead on the barn side. The do something and it responded perfectly, trainers would horse’s attention will be focused in that direction, and be obsolete pretty quickly. In fact, horses are thinking he will almost always pick up the proper lead. If you are creatures that have good days and bad, are sometimes trying to teach canter departs, you fearful, and sometimes change are more likely to get the kind from one day to the next. That is of impulsion you are looking for what keeps things interesting. The by facing the horse toward the key is to be a little flexible in one’s “There are a lot of barn. (We all know horses tend own thinking; so, when the horse’s natural elements in our to want to move faster when they desires aren’t the same as yours, you environments that we are headed to the barn.) If a horse can still win in the training game. can use on a daily basis is looking at something, and not wanting to move forward toward The particular time I observed Ray to make our work with said object, use that opportunity to Hunt he was riding a very young the horses much easier.” cue him to back up. If you’ve got horse in the desert and came across a horse that wants to run through a dead cow. Now that horse had gates, use that gate to work on your never seen a cow, much less a dead walk. Go back and forth, walking quietly until you have one, and the horse felt it was not in his best interest to the desired pace. approach said cow. Instead of simply fighting with the horse, Ray used this horse’s wanting to back away from Obviously if the horse is doing something dangerous, you the cow to his advantage by working on something might not be able to use these tactics. However, if you completely different. Since the horse wasn’t going to walk can, try not to immediately go into “fight” mode. Instead, cooperatively by the cow, Ray started asking the horse find something in which the horse will be successful. In with very specific cues to turn on his haunches, first one doing so, you will accomplish a couple of things. He will way and then the other. The horse was happy because be listening and have his mind back on you, and he will he didn’t immediately have to walk by the cow. Ray was learn or practice the cues to do something else. ■ happy because the horse was learning to respond to the
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Coming Up In The June 2010 Issue Of Arabian Horse Times mess … The 2010 Youth Nationals Yearbook—The Good Times es Are Rolling … w off This issue features a preview the show, interviews with the he judges and trainers, up-to-date dat ate news, exhibitors’ profiles, and nd isss iss much, much more. Don’t miss out! Contact us now for your youth ad!
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Exclusive Coverage Of The 2010 Region 7 & Region 12 Championships. Extensive show coverage and interviews with the Regions’ directors are just a few of the things you will find in this month’s Times.
7 Michael Byatt— The Evolution Of A Horseman. One of the most successful halter trainers in the world, Michael Byatt began his career in Arabian performance. In an in-depth interview, he talks about his life, his comprehensive approach to horsemanship, and the importance of humane practices in horse care.
Those High-Flying Futurities. No doubt about it, futurities have played a major role in the Arabian industry. We talk to halter enthusiasts across the country: What effect have futurities had on the halter division? What can we expect in the future? A Cure For Founder? Research at Alamo Pintado Equine Clinic, in Los Olivos, Calif., indicates that stem cell therapy has amazing potential for the future.
Also, be sure to watch for exclusive interviews, training tips, historical features, international show coverage—everything and more that you have come to expect from the recognized Arabian horse community leader! M AY 2010 | 211
LOOKING AHEAD JULY 2010 WESTERN PLEASURE The art of being a cowboy.
SPORT HORSE NATIONALS PREVIEW Form to function at its finest.
IOWA GOLD STAR FUTURITY
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It’ll be like Lil’ Chicago in Des Moines. Featuring nominated sires, contenders and horses for sale, and gangsters of all ages. Get with the program and get your hands on some of the loot!
OHIO BUCKEYE Where National Champions are made. Full show coverage.
CANADIAN NATIONALS PREVIEW Well over 80% of previous Canadian National winners advertised in the July issue.
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LOOKING AHEAD AUGUST 2010 14TH ANNUAL LEADING JUVENILE SIRES FEATURE The young up-and-comers in the breeding barn. (Pictured: Magnum Chall HVP, 2009 Leading Juvenile Sire)
REGION 9 Full regional show coverage and directory. Ads get seen all year!
M MINNESOTA ARABIAN A HORSE BREEDERS FALL FESTIVAL PREVIEW It’s about friends, it’s it about fun and it’s aabout money.
ENGLISH PLEASURE Sit deep and hold tight — it’s show time! English trainers, breeders and exhibitors will be highlighted in this issue.
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