2020
Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, Arizona info@royalarabians.com Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 50, No. 7
Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners 480.361.6926
RODOLFO GUZZO Halter Trainer
Where Talent and Teamwork meet... WWW.ROYALARABIANS.COM Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, AZ 480.361.6926 | info@RoyalArabians.com
JUSTIN COWDEN Performance Trainer
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RODOL FO GUZZO & J UST I N COW DE N What encouraging/positive things did you observe within the industry in 2019? Rodolfo: Everyone is trying to help and this is important when people are able to step back and try to fix what is wrong. I think we all try and some things got better. Justin: The massive participation in the prize money programs such as the AHPA, AWPA, and AEPA is very encouraging. It’s great to see breeders, owners and exhibitors have a desire to be involved. What new things will 2020 bring for your program? Rodolfo: We have new clients enjoying the family of Arabian horse and a lot of great new horses arrived. We are very happy for the future! Justin: Kirsten McKillop has joined our performance division here at Royal Arabians. Kirsten is a wonderful person, exceptionally talented, and we can’t wait to see what she can achieve! What are three items in your tack trunk you can’t go to a show without? Rodolfo: Nothing can be missing. Justin: My favorite ... • Snaffle • Long lines • Martingale
Schatzberg photo
Chloe Holmes photo
For new clients getting into the horse business, what have you found to be the most encouraging to get them enthusiastic about owning and showing an Arabian horse? Rodolfo: People loves to enjoy the friendship and the lifestyle of our industry! To be around great people and this amazing horse ... what more can you ask for! Justin: Creating a fun environment both at the barn and at horse shows where they can enjoy their free time and develop a camaraderie with our other clients. It’s great to have everyone rooting for each other. If you could contribute one idea to the industry to benefit the community, what would it be? Justin: To not just appeal to ourselves, but the non-horse community as well.
R OYA L A R A BI A N S SCOT TSDALE, AZ Years as a trainer: Rodolfo - 34 | Justin - 10 Services/Discipline Focus: Rodolfo - Halter | Justin - Hunter, Western, English Ar abian Horse Times | 151 | Volume 50, No. 7
W W W.ROYALAR ABIANS.COM
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National Champion photo by Royal Arabians
PA MAGELLAN Audacious PS x May Dancer V, by Sundance Kid V Multi-Program Nominated AWPA Enrolled Sire
Brazilian National Champion AWBC Las Vegas Gold Champion Scottsdale International & ANBF Gold Champion
ROYAL ASAD El Tino x Lumiar Ethna Multi-Program Nominated AWPA Enrolled Sire
WWW.ROYALARABIANS.COM Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners | Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, Arizona | 480.361.6926 | info@RoyalArabians.com Ar abian Horse Times | 9 | AW PA 2020
0 E 5 0, N O. 9 | $2 2 .5 LUM VO
*H A LY R
M E I A
and Cindy McGown
LUA
Royal Arabians flourishes through the love and commitment of a tight-knit group of people devoted to the Arabian horse. When asked how horses inspire her, owner Cindy McGown replies, “They are strong, independent, and loyal. They are loving and intelligent. They are incredibly good mothers. I would say they generally encompass the personality traits I strive to have in myself. They inspire me to be more like them.” By all accounts, Cindy has more than met that lofty goal. Along with Mark Davis and daughter Amanda Fraser, she founded Royal in keeping with those aspirations. The result is a universally described atmosphere of “family” at Royal Arabians. In harmony with her strong maternal presence is exceptional business acumen, a combination that client Joe Orr admires. “Cindy is unique,” he states. “In my business experience, which is vast, it’s rare to find someone like Cindy. She’s microscopically honest, and
sometimes that’s tough stuff to hear. She doesn’t put money first; she does what’s right, and that’s a great business attitude. Most people don’t practice business that way; they have short-term goals. Cindy seems to be fully aware—from 25,000 feet! “And Mark’s the same way. They are the heart and soul of Royal Arabians. As much as I love Rodolfo and Travis, it’s Mark and Cindy. They drive the spirit of the place. We also love the club-like atmosphere at Royal. It keeps us involved and grateful to be a part of a very responsible team. It’s comforting, in a way, because they look out for their clients with the same concern that they look out for the entire industry.”
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Three years ago, Sylvain Allard and Robyn Andrews were introduced to the Arabian horse by their friend Lee Courtney and the outreach efforts of Cindy and Mark, who are known for their generosity in supporting Scottsdale-area and other charities. At a 2017 benefit for the Heart Association, which they hosted, they donated their homebred Royal Kavant, who was purchased by Sylvain and Robyn. “A friend encouraged us to bid on the gelding,” says Sylvain, who was born and raised on a farm. “That’s how we got introduced to the Arabian horse. I had horses before, but not Arabians. It was for a good cause, and it’s turned out great. We got to know everybody at Royal and Royal Kavant is now starting his career in western pleasure. Cindy and Mark know the business really well and have a great staff. They’ve given
On the Cover: Halyr Meia Lua & Cindy McGown Written by THERESA CARDAMONE
us great advice, the social life is great, and winning helped! We are quite happy with our first three years!” No wonder Sylvain and Robyn are pleased. Their first show filly, OFW Jewel of Marwan, was a 2019 U.S. National Top Ten ABS Yearling Filly, having previously been named the ABWC Silver Supreme Champion Yearling Filly and Reserve Champion Junior Filly at Scottsdale. Just prior to the 2020 Scottsdale show, they added the
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Lee Courtney has been with Royal client for ten years, teaming with Cindy when they host events such as those benefitting the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association, including the one that brought Sylvain Allard into the breed. “Royal has been instrumental in supporting my desire to do more outreach on the charitable side,” Lee relates. “Philanthropy has always been important to me. I’ve been on several boards here in the Valley, and I give kudos to Cindy for supporting the different efforts and embracing bringing new people to the breed. It’s worked out well for the organizations benefitted by events we’ve hosted, and for new people that it has exposed to the breed.” Cindy, Mark, and Amanda have developed a decisionmaking process for deliberating over what
Above: Scottsdale Junior Champion Filly, Mistic Dominic HVP
charitable contributions to
Right: All smiles for Royal Youth Riders
make. “We have multiple foundations within each
sensational Mistic Dominic HVP, a Brazilian National
business and feel it is
Bronze Champion Junior Junior Filly. “I only live ten
important to give back to that
minutes from Royal Arabians, and I go to see our horses
specific industry/community,”
nearly every day,” Sylvain recounts. “In November 2019, I saw the new arrival and thought she was very special, so I went to talk to Royal trainer Rodolfo Guzzo about her. When he said that she might be for sale, I came back to see her the next morning and made an offer. A week later, she was a surprise Christmas gift for Robyn!”
am approached for a charity in the horse industry, we discuss it and determine if we feel it fits our goals of promoting or protecting the breed in some way.” “I love the way that Royal loves to welcome new people,” Lee enthuses.
At the 2020 Scottsdale show, Mistic was the unanimous winner of both her class and the championship. “Guzzo did a great job training and showing her,” Sylvain commends. “Everyone who saw her was very impressed. One of the other trainers even came to congratulate us, saying, ‘I don’t like losing, but it helps if it is to such a beautiful horse.’ She’s very, very special.”
Cindy explains. “When I
It’s been so much fun. I think we are the perfect farm for that, because we have both performance and halter, whereas some of the other barns are just halter-or performance-focused. Because Royal has both, it’s been fun as a client; there’s something for everyone.” Amanda Fraser is an integral part of Royal Arabians, having grown up with the farm. Now with four children of her own, Amanda deeply
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values the familial feeling that exists there. “I consider most of our clients like really close friends,” Amanda relates. “I think it just happens when you put a bunch of good people together. It’s not necessarily by design, it happens that way when everybody has the same goals in mind.” Cindy elaborates, “We don’t do this for money, so it has to be with people we enjoy.” “Something happened this last Scottsdale that made me appreciate our family atmosphere anew,” Amanda confides. Hearing about one of the young girls at the barn on the verge of leaving the horse industry, Amanda and Justin got together to get her a good horse to ride, not willing to see her leave. “She’s an incredibly talented rider,” continues Amanda, “and when she went Scottsdale Reserve Champion after riding the horse only six times; it was a huge win. But the really cool thing was, every single one of our clients had come to support her, and they, along with everybody in the stands, was crying. I thought, ‘Everyone’s heart is invested in this little girl.’ It was a very touching moment. It was wonderful to feel that sense of unity. We had other clients in the class, and not one person was upset that they didn’t win; everyone was just so happy for her. It was a standout moment, not just for the Scottsdale show, but for my whole career in the Arabian industry. She kept saying ‘thank you’ for letting her use the horse and for everything we did. But it was more like, no, thank you, you restored my faith in humanity!” The talents of renowned trainers Rodolfo Guzzo (halter) and Justin Cowden (performance) have fueled Royal Arabians’ emergence as a thriving training center for both halter and performance. Royal-affiliated horses earned seven championships, four reserve championships, and over 40 top ten awards in halter at the 2020 Scottsdale All-Arabian Show. They also garnered four performance championships and five reserve championships in the amateur and professional divisions of hunter pleasure and country English pleasure. Leola Hansen and her husband Tom have enjoyed phenomenal success with Royal, particularly as amateur riders. “Justin is an excellent trainer,” Leola enthuses. “With his help, we’ve picked up some great horses. Since we’ve been with Royal, we’ve won six national championships, five reserves, and I-don’t-know-how-many Scottsdale championships! Tom won the Scottsdale Signature Stallion Hunter Pleasure Maturity ATR this year on TN Khaliente, the same horse that won three national championships in the past two years. It’s a great group at Royal, our horses are pampered, and that’s the way we want it.”
Top to bottom: Halter trainer, Rodolfo Guzzo; performance trainer, Justin Cowden; happy clients & friends, Tom and Leola Hansen.
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It’s happy times at the
2020 Scottsdale Arabian horse show
for the Royal Arabians family.
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Carol Nierenberg was thrilled with HDF Barcellona’s halter win. “She was presented beautifully by Rodolfo Guzzo, who has been ‘crazy for her’ since he saw her in Brazil,” Carol relates. “Guzzo and Travis Rice call Barcellona ‘The Unicorn’—a singular blend of extreme elegance, correctness, refinement, and Arabian type from nostrils to tailbone. She was the talk of Brazil last summer, where she went Silver Champion Junior Mare—first on judge Michael Byatt’s card—and we’re so pleased that the Scottsdale judges agreed!” Standing at Royal Arabians, Soul of Marwan AS, the 2014 U.S. National Champion Junior Stallion, Champion Yearling Colt and Reserve Champion ABS Yearling Colt, just earned Scottsdale Champion Stallion 7 & Over and Reserve Champion Senior Stallion honors for Arabian Soul Partners, while his daughter, Jasminia AS, was the Scottsdale International Champion Junior Filly and Champion 3-YearOld Mare, making her a favorite for this year’s Nationals. Soul of Marwan’s strong character, energy and intelligence shined at Scottsdale, when put in the hands of master handler Guzzo, showing like he did at Nationals when he was a yearling and won everything. Now he is producing champions, including sons Salazar PA, a Canadian National Reserve Champion, and Royal Mateo, who earned Scottsdale Champion 3 & 4-Year-Old Stallion AAOTH honors with his owner Danny Pagan. Also standing at Royal Arabians is one of their newer acquisitions, 2013 Brazilian National Gold Champion Junior Colt, Halyr Meia Lua. He brings a balanced pedigree of classic and contemporary lines packed with elegance and Arabian type, being a son of 2004 European Reserve Champion Stallion, Ajman Moniscione, and Halya De Jylbert, by Jylbert De Wiec. Guzzo describes Halyr Meia Lua as a stallion “destined for greatness,” who “thinks the whole universe is his,” and Royal’s manager of sales, Travis Rice, calls him “the perfect outcross,” who is “existing loudly with a purpose.” Halyr Meia Lua is standing to a book full of exceptional mares owned by some of the world’s finest breeders. And from the consistent excellence of his foal crops to date, the stallion has every right to their confidence. 2020 Scottsdale show-goers witnessed the only two Halyr Meia Lua offspring presented there, RD Halyra and Royal Theodosia, finishing first and second in the 2-Year-Old Fillies AAOTH class. RD Halyra went on to earn the Scottsdale Champion Junior Filly AAOTH title, with owner/breeder Murray Popplewell on the lead. “I believe he will breed well to any mare,” says Cindy. “He will bring his type, ears, and eyes to the resulting foal. He has the best ears I’ve ever seen on any Arabian horse and big, beautiful, dark eyes. He always brings those traits to the resulting offspring. My favorite of ours is probably Royal Fantazia, as she is three generations of Royal Arabians breeding. Fantazia is out of RA Princess Jammal, who is out of our foundation mare, Maggie Mae PGA. Of course, Bianca AL and Andrea AL are beautiful as well. They are both out of FA El Shawan daughters.” From humble beginnings, and anchored to core values, Cindy McGown and Mark Davis have developed Royal Arabians into a worldwide influencer of the industry, and Cindy is optimistic about the future. “We have endless goals with the Royal Team. That’s what makes this exciting and keeps us going when we are having good days, weeks, or months.” In times of unprecedented challenges and tumultuous events, people take comfort in the constants in their lives. For members of the Arabian horse community, it is the horses, the people, and the places like Royal Arabians that fill that anchoring role of family. ■
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Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 50, No. 10
IF YOU BUILD IT
THEY WILL COME
Wishing the Best of Luck to all Youth Nationals and Mid-Summer Nationals Contenders! Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners | Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, Arizona 480.361.6926 | info@royalarabians.com
www.RoyalArabians.com Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 51, No. 1
GREATNESS EQUALS THE SUM OF ALL TALENT ... Thank you, Carlinhos Souza and Kirsten McKillop, for contributing your talent to Team Royal!
João Carlos “Carlinhos” Silvestre de Souza Halter Trainer
WWW.ROYALARABIANS.COM Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, AZ 480.361.6926 | info@RoyalArabians.com
Kirsten McKillop Performance Trainer
Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 51, No. 2
IF YOU BUILD IT
THEY WILL COME
Wishing the Best of Luck to all 2020 U.S. National Contenders! Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners | Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, Arizona 480.361.6926 | info@royalarabians.com
www.RoyalArabians.com
Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 51, No. 3
To all of our Arabian horse friends and extended family, we wish you the best of the best at this year’s U.S. Nationals show... Whether attending and competing in person or watching from home, we hope you are all safe and well, as we embrace how fortunate we are to share in this wonderful experience of the Arabian horse, now and forever. May all of your dreams come true as we share in the success of one another together as lovers of this incredible breed. ~Cindy McGown, Mark Davis and Team Royal
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El Tino x Yasmin HWM
ARABIAN JUNIOR MARES with JoĂŁo Carlos Silvestre de Souza Proudly owned by Royal Arabians, Cindy McGown & Mark Davis Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, AZ | 480.361.6926 | info@RoyalArabians.com Rodolfo Guzzo, Halter 619.200.6464 | Justin Cowden, Performance 775.901.3029 Travis Rice, Sales & Marketing 614.315.3682 | Amanda Pagan, Breeding Manager | 480.347.8955 Ar abian Horse Times | 136 | Volume 51, No. 3
Conquest BR x Baviera HVP
ARABIAN YEARLING COLTS with Rodolfo Guzzo
Proudly owned by
www.RoyalArabians.com
8 National Champions 3 Reserve Champions 19 Top Tens
Congratulations to all of our clients, friends & “Royal Family.� Thank you for your continued support throughout 2020!
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Proudly owned by ROYAL ARABIANS Cindy McGown & Mark Davis www.RoyalArabians.com
GHAZALA EL JAMAAL Marwan Al Shaqab x Foxbriar Parysel
U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPION ARABIAN MARE AAOTH Presented by Amanda Pagan TOP TEN ARABIAN SENIOR MARE Presented by Joao Carlos Silvestre de Souza Ar abian Horse Times | 80 | Volume 51, No. 4
ROYAL MARCUS Aston Martin++ x GC Merpsydita
U.S. NATIONAL TOP TEN (3RD) AHPA $75,000 HUNTER PLEASURE FUTURITY Ridden by Kirsten McKillop Proudly Owned by Royal Arabians Cindy McGown & Mark Davis www.RoyalArabians.com
ROYAL ARABIANS | Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, AZ Owners, Cindy McGown & Mark Davis Trainers, Rodolfo Guzzo, Halter Justin Cowden, Performance Kirsten McKillop, Performance Travis Rice, Marketing & Sales Amanda Pagan, Breeding Manager Contact 480.361.6926 info@RoyalArabians.com www.RoyalArabians.com
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We look forward to a Bright and Brand New Year! Stay Safe & Stay Blessed...
SEE YOU ALL IN SCOTTSDALE! Cindy McGown & Mark Davis, Owners Scottsdale, Mesa & Rio Verde, Arizona
480.361.6926 | info@royalarabians.com www.RoyalArabians.com
Ar abian Horse Times | 5 | Volume 51, No. 4
To learn more about FVF Bucarrdi, visit: facebook.com/RoyalandGuzzo
@RoyalArabians
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