by Denise Hearst Stuart and Sue Larsen might have one of the most disciplined breeding programs in the Arabian horse world: it boasts two horses — a multi-National Champion Stallion, Polidoro FC, whom they bred from a purchased embryo, and a three-year-old filly, Kamila FC (*Kanz Albidayer x A Special Versace). But of course, it wasn’t always so. Stuart’s earliest memories of horses trace to his childhood growing up on a sheep farm in New Zealand’s North Island in the Waikato Valley. There were plenty of dogs and plenty of horses around, and Stuart rode nearly every day. “It was a hilly farm, and the horses were better at covering the country than vehicles,” he says. “We used horses to get a job done. They were work horses; not pretty.” Meanwhile Sue grew up owning and competitively showing many different breeds of dogs and riding hunters. She had always admired the beauty of Arabians through friends involved with them and the admiration of their stature and beauty was the catalyst for her involvement in Arabs. Fifteen years ago, while they were breeding and campaigning some of the top Rottweilers in the country, they took a side trip to visit an Arabian farm. “We had a good friend, Perry Payson, who had shown our dogs for many years and put the number-one titles on all four of our famous Rottweilers,” says Stuart. “And he’s into horses. We were at a dog show in California, and he suggested we go look at Arabians just for fun. Turned out it was a set-up between Perry and Sue to get me involved in Arabians. We were going to look at this really pretty mare at Sheila Varian’s, Kleopatra Jullyen V (*Jullyen El Jamaal x La Kijan), who, as it turns out, already had my name on her stall door. Perry’s got a very good eye. He’s been breeding dogs for a long time. Facing page: The 2010 stallion Polidoro FC (DA Valentino x *Abha Palma).
And he knows the Arabian horse pedigrees very well. “So we purchased our first Arabian mare, had some success showing her in Regional shows and in Canada, and we bred her to stallions like *Marwan Al Shaqab, Marajj and Enzo who gave us some nice foals over a short period of time, all of whom went on to be good performance horses. “When we lost Kleopatra in 2012, we purchased the yearling filly Valori TRF (DA Valentino x Satin Chall LL). We showed her to 2009 Scottsdale Champion Junior Filly, and then sold her. By then we were hooked on halter. “Both Sue and I realized that the two disciplines, Rottweiler and Arabian breeding, had a lot in common. We were looking for a new venture, so we moved more seriously into buying and breeding Arabians. To be able to use the ‘eye’ we had developed through years of assessing conformation in dogs, to find and/or breed structurally correct Arabian winners, became exciting. “At one point we had 12 or 13 Arabians, but with that many it’s hard to focus unless Arabians are your full-time business, which they are not. So after some serious soul searching, we followed our instincts and sold most of our horses into great homes where they could be outside, ridden, and have family interaction, homes where we know they are loved, just as they should be. Now we can focus our energy and our resources on something more precise.” The Larsens got very precise at the 2009 Las Vegas Breeders show, where they were most impressed with *Abha Palma (*Marwan Al Shaqab x Abha Ghazali) the Reserve Champion Junior Filly. “She has one of the most gilded pedigrees and show careers out there, and of course conformationally, she is almost perfect,” says Stuart. “We were lucky enough to convince her owners, Al Mohamadia Stud, to let us purchase her only embryo in America. We bred her to DA Valentino (Versace x DA Love), a six-time U.S. National Champion and
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by Denise Hearst Stuart and Sue Larsen might have one of the most disciplined breeding programs in the Arabian horse world: it boasts two horses — a multi-National Champion Stallion, Polidoro FC, whom they bred from a purchased embryo, and a three-year-old filly, Kamila FC (*Kanz Albidayer x A Special Versace). But of course, it wasn’t always so. Stuart’s earliest memories of horses trace to his childhood growing up on a sheep farm in New Zealand’s North Island in the Waikato Valley. There were plenty of dogs and plenty of horses around, and Stuart rode nearly every day. “It was a hilly farm, and the horses were better at covering the country than vehicles,” he says. “We used horses to get a job done. They were work horses; not pretty.” Meanwhile Sue grew up owning and competitively showing many different breeds of dogs and riding hunters. She had always admired the beauty of Arabians through friends involved with them and the admiration of their stature and beauty was the catalyst for her involvement in Arabs. Fifteen years ago, while they were breeding and campaigning some of the top Rottweilers in the country, they took a side trip to visit an Arabian farm. “We had a good friend, Perry Payson, who had shown our dogs for many years and put the number-one titles on all four of our famous Rottweilers,” says Stuart. “And he’s into horses. We were at a dog show in California, and he suggested we go look at Arabians just for fun. Turned out it was a set-up between Perry and Sue to get me involved in Arabians. We were going to look at this really pretty mare at Sheila Varian’s, Kleopatra Jullyen V (*Jullyen El Jamaal x La Kijan), who, as it turns out, already had my name on her stall door. Perry’s got a very good eye. He’s been breeding dogs for a long time. Facing page: The 2010 stallion Polidoro FC (DA Valentino x *Abha Palma).
And he knows the Arabian horse pedigrees very well. “So we purchased our first Arabian mare, had some success showing her in Regional shows and in Canada, and we bred her to stallions like *Marwan Al Shaqab, Marajj and Enzo who gave us some nice foals over a short period of time, all of whom went on to be good performance horses. “When we lost Kleopatra in 2012, we purchased the yearling filly Valori TRF (DA Valentino x Satin Chall LL). We showed her to 2009 Scottsdale Champion Junior Filly, and then sold her. By then we were hooked on halter. “Both Sue and I realized that the two disciplines, Rottweiler and Arabian breeding, had a lot in common. We were looking for a new venture, so we moved more seriously into buying and breeding Arabians. To be able to use the ‘eye’ we had developed through years of assessing conformation in dogs, to find and/or breed structurally correct Arabian winners, became exciting. “At one point we had 12 or 13 Arabians, but with that many it’s hard to focus unless Arabians are your full-time business, which they are not. So after some serious soul searching, we followed our instincts and sold most of our horses into great homes where they could be outside, ridden, and have family interaction, homes where we know they are loved, just as they should be. Now we can focus our energy and our resources on something more precise.” The Larsens got very precise at the 2009 Las Vegas Breeders show, where they were most impressed with *Abha Palma (*Marwan Al Shaqab x Abha Ghazali) the Reserve Champion Junior Filly. “She has one of the most gilded pedigrees and show careers out there, and of course conformationally, she is almost perfect,” says Stuart. “We were lucky enough to convince her owners, Al Mohamadia Stud, to let us purchase her only embryo in America. We bred her to DA Valentino (Versace x DA Love), a six-time U.S. National Champion and
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one of the most prolific Arabian stallions in the country. The result was Polidoro FC. That experience will be a hard one to beat.” When Polidoro was a couple of months old, the Larsens went to see him at Michael Byatt’s farm, and as Stuart says, “We were really happy with what we saw at that stage. The colt had what we look for even at that age: he carried himself. He was a show horse. And you look at his neck and think, ‘OK that’s what we were looking for.’ We were out to lighten up Palma’s neck a little bit and it happened. In thinking of a name, we considered Greek mythology — Polydoros is a compounding of many and gifts, so indeed, is Polidoro. Or, Polidoro
Caldara da Caravaggio was a famous Italian painter, often referred to as one of Raphael’s best students. Polidoro is a cross between the two I suppose! “But as all breeders know, sometimes they get even better … but often they don’t, so we listened to Michael, who believed we had a U.S. National Champion on our hands. We took it softly and slowly, being careful not to get too excited, and to keep Polidoro from burning out. We showed him in a limited way when he was young. We are forever grateful to Michael for his steady calm advice. “We always try to find the best handler whether it’s for a dog or a horse. If you’re going to pay your money, you might as A H W > 92 < 0 1 . 1 9
right: 2018 U.S. National Champion Senior Stallion Polidoro FC with, from left to right, Austin Colangelo, Michael Byatt, Stuart Larsen, Perry Payson, Sue Larsen and Carson Ehret.
well pay whatever the premium is for the best. I cannot stand the thought of getting less than the very best. “So we shipped Polidoro’s recipient mare to Michael and have been with him ever since. While we have acreage in Florida and the Northeast, our horses are with Michael because he is the kindest, most knowledgeable, and honest trainer in the business. He, like us, has only one guiding mission and that’s the well-being of the horse. Nothing else, period. Except perhaps to win … but not at the expense of the horse’s happiness and well-being. “Michael cares about the horse. He thinks the plan through. And not only thinks that plan through, he has an alternative. He gives you the pros and the cons about every alternative and lets you make the decision. We know ‘Poli’s’ in good hands and that’s it.” Polidoro’s show career has been stunning, from his U.S. National debut as the Reserve Champion Yearling Colt in 2011, to Champion Futurity Colt in 2013, U.S. Champion Four- to Fiveyear-old in 2014, Canadian National Champion Stallion in 2015, to 2018 Scottsdale Champion Stallion and U.S. National Champion Stallion, plus a sprinkling of Regional Championships. We asked Stuart to what he attributes Polidoro’s nearly undefeated career. “His pedigree, his conformation, his neck, his eyes, and his movement and Michael’s care and love for what he has to offer the breed,” he says. “What you don’t see in the ring is his incredible temperament. He is one of the most well-behaved Arabian stallions we have ever been around, he is a caring horse, and he throws it in his foals as well. But that all comes from deep down in his pedigree.”
2018 U.S. National Champion Filly Giana Leah PCF (Polidoro FC x Aliyah Vision PCF), owned by Rae-Dawn Arabians, and pictured with trainer Bruno Guiraldelli.
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“Polidoro FC has always been an easy horse, but not in the way one might expect,” adds Michael. “He hasn’t been shown a lot, but he has been shown for a long time. By the time we got to the 2018 U.S. Nationals, I wanted his life to be as close to possible to what he was experiencing at home. I didn’t want him to feel any different in Tulsa than he did at home. And it was apparent in the way Polidoro showed. Polidoro was happy in the ring and had a good experience. I knew if that were the case, he could and should be National Champion Stallion. And that is exactly what happened. He rewarded Stuart and Sue for their belief in him.” Of all his many wins, which was the most meaningful for the Larsens? “Looking back on it all, his entire methodically-planned career has been memorable,” says Stuart. “From a ringside idea to reality, what a horse! And look what he has sired.” He proved himself at the 2018 Nationals as the sire of the unanimous 2018 U.S. National Champion Filly Giana Leah PCF (x Aliyah Vision PCF), who was also the 2018 Champion Junior Filly in Scottsdale. The Polidoro son Polimar (x Shalimar MA) was 2018 U.S. National Top Ten Futurity Colt, after having won 2016 Scottsdale Champion Classic Junior Colt AAOTH, and Polidoro has sired three other Scottsdale Top Ten yearlings. “Polidoro is bringing the quality of his pedigree to the next generation,” notes Stuart. “We are looking forward to breeding him to our filly Kamila FC. We think she’ll cross really well with him.” “As a breeding stallion, Polidoro offers perfect balance and conformation,”
says Michael. “He has a magnificent shoulder and exquisite neck, an abundance of refinement, a small muzzle — I could go on and on. He is also an outstanding mover, which reflects his excellent structure and conformation. He is just a very complete horse. “And then there’s his mind. I like to say that he thinks like his mother and acts like his father,” adds Michael. “He thrives on personal attention and wants to be the center of everything. My daughter, Hannah, will tell you that Polidoro is one of her all-time favorite horses. She spends a lot of time with him — even picnics with him. He would be in a large paddock and she would bring a small flake of hay and her picnic lunch, and he would stand right by her and eat his hay while she had her picnic, even though he could go anywhere in the paddock at any time. He chose to stay with her. If he saw her, he would start calling and nickering. They spent a great deal of quiet time together. However, Hannah is now attending school in Paris, France. Polidoro actually pined for Hannah. Sometimes I FaceTime with Hannah near Polidoro, and Polidoro responds to Hannah’s voice on the telephone.” “Polidoro has given us everything we could ask for,” says Stuart. “From his kind disposition, to his stature in the ring, especially when he comes in tail up and snorting, to his conformation, movement and structure, to what he is siring, there is nothing more we could desire that’s too much different than Polidoro, so off we go again on that quest.” Is Stuart suggesting that they are looking for the next Polidoro? “Yeah, who wouldn’t be? But it would have to be pretty darn special, something young and unproven. We can spot it pretty quickly, and with Michael’s eye, too. But you know, the three of us can be wrong. Whether it’s horses, dogs, or even my business — yachts — pedigree is everything. I won’t even look at them if the pedigree isn’t there. “We are detail fanatics. And adrenaline junkies. The adrenaline of a good horse winning a top horse show is pretty high on the list. This is not our business. It’s a passion. And a horse like Polidoro fuels that passion. We realize what a rare gift this experience has been. How could we not want to do it all over again?” A H W > 94 < 0 1 . 1 9