O
“The Ranch is a
riginally conceived as a pristine setting in which to host family
beautiful, peaceful
gatherings, it did not take long for 110 spectacular acres in one of
place to enjoy all
the most desirable areas of the Santa Ynez Valley to become a haven
the blessings that
for not only the de Cárdenas family, but also a newfound love —
God has given us.”
the Arabian horse. An impressive number of purebred Arabians now
— Peter, age 19
find room to roam on the beautiful sprawling pastures of Haras de Cárdenas®, including a stellar lineup of stallions, leading broodmares, and foals by many of the breed’s outstanding sires.
(*Pepton x Etruria)
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Throughout this story you will find quotes from the Ranch’s biggest fans — the de Cárdenas grandchildren, among others.
I love *Ecaho.” — Carolina, age 5
visel photo
*Ecaho
“I love Kalilah and
“My hope for the future is for it to stay the way it is, a place where we as a family can all enjoy each other and these beautiful animals which we are lucky enough to enjoy.” — Katerina, age 9
Above and facing page: *Ecaho (*Pepton x Etruria), Haras de Cárdenas’s® most prized stallion, with Gerard Paty.
vesty photo
“Our dear friend and family member, Joaquin Bin, reintroduced us to Arabians five years ago when he brought ten of them to our family retreat in the Santa Ynez Valley. Since then we have fallen in love with and shared his passion for these beautiful animals,” say Gilbert and Jennie de Cárdenas. “Although we are relatively new to the Arabian world, we have spent a great deal of time learning about the Arabian breed and making our contributions to this magnificent breed. In the past five years, the three of us have created one of the largest and most advanced private purebred Polish Arabian breeding facilities in the world.” 3 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
“The Ranch is the place without
hd c
ibn g a z a l a l s h aqa b (*Gazal Al Shaqab x *Emiria)
the people and things you love most.” — Sofie, age 12
Joaquin, who manages the Ranch’s breeding operations,
important,” Joaquin says. “This, together with Gilbert’s business
credits Gilbert and Jennie, who are Cuban immigrants, for the direction of the program and the success of Haras de Cárdenas
worries, you can have fun and enjoy
vision, led him to bring outside stallions into our breeding ®
program. For example, I had always liked Monogramm, having
thus far. “Bear in mind that Gilbert saw many purebred Arabian
bred to him many years ago, but it was Gilbert who pushed to
stallions imported from Spain at the army remount in Cuba,
bring Monogramm into the program. And, it was Jennie who
where they were used to improve the farmers’ stock. So even
pushed to bring the great Pilarka into our breeding program
though he was not into breeding many years ago, he had an
through *Piaff. Together, Gilbert, and Jennie made many
eye for the Arabian breed, and let me tell you the eye is most
such decisions, and my job was dipping into our broodmare
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“I love the beautiful days and crisp clear nights, and the wholesome lifestyle this area offers — the local markets, the fresh produce, the friendly people, the family get-togethers. The Ranch is peaceful and beautiful. Our own little piece of paradise.” — Maria de Cárdenas
band to select the mares that were appropriate for each particular stallion.” Ranch manager Codi Strand was born and raised around Arabian horses and has been breeding them most of her life. Her family owns Strand Arabian Stables in Toddville, Iowa. Today, Haras de Cárdenas® cites Polish National legend *Ecaho
Above and facing page: HDC Ibn Gazal Al Shaqab (*Gazal Al Shaqab x *Emiria).
(*Pepton x Etruria) as its most prized stallion, noting his influence as a focal point for visitors from around the globe. “Of course, *Ecaho is our signature stallion and the pride of HDC,” say Jennie and Gilbert. “His list of progeny speaks for 5 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
“Carolina loves putting on her pink cowboy boots and spending all day outdoors. She’ll feed the chickens, bring back fresh eggs. After breakfast, we’ll go see the all the horses, chickens again, the goats and the sheep. We’ll look for kittens and rabbits. If we’re lucky, she rides Uncle Buck, our pony. We will go out there over and over again, spending all day outdoors.” — Maria de Cárdenas
itself, but during his years with us, he has sired some incredible colts and fillies. We have two exceptional colts by him, HDC El Cacique (x Om El Tahari), four years old, and HDC Jakar (x MHR Java), two years old. Both will be showing at Scottsdale this February.
HDC
E l C ac i q u e
(*Ecaho x Om El Tahari)
We have integrated them into our breeding program and believe that they will someday be as legendary in their own right as *Ecaho has been.” *Ecaho is joined in the Haras de Cárdenas® stallion barn by several other notable sires. *Esperanto, a *Eukaliptus son out of Esperanca, had already achieved a prestigious title as Polish National Reserve Junior Champion Colt prior to his arrival at Haras de Cárdenas®. In 2009, the exotic black stallion Dreamcatcher SMF (BB Thee Renegade x Shaia) was added to the HDC breeding program, and the
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“I love feeding the horses, riding them and and petting them.” — Carolina, age 5
“Achilles is by far my favorite horse. He is a gentle giant and is the most majestic and powerful creature I have ever seen.” — Peter, age 19
Ranch currently owns several of his sons and daughters, some of which have inherited their sire’s highly desirable coat color. Another acquisition for the stallion barn was the grey HDC Ibn Gazal Al Shaqab (*Gazal Al Shaqab x *Emiria), bred by Michalow Stud and imported from Poland. Emiria is a daughter of the famous Polish stallion *Emigrant
HDC
Jakar
(*Ecaho x x MHR Java)
PASB (Ararat x Emigrantka by *Eukaliptus), while *Gazal Al Shaqab is known worldwide as the sire of numerous international champions. The Haras de Cárdenas® stallions are turned out every day next to other stallions or colts, as Joaquin believes that each horse’s mental health is extremely important. “Also, attention is given to the wellbeing of all foals, who usually live in the pasture until they are two or three years old, with colts and fillies kept in groups divided by sex and 7 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
HDC
Alessa
(*Ecaho x Om El Amara Estopa)
“The Ranch is where everyone in the family can be together and interact with nature ... it’s my favorite place in the whole wide world.” — Katerina, age 9
HDC “I love feeding the horses. They’re so pretty!” — Victoria, age 9
“I love playing at the Ranch. It’s so much fun!” age,” says Joaquin. They get trimmed every
— Olivia, age 7
six to eight weeks, handled, wormed, and vaccinated. We bring them into the feeding paddock at night and after morning feeding they go out into their pasture seven days a week. We let horses be horses.” The mares at Haras de Cárdenas® are lovely representatives of leading breeding programs from around the world. The herd includes daughters of sires of hundreds of champions. Notable stallions such as *Aladdinn, *Elimar, *Eukaliptus, Gdansk, Le Fire, Monogramm, and Port Bask all known for siring great 8 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
camelia (*Ecaho x BA Candela)
HDC
ta r a z k a (*Ecaho x Om El Tahari)
“I would like to see the Ranch continue to be the place of peace and happiness that it has been for many generations to come. I hope that one day when I am long gone, our children’s children will still be enjoying the Ranch as a place for family and God.” — Peter, age 19
HDC
el alamein
(*Al Maraam x Rubiatt Rose)
“I have no view for the future because the Ranch is perfect the way it is.” — Sofie, age 12 broodmares, feature prominently in the pedigrees of the Haras de Cárdenas® mares. Delighting in each new foal born at the Ranch, Jennie de Cárdenas comments, “I always find it so amusing and fascinating when a new foal is born and the other mares all gather as close as they can, reaching their heads over their stalls, trying to look and gossip with each other! I don’t know what they are saying, but they are definitely commenting on the new baby.” Due to their careful planning and study of pedigrees, the de Cárdenases believe they have already achieved many of their original goals, and 9 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
“My two favorite horses are Piaffs Dream and Princess K. I love them because they are both beautiful mothers and they are very loving. My favorite goat is Borracho.” — Katerina, age 9
“Mami, can the next
HDC
princess k
girl horse born be called Princess C, like Princess K?”
(*Ecaho x BA Kool Melody)
— Carolina, age 5
they are looking forward to their next ventures, as they plunge into the show arena. “Each breeding at HDC is carefully planned and considered beforehand,” they say. “Each foal that is born at HDC is the product of our selective breeding program, and the horses that come out of HDC are a match to any worldwide. We only breed with select, well-established bloodlines. As breeders, during our first phase, we primarily focused on the pedigrees and bloodlines, but now as HDC enters our new phase of also showing the products of our breeding 10 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
d r e a m c at c h e r s m f (BB Thee Renegade x Shaia)
“I love the Ranch … I like the eggs!” — Camila, age 3 ½
“Shirocco is my favorite horse because he is the most gentle and kind horse I know. He loves to play and he is the best soccer player I know.” — Sofie, age 12
* e s p e r a n to (*Eukaliptus x Esperanca)
pasb
HDC
gamiska
(HDC Ibn Gazal Al Shaqab x RV Keen)
“I love all of our animals at the Ranch, and I love looking at all of the wildlife there with Abu (grandfather Gilbert) and Papa (grandfather Joaquin).” — Gilly, age 9
HDC
sunburst (*Ecaho x Starburst MO)
“Mami, I want you and I to live here, Daddy can go live with Buby (grandma).” program, we will focus on the
— Carolina, age 5
athletic and performance areas for our horses as well, using a variety of skilled trainers to show our horses at various shows throughout the year. We will begin this February at the Scottsdale Show and continue at the Arabian Breeders Cup in Las Vegas in April.” The HDC banner will be carried at Scottsdale with Gerard Paty, who has now assumed responsibilities as Haras de Cárdenas’s® head trainer, showing in halter. At that show, Gerard will lead 12 b haras de cárdenas b WORLD
“Sometimes I wish that we had started Haras
Top left:
pat h o s
fea
(*Laheeb IASB x *Pustyanna Tarcza)
de Cárdenas® 20 years ago.” — Jennie de Cárdenas
Top right:
HDC
l ay k a
(*Laheeb IASB x Rubiatt Rose) Bottom right:
HDC
s a e ta
(*Ecaho x Starlet MO)
HDC El Cacique (*Ecaho x Om El Tahari), HDC Camelia (*Ecaho x BA Candela), HDC Alessa (*Ecaho x Om El Amara Estopa), HDC Layka (*Laheeb IASB x Rubiatt Rose), HDC El Alamein (*Al Maraam x Rubiatt Rose), HDC Jakar (*Ecaho x MHR Java), HDC Princess K (*Ecaho x BA Kool Melody), and HDC Tarazka (*Ecaho x
Om El Tahari). “Haras de Cárdenas® would like to congratulate Gerard Paty on an outstanding show season in Europe with the horses of Janów Podlaski of Poland,” say Gilbert and Jennie. “We are excited that Gerard will be taking over the show barn at Haras de Cárdenas® and will be looking forward to great success. “At Scottsdale this year we will also have HDC Pathos (*Laheeb IASB x *Pustynna Tarcza) showing with Gary McDonald of McDonald Arabians, and HDC Pegasus (*Ecaho x Sweet Flame) and HDC Kanelo (Way Kool x JT Fire Passion) showing with Kelly Elm of Arroyo Arabians.”
From left: Jennie and Gilbert de Cárdenas, and breeding director Joaquin Bin.
All of these horses are special, but I have a couple of favorites — they represent how important my family roots are to me. I strongly believe that HDC is a place to unite with family for lots of laughter, smiles, and stories from Cuba. If we didn’t have HDC, our family would not be as close or appreciative of each other. Our family definitely expresses our love for each other through the passion we have for breeding Arabians with affection and care.” — Isabella, age 14
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With the Haras de Cárdenas® program now firmly established, Gilbert, Jennie, and Joaquin find time to reflect on the journey. “At the beginning we thought that it would be fun and an interesting adventure to have the original ten Arabians on our family retreat in Santa Ynez, that they would be something for our grandchildren to enjoy,” they say. “What we did not anticipate was how much these beautiful animals, and the ones that came after them, would become part of our lives and how emotionally invested we would become in them. Our Arabians have become an extraordinary part of our lives and family. They are a passion and pleasure that we all share. They bring us together at Haras de Cárdenas® for the best of family times. Several of our grandchildren have taken up riding and have a special horse of their own. We are building something for our children and our grandchildren that we hope will last for generations. We worked hard at building our breeding facility to be state-of-the-art and a healthy and tranquil place for our Arabians to be. “Now, we are entering into our next phase, where we will begin to show some of the beautiful horses we have bred at HDC. We are all very excited and looking forward to the pleasures and experiences of the showring.
“The Ranch is my favorite
“It has always been our aim to carry on in the
place in the world. I look
tradition of the great Polish breeders and maintain
forward to it being a place
these famous bloodlines. We hope to succeed in this
for our family to grow and
goal and at the same time move forward and create
for our heritage to be kept
some new lines, originating at HDC, that will be part
close for the many HDC
of the future of the Arabian. We have the passion and
generations to come. And
the will to work toward our goals and we are proud to
I hope the passion for
contribute to this amazing breed.”
Jennie and Gilbert de Cárdenas.
family — and especially horses — never dies.” — Isabella, age 14
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* E c(*Pepton ah o x Etruria) vesty photo
HDC Ranch 3720 Baseline Avenue Santa Ynez, California 93460 Joaquin Bin Breeding Program Director Telephone: 800.315.4890 Cell: 805.245.8907 E-mail: info@HarasdeCardenas.com Website: www.HarasdeCardenas.com
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