Sharing the Passion:
Scottsdale Barn Parties by Carol Maginn
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Rae Dawn Arabians open house: Top: The stallions Bey Ambition (*Regal Actor JP x Bey Shahs Lady) and *El Nabila B (Kubinec x 218 Elf Layla Walayla B), left, greet each other wearing their U.S. National Champion garlands. Bottom: Bey Ambition with trainer Claudinei Machado, left, and owner Murray Popplewell with RD Habanero (Bey Ambition x NW Siena Psyche), who was the 2011 Scottsdale Arabian Classic Junior Champion Colt AAOTH.
he Arabian horse — in his native desert land, under breathtaking sunsets, and among the beautiful mountains of Arizona. What could be better than that? Just visiting the farms of the breeders and owners of over 30 farms within a 25-mile range of Scottsdale makes many Arabian horse enthusiasts wonder, “What it would be like to live here?” We had the opportunity to visit two such beautiful farms — Rae Dawn Arabians, owned by Murray and Shirley Popplewell, and Arabian Expressions, owned by Greg Knowles. Rae Dawn Arabians is home to the 2009 U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt Bey Ambition (*Regal Actor JP x Bey Shahs Lady), a stallion with broad appeal. He is tall and beautiful with powerful movement and charisma — as one person at the open house stated, “I need a stallion who looks like a stallion and is powerful and beautiful.” Equally as exciting as meeting Bey Ambition was seeing his get presented one by one — all with the same power, charisma, and beauty as their sire. Later, I found a visitor in Bey’s stall petting him. Despite his size and exuberance, Bey Ambition is an “in your pocket horse” who loves being petted, played with, and admired. Rae Dawn Arabians also hosted 2010 U.S. National Champion Stallion *El Nabila B (Kubinec x 218 Elf Layla Walayla B by Assad). He is owned by *El Nabila Partners and stands at Om El Arab in Santa Ynez, California. One of the things that many people were mentioning during the presentation was *El Nabila’s huge dark eyes. He is truly a
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Sharing the Passion:
Scottsdale Barn Parties by Carol Maginn
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Rae Dawn Arabians open house: Top: The stallions Bey Ambition (*Regal Actor JP x Bey Shahs Lady) and *El Nabila B (Kubinec x 218 Elf Layla Walayla B), left, greet each other wearing their U.S. National Champion garlands. Bottom: Bey Ambition with trainer Claudinei Machado, left, and owner Murray Popplewell with RD Habanero (Bey Ambition x NW Siena Psyche), who was the 2011 Scottsdale Arabian Classic Junior Champion Colt AAOTH.
he Arabian horse — in his native desert land, under breathtaking sunsets, and among the beautiful mountains of Arizona. What could be better than that? Just visiting the farms of the breeders and owners of over 30 farms within a 25-mile range of Scottsdale makes many Arabian horse enthusiasts wonder, “What it would be like to live here?” We had the opportunity to visit two such beautiful farms — Rae Dawn Arabians, owned by Murray and Shirley Popplewell, and Arabian Expressions, owned by Greg Knowles. Rae Dawn Arabians is home to the 2009 U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt Bey Ambition (*Regal Actor JP x Bey Shahs Lady), a stallion with broad appeal. He is tall and beautiful with powerful movement and charisma — as one person at the open house stated, “I need a stallion who looks like a stallion and is powerful and beautiful.” Equally as exciting as meeting Bey Ambition was seeing his get presented one by one — all with the same power, charisma, and beauty as their sire. Later, I found a visitor in Bey’s stall petting him. Despite his size and exuberance, Bey Ambition is an “in your pocket horse” who loves being petted, played with, and admired. Rae Dawn Arabians also hosted 2010 U.S. National Champion Stallion *El Nabila B (Kubinec x 218 Elf Layla Walayla B by Assad). He is owned by *El Nabila Partners and stands at Om El Arab in Santa Ynez, California. One of the things that many people were mentioning during the presentation was *El Nabila’s huge dark eyes. He is truly a
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Scottsdale2011 Arabian Expressions barn party: Top left: The stallion*Mishaal HP (Ansata Sinan x Mesoudah M), owned by Judy Sirbasku of Arabians Ltd., Waco, Texas. Top right: *Emigrant PASB (Ararat x Emigrantka), owned by Manny and Diana Vierra of Valley Oak Arabians, Brentwood, California. Right: Greg Knowles of Arabian Expressions with Presley.
Greg Knowles, Judy Sirasku, and Greg’s father.
Tamara and Greg Knowles with Shawn Crews.
perfect representative of the Babolna breeding program of Hungary, whose horses are known for their beautiful huge eyes, dark skin, and solid bodies, and the best of the Russian-bred Arabians as well. The atmosphere at Rae Dawn Arabians was wonderful — the Popplewells had just completed construction of their new reception area, fully equipped with a horse viewing area and state-of-the-art video room. The food was spectacular with barbecued steak, chicken, and tasty hors d’oeuvres. It was a beautiful day of celebration, seeing the results of the Rae Dawn
breeding program — truly a labor of love. The next evening, following the afternoon halter classes at WestWorld, we were invited to attend the Arabian Expressions Open Barn party and celebration. Guests arrived at a picturesque setting with visitors from all over the world including Italy, Morocco, Bahrain, England, Germany, and even Brazil. Upon check-in everyone signed in to win a breeding to the stallions *Mishaal HP (Ansata Sinan x Mesoudah M), imported from Germany, and *Emigrant PASB (Ararat x Emigrantka), imported from Poland. Frank Spönle and Raymond Mazzei were on hand to present the horses along with farm owner and trainer Greg Knowles. To begin, foals by *Mishaal HP were presented, all stamped with the typical “Mishaal look” that includes extreme type, and huge, wide-set eyes. Finally, to great anticipation, German trainer Frank Spönle presented Mishaal beautifully. The crowd gasped, and people were heard exclaiming “Wow, he is so beautiful,” and “Look at those huge eyes.” Mishaal is truly a showstopper and considered by many the most beautiful straight Egyptian stallion by Ansata Sinan. Mishaal is truly awe-inspiring, much like a “fairytale” horse in appearance due to his exotic head and Arabian type. It was quite interesting to see *Mishaal presented to the Scottsdale audience where — the words “straight Egyptian” and “crowd favorite” are often not said in the same sentence. But here this year *Mishaal HP was a huge hit. Next we saw the world-famous *Emigrant, owned by Manny and Diana Vierra of Valley Oak Arabians. *Emigrant needs no introduction. He is a part of the famous “E” line of Polish Arabians and has won numerous European titles including Polish National Champion Stallion and European National Champion. *Emigrant is also a leading sire of champion get all across Europe. We overheard owner Manny Vierra speaking with great pride to the visitors about how long he dreamed of owning *Emigrant and bringing him to the United States. Manny has always believed strongly in this line and in fact leased the well-known Polish mare *El Dorada several years ago. *Emigrant is a huge and striking stallion with fantastic movement. He is like a powerhouse at the end of the
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Presented at the Gallún stalls were the 2010 Arabian Breeders World Cup Supreme Champion Senior Stallion *Escape Ibn Navarrone-D (AS Sinans Pacha x Navarrone P), top left, and 2010 U.S. National Champion Junior Stallion Eden C (Enzo x Silken Sable), top right.
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Ames Charisma (Magnum Psyche x Ames Mirage) was presented by Brookville Arabians trainer Jordan Simons.
lead. Watching Raymond Mazzei running alongside *Emigrant was a spectacular sight. You could see that both enjoyed showing off in front of the crowd. Of course it is always a thrill to show such a great stallion and an icon of the breed. We learned that Greg Knowles is a man of many talents. Following the horse presentations, Greg delighted the crowd with a demonstration of his dog-training prowess using his dear black Rottweiler, Presley. Presley, as it turns out, is sired by “Elvis,” also known as Champion Keerocka’s Entertainer. When Greg yelled, “Bang Bang!” Presley dropped to the ground — playing dead. He also performed a number of other entertaining tricks. The day ended with a tour of the beautiful new barn just constructed at Arabian Expressions. As I strolled through the barn area, I noticed that there were several beautiful horses that were quite breathtaking — many of whom had been presented earlier in the week as sales offerings. And so until next year we will all dream of the future, of that next great foal crop, and the opportunity to share our passion with our fellow Arabian breeders and owners. Here’s to Scottsdale!
The Al-Marah Arabians barn with their multiple championships and ribbons.
Travis Training Center hosted a barn party and presented the stallion *LA Karat (WH Justice x LA Kalahari).
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Scottsdal e 2011 Barn Parties Two Arabians patiently wait to be draped in costumes and carry costume-clad children for a special photo opportunity.
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Amateur and youth competitors — The “Lowe Riders” from Jim Lowe’s barn.
Above: Shada, Inc., presented a number of young horses before a large crowd at the Sandspur Farm.
Austrian breeder Susanne Hofbauer (right) with Silvia Peschek, also of Austria.
Jean Edwards, Arturo Uribe, and Christopher Zubiate of the *El Nabila Partnership.
Photographer Stuart Vesty and Fabian TRF (Eden C x RD Fabreanna).
Movie actress Kristina Wayborn pictured here with “Honey Bear,” appeared in several James Bond movies.
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Ken and Debbie Cain from Illinois with David Schall (center) from Minnesota.
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From left to right: Darlene and Duane Scudder of California; Sue Martin, an RN and Arabian horse judge and appraiser; Eddie Almberg of Arizona; and Carol Steppe of California.
From left to right: Hunter/Jumper trainer Kristin Hardin of New Cuyama, California, Allison Wicks, and Matheson Lassiter.
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From left to right: Brookville Arabians’ Annabella Gelbard, Jordan Simons, and Ally Nelson.
Having a great time showing at Scottsdale for the first time, Frank Hennessey and foal H Embrace H (*Besson Carol x *Embra), earned a top five in their Signature Yearling Fillly Class.
Airborne! Reserve Champion Senior Stallion *Abha Qatar (*Marwan Al Shaqab x ZT Ludjkalba) and his handler Philip Looyens from Belgium take a victory lap.
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