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“Eleanor is still that farm girl from Nebraska. She always says that, ‘If it wasn’t for the cows we wouldn’t have what we have today.’” — Pam Rose
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Eleanor Hamilton aboard Come Spin With Me (Hesa Zee x Miss Colonel Freckle), a Half-Arabian bred and owned by Eleanor’s Arabian Farm.
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Eleanor and her sister Mary Ann,
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leanor Hamilton is an inspiration. She is an eighty-one-year-old cancer survivor who greets each day with a level of optimism and enthusiasm to which we all should aspire. Her love of Arabian horses and her passion for breeding them is only surpassed by her relentless
curiosity to find the next step or additional piece for her highly successful breeding program. The people who know her best cherish their relationship with this extraordinary woman. Eleanor grew up on her family’s 4,000-acre cattle ranch in Cherry and Sheridan Counties in northwest Nebraska where they raised Hereford cattle. Horses were an integral part of their lives, and were used to work the cattle and in the hay fields. Grade school was two miles from her home and Eleanor rode her horse there. “When we got to school you took the bridle off and put a halter on so they could drag a lead rope,” she says. “That way you knew you
Eleanor’s father circa 1927, top, and Eleanor Hamilton, above, at her ranch today in Rogers, Minnesota.
could catch them when you were ready to go home. And you left the saddle on. There were only two or three students in my school district. When my sister got old enough to go to school I was responsible for getting her and her horse there and back. We were ten and seven years old.” 3 b ELEANOR’S b WORLD
“Everyone should get to know Eleanor Hamilton. Just knowing her makes me a better person. Everyone who knows her will say the same thing. She is one of the jewels of the Pictured with Heza My Daddy (Hesa Zee x Little Santana Pep), from left to right: trainer Gary Ferguson, Eleanor, trainer Rod Matthiesen, and Jennifer Lauermann.
Ranching is still an important part of Eleanor’s life. She and her sister own the family ranch which was originally purchased by her parents in 1943. She has added adjoining ranches, the latest acquisition just a few months ago, continuing to grow the Double R Ranch to more than 25,000 acres. “I married a neighbor, Harold Hamilton, who also lived on a ranch,” Eleanor says. “We both went to the University of Nebraska. He graduated with a degree in engineering. I graduated with a degree in teaching Secondary English. After teaching for one year we moved to Minneapolis because Harold started working for Control Data. After he was laid off from his job there in 1972, he said, ‘I’m going to start a little company.’ He designed it on the kitchen table and worked out of the house for quite some time. We had three or four employees. I was still working for an insurance company so when I’d come home from work I couldn’t change out of my work clothes because there were people all over the house. Today we employ about one hundred and fifty people. Our business, Micro Control Company, sells equipment that tests computer chips worldwide. Both Harold and I are actively involved in our business on a daily basis. In fact, Harold is still the head engineer.” Having grown up with horses, Eleanor is a true horseman. It wasn’t long before she became intrigued by Arabian horses. “They always fascinated me, so I started getting Arabian Horse World,” she said. “And there were a couple of Arabian horse farms around us. I bought my first Arabian horses at the Scottsdale sales. They were halter horses, but right away I realized that halter was not my bag. I wanted something that I could ride. I bought the horses with my money and it’s still that way. It has always been Eleanor’s Arabian Farm — founded in 1984 — because Harold didn’t want anything to do with it. If we have an open barn he comes and visits with everyone, but that’s because he enjoys the people. Otherwise Harold doesn’t care what I do with the horses.
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Arabian breed.” — Gary Ferguson
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breeding Arabians, her main stallion was Crown Musc (*Muscat x Crown Juel by Silver Baron), pictured below bridleless with Rod Matthiesen, and at right with Eleanor. “Crown Musc was special. He was kind of my ‘debut’ horse,” says Eleanor.
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Hesa Zee (Xenophonn x Somthing Special), right and below with Eleanor. “We got really lucky with him as a show horse and as a sire … thanks to Hesa Zee I am more comfortable riding reining horses than pleasure horses,” says Eleanor.
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“She has had a profound impact on a lot of people and will have the same effect on the Arabian breed long after she’s gone.” — Mark Coombs
Mark Coombs, breeding manager, has been with Eleanor’s Arabian Farm for 25 years.
“Things really changed when Rod Matthiesen came to work for me. He’s been with me thirty-two years. I have watched his kids and now his grandkids grow up. Rod taught me to ride reiners and he guided me in the direction of working horses. His input as a trainer is really important to me. If he feels something isn’t working, we go in another direction.” “I was working for Jerry McRae at O’Mac Stables in the early eighties when I met Eleanor,” says Rod. “Because her trainer had some severe health problems, I was brought in to help him in the fall of 1985. When he passed away a year and a half later I took over. The first Christmas after I went to work for Eleanor, my three daughters were about eight, nine, and ten years old. On Saturday before Christmas, Eleanor came out to ride and she brought a box of books. On top was The Horsecatcher by Mari Sandoz. She told me that all of the books in the box were written by her aunt.” Eleanor’s aunt, Mari Sandoz, was one of the most important writers of her day. She wrote extensively about pioneer life and the plains Indians. She was an award winning author who was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. A bust of her stands in the Nebraska State Capitol Building in Lincoln. “Eleanor’s aunt had a huge impact on her life and on mine,” continues Rod. “The money that Eleanor’s mom and dad used to buy the original family ranch was borrowed from Mari Sandoz. Ironically her book, The Horsecatcher, inspired me. It is about an Indian boy whose father and brother grow up to be great war chiefs. He wanted to ride horses and be a great horseman. I read it for the first time when I was in junior high. I checked the book out and kept it clear through high school. It helped me decide what I wanted to do for a living. “From the beginning, we started a routine that we continue to this day. I call her every morning at 8:00 a.m. We go through all the things that are pertinent for that day. The main idea of the breeding program has not changed in all the time I have been with Eleanor. Only the number of horses has changed. Originally, we had fewer than eight broodmares. Today we have twenty-five broodmares and a total of seventy-five horses. Twenty-five years ago when the program got bigger, we brought in Mark Coombs. He handles all of the breeding and I do the training.”
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Left and facing page: San Jacinto Jullyen V (*Jullyen El Jamaal x Sweet Klassique V), recently purchased by Eleanor’s Arabian Farm, “is a little more ‘pleasure’ bred … our plan for the future is to raise reiners, cow horses, and pleasure horses,” says Gary Ferguson.
“I was born and raised in central New York and I went to California to work for Bob Stratmore with *Padron,” says breeding manager Mark Coombs. “When *Padron was sold and landed in Minnesota I went to work for David Boggs. After that I was out of horses for a short time, but my wife and I had a pleasure horse that we needed help with so we went to Rod. That’s how I met Eleanor. This is my twenty-fifth year with her. In the beginning when Eleanor started seriously breeding, her main stud was Crown Musc (*Muscat x Crown Juel). She bought him from Howie Kale and she bred him quite a bit and kept a lot of his daughters. Those ‘CM’ daughters were her show horses for years. When she bought Hesa Zee (Xenophonn x Somthing Special) from Russ Brown, she used him on the CM daughters. Eventually we had Hesa on CM daughters and CM on Hesa daughters. For a number of years now we have been using Quarter Horse studs on the Hesa daughters. When we lost Hesa two years ago, Eleanor and Gary Ferguson found Romanek (Andrzejevo x Cerrah). We have a couple of foals by him, but, sadly, we lost him this spring to colic. Next, Eleanor bought San Jacinto Jullyen V (*Jullyen El Jamaal x Sweet Klassique V). He is a little more ‘pleasure’ bred so we’ll see how this works. Our plan for the future is to raise reiners, cow horses, and pleasure horses. Working western is Eleanor’s world. That’s what she’s about.” “Over the years the breeding program got big enough and successful enough that we started sending some horses out to other trainers,” said Rod. “We use Gary Ferguson in Sulfur Springs, Texas, and Hoyt and Pam Rose of Almena, Wisconsin, and Lance Scheffel in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.” Eleanor met Gary at the 2010 Iowa Gold Star Show. “I watched him work his horses and I liked what I saw, especially his pleasure horses,” says Eleanor. “Rod doesn’t usually train pleasure horses, and besides, Rod has more good ones than he can ride. So we decided to send Gary a few and have had horses with him ever since.” “I was stabled right behind Eleanor at that show,” says Gary. “At that time, I knew of her but I didn’t know her. We started talking and found that we thought similarly about just about everything. At the end of the show, Eleanor sent a horse home with me for training. And that was the beginning of a great business and personal relationship. Since then she has kept between eight and ten horses with me at all times. At her core Eleanor Hamilton is a horsewoman and she understands that you can give it 110 percent and sometimes they win and sometimes they don’t. She is always the same whether we win or lose. She always comes to the back gate and hugs us and tells us what a great job we did and how much she appreciates us. And then we go on to the next show. It really is that good. She puts absolutely no pressure on you. There is no one like her.” 8 b ELEANOR’S b WORLD
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Lady Muscana (Hesa Zee x RV Muscana by Crown Musc), pictured with Gary Ferguson, is a four-time U.S. National Top Ten Reining Horse and eighttime Regional Champion Reining Horse.
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Justin and Madison, children of trainers Hoyt and Pam Rose, at the 2016 Canadian Nationals with several horses bred by “Grandma Eleanor,” some of which were gifts. From left to right: C M S Superchick (Crown Musc x Super Cindy Brick), D C One Man Show (Baske Afire x C R Simply Marvelous), Heza Fire Walker (Hesa Zee x Fire Musc), SA Prietty Good (AM Good Oldboy x Prietty Lady), EAF Colonels Lil Lady (C G Colonel Jac x Zee Precious Gem), and the only “non-Eleanorbred” horse, Tymes To Treasure (Baske Afire x Tymeless Treasure).
Hoyt and Pam Rose go much farther back with Eleanor and Rod — they were students of Rod’s years ago. “We started sending them horses a number of years ago,” says Eleanor. “Everybody thinks I am Madison Rose’s grandmother and I’m happy about that. She calls me grandma as does her little brother Justin. Most people don’t know that I have such an extended family.” Pam Rose notes, “Hoyt rode with Rod when he was a trainer at Jerry McRae’s O’Mac Stables. When Rod went to Eleanor’s, I rode equitation with him as a teenager. After I graduated from college I went to work for Eleanor at Micro Control Company. She became like a second Mom to me. We joke and say that I am the daughter that nobody knows about. She has been a dear friend and has taught me so much. And now we are blessed to have some of her horses in training. My kids are beyond blessed to be riding her horses. Just last year Madison won eight National Championships on horses Eleanor bred. All four of the horses I am taking to Youth this year were bred by Eleanor. Without Eleanor, I don’t think my son would have the interest he does. For Christmas, the kids got a reining horse from her. This horse has brought Justin out of his shell. It has given him great confidence. I can put my kids on horses of hers and I don’t worry. “Eleanor is still that farm girl from Nebraska,” Pam continues. “She always says that, ‘If it wasn’t for the cows we wouldn’t have what we have today.’ The other thing that she often says is, ‘This too shall pass.’ Whatever crisis there is, she always takes it in stride. She is one of the most genuine people I know. And she breeds Arabian horses for all the right reasons. It’s because she loves working horses. I get a lot of Eleanor’s colts and a group of three-year-olds every fall. We break them and market them and try to place them in good homes. Eleanor has always preached to me that she doesn’t sell horses, she places them. She wants to know about the person who is going to buy her horse.” The most recent addition to Eleanor’s team is Lance Scheffel. He has been training horses for her for “only” four years. “Originally Eleanor sent me a two-year-old that has now become a National Champion cow horse and horse of the year,” he says. “She keeps about ten horses with me all the time. Because she grew up on a ranch she really likes the cow horses and cutting horses. It gets her back to her roots. We use the horses that she sends to us to work cattle. They are real working horses.” 11 b ELEANOR’S b WORLD
The Half-Arabian Heza My Daddy (Hesa Zee x Little Santana Pep), with Gary Ferguson, is a five-time U.S. National Top Ten, four-time Scottsdale Top Ten, five-time Regional Champion, and fivetime Regional Reserve Champion HalfArabian Reining Horse.
Eleanor’s belief in her horses runs deep. As she says, “I wouldn’t hesitate to send any of the horses I have bred back to Nebraska to be used on the ranch. All of the horses that I have in training with every trainer are all prepared so that the trainer can show them and I can show them if I want to. It is important to me that the horses I am having trained are amateur ready.” Gary finds that the horses Eleanor breeds are easily trained and a pleasure to be around. “I don’t keep a horse on my place that Eleanor can’t ride,” he says. “She comes to my ranch in Texas a couple times a year and she rides everything, even the four and five year olds. She’ll ride five or six horses a day and stay out there all day long. Eleanor told me that when she was a little girl her mother was worried about her out on horses all the time with her father working the cattle and the hay fields. Her father told her mother that she didn’t need to worry because Eleanor could, ‘run a gopher down a hole.’” Eleanor still rides with the same spirit that her father recognized in her as a little girl. The people who work for Eleanor all consider her family. “Being from New York and with my wife’s parents in California, we had no parents or grandparents in Minnesota. Eleanor became that family,” says Mark Coombs. “Our daughter calls her grandmother. She’s been there for me for twenty-five years. If I’m in a pinch or have something go wrong she is always there to help me out. “I am also very close with Harold, Eleanor’s husband who nobody knows. In twenty-five years, I’ve seen him at the farm four times. He’ll come to the parties and pull his BMW right in front and park in the middle. He visits a few people, eats, and then leaves early.” “As good a horsewoman as she is, she is a better person and a friend to me,” adds Gary. “Eleanor is far more than just a client. She is very family oriented. She never forgets your kids or your spouse.” Eleanor’s big heart reaches beyond her extended human family. “I have been rescuing some horses lately,” she says. “The most recent one is a twenty-five-year-old stallion. He had been consigned to an auction, but didn’t sell so he was in the killer pen. I bought the horse even though I didn’t know anything about him. We later discovered that he is HA Muscat Czar (*Muscat x *Amira Reseda). It’s unreal that I started with a *Muscat son and now without knowing it I have acquired another one.” Eleanor is always working to keep her breeding program moving forward. “I keep looking for something that will add to what we are trying to do and replace the stallions and mares as they get older and go out of production,” Eleanor says. “I go through the horse magazines page by page looking for something to add to my program, always with athleticism in mind. Even if I look at a foal and decide this is going to be my next reiner, when it’s in training and we find that it isn’t going to make it, we redirect it to do something else. Maybe it will cut cows or be a pleasure horse. And we have had some go on to be good hunters and distance racers.” But one thing Eleanor will not compromise on is disposition. Rod recalls the time a new Quarter Horse reiner stallion arrived at the farm. “He was kind of a studdy little bugger,” says Rod. “Eleanor was riding him for the first time on a Saturday and he was squalling 12 b ELEANOR’S b WORLD
Come Spin With Me (Hesa Zee x Miss Colonel Freckle), a multiple Regional Champion and Reserve Champion HalfArabian reining and western pleasure
OSTEEN/SCHATZBERG PHOTO
horse, pictured with Gary Ferguson.
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2016 Region 9 Champion Half-Arabian Reining Horse Zee Ricky Bobby (Paddys Irish Whiskey x Zee Cover Girl by Xenophonn), shown by Gary Ferguson.
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EAF Colonels Princess (C G Colonel Jac x Zees Princess by Zee Impressive), 2015 U.S. National Top Ten Half-Arabian Reining Futurity and Junior Horse.
the whole time. She never said a word. She just kept riding him. When she got done and stepped off, she handed me the reins and said, ‘On Monday have him gelded.’ She has always been a stickler for the stallions having manners.” Looking back, Eleanor reflects on some of her favorite horses. “I have been fortunate to have had so many wonderful Arabian horses in my life. Two that really stand out are Crown Musc and Hesa Zee. Crown Musc was special. He was kind of my ‘debut’ horse. I showed him for many years both as a reiner and as a pleasure horse. He was about twenty when we finally retired him. And he was special because he was the beginning of the breeding program. His foals are so much like him that not only could you pick them out in a field of yearlings or two-year-olds, they feel different when you ride them. He always lived in the first stall, and no other horse will ever live in that stall.” Rod added, “He was the perfect horse for Eleanor at that stage because he was very tolerant and she could make some mistakes without it bothering him. He had an odd habit. Eleanor would always stop at his stall when she came in to see him, and he’d stick his tongue out through the bars so she could scratch it. That went on for twenty years.” For Eleanor, Hesa Zee was special too, but in a different way. “Rod thought that he would be good in the breeding program as a cross for the Crown Musc daughters, and he’d be a step up for me as a show horse. It took about a year to purchase him. We got really lucky with him as a show horse and as a sire. It also helped that I was a better rider by then. Once I bought him I was the only one who showed him in reining. He had won so much with Russ Brown that Rod never thought he needed to show him. Thanks to Hesa Zee I am more comfortable riding reining horses than pleasure horses. As an older horse I also showed him in pleasure. He took good care of me.” Rod agrees, adding, “The first couple of years that Eleanor showed him they scared the bejesus out of me, especially when she would light him up in a large fast circle! But he always took care of her.” Eleanor credits Arabian horses for keeping her healthy and youthful. “My husband works out at the club every day. I garden and I ride. It’s also a way to relax. Except for the office staff, all of my friends are horse people from all over the country. When I go to a horse show it’s like old home week. “The thing that keeps me going is that I enjoy the horses and I enjoy riding. I know that I have to keep riding. When I had cancer I lost a whole year of showing. The worst part of it when I had surgery was that I was missing a regional show where I was supposed to be showing; friends called me with reports from the show. I have now been cancer free for about twenty years, and I’m not about to waste a minute not doing the thing I enjoy most — riding my horses.” 15 b ELEANOR’S b WORLD
Eleanor Hamilton has been honored with the following awards: 2015 APAHA Breeder of the Year 2012 APAHA Amateur Working Western 2012 APAHA Distinguished Service Award 2007 APAHA Amateur Working Western 2006 Sahara Sands Hi-5 Mentor Award
E L E A N O R ’ S A R A B I A N FA R M 19320 147th Ave. North · Rogers, Minnesota 55374 Eleanor Hamilton, owner · Rod Matthiesen, trainer 763.767.13 81 · 800.32 8.9923 · www.EleanorsArabianFarm.com
Top: Eleanor with Madison Rose, Hoyt and Pam’s daughter, left, and Mackenzie Coombs, daughter of breeding manager Mark Coombs. Above: Visitors at Eleanor’s Arabian Farm during a recent open house.
On the cover: Eleanor Hamilton aboard C M S Little Sierra (Crown Musc x Smart Little Sierra), six-time National Top Ten and four-time Regional Champion HalfArabian Reining Horse.
Original windmill at Eleanor’s childhood Double R Ranch.
E L E A N O R ’ S A R A B I A N FA R M 19320 147th Ave. North · Rogers, Minnesota 55374 Eleanor Hamilton, owner · Rod Matthiesen, trainer · 763.767.13 81 · 800.32 8.9923 · www.EleanorsArabianFarm.com
Designed and produced by Arabian Horse World · 07/17