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he soft nicker of a mare nuzzling her foal for the first time floats through the cool spring evening. In the darkness, you can hear the sound of the other horses stirring at the recognition of the new arrival. This annual event continues to ignite the passion of Ron and Laura Armstrong of Armstrong Arabians. “In the world we live in today, the Arabian horse is able to bring us down from the crazy speed of business and life, to experience the simple enjoyment of one of God’s greatest creations,” Ron says. “Being in the barn at the time of birth, hearing the other horses, and a strong spirited mare talk so quietly and gently to her new foal and then to witness in the next few minutes the foal’s same spirit and strength, is something that everyone should experience in their lifetime. It will humble you in a way that will affect how you look at your life, your family, and your faith!” It is hard to believe all that the Armstrongs have achieved in their breeding operation, which began a mere 15 years ago. In 2000, Ron and Laura attended the Scottsdale All-Arabian Show. For Laura, it was a return to the show she had enjoyed while in high school in Phoenix during the heyday of the Lasma era. “At the show we picked up a copy of Arabian Horse World, and saw an ad for Grand Arabians,” says Ron. “Laura’s birthday was coming up, so we went for a visit for her to pick out a young colt and we ended up purchasing three horses from Linda Mehney. Within two months we purchased another mare named Cocco Essense (Minotaur x LH Coccenelle).” Ron, who had no horse experience, dove in headfirst with the ten-year-old mare and together they learned the ins and outs of halter, qualifying for the Nationals at their first Regional show, and then winning 2000 U.S. National Top Ten Mare AOTH in a class of 31. Soon, the Armstrongs found 35 acres of heaven in western Michigan, just north of Grand Rapids. The beautiful and functional facility features 20 stalls, an indoor arena, and plenty of pastures. It is not a large operation, and that is something that the Armstrongs wear as a badge of honor. “We are a small breeding farm, but it doesn’t mean that small breeding farms can’t produce some of the highest quality in the world,” says Ron. “It can happen and it does happen.”
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The farm’s success is built on some founding principles that Ron and Laura believe are relevant today, especially in the current financial climate of the industry. “I think it is important for small breeders to understand that finding an incredible quality mare is much more important than having a large number of mares and just taking a shot with winning stallions. You are not going to be successful by just breeding to the flavor of the month. It’s about the quality of your mares, what they produce, and how you breed them,” he says. “Laura has a real ability to choose the stallions we breed to; her track record speaks for itself. “People who are thinking of getting started, or maybe getting back in the breed, should understand that if they can find one or two high quality mares, they can be successful.” Nothing proves the point more than their mare Serenata El Jamaal (*Parys El Jamaal x MP Serenata), one of the top-producing mares in the world, with 21 offspring to date. There are only five mares currently alive in the world today, according to the Arabian Horse Registry, who have produced 20 or more foals. The foal Serenata El Jamaal is carrying for 2016 will make 22 foals. “That in itself is a pretty amazing feat,” Ron says, “but more so than that it is the quality that she has produced.” Serenata El Jamaal’s foals have influenced the breed on a global level because they have found homes in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Africa.
Facing page: The 1999 mare Serenata El Jamaal (*Parys El Jamaal x MP Serenata by JK Amadeus) with owner Ron Armstrong. Left: Serenata El Jamaal with her 2011 filly, Orchid El Jamaal LRA by Ajman Moniscione. Bottom right: Serenata’s first foal, Cobra LRA (by *Marwan Al Shaqab), a 2005 stallion, is owned by Abdullah Manea Sheetah of Saudi Arabia. Bottom left: Serenata’s second foal, True Desire LL, by Ames Charisma, has multiple championships in the U.S. and abroad, including U.S. National Reserve Champion Yearling Filly and Top Ten Junior Mare. She is now owned by Ajman Stud of the UAE.
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Before Serenata El Jamaal’s arrival at Armstrong Arabians, Ron and Laura had a sound strategy. “One of the decisions we made early on was that we were not going to ‘chase roses’ and had no intentions of ever purchasing a given horse because it was a champion at a given show. We were more interested in her and her bloodlines, who was this mare’s dam, especially. Also, it is not like we had a lot of money,” Ron remembers. “We always explored unique opportunities to find those mares who had been proven producers that we could afford. Ultimately, we were out buying 13- to 14-year-old mares that were, for example, a *Padron daughter or a Bey Shah daughter.” That said, Ron still describes himself and Laura as new to the business when they decided to make a slight change to their strategy, a decision that turned out to have a huge impact on not only their future farm, but also the breed in general. “Even though we were new to the business, we always believed in gut feelings and what we thought would work,” explains Ron. A young filly at the 2000 U.S. Nationals captured their attention with this sort of feeling. “She was just a yearling, being shown by Mike Wilson. Mike was just a twenty-something kid at the time, but he managed to get an 11th place with her. While Mike did a great job, maybe with a known handler she would have been in the Top Ten. But what that did for us is make the price a little more reasonable,” Ron says with a chuckle. “On the last day of Nationals we approached Mike about buying the filly, Serenata El Jamaal. We had studied a little bit and talked to a lot of people who knew older bloodlines. So we were intrigued by this filly’s pedigree. She was out of a mare named MP Serenata that was out of a Wayne Newton mare, WN Sharazada. MP Serenata was a JK Amadeus daughter, so we loved that blood. The tail female line with Bluesprucetanzeer always had quality and structure, from what we had learned. Combine that with Ali Jamaal and Bey Shah and we felt like this was a good mare for our program.” Ron makes it clear they were looking for a breeding horse when they purchased Serenata El Jamaal, not for future success in the showring. “We saw something in her, she didn’t have the title but she had the bloodlines and we knew we wanted to be breeders — at least that was the plan. We certainly didn’t buy her thinking she was going to be National Champion the following year.” 4 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
That may not have been the plan, but it ended up that way. Serenata El Jamaal went on to win the first ever Two-Year-Old Jackpot Filly Championship at Canadian Nationals in 2001. History would reveal the depth of competition in that class. It included Miss Escada, U.S. National Champion Yearling Filly; JJ La Estrella, U.S. and Canadian National Champion Mare; Maggdalina, U.S. National Champion Mare; and the well-known Versace daughter La Vida Loca. The Armstrongs showed Serenata El Jamaal through her futurity year when she went Top Ten at the Canadian and U.S. Nationals. But true to their original intent, Serenata El Jamaal entered the breeding shed the following spring. Serenata El Jamaal hit the mark with her first foal, the stallion Cobra LRA by *Marwan Al Shaqab. Cobra LRA was recently exported to Saudi Arabia for Abdullah Manea Sheetah. It was, however, Serenata El Jamaal’s second foal that showed her true potential as a broodmare, and in that way she established herself as the Armstrongs’ foundation broodmare, a role she maintains to this day. The beautiful chestnut filly, True Desire LL by Ames Charisma, was sold as a weanling and went on to win U.S. National Reserve Champion Yearling Filly and Top Ten Junior Mare. She is also a Scottsdale Champion Junior Filly, multiple Regional Champion, and Buckeye Grand Champion. True Desire LL was eventually exported to Mystica Arabians in Western Australia, where she flourished with her new owner, winning Bronze Champion Junior Filly at the 2009 Dubai International show. In the spring of 2015 she was sold to Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi’s Ajman Stud. True Desire LL’s influence is still represented at the Armstrongs’ in the form of full sibling Ultimate Desire LRA. “She has never been for sale,” Ron says. “She is a replacement for Serenata El Jamaal and is in foal to Ever After NA for 2016.” Another horse that could create some excitement internationally for the Armstrongs and Serenata El Jamaal is the DA Valentino son Spades LRA, 2014 U.S. National Top Ten
Above: Spades LRA (DA Valentino x Serenata El Jamaal), 2010 black stallion, is a 2014 U.S. National Top Ten Stallion and 2015 Scottsdale Champion Classic Senior Stallion AAOTH, and is on lease to Future Farms and Sahrae Arabians of Australia for the next two years. Right inset photos: The 2015 filly Seductress LRA (Spades LRA x Justtina by Magnum Psyche).
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Champion Stallion Four Years and Older, 2014 U.S. National Top Ten Champion Stallion Four to Five Years Old (third), and 2015 Scottsdale Champion Classic Senior Stallion AAOTH. His son Elysium LRA (x Rhapsody LRA) was named 2014 Scottsdale Top Ten Signature Stallion Auction Yearling Colt/Gelding AOTH, shown by Ron Armstrong. Spades is now on lease to Future Farms Arabians and Al Sahrae Arabians of Australia for the next two years. Other Serenata El Jamaal success stories include Orchid El Jamaal LRA by Ajman Moniscione who was Top Ten Supreme Championship Senior Mare in Vegas this year. Jeff Sloan’s TJ Arabian Horse Partnership owns a full sibling to Orchid El Jamaal LRA, Ameer Al Ajman LRA, who was the Breeders World Cup ABHA Futurity Colt Champion and Region 4 Breeders Sweepstakes Champion Yearling Colt. The *ZT Marwteyn son Amadeo LRA was Region 14 Champion Yearling Colt and will be heading to U.S. Nationals in Tulsa this fall. Jessica LaValley owns the black stallion Tanzanite LRA (by Mister Style JM), who is making a name for himself in western pleasure. Ron is reflective looking back on the Serenata El Jamaal produce, and notes their similarities. “She has numerous characteristics that she passes on to her foals. The first thing you notice is that she has really good structure, much of which is lacking in today’s showring. She has an incredible hip, and she passes on that
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hip every time, even with stallions that are not particularly strong in that area. Looking at her offspring you would never know that they are by those sires,” Ron says. “In addition, she always gives good solid legs and nice-sized feet, a great quality for a breeding animal down the road,” he adds. “She also has huge eyes. Certainly Ali Jamaal had great eyes, but we really believe that comes through *GG Samir in her dam’s side. Those older bloodlines had those nice big round eyes. She also has an incredible deep jowl, which is also from those older bloodlines.” In fact, this is a characteristic that has become synonymous with the horses of Armstrong Arabians. “When trainers come to our farm, we get a lot of ‘you just don’t see the consistency of the big eyes and deep jowls elsewhere,’ but they are characteristics that we value so much. We are blessed that Serenata has been so consistent in producing this.” Ron also looks back at what has led to the success in breeding and notes with a smile, “The one principle Serenata taught us is that winning has absolutely nothing to do with breeding,” he says. “But breeding has everything to do with winning. For example, just because a stallion or a mare has won in the showring, does not mean they can be a great producer. Really, a stallion should only have to correct one thing per generation. In other words, if your mare has a bad foot, a low tail set, a short neck and a long back, you are probably not going to breed to a National Champion and expect to get anything.” From a broader perspective, Ron believes a life with Arabians has also brought an unflagging optimism that they have learned to cherish. “Every year, as soon as Nationals is over, we start talking about Scottsdale and our young ones. It doesn’t matter what happened the previous year, next year has new hope. There are always new dreams of what can happen this year that didn’t happen before. When we wait for those new foals, we say this just might be the one we were waiting for … and we continually believe that every year.” This year Serenata El Jamaal is carrying a foal to *Kanz Albidayer. For Ron and Laura, they can’t wait till spring.
Facing page: Ultimate Desire LRA (Ames Charisma x Serenata El Jamaal), is a full sister to True Desire LL and and is in foal to Ever After NA for 2016. Left: The 2011 mare Orchid El Jamaal LRA (Ajman Moniscione x Serenata El Jamaal) was 2015 Las Vegas World Cup Top Ten Supreme Champion Senior Mare. Below left and right: Serenata’s 2014 *ZT Marwteyn son Amadeo LRA was Region 14 Champion Yearling Colt.
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Desire D esire
Ultimate
LRA
(Ames Charisma x Serenata El Jamaal) 2009 bay mare
Full sister to True Desire LL
In foal to Ever After NA for 2016
OWNED BY: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A R MS T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M 8 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
(Ajman Moniscione x Serenata El Jamaal) 2011 bay mare
2015 Las Vegas World Cup Top Ten Supreme Champion Senior Mare —
highest Legs & Feet score out of over 285 horses at the Arabian Breeders World Cup
Offered for your consideration. See her video at www.armstrongarabians.com OWNED BY: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A RM S T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M 9 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
(DA Valentino x Serenata El Jamaal) · 2010 Black Stallion
2013 Region 13 Champion Stallion 2014 U.S. National Top Ten Stallion (3rd) 2014 U.S. National Top Ten Supreme Senior Stallion 2015 Unanimous Scottsdale Champion Stallion AAOTH Multi-Program Nominated Sire - SCID & CA Clear See his videos at www.armstrongarabians.com FOR BREEDING INFORMATION IN THE U.S.A., CONTACT: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A R MS T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M FOR BREEDING INFORMATION IN AUSTRALIA, CONTACT: FUTURE FARMS ARABIANS AND SAHRAE ARABIANS Australia · www.futurefarmsarabians.com
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SUZANNE PHOTO
(Spades LRA x Justtina by Magnums Psyche) 2015 bay filly
See her in Scottsdale! 2016 Scottsdale Signature Stallion Auction Filly Offered for your consideration. See her video at www.armstrongarabians.com
OWNED BY: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A RMS T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M 11 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
(*ZT Marwteyn x Serenata El Jamaal) 2014 bay colt
2015 Region 14 Breeders Sweepstakes Champion Yearling Colt Offered for your consideration. See more at www.armstrongarabians.com OWNED BY: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A R MS T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M 12 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
LRA
(Ajman Moniscione x Serenata El Jamaal) 2014 chestnut colt Full brother to Orchid El Jamaal LRA
2015 Arabian Breeders World Cup ABHA Futurity Colt Champion 2015 Region 4 Breeders Sweepstakes Champion Yearling Colt
OWNED BY: TJ ARABIAN HORSE PARTNERS, LLC Jeff Sloan and Tony Shooshani · Birmingham, Michigan · Tel: 248.766.2903 · jeff@ariaarabians.com W W W.ARI AARAB I ANS .CO M 13 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
(Mister Style JM x Serenata El Jamaal) 2009 Black Stallion
Open Western Pleasure Stallion FOR BREEDING INFO: Introductory fee: $1,500, 10% goes to the Children’s Scholarship Fund · www.scholarshipfund.org Standing at Krichke Training · Keith Krichke: 269.217.5530 OWNED BY: JESSICA LAVALLEY · lavalley1986@gmail.com · Tel: 419.367.2202 14 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
Crimson
LRA (Truse x Serenata El Jamaal) 2015 Chestnut Colt
See him in Scottsdale at Midwest Station I 2016 Scottsdale Signature Stallion Auction Colt Offered for your consideration. See his video at www.armstrongarabians.com OWNED BY: ARMSTRONG ARABIANS Ron and Laura Armstrong · Newaygo, Michigan · Tel: 231.652.9687 · Cell: 616.915.4142 W W W. A R MS T R O NG ARAB I ANS .CO M 15 ▪ SERENATA EL JAMAAL ▪ WORLD
Follow Armstrong Arabians Facebook page, and follow Serenata on her own Facebook page: Serenata El Jamaal - The World’s Mare See the new video of Serenata El Jamaal at
WWW.ARMSTRONGARABIANS.COM ARMSTRONG ARABIANS
Ron and Laura Armstrong Newaygo, Michigan Tel: 231.652.9687 Cell: 616.915.4142 Email: ron@armstrongdisplay.com Designed and produced by Arabian Horse World · 09/15