Amaki’s
Coloured Arabians C OLO U R ING OU R WORLD
PC STUART VESTY
A
maki’s Coloured Arabians and Diane Gale have been amongst the most prominent players in the Part Arabian show scene since the early 1980s. Horses bred by the stud, and their progeny for many generations, have continued to win at the highest levels for the past forty years…no mean feat for a breeding program that has produced very few foals relative to its years. One could say that Amaki Arabians has been punching above its weight in that regard, however when one considers the effort to focus on only the best that drives Diane’s breeding decisions, it makes perfect sense. I first met Diane when I was a teenager. I had lied about being 18 years of age and
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taken my horse on a fund-raising ride from Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley to Tamworth, and I had met a man on this ride who had Arabians. He introduced me to Diane, because ‘she had something very special and unique that I would be interested in learning about’. And indeed I was. Although my memory is foggy now, I remember visiting her property in Ebenezer and meeting a collection of exquisite, golden Part Arabian horses. I could not afford one at the time, however Diane was very supportive and we kept in touch, and I vowed that one of these horses would be a part of my future. It happened of course, however that is a tale for another day.
Diane grew up in Randwick, close to Centennial Park in Sydney where even today, the track around the edge of the park is filled with horses and riders. As a child, Diane spent all of her time watching these riding school horses, and when she was 13 years old the family moved to one acre of land in Westmead where she was able to buy her first horse, a chestnut mare named Penny. ‘Although Penny was a great little pony to learn to ride on, Arabians were always the horses that I dreamed of. In those days, purebred fillies were impossible to get hold of, however I managed to buy an unregistered mare named “Mist” who had some of the qualities I admired in Arabians. She was a fun horse to ride, but my dream
