PC SAMANTHA TAYLOR
Ulyssia A SUPERSTAR IS BORN
U
lyssia’s story began thirty nine years ago with the purchase of Fenwick Ramona (Fabulous x Renura). It was in the autumn of 1982 that I purchased her from Fenwick Stud, in partnership with my friend Greg Dallaway. A few years later I married my husband, Graeme, and we purchased twenty acres in Longwarry, the heart of dairy country in Gippsland, Victoria. We subsequently purchased Greg’s share of Ramona and there began some of the best years of my life. Graeme’s idea of horsepower was rather different to mine, as he had owned, built and successfully raced drag cars for some years. At that stage, he was building and racing HQ Holdens at the Thunderdome in Calder, and I decided that I needed a little part time job to fund my Arabian passion. In August 2021 I will have been at Burra Foods in Korumburra for twenty three years…what started as a ‘little part time job’ finished up as a full-blown career in the dairy industry, and even created travel opportunities. I was born in Scotland, and I think from the time I could walk and talk the only thing that mattered was horses. While we could never afford one, I made sure that my friends had one, and cultivated those friendships religiously so that I’d be able to ride and
share in all things horsey! We emigrated to Australia when I was fourteen and, come hell or high water, I was going to have a horse. I sallied forth with my lifetime savings of eighty dollars (from birthday money and part time jobs) and purchased a chestnut gelding named Sheikh. Though unregistered, he had substantial Arabian blood, and that was enough for me, however I swore that one day I would have a Purebred. Fenwick Ramona was my first Purebred and, while she wasn’t purchased as a future broodmare, her progeny were useful, smart and quite successful show horses who were much enjoyed and loved by their owners. She produced five colts (all gelded) and one filly, Romance ‘n’ Roses, sired by the imported Straight Egyptian sire Monteego Bay. I had much admired Monteego Bay, and had not been entirely happy with the results of my previous breeding choices for Ramona, so after delving into various crosses and bloodlines, I determined that perhaps the Egyptian/Crabbet cross was the way to go. While she let us know that the showring was not for her, she retired with a few wins and Supremes under her belt. I have never been interested in breeding for the sake of breeding, so Rosie was bred to a Welsh Pony for her first foal in 2002, then
produced a gelding by Malabu in 2007 and a filly by Malabu in 2009. In 2013, she produced her last foal Narcisse, a filly by BP Naajman (Ajman Moniscione x T Naazifah). I am very lucky to have been friends with Denis and Dianne Hewat for over thirty years and have always enjoyed visiting and catching up with them as frequently as our busy lives allowed. When Naajman was born, he stole a piece of my heart, and when he was at a breeding centre only a few kilometres from home, I took a chance and bred Rosie to him. Sixteen days later, Cameron Hinkley arrived to scan Rosie and advised that, while there was an embryo, he wasn’t sure that it was viable. After much discussion, we decided to do nothing, wait a week and rescan. A week later, lo and behold, we had a nice, healthy little twenty-three-day embryo and a very happy vet! Narcisse arrived in January 2013, a little bit windswept, but otherwise in good health. She went to Jayne Bellchambers as a two-year-old for halter training and a few shows, winning her classes at the WDARAB Inc. Arabian Spectacular and the Victorian Arabian Classic. Despite these early successes, however, Narcisse obviously found the show environment stressful. She wasn’t happy, so we made the decision that
ARABIAN STUDS & STALLIONS 2022
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