Boxwood Estate

BRINGING A DREAM TO LIFE

With a passion for beauty, learning and connection, Jessica Bollen is a young breeder whose determination has her on the path to success.

Located in the heart of Victoria’s northeastern cropping country about half an hour south of the Murray River, Boxwood Estate is home to a small

Purebred Arabian stud. Named after the grey, yellow and white Box trees indigenous to the area, my husband and I moved here from Melbourne chasing affordable real estate, enough room for his trucks and transport business and of course room for our beloved horses.

I’ve always been horse mad. However, it wasn’t until around 14 years of age I discovered Arabians.

My story is like so many others…forever changed by Tanya Hawley’s book, Naadirah the Arabian Dream. I spent many lunch breaks in the school library memorising every part of the book. I couldn’t get over the beauty of the horses and the love story between a young girl from country Australia, her beloved mare and the dynasty they created together. The book left an impression on me that would last a lifetime.

It would take a number of years before my own Arabian dream came to life. I was involved with Quarter Horses and the Western world, and pursuing my career in the little town of Warragul, Victoria. There, I had the pleasure of dealing with a customer who was a recent migrant from NSW. She was the most curious thing… so dainty, well-spoken and completely unpretentious…she quickly became my favourite client.

Within time I made the unbelievable connection that this lady was actually the writer of my most treasured book, Tanya Hawley. Through the years, I had maintained my connection to the Arabian horse via the annual Arabian Studs & Stallions and the impact of this serendipitous connection grew as it became apparent the Hawley horses I had been following throughout the years were living only minutes from where I was based at the time. A visit to Hawley Arabians was promptly arranged.

Can you imagine my delight on that very first visit? Not only was I able to view my favourite stallion Nazzai (Naavah x Nazli) in the flesh, but here I was, looking at the descendants of the actual horses from the book. I was awestruck. The horses had the biggest eyes I had ever seen, refined and pretty heads, large nostrils, elegant necks and beautifully balanced bodies. Tanya arranged for one of her mares, Mimrah (Nazzai x Maaza) to run loose in the arena. I was blown away, I didn’t know horses could move like that! She somehow floated and powered across the arena floor in a display of contrasts; fire and explosion, combined with poise, grace and elegance.

Hawley Arabians and Tanya Hawley are subsequently entwined in our story. So much so that in 2008, when my husband and I married, our wedding ceremony and reception were held on the grounds of Hawley Arabians. The stud was the perfect location. Tanya had turned an old run-down dairy farm into a grand estate, with impressive trees and expansive lawns, and fairytale white Arabian mares. It was ideal for an early November wedding and of course a memorable twist in my story with Arabian horses.

My first Arabian was an on-farm lease at Hawley Arabians. Nahla’s Mahabbah (Shahir Ibn Naadella x Nahla) was a tall, sensible and highly trainable mare who relished in her elevated status of the riding horse for the new girl. For the next two years, I visited Hawley Arabians a couple of times a week, indulging my teenage dreams and getting to know all of the horses well.

The first Arabian I owned was a gelding sired by Nazzai, out of Nyraanah (Alii x Naadella). Nevel grew to be a big, solid and very fun companion. This was my first time living with Arabians and it’s where I fully understood the loyalty and companionship Arabians give their special person. When Nevel’s full brother Al Shebet was born a couple of years later, he also joined us because, let’s face it, one just isn’t enough! He still resides with us now and is, as far as he is concerned, King of Boxwood Estate. He is the reliable, calm, riding horse for visitors, no matter their riding abilities.

After moving to our current location, we purchased our first Arabian mare Cover of Vogue (Vegas x Niecha). Cover of Vogue was bred by the Roach brothers of Sunvue Arabians from Baddaginnie in North East Victoria and this connection was the beginning of an ongoing friendship with Ian Roach.

NAHLENAH (SABTAH NASSOR X NAHLIA) OPPOSITE PAGE JESSICA & SALAM DARK IMAGE

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Though Sunvue Arabians have since wound up their stud, Ian now visits me a number of times a year and enjoys watching the next generations of horses featuring the bloodlines he admires. His visits are filled with conversations about pedigrees and reflecting on the traits of many of the great horses some of us could only wish to have seen in real life, and I am flattered when he sees their likeness in my horses.

Not long after Cover of Vogue arrived, an opportunity presented itself to purchase a little filly that I used to play with in the earlier years of my time at Hawley Arabians. Nahlia is by Nazzai, the same sire as my beloved geldings, and from Nahlanah, a special daughter of Naavah and Nahla’s Mahabbah, the mare I rode at Hawley Arabians all that time ago. Now a mature mare and located in Western Australia, she was soon making her way back to Victoria to Boxwood Estate. Nahlia is the classic white fairytale Arabian mare, with the amazing movement her family are well known for.

My goal and vision for my stud was essentially to recreate what had made my adventure so meaningful to me. I wanted to create a foundation whose pedigrees featured horses from the Naadirah Family ensuring a consistency of qualities and traits I had come to know and love. I wanted the Arabian Dream to continue and I was determined to play a part. From there, with a foundation built upon that legacy, I intend on extending out to create my own story.

In 2014 Tanya and I undertook a stud tour in New South Wales with the goal of visiting and viewing in person a stallion I wished to breed my two mares to, Sabtah Nassor (Desperado x Clifton Park Nefisa) of Salam Arabians.

It was such a great adventure, not only being able to spend time with such an experienced breeder so willing to share their many years of experience and learnings, but to see how other people run their studs and to view stallions in the flesh. We visited Forest Hill Arabians, Eagleridge Arabian Farm, Diamond Road Arabians and Salam Arabians. Sabtah Nassor did not disappoint, and so the mares were duly bred and in time gave birth within three days of each other in early December 2015, each blessing us with a beautiful filly. We named Nahlia’s grey filly Nahlenah, and the bay filly from Cover of Vogue, Nayeli.

Nahlenah has matured into a most impressive young mare, with the same powerful movement of her mother, along with such lovely, kind eyes. She has been broken to saddle and is a wonderful ridden horse, however she is of course destined to continue this branch of her family and for us, she is our future. We expect she will play a pivotal role in not only the continuation of the Naadirah family but will also be where our breeding plans are focussed.

Nayeli has developed into a deep bodied, exciting saddle horse. Incredibly smart, her trainer was able to harness her intelligence in such an effective manner that she progressed her education beyond just the basics, laying the foundation for a Western Pleasure career.

While visiting Eagleridge Arabian Farm in 2014, Tanya and I saw a stallion whom we admired greatly, Fazaar ERA. He is out of the Nazzai daughter Nehima (x Neshika) and by Afrikah ERA (Sanadik El Shaklan x Arabian Park Egyptian Echo) and is to me, the most true to my ideal Arabian I have ever seen. No other stallion has ever moved me like Fazaar ERA did, and like meeting Mimrah, I had another ‘blown away’ moment. I had found a stallion I could use next and the plans for laying the foundation of my stud seemed to be coming together.

My first foals were such a seamless experience that I now fear at times I may have used up all my luck. Since that time, Boxwood Estate has been trying to expand our program via various means, with no positive outcomes. Our attempts to use Fazaar ERA have not yet been realised; delayed couriers, an aborted foal, placentitis and most profoundly of all, the loss of a beautiful filly from Nahlia.

Nahlia wasn’t the only mare we tried breeding to Fazaar ERA. There were many attempts with our other mare, Nurelee Zaafina. Zaafina, at the time of purchasing her, was a 16-year-old maiden. A beautiful bay mare with a luscious long black mane, huge eyes, extreme femininity and the sweetest disposition of any horse I’ve

NAHLIA (NAZZAI X NAHLANAH)

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JESSICA AND NAYELI ENJOY OBSTACLE COURSES

had the pleasure of living with. Zaafina’s sire, Nurelee Zadran is out of the Hawleybred mare, Latifa Bint Naazirah (Vision x Naazirah). Now, after years of trying, it has become apparent that for Zaafina, motherhood is not part of her destiny.

I’m sure most can relate that after so much disappointment and heartbreak trying to move the stud forward, I wanted to give up, sell most of the horses and really downsize. However it wasn’t long before my grief was parked and I was inspired to begin again. I was ready to bring my dream to life, and I purchased my own stallion, Salam Dark Image (Windsor Park Ibn Bayang x Hartz Naadja), thinking that live cover would give me greater potency and not leave me at the mercy of unreliable couriers or unavailable stallion owners.

I first saw Dark Image while visiting Terry Hardcastle of Salam Arabians in 2014. Though we were there to see Sabtah Nassor, Dark Image left an impression that remained with me. He possesses that same kind, gentle, loyal temperament so endeared to me by the Hawley-bred horses, a large, kind eye, wonderful conformation and the most exceptional movement. Arabians are known for exceptional movement, yet occasionally you come across one who really has superior movement…Dark Image is one of those horses.

Interestingly, Nayeli and Salam Dark Image share the same grandsire in their dam line – Clifton Park Naadar (Nile x Nazli), coincidentally owned by the Roach brothers of Sunvue Arabians. The calm, sensible natures of both Nayeli and Salam Dark Image continually impress us. We plan on breeding Nayeli to Salam Dark Image expecting offspring suitable for the more mature rider looking for pretty, calm, easy going, trainable horses.

The delay in progress of offspring for the stud has meant that many of the dreams of training, showing, educating and just generally getting out there, being seen and getting known have been delayed, although we have used the time we have to focus on progressing the saddle careers of our first born fillies. Along with competing, financial priorities like fencing, a planned barn and arena, career and so on all mean Boxwood Estate currently has a low profile in the Australian Arabian horse community. Not everything has gone according to plan but that doesn’t mean the dream has waned.

The good news is that this year, it’s possible our luck is finally turning around, and I have two mares settled in foal. Dark Image has one foal due this year out of Nahlia, and her daughter Nahlenah is in foal to an exciting young stallion of Polish bloodlines, Moondarra El Tessara (Pogrom x El Tessa).

One of the key lessons imparted to me by those who’ve been in the Arabian horse industry much longer than I have, is the importance of seeing the horses yourself. Of making the time to visit studs, reducing reliance on photography and making an assessment with your own eye. To that end, over the years I’ve had the pleasure of visiting quite a few studs and meeting a number of you and your beautiful horses. Each visit is treasured and contributes to my learning and the development of my friendships with you. Australian Arabian breeders have much to be proud of, hopefully together we can secure the future of the Arabian horse for our country.

Author Jessica Bollen Images courtesy of David Gillett & Nicole Emanuel

SALAM DARK IMAGE (WINDSOR PARK IBN BAYANG X HARTZ NAADJA)

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