December 2013/January 2014

a r a b i a nSPORT HORSE

TH

E

DECEMBER 2013/JANUARY 2014

Athena+++// & Rita Mason

2 The Arabian Sport Horse Magazine

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anentice design

publication

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PublisherCassandra Ingles

EditorPeggy Ingles

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WebsiteTheArabianSportHorse.com

[email protected]

Submissions & Story Ideas Welcomed!

Copyright 2014 All rights reserved.

No reproduction without written permission.

16 breeder q&a: carol dimaggioBright Future Farms

18 how to read a pedigreeby Arlene Magid

30 the Shagya-arabianOne Exceptional Sport Horse Breed

34 the 70-day Stallion teStby Adele Furby

42 athena - goddeSS of dreSSageCover Story

48 cloning a legendTomatillo, the clone of Tamarillo

50 half-arabian makeS the medalSCDE World Championships

52 reading reflectionSEffective Riding

58 a wonder ponyby Tamara Boose

C O N T E N T S


TH

E

MAGAZINE

6 Bits and Pieces

12 My Craigslist Bargain

14 Biomechanics

26 The Tale of a Tail

66 Carol Darnell

67 A True Phoenix

68 USDF GAIG Championships

70 Col. Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships 72 USDF Year End Awards

74 USDF All-Breed Award Winners

81 Service Listings

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5December 2013/January 2014

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DRESSAGE NEWSUS Dressage Finals

From November 7-11, the inaugural US Dressage Finals were

held at KY Horse Park. The show was a national, head-to-head

competition that showcased competitors in adult amateur and

open divisions, at Training Level through Grand Prix, competing

on the national stage. It was an invitational Championship.

Three Arabian-bred horses were competing. On the first day,

there were non-championship classes open to all. Penelope Sachs

rode her homebred Arabian cross mare GOOD LUCK CHARM in

Second Level Test 3 Adult Amateur and placed 2nd with a score

of 64.563%. Penelope and Charm were nationally ranked even-

ters before turning to dressage. On Friday, they showed in the

Second Level Adult Amateur Championship and placed 5th with

a 65.794%!

BITS and pieces

Mimi Stanley & EA CygnusJustine Jacoby & JM MR Rocky Bey Photo Courtesy of Justine Jacoby

Also on Friday, Justine Jacoby and her Half Arabian JM MR

ROCKY BEY (Moonstone Bey V x Madame Muzzy {NSH}) rode in the

non-championship First Level Test 3 Adult Amateur and earned a

66.290%.

Purebred AAH JABASKASET STAR (Opus One x Crystal Jabask

ER), owned by Wendy Schwagerman, was ridden by Jonni Adams-

Allen in the Second Level Open Championship class, earning a

64.008%.

On Saturday, Justine Jacoby and JM MR ROCKY BEY rode in

their First Level Freestyle test, earning a 65.278% and an impres-

sive 5th place!

• • •

The Central States Dressage & Eventing Assoc. held their Dres-

sage Festival and Championship Show in September in Minnesota.

Mimi Stanley of Prairie Rose Training Center competed her 23

year old Arabian EA CYGNUS (Hayel Orion x Coranette) in his 75th

Grand Prix test. They scored a 61.915% to place 2nd. Mimi rode

her test in a snaffle!

Mimi also showed Half-Arabian PR CAPTAIN HOOK (R O Dame-

on {NSH} x PR Tarzana), owned by Sally Henry, to the Prix St.

Georges Championship in a class of 11 competitors. Hook earned

the FEI High Score of the show with a 66% on his Intermediare-1

test and placed 3rd in the Intermediare/Grand Prix Championship

class.

Arabian KS FADLS PHOENIX (Fadl Attrak-Shun x LLA Latisha),

owned and ridden by Melissa Lund, was Reserve Champion in the

Intermediare/Grand Prix Championship class with a 64.432%

Amy Kellen and her homebred Half-Arabian FAHRENHEIT BY

FURIOSO (Fascination {Old} x Hal Gemini) placed 5th in the Prix

St. Georges Championship class.

Sally Henry’s Half-Arabian WOLKENZORRO (Wolkenzauber

Penelope Sachs & Good Luck Charm


BITS and pieces (continued)

Elaine Enick & EVG Allon DunitAmy Ayres & LJS Sublime

{AWS} x Midnight Lace HA) earned a bunch of ribbons with Mimi

Stanley in Training & First Level classes.

• • •

The Arizona State Dressage Championships were held in Tuc-

son November 2 & 3, open to Arizona residents and their horses

that are nominated and earn qualifying scores at rated shows.

Amy Ayres and her Half-Arabian LJS SUBLIME (Scimitar {Hann} x

BA Aprils Folly), bred by Marie Emrey of Lazy J Sporthorses, earned

the Championship in Second Level Adult Amateur. This pair were

National Champions in First Level AAOTR and Reserve in First Lev-

el ATR at 2012 SHN. Additionally they earned 3 Top Tens in Train-

ing Level and one in SHIH. Not bad for a then 5 year old!

• • •

The Rocky Mountain Dressage Society implemented a new

perpetual challenge trophy in honor of long time members MaryJo

Hoepner and her Half-Arabian MADE IN THE SHADE (Ravenwood

Flag x WR Nicki {Percheron}). The award is for Horse Of The Year

Adult Amateur Grand Prix.

According to MaryJo, the trophy exemplifies how Shade makes

her feel when riding him – he’s the kind of horse that gives you

wings. This year’s winner was Pat Roark and her PRE Alvaro. Re-

serve was Heather Sanders and her Half-Arabian CP Mercury Bey.

HUNTER/JUMPER NEWSOur condolences to owner Elaine Enick and trainer Kristin

Hardin on the loss of 9 year old Half-Arabian jumper EVG ALLON

DUNIT (Saladins Allon x Jundunit {QH}) recently. He was found to

have inoperable tumors after seeing blood in his stool.

Kristin started him on his path to 5 National Championships

and 4 Reserves, plus many open show jumper wins, back in 2009.

At that time, Dunit still belonged to his breeders, Harold & Eliz-

abeth Green of Evergreen Arabians. Kristin Hardin Elaine pur-

chased him in 2010, and piloted him herself to 2 National and 1

Reserve National Championships in addition to Wins at Scottsdale

and several Regional Championships. At the 2013 Sport Horse

Nationals, Dunit won Reserve Champion HA/AA Open Jumpers.

At open hunter/jumper shows, both Elaine and Kristin earned

many ribbons on him, thanks to his speed and skill at leaving up

the rails. Just last month, Dunit won a $1,000 .95m class, a $1,500

.95m Speed class and two 1.00m jumper classes. Godspeed Dunit!

Pennsylvania National Horse ShowArabian rider Alexandria Desiderio competed in the Pessoa/

USEF Hunter Seat Equitation Medal Finals, which had a whopping

229 entries! It was a tricky, winding course with skinnies, no wings

and spooky fences in that arena. Alexandria finished in 9th place

with three beautiful rides!

Alex competed the week before in the Platinum Performance/

USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals at the USET Headquar-

ters in Gladstone, NJ. After the Flat Phase & Gymnastic Phase, Alex

was in an impressive 8th place out of 70 finalists. She was having

a great round in the Jumper Phase when they had a jump down

on a super challenging course which caused a lot of problems for

riders.

During week one, the cute Arabian/Welsh gelding SILLY PUTTY

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Kristin Hardin & Al Marah Swift

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Julia Davis & Fly Me To The Moon

with Skyler Fields competed in the Medium Pony Hunters. He fin-

ished 9th in the Handy Hunter, 11th in the Under Saddle and 16th

over fences.

The NAL Pony Jumper Finals were on the last weekend, and an

Arabian cross pony was entered. Arabian/Quarter Horse gelding

FLY ME TO THE MOON and Julia Davis had a great course until the

last when they missed a distance and pulled a rail. They ended up

in 7th place overall.

This pair helped their Zone team to a 4th place finish at Pony

Finals and won one of the Individual Jumper phases there out of

44! In May, they placed 5th at Devon out of 19.

• • •

Arabian pony-sized stallion AL MARAH SWIFT (Al-Marah Que-

bec x Reem Al Fala) showed that size doesn’t matter when he com-

peted against horses last week in the Las Vegas National Horse

Show. Ridden by Kristin Hardin in the 2’6” Hunter Classic, they

placed 4th in a field of 20 horses.

Swift finished another open hunter show the following week

with a Championship in the 2’9” Training Hunter division.

Fresh off of winning two Top Tens in Arabian Trail Junior Horse

(5th) and Arabian Trail Futurity a month ago at US Nationals, it is no

wonder Swift is sitting at the top of the AHA High Point Horse list-

ing! He left Sport Horse Nationals as one of the winningest hors-

es, with 4 National Championships (Green Working Hunter, 14.2

& Under Working Hunter, Hunter Hack Jr. Horse and Sport Horse

Under Saddle Junior Horse) a Reserve Champion (Open Working

Hunter) and 3 Top Tens (Open Sport Horse Under Saddle, Sport

Horse In Hand Open & ATR). Swift won two Top Tens in Trail in

2012 as well. He was also National Champion 2 Year Old Arabian

Sport Horse Colt in 2010.

EVENTING NEWSIn early October, at the Woodside International Horse Trials,

Half-Arabian TZAR TZ (Ta’Ez x Fairchild {OLD}) competed in the

Novice Horse Division. Owned and bred by Carol DiMaggio and

ridden by Alanna Regan, Tzar was 5th after dressage then had just

4 faults each on cross country and stadium to finish in 4th place

overall. They placed 7th and 10th earlier in the season at two oth-

er events at Woodside.

Also at Woodside, Half-Arabian JUMPING JOE BAILEY (Joel-

edojack {QH} x Ima Ryatt), owned by Michelle Abma and ridden

by Lexie Barrow, finished in 6th place in Junior Beginner Novice

out of 23 entries. Lexie placed 5th on him at Copper Meadow in

September. His owner has also been eventing him at Training level

earning a 6th at Coconino and an 11th at Galway Downs.

• • •

Mathieu Lemoine and Anglo Arabian QUICKNESS finished the

Military Boekelo CCIO3* in 11th place out of 104 entries. This pair

was in 13th place after dressage, in 5th place after cross country

with just .4 time faults and had 12 faults in stadium jumping. This

difficult courses and muddy footing took it’s toll, as only 62 horses

completed.

A Russian rider, Igor Atrohov and his Anglo Arabian INDIGO

PYRENEEN (49.90%) finished in 46th.

• • •

Mid-October, Anglo-Arabian ROCK WITH BACH (Family Star

{AA} x MR Family {TB} ) and Taylor Blasey placed 2nd at the Middle

Tennessee Pony Club Horse Trials in Junior Training over the week-

end.

Playland Farm’s Half-Arabian PL IRISH PEARL (PL Diamond Hill

{ISH} x PL Shirley) placed 25th in Open Novice at Morven Park.

This was her first time at Novice.



Maxime Livio & Cather de GamelTzar TZ & Allana ReganC

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The Young Horse World Eventing Championships were held at

Mondial du Lion at Le Lion d’Angers in France 17-20 of October. As

you would expect, there are several Arabian-bred horses entered.

In the CCI* for 6-year-olds there are 6 representing 3 countries.

In the CCI** for 7-year-olds, there are 8 representing 4 countries.

The winner in both Championships were ridden by France’s

Thomas Carlile and both are out of Anglo Arabian mares! In the

6 Year Olds, the top spot went to TENAREZE (19.16%) and to SI-

ROCCO DU GERS (21.48%) in the 7 Year Olds.

Tenareze led the competition from the beginning with a 40.40

in dressage and double clears in cross country and stadium. Si-

rocco was in 2nd with a 38.10 after dressage, but moved up after

double clears in both cross and stadium.

Other placements were as follows:

6 YEAR OLDS (44 entries)

6th – TZINGA D’AUZAY (20.39%) - Nicolas Touzaint

12th – NEREO CP – Albert Hermoso Farras

7 YEAR OLDS (61 entries)

6th – SPES ADDIT’OR (19.79%) - Astier Nicolas

9th - STANLEYVILLE (27.22%) - Kai-Steffan Meier

21st – SATURNE CHAMPEIX TC (32.02%) - Francis Clement

27th – SAFRAN DU CHANOIS (12.74%) – Mathieu Vanland-

eghem

41st – ESTIGMA (38.74%) - Eduardo Gortazar Arias

• • •

In the world of international (FEI) level eventing, the highest

level of difficulty is the 4-star, of which there are only 6 held an-

nually in the world. Our Rolex Kentucky, England’s Badminton

& Burghley, Australia’s Internat’l, Germany’s Luhmuhlen and

France’s Pau.

At these events today, the dressage test is very similar to a

Fourth Level test. Cross country consists of up to 45 jumps over a

4 mile course at a bit over 20 miles/hour. The jumps can be up to

1.20m (4’) with a maximum spread of 2.0m (4.5”) and maximum

drop of 2.0m. Stadium consists of up to 16 efforts at 1.20m with a

spread of 1.60m (5’3”).

October 23rd-27th was the 4* CIC at Pau, with 75 entries from

8 countries. There were 5 Arabian-breds entered, all from France.

After dressage Anglo Arabian CATHAR DE GAMEL (41.24%) and

Maxime Livio were in 9th place with a score of 44.8. He added

only 1.2 time penalties to his score on a challenging cross country

course.

In stadium jumping, they delivered a double clear round to

finish in 2nd place overall – just 0.5 points behind the winner, Wil-

liam Fox-Pitt on Seacookie TSF. They were the only pair in the top

10 finishers to go double clear.

Cathar De Gamel is a 2001 gelding, sired by Anglo Arabian

Quatar De Plape and out of Anglo Miss Mark De Gamel by Markus.

He is the product of 9 generations of Anglo Arabian breeding. He

won the 3* at Haras du Pin in August and won the Grand National

at Haras de Jardy earlier this month. This was their first 4* event!

It is a subject of debate which breeds of horses do best at

this level of competition and many agree that the warmbloods

are adept at lower levels than 4*. It seems that horses with more

“blood,” i.e. Thoroughbred and Arabian, are necessary for the 4*s,

as they also are for the long or classic format of 3 day events.,

which include Road & Tracks and Steeplechase which require

more endurance and stamina. Before the long format was all but

eliminated, Anglo Arabians ranked 3rd in the world for eventing.



Katy Groesbeck & Oz The Tin ManLauren Kieffer & VermiculusPh

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Chattahoochee Hills October Horse Trials featured some An-

glo Arabians showing everyone how it’s done.

Lauren Kieffer competed her Anglo gelding VERMICULUS (Se-

razim x Wake Me Gently {TB}) in the Open Preliminary and fin-

ished 4th on their dressage score of 31.70 after double clears on

cross country and stadium. Ironically, Lauren also piloted the 1st,

2nd and 3rd place horses whom also all finished on their dressage

scores! Quite an accomplishment when you realize Lauren was in

Europe competing this month.

Winning the Preliminary Rider division was Regan Lafleur and

her Anglo-sired ORIENT DES TOUCHES. This horse’s sire is Quatar

de Plape, sire of the 2nd place winner at Pau 4*, Cathar de Gamel.

These two are fresh off a 6th place finish in the American Eventing

Championships in Jr/YR Preliminary.

Anglo Arabian RESEDA DE FLEYRES (30.13%) and owner/rider

Sher Schwartz took first place in the Sr. Beginner Novice division,

moving up from 4th after dressage having added only 2.8 time

faults in cross country and a double clear in stadium. They won

this division here in August as well. This mare’s damsire is Quatar

de Plape.

• • •

Virginia Horse Center was the site of the well-attended Vir-

ginia Fall Horse Trials in October.

Half-Arabian IB KESTREL (Karneval {Trak} x Bella Gold) with

his owner/rider Joa Sigsbee attempted their first CCI1*, and came

away pleased with their 16th place finish. Although their dressage

wasn’t their usual ranking, the cross country went fabulously until

a pilot error resulted in a run out at the last combination. They

bounced back in stadium, with one of the top 3 rides. Kestrel is off

now until February.

We did a feature story on Joa & Kestrel in our Aug/Sept issue

on p. 48. Kestrel bows at the end of each of his dressage tests – I

wonder what the judges write down on their score sheets for that

movement!

Half-Arabian PL IRISH PEARL (PL Diamond Hill {Irish Draught} x

PL Shirley) along with breeder/owner/rider Glenda Player, finished

3rd in the Novice Horse Division. They finished on their dressage

score of 37.5, having had two double clears in cross country and

stadium!

• • •

Native Californian Katy Groesbeck and her homebred Anglo

Arabian gelding OZ THE TIN MAN (Sidi Of Magic x Regalbatim {TB})

were again named to the Developing Riders/Eventing 25 Program

list. Katy was named last year to the list and participated in the Cal-

ifornia training sessions with USET Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor.

You can read about her experience HERE. The rider/horse pairs

are chosen by the USEF and Eventing High Performance Dept. The

riders must be 25 years of age or under and have achieved a quali-

fying result at the CCI2* level. The sessions are held in Florida and

California.

Katy relocated to the East Coast after the American Eventing

Championships, then headed to Florida right after Fair Hill Inter-

national. The Florida Training sessions will take place in Ocala Jan-

uary 20-24. O’Connor will conduct lessons under saddle, and ad-

ditionally there will be a classroom component. Topics will include

theory, training and course design. There will also be presenta-

tions by guest speakers on subjects including veterinary care and

stable management.



Laurent Jelowcki’s Half-Arabian teamSterling’s Brigadier SH

Judi

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DRIVING NEWSThere were a few Arabian-bred ponies competing this year at

the FEI World Driving Championships for Ponies in Pau, France.

Clair Lefort of France was driving Arabian/Welsh mare OULALA

D’ECARNOY, a former broodmare and eventing pony, finished 27th

in Single Ponies. The French team ended in 8th place overall. Just

a month before, this same pair were named Champion of France

having won both dressage and cones and placing 2nd in the mara-

thon. They also won the Amateur Elite Grand Prix at Tarbes in Au-

gust and won the CAI at Saumur and Lipica! In her eventing days,

she was 1st or 2nd in 12 CCEs out of 16.

In the Pairs, Axel Mancoux had a Half-Arabian OURAGAN DES

BARREAUX as one of his entries. Sired by Arabian KUIK, they were

in 6th after Phase B, but ended up 18th overall. They were 1st at

Lisieux, 6th at Minden, 5th at Sandringham & 3rd at Saumur this

year.

In the team division, the four Arabian/Haflinger ponies driven

by Laurent Jelowicki, LEGENDE DES LIAUDAIS, MOUSSE DES LIO-

DAIS, NUANCE DES LIODEYS and PINUP DES LIAUDAIS are all sired

by the Arabian NEIJDIAK, a Polish/Russian cross. The team ended

up in 16th place after having placed 3rd at Lisieux, 5th at Saumur,

and 1st in the Amateur Grand Prix at Blaye Les Mines earlier this

year.

BREEDER NEWSThe California Dressage Society Champion Sport Horse Stal-

lion/Gelding for 2013 is the yearling Shagya colt STERLING’S

BRIGADIER SH (Sterling Silver x Brook PFF), owned and bred by

Sterling Shagya Sporthorses.

Brigadier was 1st or 2nd at all of his shows this year, including

Champion twice in the USDF Breeders Series.

Shagya-Arabians are an old, rare breed started in the Austro-

Hungarian region from desert Arabians infused with other blood,

then back to Arabians to create a war horse and today’s sport

horse. Breeders utilize an inspection process similar to warm-

blood breeds to maintain high quality.

The California Dressage Society is one of the largest dres-

sage organizations in the country, with over 4,000 members in 36

chapters.

At this year’s Neumünster (Germany) stallion licensing for

Trakehners, one Half-Arabian stallion earned his breeding license.

GABUN (Camaro {Trak} x Galina II), above, is a 2011 chestnut/

white pinto was the only Arabian-bred presented and approved.

He was bred by Camelot Arabians in Bad Oldesloe, Germany. His

dam, Galina II is a Russian Arabian, bred by Kossack Stud and sired

by Vatican out of Gurba by Baghdad. She is classified as Elite by

the German Arabian Verband (VZAP).


CraigslistMy

Bargainby Sarah Stroup

I love Craigslist. My obsession

with buying and selling things

on Craigslist is probably not the

safest or healthiest of obsessions, but

many good things have come from it—in-

cluding my Arabian/National Show Horse

cross jumper, Glamour Girl SK, fondly

known as “Sarabi.”

The year was 2010, and I was a poor

college sophomore. I was also horseless

for the first time since I was six years old.

I had just put down an OTTB that I rescued

(also a Craigslist find) due to severe neu-

rological problems from EPM and lame-

ness issues from being raced until he was

10 years old. So I was searching for some-

thing that was young (and healthy) that I

could play with when I wasn’t buried in

schoolwork.

I began searching on Craigslist, and I

found an ad for a four-year-old, unbroken,

registered Half-Arabian chestnut mare for

$700. Let me rewind a little bit and say

that my love affair with chestnut mares

began at the age of nine when I first can-

tered across the pasture aboard my evil

pony, Peaches. It grew even more when

I ran my first barrel pattern on my first

horse, an unregistered Arabian/QH named

Lady. So, needless to say, when I saw this

particular ad on Craigslist, I immediately

called and scheduled to go see the horse.

I wish I could say that the instant I laid

eyes on Sarabi I knew she was going to

be my once-in-a-lifetime horse, but that

would be a lie. To say Sarabi had a person-

ality would be an enormous understate-

ment. I watched her prance around and

toss her head and snort, as if to say, “In-

ferior beings, bask in my magnificence!”

Although she was well built and a super

cute mover, I thought that she was going

to be way too much of a project for me. I

told her owner, Stacey that I would think

about it and get back to her.

Stacey and I have become close

friends over the past 3+ years that I have

owned Sarabi, and she has told me nu-

merous times that she always knew that

I was the perfect home for her, which is

why she called me, week after week, of-

fering me Sarabi for a lower price. Finally,

one afternoon she called me and said, “I

will give you Sarabi for free, but if you

want her papers it will be $100.”

I hadn’t found any other prospects

since I had seen the mare, so I ac-

cepted her offer and arranged to

pick her up.

Training Sarabi has been one

of the most rewarding experiences

of my life. Even though she was

always extremely opinionated,

she was incredibly brave, very

forward-thinking, and learned so,

so quickly. We certainly had our

struggles along the way. She was a night-

mare to tie, I would spend hours trying to

catch her in the pasture, and for her first

two months under saddle, she was ada-

mant that “canter” meant bronc sideways.

However, it was Sarabi’s opinionated na-

ture that led me to discovering her true

talent: jumping.

Sarabi had become extremely at-

tached to one of her pasture mates, An-

naliese, a huge QH/Friesian mare. One

day, they were separated, and Sarabi

jumped the pasture fence to be reunited

with her “BFF.” I was shocked by how ef-

fortlessly my horse—a 15-hh Arabian

cross—cleared such a large fence! I began

to jump Sarabi under saddle over small

obstacles, and it was clear that she loved

it.

With only three months of training un-

der her belt, I took Sarabi to her first show,

The photo used in Sarabi’s “for sale” ad.


a Mini Trial, and we placed 6th in the “Very

Green” division. Although she believed

the dressage arena was the scariest place

she’d ever been in her entire life, she

jumped the stadium and cross-country

courses like she was born to it.

Since then, Sarabi and I have trained

with Grand Prix jumper Wilhelm Genn and

have participated in clinics with Olympi-

ans Will Simpson and Joe Fargis. We have

competed in more mini trials, but we

mainly compete in the 3’+ Jumpers at lo-

cal and USEF-Rated shows. This summer,

Sarabi packed a 13-year-old amateur rid-

er around courses up to 3’5”.

Sarabi’s honest, can-do attitude and

trainability are just a few of her remark-

able qualities—not to mention she has

the sweetest personality; she even gives

kisses! I have owned Quarter Horses,

Paints, Thorough-

breds, Saddle-

breds and worked

with numerous

other breeds, but

Arabians stand

alone. I know

no matter what

equestrian sport

or activity I wish

to pursue, I can do

it on an Arabian,

and I could prob-

ably even do it on

Sarabi. She is truly my once-in-a-lifetime

horse, and I look forward to our next ad-

venture!

Sarabi packing a 13-year-old rider around a 2’6” course.

Sarabi taking a 13-year-old rider over her first 3’9” oxer.

3RD

SH

UTT

ER P

HO

TO


BIOMECHANICSA SERIES BY LISA MAY

“If you always do what you always did, you always get

what you always got. Do you feel that even though you

ride every day, and want to improve, it just isn’t happen-

ing at the speed you would like, or maybe isn’t happening at all?

The problem may be in how you are practicing. We only improve

what we are actually doing—not what we hope we are doing.

In his book, The Talent Code, that explains the brain-science of

building a skill, Daniel Coyle describes the process of ‘deep prac-

tice.’ Talent is made, not born.” - Erica Poseley

Every skill we build comes about by way of nerve fibers carry-

ing electrical impulses. Wrapping like electrical tape around the

nerves that we activate is a dense substance in our bodies called

myelin. Like gradually building muscle strength by weightlifting,

we build myelin insulation around the best nerve circuitry by

consciously practicing things that are at the edge of our ability.

We build faster and more fluent connections between brain and

body as layers of myelin bundle our nerve pathways.

Learning accelerates when a targeted system of skill-build-

ing is used. The more time and energy we put into practicing cor-

rections, the more quickly we build nerve circuitry that enables

precise and speedy control. The deepest learning occurs when

we operate in our ‘stretch zone’, struggling in targeted ways as we

make mistakes and consciously correct them. Robert Bjork, UCLA

Chair of Psychology, has explained that our memory isn’t a tape

recorder; it’s scaffolding: the more we encounter and overcome

difficulties the more scaffolding we build and the faster we learn.

Myelin insulation unwraps only due to aging or a disease that

causes it to deteriorate. So, the sole way to change a habit is to

slow down, notice what’s going wrong, and build new behaviors—

insulating new circuitry. The most repetitively and most urgently

fired nerve circuits become the best insulated. This deep practice

is what makes athletes successful.

“Often riders get frustrated when things don’t go well in a

ride. Now, we can look at what we would call a mistake

or an incorrect response as an opportunity to change an

old pattern, and replace it with a new and more correct version.

Our sport is a little more complicated than others since our horses

also have myelin. We must first make sure we are doing things

correctly as riders. Then, through horse training techniques, we

can build the correct nervous system connections in the horse.”

- Erica Poseley

Forty years ago, Mary Wanless set out to discover what makes riders “talented.” With six books, multiple DVDs, and clinics worldwide, her “Ride With Your Mind”TM (RWYM) coaching method explains how any rider can learn to shape the horse’s athletic use of his body. Her pioneering work has seeped into that of many others

who refer to “rider biomechanics.” Wanless’s strategies can be understood most clearly from the source.

The Biology of Building Talent: Tuning the Nervous System


Science has proven that the brain has plasticity at any age.

Memory and performance improve with targeted training. To

correct weaknesses, deliberate practice involves using mistake-

focused feedback to work on techniques. In Mary Wanless’s

RWYM, coaches help the rider target their training to continually

notice & correct. The rider takes responsibility for leading the

dance; pick a target, reach for it, and analyze the gap between

attempt and target. Then, redo the process, repeating the correct

nerve circuitry. Slowly mastering detail allows us to hone and

reproduce accuracy with increasing precision—like sharpening

a blade. With this strategy, riders develop personalized internal

maps through which they can use the horse’s feedback to coach

themselves when riding on their own.

Effective skills are built through a slow accumulation of ele-

ments that we build into gradually larger chunks. Progressively,

a child learns to shape the alphabet, spell words, construct sen-

tences, and deliver those skills in a big chunk—a paragraph! In-

crementally, a dancer learns a basic step with her feet, adds her

arms, combines steps, gains expression in her torso, piece by

piece building a dance routine—the big chunk.

The most effective techniques for teaching a skill are those

that 1.) identify the big picture, 2.) break the big picture down

into it’s smallest elements, 3.) perfect the elements and 4.) grad-

ually chunk them together into larger and larger portions of the

big picture. With this process, we focus on small details that are

specific to the individual learner and then zoom out to the big

picture to keep sight of direction and goal.

The route to mastery of skills is through willingness to do

poorly, and then take baby steps of repeated correction. When

we can tolerate the discomfort of failed attempts, yet keep prac-

ticing—like staggering toddlers learning to walk—we can im-

prove quickly.

“Now, instead of being frustrated when something is not

quite right, consider it an opportunity to wrap new my-

elin around the correct nervous system circuits to improve

the skills of both yourself and your horse.” - Erica Poseley

Reference: Find original research sources in the Notes for Chap-

ters 2 & 4 of Daniel Coyle’s “The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born.

It’s Grown. Here’s How,” NY ‘09 Thanks go to California “Ride With

Your Mind” coach, Erica Poseley, for the use of excerpts from her arti-

cle “Deep Practice: The Science Behind Building A Skill.”

We can use our own anatomy to communicate to the horse a

streamlined framework for movement. Find out more about these

strategies for using the brain to communicate with horses through

behavioral science and biomechanics! There’s a wealth of informa-

tion at www.Mary-Wanless.com including coaches worldwide—with

five in the USA at www.RideWithYourMindUSA.com including Erica

Poseley www.gotseat.com.

Lisa May, the first accredited US RWYM coach has been working

with Wanless since 1997 and Horseman Mark Rashid since 2000

www.MarkRashid.com. Also a Professional Association of Thera-

peutic Horsemanship International instructor, she travels for clinics

from her home in Maryland www.IdylwildFarm.com.

AN EXAMPLE A rider aims to engage a horse’s core—

tip his pelvis and telescope his neck into an arc that enables uphill balance. The rider needs to create an invitation with his own body for his horse’s abdominal muscles to contract, the pelvis to angle and to allow extension in the horse’s top line.

To help the horse, he first needs to se-cure his own balance in relation to gravity so that he can assist rather than interfere with the horse’s balance. To maintain in-dependent body control, he uses his leg angles and thigh connection to bear his

own weight around the barrel. This makes it easier for his horse to lift his back. He creates a giving and receiving connection to the bit that allows the horse to main-tain his balance.

Then, as they are working, the horse takes an uneven step with a foreleg as they enter a corner. The rider finds him-self weighting the rear of his pelvis more than intended. This triggers the horse’s back to hollow away from his seat and the horse to drift from straight travel. The rider corrects his own weight bearing and again supports the horse’s straightness

and use of core strength.

The rider prepares himself for a reoc-currence by analyzing the weak link in his own self-carriage. He suspects that he was not bearing the weight of his own body correctly from side to side as he prepared to navigate the corner. As he approaches the next corner, he focuses attention on carrying himself through the turn to effectively assist the horse. He uses his pelvis, thighs, lower legs and torso to provide support or allow room where the horse needs them. The imbal-ance doesn’t happen again.

http://www.mary-wanless.com

http://www.RideWithYourMindUSA.com

http://www.gotseat.com

http://www.MarkRashid.com

http://IdylwildFarm.com


Breeder Q&A

Carol DiMaggioof Bright Future Farms

How, when and why did you get involved with Arabians?

Like many young readers, I fell in love with the books King of

the Wind and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series and, of course,

dreamed of owning a purebred Arabian some day. I live in North-

ern California, which can boast a large number of Arabian horse

breeders and, therefore, many local shows. Some very notorious

stallions such as *Serafix, Ben Rabba and Bey Shah were locals

and were well represented at the shows, along with Khemosabi

and many Aurab-bred horses. These stallions are seen in many of

the pedigrees of our Sport Horses today.

When did you breed your first Arabian?

My first mare was a little grey named Rebakah who was by a

Ferseyn grandson. I first saw her with a lovely foal at her side in a

pasture near my farm. I had always had geldings, but for the first

time I started to think about breeding. Her owner was dispersing,

so I bought her in 1987 and bred her to Great Lad, by Rasmo-

niet RSI. My first foal was a grey filly, Rebak-Amal, foaled in 1989,

the same year that Taez+// (Ralvon Elijah x Seranado) foaled.

(Read more about Taez+// in the February/March 2013 edition of

The Arabian Sport Horse Magazine.)

How many horses have you bred?

31 Purebreds and 7 Half-Arabians

When you decided to breed Arabian horses, what were your

goals?

Long before the Arabian Sport Horse division was added to

USEF, I was breeding for beautiful riding horses. I’ve always been

attracted to what some call ‘old fashioned’ Arabians. I’ve used

mostly Crabbet bloodlines in my breeding program. My resident

trainer, Jane Mendelsohn, and her sister, Debbie, were eventing

their purebred Arabian geldings, and it was natural that my young

horses were started with dressage training, including my young

Carol has been breeding Arabians since 1988 and continues to breed both purebred and Oldenburg/Arabians at her Bright Future Farms in Walnut Creek, CA. She is the breeder of Grand Prix Dressage stallion Taez+//. In 2013, Carol was named 7th in the country for USDF Dressage Horse Breeder of the Year.


stallion, Taez+//. I really didn’t have any spe-

cific goals—those came later. I would like to

try my hand a racing some day, then I can say

that my horses have done just about everything!

Who was your biggest influence regarding your breeding deci-

sions?

I’ve always made my own breeding decisions. I studied pedi-

grees of the horses that I liked and also phenotype that I wanted.

I subscribed to Arabian Horse World, The Crabbet Influence and at-

tended many shows. Inevitably, the horses that I liked were very

often bred from the bloodlines that I liked. We all have different

tastes in horses, and it’s been said many times to “breed what

you like… avoid ‘fad’ breeding.”

What do you consider your greatest achievement in breeding

horses?

I would have to say Taez+//, who I never dreamed would one

day become a Grand Prix dressage horse. When he won the 1997

USDF Musical Freestyle Championship at First Level, I thought

that would be his crowning glory. When he got to Fourth Level,

I told him one day (I do actually talk to my

horses) on a trail ride that if he never got any

higher up the levels I would be content with

his achievements, I meant it. His accomplishments

are too many to list. His son, Tail TZ, is a National Cham-

pion at First Level; his Half-Arabian daughters, Mica++ and Medi-

na TZ, who are full sisters, are in the main mare book of Olden-

burg Horse Breeders Society, a division of the German Oldenburg

Verband. I hope to see their names one day along with their sire’s

in the pedigree of an international dressage horse.

What characteristics do you consider “must haves” in a breeding

animal?

Good feet and legs, a well conformed, balanced body, and a

good attitude that includes willingness to do what is asked of

them. I also look for a great walk, which is very important and

often overlooked. Good movement is a must.

When matching a stallion to a mare, what do you consider their

most important attributes in order to produce a successful sport

Continued on page 64

Left: Taez+//, Arabian

Grand Prix Dressage Stallion

Top Right: Meika++, Half-Arabian mare

(Taez+// x Militzia [Trak])

Bottom Right: Tzar, Half-Arabian

(Taez+// x Fairchild [Old])

SUZA

NN

E ST

URG

ILL

PHO

TO

TAM

ARA

TORT

I PH

OTO


For many people, the study of Arabian pedigrees is an end-

less source of fascination, and for serious breeders it is a require-

ment. Still, terminology remains puzzling. When asked about

the dam line of a mare, this writer has heard owners reply “oh,

she’s out of Khemosabi++++/”. Actually, if Khemosabi++++/ is

her maternal grandsire, the correct way to describe the pedigree

is to say that the mare’s dam is by Khemosabi++++/ (out of is

a term reserved to describe what mares have produced). Also,

since Khemosabi++++/ is a stallion, he cannot be the “dam line”

of the mare—the dam line is the females listed descending from

the mother of the mare herself. Her “dam line” would trace to a

mare like Bint Sahara, for example.

By the time one tries to learn all the correct words for pedi-

gree analysis, one’s head can be spinning. Taproot mares, family

strains, plus symbols before and after names--it seems to be a

foreign language, and one for which a translation dictionary can-

not be bought in a local bookstore! For our example of a pedigree

we will use that of the late, great Huckleberry Bey++, who was

the leading halter and performance sire at the National shows

for a number of years and whose sire line is still prominent today

through his sons who have been leading sires as well, most no-

tably Afire Bey V, the breed’s all time leading sire of champions.

Sire LineThe top part of the pedigree tracing through the sire, to his

sire, and so forth is termed the “sire line”. This ends in the foun-

dation sire, who is the final source to whom the sire line traces. In

Arabian pedigrees. the foundation sire is always a horse bred in

the desert whose parents are not named. For Huckleberry Bey++,

it is *Mirage, a grey stallion imported to America in 1928 by Rog-

er Selby, who had bought him from Lady Wentworth of England.

Since *Mirage left no registered get in England, his sire line ap-

pears in pedigrees today only through American sources. Had

Sheila Varian not used the *Mirage great-great grandson Bay-

Abi++ as the foundation sire for her breeding program, the sire

line might well be extinct today. Huckleberry Bey++ is 6 genera-

tions away from *Mirage in sire line.

Examples of some other prominent foundation sires are: Ibra-

him (Poland), founder of the Skowronek sire line, Kuhailan Haifi

(Poland), from whom *Bask++ descends, and Saklawi I (Egypt),

from whom Nazeer descends. The sons of a foundation sire form

the branches of the sire line (think of a tree with branches ex-

tending from its central trunk). For example, the highly success-

ful Shaikh Al Badi branch of the Saklawi I sire line has produced

the World Champions *Gazal Al Shaqab and *Marwan Al Shaqab

and National Champions Ruminaja Ali, Ali Jamaal and Thee Des-

How to Read aPedigreeby Arlene Magid

Huckleberry Bey++

JOH

NN

Y JO

HN

STO

N P

HO

TO


!

Huckleberry Bey++

Sire Line: *Mirage (foaled 1919)

Tail Female: Rodania (1869, from Crabbet

Stud, England) Family Strain:

Kehilan Ajuz of Ibn Rodan

Bay El Bey++

Bay-Abi++

*Naganka

Taffona

Raffon++

Waneta

Errabi

Angyl

Bad Afas

Najada

Gazon

Vadraff

Bagdad

Rhadna

Arabi Kabir

Ferdirah

*Raseyn

*Wierna

Kuhailan Afas

Bad

Fetysz

Gazella II

Ferzon

Scheraff

Indraff

Invasia

Des Moin

*Azja IV

Ibn Mirage

Reina Regente

Image

*Ferdin

Skowronek

Ofir

desertbred

Diab

Bakszysz

Kohejlan

Ferneyn

Indraff

*Raffles

Valensik

Image

Landsknecht

*Mirage

Karnak

*Kareyma

Sankirah

Rayya

Kamea

desertbred

Guenina

Siglavi-Bagdady

Abra

Fersara

Scheherazade

*Indaia

Indirza

Rafina

Asra

*Kareyma

Rabbani

Pedigree Chart research copyright Arlene Magid 2012

Sire Line

Tail Female

Horses linebred in pedigree

© 2012 Arlene Magid Arabian Horse Consultant. www.arlenemagid.com


perado, but the foundation sire of this line is not Shaikh Al Badi,

but Saklawi I. The sire line of Huckleberry Bey++ is marked in red

on the six-generation pedigree chart that accompanies this arti-

cle.

Sometimes a sire line does not survive in direct male descent

(as was nearly the case with *Mirage, whose sons were excellent

broodmare sires). In such a case, it is a sire line that is said to ex-

ist “through the middle of the pedigree” as it is found only in fe-

males. Of course, this means that it is extinct as a sire line per se.

There is such a horse in Huckleberry Bey++’s pedigree—Karnak,

the sire of Reina Regente. Karnak sired eight daughters and five

sons. Of his sons, three left no get at all, one sired one daughter,

and the fifth sired two daughters and a son who was gelded, thus

rendering the sire line from Karnak defunct. However, Karnak’s

daughters were highly prolific broodmares and through them he

is found in many pedigrees today.

Many of the winners at the 2011 National Champion shows in

North America were from sire lines commonly found today, such

as those of Kuhailan Haifi, *Mirage (through Bay-Abi++) and Sak-

lawi I (through various sources including Aswan, the Nazeer son

who had so much influence on the Russian breeding program).

However, other sire lines are still showing influence, including

that of Dahman Amirch, a desertbred stallion whose Polish born

son Ursus has had worldwide influence through the get he sired

in Spain. 2011 U.S. National Champion Three Year old Filly *Abha

Raipur, PA Sebastion (who won 3 Canadian National Champion-

ships as a hunter and jumper), Sur Teddys Magna++// (who won

5 Canadian National Championships in hunter over fences and

sport horse under saddle), and VLQ Friendly Fire+// (who won 3

National Championships in 2011 in reining) are of this sire line.

Another influential sire line is that of Seanderich, a desert-

*Mirage

Ibrahim

Saklawi I

Karnak


bred stallion used at stud in Spain at the beginning of the twen-

tieth century. 2011 U.S. Reserve National Champion Futurity Filly

Raherra, U.S. National Champion Two Year Old Sport Horse Filly

Al-Marah Amelius, U.S. National Champion Sport Horse Yearling

Filly Al-Marah Jessica, Canadian Reserve National Champion Hunt

Pleasure AATR 40 and Over C A Ultimo+//, and U.S. Reserve Na-

tional Champion Training Level Dressage ATR Xxtra Cool+ are of

this sire line.

The sire line of Mahruss, a stallion bred in Egypt and used by

England’s Crabbet stud produced the 2011 U.S. National Champi-

on Hunt Pleasure AOTR 36-54 winner WMJ Contribution and U.S.

Reserve National Champion Sport Horse Carriage Driving Turnout

Canadian Justina, who descend from the Rissalix branch of that

sire line.

Another prominent source of the Mahruss sire line today is

through the stallion Aurab, a line noted for producing winning

working western and sport horses. 2011 U.S. Reserve National

Champion Trail Futurity Robbyn Ribbons, U.S. National Champion

Trail JOTR 14-17 Serannada+//, and 2011 U.S. National Cham-

pion Training Level Dressage Junior Horse Aul Turbo Charged, are

from the Aurab branch of the Mahruss sire line

Another sire line prominent at England’s Crabbet stud was

that of Zobeyni through the noted stallion Mesaoud. 2011 Cana-

dian Reserve National Champion Western Pleasure AOTR 18-39

and Western Pleasure AATR 18-39 Koweta Phoenix+/ traces in

sire line to Zobeyni.

A less common Egyptian sire line is that of Jamil El Kebir,

found through the Rabdan branch. This is the sire line of Bab-

son Egyptian Arabians, of National Champion sire Hallany Mis-

tanny and also of multi-National Champion Fadjur. 2011 North

American National Champions representative of this line include

U.S. National Champion Third Level Dressage KS Fadls Phoenix,

U.S. Reserve National Champion Working Cow Horse Futurity CJ

Shadow Dance and multi-National Champion Sport Horse Car-

riage Driving VPF Nite Reign.

The Bairactar sire line, which has branches in Poland and Rus-

sia, is the sire line of 2011 Canadian multi-National Champion

Reining Navajo Joe BPF and U.S. Reserve National Champion

Reining JTR 14-17 Bay Emotion.

The Ilderim sire line, which originates in Poland, is responsi-

ble for great horses of the past such as U.S. National Champion

Stallion *Elkin++ and U.S. National Champion Mare *Elkana++, as

well as modern show winners such as 2011 U.S. National Cham-

pion Grand Prix Dressage HS Pageno+// and 2011 U.S. National

Champion Fourth Level Dressage and Canadian National Cham-

pion Sport Horse Stallion HSA Haleys Comet, who has more Na-

Ursus

Seanderich

Mahruss


tional titles than any other purebred Arabian.

The Female SideIn Arabians, the tail female line is also called the dam line

or family. It was especially prized by the Bedouins. The tail fe-

male descends through the dam (mother of the horse), her dam

(the granddam), and so on to the taproot mare, who is always a

desertbred. Examples of some prominent taproot mares include

the Blunt’s Rodania (who is the taproot mare for Huckleberry

Bey++ and whose line originates from her foals in England), the

Davenport import *Urfah, and Mlecha from Poland (from whom

*Bask++, descends). Breeders often make reference to “num-

bered” dams (third, fourth, etc.). The numbers indicate how many

generations back they are from the horse whose pedigree is be-

ing read. Huckleberry Bey++’s dam line is marked in blue on the

pedigree chart. His dam is Taffona, his second dam is Waneta, his

third dam is Rhadna, his fourth dam is Reina Regente, and his fifth

dam is Rabbani. Huckleberry Bey++ is 11 generations removed

from Rodania, the taproot mare of his dam line.

The noted equine geneticist Michael Bowling found in an un-

published study of every 20th horse registered in Volume 72 of

the American stud book (most of these were foals of 1996) a sam-

pling which provided information on the most frequently found

dam lines in modern stock. Of the top ten, four came through

the Crabbet Stud (those of Rodania, Ghazieh, Basilisk and Fer-

ida). Rodania was the dam line found most often in the horses

studied--of the 500 horses in the group, she was the taproot an-

cestress of 69 of them (13.8%). Three of the top ten are from the

1906 Davenport importation (*Abeyah, *Urfah, the second most

common, and *Wadduda, to whom Bint Sahara, Ferzon and Khe-

mosabi++++// trace, among others).

One mare, El Dahma, founded her family in Egypt, and the

Zulima tail female is found through Spanish pedigrees. Some

of the less numerous dam lines have also produced important

horses. The Polish dam line of Ukrainka is found today in tail fe-

male only through Forta, but she founded a dynasty of successful

race and show horses. One of the rarest female families is that

of Wild Thyme, whom the Blunts brought to England’s Crabbet

Rodania

*Urfa

Wadduda


stud in one of their early importations. U.S. National Champion

Stallion Arn Ett Perlane+ traces to her in tail female. Another in-

frequently found line is that of Dafina, a desertbred mare brought

to England in 1927. She had a daughter who went to Russia in the

1936 exportation from the Crabbet Stud, and from that daughter

descends U.S. Reserve National Champion Stallion and National

Champion sire Padrons Psyche so there is a refreshed presence of

the Dafina line in current Arabian breeding.

One other term from the dam’s portion of the pedigree is im-

portant. This is “broodmare sire,” the maternal grandsire. Huckle-

berry Bey++’s broodmare sire is Raffon++, noted for his excellent

daughters (U.S. National Champion Stallion Fame VF+ is also out

of a Raffon++ daughter). Certain stallions are famed for their pro-

duction of exceptional mares, so the broodmare sire position in

a pedigree is one to evaluate with care. Many significant breed-

ing stallions are the grandsons of important broodmare sires. The

complete female side of the pedigree (including the broodmare

sire, the dam, granddam and tail female line plus all the sires of

those mares) is called the distaff side of the pedigree.

Linebreeding And InbreedingLinebreeding refers to the occurence of the same horse mul-

tiple times in the pedigree. In Huckleberry Bey++’s pedigree,

there is linebreeding to *Mirage and *Kareyma (Arabi Kabir and

Ibn Mirage are 3/4 brothers), to Skowronek through his sons *Raf-

fles, *Raseyn and Naseem, and to Indraff, the son of *Raffles who

is the maternal grandsire of Gazon and the sire of Vadraff. (Raf-

fon++, who is by Gazon out of Vadraff, can be considered inbred

to Indraff). There is also linebreeding to the Polish horses Gazella

II and Bakszysz. Horses who occur multiple times in the pedigree

are marked in yellow on Huckleberry Bey++’s pedigree chart.

Many very successful Arabian breeding programs have been

based on linebreeding and/or inbreeding. Bazy Tankersley of Al-

Marah Arabians has linebred and inbred to her foundation sire In-

draff since she purchased him in the 1940s. Alice Payne, the final

owner of *Raffles, developed an inbreeding program around him

so intense that she produced Celeste, who was 87 1/2% *Raffles

(she was sired by him, out of a daughter of his who was also his

granddaughter!). By the time Payne died in 1969, her younger

horses had as many as 11 lines to *Raffles in the first six genera-

tions of their pedigrees. Henry Babson of the Babson Stud con-

centrated his efforts on the stallion *Fadl, who he imported in

1932. Dan Gainey of Gainey Arabians inbred Skowronek through

his stallion Ferzon (who was a double grandson of the Skowronek

grandson Ferseyn) and Azraff, a son of the inbred Skowronek

son *Raffles. Some breeders have linebred to mares--the McCoy

program was founded on offspring of Bint Sahara and later line-

breeding to her. More recently breeders have been linebreeding

and inbreeding to Padrons Psyche and Huckleberry Bey++. Line-

breeding and inbreeding can be utilized effectively to replicate

desirable traits of an ancestor in descendants, but one must al-

ways bear in mind that when doing so less desirable recessive

traits may present as well (see my article on “The Importance Of

The Pedigree”.

It is important to understand that the terms “linebreeding”

and “inbreeding” are used somewhat differently in the Arabian

community than they are in some other breeds. In Thorough-

Dafina

*Kareyma


breds, who have less occurence of linebreeding than Arabians,

horses are said to be “inbred on a coefficient” if the same animal

appears several times in the pedigree. “Inbred 2:3” means that

the same horse appears once in the second and third genera-

tions. For Arabians, the term inbred would refer to a horse who is

incest bred, the product of a mother/son, father/daughter, or sib-

ling mating, or a horse who had more than 2 lines to a particular

ancestor in the first few generations of the pedigree.

Family StrainsThe concept of family strains can be difficult to grasp, as it

is based in both legend and reality. Family strain designation

among the Bedouins came from the dam line as a way to iden-

tify the tribe which had bred a particular horse. Family strain is

passed from generation to generation through the dam line, nev-

er through the sire line.

The legendary origin of strains is based on the story of “Al

Khamsa” (the five), who were the mares of the Prophet Moham-

med. After being denied water for some time, they were allowed

to drink, but turned back from the waterhole when a horn was

blown indicating an impending battle. Since they were the true

“war mares”, they became the foundresses of the five main

strains of Arabians: the Kehilan. Seqlawi, Muniqi, Dahman and

Hadban. There are variant spellings for these--Kehilan can be

spelled Kuhaylan, or Koheilan. These are the masculine version

of the strain names--the feminine ones have different forms.

A horse who is of the Seqlawi Jedran of Ibn Sudan strain has a

taproot mare bred by a tribe different than one of the Seqlawi al

Abd strain. Since horses were exported from the desert to various

countries, one finds the Seqlawi al Abd strain in America through

the 1906 Davenport imports *Wadduda and *Urfah, and the same

strain in Spain through Zulima, who was brought from the desert

in 1905. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) research has also deter-

mined errors in historic family strains. When originally registered

in America, *Urfah was said to be of the Seqlawi Jedran family

strain, but modern research has proven that she is of the same

strain as *Wadduda. Another significant family strain change de-

termined by mtDNA research is that of the full siblings *Fadl and

*Maaroufa of the Babson importation from Egypt. For many years

their strain was believed to be Kehilan Jallabi, however recent

research has reassigned their strain to be Seqlawi Jedran, tracing

to the taproot mare Ghazieh instead of Jellabiet Feysul.

With the passing of time other strains came into being, includ-

ing the Abeyan, Jilfan, Shueyman, and Wadnan. The latter three

are thinly represented in modern breeding, with the Shueyman

known through one taproot mare in Poland (though that mare,

Cherifa, founded the dam line that includes U.S. National Champi-

on Stallion *Elkin++ and Swedish National Champion Stallion *Ex-

elsjor, found close up in the pedigree of World Champion Stallion

*Gazal Al Shaqab). The Abeyan strain has a rare substrain--Umm

Jaras--found in Egyptian horses today through the taproot mare

El Obeya Om Grees. From this line descend the excellent sire *Ibn

Hafiza as well as National Champions and National Champion

sires Nabiel+/ and Ruminaja Ali!

There are also many substrains of each of the major ones,

some of which exist in modern breeding and some of which do

not. Researching strains can be a difficult task. In the first four vol-

umes of the American stud book family strains were recorded for

each horse, but the information was dropped from subsequent

volumes. To trace all of the strains in a pedigree with many dif-

ferent origins, many reference sources must be used (the Arabian

Datasource online unfortunately does not record family strains).

Our sample horse, Huckleberry Bey++, is of the Kehilan Ajuz

of Ibn Rodan strain. He is actually pure-in-strain Kehilan Ajuz, as

his sire Bay El Bey++ is of the Kehilan Ajuz strain through the Pol-

ish taproot mare Gazella. The Bedouins prized horses who were

closely bred within the strain as they believed this set desirable

traits and made them more consistent breeding stock.

The significance of family strains has been the subject of

much dispute over the years. The writer Carl Raswan felt that the

horses of the late-developed Muniqi strain were less pure, and

therefore undesirable, though Wilfrid Blunt of the Crabbet Stud

highly prized this strain for its racing abilities (one of the found-

ers of the Thoroughbred, the Darley Arabian, was reputed to be

a Muniqi, and it was to find horses of this strain to improve the

modern Thoroughbred that sent the Blunts to the desert in search

of Arabian breeding stock). Raswan believed there were three

basic strains that were also accompanied by a distinct physical

type of horse. Kehilans were heavier in muscling, wide-chested

and masculine of appearance, appearing more like a Morgan or

even a Quarter Horse (this included the mares). His concept of the

Seqlawi was a slimmer, more elegant horse with a narrower head,

which he later compared to be more like an American Saddlebred.

His description of a typical horse of the Maneghi strain was a tall-


er animal, coarser in appearance, resembling the Thoroughbred

in looks and speed.

Symbols And SuchArabian horse pedigrees often have symbols that puzzle the

reader. On the registration papers and the pedigrees on the AHA

Datasource online (or the old Arabian Horse Registry Bookshelf

CD ROMs, last issued in 2001), three or four letter abbreviations

often accompany the registration numbers following the horses’

names. These are codes for the registry of origin of a particular

horse. In Huckleberry Bey++’s pedigree, AHR represents the

American registry and PASB is the Polish stud book, while SBFAR

is the French Stud Book. Such designations can give clues to the

national origins of horses in the pedigree, but must be used with

care in determining whether a horse represents a certain bloodline

group.

For instance, Bay El Bey++’s dam *Naganka was bred in Poland

but her maternal granddam Bad was bred in France. Some other

common abbreviations for foreign stud book origins are : AHSA

(Australia), AHSB(Great Britain, though some horses up to 1964

were registered with both the Arab Horse Society stud books and

the GSB, the General Stud Book), AVS (the Netherlands), BAPS

(Belgium), BRSB (Brazil), CAHR (Canada), CHAV (Switzerland),

DAV (Old German stud book), EAO (Egypt), GASB(Germany),

ITSB (Italy), KSB (Kuwait), QASB (Qatar), RASB (Russia), RJSB

(Jordan), SAHR (Sweden), SBA (Argentina) and SSB (Spain).

Another area of confusion is the use of asterisks before the

name of the horses, as with *Naganka and a number of other hors-

es in Huckleberry Bey++’s pedigree. The asterisk indicates that

the horse was imported to America. This symbol was used by the

Arabian Horse Registry of America until the early 1980s, when their

computer system was altered so that the asterisk became a func-

tion key. Now imported horses are registered with the stud book

of origin following their names. Poland’s Bandos became *Bandos

PASB in America after his 1982 importation. However, he is often

mentioned as *Bandos, which is also correct usage since he was

imported (there is also an American born Bandos foaled in 1940).

An example of incorrect usage of the asterisk is often seen in

horses who have been exported and then re-imported, as was U.S.

National Champion Stallion Ali Jamaal, whose correct designation

is Ali Jamaal, not *Ali Jamaal--since he was foaled in America the

asterisk should not be used. Generally, if a horse is imported the

asterisk should still be used in front of its name, even if it is not

used in its registration name due to the technical requirements of

the American Arabian Registry.

Plus (+) and slash (/) symbols after the name of a horse indi-

cate that it is the recipient of an Arabian Horse Association merit

award. The program was initiated in 1965 to recognize horses who

performed well in the show ring, but now racing, eventing, dres-

sage, distance riding also earn points for these awards. The des-

ignations are: Legion of Honor (+), Legion of Supreme Honor (+/).

Legion of Merit (++), Legion of Excellence (+//), Legion of Supreme

Merit (+++), and Legion of Masters (++++).

There are also combinations of awards including Legion of

Supreme Honor/Merit (++/), Legion of Supreme Honor/Supreme

Merit (+++/), Legion of Merit/Excellence (++//), Legion of Supreme

Merit/Excellence (+++//), Legion of Masters/Supreme Honor

(++++/), and Legion of Masters/Excellence (++++//). Horses earn-

ing awards in the honor, supreme honor and excellence divisions

have won points in halter and/or performance. The merit, su-

preme merit, and masters awards are given to horses who have

earned a certain number of points in both halter and performance

events--Huckleberry Bey++, his sire Bay El Bey++, and grandsires

Raffon++ and Bay Abi++ are all recipients of the Legion of Merit

award.

Bay Abi++

SPAR

AGO

WSK

I PH

OTO


the Tale

by Karla Stanley

SO IT WAS… We first saw Scrimshah at the 2010

Canadian Arabian Nationals. He was for

sale. What an eye-catching horse this

bright chestnut overo was! Sally Henry,

our longtime friend and client, had a soft

spot for pintos and could not get him

out of her mind. That winter, thinking “it

doesn’t hurt to check,” she did just that.

The next spring, he was hers.

We had been told that he was hot, had

a rough trot and was often lunged for long

periods of time on show days to make him

more ridable. We were also told he was

stall aggressive and poll sensitive. He

had been ridden by many different riders.

Scrim was shipped to us at Prairie

Rose Training Center in Bismarck, ND

where Mimi Stanley rode him a few times

before Sally picked him up. Mimi found

out that he knew his job as a rail horse in

a double bridle but he did not understand

the aids as a dressage horse. In a snaffle,

his mouth was unresponsive. He either ig-

nored the leg or ran from it. As a result, he

went stiff, crooked and in absolute eleva-

tion. On the ground, he seemed to be in

his own protective bubble not interacting

with people. He led with his neck straight

up, ears rigidly forward, always looking

for something that he should be scared

of. He did not like grooming or really to

be touched at all. He seemed to have no

awareness when he bumped into a per-

son. This was the Scrim that Sally took

home.

Sally spent a lot time with him. He

lived in a big turnout with a run-in shed

plus plenty of pasture time. He learned to

interact with other horses and did become

more relaxed, at least in his handling from

the ground. She taught him how to lower

his head for haltering, but if his ears or

poll were touched, his head shot straight

up. She occasionally brought him back the

100 miles to us for a lesson. We found he

lunged in a rigid counter-flexed position.

With a side rein three holes shorter on the

inside, we could get his head a bit to the

inside, but his neck was then pulled in and

shortened with his spine in an S curve.

Sally did work Scrim into some modest

trail riding with the neighbor. She started

out leading him and worked up to using

a pony horse and finally just following

another horse. She rode him in a western

saddle with a running martingale for safe-

ty. When his anxiety level climbed, he was

unpredictable.

In the fall of 2012, Sally put Scrim

in training with us. We had some idea of

the road ahead but we could not have im-

agined what the next six months would

bring. At this point, he neither respected

nor trusted the people around him. Un-

der saddle, he often shied and refused to

pass various points in the arena. He was

typically in a position of absolute eleva-

tion with his neck straight up, back hollow

of a Tail


and hind legs working behind him with lit-

tle flexion. If nothing much was asked of

him, he would go down the rail. His first

response to the aids was to ignore them

by becoming dead in the mouth and the

sides. If the aids were applied more as-

sertively, he threw his head up and bolt-

ed sideways. While the Training Pyramid

is our guide, it was difficult to find any

rhythm in his gaits, much less relaxation.

Things like normal half-halts and posi-

tioning for transitions were impossible.

It worked for him to overreact to his

environment, tune out the rider/handler

and if all else failed, explode. He taught

his riders that they got along best with

him if they mostly left him alone. Scrim

is a very smart, energetic and extremely

sensitive horse who had many riders. For

him to make progress in classical dres-

sage, he needed to be trained and ridden

consistently by one experienced rider.

SO IT BEGAN… Our first job was to find a starting

point where we could figure out Scrim’s

particular learning process. Until we could

reach him, he remained either explosive

or shut down. Once he was thinking and

attentive, we then could start to custom-

ize a training plan for him, being care-

ful not to trigger negative responses. No

signal, request or aid works if the horse

ignores it. Scrim had to learn to pay atten-

tion.

At this point, lunging was useless be-

cause he would not seek the contact or

bend correctly on the circle. When the

contact was brought to him by shortening

the side reins, he corkscrewed his spine,

leaned in and took off.

Our answer was Linda Tellington

Jones TEAM exercises and close up long-

lining as is done in the Spanish Riding

School. TEAM is wonderful for stimulating

the horse to think, develop body aware-

ness and sensitivity to touch. With skillful

long-lining, a horse can learn correct body

positions, self carriage and contact. Scrim

had never experienced this approach.

That was a key for it to succeed.

We also needed a bit that did not

cause him to hide from it but was worth

paying attention to. Enter the ergonomi-

cally shaped Herm Sprenger KK Correc-

tion Snaffle. We now had a place to start.

After a few weeks and some progress,

cavaletti were introduced on a slightly

larger circle—still with two reins but with

a hint of lunging. At this point, Scrim was

lowering his neck on his own, his back

was starting to come up, and the hind legs

were working under without leaning in on

the circle. We were encouraged!

After four weeks of groundwork, we

began to transfer this new way of going to

work under saddle. At first, Mimi sat on

Scrim while I walked beside him mimick-

ing the long lining position and duplicat-

ing the TEAM exercises. As Steffen Peters

says, “Contact is everything,” and that

is what Scrim needed to learn in order

to respond to the aids correctly. At first,

the contact needed to come to him with

slow, elastic, exaggerated lateral flexion.

With our newly found relaxation from

the groundwork, he was able to start re-

sponding to the leg and weight aids. From

there, he could be asked to start stretch-

ing to the contact and yielding through

the body. Now, we had a tool to use that

created relaxation when he got tense.

In this work, we avoided both the rail

and the part of the arena where he was

so spooky. He could be forced to pass by

those spots, but the tension set him back

to square one. Mimi tried to allow him to

rest in the scary spots but like so many

Arabs, he never got very tired, so stand-

ing there was a punishment. She then

stashed treats along the wall in those

spots, which helped.

As he started to understand and ac-

cept the aids, those aids could become

more sophisticated, and he allowed

himself to be positioned into a shoulder

fore. This was a major breakthrough. All

things are possible in shoulder fore! As he


learned to keep his focus on the rider, the

shying, bolting and fear of his environ-

ment became less of an issue.

Another exercise that complemented

his first work under saddle involved a

slightly unusual approach to encourage

the half-halt. Keep in mind that in the be-

ginning, Scrim tended to respond to rein

pressure by locking his jaw, shooting his

neck up and dropping his back. A bend-

ing line with a leg yield stepping to an

outside rein connection was most help-

ful to encourage relaxation and a lowered

neck, lifted back and hind legs stepping

well under. But at the trot, Scrim was con-

firmed in a saddleseat “rock n roll” down

the rail with minimal rider intervention.

Always, we needed to keep Scrim thinking

and paying attention to the rider’s aids,

but with this trot, a half-halt was not on

the menu.

The exercise we used was similar

to the start of the turn on the haunches

(half-halt, position/turn, give). In the third

position off the rail, Mimi asked for a re-

balancing half-halt emphasizing the seat/

tummy part with a cuddling leg and mini-

mum rein. When Scrim gave his predicted

response, Mimi only held the request for

a moment in spite of Scrim’s answer. In

the next moment, she repeated it, only

this time she turned his head towards

the wall, holding the rein aid for just long

enough to commit him to the turn. As he

came out of the turn, the aid was off and

he was allowed to continue at the pace of

his choosing. This quite surprised Scrim!

After a few of these, he was paying at-

tention and looking for that “get ready”

half-halt by rebalancing to his hindquar-

ters. The turn towards the wall was then

no longer necessary. In all work, Scrim had

to be kept engaged and busy both men-

tally and physically or he would fill his

time looking for monsters. He quite en-

joyed recreational shying.

MORE TO COME…In the beginning, there were many

times Mimi would finish Scrimshah’s les-

son with much frustration, feeling like

she was uncovering more problems. For a

horse such as Scrim, the traditional train-

ing approach would not have worked. We

needed to use a different path to avoid

triggering the set responses and muscle

memories. He then could learn what we

were trying to teach him.

As Mimi was able to start decrypting

his mind and body, Scrim’s respect and

trust began to develop. He was listening

and starting to enjoy his work! This dres-

sage was a good thing.

In the next installment, read how

Scrim graduated through different bits

and how the dressage work resulted in

a whole body makeover. Scrim also had

a game-changing surprise in store for

us.


http://arlenemagid.com

mailto:arabbits%40aol.com?subject=


The Shagya-ArabianOne Exceptional Sport Horse Breed

By Hallie Goetz

It seems that whenever a group of

sport horse enthusiasts meets a Shag-

ya-Arabian for the first time, although

their deliveries differ, the reaction is al-

ways the same, and they inevitably ask,

“What type of horse is that?” The breed-

savvy ones seem to then crisscross breed

charts, searching for a match, concluding

with “That must be an Arabian Warmblood

cross of some sort?” Close, but no cigar.

The Shagya-Arabian is a breed of Eu-

ropean riding and driving horse, originat-

ing in stud farms of the Austro-Hungarian

Empire in the late 1700’s. The breed

originated from the Calvary’s need for a

horse with the endurance of an Arabian

but with larger size and carrying capacity.

The stud farms’ breeding technique was

to selectively cross native Warmblood

mares with desert bred Arabian stallions,

usually every 4th generation, and then

methodically performance and progeny

test subsequent generations. The result is

the Shagya-Arabian, a sport horse of Ara-

bian type, toughness, refinement, and en-

durance, but with more bone, larger frame

and a calm temperament.

WAHO recognizes the breed as a

sub-species of Arabian and appointed

the International Shagya Arabian Society

(ISG) as the umbrella organization for the

breed. Its Member Registries work togeth-

er to promote, preserve and maintain the


breed worldwide. In 1978, the breed was

officially named “Shagya-Arabian” to hon-

or the desert-bred Arabian stallion “Shag-

ya,” bred by the Bani Saher tribe, who

was a prepotent sire and who stood at

Bábolna National Stud Farm (Hungary) in

the 1830’s. Shagya appears in almost all

Shagya-Arabian pedigrees. Prior to that,

the breed was commonly referred to as

“Arab-bred.” Shagya-Arabian bloodlines

were also developed at the stud farms at

Radautz (Romania), Topolcianky (Czecho-

slovakia), Mangalia (Romania), and Kabiuk

(Bulgaria). In 2007, the ISG and its mem-

ber registries established an official rule

book for the breed known as the “RZBO.”

Shagya-Arabian Studbooks are closed

to breeds other than the purebred Ara-

bian. As such, for a horse to be officially

recorded as a “Shagya-Arabian,” they

must be registered with an ISG Member

Registry, have pedigrees which trace back

to the original Stud Farms, and for breed-

ing purposes, must have at least 7 out

of 16 “Shagya-Arabian” ancestors in the

4th generation (all other ancestors must

be purebred Arabians). Similar to Warm-

blood breeds, the Shagya-Arabian breed

requirements call for all breeding stock

to be inspected for breeding approval and

that all stallions meet performance crite-

ria.

Official inspections are organized by

ISG Member Registries and allow for eli-

gible Shagya-Arabian and purebred Ara-

bian horses to be presented. Inspection

age requirements may be determined by

the individual registries, but in general,

horses that participate must be at least 2

years old. Inspections serve to maintain

minimum quality breed standards and

allow for horses to be recorded into the

appropriate Stud Book for breeding. They

help to educate breeders and owners on

breed type, conformation and movement,

and facilitate learning how to objectively

evaluate one’s breeding stock. Evalua-

tions are offered for younger horses and

non-breeding stock but are for informa-

tional purposes only.

The inspection is the review of breed-

ing stock, and as such, the horse is ex-

pected to fulfill as possible the demands

as set forth by the breeding goal. Horses

are assessed for conformation, gaits, race

and sex type. Although Shagya-Arabians

have a large Arabian genetic make-up,

the breed should differ from the purebred

Sterling Silver AF (*Shandor x Sapphire by *Oman) Inspected & Approved as a 3 Yr old. Photo by Lynne Glazer courtesy of Shelley Housh.

*Olivero (Taib Gazlan x Obeya) Shannon McCracken (owner) and ISG Judges Adele Furby, Dr. Kathy Richkind and Hallie Goetz in Canada 2012.

Bellisimo (Saklavi I-CZ (Galan) x Bellisima by EH Puschkin R) 2008 Stallion - Approved 2013. Photo by Sabine Bomhardt.


Arabian norm in being larger, having a

bigger frame and having plenty of bone.

The breeding goal is for a large-framed

Arabian horse, suitable for everyone as

an elegant riding and driving horse: “The

Shagya-Arabian should be good looking

and harmonious with an expressive face,

well-proportioned riding horse neck,

clearly defined topline, long croup, and

well carried tail as well as strong clean

legs. They should have ground consum-

ing, elastic and correct movement at all

three gaits. Wither height should be at

least 14.3 to 15.3 hands and cannon bone

circumference should be at least 7 inches.

The Shagya Arabian should fulfill all de-

mands regarding looks and temperament

as a noble and willing family and leisure

horse, as a competition,

hunting and carriage horse

as well as a long distance

horse.” Exceptions do occur

above the upper height limit

and many approved horses

stand 16 hands or over.

For the Shagya-Arabian,

a 10-point system is used

for up to eight partial crite-

ria. The point system grants

scores from 10 to 1: 10 =

Outstanding, 9 = Very good,

8 = Good, 7 = Pretty good, 6

= Satisfactory, 5 = Sufficient,

and so on, down to 1 = Very

bad. The Partial Criteria are:

Type, Head, Neck, Body, Legs,

Walk, and Trot and when

possible, canter or gallop.

The final score is calculated by adding

the points allocated to the partial criteria

and dividing by seven or eight. Member

Registries follow the ISG’s guidelines and

rules as set by the RZBO, including the

minimum score requirements for horses

to be accepted and recorded in the dif-

ferent sections of the Studbook. Usually,

a “Shagya-Arabian” mare must receive at

least an average score of 6 (Satisfactory)

and a purebred Arabian mare an average

score of 8 (Good) to be recorded in Book

I of the Studbook. Shagya-Arabian stal-

lions must receive an average score of

7 (Pretty Good) with no scores lower 7

(Pretty Good) for type and no other score

lower than 5 (Sufficient). Purebred Arabi-

an stallions must receive an average score

of 8 (Good) in order to be “Approved for

Shagya-Arabian breeding.” Other eligible

Shagya-Arabians have minimum average

score criteria and for all eligible horses,

Breeding Committees may make excep-

tions at the time of inspection.

Official ISG Judges preside over the

inspection process, assessing horses for

the aforementioned breed type, confor-

mation and movement. The first steps in

the inspection process are verifying the Koheilan R (Hassaro x Kelissa by Kamour) 2007 Shagya Stallion

- Trot in hand. Photo courtesy of Sabine Bomhardt.

Shagya Raja AF being inspected at the 2006 Inspection. Photo by I. Atam.

Shagya Filly being Judged 2003


horse’s identity and measuring and re-

cording wither height, girth and cannon

circumferences. Horses are then present-

ed in hand on the Triangle. Ideally, horses

are presented well groomed and clean,

without the use of cosmetics and exces-

sive shaving. Each side of the Triangle is

typically 30-40 meters, but that may be

changed at the discretion of the Judges.

Handlers first present the horse standing

at the apex of the triangle, allowing for

the Judges to assess the horse’s confor-

mation and type. Upon instruction from

the Judges, the handler then presents

the horse at the walk and trot on the Tri-

angle, traveling clockwise, allowing for

the Judges to assess the horses gaits and

movement. If conditions permit, the horse

will then be turned loose and encouraged

to show its gaits at liberty, including the

canter and gallop.

After being judged on the Triangle,

owners have the option of sending the

horse down a free jumping chute. The

jumping chute is optional for mares (and

geldings) and mandatory for stallions.

The jumping chute is made up of 3 jumps,

with specific distances before, between

and after each jump, and specific heights

for rails and distances for ground poles.

The chute is set up parallel to one long

side of the ring, and tape or a similar

type of barrier is strung up along the in-

side jump standards, so the horse cannot

avoid a jump by running out of the side of

the chute. Free jumping is used to evalu-

ate the natural jumping talent of horses

presented for breeding approval. Fac-

tors considered include technique (use of

front and hind legs, bascule, and supple-

ness of the back), scope (carefulness and

ease of jumping), willingness to jump, and

overall impression

(canter stride, ability

to adjust stride natu-

rally for fence, tem-

perament and suit-

ability as a jumper).

A stallion’s per-

formance testing may

occur at a 70-day sta-

tion testing, through

open competition in

endurance, dressage,

jumping and event-

ing, as well as other

FEI recognized disci-

plines or at the dis-

cretion of a registry’s

Breeding or Licens-

ing Committee. For

mares, performance

testing is optional,

but as with that for

stallions, all the ba-

sic performance cri-

teria are listed in the

RZBO. Although a

performance require-

ment for stallions was

officially mandated

worldwide in 2007,

most European mem-

bers had been prac-

ticing this require-

ment for generations.

The term “sport

horse” has been de-

fined by some as a

type of horse that is

specifically bred for

their suitability for the FEI disciplines of

showjumping, dressage and eventing.

Warmblood breeds are widely known for

the selection of breeding stock based

on the conventional practices of inspec-

tions and performance testing. Although


O’Bajan Sahara SHG (Janos x Shagya Scarlette AF) 2008 mare. Inspected & Approved 2012 Photo H.Goetz.

Nicolette’s Revelation (Shagya Royal AF x *Nicolette by O’Bajan I-10) Photos by Frankie Frazzini . Going through the jumping chute NASS

inspection 2006. 3 yrs old.

ISG Judge Tamas Rombauer measuring a stallions girth.


Silver Creek Farms in Oklahoma was established some

years ago by Summer Stoffel as a sport horse breeding

facility, specializing in Warmbloods mainly for the sports

of Hunter and Jumper. Several years ago, Summer became in-

volved in the process of hosting stallion performance testing, and

now stallion performance testing has become the main endeavor

of the farm. There is a long tradition of such in the Eastern and

Western European countries. Each year, the various governmen-

tal horse-breeding facilities would put the newest crop of 3 or

4-year-old stallions into training for a period of time and keep

detailed records as to how each stallion handled every phase of

its training. Then, at the end of the training period, each stal-

lion performed certain tests and was given scores for his final

performances in the different disciplines. The ongoing training

70-Day STALLIONTEST

In August of 2012, I sent my young Shagya-Arabian stallion, Nicolette’s Revelation, called “Revel” to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to participate in the 70-Day Stallion Performance Test at Silver Creek Farms. Revel went on to successfully pass the test, but it wasn’t easy for either him or for me! I actually have myself, plus a few unexpected circumstances, to blame for the

difficulties we encountered. But Revel, with his fantastic character and athletic ability, made up for what we lacked in preparation and good luck, to become the first Shagya-Arabian stallion in

America to successfully complete this test.

BY ADELE FURBY

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scores and the final test scores were then tabulated, and the en-

tire group of stallions were rated from the highest-scoring to the

lowest-scoring. This way, the breeding experts were able to de-

termine which stallions had the best potential to be used as new

breeding stallions for that particular breed or region. There was

a lot of variation in how testing was done depending upon the

purpose for which each breed was developed, be it certain riding,

driving, or draft disciplines.

After World War II, a number of horse breeds were developed

specifically for riding and competing in the “Olympic” disci-

plines of dressage, jumping, and three-day eventing (also known

as “military” in Europe, since the eventing test was based upon

what an officer’s horse would theoretically have to be able to

do when in war—be maneuverable in battle, run long distances

cross country, and navigate over fences, through water and other

obstacles en route). For many years, the majority of the European

Warmblood Breeders used a “100-Day Test” in which the horses

were trained for 100 days, usually as either 3 or 4-year-olds. In

recent years, most of the Breeding Societies have changed over

to a 30-day/70-day format, whereby, as 3-year-olds, the horses

are trained in basic flatwork and free jumping for 30 days, and

then as 4-year-olds, the stallions are put back in training for 70

days for their final testing, consisting of dressage, stadium jump-

ing, free jumping, and cross country, jumping over fences, in and

out of water, and up and down various terrain. The 70-Day Per-

formance Test has now evolved into the accepted performance

test for the majority of sport horse breeds.

In the United States beginning in the 1980’s, a few of the

Warmblood breed societies held “100-Day Stallion Performance

Tests” occasionally in various parts of the country. Many years

there were no tests at all, and it was also problematic to have

the testing run by one society or another, as inevitably the test

could be seen as somewhat biased towards the horses registered

in that particular society.

When Summer Stoffel began to develop an annual 70-day

test at Silver Creek Farms, she did so in conjunction with the

North American Sport Horse Association, whose goal is to unite

the various sport horse breeding groups together through shared

activities and promotion. She chose Harald Hoffman to manage

the 70-day test. A German “Pferdewirtschaftsmeister” (mas-

ter in horse management), Hoffmann is a publicly appointed

and sworn expert by the North Rhine-Westphalian Chamber of

Agriculture for competition horses as well as for breeding and

management of horses. He is also a Grand Prix rider and a judge

for competition and breeding. As a master in horse management

and long time competition stable and Gestüt manager, Herr Hoff-

mann knows about training young horses and advanced competi-

tion horses, stallion and mare management, and foal raising. He

Revel in “hunter pose” with Summer Stoffel at Silver Creek Farms.

Ange

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knows what to look for as both a breeder and rider.

Mr. Hoffman brings with him from Germany four “training

riders” who are responsible for the riding and training of the

stallions to be tested. The North American 70-Day Stallion Test

is held in accordance with the German Stockbreeding Law fol-

lowing the standards of performance tests and horse breeding

value requirements as ordered by the breeding associations of

the German Equestrian Federation (FN). It is open to stallions of

any sport horse breed that are a minimum of 3 years of age.

Upon arrival, the stallions undergo a veterinary examination

before beginning the test. Once the stallions have passed the ini-

tial veterinary examination, the testing process begins.

The testing process lasts for seventy days, during which time

the stallions must remain at the testing station. During the train-

ing period, the training director assesses the stallions in the fol-

lowing criteria: Character, Constitution, Temperament, Willing-

ness to Work, Ridability, Athletic Ability, Gaits (walk, trot, canter),

Free Jumping & Stadium Jumping (scope, technique), and Cross

Country (canter, scope, technique).

The scores are given during the training period by a training

judge and are factored in to calculate the final score. During the

final testing days, the stallions are assessed by two test judges,

two guest jumper riders, and two guest dressage riders who were

appointed by the training director and FN representative. Every

judge and rider assigns their own marks.

The following areas are judged during the final testing days:

Gaits (walk, trot, canter), Ridability, Free Jumping & Stadium

Jumping (scope, technique), and Cross Country (canter, scope,

technique). Judging scores are given by the judges on a scale

of 1-10, with 10 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest.

After the scores are collected, the final overall result of the

test is calculated with the software program developed by the

German Verden VIT. The final results align with the index average

score of 100 and one standard divergence of 20 points from the

average (100). Stallions age five and older receive a deduction

of 5% from the average achieved scores of the 3 and 4-year-old

stallions in the test group. Following the same procedure, the rid-

ability and jumping indexes are calculated. From these calcula-

tions, the stallion’s final score is calculated.

At the conclusion of the test, for each individual stallion, the

“whole index,” “ridability index” and the “jumping index” are

announced. After all of the scores have been announced, each

stallion owner receives a score sheet showing the marks given in

each individual category, along with a comparison of the average

score received by all the stallions in each individual category. The

score sheet also indicates the placing of the stallion in the final

results of the stallion test group. The German Equestrian Federa-

tion is informed by the training director and the FN representa-

tive as to the results of the test. Results of the stallion’s test per-

formance for licensing are made available to the registries.

Returning to Revel’s story, over the winter of 2011-2012 I

Revel as “cow pony”, Montana spring 2013, ridden by Richard Vrooman.

On the “drop jump” on cross country, the horse goes down an incline, jumps a log at the bottom and comes up the other side. This obstacle spooked

many of the stallions.

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heard about this test and tried to get information about the test

from the Silver Creek Farms website. The website contained in-

formation and results from the 2011 test but did not mention

having a test in 2012. I wrote to the address on the website and

asked if a test was planned for 2012 because I wanted to enroll

Revel in such a test. However, even after writing several inquir-

ies, I got no answer over the following months.

Meanwhile, in late January, I sent Revel to my favorite cow-

boy trainer, Dick Vrooman of Montana, to start Revel under sad-

dle. Dick is the man who trained and rode *Hadban USA during

his NASS Performance Test in Endurance, and he also started

Shagya Raja AF under saddle for me. He started Revel in January

2012 and soon had him under saddle. Dick rode Revel on and off

over the next couple of months, but with Montana winters such

as they are, and with Dick having only a covered round pen but

no covered arena, Revel didn’t get ridden much, and most of the

riding was over the icy, rocky hills to check Dick’s cattle.

In June, we began collecting and freezing Revel’s semen, and

Dick did not ride him during June and July at all while Revel was

being collected. Revel handled the collecting well, but he got

rather thin and out of condition, being kept in a small corral at

Dick’s and hauled back and forth 60 miles to the clinic for his

collections.

In late July, out of the blue I got an e-mail from Summer Stof-

fel at Silver Creek Farms asking me if my questions had been an-

swered. I replied that I never had gotten any answer at all! She

explained that the Stallion Performance Testing entity now had

its own, different website from the Silver Creek site, and that she

had had trouble with her e-mail server and that many e-mails

sent to her had been lost for some months and were only recent-

ly found. I found out from her at that time that there was indeed

going to be a 70-Day Test in 2012, and it was slated to begin on

the last day of August.

Well, this did not give me much time to prepare Revel for a

long trip to Oklahoma, not to mention getting used to an english

saddle instead of Dick’s roping saddle and learning to carry the

Jessica Wisdom from the USA was the American dressage test rider.

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snaffle bit and be ridden with contact on the bit. But, with my

great faith in Revel that he would rise to the occasion, I hurriedly

found a transport to haul him the long, hot distance to Oklahoma,

and Revel arrived there in mid August. Summer agreed to have

her training rider give Revel about two weeks to learn how to

lunge, carry an english saddle, and get used to the feel of the

snaffle and being ridden on contact. Meanwhile, her barn man-

ager assisted me in buying all of the required blankets, sheets,

halters, headstalls, bits, and boots of all types by mail order

through the Dover Saddlery catalog. I also had to supply a full

set of grooming tools.

Summer called me to report on Revel’s safe arrival after the

three-day van ride and asked if I wanted Revel on any of the joint

supplements which are used these days. She said that most of

the stallions would be already on such supplements to help them

with any soreness they might develop while training. I replied

that I would not put Revel on anything unless he showed signs of

problems, and indeed Revel made it through the entire test with

absolutely no medications, soreness, or health problems what-

soever.

I kept in touch with Summer during the training phase of the

testing. She reported that, while Revel really didn’t know any-

thing, he was willing and had great manners. She told me on our

first phone conversation after his arrival that “He’s like a gelding

in the cross ties.” This was encouraging! First of all, he had never

been in cross ties, and second of al,l he had never been anywhere

except on my farm and at Dick’s (and the vet clinic where he was

expected and encouraged to act like a stallion, not a gelding).

Ten days before the final weekend of testing was the sched-

uled stadium jumping testing with the test riders, so I flew back

to see how Revel would do. It was a real thrill to see Revel all

spruced up, body clipped, braided, and ridden with the other stal-

lions! He clearly didn’t think too highly of stadium jumping how-

ever. Not that he did anything awful, just that he didn’t seem in

his element by any means. Luckily, however, I was able to see him

training on the cross country course the following day. By chance

I had an afternoon flight, and in the morning I had gone out to the

farm to watch the training. Revel was out on the cross country

course with three of the warmblood stallions.

Summer had written me that “On the cross country Revel is

very brave. He never hesitates.” And, indeed, I witnessed that

fact on that day. The other stallions, all of whom had much more

previous training than Revel, were hesitating, refusing, running

out, and just generally acting challenged by the situation. On

every single obstacle—jumping into water, onto platforms, down

inclines, over stone walls and cribs—Revel was the only horse

that never hesitated or refused. On the cross country course,

Revel truly was in his element! He was showing his natural capa-

bility for bravely carrying a rider through the countryside.

On the final days of testing, there was a photographer who

took lots of photos as well as a videographer who videoed all of

the phases of the final tests. I now have some great footage of

Revel under saddle in dressage, stadium jumping, and free jump-

ing in the arena. The cross country footage is my favorite, as Rev-

el absolutely cruised around the course with his training rider,

looking fresh and energetic at the end, whereas a number of the

Warmblood stallions were winded and tiring rapidly. You can see

this cross-country ride on my website at: adeles-shagyas.com.

What did I learn about Revel and about the stallion test?

Well, the most important thing I learned was that Revel, despite

his handicaps, was up to the task and won over the entire training

and test riding crew with his sterling character and rugged con-

My favorite photo from the Stallion Performance Test, Revel over the stone wall, Bastian Walser from Germany is the rider.

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stitution (he received the highest scores for those two criteria). I

also learned that it was really unfair of me to send Revel to such

a test where all of the other stallions had months or even years

of training (and showing), whereas Revel had almost none. And

it was unfair of me to send him when he was not in better physi-

cal condition. The Silver Creek staff did a great job of feeding

him and managing his condition, considering that he arrived thin

and not very muscled. But it was asking too much of Revel to ex-

pect him to be able to gain weight during such a rugged training

schedule. I hope he has forgiven me for my mistakes.

One of the difficulties of putting a stallion through such a test

is expense. The flat fee of $8,500 for the Testing was very reason-

able, I feel, considering the amount of management and training

that the horses receive at Silver Creek. But there are a number of

other necessary expenses: tack that needs to be supplied by the

owner, farrier, transportation, grooming fees, etc. Furthermore, I

think any stallion sent to such a test should be in full-time train-

ing for at least a year prior to going. While historically the Tests

were developed for untrained horses to test their trainability, the

reality is that now nearly all horses sent to such a test have had

extensive training and conditioning beforehand. When one con-

siders this extra necessary training cost, the total cost to have a

stallion successfully complete a 70-Day Test should be expected

to be well over $25,000. This is the reality of modern-day sport

horse stallion performance testing.

Luckily for Revel and me, Revel managed to come through

sound, beautiful, and now fully approved for breeding by NASS

and all ISG (Purebred Shagya-Arabian Society International) reg-

istries, and he is also now eligible for presentation to Warmblood

breed societies as having passed his performance test require-

ment. I’m looking forward to enjoying Revel under saddle myself

now and hope to show him in dressage. I am very grateful to Sil-

ver Creek Farms and Mr. Hoffmann and his testing team for doing

such a great job with Revel.

The 70-day test at Silver Creek Farms concluded on Satur-

day, November 10th, when the successful stallions received their

awards—neck rosettes and a cooler—and on November 15th our

Montana farm was sold. We began the long process of moving to

the new home of Adele’s Shagyas in Camp Verde, Arizona. Revel


Revel with his awards from having successfully completed the 70-Day Stallion Test.

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Adele’s Shagyas offers for the 2014 breeding season

Adele [email protected]

Nicolette’s Revelation AF(Shagya Royal AF x *Nicolette by O’Bajan I-10)

The only Shagya-Arabian stallion in America to successfully complete the 70-day stallion test at Silver Creek Farms, Tulsa, OK. 2014 fee: $950

*Hadban USA(Harapnik x *Ihrana by Amos)--imported from Austria

The only Shagya-Arabian stallion in America successfully competing in FEI Endurance. Rare Romanian endurance blood!. 2014 fee: $950

Shagya Raja AF(Shagya Scherzo AF x Rachelle by Hungarian Bravo)

An elegant stallion with great movement for dressage. A good choice for mares who need refinement and uphill movement: 2014 fee:$750

Onyx AF(Janos x MJL Shaleez by *Shandor)

The only approved black Shagya-Arabian stallion in America. His sire was an FEI 100-mile endurance stallion, his dam is dressage-bred. 2014 fee: $750

Booking fee for all stallions: $200, LFG, includes 3 breeding doses of excellent quality frozen semen

Internationally-certified high quality frozen semen available!!

Four Approved Shagya-Arabian Stallions at Stud

*Hadban semen approved for US, Canada and Mexico only

http://adeles-shagyas.com

mailto:adele%40centurylink.net?subject=


Nicolettes Revelation AF (Shagya Royal AF x *Nicolette by O’Bajan I-10)

Adele’s Shagyas, 567 E. Quarterhorse, Camp Verde, AZ. www.adeles-shagyas.com

Available via internationally certified excellent quality frozen semen

Revel shows his bravery

Revel on the cross country course at his 70 day stallion performance test Revel free jumped 1 meter 50 (5 ft.)

at his 70 day test

Portrait at Revel’s 70 day test

Revel’s official inspection photo, age 3, 2009

Stadium jumping under test rider

Training rider aboard Revel at the 70 day performance test Test rider in dressage phase

Dressage phase

http://adeles-shagyas.com



AthenaGoddess of Dressage

The saying goes, “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off your

goal.” For Rita Mason, after an initial readjustment in plans, she kept her focus fixed

on that goal. Her partner in this? An Anglo-Arabian mare named Athena.

Rita grew up with another Anglo, Fadjur grandson Abdul Fadaar, whom her fa-

ther bought her when she was just eight. Together, they clocked thousands of com-

petitive trail miles, including six 100-milers. Rita was only 14 when they did their

first 100.

When it came time to look for a new horse for endurance, it was a given that the

horse must also be an Anglo. Rita chose Athena, a yearling, because of her sire. LS

Zane Grey had a stellar career in endurance as well as in siring endurance athletes.

Perfect!

When Athena was three and still too young for endurance, Rita introduced her

to dressage. The young mare was a natural. Rita took her to a few open shows at

Training Level, and Athena won. They even competed in an open USDF breed show,

competing in all three classes that were required to be eligible for the Ultimate

Sport Horse Champion ATR (SHIH, Materiale, and SHUS)—and Athena won it. (All of

the other horses that competed against them were Hanoverians.) But even with all

of these successes, Rita’s plan was still to do endurance.

Athena’s first distance ride was a 30-miler when she was four. They finished

just fine, but Rita could tell that this wasn’t Athena’s idea of fun. “She was always

spooking at random things, like a big rock. She wouldn’t drink from puddles or

streams; it was like she thought I was trying to make her go through water instead

of looking at it as an opportunity to drink. Apparently, she only likes to drink from

buckets like a ‘civilized’ horse,” Rita recalled. It was then that their path became

clear. Dressage it was!

Rita worked a lot on her own with training Athena, intending to only go to Sec-

ond Level, initially. At the age of four, Athena was earning from mid-60’s to 70% at

Training Level. Throughout, Rita rode with some great instructors, but she primarily

trained with Colleen Reid of Equine Sports Complex.

During Athena and Rita’s first season with Colleen, they pulled a 73+% in First

Level and a 65+% in Second Level by mid-year. It is safe to say that this was their

start down the path to FEI dressage.

During the mare’s five-year-old year, they were consistently placing in the 60’s

in First and Second Levels, even earning three Regional Championships. The fol-


lowing year, Athena and Rita rode the FEI six-year-old test at the

Golden State CDI***, earning a 59.4%. (They ended up ranked

10th in the nation for FEI six-year-olds against all breeds and rid-

ers.) They continued at Third and moved into Fourth Level, also

winning two Regional Champions at Third and hitting low 60’s

for scores.

That same year, Rita earned her USDF Bronze Medal on Athe-

na. No small feat, since to achieve that level, the rider must have

earned two scores of 60% or better from two different judges at

First, Second and Third Levels. It was at this point that Rita real-

ized that she just might be capable of earning her Silver and Gold

medals as well.

In 2004, with Athena just seven years old, Rita kicked it up

a notch with a trip to Sport Horse Nationals planned for the fall.

They competed all year at Third and Fourth Level, with a few for-

ays into Prix St. Georges at Pebble Beach and Golden State, scor-

ing mid-50’s. At Sport Horse Nationals, they were named National

Champion Fourth Level ATR with a 59.348%. Additionally Athena

won a Top Ten in Show Hack ATR. “Winning National

Champion in our very first National class was mind

blowing! We still didn’t have our flying changes

consistently at that time, so we had some mistakes

there, but the rest of the test was good enough to

make up for that. There were some really nice hors-

es in my class, so it was so amazing to come out on

top,” said Rita.

Rita and Athena kept perfecting their skills in

both Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges, and in 2005

they earned Rita’s USDF Silver Medal. In 2007, they

had their first big year showing PSG, consistently

scoring into the mid-60’s.

Meanwhile, Athena was also serving as a school-

master for some very lucky little girls in Intro Walk-

Trot dressage classes for riders 10-and-under in age.

The first one was Katelynn Thompson, the daughter

of the people who own Athena’s sire. “At one show,

we only had 20 minutes after I finished my Fourth

Level ride before Katelynn had her Intro ride. So

we switched Athena’s double bridle for the snaf-

fle in the warmup ring, shortened the stirrups and

threw Katelynn on. Athena immediately turned off

her Fourth Level power and carried Katelynn safely

around in her Intro test.”

In 2007, Athena took Arial Wesgate in for her first success-

ful dressage tests. Arial was 10 and had tried showing her Quar-

ter Horse in a dressage test, which hadn’t gone well. So Athena

stepped up to the task again and took Ariel in for some confi-

dence-building, safe tests.

At the same time Arial showed the horse, Athena was also

showing FEI with Rita and schooling piaffe at home. “At the Re-

gional Championships the day before the show started, Arial was

schooling Athena at the show grounds, and her instructor told her

to drive into the halt from the trot, and she did. The next thing

you know there is Athena performing a nice piaffe with a 10-year-

old on her,” recalled Rita.

Then there was the 2008 Region 3 Sport Horse Champion-

ships, where Rita and Athena performed, for the first time, an

incredibly unique demonstration. Rita made up her own dres-

sage test and had the announcer read a script that described the

movements and level one would commonly see them. Rita then

Athena and Rita performing their bridleless dressage demonstration

2004 Sport Horse National Champion Fourth Level ATR


took the bridle off Athena and did the same exact test showing

that the commands for the movements don’t come from the bri-

dle. The pair then galloped down centerline, slid to a stop and

bowed to the audience. The crowd went wild!

Rita also related a story about Athena doing an exhibition at

the Western States Horse Expo in June, 2009: “We rode in the

Arabian breed demonstration and also rode for the dressage cli-

nician, Melissa Creswick—Athena was a star. People followed me

out of the arena to tell me how beautiful my horse was and how

impressed they were. Melissa was happy because, as she said,

‘There wasn’t anything I asked you to do that you couldn’t do.’”

Rita continued, “I had an incredible experience the day be-

fore the Expo started, too, while I was schooling Athena in the

arena. Other people were riding their horses around practicing as

well. So at one point, I practiced the bow and this cowboy comes

by and says, ’That’s pretty cool.’ I thanked him and we continued

with our respective practices. Then after a line of two tempi (fly-

ing lead) changes, he came by again and said, ‘That’s pretty cool,

too!’ We started talking as I was cooling Athena out—turns out

he was Richard Winters (2009 winner of Road To The Horse). I

was very flattered that a guy that really knows horses liked my

mare.”

During the 2008-2009 show season, Athena and Rita com-

peted in Intermediate-1 and 2, garnering scores and laying the

groundwork for competing at Grand Prix in 2010—the last of the

scores needed for the Gold Medal. This medal requires two scores

of 60% or better from two different judges at I-1, I-2 and Grand

Prix. The skills at these levels become increasingly difficult, and

earning high marks takes years and years of work to accomplish.

Horses being horses, those last few years working toward

Grand Prix were not without setbacks. Athena suffered three sep-

arate injuries, requiring layoffs and rehabs of six to eight months

each. Just one could have ended the career of a lesser horse, but

not Athena. Rita wisely used the down time to perfect basics at

the walk and trot, which made this time off very valuable.

In 2009, thanks to Athena’s demonstrations of skill to the gen-

eral public and her prowess in the show ring, she was bestowed

the great honor of being named AHA Ambassador Award winner.

Seven years after Athena and Rita started their dressage ca-

reer, they sat poised on the verge of achieving the most pres-

tigious award a dressage rider can earn—the Gold Medal. They

needed just two more qualifying scores from two different judges

to put them over the top. And guess what? They did it in just four

rides! The last was at the Pacific Coast Arabian Sport Horse Classic

where they received a 63.317%. A waiting bottle of champagne

was cracked open, and the celebrating commenced. There were

just a few more shows to attend before Rita would retire from

Athena and Rita performing their bridleless dressage demonstration

Colleen and Athena

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showing Athena herself and breed her.

In September of that year, Rita and Athena headed to Idaho

to show at Sport Horse Nationals. “My last competition ride on

Athena at SHN was very emotional as it was planned to be my

last ride on her in competition. It was all I could do to hold it to-

gether while warming up and the tears came as soon as I gave

my final salute at G to one of my favorite judges, Sandi Chohany.

They were tears of joy for reaching the ultimate goal I had set

for us - riding Grand Prix at the Nationals.” They had secured the

Reserve National Championship, with a score that was less than

two points behind the winner.

Now that Rita had just finished competing her, Athena needed

a job to keep her busy while they were working on getting her

pregnant.” (The husband of choice was the Arabian Legend of

Khouraj, an Arabian stallion Rita chose for his conformation, sub-

stance and movement.)

Into Athena’s life stepped Madison Winters, an eight-year-old

who was having fun showing the pony she was taking jumping

lessons on, but also wanted to try dressage. So into the show ring

Athena went with her youngest rider yet . Amazingly, she was

also being ridden by Colleen at Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges,

who was going for her Silver Medal. Athena continued to com-

pete with Madison and Colleen both—showing Intro and FEI at

the same show and doing well in both levels in competition.

Madison said that Athena taught her several important things:

to be aware of her surroundings because Athena rules the arena,

show etiquette because Athena was the first horse she showed

in dressage, how to navigate a warm up arena, and geometry be-

fore learning it in school. Athena also made her feel safe because

she’s not spooky although she was really far from the ground.

Athena’s value as a teacher has brought its own rewards for

Rita: “It has always been so fun for me to watch people learn how

to ride, or improve their skills on Athena. She has been used as

a lesson horse for people taking their first rides ever to people

working on higher levels that just want to feel how something

is supposed to feel when the horse understands the movement.

Athena even helped a friend overcome her fears after she be-

came afraid of riding her own horse as a side effect from medica-

tion. Athena never gets angry when her rider makes a mistake,

she just tries her best to do what they ask for.”

In May of 2012, Khourajous Zoria was born. Gray, like her

parents, with a blaze and a need for speed, she shows the same

sensible temperament as Athena. The plan is for Rita to train her

for dressage. “Hopefully she will like it so I don’t have to learn

another discipline like I did to keep Athena

happy,” laughs Rita.

This year, Athena came back from her

maternity leave like she hadn’t missed a

day. This time, her rider was Ashleigh Flores-

Simmons, a young rider with cerebral palsy

that had ridden her own Half-Arabian in dres-

sage with Colleen. “It was the plan that when

Athena came back to work, it would be under

Ashleigh, thus giving Ashleigh a chance to

advance her riding through working with a

horse that truly knew what was being asked

of her,” said Colleen.

Ashleigh and Athena made their debut in

Para Equestrian tests at the CDI*** at Rancho

Murieta in April with a First Level score of

69%. She followed that up in open competi-

tion competing against able-bodied riders at

First Level with scores from 62% up to 67%.

The pair also earned the High Score Amateur

Athena performing the piaffe

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Award at the Arabian Horse

Assoc. of Northern Califor-

nia Region II and III Qualifi-

ers. At their next show, Ash-

leigh brought her First Level

scores up to 68%.

In Ashleigh’s very first in-

ternational competition, she

earned a qualifying score to

the World Equestrian Games

with an average of 60.833%

and followed that up with

her first Freestyle competi-

tion earning an average of

64.417%. “Athena demon-

strated again her amazing

temperament as well as rid-

ability as she allowed Ash-

leigh to learn and advance

far faster than Ashleigh ever

imagined possible,” explained Colleen.

While it is always challenging for a rider and horse to be

learning new skills simultaneously, Rita and Athena together pos-

sessed great commitment and heart. “Rita had the desire to ad-

vance and the commitment to show up, rain or heat. And she did

her homework. She knew Athena could do more than anyone else

ever thought. Athena matched Rita’s desire with her great heart.

She was always willing to reach for that extra percent when Rita

would ask for it,” recalled Colleen.

Rita also credits Colleen with her success. “I couldn’t have

done it without Colleen’s guidance and

friendship. She has a knack for noticing

slight changes in my position that make a big

difference in my horse.”

Athena’s conformation isn’t perfect for

the job, but that only made the mare work

harder. Her strengths certainly helped Athe-

na overcome these. “This horse’s trainability,

temperament, ridability and suitability were

unquestionable. She is always willing to do

the exercises that it takes to increase her

own strength and balance. Her willingness

and desire to please allow the rider to coax

more and more work from her where anoth-

er horse might just throw in the towel,” said

Colleen.

Continued on page 71Para-Equestrian, Ashleigh Flores-Simmons

Madison Winters

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cloninga Legend

Whether you find the act of cloning

an animal to be creepy or cool, you have

to admit that the science behind it is fas-

cinating! The owners of cloned animals

each have diverse personal reasons for

making use of that science.

A frog was successfully cloned back in

1958 at Oxford. The first cloned mammal

was likely a mouse cloned from an em-

bryonic cell in the Soviet Union in 1986.

Probably the best known was the sheep,

Dolly, who was cloned in 1996 from an

adult somatic cell using the nuclear trans-

fer process.

Nuclear transfer involves removing

the DNA from an oocyte or unfertilized

egg and injecting the nucleus, which con-

tains the DNA to be cloned. Because of

the low rate of success and inefficiency,

this method was later discontinued.

Today, scientists use Somatic Cell

Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) for reproductive

cloning (cloning of animals that are ge-

netically identical). In this process, the nu-

cleus from a donor adult, or somatic cell,

is transferred to an egg with no nucleus. If

the egg divides normally, it is placed into

the surrogate mother’s uterus to develop

normally.

The first cloned horse was Prometea, a

Haflinger born in 2003 in Italy, carried by

her donor mother, and took 814 attempts

to create.

Soon after was a clone of Valerie Ka-

navy’s champion endurance Arabian, Pi-

eraz, who also sired the first clone prog-

TOP: TOMATILLO, THE CLONE OF TAMARILLO

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eny in 2008.

But cloned animals, while genetically

identical, are not necessarily identical in

appearance or personality. Environment

and biology also play a role.

Horse cloning in the U.S. is done by

ViaGen in Texas and through Replica Farm

in Bedminster, NJ. One of the first horses

cloned was Charmayne James’s champion

barrel racer, Scamper, in 2006 at a cost of

$150,000. Charmayne’s plan was to use

the clone for her breeding program, which

was not an option for Scamper, a gelding.

Since then, many exceptional horses

have been cloned: Olympians Sapphire

and Gem Twist, Welsh hunter pony Rain-

bow Connection, show jumper ET, cutting

champion Royal Blue Boon, Quidam De

Revel and many more. Most are never go-

ing to compete: their clones will only be

used for breeding.

In South America, since 2010, the

business of cloning polo ponies is very

lucrative, with horses bringing prices of

$800,000 before they are of age to play.

The American Jockey Club, who still

refuses to allow artificial insemination,

has said clones will never be used

in racing or for breeding. The Amer-

ican Quarter Horse Association

refused to register clones but was

subsequently forced to allow it by

a Federal judge. This decision is un-

der appeal.

The use of clones in competi-

tion (except those strictly sanc-

tioned by breed organizations) is

allowed, as are the offspring of

clones. Just last year, the FEI re-

versed a previous ban stating, “The

FEI will continue to monitor further

research, especially with regard to

equine welfare.”

This year, the extraordinary Anglo-

Arabian event horse Tamarillo was suc-

cessfully cloned. On June 20, a bright-bay

colt with the same hind sock was born and

will soon make the trip to England to grow

up where Tamarillo did.

Tamarillo’s owners, Hon. Finn and

Mary Guinness, bred Tam at their Biddes-

den Stud. His sire was the Polish Anglo-

Arabian Tarnik and his dam, Mellita, was

an Anglo and Mary’s favorite hunter.

Tamarillo was gelded early on and

went on to be trained and competed by

William Fox-Pitt. Together, they won at

Badminton and Burghley in the 4*s, Team

Silver in the Athens Olympics and World

Equestrian Games in Aachen, just to name

a few. His career was cut short during the

Olympics when he injured his stifle.

Meanwhile, his dam was injured and

had to be put down before they could du-

plicate the breeding. As far back as 2008,

the Guinnesses talked about the possibil-

ity of cloning their most famous home-

bred. As a scientist with a PhD in epige-

netics who had tried cloning mammals in

the 1960s, the idea was intriguing to Finn.

The cost was their only deterrent.

At the suggestion of Kathleen Mc-

Nulty, who runs Replica Farm, they put

together a syndicate of investors to offset

the $165,000 price tag. These investors

will earn a percentage of the clone’s fu-

ture stud fees, but the Guinnesses will be

his caretakers and decision makers.

They haven’t decided whether Toma-

tillo will compete or not. His real job is to

pass on the genes his owners developed

through a lifetime of conventional breed-

ing, only to have it be a genetic dead end

with a gelding.

“It’s enormously exciting to build on

that rather than go back and try to find

the same bloodlines, some of which have

died out,” says Finn. “Tamarillo’s genes

have been proven to have special merit.

He is a big mover, with great agility and

adjustability, stamina, and found the big-

gest tracks in the world so easy.”

Read more about Biddesden Stud in the

February/March 2013 edition of The Ara-

bian Sport Horse Magazine.

Tamarillo

PHO

TO C

OU

RTES

Y O

F BI

DD

ESD

EN S

TUD

PHO

TO C

OU

RTES

Y O

F BI

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EN S

TUD


Luck brought a talented over-achieving Half-Arabian

driving pony and a world champion driver together, but

dedication and hard work is what helped the pair make

history.

Miss Josephine, registered as WB Savannah, was bred by Peg-

gy Andrus. Her sire is the Morgan LWM Mannie B and her dam is

the Arabian mare Aaja (BPL Agression x Que Pache).

Josie’s next owner was National Champion driver Wendy

O’Brien, who didn’t think Josie was working out as part of her

driving pair. Wendy sent Josie to international combined driving

competitor Suzy Stafford to train and sell. Suzy was so impressed

with Josie’s work ethic, quick progress and athletic ability that

she ended up buying her after just one competition.

Suzy and Josie started out together by winning at a couple of

Preliminary Level CDEs, before moving up in February of 2011

to Advanced, where they were 1st or 2nd in each competition.

In April, thanks to placings at the Little Everglades CDE, the Sun-

shine State CAI and the Live Oak International, Suzy and Josie

were named the Florida Triple Crown winners. At the Live Oak

CDE, they earned the title of Reserve National Champion. Now

they were also long-listed for the World Championships.

About that time, Beth Steinke had been told to check Josie

out as a possible second half to her pair. Ultimately, Beth worked

out a deal to buy Josie while still allowing Suzy to compete her

at all the qualifiers in order to attend the World Championships

in Slovenia. Suzy was fairly confident that they would be named

to Team USA.

So Josie and Suzy headed to Europe to compete at some of

the large events there, in order to gain experience. At the German

National Championships, they were in the lead until some diffi-

culties on the cones course put them out of contention for the US

Team. They would have to compete at Worlds as an individual.

Beth made the trip to Slovenia to watch her new pony go up

Half-Arabian

Makes The Medals

Cour

tesy

of B

eth

Stei

nke


against the best ponies and drivers in the world. Suzy asked Beth

to ride as groom in the carriage during this, Josie’s fifth time driv-

ing an FEI level dressage test. What a thrill it must have been to

be there when Josie earned her highest dressage score of her

relatively short career!

They were in 5th place overall after dressage, then came in

12th in the marathon, putting them well within striking distance

for a medal. She had a good bit of competition from the US and

other countries, so it all came down to cones.

Suzy and Josie were the first clear round but had a small

time penalty. The 2nd place driver went double clear, putting

Suzy and Josie in fourth and out of the medals. Then came the

1st place driver, a German. Beth recalled, “I watched with bated

breath while he knocked down enough cones to put Suzy and Jo-

sie back into 3rd place… Suzy and Josie had won an individual

Bronze Medal!”

Beth and Suzy washed and groomed Josie, braided her mane

with red, white and blue ribbons and decorated the carriage with

American flags. Beth borrowed a hat, gloves, jacket and lap robe

so that she, as Josie’s owner, could ride into the ring for the med-

al ceremony. Beth sat holding the lines with tears in her eyes as

Suzy accepted her Bronze Medal. How lucky she felt to have ex-

perienced being the owner of a World Champion!

How did Suzy take this fairly inexperienced pony to the top

of their sport? “I have competed for the United States in 4 World

Championships and for some reason that time I was extremely re-

laxed…maybe this came with familiarity and experience! I knew

and was comfortable with Josie’s current stage of training (it was

maybe behind a few of the other seasoned ponies) and I did not

ask her for more than she was capable of at that time,” said Suzy.

“This gave me a consistent round all three days with no mistakes.

In the heat of the moment it is easy to ask for more than you and

your equine is used to, and I find this usually results in mistakes

or tension.”

When asked what characteristics Josie possessed that made

her come out on top so often, Suzy explained, “Josie is very

athletic and powerful for her size. She has huge ground cover-

ing gaits with a confident temperament. She was consistent in

all three phases but if you asked her, she was a marathon girl…

she had the strength, power, and confidence that is needed for

a super marathon pony. She also was able to cover ground mak-

ing it easier for her to keep up with the faster, more experienced

ponies.”

About the Arabian breed in general, Suzy said, “I have worked

with other Arabian crossbreds and they tend to carry a few simi-

lar characteristics no matter what the cross. I found that very in-

teresting. Their length of stride and endurance seems to play a

big part in their success in the sport. Sound of body and mind is

key to any driving animal, for sport or recreation.“


Dressage at the World Championships Marathon at the World Championships

Winning the bronze

Cour

tesy

of B

eth

Stei

nke

Cour

tesy

of B

eth

Stei

nke

Cour

tesy

of B

eth

Stei

nke


Reading vintage equestrian books provides insights to the

perspectives and expectations of other eras. Effective Horseman-

ship by the British amateur rider G.N. Jackson was published in

1967 at a time when interest in dressage was growing in both the

UK and the US (it was fairly well established as the predominant

riding tradition on the “Continent” by then) as a competitive dis-

cipline and as a source of practical tools to be applied to other

riding disciplines. Mr. Jackson was a diplomat who had the good

fortune to have the opportunity to take the 9-month course in eq-

uitation for officer instructors at the Portuguese Military School

of Equitation at Mafra. When he was stationed to a new post, he

decided to draw upon his Mafra education to assist the local polo

team to im-

prove their

riding and

their hors-

es’ perfor-

mances on

the polo

field. Mr.

J a c k s o n

later ex-

p a n d e d

his lecture

notes into a

book aimed

at a wider

audience.

The origin of the modern competitive sport disciplines in

the military tradition is still reflected today in the methodically

progressive nature of these disciplines, but most of us have no

direct experience with the kind of intense system that character-

ized the military equestrian schools. Mr. Jackson’s book provides

a window into that world from an era when the connection be-

tween the competitive sport disciplines and their cavalry roots

was tangible.

The expectations for that intensive program at Mafra were

that a rider starting from an elementary riding level could achieve

a rather comprehensive set of skills including “[establishing] a

deep and supple seat, education in the aids on horses trained to

the Prix St. George and even Grand Prix Dressage standard, and

the final stages of training a young horse in Dressage up to the

Prix St. George level.” Instruction also included show jumping,

cross country jumping, a bit of polo, teaching students to ride,

and lectures in riding theory and in veterinary topics. Each week

over the 9 months of the program included 30 hours of riding and

3 hours of lecture! (That’s over a thousand hours in the saddle in

that time period.) Graduates of this program could then teach

riders and train horses by applying the principles and tools of

the system.

The scope of the book is phenomenal. Jackson comprehen-

sively covers first the systematic development of the rider’s seat

and aids, then initial training of the young horse —the “débour-

rage,” thirdly “basic” dressage, followed by a summary of training

to the specialized Grand Prix dressage, and finally by chapters

addressing the application of “basic” dressage principles to show

Reading ReflectionsA Series By Dawn Jones-Low

Books have always been important to me. As a child, I spent countless hours reading at home and at the public library. Growing up in the suburbs in a non-horsey family, books were also my main entryway to the

world of horses and provided fuel for my dreams. Several decades into adulthood, books are still a treasure to me as they continue to inspire and inform all areas of my life –including riding and horsemanship.

Effective Riding


jumping, fox hunting, steeple-chasing, the cross country phase

of eventing, and polo in a degree and manner that suits each of

those disciplines. The book is full of diagrams and illustrations

(drawings and photos) to assist in explaining the many exercises

and the methodical approach to developing riders and horses to

a high standard of horsemanship. The combination of the thor-

oughness of the training program and Jackson’s clarity of com-

munication from his diplomatic service allows this book to serve

as a useful resource for any serious sport horse rider.

The entire book is a rich resource, but as a breeder involved

in raising young horses, the chapters on the débourrage stage

of training the horse are of particular interest to me. The term

“débourrage” refers to the early stage of training that extends

from preparing the young horse to be backed through a progres-

sive education up to a standard that is roughly equivalent to First

Level dressage with a bit of jumping and plenty of outdoor rid-

ing. “The débourrage can be summed up as the domestication of

the horse [acclimating the horse to human handling], making him

calm, building up his confidence in himself and his rider, develop-

ing his physical condition, and his elementary education to the

aids…” (pg. 68). Jackson clearly recognizes that this early phase

of training forms the foundation for the horse’s later career and

is thus deserving of thoroughness and thoughtfulness. Empha-

sis on the young horse in the débourrage period is on outdoor

work over varied terrain to cultivate balance, progressive fit-

ness, and confidence. “A good programme for the week would

be: three days outside; two days in the school; one day’s work

unmounted, lunging or free jumping for instance; one day’s

rest.” (pg. 78) The importance of fitness work over outdoor ter-

rain for cultivating long term soundness and a good work ethic

seems to have been largely forgotten outside of the endurance

and eventing worlds, but that approach was once considered

essential for all well-educated sport horses.

The system Jackson presents is methodical but not mechan-

ical—the mental and emotional welfare of the horse is continu-

ally highlighted as integral to optimal results. “A good horse’s


experience is built up from a series of lessons successfully and

happily learned… Strive throughout these lessons to preserve his

youthful gaiety and to develop his initiative.” (pg. 69) “You will

make much quicker progress if you can so arrange your horse’s

training that he associates it with enjoyment.” (pg. 69)

Attaining ever increasing calmness and confidence as train-

ing progresses is reinforced throughout the book. In context, it

is clear that by “calmness,” the author is not referring to a lack

of liveliness, but instead means “equanimity.” The responsibility

for the horse’s development is with the rider and Jackson wisely

advises, “Above all proceed by graduated stages, each of which

should prepare the horse for the next. Most riders want to go

too fast and to miss essential steps. As a result their horses do

not understand what they want, or are not sufficiently prepared

physically to be able to comply with their riders’ demands. This

irritates the horse and causes him to contract his muscles and

to resist. To achieve a steady and sustained progress you must

proceed methodically. Short cuts usually take much longer in the

end. They are also often the cause of physical unsoundness in

the horse later in life.” (pg. 94)

After the sections on educating the rider and the young

horse, Jackson provides equally thorough descriptions of the

next phases of “dressing” the horse. Beyond the excellent sys-

tem for progressive training, the division of the different phases

of the training reveals an interesting set of expectations. The

“basic” dressage which follows the débourrage phase starts with

elements that are roughly equivalent to Second Level dressage

(with the addition of the double bridle) and progresses to at-

tain a level of suppleness, responsiveness, and athleticism that

is the Prix St. George standard. A horse of that level is said to

be a “pleasure to ride” and “useful for many purposes.” Any

horse of good conformation and temperament is assumed to be

capable of being trained to this level, so long as the training is

thorough and correct. For horses that have sufficient talent, spe-

cialization—whether in dressage to the Grand Prix standard or in

another discipline like eventing, show-jumping, fox-hunting, or

polo—can then be built upon the foundation of a horse that has

been trained in the double bridle to be supple, obedient, and ad-

justable laterally and longitudinally in all gaits.

The underlying presumption for the equestrian who desires

to become an educated and effective rider is that the foundation-

al goal is to become capable of riding and preparing horses to

the Prix St. George standard. “You will certainly need instruction,


and some natural aptitude if you are to train your own horses to

the Prix St. Georges standard of Dressage. But… there is no rea-

son at all why the averagely constituted rider should not attain

this standard if he has the necessary time, the perseverance, and

suitable horses to work on.” (pg. 94) Later, Jackson writes, “Learn-

ing to ride well is also a matter of riding enough, and of getting

a sufficiently wide variety of riding experience. … If you cannot

always get good horses, then ride the best you can get; for you

will only improve riding by riding. … Of course some people are

naturally more athletic and more gifted in many ways than oth-

ers; and given equal opportunities, a few will always emerge well

ahead of their fellows in any activity. But that does not preclude

the average athletic person from reaching a very high standard

indeed in riding—often higher than that of the ‘naturals’—if he

is suitably taught, and has the enthusiasm and the means suf-

ficiently to practice what he learns.” (pg. 320)

In terms of selecting suitable horses, Jackson cautions against

just relying on conformation to evaluate potential and stresses

the importance of riding the horse to test its capabilities, unless

of course the horse is not yet under saddle. He advises, in part,

to look for the following qualities: “For both athletic and artistic

riding, the very best natural paces… well set on heads and necks,

and strong loins and hocks, and of course, an alert but calm tem-

perament. Look for a horse that walks well with a long swinging

stride, for if he walks well he is likely to move well at other pac-

es.” (pg. 94) Notably for us in the Arabian sport horse community,

Jackson goes on to say that, “A high proportion of horses with

these qualities are to be found among English Thoroughbreds,

pure Arabs, and others bred from them, although good horses are

to be found in many other breeds.” (pg. 94) While the favorit-

ism toward Thoroughbreds by an Englishman in that era is not

surprising (Thoroughbreds were highly successful in the sport

disciplines at the time), singling out the Arabian demonstrates

that the breed was well respected for its qualities as an athlete

for sport disciplines and as a source for those qualities in deriva-

tive breeds. (There are several other favorable mentions of the

capableness of Arabians scattered in the text.)

While the goals of riding and training to the Prix St. George

standard and then perhaps beyond that to a specialized disci-

pline may seem rather lofty to many of us, it remains true that if


you have access to an instructor who follows the kind of system-

atic program outlined in Jackson’s Effective Horsemanship and

you are willing to put in the time and effort, you should be able to

develop the skill to ride effectively at that level.

In the US, finding suitable resources for following the training

regimen presented in Jackson’s book is particularly challenging

because the US lacks the infrastructure of the riding academies

and instructor certification that exists in Europe. Additionally,

in many parts of the country, we are losing

access to the “outdoor riding” terrain that

helps to condition the bodies and minds of

both horses and riders. For young riders, the

US Pony Club offers opportunities to develop

a good foundational horsemanship. If you

are an adult, you can seek an instructor that

adheres to the traditional methods of using

lunge lessons and various riding gymnastics

to help students develop a secure seat as

well as offering lessons on schoolmasters to

teach students what specific movements feel

like and the aids that are required to elicit

them. With appropriate guidance from a

qualified instructor, riding a variety of horses

in the ring, out hacking, over fences, and in

other disciplines (distance riding would be a good one to include)

will help to hone a rider’s balance, effectiveness, and confidence.

Effective Horsemanship provides a useful roadmap of what

is required if you want to achieve a high standard of riding and

horsemanship, and even if your goals are more modest, this book

contains many helpful exercises and underlying theories to in-

form and inspire you on the path to improving your riding and

expanding your understanding of the guiding principles of good

horsemanship.


http://hilltopfarminc.com

mailto:breeding%40hilltopfarminc.com?subject=


I couldn’t resist looking at the ad even though my budget

was in the $3000-$5000 range, and $800 was, obviously, below

that range. It was spring of 2004, and I was shopping for my own

Dream Horse, an Arabian: the breed with which I had been en-

amored for years but never had the chance to own.

My first horse was a rescue that I co-owned with my friend,

Barbara Koelzer, and now that she had purchased horse proper-

ty, I had the opportunity to buy a horse of my own—my dream

Arabian. The horse in the ad was in Wyoming, not too far from

my home in Northern Colorado, so I clicked on the link for more

information. The picture showed a very cute, fuzzy little horse,

but the advertisement was honest and clear: although currently

sound, Rashad Alcibiades (Tsea Traveler x Nova Wind) had broken

his right leg as a weanling, was only green broke and desperately

needed a loving home.

“A broken leg?” I thought to myself. I was slightly disap-

pointed but not too surprised since I knew there had to be a

catch to the $800 price tag, as he actually had a pretty nice pedi-

gree. I guess my “rescue” mentality was still in full gear because,

against all common sense, I actually called the contact number

to get more information. The contact, a manager of a small ranch

in northern Wyoming not too far from Jackson Hole, gave me a

little more information about Rashad and the name and number

of the veterinarian that had recently examined Rashad and taken

radiographs of his leg.

“I can’t tell you his prognosis as a riding horse,” the vet told

me. “I’ve never had a patient survive a broken leg. All I can tell

you is that it healed clean and the bone is the same length as

his other leg.” The plate and screws had not been removed, and

there was significant bone growth over the area. “I recommend

you do whatever you want to with him, and if he comes up lame,

you’ll know to stop.”

I had no big showing aspirations at that time—I just wanted

a horse that I could ride the trails with—so I dragged my good

friend Barb with me to see him. I tried him out under saddle,

knowing he was extremely green, and indeed he was not lame

in either direction, although he did not seem to like cantering to

the right. I agreed to buy him, and the manager was extremely re-

lieved. She really liked Rashad and would have had to take him to

a local auction house if she couldn’t find a new home for him. The

ranch owner was downsizing the herd, and the horses had to go,

one way or the other. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure

out what would probably happen to a five-year-old, green-broke

Arabian with a plate and screws in his leg should he find himself

at a local auction house in rural Wyoming!

It took some time to get Rashad down to Colorado, but once

here, he was nervous, skittish and so green that I soon hit the limit

of my ability to train him. “Green and green make black and blue”

was the saying that kept coming to fruition, and at one point I had

almost given up, telling myself, “You don’t know what you are do-

ing; you have no business owning a horse like this.” Thankfully, I

have a wonderful network of talented and supportive horsemen

“For Sale: 1999 Purebred Arabian Gelding, Bay, $800” was the ad on DreamHorse.com

by Tamara Boose

A Wonder Pony


here in Colorado, and my dear friend, Colin Bate, pointed me to

a local dressage trainer, Kathleen Donnelly. He said she was very

patient and didn’t mind working with beginners—horses or rid-

ers.

Although I originally didn’t have any plans to compete with

Rashad in dressage, I felt that dressage training would help re-

build Rashad’s right side, particularly his right shoulder which

was considerably underdeveloped compared to his left.

March 2005, right versus left side/shoulder

I set up an appointment to meet Kathleen and check out the

facility. I knew that many trainers have a prejudice against Ara-

bians, and I wanted to make sure she was up to the challenge,

understood Rashad’s situation and my goals. “We aren’t going to

the Olympics any time soon,” I told her. “I want him to be able

to walk, trot and canter in both directions and canter out in an

open field.” We made an appointment for her to evaluate him,

and soon Rashad was in full training. The adventure began.

Rashad was afraid of everything! He had almost no confidence

and placed no trust in humans; a fact that made sense when we

later found out that Rashad’s broken leg (a comminuted fracture

of the right radius and styloid process of the ulna repaired by

a stainless plate and 13 screws) was the result of human mis-

handling. The ranch manager had recently found out that his

broken leg was the result of him being “roped down” by some

ranch hands no longer employed at the ranch. Rashad had been

six months old at the time of the injury, February of 2000, and in

addition to the fracture, Rashad had arrived at the animal hospi-

tal with pneumonia after a long trailer drive. It was a wonder that

he was alive, let alone sound!

The first year in training was spent building his strength and

slowly building his confidence. He was taken to local dressage

shows, and although he did not compete, he seemed to enjoy

the attention he received while at the show, which was our goal.

While Kathleen was training Rashad, she also gave me lessons on

him, and we were learning together— a beginner horse and a be-

ginner rider. She made sure that Rashad was always a step ahead

of me such that if I asked him correctly, he’d respond. Due to this

method, Rashad became a “tattle tale,” for he was so sensitive

that he responded to what your body would tell him to do even

though it might not be what you meant to tell him!

During the second year, Rashad made considerable progress

both physically and mentally. He had a fabulous walk, a good trot

and a canter that was slowly improving. We showed him at Train-

ing Level in local and USEF/USDF-rated shows, and by the end of

the year, he had made such an improvement that Rashad earned

the “You’ve come a long way, Baby” award from our local USDF

GMO. The award is given to the horse that has the greatest spread

in its dressage scores during the show season. Rashad always at-

tracted attention at each show; he was so little, so cute and so

well mannered that few people could believe he was a purebred

Arabian! At somewhere around 14 hands, and barefoot, we start-

ed calling him “Rashad the Wonder Pony.”

The third year in training, we set a goal of qualifying Rashad

at Training Level in dressage for the Arabian and Half-Arabian

Sport Horse National Championships. “You want to go to Sport

Horse Nationals with my broken-legged horse?” I asked Kath-

leen. “Why not?” she replied. Kathleen felt the required scores

were within Rashad’s ability, and since Kathleen was a four-time

National USDF Young Rider qualifier, I knew she could handle the

pressures of a National competition. The goal was set.

Rashad continued to make mental and physical progress over


the winter, and by spring of 2007, his right shoulder was within a

quarter inch of his left (better than average according to our local

Master Saddle Maker). The difference in his right and left sides

was only noticeable from the front, where the right leg would

always be bigger than the left and sported an obvious scar.

April 2007, build-up of bone and scar tissue over the plates and

screws results in the right radius being larger than the left.

Due to a lack of local Arabian shows with dressage classes,

Rashad would have to qualify for Sport Horse Nationals at open

USDF/USEF shows, and we scoured the show schedules to find

the shows that would be best suited for Rashad—ones that had

judges who were known to be fair and had no breed prejudice.

We even took Rashad to a local Arabian show that offered Sport

Horse In-Hand and Sport Horse Under Saddle classes. The show

was in Denver at the National Western Events Center, an intimi-

dating facility that we thought would be good practice for the

future Nationals.

Rashad was an absolute star, acting like the giant arena was

no big deal and I even showed him in the amateur under-saddle

class. Although we did not set out to qualify in the sport horse

classes, Kathleen’s two placings in the open classes secured Ra-

shad for the Regional Sport Horse Championships in two events!

At the end of May, at his first USDF dressage show of the sea-

son, Rashad scored well enough to qualify for the Arabian Sport

Horse Regional Championships. By June, he had not only quali-

fied for Nationals at Training Level but had put in such an out-

standing effort in one of his Training Level Test 3 tests that he

earned an 8 on his right lead canter! He was fit, strong and sound,

basking in the attention he kept receiving at the shows.

June 2007, fit and sound

In July, Rashad competed at another Arabian show in the

Sport Horse classes. “Very sound” was a comment the sport

horse in-hand judge wrote on his scorecard, commenting on his

barefoot status and awarding him a score of 70. (He could have

scored even higher, but neither Kathleen nor I were that skilled

as handlers and could not show off his trot that well. Remember,

this was for fun.) At the Regional competition, he placed in the

Top 4 of six horses entered in-hand and put in a respectable per-

formance under saddle and in the dressage ring.

Unfortunately, due to work pressures, personal tragedy and

work schedule conflicts, I was unable to actually take Rashad to

the Sport Horse National Championships, but by the end of the

2007 show season, he had qualified for Nationals in five events—

three open and two with me as an amateur rider/handler.

Region 8 Dressage Training Level Championship


A new house and a pending move to the mountains took

Rashad out of formal training in October 2007, and he enjoyed

a winter of downtime “just being a horse” out on several hun-

dred acres of high mountain ranch land. Over those few months,

thoughts of horse shows, Regionals, Nationals and Dressage had

been pushed aside by the challenges of building a new house,

moving, the holidays and winter in Colorado. Imagine my sur-

prise when on Christmas day of 2007 I finally got around to open-

ing my mail to find a letter from the USEF, which read in part:

Dear Champion:

On behalf of the USEF Officers, Directors, and Staff, Con-

gratulations! As the ARABIAN SPORT HORSE Champion in

REGION 8 in the 2007 Farnam/Platform – USEF Horse of the

Year Awards Program, you have now ridden into the annals

of USEF history!

Horse of the Year? Champion? What? Rashad? I thought it

was some sort of joke, but after reading the letter several times it

seemed it was true—all of the hard work that year had paid off in

an unexpected and outstanding way. Rashad was to be honored

by USEF, and I was told to “please send a photo of you and your

horse for publication in the March 2008 Roster of Champions.”

In three years, under full Dressage training that also includ-

ed a variety of training methods from free-jumping, trail riding,

round-pen and clicker training, Rashad went from a green, fright-

ened, horse with an obvious physical flaw to a USEF Regional

Horse of the Year Champion!

After spending a year off, Rashad returned to full training in

September of 2008. Just prior to going back to training, I had a

lameness exam performed on Rashad and digital radiographs

taken. I wanted to make sure he was sound and to have a base-

line record of his injury. Rashad passed the lameness exam and

when it was time to take the radiographs, the veterinarian and his

assistant were shocked at what they saw.

Radiographs of Rashad’s right radius show the plate and 13 screws used to

repair his broken leg, suffered at six months of age. A significant amount

of bone growth covers the plate and screw heads.

With Rashad standing calmly in the examination room, the

veterinarian looked at him and back again at the computer screen

in amazement. When I tell people that Rashad has a plate and 13

screws in his leg, they really can’t fathom how big all that hard-

ware really is.

Rashad returned to the show ring in spring of 2009 at the

CAHC Spring Show. Having called Rashad a “pony” for so many

years, I decided to have Rashad officially measured. It turned out

that he is indeed a pony-sized horse, measuring a mere 14 hands

and a 1/2 inch. With his USEF pony card, he was then eligible to

compete in the pony division for Dressage.

Rashad competed heavily in 2009 and not only qualified for

Nationals but competed at the Kentucky Horse Park at Training

Level and First Level. While his First Level performance wasn’t

notable, he and Kathleen tied for 15th place out of 52 entries at

Training Level. The competition was tight—only 5 points separat-

ed their score from that of the Champion! He finished the show

season tied for 12th place at Training level and 13th place at First

Level in the USDF All-Breeds awards for Arabian Dressage.

During the 2010 show season, Rashad started out by earn-

ing a Regional Championship in Arabian Sport Horse Show Hack

(photo below), a Regional Reserve Championship in Arabian

Dressage First Level and a Regional Top Five in Purebred Arabian

Gelding In-Hand ATH. His wins at the Regional Sport Horse Cham-

pionships earned him his Legion of Honor.

The rides at dressage shows were equally divided between

my trainer, Kathleen and me, and as a result, not only did Rashad


and Kathleen qualify (again) for Nationals, Rashad and I qualified

at Training Level in the Amateur and AOTR divisions.

2010 Region 8 Purebred Sport Horse Show Hack Champion

With a full contingent of fellow riders from Colorado and Wy-

oming, we packed up and headed to Nampa, Idaho for the 2010

Arabian Sport Horse Nationals. The classes were large at Training

and First level, with entries of upwards of 50 horses per class. Ra-

shad and I didn’t place in the Top Ten, but I was extremely pleased

with my last ride—landing somewhere in 20th place with my

best score to date.

Rashad and I leave the ring after our AOTR ride

Rashad and Kathleen missed the Top Ten at First Level, but at

Training Level, after many long years of training and persever-

ance, it happened: National Top Ten!

Kathleen and Rashad showing off their Top Ten ribbon

We returned to Colorado extremely pleased and ready to take

a well-deserved winter rest. Rashad earned quite a few more

USEF HOTY awards that year and was very close to earning his

Legion of Supreme Honor.

In 2011, Rashad continued to improve under Kathleen’s train-

ing and continued coaching over the winter from USDF “S” judge,

Debbie Reil-Rodriguez. Debbie had been working with Kathleen

and Rashad since the three months he was in training and was

constantly amazed with the progress he had made.

With Sport Horse Nationals being held in Kentucky, we de-

cided to focus on moving Rashad up the levels and earning the

remaining points he needed for his Legion of Supreme Honor. At

the Region 8 Championships, Rashad had a strong finish—earn-

ing Championships in Dressage, Show Hack and in-hand. He had

not only earned enough points for his Legion of Supreme Hon-

or, but he was just 4 points away from his Legion of Merit—an

amazing feat for a horse that just 7 years earlier was one step

away from being on a dinner plate. Rashad was fit, strong and

definitely buff!

2012 was a year of mixed results. I had been working very

hard to improve my riding, and I was hoping to move up to First

Level so that I could compete at Nationals along with Kathleen

and Rashad. Rashad and I traveled to New Mexico for the Region

8 championships, but since they were the first show of our sea-

son, we stuck with Training level. While we put in very consistent

efforts, we were unable to place in the top 5 or earn any points

ROB

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in-hand to wrap up that elusive Legion of Merit.

Rashad in May 2011

Rashad continued to make progress and was showing great

talent at collection, but he still struggled with his trot lengthen-

ing, something we wonder will always be a problem due to the

plate and screws in his leg. Kathleen and Rashad were ready for

their 3rd level debut in July of 2012, and we were extremely ex-

cited. The excitement, unfortunately, was short lived—Rashad

came up lame in the warm-up and had to be scratched. Luckily,

he did not have any injury to his legs, but it turned out that some

“gelding games” and a shower-scramble had taken their toll on

Rashad’s back, and he had to be pulled from training and compe-

tition to rest and rehabilitate his back.

Once again, work, finances and personal events required Ra-

shad to be pulled out of training through 2013. His back is fully

recovered, and he is currently enjoying life on my ranch, roughing

it on high mountain pasture and waiting for his owner to finish up

building an arena and other infrastructure to support a return to

the Dressage ring.

The hope is that Rashad will return to training in 2014 and

possibly return to compete at the 2014 SHN in Nampa, Idaho. We

still have that elusive Legion of Merit waiting for us!

With Rashad, Dressage training was initially used as a tool to

rehabilitate his weak right side; the fact that he had talent was

just an added bonus. He is a wonderful horse—our little Wonder

Pony—and his story is not just a good example of how Dressage

can be used for physical rehabilitation but a reminder to all of us

that we should strive to look past the obvious flaws in our horses

and ourselves and look for the gems that may be hidden under-

neath.

Keep in mind that the most priceless gems start out as dull,

lifeless rocks until their true brilliance is brought forth through

the patience and skill of artisans, and in this case a stubborn ama-

teur!

His story is long and filled with the typical highs and lows ex-

perienced by athletes the world over, but I for one have enjoyed

the ride!

KATH

LEEN

BRY

AN P

HO

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these typically Warmblood practices

distinguish the Shagya-Arabian from the

purebred Arabian, it’s the combination of

those practices along with their strong

Arabian influence which makes the Shag-

ya-Arabian breed unique. The complete

list of FEI disciplines includes four other

disciplines: reining, vaulting, combined

driving and endurance. Shagya-Arabians

compete in all 7 of the FEI disciplines,

making them truly one exceptional sport

horse breed.

Hallie Goetz is a Shagya-Arabian own-

er, breeder and official ISG Judge. She dis-

covered the breed over 17 years ago when

reviewing a Trakehner prospect’s pedigree

and since then has never looked back.

She has Judged in Europe

and North America, acted

as a NASS BOD Member

and the Contributing Editor

for the NASS & PShR news-

letters. She is on the NASS

Breeding Committee and

continues to work with her

fellow breeders, the reg-

istries and the ISG to pro-

mote, preserve and main-

tain the breed. Often found

enjoying her horses on

the family farm in South-

ern Vermont and always

happy to help others dis-

cover this unique Sport horse

breed.

Continued from page 33

The Shagya-Arabian

horse?

I look at the individual, his pedigree, performance record and

that of his ancestors along with the traits that my mare might

need. I believe that the stallion’s pedigree is very important in

that if there are generations of successful performance horses

included, the chances for the desired resulting foal are increased.

Luck does play a role in breeding, but with a bit of homework, you

have a much better chance at achieving your breeding goals.

What advice would you give to someone considering breeding

Arabian sport horses?

Start with the best mare you can afford, even if it’s not al-

ready in your barn. This has always been the best advice given

by breeders going back many years and by all breeds of horses.

I didn’t follow this advice from the beginning, but did manage

to get it right eventually, and it made all the difference in the

quality of my foals. Stick to horses that are from proven perfor-

mance bloodlines. I would not start with horses bred for halter, Tai Juan, Purebred Arabian sired by Taez+//, has recorded over 2,000 endurance miles.


Breeder Q&A: Carol DiMaggioregardless of good movement in hand unless they are proven to

be trainable and can be ridden. However, some very good halter

horses will never be seen in sport horse classes although they

could be very successful.

Statue of Shagya, db ar, 1810, which stands in the courtyard at Babolna State Stud Farm, Hungary. Photo by Hallie Goetz.



70-Day Stallion Test

has had the year off while we have been setting up our new fa-

cility, and his first two foals, out of Trakehner mares, were also

born. We plan to return Revel to dressage training soon and to

show him in dressage in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain re-

gion. We are considering presenting him to some of the other

Sport Horse Registries such as the ATA, since Shagyas have a long

and proven history as “improvers” in most European Warmblood

breeds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shagya Arabian breeding in North America

began 30 years ago in 1984 when Montanan Adele Furby read

about this special Arabian breed in “Arabian Horse World” mag-

azine. Adele’s search led her to the fortuitous discovery of the

24-year-old Shagya-Arabian stallion Hungarian Bravo living in

her home state of Montana on the farm of a Hungarian-American

Countess, Margit Bessenyey. Hungarian Bravo’s sire and dam were

both imported to America by the US Army as “Prizes of War” after

WWII (along with the Lipizzaners made famous in the Walt Disney

movie “Miracle of the White Stallions”). Adele’s discovery of “Bra-

vo” led to her invitation by the Purebred Shagya-Arabian Society In-

ternational (the “ISG”) to utilize Bravo as the foundation stallion of

the American Shagya Arabian breed. Adele subsequently imported

three Purebred Shagya stallions and four Purebred Shagya mares

from Germany, Denmark and Hungary, and founded the North

American Shagya Arabian Society (NASS) as a Purebred Shagya-

Arabian Registry and a full member of ISG in 1986. She embarked

upon an ambitious breeding program to perpetuate this Arabian

breed along with its registry according to strict European perfor-

mance horse standards, and in June of 2013 was named an “Honor-

ary Member” of the ISG for her work in establishing Shagya-Arabian

breeding in America. She currently stands four approved Shagya-

Arabian stallions and is located in Camp Verde, Arizona. For more

information about Shagya Arabians and NASS, visit the NASS web-

site at: shagya.net.

But, that isn’t the end of Josie’s remarkable story.

In October 2012, Suzy was notified by the FEI that the Swed-

ish pair that had placed in Silver Medal position ahead of her

and Josie had been disqualified. That meant that Suzy and Josie

moved up to be named Silver Medalists!

“It was a bit strange having people congratulate me all over

again a year later,” said Suzy of the promotion. “As competitors

we all strive to follow the rules and keep the horses’ well-being

the priority.”

Josie has settled into a more relaxing lifestyle, being driven

as a pair by Beth and Dan Steinke. “We are spending our winters

in Aiken, SC with Lisa Singer training them and giving Dan and I

pair-driving lessons. We still drive Josie single, and I may be do-

ing some competitions with her as a single this coming winter,”

said Beth. “We also frequently take pleasure drives on the car-

riage roads at Acadia National Park, which she enjoys, and I am

starting to do some western riding with her! She may be learning

team penning with me in the future. Josie is so easy going and

accepting, we will probably be trying many different things.”


Half-Arabian Makes The Medals

Competing in pairs at a CDE

http://shagya.net/

66 The Arabian Sport Horse MagazinePh

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The Arabian community is mourning the sudden death of

Carol Darnell of Choctaw, Oklahoma on October 18th.

An extremely active protector of abused and neglected Ara-

bian horses, Carol owned Arendal Arabians, which was home

to multiple dogs, cats and her very special group of Arabian

horses. Many of her charges were cast-offs that she took in

and nursed back to health.

Carol was a founder of the AHA affiliated Guardian Arabian

Horse e-Club, an internet-based group with members from

across the country that shared common interests and goals.

I got to know Carol through this group and was inspired by

her leadership and skill at focusing members to accomplish

some incredible feats. From resolutions that successfully

passed convention, awards to present at SHN, to new ways

of promoting the Arabian horse to the outside world. She

even founded the annual Open Competition Award through

AHA.

Carol worked tirelessly as Chair of the AHA Rescue/Re-

homing Subcommittee and as Chair of the Arabian Horse

Foundation Rescue/Rehoming Advisory Panel. In those

capacities, she helped secure funding for euthanasia clinics,

research on genetic diseases affecting Arabians, community

hay banks for drought-stricken areas and rescue organiza-

tions in need.

Carol was also a long-time board member of True Innocents

Equine Rescue, a 501c3 nonprofit in California. She made

a huge difference in countless horses’ lives. She was very

vocal in her anti-slaughter stance, particularly after AHA an-

nounced their support of horse slaughter.

Outside of the animal world, Carol was an avid orchid grow-

er, art, literature and music lover. There is now an orchid

named for her: Phal Carol Darnell.

Carol is greatly missed by her many longtime friends and

those that had no voice but hers.

Carol with the great Khemosabi

Carol with the one of her Arabians

Carol Darnell 1943-2013


Phoenix first came into my life when I

was ten and he was three. My trainer, Barb

Anderson-Whiteis, bought him off the In-

ternet for $800 as a prospective lesson

horse. He had this huge head on top of his

gangly little neck and was the most awk-

ward looking horse my ten-year-old eyes

had ever seen. I don’t think anyone ever

expected that he would be doing FEI-level

dressage one day.

Phoenix came and went—sold to an-

other little girl—and I really didn’t think

much of him. Just a couple short months

after he left, however, Phoenix got sent

back to Caille Farm because the new own-

ers were having some trouble with him.

They deemed him too “dangerous” for

their eleven-year-old daughter.

At this time, I was in the market for my

first horse and my parents surprised me

by buying Phoenix up. (Apparently, he was

not too “dangerous” for their eleven-year-

old daughter.) Our first couple of years

were somewhat of a train wreck. While he

was away from Caille Farm, Phoenix had

lost his confidence and picked up a terri-

ble spooking habit.

For the first year or two that I owned

him, not a lesson went by without us ca-

reening toward the safety of our arena’s

deck at a full gallop. I also couldn’t turn

him to the left for about a year, so there’s

that. We kept at it though, and Barb really

pushed me to be a better rider so I could

not only manage Phoenix’s spooks, but

anticipate them and channel his energy

into something productive, like a leg-yield

or—years later—half-steps.

Slowly, Phoenix and I de-

veloped a solid working rela-

tionship. Our showing career

began with local Intro and

Training Level classes the sum-

mer after I got Phoenix. The next year

we showed Training and First Level; then

in our third season we started showing

Third Level. After our Fourth Level debut

the following year, we went back to Sec-

ond Level so I could earn my USDF Bronze

Award.

Two years later, I won my USDF Sil-

ver Award for successfully competing at

Fourth Level and the first FEI level, Prix

St. Georges. At this point, I was 17 years

old and decided that I would spend the

next year competing on the Arab circuit at

Third and Fourth Level so I could qualify

for Arabian Youth Nationals in New Mexi-

co as a final hoorah before heading off to

college. Phoenix and I came home from

New Mexico that following summer with

two national championship titles under

our belt.

Fortunately, I ended up going to col-

lege at the University of Minnesota (just

one hour away from the barn) and have

been able to continue riding and show-

ing. For the past two years, we have been

showing Intermediate I with some suc-

cess; our highest score at this level was

a 69.6%, and a couple of weeks ago I

learned that Phoenix and I are ranked 7th

in the country at I-1 in the junior/young

rider division.

Two years ago, the lady who Barb

bought Phoenix from found me at the

Minnesota Horse Expo. She was his owner

from the time he was just a few months

old until he turned three. She acquired

him under unusual circumstances. One

day, her friend called her up and said

that there was a skinny-looking Fadl baby

hanging out in a neglected dirt paddock

that she should take a look at.

The lady drove to the abandoned pad-

dock with an empty pick up, and drove

back home with Phoenix in the flat bed.

Apparently, his dam and his owners had

rejected him when he was just a couple

months old, and he didn’t really stand a

A True Phoenixby Melissa Lund



A total of ten Arabian bred horses competed at the Region

1 Great American Insurance Group Championships, held

October 17-20 at Virginia Hiorse Center. An Arabian

headed down centerline a total of thirty-five tests, rep-

resenting our breed in training through fourth level dressage.

On Thursday Mary Callan rode her Arabian x Oldenburg, OT-

TOMATIC, in 4th level test 2 scoring a commendable 66.213% and

4th level test 3 scoring 61.375% which earned her third place in

both classes. Victoria Ridgway scored a 61.207% on her Anglo-

Arabian MAGIC ILLUSION, registered as RF JUAREZ DE GOMEZ

7th place in this championship class.

Others were:

BO’S BUTTERCUP SLIDE (Beau Ibn Oran x Justa Lady Jet {QH})

owned/ridden by Anne M Ward – 3rd 3 – 58.462

DESTINY’S PERSUIT owned by Caroline Hardie and ridden by Man-

dy Robertson – Training 3 – 63.600%

MAGIC ILLUSION owned/ridden by Victoria Ridgway – Training 3 –

62.800% – 5th place

WWA COLINO+ owned by Karen Potts and ridden by Kristen Stein

– First 3 – 60.484%

MS SPANISH LEGACY (Saphiro {Lusitano} x Legacy of Ariston)

owned/ridden by Laura Killian – Third 3 – 61.667% – 3rd place

BR DANNYS SECRET owned by Linda Butz and ridden by Ange

USDF Region OneGreat American Insurance GroupCHAMPIONSHIPS

by Laura Killian

(W A Gomez x Workin Up a Storm {Gr}) in First level test 1 and

received 8th place overall in the class. Kristen Stein rode Karen

Pott’s purebred Arabian WWA COLINO+ (Borsalino K x Colombia

x Khemosabi) in First 3. They finished strong with a 68.387% and

4th place honors.

Friday, there were eight completed dressage tests by Arabians,

including Molly Ryan’s first level musical freestyle on WHAT’S UP

DOC, an 18 year old Arabian/Quarter Horse owned by Katherine

Abrams. The pair averaged a 64.417 for their ride and finished in

Ottomatic

Nicole Bey Berry

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MS Spanish Legacy

WN

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Bean - Third 3 – 62.885% & 66.154% – 2nd place

On Saturday, four Arabians perform their respective champi-

onship rides. Classes are scored by a judge at “C” and “E”, then

averaged together to pin the class. All horses earned respectable

scores against a large and competitive group of horses. Mandy

Roberston earned a 63.300% on Destiny’s Persuit, owned by Car-

oline Hardie, in training level. Kristen Stein received a 65.774%

on WWA Colino+, owned by Karen Potts, in second level. MS Span-

ish Legacy, owned and shown by Laura Killian, scored a 60.833%

in the third level championship which earned the pair sixth place

in the Jr/YR division. Ange Bean averaged 64.643% aboard BR

Dannys Secret, owned by Linda Butz, in second level.

Additionally, the following horse and rider combinations com-

peted in open show classes in order to earn scores towards quali-

fication for next year’s CBLM and GAIG dressage Championships:

Burd Whicker – First 3 – 65.645% Magic Illusion owned/ridden

by Victoria Ridgway – Training 3 – 64.200 – 5th place BR Dannys

Secret owned by Linda Butz and ridden by Ange Bean – Third 2 –

61.341% – 6th place

On Sunday, five Arabians bred horses competed in their re-

spective finals for the Region 1 GAIG Dressage Championship. Ot-

tomatic was shown by Mary Callan in the 4th level adult amateur

class and earned 5th place with a 65.188%. Magic Illusion and

rider Victoria Ridgway received a score of 66.7% in training level

Bo’s Buttercup Slide owned/ridden by Anne M Ward – 3rd 2 –

62.927 – 4th place Ottomatic owned/ridden by Mary Callan – 4th

2 – 63.649% – 5th place – 4th 3 – 66.250% – 1st place Bomber

owned/ridden by Jacob Harper – Training 3 – 63.200% – 8th place

Nicole Berry Bey owned by Elliot Moore and ridden by Ashley

which placed them 6th in their championship class. Jacob Harp-

er also rode Bomber in the training level championship, scoring

closely behind them with a 65.600%, putting the pair in 7th place.

Additionally, two Arabians competed in the first level finals. Nicole

Berry Bey earned a 66.935% with rider Ashley Burd Whicker and

WWA Colino, the only purebred Arabian to compete this weekend,

receieved a 65.000% with rider Kristen Stein.

In the open dressage classes, Mary Callan and Ottomatic

earned a 66.757%, which will qualify them for next year’s CBLM

Championships, and first place. I caught up with the pair back

BR Dannys Secret

WWA Colino (photo courtesy of Krtisten Stein)

Magic Illusion

Destinys Persuit

GAIG continued on page 71

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The Colonel Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships were founded in

1983 to stimulate regional dressage competition and have served as a

model for other regional championships throughout the United States.

These Championships are open to both US Citizens and foreign riders; the rider

just has to be a member of a participating USDF GMO at the time of qualification.

The Championships were founded by Dr. Samuel Barish, a past President of the

United States Dressage Federation and are sponsored by Group Member Organi-

zations within USDF Region 1 and the numerous qualifying shows.” –www.cblm.

org

The CBLM Championships were held October 31st through November 3rd

in Williamston, North Carolina with several Arabian-bred horses in attendance.

For the finals, competitors ride the second test of each level training-4th level,

FEI level tests, musical freestyles and even pas de duex! The classes are split

into four divisions – junior/young riders, two adult amateur sections divided

by the rider’s experience, and professionals.

Five half-Arabians competed at this show, representing the breed quite

well in training through fourth level. There were sixteen rides completed by

these entries, seven of which were championship rides. The other classes will

count towards qualifications for next year’s GAIG or BLM Championships.

Two young riders placed in a very competitive 3rd level final. Laura Killian

and MS Spanish Legacy, a six-year-old Arabian/Andalusian cross, earned Re-

serve Champion with a 66.585%. Katie Lang and her Arabian/Fresian, FA Pa-

triot, came in 5th place with a commendable 63.569%. Katie is quite proud of

her accomplishments this weekend with “Blue.” Only a year ago, she was just a

first level rider wondering “How in the world am I ever going to be able to ride

him correctly and be on the bit?” After a year of hard work with a great sup-

port team, the pair managed to place in all three of the finals including being

named the Reserve Champions in the Fourth Level JR/YR class.

Dark Waterspoon, an Arabo-Fresian stallion, earned one of the highest

scores this weekend with an impressive 75.135% in first level test 2. He also

finished 7th in the very competitive First Level Senior B Division BLM Finals. He

was ridden by Rebecca Vick and is owned by Camilla Vance.

Arabian/Oldenburg De La Noir and owner Jennifer Jeffreys-Chen showed

in a total of six training level classes with all scores ranging between 66.429 –

69.286%. The pair also made their debut at first level and earned 4th place in

the class with a 61.207%.

The rest of the results for half-Arabian competitors are:

MS Spanish Legacy owned/ridden by Laura Killian CBLM Finals USDF MFS

2nd Level – 67.417% – Reserve Champion

FA Patriot owned/ridden by Katie Lang CBLM Finals USDF MFS 3rd Level –

Friday – 66.333% – 4th

Dark Waterspoon owned by Camilla Vance and ridden by Rebecca Vick

CBLM Finals First Level Senior B First 2 – Sunday – 68.514% – 7th

Cadet owned/ridden by Katie Bruns CBLM Finals Training Level Jr/YR Train-

ing 2 – Saturday – 59.732% Training 3 – Saturday – 66.400% – 2nd

MS Spanish Legacy & FA Patriot

De La Noir

Dark Waterspoon

Col. Bengt Ljungquist MemorialChampionships by Laura Killian

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chance at getting to the one round bale

left in the paddock against the rest of the

herd. I’m not sure of the validity of this

story, but that’s what the lady told me.

Phoenix and I today could not be bet-

ter. He has a great mind and an incredible

work ethic—true to his Babson Egyptian

breeding. We rarely have a bad day riding

together. He is now one of the most relia-

ble horses in our barn, a favorite amongst

the barn workers, riders, and parents alike.

When I taught beginner horse camp

at Caille Farm this summer, he loved hav-

ing the kids dote on him as their braiding/

clipping/bathing/grooming model. Four

of my cousins, ages 6-10, have learned

how to stop, steer, and post the trot on my

once “dangerous” Arab.

My trainer recently picked up mount-

ed shooting as a hobby, and Phoenix has


A True Phoenix

Continued from page 47Athena - Goddess of Dressage

“It must be noted, however, that this

can also be a disadvantage. It was al-

ways tough to tell when Athena needed

down time because she wouldn’t quit. It

was hard to tell if something was bother-

ing her because she would simply power

through it,” Colleen added.

Dressage is all about trust and con-

nection between horse and rider, and Rita

acknowledges that Athena has made it all

no problem with .45’s going off right next

to him. I’ve decided that in addition to his

current hobbies (galloping on trail rides

and passaging around the barn), Phoenix

is going to learn how to be a mounted

shooting horse.

Not a bad outcome for an awkward

four-year old with a spooking problem

who was never supposed to be anything

special!

possible. “Once, during a dressage demo,

the trainer asked me to perform a canter

pirouette, but change my position to be

off balance partway through. We were

supposed to show how the horse would

not be able to perform the movement

that way. But as I shifted my weight and

tried to unbalance her, she just shifted un-

der me and kept going. Without Athena, I

may have never gotten close to showing


USDF Region 1 GAIG Champs

in the stables as they tacked up for the

awards presentation. Ottomatic is a sweet

and gentle horse whose face clearly shows

dishy Arabian characteristic and a soft Ara-

bian eye. She purchased her Arabian X

Oldenburg partner from an eventing barn

as a four year old. With the help of trainer

Erin Freedman, they have progressed in

the show ring all the way from training

to fourth level. However, it has not been

without its difficulties. Ottomatic has over-

come both Lyme Disease and EPM but is

now completely healthy and back to win-

ning all of the ribbons with scores consis-

tently in the mid-60’s at fourth level this

season.

Twenty ribbons were earned in total

by the Arabian breed representatives this

weekend, including three blue ribbons.

Ange Bean and BR Dannys Secret earned

the highest score of the weekend with a

70.833% for their second level ride on

Sunday. It should be noted that all Ara-

bian bred horses that completed their

ride on Sunday earned 65% or higher for

their final score. Congratulations to all of

the owners, riders and horses, who did a

phenomenal job presenting their horse

against a competitive field at the Region

1 GAIG Dressage Championships. We hope

you continue to promote our breed next

season in open breed dressage competi-

tions and that your successes have in-

spired others to participate on their tal-

ented Arabians and Arabian-crosses.

at Grand Prix.”


Outside of the breed-specific USDF Awards, there are quite a few Arabian-bred horses that earned placings in the overall awards that include horses of all breeds together.

ADULT AMATEUR - Training Level

den by Carol Meschter; 61.034Second Level

3 - PALADIN SF (Aul Magic x Padua Go {Trak}) owned & ridden by Laine Sklar; 69.211

2013 USDF Year End Awards

68 – ROCOCO ROMANCE (Journey {Friesian} x OFW Erys), owned by Kathy Towery and ridden by Julie Colette Everette; 67.642112 - MM FLAMBOYANT (MM Georgi x Gabrielle {Gr}), owned & ridden by Stacey Burdick-Taul; 65.600146 - HALF MOONS ATISA (Black Char Azrael x PK Black Satin) owned & ridden by Joleen Flasher; 64.286165 - RULETTE (Scrabble x Ramona {DWB]) owned & ridden by Susan Bender; 63.482202 - PHANTOMM OF THE OPERA (Oshquah {HA} x Scotts Mar-zella) owned & ridden by Susan Hebert; 62.200224 - SRC GABRIELLA (Loki {Friesian} x SRC Lady In Red) owned &

Rococo Romance

Phantomm Of The Opera

Paladin SF

112 - CYLENT PREMIER (MM Cylent Flyer x Witch’s Luck {TB}) owned & ridden by Vicki Krebsbach ; 60.714

Third Level42 - FIRST DANCE OF COLOR (Color of Fame {ASB} x NR-Minuette) owned & ridden by Carol Mavros; 64.103

Fourth Level34 – OTTOMATIC (Arabian/Oldenburg X) owned & ridden by Mary Callan; 63.61569 - CA DAVIGN (CA Dillon x Daniella {Hano}) owned & ridden by Judy Coats; 60.917

Grand Prix10 - CP MERCURY BEY (AA Apollo Bey x La Contessa De Rossa {ASB}) owned & ridden by Heather Sanders; 61.596

JUNIOR RIDER/YOUNG RIDERTraining Level

10 - AJ BLAC EAGLE (Blacjac El Sabio x Fayrahs Rose) owned & rid-den by Mackenzie Rivers; 69.60016 - ALADA STRIKE (Alada Baskin x Czstryca) owned by Paige Moody & ridden by Kalie Beckers; 68.30070 - HH ANTONIA (HH Allegro x Balquena V) owned by Jonathan Howell & ridden by Amanda Howell; 66.45089 - STARFIRES ORION (El Pele x Driver’s Starfire {AHC}) owned & ridden by Ella Fruchterman; 60.833

ridden by Charma Fargo; 61.265First Level

111 – RULETTE; 65.000228 – ALA COWBOY (Cable Cowboy x ALA Princess) owned & rid-


First Level70 - HH ANTONIA; 63.14579 - OFW AMBUSH (Magnum Psyche x Salona Rose) owned & rid-den by Jennifer Becar; 62.258

Second Level39 - INCH PINCHER (Virgule Al Maury x Saahira) owned by Barbara Thomas & ridden by Raisa Chunko; 62.421

Third Level50 - FA PATRIOT (Flurry Of Ca-Lynn {Friesian} x La Sada Mega) owned & ridden by Katie Lang; 62.821

Intermediare-17 - KS FADLS PHOENIX (Fadl Atrtrak-Shun x LLA Latisha) owned & ridden by Melissa Lund; 63.4219 - QUESTT (Quartet {SWB} x Thrill) owned & ridden by Lindsey Whitcher; 62.434

VINTAGE CUP - Training Level28 - RULETTE; 63.48238 - SRC GABRIELLA; 61.265

First Level32 - RULETTE; 65.00042 - NF MIDNITE SULTANA (RJO After Midnite x Takara Sultanna {NSH}) owned & ridden by Ann-Christine Erikson; 63.548 44 - HR MAVERICK (Kharbon Khopi x HR Brittany Bey) owned by Mary Poelke & ridden by Ellen Corob; 63.387

First Level46 - NICOLE BERRY BEY (Grade x Very Berry Bey) owned by Elliott Moore & ridden by Ashley Burd; 70.726406 – NF MIDNITE SULTANA; 63.548418 – HR MAVERICK; 63.387

Second Level28 – PALADIN; SF 69.21186 - FIRST DANCE OF COLOR; 66.190217 – INCH PINCHER; 62.421277 - CYLENT PREMIER; 60.714

Third Level205 – FA PATRIOT; 62.821

Fourth Level108 – OTTOMATIC; 63.615160 – CA DAVIGN; 60.917

Intermediare-1162 – KS FADLS PHOENIX; 63.421196 – QUESTT; 62.434

Grand Prix 103 - CP MERCURY BEY; 61.596

MUSICAL FREESTYLEFirst Level

30 - JM MR ROCKY BEY (Moonstone Bey x Madame Muzzy {NSH}) owned & ridden by Justine Jacoby; 68.567 55 - SF HEARTS & FLOWERS (Ganesh x Onyx Ladys Mystique {Trak})owned & ridden by Susannah Jones; 65.833

Third Level46 – FA PATRIOT; 67.333

Intermediare-140 – QUESTT; 62.434

NF Midnite Sultana

HR Maverick

51 - ALA COWBOY; 61.034Second Level

9 - FIRST DANCE OF COLOR; 66.19030 - CYLENT PREMIER; 60.714

Third Level23 - CA DAVIGN; 60.917

DRESSAGE HORSE OF THE YEARTraining Level

123 - AJ BLAC EAGLE; 69.600190 - ALADA SRTIKE; 68.300217 - INCH PINCHER; 62.421233 – ROCOCO ROMANCE; 67.642347 - MM FLAMBOYANT; 65.600 Questt

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USDF All-Breeds Award Winners

2. Khashflow/Greta Wrigley 63.421 3. Psymbad VF/Kara Somerville 62.763 4. ROL Super Sunday/Kim Lacy 62.105 5. Just In Kayce/Susanne Lanini 61.316

Intermediare-1

1. Bonne Vivant/Kassandra Barteau 62.895 2. Comandr-N-Chief/Stacey Burdick-Taul 61.8423. Aurora MR/Danielle Casalett 61.053

ADULT AMATEURTraining Level

1. Dance Fevor/Jessica Meredith 70.500 2. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton 69.000 3. ZLA Pepets Regalo/Katie Keim 66.607

4. Pistachio PA/Mary Smith 66.458 5. TA Im Too Hsexy/Tammy Bowers 66.000

First Level1. Certified Male/ Stephanie Eckelkamp 66.265

2. Dance Fevor/ Jessica Meredith 66.132 3. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton 63.629 4. Chief Shahlon/ Kayla

Reimer 61.613 5. GA Ehstaire/ Janet Bellows 61.290

Second Level1. Koli Bey Berry/ Terry Benedetti 64.7622. KT Tommy Guns/ Linda Ziegler 64.518 3. Rohara Beaujolais/ Julie Wall Hicks 62.947 4. Gybson Girl/Karen Rains 62.857 5. Santina HA/Carli Bunkelman 62.203

2. GM Major Soho/Melanie Mitchell 65.262 3. Koli Bey Berry/Terry Benedetti 64.762 4. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 64.518 5. El Da Vinci/Kailee Surplus 63.870

Third Level

1. Emilio BFA/Stacey Hastings 65.584 2. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 62.040 3. Rufus BL/ Madeleine Kirsch 60.329

Fourth Level1. Emilio BFA/Stacey Hastings 63.143 2. Safarr/Suzette Sontag 62.625 3. Focus Shalimor/Marilyn Weber 60.250

Prix St. Georges1. Bonne Vivant/Kassandra Barteau 64.342

PUREBRED ARABIANOPEN

Training Level1. Apocalypto CLL/Suzette Sontag 70.600 2. Dance Fevor/Jessica Meredith 70.500 3. AJ Blac Eagle/Macken-zie Rivers 69.550 4. FHF Sahara Breeze/Lauren Annett 68.6865. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton, Kirsten Poole 68.600

First Level1. Sofine Strait Man/Kari Schmitt 71.129 2. Exkwizitt/Suzette Sontag 68.226 3. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 67.984 4. Bremervale Andronicus/Brooke Fuchs 66.5525. Certified Male/Stephanie Eckelkamp 66.265

Second Level1. Sofine Strait Man/Kari Schmitt 67.262

ZLA Pepets Regalo

GA EhstaireAurora MR

Bonne Vivant

Ebriz Rakkas HH AntoniaEmilio BFA

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USDF All-Breeds Award Winners

2. Khashflow/Greta Wrigley 63.421 3. Psymbad VF/Kara Somerville 62.763 4. ROL Super Sunday/Kim Lacy 62.105 5. Just In Kayce/Susanne Lanini 61.316

Intermediare-1

1. Bonne Vivant/Kassandra Barteau 62.895 2. Comandr-N-Chief/Stacey Burdick-Taul 61.8423. Aurora MR/Danielle Casalett 61.053


1. Dance Fevor/Jessica Meredith 70.500 2. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton 69.000 3. ZLA Pepets Regalo/Katie Keim 66.607

4. Pistachio PA/Mary Smith 66.458 5. TA Im Too Hsexy/Tammy Bowers 66.000

First Level1. Certified Male/ Stephanie Eckelkamp 66.265

2. Dance Fevor/ Jessica Meredith 66.132 3. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton 63.629 4. Chief Shahlon/ Kayla

Reimer 61.613 5. GA Ehstaire/ Janet Bellows 61.290

Second Level1. Koli Bey Berry/ Terry Benedetti 64.7622. KT Tommy Guns/ Linda Ziegler 64.518 3. Rohara Beaujolais/ Julie Wall Hicks 62.947 4. Gybson Girl/Karen Rains 62.857 5. Santina HA/Carli Bunkelman 62.203

2. GM Major Soho/Melanie Mitchell 65.262 3. Koli Bey Berry/Terry Benedetti 64.762 4. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 64.518 5. El Da Vinci/Kailee Surplus 63.870

Third Level

1. Emilio BFA/Stacey Hastings 65.584 2. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 62.040 3. Rufus BL/ Madeleine Kirsch 60.329

Fourth Level1. Emilio BFA/Stacey Hastings 63.143 2. Safarr/Suzette Sontag 62.625 3. Focus Shalimor/Marilyn Weber 60.250

Prix St. Georges1. Bonne Vivant/Kassandra Barteau 64.342

PUREBRED ARABIANOPEN

Training Level1. Apocalypto CLL/Suzette Sontag 70.600 2. Dance Fevor/Jessica Meredith 70.500 3. AJ Blac Eagle/Macken-zie Rivers 69.550 4. FHF Sahara Breeze/Lauren Annett 68.6865. Ebriz Rakkas/Sharon Sexton, Kirsten Poole 68.600

First Level1. Sofine Strait Man/Kari Schmitt 71.129 2. Exkwizitt/Suzette Sontag 68.226 3. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 67.984 4. Bremervale Andronicus/Brooke Fuchs 66.5525. Certified Male/Stephanie Eckelkamp 66.265

Second Level1. Sofine Strait Man/Kari Schmitt 67.262

ZLA Pepets Regalo

GA EhstaireAurora MR

Bonne Vivant

Ebriz Rakkas HH AntoniaEmilio BFA

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USDF All-Breeds Award WinnersThird Level1. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 62.040 2. Rufus BL/Madeleine Kirsch 60.329

Prix St. Georges1. Just In Kayce/Susanne Lanini 61.316

Intermediare-11. Comandr-N-Chief/Stacey Burdick-Taul 61.842

JUNIOR/YOUNG RIDERTraining Level

1. AJ Blac Eagle/Mackenzie Rivers 69.550 2. Alada Strike/Kalie Beckers 68.300 3. HS Khozmik Enkhanted/Holly Schnader 67.642 4. CW Factor/Mackenzie Rivers 67.167 5. HH Antonia/Amanda Howell 66.450

First Level1. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 67.984 2. Alada Strike/Kalie Beckers 65.726 3. CW Factor/Mackenzie Rivers 64.355

4. HH Antonia/Amanda Howell 63.784 5. OFW Ambush/Jennifer Becar 62.345

Second Level1. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 63.816

VINTAGE CUPTraining Level

1. Apocalypto CLL/Suzette Sontag 70.6002. RA Padre/Pamela Thompson 66.682 3. SW Gifted /Lesa Whetzel 63.125 4. Forte WF/Marilyn Weber 61.607

First Level1. Exkwizitt/Suzette Sontag 68.226 2. HR Maverick/Ellen Corob 63.387 3. Ala Cowboy/Carol Meschter 61.034

Fourth Level1. Safarr/Suzette Sontag 62.625

Galamaya

2. Focus Shalimor/Marilyn Weber 60.250 HALF/ANGLO ARABIANS

OPENTraining Level

1. Galamaya/Ryan Yap 70.600 2. Rite from the Start/Michele Judd 69.821 3. EF Rafikki/Sarah Duclos 69.800 4. Darkcyde of the Moon/Lauren Annett, Holly Schnader 67.700 5. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 67.600

First Level1. Nicole Berry Bey/Ashley Burd Whicker 70.1612. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 70.081 3. Arosenthyme MA/Nicol Hinde 69.3334. Dante by Donnerschlag/Marla Gullickson, Ol-ivia Chapeski 68.654 5. Pavarotti RA/Tedi Paasch 68.006

Second Level1 . Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 68.066 2. BR Dannys Secret/Angelia Bean 67.322 3. Tagg Yorr It/Andrew Amsden 66.357 4. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.190 5. Iolanthe MCC/Krista Tycho Noone 64.465

Third Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 68.398 2. Iolanthe MCC/Krista Tycho Noone 65.962 3. BR Dannys Secret/Angelia Bean 64.744 4. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103 5. TT Ebony Lace/Jessica Fussner 63.947

Fourth Level1. Ive Been Ripped/Jessica Fussner 65.956 2. Kameram Rhapsody/Stacey Hastings 64.750 3. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 63.500 4. Savannahh/Lauren Annett 63.243

Prix St. Georges

Khemos Khopi

Ive Been Ripped

Nicole Berry Bey Pulsar

Rococo RomanceSafarr Double XL++++// Darkcyde Of The Moon++++//

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USDF All-Breeds Award WinnersThird Level1. KT Tommy Guns/Linda Ziegler 62.040 2. Rufus BL/Madeleine Kirsch 60.329

Prix St. Georges1. Just In Kayce/Susanne Lanini 61.316

Intermediare-11. Comandr-N-Chief/Stacey Burdick-Taul 61.842

JUNIOR/YOUNG RIDERTraining Level

1. AJ Blac Eagle/Mackenzie Rivers 69.550 2. Alada Strike/Kalie Beckers 68.300 3. HS Khozmik Enkhanted/Holly Schnader 67.642 4. CW Factor/Mackenzie Rivers 67.167 5. HH Antonia/Amanda Howell 66.450

First Level1. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 67.984 2. Alada Strike/Kalie Beckers 65.726 3. CW Factor/Mackenzie Rivers 64.355

4. HH Antonia/Amanda Howell 63.784 5. OFW Ambush/Jennifer Becar 62.345

Second Level1. LP Snickers/Michelle Freeman 63.816


1. Apocalypto CLL/Suzette Sontag 70.6002. RA Padre/Pamela Thompson 66.682 3. SW Gifted /Lesa Whetzel 63.125 4. Forte WF/Marilyn Weber 61.607

First Level1. Exkwizitt/Suzette Sontag 68.226 2. HR Maverick/Ellen Corob 63.387 3. Ala Cowboy/Carol Meschter 61.034

Fourth Level1. Safarr/Suzette Sontag 62.625

Galamaya

2. Focus Shalimor/Marilyn Weber 60.250 HALF/ANGLO ARABIANS

OPENTraining Level

1. Galamaya/Ryan Yap 70.600 2. Rite from the Start/Michele Judd 69.821 3. EF Rafikki/Sarah Duclos 69.800 4. Darkcyde of the Moon/Lauren Annett, Holly Schnader 67.700 5. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 67.600

First Level1. Nicole Berry Bey/Ashley Burd Whicker 70.1612. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 70.081 3. Arosenthyme MA/Nicol Hinde 69.3334. Dante by Donnerschlag/Marla Gullickson, Ol-ivia Chapeski 68.654 5. Pavarotti RA/Tedi Paasch 68.006

Second Level1 . Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 68.066 2. BR Dannys Secret/Angelia Bean 67.322 3. Tagg Yorr It/Andrew Amsden 66.357 4. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.190 5. Iolanthe MCC/Krista Tycho Noone 64.465

Third Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 68.398 2. Iolanthe MCC/Krista Tycho Noone 65.962 3. BR Dannys Secret/Angelia Bean 64.744 4. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103 5. TT Ebony Lace/Jessica Fussner 63.947

Fourth Level1. Ive Been Ripped/Jessica Fussner 65.956 2. Kameram Rhapsody/Stacey Hastings 64.750 3. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 63.500 4. Savannahh/Lauren Annett 63.243

Prix St. Georges

Khemos Khopi

Ive Been Ripped

Nicole Berry Bey Pulsar

Rococo RomanceSafarr Double XL++++// Darkcyde Of The Moon++++//

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1. Kameram Rhapsody/Stacey Hastings 64.211 2. Trifecta/Courtney Horst-Cutright 63.9473. Ive Been Ripped/Jessica Fussner 63.224 4. Firgrove Paladin/Sheila McElwee 62.6985. PR Captain Hook/Mimi Stanley 62.237

Intermediare-11. Mandy’s Manhattin/Tedi Paasch 63.816 2. Firgrove Paladin/Sheila McElwee 63.289 3. Pulsar/Trudy Tatum 62.763 4. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 62.237 5. St. Christopher/Kathy Miller 61.447


1. Rite from the Start/Michele Judd 69.821 2. Rococo Romance/Julie Everett 67.083 3. MM Flamboyant/Stacey Burdick-Taul 66.200 4. SRC Gabriella/Charma Fargo 63.600 5. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.450

First Level

PR Captain Hook First Dance

SRC Gabriella

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1. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 70.081 2. Kurt Ali Khan/Cynthia DeRousie 65.323 3. First Class Image/Kathleen Cannon 64.579 4. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.793 5. NF Midnite Sultana/Ann-Christine Erikson 63.226

Second Level1. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 68.0662. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.190 3. Cylent Premier/Vicki Krebsbach 61.191

Third Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 68.398 2. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103 3. Faantastica/Susan Coleman 62.972 4. Coco Rhoyale/Angela Genin 62.090

Fourth Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 63.500

Prix St. Georges1. Trifecta /Courtney Horst-Cutright 63.947

Starfires Orion FA Patriot

Trifecta

2. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 60.789 Intermediare-1

1. Pulsar/Trudy Tatum 62.763 2. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 62.237

J`UNIOR/YOUNG RIDERTraining Level

1. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 67.600 2. Suracommander/Savannah May 66.515 3. Starfires Orion/Ella Fruchterman 60.833

First Level1. Khemos Centauri/Keeley Clark 65.847 2. Darkcyde of the Moon/Holly Schnader 64.2503. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 61.897

Third Level1. FA Patriot/Katie Lang 62.821


1. Maeday Surprise/Marilyn Weber 65.7142. SRC Gabriella/Charma Fargo 63.600

3. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.450 4. Sawdas Lady Pasha/Michael Dean 61.200

First Level1. Shenanigans Too/Marilyn Weber 64.355 2. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.793 3. NF Midnite Sultana/Ann-Christine Erikson 63.226

Second Level1. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.1902. Fire Proof Number One/Pamela Thompson 63.429 3. Cylent Premier/Vicki Krebsbach 61.1914. Shenanigans Too /Marilyn Weber 60.119

Third Level1. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103

Nezma Rose Kurt Ali KhanMM Flamboyant

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1. Kameram Rhapsody/Stacey Hastings 64.211 2. Trifecta/Courtney Horst-Cutright 63.9473. Ive Been Ripped/Jessica Fussner 63.224 4. Firgrove Paladin/Sheila McElwee 62.6985. PR Captain Hook/Mimi Stanley 62.237

Intermediare-11. Mandy’s Manhattin/Tedi Paasch 63.816 2. Firgrove Paladin/Sheila McElwee 63.289 3. Pulsar/Trudy Tatum 62.763 4. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 62.237 5. St. Christopher/Kathy Miller 61.447


1. Rite from the Start/Michele Judd 69.821 2. Rococo Romance/Julie Everett 67.083 3. MM Flamboyant/Stacey Burdick-Taul 66.200 4. SRC Gabriella/Charma Fargo 63.600 5. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.450

First Level

PR Captain Hook First Dance

SRC Gabriella

CRF Barenaked Lady

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1. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 70.081 2. Kurt Ali Khan/Cynthia DeRousie 65.323 3. First Class Image/Kathleen Cannon 64.579 4. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.793 5. NF Midnite Sultana/Ann-Christine Erikson 63.226

Second Level1. Khemos Khopi/Heather Rudd 68.0662. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.190 3. Cylent Premier/Vicki Krebsbach 61.191

Third Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 68.398 2. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103 3. Faantastica/Susan Coleman 62.972 4. Coco Rhoyale/Angela Genin 62.090

Fourth Level1. Double XL/Caitlin Zech 63.500

Prix St. Georges1. Trifecta /Courtney Horst-Cutright 63.947

Starfires Orion FA Patriot

Trifecta

2. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 60.789 Intermediare-1

1. Pulsar/Trudy Tatum 62.763 2. Nezma Rose/Nan Allen 62.237

J`UNIOR/YOUNG RIDERTraining Level

1. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 67.600 2. Suracommander/Savannah May 66.515 3. Starfires Orion/Ella Fruchterman 60.833

First Level1. Khemos Centauri/Keeley Clark 65.847 2. Darkcyde of the Moon/Holly Schnader 64.2503. CRF Barenaked Lady/Hannah Hiland 61.897

Third Level1. FA Patriot/Katie Lang 62.821


1. Maeday Surprise/Marilyn Weber 65.7142. SRC Gabriella/Charma Fargo 63.600

3. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.450 4. Sawdas Lady Pasha/Michael Dean 61.200

First Level1. Shenanigans Too/Marilyn Weber 64.355 2. Rulette/Susan Bender 63.793 3. NF Midnite Sultana/Ann-Christine Erikson 63.226

Second Level1. First Dance/Carol Mavros 66.1902. Fire Proof Number One/Pamela Thompson 63.429 3. Cylent Premier/Vicki Krebsbach 61.1914. Shenanigans Too /Marilyn Weber 60.119

Third Level1. First Dance/Carol Mavros 64.103

Nezma Rose Kurt Ali KhanMM Flamboyant

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