Desert Mirage - August 2013

AUGUST 2013

Dear Desert Mirage Readers...

The August issue of Desert Mirage features the magnificent Arabian horses of Al Thumama Stud of Doha, Qatar. Owned by Mr. Nabeel Ali Bin Ali and Dana Al Meslemani, Al Thumama Stud houses many of the finest and talented Straight Egyptian Arabians in the world. The stud farm has a very impressive Purebred Arabian breeding program as well. It has been an honor and pleasure working with the owners of Al Thumama Stud. Their extraordinary Ara-bian horses, including the 2013 Egyptian Event Gold Senior Mare Champion TF Exotikah (Botswana x EAI Etheena), grace the pages of this month’s issue of Desert Mirage. Our sincere gratitude goes out to owners of Al Thumama Stud, Mr. Nabeel Ali Bin Ali and Dana Al Meslemani, for sharing their passion for the Arabian horse with the readers of Desert Mirage.

Our sincere thanks and gratitude go out to Jean Paul Guerlain of France. A Champion Dressage rider himself, Jean Paul continues to contribute his bi-monthly column to Desert Mirage entitled ‘Riding in the Classical Way on Your Beautiful Arabian Horse’. Jean Paul is an extremely knowledgable horseman. He continues to share his vast knowl-edge of training the horse and rider with the readers of Desert Mirage.

Don’t miss the regular ‘His & Hers’ bi-monthly column by L.A. Pomeroy. Our regular departments, i.e., Arabian Horsewear - Dressed for Success, Equine Business and Equine Law, offer valuable insight into the Arabian horse industry as a whole. Thank you to Julie I. Fershtman, Attorney-At-Law, Bob Valentine, Ph.D. and Nancy Harm for providing this fresh up-to-date practical information for our readers.

Desert Mirage continues to grow globally. A special thank you is extended to all of the loyal subscribers and adver-tisers of our Arabian horse lifestyle publication.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please forward these items to [email protected].

Desert Mirage wishes all the exhibitors at this year’s Iowa Gold Star Futurity a very successful show!

Sincerely,

Laura J. BrodzikOwner/PublisherDesert Mirage

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Guerlain is a French perfume house, amongst the oldest in the world. The House of Guerlain was founded in 1828 when Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain opened his perfume store in Paris. Jean Paul Guerlain is fourth generation Geurlain and the last family master perfumer. Jean Paul currently works as a consultant for Guerlain and continues to travel the globe to develop new fragrances.

Desert Mirage is extremely pleased and honored to feature a regular bi-monthly column written by Jean Paul Guer-lain. In the past, in addition to his role as master perfum-er for the House of Guerlain, Jean Paul also accumulated World Championships in Dressage and Carriage Driving. Jean Paul will be sharing his extreme talent for training and his love of horses with the readers of Desert Mirage.

Following is Jean Paul Guerlain’s article VI for the August 2013 issue of Desert Mirage:

Dear Readers,

Welcome back! In this issue, I will begin explaining the art of making a nice smooth transition.

Transitions are some of the most important and most difficult exercises in all of riding. To appreciate their importance, one need only think of how many transitions are in dressage tests and that they are scored as separate movements. The horse, through a quiet dialog, must learn correct, balanced and fluid transitions with a tactful rider that may stretch over many months. In this dialog, the rider must patiently explain to the horse what he expects and desires in response to his aids. The rider must develop the horse mentally and physically through patient repetition. All transitions include a preparation phase in which the horse is engaged and energized, a giving of the

aids at just the right moment and allowing a phase where the next gate is ridden forward.

In the preparation, the horse must stay engaged with impul-sion and suppleness. The rhythm before and after the transi-tion must be clear and constant and all transitions must be ridden forward. One of the difficulties with all transitions is the timing of the aids and clearly understanding how much preparation is needed. That is, how many half halts should be given and how long before the desired transition. To develop the communication with the horse it is important to repeat transitions frequently and to perform them at specific points throughout the arena. For example, if we wish to make a tran-sition at B we need to find out where we need to begin to pre-pare for the transition. That will vary with the horse, the rider and the degree of warm-up or other distractions.

From the Walk to the Trot.The transition into the trot can only be as good as the walk be-fore it. Every gait should be ridden not for itself, but as prepa-ration for the next transition. It is very difficult to progress the horse into a trot from a listless lazy walk. It is far easier to allow the horse to trot from a walk that is engaged and ener-gized. The aids (the seat, hands and legs) are then a signal to the horse that speaks, okay now you may go. The aids begin with both seat bones, both legs and then with the hand allow-ing the horse to go into a trot. The key issue is to give forward with the hand without losing the contact. The rider must keep the reins ready to make slight adjustments and must receive the forward movements from the hind leg over the back with-ers, neck, poll and mouth into the hand. If the rider gives with the reins too much, the horse may fall onto the forehand or raise up the head and hollow the back.

From the Trot to the Walk. The transition from the trot to the walk is the first down-

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ward transition. The downward transitions are always more difficult because while the rider is willing to give to allow an upwards transition, he thinks he must pull back to get the downward transition. In fact, in the movement when the rider is closing and holding with the hand in the half halt, he must already be thinking of giving and riding his horse for-ward into the walk. Pulling on the reins without giving will cause the horse to balance on the rider’s hands, resulting in either the horse diving on the forehand in an abrupt, choking walk or halt or simply pulling more against the rider’s hands to get away from too much pressure on his mouth. After giv-ing a little half halt (see previous column) which signals to the horse ‘something is coming’, be ready. The rider establishes solid contact on the reins. Then he sits and drives with the seat and lower legs against a steady passive hand. The half halt serves also to regain the correct frame if it was lost.

To ride the transition, the rider should drop his heels, thus bringing a little more weight into the saddle in a pleasant way for the horse. The rider should be careful not to lean behind the vertical with the upper body because this hurts the back of the horse. The rider’s legs should stay quiet on the side of the horse. We ride the horse forward into the walk and do not pull the horse back out of the trot. Give the reins but do not lose contact.

From the Walk to the Halt. Unlike the other transitions, we will discuss the downward transition from the walk to the halt before discussing the up-ward transition from the halt to the walk. This is because the quality and engagement of the halt are essential for a good up-ward transition and this quality is obtained through a proper downward transition to the halt. The correct aids for the com-plete halt start with the half halt and then the rider lower-ing the heels. This brings the rider’s weight into the saddle and signals the halt. The steady holding, but not pulling rein, completes the halt and then softens immediately almost at the same time. The weight aids for the half halt are often misun-derstood. Lowering of the heels brings the correct amount of weight into the horse’s back in the correct vertical position. Leaning back drives the seat into the saddle too much and sends the horse forward because of the pain the horse feels in his back. Once in the halt, let the horse stay in the halt for 10 seconds and praise the horse.

Until next time, have fun with your best friend, the Arabian horse. An expression in an Arabian proverb: “For so long as people love horses, the gods will love people”.

If you have any questions or comments, please write to: [email protected].

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In previous articles we have discussed analyzing our horse busi-ness’s financial performance. Now it is time to stop riding our horse backwards and stop looking where we have been. It is time to turn around, look forward and create a financial plan that shows where we want our business to go in the future. A good fi-nancial plan should identify the financial performance you expect to see on your Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and yearend Balance Sheet. The plan should be creating a Financial Scoreboard for your horse business.

Unfortunately, doing this kind of plan is foreign to most horse business owners and managers. In fact, most horse businesses have no plans at all. I believe the lack of planning has contrib-uted to the current economic state of the horse industry. Most horse business owners run their businesses day-to-day, hoping everything will work out and trying to adjust to whatever comes their way. ‘No Planning’ and ‘Checkbook Management’ is the norm for most horse business owners. Horse business owners think if they work hard and most do, and serve their customers well and most do, they will be rewarded with lots of business. I hate to be the one to tell you, it isn’t that simple.

Most horse business owners think that record keeping is man-agement – it isn’t. They use a record keeping system for their horses and their accounting and then give everything to their ac-countant at the end of the year – and their accountant is an ac-countant, not a business manager. They have no idea if they get more business if it will be profitable because without planning and a real management system they have no idea what happens to their fixed cost, labor requirements, inventory requirements, cash demands, etc. They have no idea what will happen if a com-petitive stable is open down the road. What if the competitive stable offers lower prices or more amenities? If you are serious about being in the horse business you need business planning, business management and business discipline. Treat your busi-ness as well as you treat your horses and your customers!

Some horse business owners do a kind of half-baked planning. They look at last year’s numbers and throw out some arbitrary growth in sales or increase in ‘bottom line’ that they have no idea how the current numbers got there in the first place. The half-baked approach is also flawed because it isn’t based on re-ality. The fact is neither hope nor faith nor hard work nor will all three combined magically produce a given set of objectives. You need to make some very specific things happen if your busi-ness’s goals are going to be realized. If you can’t spell out exactly what those things are, you are just blowing smoke and the smart people around you will know it!

A real annual plan must have these three characteristics:

1. It spells out realistic business goals and identifies specific strategies to achieve those goals.

2. It takes into account all the interconnections and interac-

tions between the different elements in your business – Financial Management, Horse Care and Management, Business Opera-tions, Customer Care and Billing and Administration. No record keeping system can do that.

3. It can be translated into hard numbers that can be tracked, measured and managed – if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

An annual plan isn’t a plan unless you can use it to project an In-come Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and a yearend Balance Sheet. The plan should also allow you to show month-by-month how its number will be realized. The plan will let you know not only where your business is headed, but what needs to be done to get there.

1. You will have a management tool to measure your business’s progress month in and month out.

2. If something gets off track you will be able to spot it imme-diately and remedy it before it becomes a problem.

3. You will be able to create best-case and worst-case scenarios from your plan.

4. You will be able to develop contingency plans if something serious happens.

5. You will learn to manage the plan and adapt your strategies as necessary throughout the year.

The first step in developing a plan is getting ready. To get ready you need two sets of data. The first set is a list of all your long term goals that we discussed in the ‘The Financial Goals’ article. You can review that article in the April issue of the Desert Mirage Magazine or on www.equinegenie.com on The ‘Genie’ Academy page under ‘White Papers’. You can’t create a plan for the cur-rent year if you haven’t thought long and hard about where you want to be three, five or even ten years. You can’t do everything in one year.

The second set of data is your business’s recent history. This should include a full set of financials for at least three years. If you are a new horse business the data should include a full set of financials for as long as you have been in business.

The second step is projecting sales. I am sure you have heard the saying, ‘no sales, no business’, so begin your plan with sales and marketing. Make sure your plan identifies:

1. What services and or products you expect to sell.

2. Whom you expect to sell your services and or products to.

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3. Why you expect them to buy your services and or products.

A useful starting point is to analyze your business’s sales history over the last few years. During your analysis you should ask:

1. Are your sales increasing – if not, why not?

2. Who are your current customers and are you expecting them to continue to use your services or purchase your products?

3. Do you expect their business with you to increase or de-crease?

Depending on your type of horse business you should be able to analyze your past sales by customer, by location, by service, by product, or by whatever category that might be appropriate, and then project your future sales on as much real information as possible. Whatever method you use the key is specificity.

The third step is preparing a business as usual projection. An annual plan is based on more than sales projections. You will need to include any planned investment, or any plans to address your business’s weaknesses such as increasing profit or improv-ing operating cash flow by managing receivables better. Your plan will eventually include much more than just sales projec-tions. This is another argument for a real management system instead of a record keeping system.

Creating a full-blown plan from scratch with all its complexities are probably the reason that so few plans get created. Don’t try to develop a final plan initially. Start by creating a business as usual plan. A business as usual plan will show you what your business will look like if nothing changes except the projected increase in sales and any corresponding increase in other line items on your Income Statement. Preparing a business as usual plan is a great teaching exercise and will help you create a mean-ingful final plan. It will help you spot problems and opportunities

you may have missed.

The forth step is proactive planning. The proactive planning pro-cess gives you the opportunity to identify problems to attack and opportunities to take advantage of so that you can create a plan that will take your horse business where you want it to go. There are four steps that need to be included in the proactive planning process.

1. Create a Trend Table using your business’s past performance and your business as usual projections. If you don’t know how to create a Trend Table call me.

2. Allow for longer-term decisions and opportunities. No busi-ness can afford to focus all its efforts on current sales alone. The sales plan with any other strategic decisions need to set the pa-rameters for operating your horse business throughout the year.

3. Figure out the key drivers. Once you have identified the problems and opportunities to focus on, be sure to identify not only the key numbers on the financials, but also the ratios that drive those numbers.

4. Propose some improvements and pencil them in. If your projects show that you will wind up short of cash, pencil in a lower accounts receivable or inventory number on your Financial Scoreboard.

The fifth step is to refine your plan. Once you have a plan that looks good, seems workable and gets you on the path to achiev-ing your objectives you may want to refine it as well as develop alternative plans allowing for different inputs and outcomes. Here are four steps you might want to consider.

1. Consider your different options and how they might affect your business.


2. Prepare best-case, worst-case and expected scenarios. Any plan incorporates numerous assumptions about what will stay steady and what will change.

3. Play ‘what if’. Best-case and worst-case plans are generalized plans. They assume things go very well or very poorly through-out your business. A ‘what if’ plan takes a single variable and assesses its effect.

4. Talk to a tax authority about taxes. Projection and planning scenarios don’t take taxes into account.

The sixth and final step is implementing the plan. Once you have a twelve-month plan figure out any seasonal variations that are peculiar to your horse business. Determine the scheduling of any major expenses that don’t occur each month. With these estimates you can prepare Income Statements, Cash Flow State-ments, and Balance Sheets for every month. You will have a plan for each time period that lets you see how you are doing as you measure and manage your business.

Your plan should never change. This doesn’t mean that you should always stick to it or that you cannot take advantage of opportunities that surface during the year. Once a plan is made it is set in stone. A real management system like equineGenie will provide you with variance analysis against your plan. Planning and business discipline are key to a business’s success!

In the next several articles we will start discussing different busi-ness scenarios and using what we have learned to come up with the correct business decision. If you have a particular business challenge and would like it discussed, I am willing to use it in a future article. Please contact me using the contact information below.

To be successful in a horse business does not require a finance education, but it does require an understanding of what your

financials are telling you. This understanding will enable you to make better business decisions. A good Horse Business Man-agement System will do the calculations for you and analyze and report the results with comments or suggestions. A good Horse Business Management System will save you valuable time you can then use to improve your business. I encourage you to investigate how equineGenie not only helps you manage and care for your horses and manage your business operations and support your customers, but helps you be financially successful.

Bob Valentine, Ph.D.PresidentGenieCo, Inc.Box 271924Ft. Collins, CO 805271.888.678.4364 or [email protected]

Dr. Valentine taught Equine Business Management to graduat-ing seniors in the Equine Science Department at Colorado State University. He has been involved in the horse business for too long. If you have any questions, you can reach Bob at [email protected], or call him at 1.888.678.4364 or 970.231.1455 (mobile).


Lifestyles in western Canada include strong ranching and horse cultures. A native of western Canada, Shannon’s formative years were immersed in the equine environment which led to her exper-tise as an acknowledged horsewoman.

An art career and her subsequent recognition from a loyal client audience and fine art community, began as a tribute to the work-ing stock horse but has transpired to a new realm as Shannon celebrates the elegance of the Arabian equine world with inspi-rational paintings reflecting admirable worldy steeds rendered in a contemporary style but still capturing the infinite, intense and

dramatic brush stroke details which have become her recogniz-able trademark.

Shannon’s paintings and graphite renderings have received nu-merous Best of Show, People’s Choice and 1st Place Awards at fine art shows the past decade. She is often spotlighted as featured artist at invitational shows including Nevada’s Northeastern Mu-seum; Arizona’s Phippen Museum; and Alberta’s Calgary Stam-pede. Her images grace magazine covers, art posters, greeting cards, and film. She welcomes commission project inquiries.

WWW.SHANNONLAWLOR.COM




Featuring: Exclusive Showhalter

Birgit Koll was always attracted to horses as a child and began riding at the age of 12 in Cologne, Germany. During school and further education, this hobby slumbered. In 2001, Birgit’s husband, by coincidence, began riding and became captivated with the Arabian horse. In 2002, they vis-ited the Kauber Platte Stud (near Frankfurt) where the manager showed them the mares and stallions the Stud had bred out of old Straight Egyp-tian bloodlines. Birgit and her husband were absolutely fascinated!

Within a short period of time, the Koll’s decided to buy a filly, KP Fareeda (KP Mokeel x Fayza from Niza) that grew up at Kauber Platte Stud. At the age of two, a Western trainer taught the filly. In 2007, the Koll’s bred their mare with the Thee Desperado son Jahill. The result of this breeding was a beautiful colt named Farees. Both Fareeda and Farees were shown at several shows in Germany and France. During these shows, Birgit saw many show halters she thought she could improve upon. Most were very simple with only a steel cable surrounded by leather. The halters were very stable; however, not as beautiful as she imagined.

Before long, Birgit put in place her idea to produce show halters—thus the beginning of her company, Exklusive Showhalters. The first series of halters, shown in 2008 at a show at Kauber Platte Stud, was a great suc-cess. Birgit was out of stock within one day after selling 30 halters.

Over the next two years, Birgit experimented with new materials, evalu-ated new dealers and became more familiar with assimilating leather, pearls, Swarowski elements and all the beautiful materials one could imagine to build halters. Exklusive Showhalters’ actual collection is made of leather or bio thane with a variety of Swarowski elements.

Exklusive Showhalters is promoted via Facebook where they received many requests for individual layouts from all over the world. You may visit Exklusive Showhalters at www.exklusive-showhalter.com. Exklu-sive Showhalter offers a wide range of designs that are suitable for all Arabian horses. They also manufacture custom show halters per client requests. All halters are handmade by Birgit in Germany.


[email protected]






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Before a horse sale concludes, the seller asks the buyer to sign a written sale contract that includes an “as is” disclaimer. Should the buyer sign the contract? And if the seller refuses to negotiate a removal of that disclaimer, should the buyer walk away from the transaction? Not necessarily.

The “As Is “Disclaimer “As is” disclaimers can be found within a wide variety of sale contracts, and equine contracts are no exception. Many sellers (several of our clients included) routinely insist on them for all transactions. State law sometimes dictates other state-specific language that a contract should include to legally disclaim warranties. These types of clauses, assuming that they are le-gally valid in the jurisdiction, place buyers on notice that they are about to engage in a “buyer beware” arrangement.

Options for Responding to these Disclaimers

When a seller presents an equine sale contract with an “as is” disclaimer, the buyer need not back out of the transaction as long as he or she is willing to examine the horse carefully, ask the right questions, and sometimes seek out opinions of experts such as veterinarians and equine industry profession-als. For example:

• Investigate. The buyer can conduct a careful, thorough pre-purchase investigation of the horse. Assuming that the con-tract allows the buyer a period of time to investigate, the buyer can hire an independent veterinarian (who does not work with the seller and has not worked with the horse) to conduct a pre-purchase examination and a drug screen. If the buyer cannot attend the examination in person, he or she can consider ar-ranging to have the exam videotaped. Also, if the examination is being performed a considerable distance from the buyer, the buyer can ask the veterinarian performing the examination to send the x-ray films to his or her local veterinarian for a sec-ond opinion before making the purchase.

• Seek disclosures. The buyer can ask the seller to include in the contract certain disclosures about the horse’s history and condition such as the horse’s health, vices, and training. Even if the seller has made these disclosures verbally, the buyer can insist that they be included in writing within the contract. The buyer can also demand assurances in writing that the horse has transferrable registration papers.

• Demand a warranty of title from the seller. Although state law might allow the sales contract to disclaim certain warran-ties (such as a warranty of merchantability or fitness for a par-ticular purpose), the buyer certainly can insist on a warranty that the seller owns the horse and can sell it to the buyer free and clear of liens and encumbrances.

• Hire an equine industry professional. The buyer can see the horse in person or hire an equine industry professional to do this. Also, if the buyer has a use for the horse in mind, such as showing in certain disciplines, it might make sense to hire a reputable equine industry professional for an opinion as to the horse’s suitability.

• Seek legal counsel. Before the transaction concludes, the buyer can hire a lawyer to draft or review the sale contract and advise whether its provisions, such as the “as-is” disclaimer, comply with the applicable state’s law. A lawyer can explain risks and offer suggestions for negotiating the contract’s terms. As a lawyer can explain, under the law of several states, “as-is” clauses cannot prevent the buyer’s claims of sales fraud.

• Negotiate. Before the sale concludes, the buyer (or the buyer’s lawyer) can always try to negotiate the contract’s terms.

Sales contracts are important documents. Buyers and sellers should hire their own knowledgeable lawyer to assist with contracts and transactions. The cost to prevent a lawsuit is usually a small fraction of the cost to resolve one.

This article does not constitute legal advice. When questions arise based on specific situations, direct them to a knowl-edgeable attorney.

About the Author

Julie Fershtman is one of the nation’s most experienced Equine Law practitioners. A lawyer for nearly 26 years, she is a shareholder with the firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC (www.fosterswift.com) and has successfully tried equine cases before juries in 4 states. She has drafted hundreds of equine industry contracts and is a Fellow of the American Col-lege of Equine Attorneys. She has spoken on Equine Law in 28 states, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2013. For more information, visit www.fershtmanlaw.com, www.equinelaw.net or www.equinelawblog.com.

Please visit and “LIKE” our Facebook Page: “Foster Swift: Equine Law”!



Thee Lady MajeedaThee Desperado x The Lucky Lady

Maarakash KAMaariq KA x Simpli Iresistibl


Every time I would go for a lesson, I would pass by paddocks full of beautiful horses. They looked like horses that only ex-isted in fairy tales. I was so enchanted that sometimes, after my lesson, I would go to the paddocks just to look at them. Even if it was just for a few minutes.”

By age six it was apparent that Dana Al Meslemani was des-tined to fall in love with Arabian horses. She had shown all the symptoms of the ‘fever’ for which there is no cure, from early onset in girlhood, to cajoling for lessons, to learning everything she could about the purest and most refined breed in the world.

Now, entering her senior year as a film and communication major at Northwestern University in Qatar, the busy student’s love of the breed has remained as deep as her love of family. She balances both by partnering with her father, Nabeel Ali Bin Ali, helming Al Thumama Stud of Doha, Qatar.

Inspired by history’s great breeders, great lineages and, what Dana calls the Arabian horse’s “something extra,” Al Thumama Stud represents wisdom and youthful vigor: an unbeatable combination in a father/daughter team and in building a lega-cy of extraordinary horses.

Maarakesh KAMaariq KA x Simpli Iresistibl

2009 Chestnut Mare

Something Special

“The horses I used to ride as a kid were mostly Arabians. They always had something that made them special and different from any other horse or animal. I got my love of animals from my father, who bought me a couple of dogs when I was really young. Before,” she adds with a twinkle in her eye, “I started begging for riding lessons. Eventually my parents agreed and sent me to the Al Shaqab Riding School.”

Her introduction to the program horses led to an appreciation for the breed from the inside out: “Their overall presence is so captivating and attractive but what do I love most about Ara-bians? Their nice temperament. Very sweet, loving and caring. You can see it in their eyes. I have little siblings and cousins who love going to the farm so horses with great temperaments are a must.”

“What I find interesting is how one minute, they’re in the pad-dock strutting their stuff, snorting and blowing and showing off with all the elegance and confidence in the world, then in the next minute, as soon as they see a chid approach, they calm

down and become so gentle around them. I can’t speak for oth-er breeds, or even all Arabians, but I’ve seen this trait a lot and it’s great.”

Meet Al Thumama Stud

Al Thumama Stud’s eye for inner beauty is rivaled only by its ability to assess good looks and even greater performance. The farm’s purebred/domestic and Straight Egyptian programs re-flect a modern and international approach to carefully select-ing athletic bloodlines that offer size, scope and ground-cover-ing movement, in conjunction with the cherry-on-top bonus of a classically elegant head and top line.

“Most of our Straight Egyptian mares have pedigrees that are great outcrosses to stallions found in Qatar, who are mostly of Ansata and Katharinenhof breeding. For example,” she says, “we have Thee Lady Majeeda, a grey 2009 Thee Desperado daughter out of The Lucky Lady (by The Minstril); Maarakesh KA, a 2009 chestnut by Maariq KA out of Simpli Iresistibl (by Marquis I); and a 2005 grey daughter of Simeon Shai and Sha-boura (by PVA Kariim), Seraphina SMF.”

Al Thumama Stud

Simeon SadranAsfour x Simeon Simone2001 Chestnut Stallion


Simeon bloodlines are also represented in one of Al Thumama Stud’s two breeding stallions, the 2001 chestnut Simeon Sa-dran (Asfour x Simeon Simona). Dana and her father also stand Mishaali RCA, an eight year-old grey stallion, by Mishaal HP out of Maali RCA, and two of his sons are at the Stud: a 2012 grey colt, Kahraman Al Thumama, out of the farm’s grey broodmare, Kharmarah (Rothlynne Blackhawk x Kharijah by Levi) and a yet-to-be-named 2013 grey colt from their El Sharif daughter, Mouhannas SA Bukra.

“I don’t think that the bloodlines of these mares are well-rep-resented yet in Qatar. There is a lot of potential for some great crosses with stallions here.”

“We also recently purchased two seven year-old mares. Impe-rial Kahleedah is a bay by Imperial Al Kamar out of Imperial Baarilla (by Imperial Baarez). Imperial Kismetah is grey, by Im-perial Baarez out of Imperial Karmah (by Imperial Al Kamar). Both will make perfect additions to our program.”

Most of the mares Al Thumama has invested into its programs have been brought to Qatar directly after purchase. With a few excellent exceptions.

“We sent Imperial Kismetah to Amethyst Acres to have her foal and be re-bred, and sent Imperial Kahleedah to be bred at a clinic in Belgium, where she is staying for the summer before coming home to Qatar, hopefully in foal.”

Striking An Exotic Match

The final – and perhaps most exciting – exception to the usual routine has been Al Thumama Stud’s acquisition of Botswana’s daughter, TF Exotikah. The four-year old bay mare, out of the Safeen-bred EAI Etheena, was kept in the United States for show training before the 2013 U.S. Egyptian Event.

And...to keep a ‘hot date’ in Newnan, Georgia with 2010 Re-serve National Champion Stallion of Egypt, Thamer al Khaled. The six year-old straight Egyptian stallion has been on lease to Talaria Farms for two breeding seasons from the Al Bawady Stud of Cairo, Egypt.

“I love seeing the foals,” says Dana. “It’s so exciting after months of waiting to see the product of your breeding plans.”

Exciting is almost an understatement when it comes to de-scribing what the crossing of two such high performance pedi-grees as TF Exotikah and Thamer al Khaled might produce and the outcrosses they could offer other Arabian breeders.

At the prestigious 33rd annual Egyptian Event, hosted June 2-7 by The Pyramid Society at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexing-ton, TF Exotikah’s additional time spent training paid off big: She was named 2013 Egyptin Event Gold Champion Mare, appropriately enough in conjunction with the show’s theme, Mares: Queens of the Nile.


2009 Grey Mare


“I was in London and stayed up until four in the morning wait-ing for her class (online),” she said. “I knew that she did great but the show ring is unpredictable. When they announced that she won I got so excited that I think I woke everyone up! It was great, especially since it was our first overseas major show.” TF Exotikah was under the preparation and handling of Ted Carson: “My father and I are so grateful to him for doing a great job and taking such good care of her.”

In its event recap, The Pyramid Society had been unabashed in its praise of the four year-old’s solid gold style: “This year, the ‘Queens of the Nile’ were placed in the spotlight. Three beauti-ful ladies exemplified the theme but TF Exotikah, newly owned by Mr. Nabeel Ali Bin Ali and Dana Al Meslemani, was ultimate-ly crowned Gold Champion Mare and awarded The Egyptian Event’s prestigious Highest Honors for top-scoring Straight Egyptian mare.”

For Al Thumama Stud, such recognition is a tantalizing glimpse of the future. That perhaps one day TF Exotikah will be remem-bered, as The Pyramid Society described, as a “Heritage Mare”, a matriarch of dynasties from which current generations de-scend.”

Allison Mehta-Westley and Curt Westley of Talaria Farms, who own TF Exotikah’s sire, Botswana (Thee Desperado x The Minu-et) also had every reason to brag. For the seventh consecutive

year, Botswana was named Egyptian Event Leading Straight Egyptian Halter and Performance Sire in the U.S.

“Nobody could ask for more of their stallion than what Bo-tswana has delivered to us time and time again,” his owners told reporters. “He consistently passes on his extreme type and excellent temperament to offspring who are successful in show rings around the world. Additionally, his daughters are proving to be incredible producers.”

To “baby” TF Exotikah and Thamer al Khaled’s future little champion, Dana and her father decided after the Egyptian Event to export the mare to Belgium, where she is spending motherhood luxuriating at what Dana happily describes as “Jo-hanna Ullström’s beautiful farm.”

Ullström’s Arctic Tern Training Center is an Arabian horse breeding and training facility south of Sint-Truiden. Among its unbeaten champions are the only two fillies to ever win the Arabian Triple Crown (All Nations Cup, European Champion-ship, World Championship), Essteema and Pianissima. If any-one knows how to bring out the ‘girl power’ in an Arabian, it’s Ullström.

The stallion TF Exotikah is bred to, Thamer al Khaled, is a Straight Egyptian product of that bastion of equine athleticism – Germany -- where breeding inspection titles like ‘Elite’ are worth their weight in medal Gold.

Seraphina SMFSimeon Shai+ x Shaboura

2005 Grey Mare


Simeon SadranAsfour x Simeon Simone2001 Chestnut Stallion

Standing at Al Thumama Stud

Sarab Al ThumamaBesson Carol x GC Pashmina by Marwan Al Shaqab

2011 Chestnut Colt

Desert Mirage - August 2013

Mishaali RCAMishaal HP x Maali RCA

2005 Grey StallionStanding at Al Thumama Stud

Kahraman Al ThumamaMishaali RCA x Kharmara

2012 Grey Colt



2009 Grey Mare

Sidra Al ThumamaShagran Al Nasser x Mouhannas SA

2012 Grey Filly

Dreima Al ThumamaMishaali RCA x Mariisiy Lailah

2012 Chestnut Filly

Lamis Al ThumamaLaheeb x Lamis AA

2012 Grey Filly

[email protected]


His sire, El Thay Khemal Pash (double Ansata Halim Shah), was bred by Cornelia Tauschke, whose El Thayeba Stud in north-ern Germany is regarded as one of the most successful Straight Egyptian breeding programs in Europe. Also in his pedigree are two El Thayeba foundation mares awarded “Elite” status by the German Arabian Horse Society: El Thay Maheera (Nizam x Mona II) and Kamla II (Ansata Halim Shah x Mona III).

Through his Nazeer-bred dam, RN Al Shahba, Thamer comple-ments TF Exotikah’s Botswana breeding, by a line to Babson breeding through Mohafez. “Along with having great pigment, Botswana offers athleticism and a great pedigree outcross,” Dana says. “So I can’t wait for future foals out of Exotikah, in-shallah.”

“Hopefully, we get a beautiful healthy little filly out of her next spring. Or a colt... Don’t think I’d really mind one from this combination!”

The Next Stride

Coming off their ‘golden’ appearance at the U.S. Egyptian Event, what’s next for Al Thumama Stud? Of course, patiently waiting for 2014’s foals to arrive. But there’s also a stack of schoolbooks and a seemingly never-ending schedule of horse shows that beckon this young Arabian horsewoman.

“Most of the horses are ridden on the farm, but my preferred discipline for showing Arabian horses is halter,” sighs Dana. “Attending horse shows is very difficult for me since I’m a stu-dent at Northwestern University of Qatar. I attend shows in Qatar and watch as many live feeds as I can.”

“Once I graduate I should have time to attend more shows. I would love to make the World Championships in Paris... the U.S. and European Egyptian Events... Scottsdale... Dubai...”

While Al Thumama is a private ‘family farm,’ its stallions are standing to the public and should you find some extra time on your hands while in Qatar, Dana is happy to assure that ‘visi-tors are welcome’. We simply encourage and appreciate if ap-pointments to visit be made in advance.”

She promises that virtual visits to tour the farm and its sales barns will be coming soon, via a new website and official Face-book page: “I think my studies have really helped me with how to reach out to people, especially now that we’re thinking about our website. I know how I want to present the stud and the horses as we start to really go on the international scene.” In the meantime, the horses of Al Thumama Stud, like the Ara-bians of Dana’s childhood, remain as enchanting as ever and imbued with that “something extra.”

To learn more about Al Thumama Stud, please email [email protected].

Equestrienne + Fashion = Equinista, L.A. Pomeroy, is an award-winning writer (2011, 2010 AHP Best Freelance Equestrian Journalist Print/Online, 2012 AHP Best Service to the Reader finalist, 2008 AHP Best Feature finalist) digital correspondent and contributing fashion columnist specializing in the timeless allure of the equestrian lifestyle at www.lapomeroy.com.

Kharmarah Rothlynne Blackhawk x Kharijah

Pictured with Kahraman Al Thumama

Mishaali RCA x Kharmara2012 Grey Colt


ManhattaanMarwan Al Shaqab x Maria El Besson

2009 Bay Stallion


Sidra Al ThumamaShagran Al Nasser x Mouhannas SA

2012 Grey Filly

Maarakesh KAMaariq KA x Simpli Iresistibl

2009 Chestnut Mare


Innovation, Preservation and Arabian HorsesContinue a Legacy Hand-in-Hand with Entertainment

and yes... he really rode Trigger! KISSIMMEE, FL——You could say Mark Miller’s taken up his own kind of Roman riding. Galloping with one foot atop his Orlando-based equine entertainment dinner attraction Arabian Nights, the other is firmly planted on Al-Marah LLC, which continues the world-famous Al-Marah Arabian horse farm in Tucson, established by his mother the late Bazy Tankersley.

“I literally grew up in the Arabian Horse industry,” says Miller, a Chica-go native, who was born one month after Al-Marah’s foundation stallion Indraff (Raffles’ son) arrived at his mother’s. Miller also grew up sur-rounded by horse world and entertainment luminaries at large, who often laid over at Al-Marah while touring, during the quarter century when the farm was located near Washington, DC. And, yes, Miller really did ride Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger!

“Bazy was always full of innovative ways to bring Arabian Horses not only into the mainstream of the horse industry, but also into the main-stream of American life. And, she remained to the end, a person who never bred a horse to please anyone, but Bazy,” reflects Miller, who’s devoted his own life to preserving equestrian arts and sharing horses with millions of visitors since opening Arabian Nights (www.arabian-nights.com) for business on leap day, February 29, 1988. “When I built Arabian Nights 25 years ago, I wanted to make a showplace for the herd of Arabian Horses that has been part of my family for 70 years,” notes Miller, who had the foresight to choose an Orlando location just minutes from Disney World when it was still in its infancy.

“It was once written that Mother’s eye was always on tomorrow,” adds Miller, who shares the talent and trait. He’s in the final phase of de-veloping a new production for launch at Arabian Nights this summer (while the current show continues without interruption), on top of keep-ing the Al-Marah flame burning bright. Miller remarks, “My mother dedicated the majority of her life to preserving and improving one band of horses. 2014 will be the 200th year they have been a herd and I am the 6th person in only the 3rd family to have the honor of keeping them together.” Miller, who owns Al-Marah LLC, explains, “I have been told they are the oldest, privately-owned, continuously bred band of horses in the world.”

Like their Arabian ancestors, travel lies in the future. “Over the next two years, the Al-Marah herd will once again relive its nomadic roots and migrate from Tucson, Arizona, to Kissimmee, Florida,” says Miller, who lives near Orlando. (Meanwhile, breeding operations are continuing and competition horses are making their rounds on the show circuit.) “Jerry Hamilton, my mother’s longest tenured employee ever (now 32 years and counting) will help me keep Bazy’s vision alive and create horses she would be proud to call Al-Marah Arabians.”

The largest family-owned and operated entertainment business in Central Florida, Arabian Nights features a cast of 50 horses and 20 human performers in a 90-minute dinner show performed without in-termission, 365 days a year. Founded by Mark Miller in 1988, Arabian

Nights is located in Kissimmee (Orlando), Florida, just moments from Disney World. Devoted to preserving equestrian arts, Arabian Nights is a “sister company” to Al-Marah LLC.

Established by the late Bazy Tankersley, Al-Marah Arabians celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2012. Carl Raswan (author of the book Drink-ers of the Wind) named her Tucson, Arizona farm Al-Marah (Arabic for “The Oasis”). Known for producing national champions in all di-visions to Tevis Cup contenders, Al-Marah continues Bazy’s mission to produce the best Arabians possible. Classic beauty, amenable disposi-tions and athletic ability, are stated priorities for Al-Marah Arabians.

For Arabian Nights tickets and information, visit www.arabian-nights.com. Stay tuned to www.al-marah.com for up-coming news about Al-Marah and its legendary herd.


Part 1: How We Train Our Parade Horses from Foals to Yearlings

About the author: Nancy Harm grew up on a Brown Swiss dairy farm with draft horses and a Welsh pony that was ridden western and also pulled a sleigh and buggy. She has a B.S. degree in Education from the University of New Hampshire, M.S. in Educational Psychology of Child Development from the University of Michigan, and an ED.S. Degree in Educational Psychology of Early Childhood from the University of Mich-igan. Recently retired from teaching Psychology at Schoolcraft College, Harm has applied her educational background to the way she raises and trains her Arabian horses.

Early childhood programs such as Head Start and Sesame Street developed out of psychological research done on enriched environments and early stimulations in young rat pups. Rats raised in the enriched and changing environments with stimulating activities developed larger, heavier brains, more brain neurons, more dendrite connections between brain neurons and were faster, more efficient learners. They were also better at solving problems (such as mazes) than were the rats that were well fed but raised in standard rat cages lacking the interesting extra stimulation.

Based on that research, Harm’s horses have been raised in an enriched en-vironment and presented with interesting positive tasks and experiences from their earliest days. Harmony Acres’ Arabian horses have been ridden in more than 500 of the Midwest’s largest parades for the past twenty one years, encountering scores of TV cameras, flags, bands, bag pipes, sirens, muskets shooting off behind them, floats with bubble trails, elephants, circus animals, huge balloons, lighted floats and costumes. Since the farm has young girls from six to high school age helping her train and ride in parades, she feels the program is very successful for producing safer more confident mounts. Harmony Acres Arabian Horses have also served as Therapy Riding Programs competition mounts, been trained for search and rescue, and love to go trail riding.

In addition, her mount Tarifa has learned an extraordinary number of 60 tricks. Harm believes that her applied methods have resulted in faster, more efficient learning with her horses.

In 2010 Harmony Acres adopted five horses needing a permanent home. Among them were a Paint mare with a badly healed broken leg in foal to an Egyptian Arabian stallion and three rescue Arabians including a three year old mare, a newborn filly and her dam, age ten. Our usual methods of leading parade dams over obstacles to teach their following foals did not work with these horses that did not grow up in our environment. I felt the rescue horses had all been stressed too much in their recent life to add more from my training while they were still getting acclimated to a new home and nursing foals. Therefore, for the first month here, all the adopted horses were simply fed, groomed, petted, talked to and the young foals received imprint handling and basic leading. The adopted Arabians are highly bred individuals that have close relatives with national and top ten champion titles in dressage, stallion halter, and western pleasure.

Part 1: Goals for training foals and weanlings:

Accept a halter.

Walk, back, and whoa with halter and lead line and walk around and

over obstacles.

Walk, back and whoa at liberty and walk around and over obstacles. Turn on the forehand on lead line.

Turn on haunches on lead line.

Vertical Flexion (raises and lower head on cue).

Lateral flexion (touch nose to each side on cue). Desensitize to horseman stick and string.

Tie (with Aussie Tie Ring).

Step up onto large equipment tire filled with sand, turn in a circle, back off, and step down.

Walk over wooden bridge, different colored tarps, foam cushions, hose cut in various lengths, thin tires, poles, and water in different locations.

Walk through or under flags, tarps, wind socks, foam noodles, auto-matic bubble output.

Touch nose to plastic balls, tarps, inflatable balloons and holiday plastic statues.

Accept putting on and wearing a blanket.

Body clipping.

Picking up feet and trimming.

Accepting worming medications and shots without a fuss.

Desensitizing to a cinch and rider (with a bareback pad and inflatable 3 foot tall bunny rabbit rider attached with Velcro to providing flapping bulk with very little weight).

Learn trick to smile.

Learn trick to play a keyboard.

By the time the foals were less than two months old, they were removed from their dams’ paddock to the adjacent arena for grain feeding twice a day. This was necessary because the creep feeder dividers we had used in the past were not narrow enough to keep out the rescue adult Arabians. The foals adjusted quickly to this procedure and were able to gaze at my parade training obstacle course placed down the center of the arena. Gradually, items such as tall orange cones were placed beside their feed-ing tubs and held items such as training sticks displaying plastic bags, yellow caution tape, pom poms, wind socks, and other items that blew in the breeze. The procedure of pairing a pleasant experience (such as eating grain) with something unusual or scary is called Counter Conditioning and is used to help the learner (person or horse) to become acclimated and comfortable to strange or scary experiences and to view them posi-tively due to the pairing. Later, an automatic bubble machine and playing


the Spookless Sound Conditioning CDs were added to the Counter Con-ditioning Experience. The feeding tubs were then moved closer to the first obstacle they would be asked to walk on….a black plastic stall mat with a large clown face painted on it. Later the feed tubs were placed on the mat edge and then moved gradually towards the center. Gradually the foals began to eat from their feed tubs placed on the mat, bridge, and other walk on obstacles.

Also, during this period the foals and rescue horses were able to ob-serve (Observational Learning) our troop of Parade Veteran horses who walked over and through the obstacle course with no apprehension. In fact, for the benefit of the new spectator horses, my parade horses were actually clicked and given a treat (which they no longer needed) for the benefit of introducing the clicker to the new horse observers/learn-ers. The new horses could see relaxed parade horses walking over and through scary objects and not only living through the experience, but actually enjoying it and experience the consequence of getting a treat and praise.

Clicker Training is the Psychological Operant Conditioning procedure where each behavior is broken down into small steps or bits of behavior and then the correct behavior or close approximation is reinforced (re-warded) by a sound such as a clicker (which makes a click sound), whis-tle, or even snap of the fingers. The sound is called a bridging signal and lets the learner know in a fraction of a second that they made the correct response since it is quickly followed by reinforcement. The learner soon makes the connection that the sound signals that reinforcement has been earned and makes the behavior just preceding it more likely to be re-peated. Clickers can be purchased at most pet stores for a couple dollars, as they are a favorite training device for many dog trainers.

Primary reinforcements (based on biological needs) for my horses are grain pellets, tiny slices of carrot about the size of a dime, small bits of apple, half a grape, small cubes of watermelon, and small pieces of horse treats held in a fanny pack. In the beginning, reinforcement should be given each time a behavior has been attempted or completed which is called fixed ratio reinforcement. Later after the behavior is well learned, reinforcement is not given every time, but after various completions of a desired behavior, This is called variable reinforcement and results in behavior that is longer lasting, as the learner never knows when the behavior is going to be reinforced. This is the method I used to train my trick horse Tarifa to do about 60 tricks such as playing basketball, bowling, roping a plastic calf head, ringing a bell, answering a phone, painting pictures, and playing a piano keyboard…..just to name a few. These and other tricks Tarifa can do are on my website: www.harmonyacresparadehorses.com.

Some trainers and others I know are concerned that hand feeding horses treats for any reason may encourage nipping or mugging behavior. It could, if one gives reinforcement for that behavior. If a horse starts act-ing too pushy around treats, step back and give them a cue for stopping a behavior. I use the term “UT, UT” sternly for any behavior I do not approve of. I also keep my source of treats in a fanny pack on the side of my hip away from the horse. You should never start your training with a shirt pocket full of carrots if you have a pushy horse. They just may grab a mouthful and get you in the process. You can also shape the behavior of the horse turning its head or nose slightly away from you before the treat is given. My horses are trained to be gentle in tak-ing their treats which are often administered by children, so I have not needed to shape the “nose away” position.

Horses prefer different treats just as people differ in taste preferences. Find out what your horse likes best and add a few others for variety. Most horses like grain and their normal feeding can be used in their training session. I would not give sugar cubes or peppermint hard can-dy as reinforcement treats, as they may encourage pushy behavior more than natural treats like carrots and apples. At the same time the primary reinforcement (treat) is given, verbal

praise which is called secondary reinforcement is also given. Over time, the secondary reinforcement gains in power and should continue after the task is well learned and there is no longer a need for treats. Second-ary reinforcement or reprimand, is more powerful when it comes from a source the horse/learner respects such as their leader/trainer. Praise from the horse’s respected leader is more important to them than that which comes from a stranger on the sidelines.

During the period of Counter Conditioning while feeding grain, the foals were exposed at liberty to my parade obstacle course set up, con-sisting of a plastic stall mat painted with a big clown face similar to the one that bothers horses in America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit, a wooden bridge, blue, orange, and yellow plastic tarps to walk over, pieces of rubber hose, Styrofoam colored noodles hanging from a PVC pipe structure, a squishy foam sofa cushion, metallic shiny pom poms stuck in small rubber cones and the large equipment tire filled with sand. Later additional items were added such as revolving ball room mirror balls, convex security mirrors, revolving lights, umbrel-las, flags, windsocks, balls with a flopping raccoon tail moving around a child’s sliding saucer, and numerous inflatable pool toys and plastic holiday decorations which simulate the BIG parade balloons and shapes of floats they will encounter later. We even set up lighted decorations outside the arena and paddocks to habituate the horses to the sights and shapes that will be encountered in the lighted parades we ride in during the Christmas season. Our training props come from clearance sales, donated outgrown toys, and yard sales…. so it is not necessary to spend a fortune on setting up such a training environment. We change these items regularly and move them in different locations. Safety and our imaginations are the only limitations.

The next step was to go through the natural horsemanship tasks to de-sensitizing to the horseman stick and string (equipment similar to a whip), vertical and lateral flexion, turning on the forehand and haunch-es, picking up and cleaning out their hooves. At our farm, we are all familiar with natural horsemen trainers such as Frank Bell, Pat Parelli, and Clinton Anderson and apply techniques from them all. I will not go into details of these techniques which are available elsewhere.

Anyone working with horses should remember there is always some danger involved in any horse training for both your horse and you. We all know that horses can cause serious injuries. Proper preparation and thinking through any activity can prevent problems that can take a long time to overcome. Any item that our horses pick up in their teeth is first wrapped in electrical tape or duct tape. Hula hoops are unfastened so that they will fall apart if needed. Velcro that is easily removed is a MUST for attaching props. We have not experienced a wreck in training babies and other horses by keeping this in mind. Picture in your mind the results you are looking for and keep a positive attitude. The term Self Fulfilling Prophecy is used in psychology to describe the phenom-enon that we experience most often what our mind concentrates on, for better or worse! Use common sense and do not attempt any suggestions outside your experience and comfort level. While the examples in this article are young foals and horses, we have used the same techniques successfully with the adult horse.

Information in this article is intended to demonstrate training methods and helpful tips that work for us. You must be responsible for using it safely. If you are not comfortable with your abilities or experience, seek advice or assistance from a professional horse trainer. The last piece of advice I have is to do your preparation homework and have fun!

Please visit our website at: www.harmonyacresparadehorses.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/HarmonyAcresArabianParadeHorsesNancy Harm can also be reached at [email protected] and by phone at 248.437.5672.

The next installment is individual one on one weanling training for clip-ping, worming, giving shots, trimming feet, exposure to a cinch and pa-rade obstacles.


New York City style and design guru, horse rescuer and Swedish reality TV star Guy Clark takes life by the reins. And by the lead rope. On weekends, he trades midtown Manhattan and a pellmell schedule juggling Guy Clark Interiors, Mr. Guy Bow Ties and guest appearances on NBC’s Today (among others), for Rose Cottage, an 1847 stone house and Hudson Valley farm (formerly owned by the late makeup art-ist, Kevyn Aucoin) he shares with fashion designer Harrison Morgan and horses saved from slaughter by Equine Rescue Resource, Inc. Among ERR rescues and retirees lucky enough to get second chances, have been a half-dozen Arabian horses: Cass Amir, Ayman, Julz, Justice, Jasmine, and Layla. The ‘House Whisperer’ as the intererior designer has been called, says simply: He gets happy when he sees horses get better. And since it never hurts to sport a dapper look on the road to improvement, let’s get HIS smart take on looking good while doing good.

HERS: “How does a midtown Manhattan boy get bit-ten by the horse bug?”HIS:“I never got it big but my sisters had it. Horses were part of our summers and vacations.”

HERS: “It’s a big step from seasonal riding to retiring rescue horses, isn’t it?”HIS: “Four years ago there was an article in the Or-ange County Record about a woman rescuing 170 horses, but where would they go? I called and said we had 60 acres, water and fences. Bring some here. Now we buy horses directly from the slaughterhouse. People have even dropped them off in the middle of the night.”

HERS: “So they go from Rose Cottage to new forever homes?” HIS: “Mostly. One gelding was adopted out twice but keeps coming back so I think he’s permanent! Nobody is ridden. They’re all retired, but I did teach one to play ball with me.”

HERS:: “Speaking of teaching, bow ties seem a su-premely tidy option for showing a horse in-hand or at inspection, compared to a tie flopping about. Do you find folks intimidated about trying to tie one? Do you have a go-to how-to?”HIS: “I have a how-to video. In Swedish.”

HERS: “Because...?”HIS: “Two years ago, I was one of 10 Americans in-vited to be part of Sweden’s first reality TV show, All For Sweden. It was trace-your-heritage meets face-cultural-challenges. Thank goodness I already liked fish and potatoes! Since finishing ‘first’ is seen in Swe-den as being too aggressive and a bad thing, when I came in second it made me a big star! My face was 20-feet tall on billboards and I was stopped on the street all the time, like a tiny Kardashian only better, everyone liked me.”

HERS: “And liked your bow ties...”HIS: “Yes! So I did a how-to video. It’s on YouTube. But there are many good how-to videos, all you have to do is Google ‘bow tie.’ It’s no harder than tying a shoelace. Satin, which I prefer, is hardest but today’s look isn’t about perfection. It’s okay to be a little askew. It should look tied by hand, not clipped on.” HERS:: “What do you suggest to give the look true equestrian style?”HIS: “That’s easy. If your show or racing barn has its own colors, have bow ties to match. It’s a simple, easy way to make a great first impression.”

HERS: “I agree, especially if your tie is equally well ‘groomed.’ Satin bow ties of 100% silk I would defi-nitely hand wash, and do the same for nylon or poly-ester, using warm water and a mild detergent. The trick to preserving satin, since it’s so delicate, is to not wring it dry. Put it in a dryer on the lowest, small-est setting or iron it dry using the appropriate setting. And don’t try to rub out a stain, you’ll only damage the fabric. Wash it by hand or take it to a professional cleaner. Besides, if the stain comes from a grateful rescue horse’s big wet kiss, isn’t it worth it?”HIS: “Every time.”

L.A. Pomeroy is a three-time (2012, 2011, 2010) AHP Editorial Awards winner and contributing equinista (fashionista + equestrienne) whose life-style advice appears on Horses in the Morning, and in Desert Mirage, Elite Equestrian,, FizzNiche.com and REDBOOK. Share stylish sugges-tions for future HIS guests to [email protected], www.lapomeroy.com.

Guy Clark best describes his personal style as “Traditional with a Twist,” interpreted through his interior design, www.DecoratorGuy.com, men’s fine accessories including bow ties, cummerbunds, ascots and pocket squares, www.MrGuyNYC.com, and commitment to horses, www.facebook.com/pages/Equine-Rescue-Resource-Inc.

L.A. Pomeroy Guy Clark


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Desert Mirage - August 2013