Argent Farms 2012

Volume 43, No. 4A $7.50

Claire Larson:

Businessman, Arabian Horseman, Grandfather

by Kara Larson

In the distant year of 1933, Claire Larson, my grandfather, was the fourth-born son in a family of eight children. He was born to Norwegian parents living modestly in Garretson, S.D., a small town on the rolling South Dakota prairie. Growing up in this inevitably trying environment, Claire had a beginning so unfamiliar to me that I was absolutely delighted at the opportunity to chronicle his story in the upcoming pages. A truly self-made man, Claire has been a great influence in my life. A fixture of my earliest and most recent horse memories, he has changed my life and the lives of so many others in the Arabian horse industry—and beyond.

My grandpa and I have always shared something very special. Our common love for the Arabian has brought us closer than anything else ever could—I have loved horses from the day I was born, but my grandfather is the reason that I love the Arabian! Nearly every conversation we have relates to his extensive breeding knowledge, his show string for the season, or his great interest in my riding endeavors. His support and passion for Arabians, and his reassuring presence in the stands at nearly every one of my horse shows, is something that is hard to put into words. He has been an incredible inspiration for me, both in and out of the show ring, and I hope that someday I am able to share the same experiences that he and I have shared together with my children and grandchildren. Words do not describe how fortunate I feel to have our bond—the same bond that I know he shares with many others.

As these great Arabian horse stories often do, my grandpa’s journey started with an unabridged passion for horses, and then, like a vine up a wall, his love spread and grew into something so extensive, so overcoming, that life as he knew it was changed forever.

The Early Years

After moving around a bit when Claire was a child, the Larson family settled in Pipestone, Minn., when he was 10 years old. The boy basically grew up in a barn, always willing to help his dad with the horses and other farm duties, and by the time he was 13 or 14, his love for horses had really taken off. In a couple of wearing summers at a local racetrack, he worked from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and then slept in a stall every night, earning a mere $1 a day wage. “I soon realized that wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done, but I just loved the horses,” he explains.

With his brother Vern, he joined the Air Force at 17 and spent the next few years in the Philippines, serving in the Korean War. Upon his return to the States, he was set up on a date with a spirited girl named Margaret, and he fell for her in a big way. As many in the Arabian community know, this girl would become his wife and the mother to their six boisterous boys.

Margaret Larson offers the story of their beginning as a couple. “It was on a blind date that Claire and I met. A friend of his and a friend of mine were going together and set us up, and we’ve been together ever since. He was really clean-cut and polite and quiet, and we immediately hit it off. I knew right away that he was it.”

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Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, Friendship without envy, Or beauty without vanity?

Here, where grace is served with muscle And strength by gentleness confined.

He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.

There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.

There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient. ~Ronald Duncan, “The Horse,� 1954

Volume 43, No. 4 | 53A

his beginning an Arabian business. “That’s really how I got started—through Chuck and Kitty,” he says. “They lived up in Tyler, Minn., and I got to know them in 1965.

A couple years later, I bought my first Arabian mare. I had a few Half-Arabians before that, but Chuck and Kitty had some really special stallions and mares.

Kara Larson (the author of this article) pictured with her grandparents, Claire and Margaret Larson.

As the proud parents of six rowdy, and today successful, boys, Claire and Margaret certainly had an interesting— and exhausting—situation on their hands. “I was a tomboy myself, so I really enjoyed my boys,” says Margaret. “Claire was gone a lot, trucking, when the boys were growing up, so I tried to spend a lot of time with them. If they were doing chores out in the barn, I was right there with them. In 1965, we moved out to the farm to keep those boys out of trouble because an older neighbor was complaining that they were taking crabapples off his tree. So, we decided to get the boys out of town. They had a lot of room to play out there and they always had each other, which makes a huge difference.”

The farm was in Pipestone, Minn., and one of the best options for not only keeping the boys busy but teaching them some life lessons by involving them with horses. “The first horse we brought home to ride was a Morgan mare with a big, broad back, so the boys wouldn’t get hurt,” says Margaret. “She could ride three at a time. We had a Shetland as well who was just a rotten little thing, biting the boys in the pants and always being naughty. So Claire traded him off and got a Half-Arabian.”

“When I bought my first Half-Arabian mare, she was a 2-year-old and her name was Lady, and we would also own her full sister, who was named Rusty,” Claire tells me. “Your dad used to ride Rusty a lot, and she bucked him off more times than I care to remember. She ended up living 34 years, and she was pretty enough to be a purebred. Such a nice mare to be around.”

Arabian Beginnings

Those Half-Arabians were Claire’s first ties with the breed.

He credits a couple named Chuck and Kitty Wagner for 54A | A r a bi a n Hor se T i mes

“She was a retired schoolteacher and had just about every Arabian horse magazine ever printed,” he remembers. “She was a real Arabian horse person. She’s the one who really taught me about everything I ever knew about pedigrees.

She knew every pedigree, and had all of the Arabian horse registries from the very first horse up until they quit doing it that way—it’s like an entire library of Arabian books.

She’d go to a horse show and sit there from the time it started until it was done that night, no matter what time it was, back when the stands used to be full. They had no kids, so Margaret and I took care of them to the end. They were very good friends of ours. They were life members of the Arabian horse, and, well, so am I.” Claire’s first purebred Arabian was a 6-year-old mare named Kalari, “a gorgeous dark bay” purchased in 1972 with a filly at side. Not long after, he and his two oldest boys, Gary and Greg, took a few horses to North Dakota for one of their first horse shows. “I took our blue International pickup with a topper on the back up to North Dakota, Valley City, I believe it was,” he says. “We all slept in the back of the pickup on a box spring mattress. I showed Kalari in the mare class with the filly at her side, and I ended up winning the mare class. And then I came back and won with the filly too. That was our first big win.”

He laughs. “I kept that mare and she raised me a few more foals, but she colicked and died in the pasture when she was very young.”

Since this humble beginning, Claire’s relationship with the Arabian horse has blossomed into something that he could never have anticipated. As he bought and sold fine Arabian horses year after year, his passion was stirred by their unmistakable beauty. “I’m always searching for the best horse I can find, and that’s what makes it exciting,” he says. “I truly enjoy buying and selling Arabian horses because I like the idea of selling a horse to someone who will enjoy the horse more than I do. Whoever I might sell the horse to, I just want to make sure that they will enjoy the horse more than I

do—and that’s not saying I don’t love the horse. I just like selling a beautiful animal to someone who truly appreciates the horse as it is.

“I’ve always looked at the Arabian horse like a work of art,” he continues. “It’s just like when somebody buys a picture worth $10 million because they think it’s the prettiest picture they’ve ever seen. Most people on the halter side want to buy an Arabian horse for the same reason—because they think it’s the prettiest horse they’ve ever seen. It has everything to do with how it shows and how beautiful it is. I think the best Arabian horses have quality and they all have reasons that they should win. I also believe that they can have a pretty head and a pretty neck, but if they don’t have a body, what do they have going for them, really?”

As I continue to speak with my grandpa about his extensive background in breeding and buying horses, he continues to stress that it really is much easier to buy a national champion than it is to breed one. So, because my grandpa still does quite a bit of breeding to this day, I had to ask the question, “Even though breeding isn’t as easy as simply buying a horse, you keep breeding—what’s your rationale there?”

He laughs before responding, “I just like to see where they go. You always think you can get one better than somebody else. It’s the fun of having them. I only have three babies right now; we’ve had tough luck this year, because I lost two. But I got them halter broke, and worm them and take care of them all the time. They’re really just fun to work with.”

And then my grandma, Margaret, chimes in, explaining just how much he loves his babies at the ranch. “He goes out with his gator and feeds the babies,” she says.

“Yesterday, we went out on the gator and those colts came a running towards us. And then he said—he made me want to cry—he said what a joy they are to have and raise. They know he feeds them every day and they love him too.”

Spreading the Love I know how much my grandpa has sparked my own interest in the Arabian horse, and that of a great number of people in my family and beyond. My cousin and Claire’s granddaughter, Angie Sellman, has also been greatly influenced by the man who introduced the Arabian horse to the Larson family. However, his influence on my mom’s appreciation of the Arabian horse

Claire Larson, Andy Sellman, Angela (Larson) Sellman, and Margaret Larson.

Volume 43, No. 4 | 55A

still surprises me, because it took a while for her to warm up to the idea (and the smell) of horses.

“When I’m sitting by him in the stands and we’re watching a class, whether it be performance or halter, he can tell me the sire of nearly every horse that comes into the ring,” says my mom, Terri. “I’ve never known anybody who can do that. He truly loves the Arabian horse, and it’s a genuine love. When he’s looking at a horse, it becomes apparent just how knowledgeable he is about conformation, breed standards and everything in between. It’s really fun to sit by him at a horse show.”

From the very beginning of Claire’s involvement with the Arabian horse, he has met people who became great friends and business partners. One of his oldest friends is none other than a fellow self-made man, Dick Ames. “I can’t remember the first time I met Claire,” Dick says. “I can only assume that our first meeting was related to an Arabian horse event, but I do remember that our conversation led to each of our chosen professions and how we got started. He was in the trucking business and I was in the construction business, and of course, if you’re in the trucking business, you have trucks, and in the construction business, trucks are a big part of your fleet of equipment.”

Longtime friends Dick Ames and Claire Larson.

As Dick continues with his connection to my grandpa, he shares a story I have heard about many a time. “We got started in business right around the same time,” he says. “And in South St. Paul, Minn., on Concord St., there was a guy by the name of Irv Lowment who sold used trucks. He’s the guy that I bought my very first white Mack® truck tractor—not very fancy, but it did the job. Claire informed me that his dealings with Irv were also very similar.”

Kara, rides and shows at our farm. Anyway, our relationship has been going on over some time, and I hope it continues. We aren’t as young as we used to be, but we pretend that we are. Simply put, our paths still cross quite often, and I look forward to seeing Claire down the road in the near future at lots of horse shows coming up. Claire and Margaret Larson are just class act people with a great family.”

As Dick and Claire’s friendship branched further beyond the Arabian horse business, the two found more and more connections. “Besides both having family businesses, our friendship has spread much further than the Arabian horse,” Dick says. “Andy Sellman met Claire and Margaret when Andy was working for me at Cedar Ridge. Claire now has many horses with Andy at his own farm, and of course, Claire and Margaret’s granddaughter, Angie, is now married to Andy. Another granddaughter,

Another longtime friend who knows my grandpa exceptionally well is Greg Gallún. “I have a lot of memories of Claire from many, many years of friendship, but I guess the thing that sticks out more about Claire than anything is that he and Margaret have been so good to so many people. They’re always friendly, always have a smile on their faces—well, almost always for Claire,” Greg jokes. “There’s a short list of people that are the real genuine ones, and I’d have to put Claire

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right at the top of that list. He’s a good man and a good person. I respect him more as a gentleman and a human than I do in any other capacity. I mean, his roles as a horseman and a horse breeder are just secondary things, because he’s a true gentleman. You want to see him succeed, you want to see his farm succeed, because of what a genuine person he is.”

When I asked Greg how long he’s known Claire, he lets out a big sigh. “Oh, that is tough,” he says. “You know, I’d have to think about that because I feel like I’ve known him forever. He’s one of those people that you feel like you’ve known since you were able to know who someone was. It had to be sometime in the 1980s, Scottsdale I would guess.”

Although Greg and Claire haven’t engaged in many horse deals, Greg remembers one in particular. “He bought Pershahn El Jamaal sight-unseen when [Pershahn] was a yearling down in Brazil. I remember when they brought him out and the colt walked around the corner, I said, ‘Well, he’s sold.’ Then they asked who was buying him and I said, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll find somebody when I get home.’ I called Claire, and he said, ‘If you like him, let’s do it.’ It was right up his alley, and I think he was excited about having this colt.

“It was just a few months after Pershahn got here that Mr. [Harold] Green saw him and fell in love with him,” Greg continues. “And then Claire, being such a smart man, gave me the greatest line I’ve ever heard, and I’ve used it a million times since: ‘You don’t go broke making a profit.’ The Greens offered him more than he had paid, and it was a good business transaction. He’s a smart guy. A lot of people wouldn’t have done that; they would have let their pride get in the way. But those words are the truest words I’ve ever heard. He knew it was a good deal and the Greens were satisfied with it, and it really worked out for them too. So

even though it was a short project with Claire, that was really a fun one. I’ve had so few business dealings with him, not because I haven’t wanted to, but it’s been more of a personal relationship than a professional one. We’ve truly enjoyed knowing Claire and Margaret over the years. The Arabian industry needs people like Claire Larson.”

Family friend, horse trainer, and now husband of granddaughter Angie, Andy Sellman has offered a special talent with the horses and a bond that has brought Claire and Margaret so much joy. He admires the vision and hard work that enabled Claire to go from driving trucks to owning world class Arabians. “It’s through hard work and knowledge and perseverance that he made it all happen,” Andy says. “As a person, I love him. He’s made an amazing family and I feel like he’s responsible for helping to shape so many people into who they are today.

He’s greatly responsible for me being where I am today.

I didn’t know if I was ready to start my own farm, and I talked to him about it. He told me that I was, and he wouldn’t say that if he didn’t think that was the case.

He gave me the encouragement to get into the business for myself, and I seek his counsel all the time on things.

He’s made such an impact on so many people’s lives—his family, the people who work for him. Everyone has a great amount of respect for the man he is.”

Andy Sellman with U.S. National Champion RD Fabreanna.

Volume 43, No. 4 | 57A

Mare of the Moment: Valori TR F As the trainer of 4-year-old mare Valori TRF, Andy Sellman not only knows the mare on a deep level, but the man behind the mare as well. “Claire has a 40-plus year history with Arabian horses,” Andy says. “He got into it because he loves them, and here he is with likely one of the best Arabian mares that there’s ever been,

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and she’s going to compete in Tulsa. There was a time at which it was easier to do it, a time when people were more comfortable spending discretionary money, but he’s stuck with it through thick and thin. Claire and Margaret are wonderful people who have been supporting Arabian horses for a long, long time, and they have a great crack at winning national champion mare, and I want them to enjoy that.”

Claire knows what Valori TRF has been able to prove in the show ring. Through September 2012, she has been named Scottsdale Junior Champion Filly, Region 13 Champion Yearling Filly, Region 18 Champion Mare, and U.S. National Champion Futurity Filly. Now, he looks forward to her future potential. “She’s a mare that anyone really would love the chance to own,” he says.

“She truly is a superstar; she’s just kind of the perfect Arabian horse. She’s pretty in the head, she’s got a nice neck, she’s got such a topline (it’s just a tabletop), she looks like what an Arabian horse is supposed to look like, and she’s got a wonderful pedigree. She’s not only an American horse, but also she’s got enough quality to be a European horse as well. She just seems to get better every year, which is hard to come by. Some horses have the tendency to get coarse or a little round here or there, but she just seems to be one of those horses that improves with age.”

Thinking back to his first encounter with Valori TRF, Claire remembers having a gut feeling about how special this filly could be. “The first time I saw her was at Scottsdale, and she had already been sold to Stuart

Larsen by my friend, Greg Jacobs,” he says. “She was there to be shown as a yearling filly and he was actually looking to sell her, so I bought her, and she won the Scottsdale show as a yearling. Then she went back to Andy’s and we didn’t show her much after that, because we were kind of saving her for the futurities. She went on to win the futurities—actually, every time we’ve shown her, she’s been champion.”

Through the years, Claire has owned quite a few Arabian horses who have left their mark on the industry, but with Valori, he senses a real air of greatness in her future. “I remember walking into Andy’s barn two or three years ago and seeing RD Fabreanna, and thinking that she was truly the best mare I ever owned,” he says. “But then Valori came along, and now I think it’s really too close to tell. Between Fabreanna, who was also champion as a yearling, and Valori, I don’t know which one would beat the other. That’s just the kind of quality Valori is.

But even with how good a mare Fabreanna was, she was beatable in the halter ring. And with Valori, I’m going to the Nationals with the idea that she is still not going to be beat.” n

Volume 43, No. 4 | 59A

Andy & Angie Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Marwan Al Shaqab x HC Echos Splendor U.S. National Futurity Fillies with Andrew Sellman 2012 Canadian National Reserve Champion Futurity Filly Owned by Tangle Ridge Farm

Besson Carol x Embra U.S. National 2-Year-Old Fillies with Andrew Sellman 2012 Arabian Celebration Champion 2012 Region 10 Champion Owned by Hennessey Arabian, LLC

HDT Prince Of Marwan x Imann

U.S. National 3-Year-Old Mares with Andrew Sellman Multi-National Champion, Uruguay Owned by Carlos & Christiane Roizner

Pryme Thyme x Holly Onfire JW U.S. National Stallions 8 & Over with Andrew Sellman U.S. National Champion Scottsdale Supreme Champion Owned by Claire & Margaret Larson

DA Valentino x Satin Chall LL U.S. National 4&5-Year-Old Mares with Andrew Sellman 2x U.S. National Champion Scottsdale Junior Champion Owned by Claire & Margaret Larson

Marwan Al Shaqab x Z U.S. National Mares 8 & with Andrew S

2012 Canadian National Ch 2012 Region 10 Ch

Owned by Charles S Jo Rae Rich

Pryme Thyme x WCA Perfectiming U.S. National 3-Year-Old Fillies U.S. National Mares AAOTH with Grant Krohn 2012 Canadian Reserve National Champion Mare AAOTH 2012 Region 9 Champion Owned by Oak Haven Arabians

Marwan Al Shaqab x Ames Mirage U.S. National Futurity Colts with Andrew Sellman 2012 Canadian National Champion Futurity Colt 2012 Scottsdale Champion 3-Year-Old Owned & bred by Cedar Ridge Farm

Zagrobla & Over Sellman

hampion hampion

Steger & hardson Vegas DPA x Raherra U.S. National Yearling Colts with Andrew Sellman

2012 Canadian National Champion Yearling Colt Owned by Carlos & Christiane Roizner

Contact Andy Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Baske Afire x Haute Chocolate U.S. National Half-Arabian 2-Year-Old Geldings with Andrew Sellman Owned by Strawberry Banks Farm

DA Valentino x Tequila Rose MTC U.S. National H/A 2-Year-Old Fillies with Andrew Sellman & Half-Arabian Mares AOTH with Jay Krusentjerna 2012 Region 10 Champion 2012 Iowa Gold Star Champion Owned by Barb Sink-Krusentjerna DA Valentino x Tequila Rose MTC U.S. National Half-Arabian Yearling Fillies with Andrew Sellman 2012 Region 10 Champion 2012 Iowa Gold Star Champion Auction Filly Owned by Barb Sink-Krusentjerna

Andy & Angie Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Andy & Angie Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Marwan Al Shaqab x Zagrobla

2012 Canadian National Champion Mare Owned by Charles Steger & Jo Rae Richardson

Magnum Psyche x Halana

2012 Canadian National Champion Stallion

Owned by Carlos & Christiane Roizner

Marwan Al Shaqab x HC Echos Splendor 2012 Canadian Reserve National Champion Futurity Filly Owned by Tangle Ridge Farm

Kordelas x Im Fabulous SF 2012 Canadian National Top Ten Yearling Fil Owned by Shamrock Farms

Pryme Thyme x WCA Perfectiming 2012 Canadian Reserve National Champion Mare AAOTH Owned by Oak Haven Arabians

lly

Vegas DPA x Raherra

2012 Canadian National Champion Yearling Colt Owned by Carlos & Christiane Roizner

Marwan Al Shaqab x Ames Mirage 2012 Canadian National Champion Futurity Colt 2012 Scottsdale Champion 3-Year-Old Owned & bred by Cedar Ridge Farm

Marwan Al Magnifficoo x XC Xceptshahnal 2012 Canadian Reserve National Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Owned by Claire Larson and Greg Jacobs

Couturier x Armana KA 2012 Canadian National Top Ten Yearling Filly Owned by Karija Arabians, Michael & Valerie Resch

visel

Andy, Angie, Grayson & Saige Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Andy & Angie Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

National Champion

Pryme Thyme x Holly Onfire JW Returning to Center Ring at the U.S. National Championships in stallion halter with Andrew Sellman Owned by Claire & Margaret Larson

Andy & Angie Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

*Marwan Al Shaqab x HB Bessolea 2012 Scottsdale Reserve Champion Stallion 2012 Scottsdale Champion 4-Year-Old Stallion 2009 Scottsdale Unanimous Jr. Champion Colt Owned by The Baahir Group

U.S. National Futurity Colts with Andrew Sellman Marwan Al Shaqab Ă— Ames Mirage, by Brass 2012 Canadian National Champion Futurity Colt 2012 Scottsdale Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Owned & bred by Cedar Ridge Farm

Alfabia Damascus Ă— JA Ultima 2012 Scottsdale Champion 4&5-Year-Old Stallion 2012 Scottsdale International Reserve Champion Stallion Owned by David Zouch Ross

Contact Andy Sellman 715.425.9001 www.argentfarms.com

Vegas DPA x Raherra

U.S. National Yearling Colts with Andrew Sellman 2012 Canadian National Chapion Yearling Colt Scottsdale Signature Champion Auction Colt Owned by Carlos & Christiane Roizner

Marwan Al Magnifficoo x WC Xceptshahnal Owned by Robert, Anna & Rosanne Wiechmann

Legacy Of Fame x SC Psavannah Australian Triple Champion Stallion Sire of all 3 Australia National Champion Yearlings Owned by Mulawa Stud Greg, Julie & Jane Farrell

Her 2012 colt by *JA Urbino

Ryad El Jamaal x Van Strike Owned by Anna, Robert & Rosanne Wiechmann

Her 2012 colt by *JA Urbino

Marwan Al Shaqab x Crysstal Echo U.S. National Reserve Champion Futurity Filly Owned by David Zouch Ross