Jack D. allen ( June 14, 1937-December 4, 2012)
Jack D. Allen, longtime Arabian horse owner and breeder, died in Phoenix, Ariz., on December 4, 2012. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Pat, and his three children—his daughter, Debbie, and sons Jack Jr. and Jay, who trains Arabian horses and is president of the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona. Jack Allen was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Arabian Horse Breeders Association and served as one of its earliest presidents, instrumental in the development of the club’s Medallion Stallion program, which is the inspiration for most of the industry’s successful futurities today. Born on June 14, 1937, in Barnesville, Minn., Jack grew up with horses on his family’s farm before moving to the Twin Cities area. His stories of breaking and training horses interested his sons, and when his youngest was in the eighth grade, the family moved to Forest Lake, Minn., where they acquired two Half-Arabians. “We decided that, of course, we needed more horses,” Jay Allen recalls, “so we decided to buy a couple of purebred Arabians.” It was not long before Jack realized that they needed to upgrade their growing herd. In 1982, on a business trip to California, he purchased the Khemosabi son, Khoumsalla. Khoumsalla had enjoyed a rewarding show career in California with trainer Ray Fisher, and would add more awards in the Midwest with Jerry McRae, of O’Mac Stables, and Jay Allen. The stallion’s successful career at stud was highlighted when two of his get topped classes at the Minnesota Fall Festival in 1985—Khall To Glory won both the auction and the Medallion Stallion Championships, showing with Jack Allen, and Khalua Rose won the Filly Championship. Khoumsalla died just prior to his induction into the MAHBA Hall of Fame in 2006. For most of his career, Jack worked in transportation, managing bus companies, but his passion became Arabian horses. While he knew about horse care and management, the Arabian breed was new to him, and over the years, he and his sons learned the business together. Jay remembers the first time they went to Scottsdale. “That was our first big eye opener that if we were going to do this, we needed better horses,” he says. “My dad would always tell people, ‘If you have any doubt that you’re a little barn blind, you just
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need to go to Scottsdale. That’ll fix that right up if you’ve got your eyes open.’” Fifteen years ago, when Jay and Diane Allen transferred their training operation to Phoenix, Ariz., Jack and Pat moved west too, and lived at Golden Ridge Farms. Until his health declined, Jack helped out at the facility. “He was just a very caring, loving person,” Jay says. “Everybody loved my dad; everybody always had something nice to say about him, and he always had something nice to say about everybody else. He didn’t blow smoke; he said it like it was (if you didn’t want to hear the truth, then you probably shouldn’t ask). I think that’s a great quality.” Jay Allen smiles when he remembers his father’s love for Arabian horses. “There is one story that a lot of people in Minnesota will remember,” he says. It concerned Khall To Glory’s wins in the 1985 Medallion Stallion classes. “It was the first time my dad had ever shown a horse, and he had a great colt. I can’t remember how much money he won that night, but it was a bunch, so that was a big deal. The funny thing that sticks out in everybody’s mind was, when he went to get the ribbon, he started to trot toward center ring and he raised his lead to switch it over to the other side—and the horse stopped dead in his tracks and my dad landed flat on the ground. In his tuxedo! He jumped up, just took off again and never missed a beat. He always talked about that. It was so much fun for him.” n