riding school. Lowe was a willing student; Grant, who eventually featured Lowe in one of his books, taught the young horseman dressage moves such as the piaffe and the spanish walk, as well as an array of tricks. Later in his career, just for fun, Lowe would teach nearly every horse in his barn to bow. That was in the late 1970s. At the close of the decade, he came back to michigan, where the family was building a barn; the plan was that he could train horses, while his mother continued her equitation program, which around that time included a young student named Carmelle rooker. in the meantime, Lowe qualified for his card as a Large r, or national level, judge (a commitment he has maintained ever since; in 2009, he was honored for 30 years of service in center ring).
Lowe and Dr. James Rooker with the Arabian foal Jim won in a 4-H essay contest.
egypt, so that meant no handling for a saddle whatsoever. Working for stanley in the beginning, at that time of my life, i was learning how to break and handle wild horses. He was very methodical and very, very … ” He searches for the words. “everything about the operation was cared for beautifully. Perfectly. i learned that from him, but at the time i was so young i didn’t get it yet. i’d see something at the next job and think, ‘oh, i know this, and i should have been doing it before now because this is what worked for stanley.’” Another influence from that period in Florida was the celebrated dressage rider Chuck Grant, a member of the roemer Foundation/U.s. Dressage Federation’s Hall of Fame. Grant was located near White, who had ignited his own interest in dressage through the spanish
During the first half of the next decade, the Arabian business in north America exploded with glamour and money—and Jim Lowe, in michigan, was on the outside looking in. The hub of the industry was Lasma Arabians, in scottsdale, where Gene and ray LaCroix had so many horses in training that they hired a staff of young horsemen who became celebrities overnight. brian murch, Gordon Potts, Joe Labruzzo, Lance Valdespino, martin Demarzo, David Taasaas—everyone knew them, and every other young trainer wanted to be on the team. Lowe’s michigan friend Tim shea went out to Arizona to learn, and Lowe went to watch, calling and calling Lasma for a job, but unable to land a gig. “i was thinking, ‘i’m just not good enough,’” he says. eventually, a stronger motivation developed. “i thought, ‘they won’t hire me? i’m going to beat them someday.’” now he looks back and observes that because he didn’t reach the heights in the early 1980s, the lows the industry endured a few years later were easier for him to handle.
Lowe as a young trainer, putting some of dressage star Chuck Grant’s tricks into practice. 176 | A r A bi A n Hor se T i mes