Arabian Horse World’s Women’s Forum

Women’s We spent quality time with some of the breed’s favorite women, all of whom candidly discussed their aspirations, challenges, loves, and of course, horses. Their responses, not surprisingly, tell us what we all have known for centuries: Women really can do it all. Just how have they transitioned from horse crazy-girls to forces to be reckoned with in the Arabian horse industry? How have they achieved success along with the myriad responsibilities they encounter on a daily basis? And what lessons have they learned from their horses? Join us for a little girl time … we’ll chat about it.

Julie Farrell Mu l a w a Ara b i a n St u d , Syd n e y, N S W, Au s t ra l i a

Julie Farrell with Karmaa (Kaborr x AN Marieta).

“The Arabian is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the equine breeds and at Mulawa we believe it is also the most versatile and engaging for both the professional, and even more importantly amateurs and youth exhibitors,” says Julie Farrell.

“Each year at the major Australian shows, Mulawa will show Arabian halter horses to showcase our breeding program; and usually a purebred stallion, mare, and gelding under saddle, as well as Arabian derivatives.

“An example of the versatility we love is Proclaim, a chestnut gelding son of GLF Apollo and out Prevue, who won ten Australian Championship titles in nine different divisions from western pleasure to halter. Mulawa Bronze Wing, sired by Magnum Psyche out of the TS Al Malik daughter On Angels Wings, is the 2012 Australian Champion Stallion Under Saddle. He is also an Australian champion dressage winner, and a two-time winner of the prestigious East Coast Cup. “Our stallion Klass, by TS Al Malik out of the Kaborr daughter Karmaa, was the 2009 Australian Champion Halter Stallion, the 2010 Australian Champion Stallion Under Saddle, and the 2011 Australian Champion Working Stock Horse. Klass is a great example of Arabian beauty, function, and trainability.

“I take great pleasure watching the next generation of our performance team begin their journey in the purebred performance division. Artistry by Magnum Forty-Four is a young bay stallion showing amazing potential, as is Dark Knight by DA Valentino out of the Magnum Psyche daughter Dark Angel.

“At Mulawa we also have an outstanding group of Warmbloods being prepared for high-level dressage. Each one carries Arabian blood, which is typified by their quality and carriage.”

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Women’s We spent quality time with some of the breed’s favorite women, all of whom candidly discussed their aspirations, challenges, loves, and of course, horses. Their responses, not surprisingly, tell us what we all have known for centuries: Women really can do it all. Just how have they transitioned from horse crazy-girls to forces to be reckoned with in the Arabian horse industry? How have they achieved success along with the myriad responsibilities they encounter on a daily basis? And what lessons have they learned from their horses? Join us for a little girl time … we’ll chat about it.

Julie Farrell Mulawa Arabian Stud, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Julie Farrell with Karmaa (Kaborr x AN Marieta).

“The Arabian is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the equine breeds and at Mulawa we believe it is also the most versatile and engaging for both the professional, and even more importantly amateurs and youth exhibitors,” says Julie Farrell.

“Each year at the major Australian shows, Mulawa will show Arabian halter horses to showcase our breeding program; and usually a purebred stallion, mare, and gelding under saddle, as well as Arabian derivatives.

“An example of the versatility we love is Proclaim, a chestnut gelding son of GLF Apollo and out Prevue, who won ten Australian Championship titles in nine different divisions from western pleasure to halter. Mulawa Bronze Wing, sired by Magnum Psyche out of the TS Al Malik daughter On Angels Wings, is the 2012 Australian Champion Stallion Under Saddle. He is also an Australian champion dressage winner, and a two-time winner of the prestigious East Coast Cup. “Our stallion Klass, by TS Al Malik out of the Kaborr daughter Karmaa, was the 2009 Australian Champion Halter Stallion, the 2010 Australian Champion Stallion Under Saddle, and the 2011 Australian Champion Working Stock Horse. Klass is a great example of Arabian beauty, function, and trainability.

“I take great pleasure watching the next generation of our performance team begin their journey in the purebred performance division. Artistry by Magnum Forty-Four is a young bay stallion showing amazing potential, as is Dark Knight by DA Valentino out of the Magnum Psyche daughter Dark Angel.

“At Mulawa we also have an outstanding group of Warmbloods being prepared for high-level dressage. Each one carries Arabian blood, which is typified by their quality and carriage.”

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Amanda Fraser Royal Arabians, Mesa, Arizona “At a very early age, my family knew I would pursue a career involving animals,” says Amanda Fraser. “My first word was dog, my first step was toward our family cat, and my first love was my horse, so it was no surprise when I told my parents (at the age of five) that I wanted to become a horse trainer. At that time, my parents bought me a cute Arabian mare named Sky Fire FM (El Bacchus x Perfectamente). They thought after seeing the amount of responsibility it took to care for a horse, I would quickly change my mind about my career path and turn to something more lucrative, like becoming lawyer. Needless to say, that plan did not work out.

Not only did I stick to my original dream of working with horses, that dream turned into a deep-seated passion and a need to be around Sky. “My horses were always leverage for my parents. In order to visit them, I had to keep my room cleaned, get straight A’s in school, and do any other various chores they decided for me. As soon as I was allowed, I went to see Sky with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that we shared every afternoon.

“In 2003, after my graduation from high school, my parents used horses as one last leveraging tool. If I completed college with a 3.5 GPA or greater, they would help me realize my aspirations to own and operate an Arabian horse farm. This worked. Upon completion of my Bachelor of Arts in literature, the Royal Arabians farm, in Mesa, Arizona, was mine to operate.

“From that point on, I was constantly learning about these amazing animals. I had to rethink my entire being. Where I was once temperamental, they taught me patience. Where I was once stubborn, they taught me forgiveness. But most importantly, when I was far from perfect, they taught me unconditional love. I became the person I am today because of the horses I adore and respect.

“Now, 21 years after my first encounter with the Arabian horse, that passion has not subsided. I still own Sky Fire, plus a few more Arabian mares; 42, to be exact. The only thing that has changed is my strong desire to produce and create a better Arabian horse. Instead of training horses, I decided to breed them. Every stallion is picked precisely to be bred with each specific mare to create as close to a perfect foal as possible. I feel so blessed to be able to say that I have 42 best friends that I get to work with on a daily basis as I try to accomplish my goal.”

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Amanda Fraser and Sky Fire FM (El Bacchus x Perfectamente), her first horse.

Montana Henke with the foal Montana Filomena

Montana Henke

(Montana Firenze x GA

Montana Arabia ns, Boulder, Colorado

Kcharrity) at 48 hours old.

“I have not been breeding for very long, in fact, this year is my first real foal crop,” says Montana Henke. “Beautiful Eden C, Enzo, and Firenze fillies are on the ground already and I am still expecting a few more Firenze foals as well as an Om El Al Azeem foal. I imagine that may surprise some, but I have been moving slowly, taking my time over the last decade to study, learn, explore, and determine what exactly my goals are. To breed Arabian horses, well, that goal has been a given since I was an adolescent, but I have spent a great deal of time and effort delving deeper into that desire. I think that anyone starting out needs to ask themselves why they are breeding and what they are breeding for. This is especially true in this day and age and is important for the future of our breed. Having the passion and desire is key, but finding a way to channel that enthusiasm into something meaningful — that is the challenge many breeders face.

“My own journey has many places one might consider a starting point, but regardless, the first ‘educational’ thing I did was to study magazines and books. We are lucky to have so many wonderful breed publications and texts, and of course the Internet is a fabulous tool as well. I bought hundreds of old magazines and books and poured over accounts of historically important horses and breeders. I closely studied the pictures and pedigrees, cultivating both knowledge and personal preferences. I believe that it is key for anyone breeding or wanting to breed Arabians to have an understanding of their history and pedigrees. That said, there is nothing like studying horses in the flesh. I spent the next leg of my ‘journey’ doing just that, visiting as many farms as I possibly could and attending any show I could get to. Eventually I ended up interning at several farms in an effort to truly learn how the genotypes I liked were expressed in the horses’ phenotypes.”

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Janina Merz Om El Arab Inter national, Santa Ynez, Cal ifor nia “I consider myself one of the luckiest women alive,” says Janina Merz. “Forty-two years ago my mother, Sigi Siller, founded one of the largest private breeding farms in the world today, Om El Arab. She created an unmistakable style of Arabian horse that is still coveted in today’s market. I was fortunate to have been born into it, and spent most of my spare time as a child with the horses. It was apparent early on that the two of us shared a joint passion for breeding Arabians, and in 1998, it became my profession too. Today Sigi and I spend nearly every waking moment doing something for, with, or because of our horses.

“We have a very hands-on farm and nearly everything that can be done in-house we do. Our specialty, of course, is breeding, and this year may be one of the busiest and most exciting breeding years in recent history with the arrival of the superlative WH Justice (Magnum Psyche x Vona SherRenea) to our roster of wonderful stallions. Justice has that ‘X factor’ which is hard to describe, but always easy to recognize. He is beautiful, incredibly intelligent, energetic, charismatic, and has this strong presence that tells everyone around him he’s the king. WH Justice will stay with us through the 2013 breeding season. Sigi and I are enjoying every moment with him and are very excited about our foals by Justice.

“Our main breeding stallion, Om El Shahmaan (*Sanadik El Shaklan x Om El Shaina), is in Belgium with Johanna Ullström through 2013. He is carrying the banner for Om El Arab in Europe right now. Om El Bellissimo (Om El Shahmaan x Om El Benedict) just returned from two breeding seasons at the Polish State Stud Janów Podlaski, where his foals are exceptional. Om El Shahlimar (*Sanadik El Shaklan x Om El Shaina) is the newest stallion to join the ranks at Om El Arab. His first foals were born this year, and are outstanding. Om El Al Azeem (*Al Lahab GASB x Om El Beneera) has already proven himself as a sire in the last few years with his internationally winning get. Last, but certainly not least, *El Nabila B (Kubinec x 218 Elf Layla Walayla B) completes the roster of our stallions. This soulful stallion is such a pleasure to have in the barn. He has an ethereal presence that is very wise and gentle.

“There’s really nothing better in life than to be able to live one’s dreams. Sigi and I are the lucky ones. We are able to surround ourselves every day with the horses that have made our dreams come true.”

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Janina Merz, right, with Om El Bernadette (Om El Shahmaan x Om El Benedict), and her mother Sigi Siller.

Shirley Popplewell R ae-Dawn Arabians, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Shirley Popplewell with RD Taneeka (LD Pistal x Natalia K).

“Although I never had the opportunity to have my very own horse in my childhood days, horses have been my true love since I was a little girl,” says Shirley Popplewell. “As I grew up, my desire to have a horse just got stronger and in 1985, when Murray and I purchased our farm in Saskatoon, I really thought I was on the brink of being a horse owner. I was wrong. With the efforts of life and having a family, my dream had to be postponed until 1997. After 12 long years of perseverance, we finally purchased our first horses and mine happened to be an Arabian/Quarter horse mare.

“I just wanted to explore and learn as much as I could about the Arabian horse and be able to understand their way of thinking. Nutrition, conformation, and genetics were things that I loved to study and learn, but learning how to have the heart of the horse in your hand is the challenge that matters most to me. Each horse has its own personality (horsenality) and that is what makes this challenge so exciting. How boring would it be if they were all the same?

“The desire to have a competitive breeding farm and being able to be working with horses had more appeal to me than the showring itself. I am a hands-on type of person and my goal is to produce horses that can love humans and can be loved by humans.

“Breeding has become the part of the horse business that interests me the most today. I love working with the veterinarians and love the challenge of working with each expectant mother.

Again, each one is different and every challenge is unique. All the steps in the entire breeding process fascinate me: the breeding, the ovulation, the long drawn-out gestation periods, and then the rewards.

“I start and prepare all the foals on the farm regardless of whether they are chosen for the showring or not. During this preparation process, I try to shape the foals’ character to be secure, confident, and optimistic, to enjoy learning, and to have a natural desire to follow a human’s leadership. In order to win your horse’s heart, it is important that you reflect upon your principles and understand him from his point of view. Over time, you build a strong relationship based on trust and respect with each other.

“The Arabian horse is such a beautiful and gracious animal that this makes each long hard day of work so worthwhile.”

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Marty Shea Shea Stables, St. Clair, Michigan Born with innate confidence and a knack for sales and marketing, Marty Shea of Shea Stables doesn’t view her gender as an asset or a liability when it comes to the Arabian horse business. “It’s easy for me to get along with men in a business situation so I never really felt less than, intimidated by, or shy — it’s just what I do. My strength is selling — in my case, breedings and horses. I can pick up the phone and sell to someone I don’t know — that’s one of my long strokes. That part of the business is easy for me.

“When my husband Tim and I started out, he always did the training. I trained horses too, but we ran a public stable and clients preferred Tim to show. I gravitated to the sales side of the business and that’s where I settled in. I like to ride on a noncompetitive basis, but I love the competition and adrenaline rush of accomplishing a sale,” Marty says.

Marty and Tim began working with Dave and Gail Liniger of Maroon Fire Arabians 24 years ago. Their first assignment: training and promoting a promising colt named Afire Bey V, whom the Linigers purchased as a three-year-old. Now 27, the Varian-bred bay is the all-time leading sire of National winners in Arabian history, thanks to Marty’s tireless marketing efforts.

“Nobody in the industry has as good a horse owner/business partner/friend as Dave and Gail Liniger,” says Marty. “They have let us run this business like it was our own. They are always extremely interested in what’s going on, but they’ve also given us the license to just create, imagine, and make it happen. Fortunately, it has. We have been very successful in promoting Afire Bey V, and now IXL Noble Express, who is doing well. We’ve got a new young stallion coming up by Noble Express out of an Afire Bey V daughter who looks very promising named Noble Ffyre. The Linigers are just great people to work for.”

What’s the secret to Shea Stables’ success? Just plain hard work, according to Marty. “To keep this business alive, we all have our part: from training the horses and getting people to the farm, to getting horses to look good and closing the deal. It takes a village to get all this done!

“We had a bumper crop of foals this year,” she continues. “Whether you have 27 or 10 foals every year, you have to sell that many horses or you are stockpiling. We have not stockpiled. We have never changed the number of stalls that we have because we are always marketing. We no longer go to horse shows with a show string — we are a sale barn and a breeding facility — that’s all we do for a living now.”

What’s in store in the coming years for Marty? “Sometimes I wonder: What if? What if something happens? But you can’t go there. You have to take it day by day. I’m in my late 60s, I’m in great health. I do most of the foaling. Tim loves it and rides all day long every day. We have two great assistant trainers: Allen Zeller and Tyler Wegmeyer. The business has been good to us. We’ve continued to breed as many or more horses in the last couple of years. I believe there’s going to be a shortage of saddleseat type horses pretty soon, and we will be ready.”

Keep doing what she’s doing? “Right now, yes,” she says. “Absolutely.”

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Marty Shea enjoying a ride in California.

Peri Wilson Wilson Training Center, Tavares, Florida

Peri Wilson with the 2010 KM Bugatti filly out of Paloma de Jamaal.

“I was introduced to the Arabian horse at a young age,” says Peri Wilson. “My stepmom had a passion for horses her whole life, which gave an opportunity for her children to be exposed to horses. I was lucky enough that Arabians were her main passion and this was the horse that also captured my heart. From the beginning, I was about as horse crazy as you could get. I always knew that horses would be a huge part of my life, but I had no idea of the path this incredible horse would lead me down.

“Shortly after high school I got a glimpse into all that this industry offered: the training, the breeding, the showing of the stunningly beautiful and talented Arabian horse. I am an extremely competitive person and watching some of the most talented horsemen in this business compete made me realize that I wanted to train and compete at the highest levels possible.

“Working for Mike Wilson gave me the opportunity to start working some of the halter horses that he had in training. Luckily for me, many of his customers were open to the idea of their horses not only competing in halter, but also performance. The beginning for me was tough, but I had a solid foundation of riding and training, as we started all of our horses as kids, and I had a vision of where I wanted to go. However, I was not quite sure of how to go about getting there. I had no polish, and although I had started many horses, I had no grasp of how to ‘finish’ the job. I was fortunate to have someone in my life, whom I now call my husband, who believed in me from the beginning and helped and encouraged me through the learning curve and continues today.

“It amazes me how so many extremely talented trainers in this business took, and still take, their time to help me. Whether it’s having the opportunity to go and spend a few days at their farm riding with them or them having a few extra minutes at a horse show to give me pointers. I owe all of these special people so much and am grateful for all the help they continue to provide me with.

“I feel very fortunate to be where I am at today and have so much appreciation for those who believed in me and helped me get to where I am. I think a few of the most important things to remember in this business are: • Find your passion and hold on to it. Always remember and keep working toward what drove you in the beginning.

• Keep learning. Work to learn something new every day. These special horses have a lot to teach!

• If you need help, ask. There are so many incredible people willing to share their knowledge.

“We breed for many reasons … some of us to preserve old, irreplaceable lines, some hoping for that one superstar who will bring in the big payday, some pursuing a picture they hold in their heads of their ideal Arabian. Whatever our reasons, I want to encourage new breeders, as well as old ones, to consider their objective as it relates to our breed as a whole. Do your homework, look at the horses, find good mentors, and maybe each one of us can leave the breed a little bit better for our having contributed our individual vision. I know I am still searching for the answer to the ‘what’ and ‘why’ question, and honestly I expect to always be learning, growing, and updating my opinions; but for me that is part of the joy of this journey with Arabian horses!”

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