VALE: Alison Steward Alison Blanche Steward 6th December 1949 – 14th June 2013 Arabian Horse Breeder and New Zealand Arab Horse Breeders Society Councillor. Alison grew up in suburban Auckland but far enough from the City centre to have her pets and to indulge her dreams of owning horses. When Alison left school she took up nursing as a career and was still employed as a nurse when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. As a young breeder myself I was keen to get to know others who had an interest in Arabian Horses and it soon emerged that Alison was like minded when she contacted me to come visit and view the stallion Nadji I had recently imported. From that time a unique friendship grew based on our mutual interest in Arabians and our respect for each other’s ongoing thirst for knowledge, dedication to the breed and our recognition of the tenacity we both had for our respective equestrian pursuits. I remember at about the same time visiting Melville and Joan Gubb at their Tomarata farm where the imported sire Claudius was the man of the moment and soon found that Alison had a similar eye for a good type when it emerged that we both had our sights set on a super part bred filly that I should add ended up in Alison’s paddock! Later Alison was to purchase her first purebred Arabian mare Araleigh Judith from Mel and Joan and with this acquisition Karamea Stud moved from its part bred beginnings and was truly underway. The first filly from Araleigh Judith was Karamea Zahra (by the imported sire Impala) Registered in Vol.2 of the New Zealand Arab Horse Stud Book. Following Zara was a long line of purebred youngsters, each generation better than the last a true mark of a good breeder. Alison studied her stock, was a student of genetics and always had a plan, which she followed to improve everything about her horses by selecting the right bloodlines and genetic traits to complement what was already inherent. Little at Karamea was left to chance. The first stallion that Alison purchased was Araleigh Kavanna who was by the American import Gai Aristocrat. Kavanna had a huge and lasting impact on the Karamea breeding program and really made Alison’s name as a breeder of quality Arabians.
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Stallions that followed were El Kheir Galal, Fairview Kaptivation, Windella Bronze Wings (who was lost as a youngster) and finally Madreya. Then to add to the gene pool at Karamea Alison joined with a like minded group of fellow breeders to import new blood via a syndication of the stallions Jacob JCA and Aria Elation from the USA all this taking Karamea to the next level, the long term plan of Alison’s was still in play!
KARAMEA ELECTRA (Jacob JCA (US) x Karamea Estella)
Alison with a group of friends including Angela Rogers and others living outside New Zealand invested in some beautiful mares that were based in the USA this was an exciting concept that Alison was delighted to be a part of and she had great hopes that some high class youngsters would result from judicious matings of these mares and careful planning for their upbringing. Alison has made sure that these plans will continue. A year ago Alison rejoined the Board of the New Zealand Arab Horse Breeders Society. Alison had been a Councillor in the early 1990’s for six years and felt she was ready again to give further service to the breed. With her well known enthusiasm Alison set about researching delinquent registrations to see that pedigrees were correct and that applications could be processed, putting right what was wrong and reporting fearlessly when there was bad news to be faced. Alison was a stickler for the rules and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the constitution and the operational rules and regulations, knowledge which was valued by us all. For my part working with Alison on the Council was a joy, it did however involve long debates, deep discussions and lots of referrals to the rulebook! In the end before we put ideas to others we made sure that we properly researched and were as one in our belief that we were correct.