This feature first appeared in The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine Spring Edition, April 2017. You can order your copy of this beautiful coffee-table book at The Arabian Magazine Shop. The response to The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine continues to be incredible, and breeders worldwide are getting in touch to share their stories. However, for those of us …
Yesterday was a good day. A special day. And it was one that I have waited for, for many, many years. Yesterday was the day that I finally met Amir Jamaal. Back in 2007 – 10 years ago – I was visiting the US Egyptian Event in Lexington, for the first time. As I walked …
It is hard to find inspiration over winter. As much as you want to, the grey days and the endless mud here in the UK do make you want to hibernate. In fact, that is what I regularly do, every December. And then in January, I emerge around Epiphany, refreshed and revived, ready to take …
Sometimes, just sometimes, you have a trip abroad spent in the company of Arabian Horses that takes a while to assimilate. To find a way to try to put into words the emotions you felt, the horses that you saw, the sheer beauty, romance, and magic of it all. Sometimes, those words flow. Other times, …
Yesterday, I was researching a pedigree for a feature I am writing for The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine, and one name came up. That name instantly transported me – to a time and place that is burned into my memory…
The emotion that these visits conveys is immense. The memories made there are magical. And, just as important, it is the many friendships forged in Poland that have gone on to become some of the truest, purest friendships that I have.
Johanna Ullstrom’s training centre in Belgium, Darby Farm, is home to some incredibly beautiful Arabian horses. Please enjoy some images here from her open day in April, as captured by the talented Henrike Hörmann.
As the first fingers of the sun creep up over the desert, a mare and foal stop to drink at a waterhole. Elsewhere, the final stars in the ink-blue sky fade as the muezzin recites the adhān, which rings out from the minaret over the rooftops. There is only one place in the world you can be right now and that is the Middle East, the birthplace of the Arabian horse and an area filled with much allure and mystique for all those that visit.
There is something magical about just being with an Arabian. I have sat with all my mares through each of their foalings and it is so humbling to see a newborn encounter the world. I imprint the newborn foal as soon as they’re born from my electric wheelchair or from on the ground without my legs on and the strength of the bond I share with each of them is really important to me.
Falling in love with the Arabian horse, my mother sold her grandmother’s wedding ring to buy her first Arabian, a gelding, from Van Vleet. She devoured every bit of information on the Arabian horse, reading, researching and studying. She built up a breeding programme of primarily Crabbet-bred horses, as she was a rider and horseman and wanted a horse that was functional as well as beautiful.
