ECAHS Member News

2005- Return to Crabbet Stud

and UK Crabbet Stud Tour

by Merrie Boone

Blue Shawow Photo by Anne Brown

All Others by Merrie Boone

Part 2

We continued our whirlwind tour through the Welsh countryside by going to Diana Whittome of Coed-Y-Foel Arabian Stud. I was treated to see the stallions Imad (Golden Cavalier x Ivory Wings) and Rusleem. Both are champion show horses. Imad is a fabulous snow-white stallion that just is breathtakingly beautiful. He has a very solid body and has an exceptionally beautiful head with large kind eyes. Diana had several beautiful daughters by Imad who clearly inherited their sire’s beautiful type and elegance. Interestingly enough Diana bred an Imad daughter back to Imad. The resulting colt was fabulous! I was treated to a fun riding display as Diana’s stud manager jumped on Imad’s back and he rode him bareback with a bitless bridle.

Rusleem is a very showy chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail and four high white socks and a wide blaze. He has an exceptional front end. He has brilliant action and presence. He is to be crossed with some of the Imad daughters. It will be interesting to see the resulting cross, as it should be very good.

The last stop of my whirlwind one-day tour through Wales was at Daphne Cocksedge’s Romac Stud. Daphne is the proud owner of the pure Crabbet stallion Ibn Silver (Indian Silver x Sherifah). I was particularly interested in seeing this horse as Indian Silver (Indian Magic x Dalika) was imported into the United States and left a tremendous legacy. Indian Silver was imported back to the UK as an elderly horse. Ibn Silver is a look- alike son of his illustrious sire. Ibn Silver is a pure white stallion that has an exceptionally strong top line and fabulous movement. Daphne has been kind enough to let out on lease Ibn Silver to Wendy and Michael Carr to cover their elderly pure Crabbet mare Crystal Treasure. Ibn Silver will stand at stud at Anne Brown’s next season. It was so nice to see the kindness Daphne has in sharing resources with other breeders of pure Crabbet Arabians.

While at Daphne’s I was able to see an original painting done by Lady Wentworth. It is a large painting of Nasra and her sucking foal Naseem. It seems Daphne’s mother found the painting and purchased it for Daphne. This was a rare treat to see this very special painting!

After returning from Wales it was time to go Anne Brown’s Gadebrook Stud in Peterbough, England. Anne is a very blessed lady as she has an exceptional broodmare band. I was especially taken with Summertime Blues (Indian Idyll x Rose of Bediya) and her filly foal by Shaded Silver (Golden Silver x Magic’s Moonshadow). Summertime Blues is a lovely mare that has tremendous substance and bone. She is a very solid mare and rather tall. She has a very kind disposition- just like her sire Indian Idyll and dam Rose of Bediya. Summertime Blues’ foal was just exceptional- elegant, correct and had outstanding movement. Anne is lucky to have leased Summertime Blues for two foals. Anne has rebred Summertime Blues to Shaded Silver, as this cross was just magical.

Anne also had a lovely 25-year-old Ben Rabba daughter named Silver Aura. She is quite the pet of the farm and looked in wonderful shape despite her advanced age.

Anne also had a strong gorgeous colt by Shaded Silver out of Zaharina (Ludomino x Zarah). Zaharina is a half sister of Magic Domino ++ who was also bred by Anne. Friends of mine, Mark and Kim Thomason in the US, own magic Domino. Zaharina’s colt was exceptionally tall, has wonderful conformation and movement.

Anne has other wonderful Crabbet Arabians (too many to describe them all) and has wonderful plans for her breeding program. It is exciting what the future holds in store for her breeding program.

I was blessed to visit with Heather Jackson and Richard James to see their lovely mares Rose of Bediya (Silver Blue x Princess Rubi’a) and her beautiful daughter Shiffalia (Shiffal x Rose of Bediya). Sadly, Rose of Bediya had to be put down a few days after my visit. She was a gracious mare who left a tremendous legacy for the Arabian breed. A fitting tribute has been written for Rose of Bediya that covers in depth the profound influence she has had on the Arabian breed. It was my pleasure to also have seen her lovely daughters Shiffalia, a successful endurance mare, and Summertime Blues, whom I mentioned above.

The last day of my stud visits was extremely full. First I saw Bill and Vicki Dorsey’s Stud. I was keen to see the pure Crabbet stallion, Klinta Bashir since I was quite taken with his half brother Klinta Sharif. Klinta Bashir was similar to his brother, as both stallions are extreme in type and quite elegant. The weather was NOT cooperative so sadly I was not able to take very good pictures of this stallion. As we dodged the raindrops we quickly looked at the mares, including the pure Crabbet grey mare Moongleam. I really liked her very much as she was quite a love too. She was heavily in foal to Klinta Bashir and was due shortly after I left the UK.

The next stop of the day was with Samantha, Tina and Trevor Mattocks of Ivy Arabians. They are breeding high percentage and pure Crabbet Arabians. They had a gorgeous pure Crabbet chestnut Grecian Idyll filly named Sarafina Sunset out of their pure Crabbet mare Siala (Shiffal x Sa’Iliah). The Mattock’s have been very successful in showing their beautiful Crabbet Arabians. It was a true joy to be able to not only have an opportunity to see their lovely horses, but also put a name to a face as I have been corresponding with Tina and Samantha for the last year or so via the internet.

The next stop of the day was with Wendy and Michael Carr. They were blessed to have on lease Ibn Silver whom I mentioned earlier. It truly was a treat to see this powerful stallion float around the pasture. The Carr’s lovely pure Crabbet mare Crystal Treasure has been bred to Ibn Silver for a 2006 foal. The Carrs had kindly allowed Daphne Cocksedge to lease their elderly pure Crabbet mare Crystal Treasure to breed to Shaded Silver for a 2005 foal. In turn Daphne allowed them to lease Ibn Silver to breed to Crystal Treasure for a 2006 foal. It is this kind of partnership and sharing of resources that will allow the pure Crabbet Arabian to continue to be preserved.

I do have to say that the Shaded Silver filly out of Crystal Treasure was spectacular. After I had seen Anne’s two Shaded Silver foals AND this incredibly gorgeous filly I felt I MUST see this stallion. I was not to be disappointed.

I had the opportunity to drop by Julie Green’s stud where Shaded Silver (Golden Silver x Magic’s Moonshadow) stands at stud. I was blessed to see four of his get out of mares of differing bloodlines at various studs during my tour. These foals were consistently elegant, typey foals with tremendous conformation, type and MOVEMENT. These foals were consistently of superior quality. Shaded Silver is a wonderful athlete having successfully competed in jumping, hunting, eventing, and endurance riding. He is quite a tall horse who has tremendous substance of bone, and radiates his powerful strength. Julie Green has done a magnificent job with him and she clearly is so very proud (as she should be) of him. Julie kindly allowed Anne to borrow Shaded Silver to cover Summertime Blues for a 2006 foal. Colt or filly, it ought to be breathtaking.

I came away from this stud tour very inspired. I saw some absolutely breathtaking pure Crabbet Arabians and high percentage Arabians. I particularly was just blown away with the quality of pure Crabbet foals I saw. After all the outstanding pure Crabbet horses that I have seen in North America, Australia and the UK, the future of the pure Crabbet Arabian looks very bright.

I want to say a special thank you to all the breeders who hosted me during my visit to the various Crabbet studs throughout England and Wales. I can’t thank you all enough for allowing me to come visit and to see your beautiful horses. I wish I could have mentioned all the wonderful horses I saw, but then this article would have literally turned into a book. I left with wonderful memories of meeting wonderful people, and inspiration that will carry me for many years as I too continue in my breeding program to preserve the pure Crabbet Arabian.

News from Oasis Farms

From Nancy Brant and Debbie Crosby

We are so excited! We wanted to let everyone know that Oasis Farms' three-year-old colt, Oasis Ablaze (Al-Marah Quebec x Oasis Afara), was top 5 in Jr. Working Cow Horse at U S Nationals in Albuquerque with Eddie Ralston riding. In the first go round, he tied for first place with a score of 212. In the second go round and final he placed 3rd

with a score of 214.5. We are so proud of him. Please see our website, www.oasisfarms.com, for pictures from Nationals.

Congratulations Nancy & Debbie!

News from Mayhem Farm

From Lynn Blake

Mayhem Farm of Winchester, VA is pleased to announce the arrival of Mayhem's Hot Tamale (Topper) a colt by Koweta Griffin out of Ima Hot Rockin Zippo, and Mayhems Kareema Nawal (Kammie) by Koweta Griffin out of FFC Lorahlei.

New Arrivals at Fairfield Farm

Buzz Moore reports that Fairfield Farm now as five new residents. They are the offspring of Phoebe, one of the Jack Russell Terriers known to run the farm. The pups were born October 27^th. There is one male and three females in the litter, which will be looking for families of their own about Christmas.

Sympathies & Well Wishes

Our sympathies and well wishes go to Terry and David Kerr of Kerrizma Arabian Farm. They lost their 1999 mare Georgia O’Keefe on October 13^th to a case of botulism. In addition, the 2000 mare TDA Countessa is recovering from colic surgery at Blue Ridge Equine in Free Union, VA. Countessa is improving steadily and expected to returen home soon, as of this writing. Terry wants to thank everyone who assisted with Countessa’s treatment and recovery. She also reported that she and David are in the midst of a farm consolidation. They are selling the land where the horses are currently stabled and will be bringing them home to the main farm. As a result, they will be having a pre-Christmas heard reduction sale. If you are interested in this sale, you may contact Terry at tdakerr@prodigy.net.

TV Star?

Sandra Cox and “That” (WH Vanzee That) were among the crowd that participated in the November 4 – 5 Best of America by Horseback Ride at Graves Mountain in Virginia. Part of the ride will be televised on RFD-TV this month, with the remainder to be televised in February. Sandra, who says she had a great time, describes part of the event below. Be watching for Sandra and “That’s” movie debut on a small screen near you!

Contributed by Sandra Cox

“We checked in on Friday and had supper at the lodge after getting the horses settled. We met one of the Best of America by Horseback show producers at dinner and stayed talking with him until the kitchen staff finally ran us away. His name is Doug Sloan and he lives in Ashland. He is a horse trainer and stunt man and has done lots of movies with his "trick" horses.”

“There were more than a hundred horses on the Saturday morning ride. It was the biggest herd “That” has ever seen and he was very excited. I was definitely riding an "Arab" for the first 30-40 minutes.”

“Sometime in December we will be on the show (Best of America by Horseback on RFD-TV) shouting out "Seasons Greetings." We will be right in front of the group in that shot.”

“The rest of the show will be aired sometime in February. Don't know if we will actually appear in that or not. Depends on what they like when they edit the film...but there is a good chance.”