Friday morning was a
definite highlight for me personally as the
stallion that I’m breeding my mare to this year
was competing in the 4 year old stallion class. OFW
Merlot (RSD Dark Victory x Almadeen by *Almaden) was
the first one into the ring and was presented very nicely
by Greg Hazelwood. He was in a very competitive class
with the likes of Magnum Gold, Iimagine and well as
two Jullyen El Jamaal sons. OFW Merlot went top ten
with a ranking of eight officially. Such a pretty boy
and it make me even more excited for the cross with
my mare OFW Myra, I can’t wait for April. Next
were the 5 year old mares and what a class it was. The
eventual winner was JJ La Estrella, what a beautiful
mare and even in a very competitive field was a remarkable
entry.
One that I really liked for her personality and beautiful
eye was a Solistice mare, Solpremacy who went top ten.
The most competitive class that we saw was the five
year old stallion class with a very deep field. With
only eight horses entered it wasn’t the biggest
class but the horses where remarkable. It was a deep
class with the likes of Om El Shahman, Versaces Gold,
Odyssey, Dakharo and some not as well know stallions,
all of which where of excellent quality. It was a bit
of a nail bitter of a class as it really hard to tell
who was going to take the
championship, my cousin and I had it at a tie as to
who would win with it Odessey SC and Dakharo as our
favourites. Odessey SC came in reserve. The winner was
Dakharo, a Dakar El Jamaal son who I absolutely fell
in love with. Dakharo is a very exotic looking Ali Jamaal
grandson with a beautiful face, straight legs and wonderful
top line not to mention that great black, bay color.
It just goes to show how strong the Ali Jamaal bloodline
is to put a noticeable stamp on a grandson.
Later on the day we
jumped into our car and headed out to Bob Battaglia
farms to see more horses. The Saddlebred stallions,
Revival and Sultans Great Day are standing there and
they where brought out numerous times by our gracious
host David. Both of the Saddlebreds where very well
bred and put together as well as friendly and personable.
Revival had some fillies at the farm and they certainly
where pretty, typey and built to trot. Justafire DGL
also stands at the farm and is a remarkable stallion
with lots to offer. With excellent confirmation, great
legs, feet, a beautifully typey face and strong top
line, Justafire, is an excellent all over stud as you
get beauty, brains and performance ability.
Extreme Echo was also at home due to an injury and I
got to peak at him in his stall. Extreme Echo is an
Echo Magnifficoo son who has gone top ten at the nationals
in halter and it is easy to see why. A very elegant,
beautiful stallion that is currently being ridden western
pleasure was a delight to meet and was a definite highlight
for me. Having received his video and information the
year previous I was in love! In person he is a great
horse, with excellent confirmation and personality.
Unfortunately he wouldn’t fit in my suitcase but
it wouldn’t be for a lack of desire on my part.
The next big day at
the show was Saturday night with a wide variety of classes
on the menu. Being a breeding/ halter person my favorite
class for the night was the Junior championship for
colts. With the stands completely packed with people
it was standing room only for the onlookers. The announcer
did a great job of educating the crowd as to what the
purpose of the class was for and what the judges where
looking for. As well the colts where presented at both
end of the arena which let the whole crowd have a look.
The unanimous winner was a Desperado V son, named *Rahere.
Another feature of the night was the stallion presentation
class. The class was a show case of Arabian stallions
for the express purpose of letting the crowd get a look
at the stallions as they parade through the arena. We
actually watched in the back warm up arena and that
was a nice treat seeing the stallions so close.
The other class that
I quite enjoyed was the Half Arabian Country English
Pleasure Championship. This was a large and competitive
class with some excellent horse and rider combos. The
winner was a very pretty chestnut named Front Row Jo
ridden by Vicki Humphrey, they where a pleasure to watch
and it appeared from the smile on her face the Vicki
was quite happy.
That pretty much sums
up our trip down to Scottsdale this year. It was an
awesome time with lots of horses, shopping and some
sunshine. A couple of impressions that I came away with
this year were as follows. You really need to see a
horse in person particularly the breeding stallions.
So often on paper or even video the true spirit of the
horse can’t be captured. As well it was refreshing
to see diverse bloodlines in the yearling and two year
old breeding classes. And last but not least, the best
part about the whole trip is planning next years visit.
Story and photos
by Karen Metters, Mission BC
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