Back from Utah!

Our traveling vagabonds are back from Utah. More to come soon, but had to share these gorgeous pics, thanks to photographer/trainer Jamie Lamborn.

Pictured at left is DB Dahman (with his owner, Paula) and Sarah Sanders (right) on the stallion DB Ibn Jalam.

After their clinics were over, the trio stayed long enough to help Janiece Wilson kick off her next clinic as guest demo riders. Here Sarah opens the clinic carrying the flag in with DB Ibn Jalam.

A Lovely Spring Day

At Desert Bred Arabians farm (also known as the boarding stable, The Riding Center), we have oodles of trails to amble around on. Spring is one of the best times - pretty soon the dogwoods and redbuds will be blooming, and wildflowers will be perking up. Too early for those yet, but still got to enjoy these peaceful scenes on our ride. With the green grass just peaking up, it was almost parklike. Mother Nature even created a welcoming arch beckoning us to enter :).

The rapids of Silver Creek gurgled away.

The honeysuckle is the first to leaf out, almost creating a green haze everywhere you look.

And the deer were out enjoying the balmy weather. Just a nice day!

Another Trip Down Memory Lane

Pictured here is El Danjah, a 1969 Stallion. This gorgeous guy is the proud Daddy (or Grand-daddy) of 118 descendants, all as beautiful as this desert horse, to be sure!

El Danjah sired several horses in our program. One of which is DB El Danjah, pictured in a recent post. Another, DB Jahshah, was a hardy endurance horse that plowed her way through the 100 mile Western States Trail Ride (Tevis Cup) to earn 35th place! She was also a favorite lesson horse to many of our students in our riding school, The Riding Center.

Postcard from Utah

Our 3 travelers, (our trainers, Sarah and Jamie and one of our boarders Paula) arrived in Utah safely last night. The road wasn't without adventure - including snow in Texas (whod've thunk?), an almost desperate stay at a Bates Motel wannabe (because of said snow) and a late night drive through the most beautiful country "...and we didn't see a LICK of it!"

Hopefully they'll get to enjoy it in the daylight on the way back.

The horses took to the journey well, which is wonderful since it was a first multi-day trek for all 3 horses. They are all now taking in some R&R today in their turnouts (the horses, not the people, lol). Tomorrow the clinics begin along with some promised rides thru some beautiful mountain trails.

Waking up this morning, all 3 were greeted by the most beautiful panoramic view of the mountains. Paula is threatening to stay put - but she's not allowed to (because I said so!)

More to come soon....

Westward Ho!

Three adventurers left our barn Friday morning for a long journey west. Two of our trainers, Sarah Sanders and Jamie Lamborn, along with one of our boarders, are trailering from our little corner of the midwest to St. George, Utah.

What would lead them on such a long journey? They are hauling their horses out to a multi-day clinic with Janiece Wilson, certified Monte Foreman trainer.

We benefited from a visit from Janiece Wilson this past year at our farm, who spent a week giving clinics to our trainers and boarders. Her method is the Horse Handling Science, developed by author and trainer Monte Foreman. Wilson has been teaching students in the Monte Foreman methods for multiple decades.

They are looking forward to several days of intensive training, along with some R&R time just enjoying the trails out west. Sarah is taking one of our younger stallions, DB Ibn Jalam (pictured here with Sarah riding). Our boarder is taking her two Desert Bred geldings. Can't wait to hear about their adventure when they come back in a week (with loads of pictures too)!

Fun Fun Fun!

Another Peek into the Archives

Desert Bred Arabians was blessed to have found quality horses early on to form the foundation of our breeding program. Our horses are of Saudi Arabian bloodlines, or Saudi related thru the old classic lines. In these bloodlines, you'll find names from the strains developed from the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula: Hamdani, Abayyan, Dahman etc. The history of how these horses came be and then found their way to teh USA is very intriguing. Some sources to visit for the history is www.desertbredarabians.com, www.alkhamsa.org and www.bluearabianshorsecatalog.org.

Pictured below is Al Fea, one of the many mares responsible for passing on her tremendous qualities to her descendants.

This conformation shot of Al Fea is adorable - doesn't she have the cutest expression? I love the perky ears! lol

Al Fea's tail female line is Hamdani. Her lines include Al Hamdaniah, Nasr, Exorchorda, Turfa and Fadl.

Here is Al Fea being shown, years ago, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

One of the daughters Al Fea produced, by imported stallion Furtha Dhellal, was Desert Feall. Feall produced several horses for our program, all who share many common traits - her sweet personality, stamina and a canter to fall in love with!

At left is DB Bey Barz, one of Al Fea's 'grandbabies' :). Bey Barz is one of our young stallions in training for sporthorse events.

Here is Bey Barz warming up for the Al Khamsa convention earlier this year.

Full sister to Bey Barz is DB Fatima (left) who is coming on 5 years old this year. Fatima shares her brother's athleticism and agility. Endurance or showing, we are sure she will shine in whatever she finds herself.

An older full brother to Bey Barz and Fatima is DB Fame. Because of his sweet personality, Fame earned the nickname Friendly around the barn, and he just oozed personality :). DB Fame went on to carry his junior rider owner on many endurance rides and always top ten'd. HIs canter was smooth as silk and his owner had a great time competing with him.

Do you have any Al Fea stories or pictures of her descendants? Please share!

Sunshine, on my shoulders....makes me SLEEPY!

After a cold gray blustery day yesterday, we were blessed with a sunny (but still blustery) day today. If you could find a spot out of the wind, it was a great day for sunbathing....or is that sun-napping?

There were sleeping foals.....

Sleeping stud colts......

And some even managed to sleep standing up! :)

The cold is on its way out I'm sure, and it won't be long for spring to warm things up!