An Arabian Show Horse in Saudi Arabia

[hast]

The stable I ride at is an Arabian show barn. I have no clue what they do at Arabian Shows in the US, but I have a few pictures of a groom working with a mare here in Saudi. (I thought they looked pretty darn good, but the trainer sighed deeply when he saw the pictures and made excuses for the groom and explained that the mare is so difficult to work with.)
Anyway, they have a long stick, or crop, with a few strands of plastic, or something that makes a crackling sound, at the tip. Then they hold it in front of the horse, poke them with it, and in general waive it around pretty heavily. The objective is to make them look “wild” but very controlled at the same time. Then they run with the horse, which goes off in a big trot wildly snorting with big eyes and high tail, but really are nice as lambs.

This is how they make them stand at attention. The horse “follows” the stick and handlers every motion.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/hast-again/mazen/IMG_6212.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/hast-again/mazen/IMG_6211.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/hast-again/mazen/IMG_6207.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2/hast-again/mazen/IMG_6210.jpg

[Pasogirlz]

I think she looks great too. Love the dapples. 8-)

[Fino1]

Same as here...............

[appyday]

I was married to an "Arabian" family for awhile..they acted like fools when showing the horses...I thought there was nothing worse then somone showing an Arab in halter...complete fools I tell you..Pretty pretty mare above..

[lisa l aka marci]

In a former 'life' I worked at an Arabian farm - with many, many National Champion mares.....While the horses were beautiful, many of them were neurotic, hard to handle, and/or downright dangerous! One mare could not be approached at the shoulder, we were told she had been given 'hot shots' (cattle prod or taser) to get her hyped up for the show ring.....a stallion had to be handled with 2 people, he would attack (bit me once - and held on!) - he was sway-backed, ugly - AND used for breeding!

I think looking at the Liberty classes is nice, but knowing what can go on behind the scenes makes me glad I have Pasos!

[paintedhorizon]

What a beautiful mare!

[hast]

Interesting Lisa. All horses at "my" barn are quite gentle and friendly. They are really hyped up when they practice for show, and the worst that happens to them are that they are prodded with the stick, and quite gentle at that. My trainer uses a lot of voice commands (and gaaawwwd is he LOUD) and his horses (somewhere around 40 that show) don't walk, trot, canter on voice command, but snort, and get bugged eyed instead. :lol: I can easily handle his breeding studs (as long as they're not breeding at least) by myself. I've always been amazed at how well behaved these horses are -especially considering how nutsy they look while they practice their show stuff.

[Brigitte]

She's pretty!

[Pasomom]

She kinda looks a bit like Princess...nice little head.
For the most part, I would Say Princess is the best and most level headed horse on our place. She does have a mind of her own but she is very sensible. But when she was younger, she was known for taking Lori on a "wild ride" or two. ;-)

Now she is just the sweetest thing on the place. I wish all my horses behaved as well.! :shock:

[finolover]

THOSE DISH FACED TOWEL HEADS ....look retarded....Viva paso fino !!!!!

[PASOFAN]

Really nice shots, she looks very nice... Interesting on how they get them to perform... :D

[Got Brio?]

She's a pretty mare!My trainer has a halter gelding.

[Blameitonbrio]

She is beautiful. I have to say I have nothing but great things to say about our Arabian mare, Nisha. Nisha has impeccable ground manners. You couldn't ask for a sweeter, gentler horse. Yesterday, Grayson was riding her around our property with a halter and a leadrope. And yet, when you ask her, she can fire it up! Here's a picture of Bailey at age 5 leading her back to the barn after a leadline riding lesson.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/Danceswlabs/DSCF0102.jpg

[reuben T]

the hotter the nature of the horse the more skill needed in the trainer. consequently ya end up with some people who have a barn full of hard to handle horses who were made that way by the handlers, and they seem to think it's the horses nature. A skilled trainer could take any of those horses, do some appropriate training, or retraining, and have a nice easy to handle horse, in anywhere from a few minutes to a few months.
You contrast the horse trained and rode by Stacy Westfall (winning reining contests, bridaless) with those hard to handle show horses. The only difference is the education of the handler.

[CarolU]

Actually Ruebin, I disagree with that. While I DO believe that it is true of most horses, that the right trainer can accomplish wonders with them, can turn hard to handle horses into well-trained wonder horses, I don't believe it is true of all horses.

Studies with human twins have shown that 80% of personality is inherited. Intelligence is ALL inherited. That said, there are percentages of the human population that have learning disabilities, personality flaws, are sociopathic, etc...all inheritible problems. I am sure in any species, there is a similar percentage that are so-affected. Granted, with horses one would hope that psycho-horses are not bred to pass on these horrible traits, but we already know that if the psycho-horse has another desirable trait (e.g., speed, speed of footfall, looks, conformation, etc), then people will breed it and a certain number of the offspring will be born psycho.

I do believe that there are animals in every species that are 'psycho' and may/may not be trainable, but should never be bred. I have to respect breeds that put DISPOSITION at the top of their required breedability scale.

But, about average horses, I agree with you. The only problem most 'problem horses' have, are their owners or trainers. I firmly belive that most behavior problems are created by people.

[Moniece Dickerson]

I think that mare is pretty and so is the one Jeany posted :smile: !Moniece

[hast]

Another thought about the different cultures. Here it's very rare to geld a stallion, it's a manly thing :roll: that means that the stallions here are VERY well behaved for the most part. One of the ponies I ride is a stud and when I rode at a different barn there used to be several studs and mares in the arena -with beginners- for lessons. I've never seen a problem because the horses has been stallions, or in mixed company. The other day, one of the Arabians bred a mare, the next day a young guy and quite inexperienced rider, rode that stud while my friend and I rode a mare and another stud in the arena. That is one of the studs the trainer told me I could ride, but I haven't worked up the nerve to do that yet. He acts very much like Michico actually, bounces on stiff legs when he canters -he wants to GO.

[Barbwire]

Thanks for posting the pics, they are beautiful. Keep up the good work. :D

[motorgypsy]

Like paso finos I think Arabians have a rep for being too hot and unmanageable that most do not deserve. We boarded with an Arabian mare that was really sweet and a friend has one who is the best behaved horse at her barn. My friend also raised and bred Arabians for pleasure riders for years and I help her breed one and today I know just how well behaved they were. BAck then I thought it was the norm. There are two more Arabians at our boarding barn who are very nice and at all the endurance rides we've done 99% of the Arabians there were very very well behaved. I do think these owners are the future owners of paso finos though. You can take only so much of that big trot before you need a rest!!!

[Blameitonbrio]

Like paso finos I think Arabians have a rep for being too hot and unmanageable that most do not deserve.

I was just getting ready to post the very same statement. Both breeds suffer from people thinking they are nuts from being so hot blooded. I think the two breeds have a lot in common in that they are very intelligent, sensitve horses.

Thank you Moniece for the compliment on Nisha. She's no glamour girl like the one first posted, but I think she was a looker in her day. You can easily be deceived into thinking that she has no "go" by looking at her. She relaxes so much in the crossties, that she looks like a nag: her lower lip hangs down, her head hangs down, her ears swivel out to the side. The first time I saw her was that way, and I was so unimpressed. But when I saw her under saddle, she was all Arabian: alert, beautiful, tail out behind, and can go all day.

[Remy]

I have to put in my 2 cents worth here. Having lived in Saudi Arabia for several years and been heavily involved with the horses there, I can honestly tell you that there are very few that are badly behaved. I rode nothing but stallions while there and never had a problem either in the company of mares or out of it. Hast is right when she says that there are few geldings - it is a manly thing there. But my three Arabs (horses not men) were very well behaved.

We lived in Jeddah and the stable was on the outskirts of the desert so I have many great memories of daily desert rides. Occasionally we would organize a special desert ride and the men would dress in their thobes and heavily ornamented gutras (head dress) and we would ride out into the desert. Several carpets would be spread and we would drink tea (no alcohol of course) and sample sweet desserts. We would sit around and talk well into the hours of the night.

Most of our riding was done in late afternoon and I have some wonderful memories of riding back with a great red ball of the sun dropping into the Red Sea.

One of my horses was a lovely dappled grey stallion called Al Gersh. It is Arabic for The Shark as he was the color of a shark. Anyway one night as we were heading back into the stable, he literally went ballistic, reared several times and spun around and took off for the desert. Finally got him calmed down and turned back and discovered that another friend had decided to come out to meet us and was riding a camel. This was my first indication that Al Gersh was deathly afraid of camels.

Sorry to have run on and on and I hope I haven't bored you but I had some wonderful times there and made many great friends.

[Barbwire]

Bore us? Never! This is some great stuff. Please continue to share. :D

[Cindy]

Great story. I had a thought while reading it. If a horse freaks out in the desert, no big deal. Nothing to run into, just run. They will stop eventually. Perhaps that is the place to ride Arabians. :question

[Pasogirlz]

Great story. I had a thought while reading it. If a horse freaks out in the desert, no big deal. Nothing to run into, just run. They will stop eventually. Perhaps that is the place to ride Arabians. :question
:rofl
Cindy that was great. When my Princess was younger...she loved to take a high speed wild trail out of no where. :shock: I attribute most of my riding skills to that horse. :lol: One second you are cantering down the trail...and the next you are bunny hopping thru palmetto patches. :shock:

[Cindy]

And if you were in the desert, you would think nothing of it. Just like this pony :runaway:

[motorgypsy]

What a great story. I felt like I was there. Please share other memories you have of riding there. We h ave friends who lived in Jeddah but didn't ride. What a waste!

[Mellifluous]

Here is my sweet Arabian girl-

Awesome ground manners, good with kids -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/lady_addiosn.jpg

[reuben T]

i was thinking in generalities. any way, i'm glad to hear the arabs over there are generally so well trained, I've been getting the arabian horse world magazine for almost a year, read the reports of shows and breeding farm tours in that part of the world.

[Pam M]

What a great story Remy! I like to hear good things about Arabians. My absolute worst horse ever (he was truly terrible - killed a horse once - we got kicked out of 3 boarding barns!) was an Anglo-Arab. For years I blamed the Arab side (since I'm very partial to Tbreds!) but I've since run into a few Arabians that have started to change my mind. It's nice to hear about the greatness of any breed.

[motorgypsy]

Arabians are the breed I loved from my teens until I saw my first paso fino in Colombia. I still love Arabians - love to watch other people ride them! But I have to say I see so many that are no longer the beautiful work of art they used to be. Big and raw boned and almost a caricature of the original refined, breathtakingly beautiful horse they used to be. I'm sure there are still many out there as beautiful as the old ones but humans do have a tendency to breed to the extreme and this seems to be what has happened with this breed too often.

[hast]

Arabians and Pasos do have a lot in common. They look like they're ready to blow any minute, big eyes, blowing nostrils, head held high, but can be such gentle puppy dogs.

Remy, Jeddah has grown so fast it's almost impossible to get out in the desert to ride now. I too used to ride out into the desert only a couple of years ago, but it's nearly impossible to get out there now.
What stable did you ride at? I'm riding close to Bin Laden Industries (No, it doesn't belong to Osama ;-) ) just north of Mersal Village (the pottery place.) Most stables are in that area but the city has passed it now. Only a couple of years ago it was, literally, in the middle of the desert.

HTTY

[Remy]

hast: I used to ride at Abu Talal's stable. My good friend Achmed Al Harbi kept his horses there and that's where I got mine. I have forgotten the name that Abu Talal called his place. It's a b***h getting old. My memory seems to fail me at the most inopportune times. Another good friend, Hezam Al Lehyani, kept his horse - a jumper - at Trio Ranch but I didn't like that place as it was almost in town. I am sure it has probably been swallowed up by now. Hezam did very well in the KSA Nationals with his horse.

I hope you are enjoying the Kingdom. I did. You must miss your horse though while you are away from Florida. Have fun and stay safe. Olga

[hast]

I consider Abu Talal a friend. I used to ride there too, I usually rode some friend's horses. Did you know Pauline? She owns a couple of horses and takes care of Sheik Kaki's horses too. When were you there? Hezam Al Lehyani is a friend of mine tool. He is married now and hadn't ridden in quite some time last I talked to him.

Now I ride close, at Alesay's stable, where Mazen is the trainer. I just uploaded some pictures that will be posted soon.

Oh, here's a picture of our friend, Abu Talal with a beduin (Al Harbi) relative of his.
http://elaine.midgaard.us/saudi/Saudi-Jan-04/last-rolls/abu-talal.jpg

[motorgypsy]

Isn't that sad that the city has swallowed them up. I can't imagine anything so beautiful as riding the desert at sunset.

It's the same thing with our mountains. You used to be able to ride all over but now they've built a rich golf course community on our property line. It's so sad. We're running out of space for riding our lovely critters and with gas so high trailer is no longer as much of an option.

[Blameitonbrio]

What a beautiful story Remy! Something about that part of the world is enchanting -- especially when you add beautiful horses to it!

[hast]

I forgot. Abu Talal's stable is called Al Jazira (meaning island, has nothing to do with the TV station) Equestrian Center. And Hezam (the world is truly small ;-) ) sold his jumper just after he married, he did jump one of Kaki's horses a couple of times but that was quite a while ago. Trio Ranch is still going strong, VERY expensive, and less private horses than they used to have but they still have a lot of jumping competitions over there.

[CarolU]

Elaine and Olga, amazing that you two both have ridden at the same stable in a country halfway around the world, and yet you met here on a BB for a whole different breed. Yes, the world is a small place.

I owned and showed Arabians in the past. I have to agree that they are a great deal like Paso Finos, very sensitive, willing, and a lot of energy. Yes, some of them can do the 30-foot sideways equine tele-transport following the emergence of a jack-rabbit, but so can Diablo - and I think Buddy has the same reaction time.

I have also loved Arabians since my childhood and still believe they are Nature's most beautiful creation. I think it is sad that man keeps 'improving' them and making them look less and less like a horse, long skinny snakey necks and faces so dished many look like seahorses. I think that it is very sad what some of them look like now.

I really love horses with beautiful heads.

[paintedhorizon]

Wow Remy and Hast! Talk about a small world!!!

Hast, that pic above is only missing one thing, the Black Stallion! ;-)

[hast]

Duh... :roll: if I had looked close enough to see that your name is Olga I would have realized. You do know my friend Pauline, AND my friend Diana. I've heard so much about you -just not that you're into Paso Finos. ;-)

[Pasogirlz]

How cool Elaine and Olga! 8-)
I think I met Remy on HC? She's gonna be one of our converts really soon....
When did you say you would be back in the states? :lol:

[hast]

LOL, probably not until June... but I've not decided yet.

[Remy]

After I got off the web I remembered the name of Abu Talal's stable. Great that you know Hezam. He and his wife were in Kuala Lumpur a couple of years ago and we met up. It was great to see him again. Yes I know Diana. She came to visit us when we lived in the British Virgin Islands. In fact after she left Jeddah, she went back to the UK and then returned to Taif for a while. I believe that she is back in the UK now.

I do not presently own a Paso Fino. I got involved with the BB because I want to import one to Malaysia. There are none here at present. I think the Malaysians will fall in love with them. We presently have two horses - one is a TB from Australia (my husband's horse) and mine ( I was to9ld when I bought him) is an ex-cutting horse from NZ. But I don't believe he really is an ex-cutting horse because once when we were out in the palm plantation we ran into some wild cattle. He was terrified and I could feel his heart beating through the saddle. He stood like a trooper but was not at all happy.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/joolzep/WildWildWestRR091.jpg

[Remy]

Elaine: Sorry I keep popping back, but it really is a coincidence.... I have always thought what a small world it can be. I think I met Pauline once at an Arabian show. She sat next to us. We left Jeddah in 2000 after being there for four years and I missed it sorely for a while. Then we moved to the BVIs and then to Malaysia. Ask Pauline if she remembers the night ride when they gave her a horse that was used for endurance. It took off with her and she ended up in the hospital. I was on that ride. And please do give my rregards to Hezam and his wife if you would. He's a great guy.

Is your Mazen the same Mazen who worked for Saudi Customs? And do you know a jockey....can't remember his name....who speaks only Arabic but keeps interspersing the phrase "nobody home" into his conversation? I guess I should PM you instead of taking up room on the board. Anyway have one of Al Bilad's famous hot blackberry sundaes for me.........
Great to reminisce.

[hast]

Yes, Diana is back in UK, she went back over a year ago... I think. I've heard a lot about the ride when Pauline fell off and ended up in hospital... Since you were there for that ride, I bet you know Sandy too. LOL, she was the one who got me back to horses and riding. She was school nurse at the American school (NCS) in Jeddah where I taught and brought me to the Abu Talal's to ride one of her horses.
No, it's not the same Mazen, this Mazen is the best trainer... but LOUD. ;-)
I think Pasos would be great just about anywhere, everyone I show all my clips (Lori's clips ;-) ) to are just mesmerized. Here in Jeddah they now are the "Dancing horses" and I just wait for one the the wealthy guys to decide to get a few here. LOL