Our farm was born out
of my love for horses. In 1962 I bought my first horse. Not only my
first, but also my best. She took a completely inexperienced girl and
helped her to progress to be a knowledgeable horsewoman.
Arabians had always
been my first love and in 1968 my first Half-Arabian entered my life.
Like almost everyone else I had to sacrifice things I cared for in order
to progress with future plans. I had to sell my Half-Arabian so that I
could buy my first Purebred Arabian. He went to a girl that cared for
him as much as I did. That helped to ease my conscience.
In 1972 I purchased my
very own first Purebred, my stallion A.A. Ibn Hawk.
He who recently died at the grand age of 34.
With the arrival of
my very own stallion we established
MI-OWN
ARABIANS
We have been showing,
breeding and training ever since. We began in Pennsylvania and did very
well with our horses on the East Coast. In 1978 we moved to Florida. We
established a nice training, boarding and breeding farm. We did well on
both the Arabian and open circuit.
We have always been a
family owned and operated farm. Our clients' horses
were always handled by us and treated with the utmost consideration for
their safety and well being. Our farm was located between Ocala and
Gainesville in a little town called Citra. We were in the middle of all
the Arabian activities that were going on.
Even though we were in
the middle of all that was occurring in the Arabian Horse World in the
1970's until the present we felt that our best interest for the Arabian
Horse was for us to have a facility that would encourage the owners that
brought their horses to us to work with and show their own horses and to
keep them out of the hands of trainers that only cared about their
wallets. We did not feel comfortable with what was happening to the
Arabian Horse out behind the barns at the shows. We took great pride in
our gentle, loving horses and found it every hard to understand why
people thought it was exciting to see the stallions come into the ring
on their back feet trying to savage the handler.
Yes, we did try to do
something about the abuse we saw. We contacted the ethical review board
and also tried to work within the lega l system. We learned that money
does talk. And it wasn't ours that was talking. We decided to just enjoy
our horses and try to get people to know that all Arabians were not
crazy. Our stallion went into the show ring but did not savage his
handler (me) and then went home and bonded with a handicapped person.
Our mare went to a show and then went home to allow a young woman who
was disabled to hoist herself up and fulfill a dream of riding an
Arabian. We had exposure in the magazines with our horses winning but
the greatest satisfaction was seeing that not everyone thought the
Arabian was crazy.
We watched the Arabian
go for unheard of prices at all the big sales in Florida and then went
to the local sale barns a year later and watched the big farms selling
their excess horses for $400.00 So much for trying to keep the prices of
Arabians reasonable. It was hard to see such a noble breed buckle under
to greed.
We moved to Tennessee
in 1996 and still have our original stallion and mare that we had when
we stared out in Pa. Kari, our mare is 34
now and Hawk, our stallion is 32. We still offer
a facility that gives you quiet time with your horses and we still enjoy
a show or two. We have a small log cabin that we
offer to anyone that wants to just get away and bring their horse with
them.
Our farm sits on a
creek that is surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife. We are located
near the Natural Bridge and TN Health Spa. The Elephant Sanctuary is
near us and we have great canoeing on the Buffalo River. We are only 20
miles from Sweetwater Farm
who have a lovely family oriented farm. I feel fortunate to have met
Shannon and share her interest in Arabians. While she is just starting
her endeavors with the Arabian, I'm sitting back enjoying the fruits of
my labor. I hope we can both benefit from our meeting and getting to
know each other. Click on the images to see the picture enlarged.
