A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses Part 5 The Legendary Khemosabi

Part 1

I was getting closer to having the contract on my dream Arabian horse paid off and already my dream was getting legs and running off with my imagination. Hand in hand the two were weaving a tale of Arabian show horses and neck garlands of red roses. I was looking for the perfect stallion to introduce to my dream Arabian mare (horse) so we could produce those Arabian show horses.

From the beginning in this whole Arabian horse dream thing of mine I've been fortunate enough to have a great eye. I'm not sure why exactly because it wasn't from experience. I didn't have much of that. My guess is that it had to do with me being an artist and seeing balance, because I've always been pretty good at telling a good Arabian horse or good horses of any breed for that matter.

Searching for the right Arabian stallion, I didn't do too badly either. My first choice was the great Khemosabi. At the time, I didn't know how great this magnificent Arabian horse was, I just knew he looked like the right horse for my mare. I spoke with the trainers about him and they confirmed that this stallion was a good cross for my mare. The decision was made, I wanted to breed Scandalous to Khemosabi, simple as that, well, not hardly.

While I worked in the Arabian training/show barn, I didn't ever go to the horse shows with them. I always stayed home to care for the horses so there was a lot I didn't know. about the show horse environment including its cause and effect on breeding fees etc. When I called Ruth Husband, the head of the Khemosabi Syndicate, I had no clue what that all meant. To me, she was the person I needed to talk to about breeding my mare to Khemosabi. The term " syndicate" didn't set off little alarm bells in my head telling me this horse's stud fee was well out of my reach, so I made the call.

I found Ruth Husband to be a gracious and very friendly lady. She asked me all kinds of questions about my mare, her breeding, size, etc. I think she asked me some questions about myself too but nothing that particularly jumped out at me. All I can tell you for sure is that by the time we were done talking, Ruth had offered me the right to purchase a breeding to Khemosabi that she had donated to an orphan school in some third world country. I could have the breeding for a donation of $2500 to the school. Ruth was sending me all the necessary paperwork.

It wasn't until I went back to work at the Arabian training/show barn telling them about my conversation with Rush Husband, that I even realized the magnitude of what had just happened. The trainers were squealing and calling me lucky and rambling all kinds of things. Through it, I finally pieced together the reason for their excitement. The breeding fee for Khemosabi at that time was $10,000.

Then the little bells in my head started ringing. A stud fee of that size was enough to tell me this wasn't just a nice Arabian horse. I began asking questions of owners and the trainers to find out what was so special about this particular Arabian horse. I got as many different answers as people I asked. Not understanding the whole show scene, the varying pieces of information were difficult to really grasp. But one piece of information was the same for all of the people, the horse had won national championships in halter and western pleasure at the same show. That was enough to tell even me that I'd picked a superstar.

Now, I was really beginning to get excited and that weaving going on with my dreams and my imagination really started to take shape. I couldn't wait for the breeding packet to arrive. In my mind that foal was already born, grown and heading for the show ring. But sometimes, no matter how good it sounds, it's just not meant to be.

When the packet arrived and I had the chance to read it over, I figured all of the charges (like $17 a day for just a paddock, shipping fees, estimates on veterinary fees, and the mare had to stay a minimum of 120 days after she was found to be in foal). Even if everything went smooth as glass, it would be a minimum of $10,000 even with the discounted breeding fee to breed Scandalous, my Arabian mare to the legendary Arabian stallion, Khemosabi. There was no way I could pull that off.

Ruth Husband graciously offered to give me some time to get the money together. I knew the orphan school really needed the money. The odds that I could pull this off were between zero and none. I thanked Ruth for her generosity and let go of the Khemosabi tapestry woven by my dreams and my imagination.

I didn't let go of the dream of breeding my Arabian horse, Scandalous and I didn't totally let go of the dream of Khemosabi. Instead the weaving began with a different stallion, a young unproven stallion that I already knew and really liked as a person and an Arabian horse. He was standing right there in the Arabian training/show barn. His owner really needed money to be able to take her Arabian horse to nationals that year and offered me a deal on the breeding fee.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed the way the dream was intended to be. The beautiful black bay stallion with four white stockings, a star, a strip and a snip and those wonderful long legs had already found a place in my heart. So once again I trusted my heart and dared to dream. The tapestry took off into a blaze of tones and hues just like those woven around the legendary Khemosabi. The dream seemed to take on a life of its own as Scandalous was bred to GS Khochise, a young, unknown son of Khemosabi.

Was there any hope that a first time horse owner with little experience could attain the level of accomplishment that tapestry entailed? Only time would tell. Would the tapestry reflect the greatness of Khemosabi even though it was once removed? I'm sure that others wondered. But I chose to live it more like it was a premonition than a dream...........

To be continued....

Part 6



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