Arabian Horses in the 1980s

[cajunbelle]

[QUOTE=Sonesta;4724272]

When the “investor” owners (mostly doctors who knew NOTHING about horses) learned they could no longer write off the incredible expenses of these horses against their regular income (thus, the tax-shelter aspect) they just walked away from them. They couldn’t be sold. They were worthless. A “million dollar” horse was of no value at all overnight.[/QUOTE]

I remember this!

Doctors and investors would show up at the barn with absolutely no idea about horses. Investors just forked out tons of cash for their new nest-eggs! Those faces that had grins from ear to ear, were frantic… shortly after the new tax laws.

[Watermark_Farm]

Druid Acres, thanks for posting this info. It’s fascinating! I well remember the Arab craze of the late 70s/early 80s and all the Arab farms in my area (East Bay area near San Francisco) that were going under.

I just lost my 30 year old Arabian gelding last year. He was a 1979 model and part of that era. His family tree seriously did not fork — his ‘linebreeding’ was something else!

[Chaila]

I think it was kind of like “Tulip Fever” in Holland, where suddenly tulips were worth thousands.

I remember asking my dad back then when he took me to Kentucky where he was designing a barn renovation: “But what are they going to DO with the horses? Why isn’t anybody going to ride them?”

And he tried to explain the art/investment thing which was totally lost on me.

[chemteach]

[QUOTE=Sonesta;4724272]
It was a horrifying time. Horses were abandoned at farms and the farms sent them to slaughter or to the lowest end auctions you can imagine. I bought several at that time for pennies - including the wonderful black stallion we stood for many years - Fyre One. He was an Aladdinn son out of the Bask mare, Fyre Love. She had sold in foal with Fyre for the highest price for an Arabian mare in history at that time. And he was just abandoned at the farm where he was boarded.

When the “investor” owners (mostly doctors who knew NOTHING about horses) learned they could no longer write off the incredible expenses of these horses against their regular income (thus, the tax-shelter aspect) they just walked away from them. They couldn’t be sold. They were worthless. A “million dollar” horse was of no value at all overnight.[/QUOTE]

I loved your stallion. I also have a “dumped mare.” She is by Strike and out of Provactiv, both National Champions. I bought her before she was being sent to auction because her owner had not paid her training bill.

It may have became the “worst of times” but it certainly was also the time of many great Arabians. I always suspected money didn’t actually change hands and really was glad to see a lot of the passive, never rode a horse investors out. But now it seems to be dominated by big monied foreign investors.

I am thankful to have seen such wonderful horses and am thankful for the great times at the Nationals.

[gwenrowdy]

I’m old enough to remember that era, too. As I recall, the movement started in Scottsdale and the prices skyrocketed despite warnings from people who remembered a similar boom-and-bust trend with Shetland ponies in the '50’s-selling for huge sums one day and a few dollars the next (although I’m not old enough to remember the Shetland pony fiasco). There were enough Arabians killed for insurance money for a former homicide detective to make a living investigating the insurance scams. I read an article about him and his work in a magazine and it was a real eye-opener.

[Bank_of_Dad]

This is really interesting. I am old enough to remember the true classic farms from the 50’s and 60’s–NeverDie in Md, Al Marah in Md., Varian, Donahue, Cederdell, Rogers in Ca. Then when I got a farm in the 70’s, they were expensive, and by the 80’s unattainable for the backyard rider. I was really lucky in 1980 to be able to breed my QH mare to a Raffles grandson for next to nothing. I had kids in the 80’s and stopped following the market, so I never really understood what made the breed take such a wrong turn. With the market flooded now, I purchased two (unfortunately crazy horses which I no longer have). Last year I was given a wonderful older one, and I’ve noticed a lot of free Arabs on the 'net.

[tkhawk]

[QUOTE=gwenrowdy;4725283]
As I recall, the movement started in Scottsdale and the prices skyrocketed despite warnings from people who remembered a similar boom-and-bust trend with Shetland ponies in the '50’s-selling for huge sums one day and a few dollars the next .[/QUOTE]

Interesting, I was not aware of a Shetland pony boom and bust.

But OP thanks for the piece, very informative. Just sad, I love Arabs. But I guess such is life.

[chemteach]

I also remember Never Die in Maryland and Al-Marah when it was up in Barnestown. I was fortunate enough to visit Lasma and Chauncey’s in Scottsdale, Varian in California, and several others. Couldn’t buy anything from there but loved seeing the horses and the farms.

[gloriginger]

[QUOTE=Bank of Dad;4725394]
Last year I was given a wonderful older one, and I’ve noticed a lot of free Arabs on the 'net.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, just do a search on Craiglist in Phoenix for Arabian in the farm section- there are some really nice horses being sold for next to nothing. Ofcourse the economy has impacted all areas of the horse world- but there are some very nicely bred Arabians being sold for a fraction of the breeding fees…

[Mara]

[QUOTE=Bank of Dad;4725394]
This is really interesting. I am old enough to remember the true classic farms from the 50’s and 60’s–NeverDie in Md, Al Marah in Md., Varian, Donahue, Cederdell, Rogers in Ca. Then when I got a farm in the 70’s, they were expensive, and by the 80’s unattainable for the backyard rider. I was really lucky in 1980 to be able to breed my QH mare to a Raffles grandson for next to nothing. I had kids in the 80’s and stopped following the market, so I never really understood what made the breed take such a wrong turn. With the market flooded now, I purchased two (unfortunately crazy horses which I no longer have). Last year I was given a wonderful older one, and I’ve noticed a lot of free Arabs on the 'net.[/QUOTE]

Al-Marah and Varian are still around; Bazy Tankersley and Sheila Varian have ALWAYS insisted that their horses have a purpose and a job other than getting wiggy on the end of a shank. The Arabians they breed are gorgeous, but they do as the Arab was meant to do - perform in a variety of disciplines.

[quietann]

When I tried out my mare (Morgan), the owners, who didn’t have arenas, trucked her down the road to a place that turned out to be Bazy T’s Maryland farm, which she still owns. There aren’t any Arabians there anymore, AFAIK, but it was something to ride at a place with such a “history.”

[ReSomething]

I remember Arabs being HUGE in SoCal, and of course lots of little breeder operations in NorCal. I fell in love with Bask (IIRC he wasn’t as special then)and read all the articles in Horse Illustrated, about Cal Poly Pomona, Kellogg Ranch, John Davidson, Wayne Newton - this was in the early '70’s so before it got so crazy.
I’m very thankful that I missed the front row seats for the crash - Tamara, the thought of all those boxes of registration papers for those horses just left in a corner to be disposed of is chilling.

Boom and bust, history is forever doomed to repeat itself.

[SarahandSam]

I had a bunch of Arabian Journals (or whatever the main Arab magazine was called) that I somehow acquired when I was a youngster; apparently this would’ve been after the boom ended… I knew that Arabs had become trendy and then the market crashed, but I didn’t know how extensive all of this was. I remember being a horse-crazy preteen looking through all the Arab magazines and daydreaming and naming my fantasy horses after them…

[Mara]

[QUOTE=SarahandSam;4725613]
I had a bunch of Arabian Journals (or whatever the main Arab magazine was called) that I somehow acquired when I was a youngster; apparently this would’ve been after the boom ended… I knew that Arabs had become trendy and then the market crashed, but I didn’t know how extensive all of this was. I remember being a horse-crazy preteen looking through all the Arab magazines and daydreaming and naming my fantasy horses after them…[/QUOTE]

I actually had a subscription to Arabian Horse World! The regular monthly edition was as thick as a phone book, and the Scottsdale edition was two volumes. I’d spend hours reading the ads.

[arabhorse2]

@Mara;4726181

I actually had a subscription to Arabian Horse World! The regular monthly edition was as thick as a phone book, and the Scottsdale edition was two volumes. I’d spend hours reading the ads.

I did too. Those were some impressive magazines in the Arabian heyday. Glossy, usually over 300 pages each month, with tons of full color pictures and a lot of many-paged spreads for the really big farms. Conny was a ‘bust’ purchased horse. Born in 1982, and I got him for next to nothing in 1986. His breeder went out of business, but is still heavily involved in the Virginia Arabian Horse Association.

[ayrabz]

Obviously an arab lover here… (duh)…but even more so a USING horse lover. I don’t think horses being bred for halter is exclusive to arabians, either. Look at the ‘cattle beef’ style QHs with grossly over developed builds and TEENY TINY feet.

To me, breeding for usage and training undersaddle once of age (!!!) vs. just breeding pasture art is important in every breed.

But, I do agree the over inflated prices are much less prevelant anymore----I grin to think I couldn’t even sell my Desperado V gelding for the stud fee to get him here ! (I wasn’t his breeder, though) Times have indeed changed.

[arabhorse2]

Conny was performance bred and had big, ole feet! Casper has big feet, too. I like a riding animal, not something that just looks picturesque posing out in the pasture.

[SarahandSam]

[QUOTE=Mara;4726181]
I actually had a subscription to Arabian Horse World! The regular monthly edition was as thick as a phone book, and the Scottsdale edition was two volumes. I’d spend hours reading the ads.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I think that was it! I learned a lot about Arabian breeding and pedigrees from those ads… or at least I got to recognize all the important names.

[mvp]

Good memories, actually!

A dinky back-yard breeding farm in Brentwood, CA (in back of NorCal’s East Bay, not the SoCal city) stood a useful stallion named HK Kryptonite. They said the breeding operation paid for itself and then some.

These were good people and horsemen. Kryptonite (a stocky, ridden bay thing) lived in the barn with the mares. He was shown in hand and under saddle in western tack. As a kid or 12 or so, I handled him and his babies. He was ridden out in the hills with mares. The breeders were honest about which babies were worthy of reproduction and which were not.

This was the first stallion-- and high standards for stallion behavior-- I knew. I’m deeply grateful to these people for showing me how it could be done.

[Foxtrot_s]

Even in Canada - I remember a recording artist that we knew, he knew we were into horses - he came around with gorgeous glossy phamphlets and tried to sell us on the ‘deal’. He happened to be one born with a silver spoon in his mouth and we stayed on our own path. He had a lovely place with lovely horses grazing in the pasturres - never did anything with them except try to sell them and the concept.

Like everyone else, he lost his shirt.

…memories of Llamas, ostriches, pot bellied pigs…