Age No Barrier

Ally Hudson, Quartz Hill Arabians reports:

As breeders of Arabian horses for over 30 years, part of the fun has always been showing them. My husband Ray’s showing journey began about 19 years ago, when he showed Quartz Hill Farm Luv in the Mist to win Reserve Champion Purebred Yearling Filly at East Coast in 1998. Classes were huge and this was such a terrific result for small breeders. I am sure this magic moment has kept him keen ever since.

Recently Ray decided he would like to venture into the halter world again, so at the age of 72 years he returned to the ring at the 2017 East Coast Championships to show our homebred buckskin filly, three-year-old QHF Kit Kat to a Top Five (see photos above). He also had the fun of showing our other derivative filly, yearling palomino Quartz Hill Farm Gidgee Gold, now owned by Judith Perkins and she was sashed Top Five too – both fillies actually being placed third. Ray loved these results and the smile on his face was gold!

We would just like to share this moment with other Arabian horse owners and say come on out and have fun! Show your own horses with pride – don’t be scared to make mistakes or to lose. There are so many people in the crowd who judge for themselves the horses in front of them, as we know the judges do not always get it right and this is obvious to spectators.

Ray’s East Coast results were, and always will be a thrill for him and prove you can show your own horse, no matter what age you are. There is nothing as rewarding as preparing and training your own horses. Ray hopes this will be inspirational to many others who have beautiful, functional Arabian horses in their paddocks, so that they too can live the Arabian horse dream. It can be done!