Isabel's Charm

I recently reached out to Isabel's owner to see if there's a proper show name that I ought to be using. Turns out, her breeder showed her as "Isabel's Charm." I kind of love it, and think it suits her wonderfully. (plus some context: Baltimore is known as Charm City)

But Isabel's owner went a step further and passed along these photos of Isabel as a baby through to her first show! Look at her - already looking like a seasoned veteran with some nice ribbons at her first outing! 

this could practically have been us three weeks ago, except that's not me and the pic is probably 5-7 yrs old

already looking sassy lol

Her owner also told me that Isabel's sire was Admiral, a 1994 chestnut stallion owned by Ann McKay. According to google and Ann McKay's website, Admiral Harnly is the grandson of Aazrak, a renowned sport horse and the 2007 Maryland Stallion of Distinction. 

Aazrak apparently did hunters, jumpers, dressage, English & Western pleasure, pole bending, stock and trail horse, harness classes, and all the Arabian and all breed shows over the East Coast. Plus endurance. So, uh, there's a LOT of versatility in there! 

And it is believed that Admiral is the heir-apparent to Aazrak's legacy of exceptional Arabian-bred sport horses. 

Admiral Harnly

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Admiral Harnly - i totally see it, do you?

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Just some quick googling shows that quite a few horses that trace their roots to Admiral or Aazrak (or Ann McKay's breeding program) are currently eventing in and around Maryland! So apparently Isabel's just been waiting to do this all her life. How cool! 

But let's take this one step further: I've taken a handful lessons with Dan Clasing, and he seems to have a more or less favorable impression of Isabel. However, according to this article, he's a former student of Ann McKay's and moved into her old barn when she packed up shop. So it's actually possible that he knew Isabel's sire! Random, no?

(more context: Baltimore is also known as Smalltimore. This is a perfect example why lol)