Wednesday, November 5, 2014

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

Admiral Harnly - i totally see it, do you?

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)

32 comments:

  1. Aw she was adorable as a foal! Love the stallion too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks! i kinda love that she already had so much personality as a baby too :)

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. i'm kinda dying over her curled up little ears lol

      Delete
  3. SQUEE baby pix!!!
    Love that you have been able to find out so much about baby Izzy & her background. Small world that DC prob knows her papa. ☺

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm kinda excited about this stuff - never knew much about any given horse's history, but it's cool to learn that Isabel has such distinguished relatives

      Delete
  4. Handsome stallion. Totally see it. Is she eating that red ribbon?? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol she might be- maybe feels it's taking too much attention from her flowing red mane??

      Delete
  5. It's so awesome you got a glimpse into Izzy's past and her lineage! It sucks that Arabians get a bad rep sometimes- in the right hands they really have the potential to do so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I honestly knew nothing about Arabs before Isabel. It's been an education for sure. They are a neat breed!

      Delete
  6. Ooo! What a lovely stallion! Indiana is a string of horse-people coincidences, too. We all know each other in some way. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aww baby pics!! Sooo cute!! <3 And that is awesome about her history…it was meant to be ! ! ^.^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i love that she's already sassy, even as a baby :)

      Delete
  8. What a cute baby horse!? And so fun that you found all this history about her!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was kinda surprised to find so much, actually

      Delete
  9. Baby horse pictures are the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they're just so cute (in a funny-looking kind of way lol)

      Delete
  10. omg the baby pics! squee!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Baby pictures!!!!!!!!! Love them! It's no wonder she's so gorgeous, her sire is a hunk! I'm so happy you got in touch with her breeder and got all of the information and pictures. I love the show name Isabel's Charm. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. for some reason i kinda expected her to have a more exotic show name (maybe something egyptian?), but i kinda love the simplicity of Isabel's Charm :)

      Delete
  12. such cute baby photos! You are lucky that you were able to get them, it is so cool being able to see her grow through the photos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it was such a nice treat finding these in my inbox - she's so darling !

      Delete
  13. Awww, baby pictures! I'm sure the breeder loved hearing from you too. Connor's breeder loves it when people who've bought her ponies reach out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the cuteness is def overwhelming lol. and yea - i actually learned that the breeder has another foal on the way from Admiral - so the legacy continues!

      Delete
  14. Found this article, not sure if you’ll see this since it’s 8 years later. I grew up with Sabrina, we were best friends and both rode with Ann and had our horses there. Isabel’s dam is an Arabian mare named Lady who Sabrina leased from Cool Meadows and kept at Ann’s. Sabrina decided to breed her own dream horse and bred Lady to Admiral and the result is Isabel. She was so proud of her filly, and truly did a great job raising and starting her. I miss the days of Ann McKays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooooh hello! So awesome that you found this! Isabel really is the coolest mare <3 over time I have learned more and more about her breeding and history - and even got to meet Sabrina when she came for a visit (and hopped on for a ride herself!). Sadly Isabel stepped down from competing a few years ago but the time I had with her was totally transformative <3

      Are you still local? I’ve come to know a few folks who trace their roots back to Ann’s farm, I wonder if we have mutual friends?

      Delete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You may need to enable third party cookies in your browser settings if you have trouble using this form.