Destiny…Fate….Fortune …Providence….by definition it is the predetermined and inevitable series of events that happen to somebody or something; the inner purpose of life that can be discovered and realized.  My destiny begins, as with most stories, with a very special friend and an incredible Russian stallion.  A spark that ignited a smoldering passion of Arabian horses, to an inferno called the Russian Heritage Foundation. 

Always around horses I was that little girl who begged her dad for a horse.  Any horse would do in the beginning…there was just something comforting about the smell, their breath on your cheek and something inspiring about their nobility.  I was lucky to have a Dad who shared that passion with me, a true horseman he is always with an eye to the total package he calls a “good horse”.  I found myself drawn over the years to a very specific looking “good horse” though, one with spirit, beauty and a freedom that touched my heart.  The horses that drew me were always Arabian.

Years went by and several horses in and out of my life.  A series of personal obstacles made me think that Arabian horses were just not meant to be a part of my life.  A wonderful friend, who stood by me and was always there for me during this time of obstacle, in turn suffered her own personal tragedy and led me to appreciate what horses, really brought to my life.  All this in turn led to a horse that would change both our lives; a grand stallion who had been destined to find us and we him.  A horse that would change both our fortunes forever and one that was straight Russian.

Captivated by this stallion and his offspring, I went looking for more Russian horses.  As fate would have it, my search led to Jane Woodward and Top of the World Ranch.  Here I found my kindred spirit, a breeder with the same ideals, stringent expectations, and 30 plus years of wonderful Russian and Russian related horses to back it up.  An ideal mentor on this journey, Jane is full of personal experience and knowledge that she is readily willing to share.  A genuine person dedicated to the breed and producing high quality Arabian horses, and a person who is quick to help others with similar ideals.  A lady I have affectionately nickname “Pandora”, truly the person who allowed me to “open the box” and start me on a journey 30 years ahead of schedule!

There are several roads in this journey that converge as one.  The one that led to Top of the World crossed over that of another lovely lady, this time from Australia, Kim Cox of Caramea Stud.  Kim has an intense interest in Russian blood, one that was not easily quenched in her own country.  We met in this kinship of interest and began a trek that would take us back through time and to places that still boast the horses of Tersk.  As I planned this journey, where my Australian friend and I would travel, I began to visualize a plan. One I hoped would unite these breeders of Tersk to one like and common goal, as it had been done many years before.  This plan did not fade but ignited to a flame that burned brightly by the end of this pilgrimage, our search to touch the “pieces of perfection”.

So it began on a day in May, strangers that were sisters in heart, met for the first time and in our travels began to see what we could only imagine before.  The pedigrees that we had researched, visualized and dreamed about were about to become living pedigrees before us. 

Muscat, like a mirror reflected in his son Akshyon, brought to life with the huge, bold trot of his sire.  A flash of Salon in the graceful arch of his neck, this was our intent.  Hands laid on the horse that brought his ancestry forth in a living pedigree.  We were witness to the genetics of his sire and dam, grandsire and grand dam, the past alive before us, holding a promise to what was to come.  And so we wandered through the halls of Tersk, no where near the place but feeling very much like we were indeed there.  Our first day was a plethora of lessons on what these horses bred on through their descendants and opened our eyes to what they could bring to our future.

The next few days brought to life the pedigrees of Moment, Mag, Princip and many others; but it also brought to us the wisdom of the breeders who owned these living examples of Russian art.  I was so impressed by the willingness of these breeders to share their passion and knowledge of the horses they owned, eager it seemed to bestow on us what they had garnered in their quest for perfection.  This was just compounded from farm to farm, breeder to breeder.  From Top of the World Ranch, to Singinghearts Farm we were inundated with horses, pedigrees and the wisdom of their breeders.  There were so many things to remember, each keeping special memories that will be a part of us until we die.  

One such memory for me was meeting the son of a horse I had admired for ages; the grey brother of Muscat. His son was a horse that took my breath away as a yearling and that exemplified everything I was striving for in my quest to breed that perfect Arabian.  He was the flame version of his sire Moment, though the exotic type of his Aswan dam Muzza remained with him, the proud and dignified horse that took my breath away was before me in the flesh. He lowered his head for my attention then reared in a moment that will be with me for the rest of my days.  Momentus MG is truly a vision to behold and a credit to his breeder as well as his family that are now owned by him.

Another one of these memories will be the visit to the fields of Kentucky.  There we met living sons and a daughter of Salon.  There we watched the “Pieces of Perfection” with Tom and Sue Shone and then wandered the fields to see these pieces walking among us.  This was repeated again in the pastures of Sport Arabians with Cindi Nutter and her amazing *Salon daughter Sentochka and her sister by *Sasha, Flamencka.  The consistency in the pedigrees of these horses was amazing!

The rolling bluegrass of Kentucky led to the farm of Harvey Arabians, a melting pot of Muscat history.  There were Muscat sons and daughters at every turn; each much like their sire, and yet others so representative of their dam line.  The barn aisles resonate with the names of Muslin, Kresnev, Viktor MBF and Nadir I of Sax Arabian fame.

We were nearing the end of this fabulous journey and yet again a road from my past crossed over the one we travelled.  Several years ago I called to talk to a wonderful man about his Russian breeding program.  He had mares that I was so interested in, a daughter of Mag and another daughter of Pattrone.  My passion for these horses was real, my enthusiasm great, but I hesitated to walk in the shadow of this great breeder.  On the spur of the moment, just before we left, I gave this man a call…wondering if I should or should not waste his time and hoping against all hope he would have time to talk with us and show us the wondrous horses that grace the fields of Selket Arabians.  What a fool I was for waiting so long and wasting so much time. 

Arriving at Selket and meeting Jim, Ron and Kelly was like a homecoming.  A peaceful and serene setting of grazing mares and peacocks, a place to touch history and to learn from one of the most knowledgeable breeders of any time, I was a sponge listening to the many stories that Jim shared.  A privilege it was to talk with the man who saw or owned so many great Russian horses.  There were so many stories of Kilimandscharo, Pattrone, Menes and Neman.  There was too much to learn from this gentle man and too little time to talk and absorb these stories.  Living proof of this man’s knowledge was evident in the horses that graced his pastures.  Huge eyes watched us and quickly we became the center of attraction.  Preferred Time, daughter of Pattrone and her pasture mate Kira El Khamal, (daughter of the great Furno Khamal and *Kiraa by Kilimandscharo) greeted us and I stood in awe of these wonderful mares.  Here in these pastures it became very apparent to me the importance of the Russian mare out crossed on the stallions of today’s show ring.  The importance of keeping movement, balance and structure as well as type was witnessed in foal after foal that we saw at Selket.  We spent the day taking in each one of these lovely Russian horses, trying to memorize what we saw in each of them and how their heritage came through from Tersk.  The evening was spent in kinship of Russian horses and more stories that I absorbed with the verve of a zealous student until the wee hours of the morning….another mentor I adopted that evening and I shook my head at how close I had come to not taking the opportunity that fate had thrown my way.  A mistake I will never again make!

So where to we go from here?  Do we leave this heritage behind, left to memories that will fade with time?  These horses have too much to contribute to the Arabian breed; there would be a great hole that would never be filled if we let this Russian Heritage slip through out fingers.  So we gather together the knowledge of past and current Russian breeders, we gather together the best mares and stallions of Tersk and we strive together as a group to maintain and protect these lines from extinction but with an eye to maintaining the “Pieces of Perfection.” 

So begins the Russian Heritage Foundation, like its predecessor the Russian Heritage Breeders group from years past, but with a new twist and flavor to the future of the Russian horse;  a flavor that will include breeders and stallions from all over the world, breeders like Darius Arabians of Germany and their awe inspiring straight Russian stallion Massai Ibn Maregna.  Massai brings all the qualities that we hope to achieve within the Russian Heritage program.  His offspring are exotic and true to Arabian type, all while maintaining the powerful movement that these Russian horses were known for.  This is a horse that will excel this program to the forefront of breeding, a horse that the Russian Heritage foundation is honored to have been allowed to be the agents for breedings in North America.  We look to the future and hold our breath, harbingers of the new era of Russian horses.


Massai Ibn Marenga and Prussia MG video

The halls of Tersk will echo again with the snort of stallions and the sounds of the mares as they head to pasture with their foals.  Not perhaps as they did in years gone by; but in a new place under the Northern Lights and in a time that looks to the future of the Russian horse, through the eyes of the past.