A Second Chance

By Vanessa Quartly • Published in the Canadian Arabian News, Stallion/Breeding Issue 2000

Above: Sam today, at home and happy

RRR Samirage in April, 1999

RRR Samirage, Western Pleasure

Sam takes his turn at team penning.

RRR Samirage, Region 17 Reserve Champion Amature Stallion Halter

RRR Samirage

In April of 1999 I was on the lookout for another riding horse.

Friends told me about the sale of approximately forty head of Purebred Arabians. Due to some very unfortunate circumstances, these horses were in bad shape but we decided to go and have a look.

I could tell that some had been beautiful animals in their day and most seemed very well bred. None in the herd jumped out at me and we were about to leave when it was suggested that we have a look at the stallion that came with the herd. Having just bought a yearling colt as a future herd sire, we had no intention of purchasing a stallion, but out of courtesy, agreed to have a look. It’s funny how fate works...

In a small 30 x 30 foot pen stood a thin and lonely horse. He walked slowly over to us and stood there, sorry sight that he was. I still don’t understand why I asked to see his registration papers. Perhaps it was something in his manner or his kind, intelligent eye. I felt compelled to see his pedigree and was astounded at what I discovered!

The horse was of extremely good breeding, and had in fact been bred by Wayne Newton and exported to Canada in utero. His sire was a Spanish import who sired many National winners and his dam was heavily line-bred Crabbet. She had been bred to legends such as Naborr, Ferzon and Aramus. As a yearling this stallion was sold for an impressive price and promoted as a future syndicated sire. The horse before me was RRR Samirage.

I suddenly remembered his picture from a cover of the Canadian Arabian Horse News. Then and there I decided he was coming home with us. My husband Loren was sure I’d finally lost my mind and I must agree that it was hard to see the quality due to the shape the horse was in. He arrived at our place the following week.

He was turned out in a large paddock and wasn’t quite sure what to make of all the space. We had a miniature mare in the next paddock and he was quite terrified of her. He proceeded to charge her, stop about twenty feet away and produced something between a roar and a snort, doing his best to convince her he wasn’t afraid. By the next day they were pals.

“Sam,” as we call him, spent the next few months catching up on meals. We had a scar on his left hind leg removed for appearance’s sake. Not only did Sam come with registration papers but he was entered in the IAHA Sweepstakes Nominated Sire program! We decided to breed him to a couple of our mares. Eventually I discovered Sam had bred close to fifty mares in his first few years at stud. He had been started under saddle at age four and with four or five months of western training, was shown twice in Junior Western classes.

His training and show experience was some ten years ago so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I climbed aboard. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he remembered most of his previous training, although obviously very green. In three months, this horse had done such a complete turnaround, I decided I’d show him just for fun.

His first show was an open CEF show in Olds, AB. Sam stood 14.3hh in the halter ring competing against six other entries. He was the only Arabian competing against Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods, all over 16hh. No one was more surprised than I when we walked out with second place from a Warmblood judge.

The riding class proved more of a challenge. He was a green seventeen year old stallion at his first show in at least ten years, at the height of breeding season, when in walks a pretty grey thoroughbred mare in heat. Only two days before he had bred our big grey Polish mare, Melody. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and needless to say, performance suffered. Lead changes and transitions left something to be desired but I was still very pleased with him. He’d come a long way in three months.

At his next show he was all business. He qualified for Regionals in Halter and Native Costume. You had to appreciate this horse’s temperament and versatility. At Regionals, although he did appear on one of the judge’s cards, he didn’t make Top 5. Since there were fourteen entries in the class, I was still happy with our efforts and also managed to win Reserve Champion Amature Halter Stallion, which was quite a thrill! The announcer remarked, “Pretty good for a seventeen-year-old stallion.” I was thinking, “If only these people had seen Sam three months ago.”

It’s hard to believe that through all his hard times, he managed to keep his kind disposition and willingness to please. Sam is now my personal riding horse. He is taking on the sport of cattle penning with the same courage and heart he has applied to everything he’s been asked. While penning, he has been bumped, backed into, and put in positions many other stallions would not tolerate. It’s a true testament to the incomparable disposition and intelligence of the Arabian breed. Next year you may see Sam and me in Western Pleasure classes and maybe even Trail. We are eagerly anticipating his foals next year and hoping they possess the same qualities as their sire.

At seventeen years of age, Sam is now happy and healthy. He is breeding mares, showing and cattle-penning. You might say he has a new lease on life, which just goes to show, it’s never too late to get a second chance. Some might say he was lucky that we found him but in reality we are the lucky ones to have found such a horse since Sam is truly “one in a million.”

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