Sun Valley Arabians

07/20/2024

54.3K likes, 2642 comments. “Kai·Trump speech about her grandpa”

07/16/2024

"New Home Syndrome"🤓

I am coining this term to bring recognition, respect, and understanding to what happens to horses when they move homes. This situation involves removing them from an environment and set of routines they have become familiar with, and placing them somewhere completely different with new people and different ways of doing things.

Why call it a syndrome?

Well, really it is! A syndrome is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that consistently occur together and can be tied to certain factors such as infections, genetic predispositions, conditions, or environmental influences. It is also used when the exact cause of the symptoms is not fully understood or when it is not connected with a well-defined disease. In this case, "New Home Syndrome" is connected to a horse being placed in a new home where its entire world changes, leading to psychological and physiological impacts. While it might be transient, the ramifications can be significant for both the horse and anyone handling or riding it.

Let me explain...

Think about how good it feels to get home after a busy day. How comfortable your favourite clothes are, how well you sleep in your own bed compared to a strange bed, and how you can really relax at home. This is because home is safe and familiar. At home, the part of you that keeps an eye out for potential danger turns down to a low setting. It does this because home is your safe place (and if it is not, this blog will also explain why a lack of a safe place is detrimental).

Therefore, the first symptom of horses experiencing "New Home Syndrome" is being unsettled, prone to anxiety, or difficult behaviour. If you have owned them before you moved them, you struggle to recognise your horse, feeling as if your horse has been replaced by a frustrating version. If the horse is new to you, you might wonder if you were conned, if the horse was drugged when you rode it, or if you were lied to about the horse's true nature.

A horse with "New Home Syndrome" will be a stressed version of itself, on high alert, with a drastically reduced ability to cope. Horses don't handle change like humans do. If you appreciate the comfort of your own home and how you can relax there, you should be able to understand what the horse is experiencing.

Respecting that horses interpret and process their environments differently from us helps in understanding why your horse is being frustrating and recognising that there is a good chance you were not lied to or that the horse was not drugged.

Horses have survived through evolution by being highly aware of their environments. Change is a significant challenge for them because they notice the slightest differences, not just visually but also through sound, smell, feel, and other senses. Humans generalise and categorise, making it easy for us to navigate familiar environments like shopping centres. Horses do not generalise in the same way; everything new is different to them, and they need proof of safety before they can habituate and feel secure. When their entire world changes, it is deeply stressful.

They struggle to sleep until they feel safe, leading to sleep deprivation and increased difficulty.

But there is more...

Not only do you find comfort in your home environment and your nervous system downregulates, but you also find comfort in routines. Routines are habits, and habits are easy. When a routine changes or something has to be navigated differently, things get difficult. For example, my local supermarket is undergoing renovations. After four years of shopping there, it is extremely frustrating to have to work out where everything is now. Every day it gets moved due to the store being refitted section by section. This annoyance is shared by other shoppers and even the staff.

So, consider the horse. Not only are they confronted with the challenge of figuring out whether they are safe in all aspects of their new home while being sleep deprived, but every single routine and encounter is different. Then, their owner or new owner starts getting critical and concerned because the horse suddenly seems untrained or difficult. The horse they thought they owned or bought is not meeting their expectations, leading to conflict, resistance, explosiveness, hypersensitivity, and frustration.

The horse acts as if it knows little because it is stressed and because the routines and habits it has learned have disappeared. If you are a new human for the horse, you feel, move, and communicate differently from what it is used to. The way you hold the reins, your body movements in the saddle, the position of your leg – every single routine of communication between horse and person is now different. I explain to people that when you get a new horse, you have to imprint yourself and your way of communicating onto the horse. You have to introduce yourself and take the time to spell out your cues so that they get to know you.

Therefore, when you move a horse to a new home or get a new horse, your horse will go through a phase called "New Home Syndrome," and it will be significant for them. Appreciating this helps them get through it because they are incredible and can succeed. The more you understand and help the horse learn it is safe in its new environment and navigate the new routines and habits you introduce, the faster "New Home Syndrome" will pass.
"New Home Syndrome" will be prevalent in a horse’s life until they have learned to trust the safety of the environment (and all that entails) and the humans they meet and interact with. With strategic and understanding approaches, this may take weeks, and their nervous systems will start downgrading their high alert status. However, for some horses, it can take a couple of years to fully feel at ease in their new home.

So, next time you move your horse or acquire a new horse and it starts behaving erratically or being difficult, it is not being "stupid", you might not have been lied to or the horse "drugged" - your horse is just experiencing an episode of understandable "New Home Syndrome." And you can help this.❤

I would be grateful if you could please share, this reality for horses needs to be better appreciated ❤
‼️When I say SHARE that does not mean plagiarise my work…it is seriously not cool to copy and paste these words and make out you have written it yourself‼️

07/14/2024

This is the 6th installment of this series which began June 7, 2024, wherein we continue to highlight the stories of Straight Egyptian Arabians that were originally featured in the Legacy Section of Volume XII of the Reference Handbook of Straight Egyptian Horses.
This week we celebrate Serenity Sonbolah: https://www.pyramidsocietyfoundation.org/post/legacy-in-tribute-to-the-egyptian-arabian-horse-serenity-sonbolah
It has been fun hearing from not only the owners of these horses, but also from others who had the opportunity to interact with them as well. We trust you’ll enjoy them, too, and look forward to hearing from you about the impact these horses may have had in your own lives, either individually, up close and personal, or through their descendants.

07/03/2024

It's called a TREE! 🌳🌲

06/28/2024

This is the 4th installment of this series which began June 7, 2024, wherein we continue to highlight the stories of Straight Egyptian Arabians that were originally featured in the Legacy Section of Volume XII of the Reference Handbook of Straight Egyptian Horses. This special section featured the horses themselves along with endearing stories of the special relationship they shared with the humans in their lives. It has been fun hearing from not only the owners of these horses, but also from others who had the opportunity to interact with them as well. We trust you’ll enjoy them, too, and look forward to hearing from you about the impact these horses may have had in your own lives, either individually, up close and personal, or through their descendants. We are pleased to feature the lovely Bint Magidaa this week and hope you will share your stories of the influence she had within the world of the Straight Egyptian Arabian and beyond. Read more about Bint Magidaa on the blog: https://www.pyramidsocietyfoundation.org/post/legacy-in-tribute-to-the-egyptian-arabian-horse-bint-magidaa

06/26/2024

Stargazer lily finally bloomed at the barn! Its location by the hitching post has made it victim to stomping of feet and shredding by teeth over the years! Finally made it to maturity so i had to take a pic for posterity!

06/16/2024

Absolutely 💯

05/23/2024

05/04/2024

Children. Teach them to be kind to animals. They will grow up also kind to people.
Did you know that being involved with horses builds character, confidence, leadership, responsibility, persistence and so many other life skills for kids that pursue horseback riding, showing, rodeo, ranching and that's just to mention a few of the many equine activities out there?!?!

Borrowed from a friend but “KINDNESS” is what Sun Valley Arabians is all about!

We love and support our horse family and show team mates!

04/29/2024

Sweat Blanche (Golden Gal TA) calmly exploring the farm with expert hands of the ever patient horseTREYner Trey Anderson!

04/14/2024

https://www.tiktok.com//video/7214197860374564139?_r=1&u_code=dkc4gf8ck4he0m&preview_pb=0&sharer_language=en&_d=dmi0j1m8lgkjie&share_item_id=7214197860374564139&source=h5_m×tamp=1713129552&ug_btm=b8727,b2878&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAIEfkLA32yvhU57j2zp4rFYxsBf9BXPQZC2DLyYSGuqDq-XCH9WXcEulskQ95VeOV&utm_source=copy&social_share_type=0&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&tt_from=copy&user_id=7002394639206761477&enable_checksum=1&share_link_id=3D2CD241-B854-42AB-B93E-0F49CBD33479&share_app_id=1233

69 likes, 5 comments. Check out SunValleyArabians’s video.

03/30/2024

Just like to mention “Glenglade Unique” (Dynamite) was bred by Willis Flick!

Long after show titles would be forgotten, Straight Egyptians were breeding forward in ways that would immortalize the essence of the Egyptian Arabian. The world was seeing the benefit of the Egyptian Arabian horse, and were also beginning to understand the absolute necessity of preserving the nucleus that would otherwise be lost. The Pyramid Society, now known as The Pyramid Society Foundation, has a long history of educating breeders and enthusiasts worldwide in the art of breeding Straight Egyptian Arabians. Willis Flick, one of the founders of The Pyramid Society, talked frequently about the importance of The Pyramid Society’s Reference Handbooks. Whenever he would see a horse that he especially liked, or particularly touched his soul, he would frequently refer to the Reference Handbooks to better understand “the source of their pretty” as he would put it. Each of us have individual tastes in all works of art…the art which adorns the walls of our homes, the sense of expression in a beautiful ballet, a powerful opera, the music of the symphony, all of which transport us, even if just for a moment, to another world. And it’s no different with the living art which lives in our barns and runs free in our pastures and paddocks. Just as the works of the Great Masters became a thing quite recognizable, so it is with breeding great horses. Patterns emerge, and as we study them, in pedigrees, show results, personal inspection, journals and herd books of the great masters, and the Reference Handbooks just mentioned, we’ll begin to see and to recognize them. And within those patterns a type, a look, emerges: “The Ansata look,” those “Nefisa eyes.” We soon begin to understand the thought expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem, The Rhodora, “if eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for Being…” We come to understand that true Arabian type exists in a special harmony of beauty, balance, conformation and disposition.
The influence of the Straight Egyptian Arabian on the general Arabian horse population worldwide is now the stuff of legend, and during the ‘60s and ‘70s it may have seemed to be something new. But as noted in our February posts, the pattern had long ago been established. It was not as new as it may have seemed. 1959 U.S. National Champion Stallion, Synbad, and and his full sister, 1964 U.S. National Champion Mare, High Fashion, were sired by the Straight Egyptian stallion, Julep (Gulastra x Aziza). Both the paternal and maternal granddams of Serafix & Silver Drift were Straight Egyptian mares (Razina & Sharfina). This pattern is a gift of learning and wisdom from the past for the present and into the future. Join us next week as we consider how this pattern has emerged in our times and is destined to successfully repeat itself in the years ahead.

03/09/2024

I was listening to the We LOVE Arabian Horses podcast on Spotify this morning. If you are in the industry I want to draw your attention to Mr. Michael Byatt 's "The Future of the Breed" segment.

Towards the end of the interview he discusses two things near and dear to our heart.

ATTEND YOUR LOCAL SHOWS!!

SPEND TIME WITH YOUR $5K BUYERS!!

Other highlights of the podcast were:

The versatility of our horses. Back in the 60s an Arabian horse was a family horse that mom showed in hand, kids rode all day and dad took in the driving class. There is no reason to think our horses couldn't do that today.

He also spoke on how horses can shape a child's life. So important in this day and age to give children the responsibility to love and care for something and to set goals.

*****

You have got to give people entertainment and your time in this industry. When people already have stressful lives and they are struggling day to day they do not want the added drama.

Remember why *YOU* got into horses. Spread the love.

03/05/2024

: Among the earliest American breeders to import Arabian horses from the Middle East were Donald and Judith Forbis. For years, they worked and lived in Turkey and other areas in the region and when they returned, they established their farm, Ansata Arabians. In 1958, they imported three yearlings they selected from the Egyptian Agriculture Organization (EAO): Ansata Ibn Halima, Bint Zafarana and Bint Mabrouka. These horses and their offspring became champions, champion producers and foundation stock for breeders throughout the world and are found in the pedigrees of many of today’s straight Egyptian and Egyptian-related champions. Breeders around the world owe these visionaries a debt of gratitude for their contributions to the Arabian horse.

This post is courtesy of the Purebred Arabian Trust.

Evie Tubbs Sweeney for WLAH

03/05/2024

The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake at night at the least sound, in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be.
I go lay down where the wood drake rests
in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come to the presence of still water
and I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light for a time.
I rest in the grace of the world
and am free.
~ Wendall Berry

I find peace in the wild, as well. Thanks to Nicols for his beautiful wildness. ❤

02/17/2024

Wishing a very happy and blessed birthday for my longest dear friend and boarder Latisha Witherspoon-Gilliam!
Oh the adventures we have shared!! I love you Tee! Here’s to many more bad decisions shared!

02/15/2024

BORROWED FROM A FRIEND!!!!

Let’s talk about the lack of quality coaching and lack of standards in the equine industry.
For example, kids learning with someone who claims to be a “coach" and all they learned is how to see-saw a horse's head down and chuck their body around a barrel like a champion.
All coaching is not equal.

But what happens when you have a good coach? One that opens their program to you, takes you under his/her wing? Becomes invested in your success? When you essentially become part of the "family"...

Eventually, something will happen...

Coach tells you that you are not Martha Josey 2.0, and not ready to make the move up to the next level.
Coach says you need to go back and fix some holes in your training.
Coach says you have developed a bad habit, and it needs to be fixed before you can accomplish your goals.

Coach says you need to make sure that your horse is being ridden. With a purpose.
Coach says you need to dedicate more time to studying the sport, not just riding.
Coach says it isn't a "horse" problem, it is a "you" problem.

People have become increasingly more reactionary. More easily offended. In lieu of everyone getting a trophy, it is so hard to hear these words from people you admire. Some of the best coaches will be the toughest. Not ones that tear you apart constantly, but coaches that aren't afraid to have the tough conversations with you. Or conversations that you may not have wanted to have.

But remember, a good coach is in YOUR corner. They want YOU to achieve success. They dedicate so much more than an hour of time to your growth not only as a rider but as a horseman. Maybe you are burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle), and you need a reality check that this sport requires more of your time and focus.

These conversations can hurt, but while it may sting at first.... take a second. Think about why your coach is against you moving up right now, why your coach is saying to wait until the summer to be a working student, why your coach is saying that you should not enter the show until the homework and flat work is done.

Surround yourself with coaches that aren't afraid to have these tough conversations with you. You don't want or need a "cheerleader" coach. You are paying you for your coach’s expertise... the positives and the criticism. Let them help make the best decisions for your horse, and for your program. The lessons on the horse and the lessons off of the horse. Are you ready?
~Courtney S

01/30/2024

Had a GREAT time celebrating this sweet ladies bday at Sol Azteca! So blessed to have Stacy Anderson as a big part of our barn family! We love you Stacy!

01/18/2024

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8gcan3n/

Minstril’s Egypt son! He takes my breath away!

Check out SunValleyArabians's video.

12/14/2023

Jackson really like his Uncle Matt. 🙂

11/17/2019

10/19/2019

Just a few days left.... have you planned your costume, edible gore and spirits??? Prizes for best costume and best eats!