Beautiful grey Arabian mare out of pure Polish Arabian bloodlines, gentle trail horse, excellent broodmare $2,000 SOLD |
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Her papered name was Zodia, but I thought she was as beautiful as the Queen of Sheba, so that’s what we nicknamed her. We learned that she had come from the famous Magness Arabian stables in Denver, breeders of top Arabians for many years. At that time we were living in New Castle, getting ready to build a house on my parents’ ranch, and we took Sheba home and started gentling her down. It went well. Pretty soon we were riding her, and Doris took a shine to Sheba. We bred her to Mindy’s stallion, Half Brother, hoping for another pinto colt, but we ended up with a sorrel filly that we named Kline. Kline turned out to be a very solid mountain horse, with hard black feet, a nice conformation, and a lot of heart and wind. Later, we bred Sheba to one of the top Arabian stallions in the U.S., a horse named Sshameless, and she gave us a beautiful, tall, rose grey colt that we named Clinetop’s Gambel Oak. (As an aside, we ended up being able to purchase the pinto colt after all. We named him Scout, and he’s the pinto in the middle of the banner photo at the top of the web page. He belongs to our son, Reed, and he’s not for sale. Sheba is the grey mare to the left.) Seeing that the horse market was becoming saturated with unbroke colts, we decided not to breed again, and put Sheba in the outfitting string up in Marble. Just like that, Sheba became one of our better dude horses. You know that old saw about nervous, flighty Arabians? All Sheba did was go to work every morning like a blue-collar worker carrying a lunch bucket. We started by putting better women riders on Sheba, but pretty soon she became on of our better kids’ horses. She did it all in the mountains, from one-hour rides with little kids to four-day pack trips in the high country. Sheba lived with the herd in a 192-acre pasture, complete with herds of elk and deer, bears and mountain lions, coyotes, and even a lynx. She forded the Crystal River in flood stage and after it froze up in late fall. The last couple of years we haven’t ridden Sheba AT ALL, as we concentrated on training our young horses. A couple of weeks ago, we had some guests come in and we needed one more solid horse for a 15-year-old girl. We saddled Sheba up and she rode like she’d never been out of the game. This is a really steady, sweet, gentle horse who would be a great fit for a smaller adult (up to 160 pounds) or a child who is looking to gain some confidence as a rider. She’ll take good care of beginners and intermediates, and she’s a lot of fun to have around. Sheba likes people and will come right up to you in the pasture. She’s easy to saddle and load, stands quietly tied, and stands still for the farrier. She’s completely sound and a very nice horse. Sheba’s sale price: $2,000
1992 Grey Polish Arabian mare. Outstanding broodmare, very gentle, nice trail horse, lots of mountain experience, fun to ride. |
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There’s a story behind every horse, and the story behind Sheba goes like this. We were visiting our friend Mindy in Hotchkiss, looking through her herd of beautiful paints, when I noticed a grey Arabian mare with a beautiful little pinto colt. Being a big fan of Arabians already, I asked Mindy if the colt was for sale. No, he was spoken for. Darn it, I said. I asked about the mare. Mindy had bought her as a saddle horse for her mother, but she was just too spooky and wild for the elderly lady. Hardly anyone could even put a hand on the horse. We walked along for a while, visiting with the other horses, when suddenly I felt a presence behind me. I turned around, and the grey mare was standing right behind me, and then she rested her head on my shoulder. I reached up and petted her, and she closed her eyes. “Do you want to sell this mare?” I asked Mindy, and we struck a deal. That was in 1997 or so.
