Monday, February 14, 2011

Flamoniatar and Her Foals


Flamoniatar AHR# 65765


My grandmother, Rose Kennedy, purchased Flamoniatar ("Flame") AHR# 65765 (view pedigree) as a three year old, indirectly from an Arabian horse sale in Utah on June 26, 1973. She was bred by Manuel V. Bauska of Kalispell, Montana, and foaled May 1, 1970. She was sired by Ikoniatar AHR# 28602 and out of Flamingo AHR# 9482. She was a lovely red chestnut with a blaze, snip; partial coronet, partial fetlock and a stocking. She was 15hh and averaged about 1,000 pounds. She had a wide chest, deep girth, short back, long hip, extreme tail carriage, and very sound legs.

We gave Flame time to settle in before starting basic groundwork. After a few months she and I started riding lessons with Nicki McGinnis. I had previously ridden bareback or Western and wanted to try Saddle Seat. Although Flame "looked" Western she moved quite beautifully and was best suited to English. She was smart and quick but had a hot streak, which triggered my temper on a number of occasions. After some months training with Nicki we relocated and found another trainer, Claudia Thompson, who we began basic dressage training with. In November 1975 Flame and I had our first schooling show in Simi Valley.

Flame did really well overall. She placed 1st in Arabian Halter (out of 15 including two Class A multi-champion stallions and a Jr. Champion Filly), 3rd in Open English Pleasure (out of about 18) and took me to a 1st in English Equitation. The thing that bothered her the most that day was the loud clicking noise the microphone made before the announcer spoke. Other than that she was GREAT!

In 1974 Flame was bred to Farlowa AHR# 8545 (Abu Farwa x Farlouma), who was the senior stallion at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center in Pomona. "Louie" was 21 years of age but still a wonderful stallion and well known for siring outstanding broodmares. Flame had two crosses to Abu Farwa and people thought that breeding her to an Abu Farwa son was asking for trouble. However, we had faith that the resulting foal would be fine in the markings department and not have white where the general population thought it inappropriate for a purebred Arabian.

On March 21, 1975 Flame produced a bay filly with a small star, snip and two socks. We named her Faria Loa and nicknamed her Cricket for her routine of play seemed to follow that of a cricket's. Flame hadn't a clue what to do with her foal, but after a week or so warmed up to being a mother.

We took Flame to a couple of Class A Arabian shows, but she was extremely nervous. She placed 4th in halter at one show and 5th at the other. She received some positive comments (a strong, balanced trot and remarkable ground covering walk) from one of the judges who had put her reserve in the English Pleasure Mares class. I felt pretty good with how she performed after she relaxed a bit.

In August 1977 my grandmother leased Flame to Paul and Patti (Drennan) Husband. They bred her to Khemosabi and the resulting foal was Khemos Advocate ("Sport"), a lovely bay colt foaled in February 1979. My grandmother passed away in November 1978. She never got to see Sport or Khelauea, the Khemo colt out of Flame's daughter, Faria Loa. During the time they had her Paul and Patti showed Flame at a Class A Arabian show at L.A. Fairgrounds in English and Western Pleasure. She was also ridden in a parade and an Endurance Ride.

Flame was bred to Rho-Keem++, a multi-champion son of Khemosabi++++ for a 1980 foal. She came home for a brief time before I accepted a position at Pereira Arabians in Santa Ynez. My grandfather gave me the choice of 2 mares to keep. I chose Flame and Cricket. I took them to Santa Ynez where they were kept together in a large paddock by themselves. In October 1979 two women from Hawaii visited the farm to see the horses. One of the women, Susan Moody, fell in love with Flame and we later negotiated the sale. Prior to that time I hadn't considered selling Flame. Susan opted to keep Flame with me until she foaled. Rhose AHR# 223536 was foaled January 29, 1980. Flame was then bred to Justin++ but did not conceive before she and Rhose were shipped to Hawaii.

The original plan was to send Flame and Rhose by air with Flying Tigers, but when the costs kept rising Susan opted to bring them over by ship. I got all the necessary veterinary work and certificates done and on March 11, 1980, they departed Pereira Arabians with West Coast Horse Transport. The trip to Hawaii took about a week and they were quarantined for 2 weeks before Susan was able to take them home to Naalehu on the Big Island.

Flame had the three foals above in California, and these three in Hawaii: Sunset Mist AHR# 241748 (by Silver Sunfire) foaled May 18, 1981; Nazstaja AHR# 281151 (by Nazional) foaled August 8, 1983; and Kims Tiana AHR# 382662 foaled March 19, 1985.

Susan and I wrote back and forth for several years. I kept her up on what Khemosabi, Rho-Keem, and Justin were doing and she kept me up with Flame, Rhose, and their progeny. The last time I heard from Susan was in 1990 when she called to ask if I wanted to buy Flame back from her. Susan had taken Flame to Northern California with her, but when she was returning to Hawaii thought that Flame should not make the trip because of her advanced age (20 years.) At the time I had my mare, Gypsy Mellodee, and my Khemosabi gelding, Khodachrome, so I had to decline the offer. If it were at all possible I would have gladly brought Flame home to live out her life with me and her old friend, Gypsy. I have not been able to find out what happened to Flame, Rhose, or Susan, but still hold out hope that someone who knew them will contact me

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