MY TRIP TO BRAZIL

By Carol Steppe

Brazil has great horses and great breeders, I guess that would be my bottom line on my recent trip to Brazil. My name is Carol Steppe and I own Day Dream Arabians, Inc., home of Showkayce+. I joined a group of Arabian horse breeders on a trip to Brazil to see the Brazilian Nationals and to visit several prominent breeding farms in this magical country. I was so excited to be hosted in a country that is so serious about true breeding programs, and it reinforced one of my core beliefs, that without the expertise true breeders bring to the industry, we cannot produce the quality of horses that will make our industry truly thrive and grow. The breeders are the"research and development" of our business. A great breeder has to be able to evaluate as capably as the best judge, and has to have the ability to envision the finished product possibly generations ahead of the reality. I was not prepared for how much I would like the horses I saw at the Brazilian Nationals and how familiar so many of their pedigrees would be. Many of the great breeding horses of Brazil came from America, and they have done just a beautiful job with combining and building on these great breeding lines. I could see almost immediately by looking at the horses and their pedigrees that the Brazilian breeders were trying to do what my Mission Statement consists of: "to breed horses of great structure and correct conformation with beautiful front ends, talented athletic ability and gorgeous Arabian type, that have pedigrees that will give them the genetics to breed on." I loved touring the great breeding farms in the 1980's in the United States and seeing the consistency and excellence of the best sire lines and mare families and realizing the vision that each particular program was striving to produce. Sadly, we have lost so many of our great breeders because the industry and the trainers think that breeding one show horse to another show horse is all you have to do. Unfortunately for us this is our folly and the reason why we love horses from other countries like Poland is because we inherently appreciate the discipline, knowledge and vision it takes to build a great breeding program. These breeding programs are what can still be seen in abundance in Brazil.

The Brazilian National Show was very competitive, especially in the halter classes, and I saw many horses that I just flipped over. The Brazilian culture is vibrant and passionate and that enthusiasm comes through in the show ring, causing everyone to truly get in the spirit of the competition. I was relived to see that the show arena was not filled with abuse and I would love to encourage the Brazilians to continue to improve on this most important issue so that when you attend a show in Brazil you are captured with the quality of the horses and not horrified by the treatment of the horses. The Brazilian people that I met were serious about the craft of breeding and it was fabulous to get caught up in their deep love of this most inspiring horse on earth, Cavalo Arabe, the Arabian horse. The show ended with a huge Samba party in center ring and it was fun to get in there and dance with the owners, spectators, trainers and judges!

My favorite part of the trip, which was organized by Sue Martin and Rodolfo Guzzo, was the visits to the different breeding farms which were within a reasonable proximity to Campinas. I originally decided to go to Brazil for one major reason, and that was to see the great Ali Jamaal again. Goose-bumps, overwhelmed and a few tears was my reaction to this great icon of our breed. Jamaal looks just wonderful and his home at Haras Meia Luna is enchanting. Lenita Perroy and her great stallion have had a global affect on the Arabian horse business and to be able to see her breeding horses, both stallions and mares, gives you a glimpse into the passion, patience and knowledge of this world class breeder.

HARAS VANGUARDA: The first morning following the conclusion of the National horse show we visited Haras Vanguarda and were treated to a beautiful luncheon at the home of the Diniz de Avila family. We all had an up close and personal visit with the great Ryad El Jamaal and a wonderful presentation of gorgeous mares and great young show horses that will keep their program at the top for years to come. Fabio Diniz is an incredible ambassador for the Arabian horse and his passion and expertise are so evident in this most excellent of programs that it made me appreciate that the success of Haras Vanguarda is not an accident, but a dedication and a lifework of the talented Fabio.

HARAS JM: We spent that evening at Haras JM and saw the great Style SRA, a Bey Shah son that has been an ncredible producer of great champions. Haras JM has great mares as well, I just loved Godiwa JM, and it was so exhilarating to watch the consistent excellence in the great horses this breeding farm has produced. We saw a one day old colt that we all felt was a great champion for the future. Jose and Maisa are both great breeders and wonderful hosts, and we concluded with a wonderful dinner for our breeder group in their lovely home.

HARAS VILA DOS PINHEIROS: The following day we started at Haras Vila Dos Pinheiros, which is a spectacular setting and our hosts were extremely gracious in their hospitality as well as their presentation of beautiful young horses. It is difficult to imagine a more beautiful place to spend the morning than at this breathtaking farm. The new foals were just exceptional, and there is absolutely no doubt that these babies will be shown in America, as well as Brazil. We all loved our stay at this special breeding farm.

HARAS BOA VISTA: We then boarded our helicopters to go to our next stop which was way up in the mountains of Brazil. The 50 minute ride was a beautiful tour (when I opened my eyes!) of the lush landscape of Brazil and we arrived to the welcoming arms of Luciano Cury and his family at the hilltop farm of Haras Boa Vista. We had such a fun afternoon with music and commentary by Luciano as he presented his stunning collection of horses to us. Then a delicious early supper and off we went on the helicopters to our wonderful hotel in Campinas.

HARAS MORATO: The next day was our visit to Haras Morato, the home of the magnificent stallion Lethyf El Jamaal. We all had so much fun at this farm and many of us bought breedings to this special Ali Jamaal son. Benedito Morato has built a wonderful program and once again, we saw the great Brazilian breeders at work.

HARAS MEIA LUNA: We finished the day at Lenita's Haras Meia Luna, and as I said before, I came to Brazil to see the great Ali Jamaal, and to walk the mare fields and to see the great producing mare families was the inspiration we all need to keep our breeding resolve. Ali Jamaal horses are one of the gifts of Brazil to the whole wide world.

GUZZO TRAINING CENTER: Rodolfo Guzzo's training farm was a visit filled with "eye candy", as he has so many great horses with him in training. I was so impressed with the professionalism of this training farm and the horses were presented beautifully by his very competent staff. I have enormous admiration for Rodolfo, and both at the horse show and at his farm, I saw a man of intelligence, great knowledge, a man full of passion for the Arabian horse, a great host and a warm and loving family man. It was a pleasure and an honor to spend time with him.

HARAS FORTALEZA: The last morning was the day we went to see the great *Delmar at Dr. Aloysio Faria's Haras Fortaleza. I was absolutely overcome when they brought out this farms senior stallion *Delmar; his presence, beauty and perfect conformation (at age 21) just thrilled me to the core of my being. Dr. Faria joined us as we then watched in utter awe as they brought out one *Delmar daughter after another with perfect bodies, gorgeous faces, shapely necks, tiny throats, and when they turned them loose those mares gathered themselves into some of the best moving horses I have ever seen. What a great ending to an amazing trip, a memory of a lifetime, my first, but not last, trip to Brazil and the great thing was I made so many new and brilliant friends that I will treasure forever.

Thank you to Sue Martin for asking me to go on this special journey. Sue is a wonderful tour guide and she so genuinely loves the horses and people of Brazil. Thank you to Rodolfo Guzzo for his expertise and the pride he has in his country, it's breeders and the spectacular horses of Brazil. Thank you to all the great hosts on all our farm visits, I cannot imagine a more warm and welcoming group of people. Finally, thank you to *Delmar for producing my new mare, AF Nadia - of course I bought a horse (maybe two!).

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