It seems fitting that California s scenic Santa Ynez Valley, home to some of the

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Phyllis Lester
6 years ago
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1 CAROL STEPPE and

b y K i p G o l d r e y e r It seems fitting that California s scenic Santa Ynez Valley, home to some of the finest wineries in the world, is also home to Day Dream Arabians.

beautiful, and increasingly versatile with age.

2 b y K i p G o l d r e y e r It seems fitting that California s scenic Santa Ynez Valley, home to some of the finest wineries in the world, is also home to Day Dream Arabians. Owner Carol Steppe has lovingly devoted twenty years to a handcrafted breeding program that produces horses like fine wine good, often flamboyantly great, when young, but growing richer, more beautiful, and increasingly versatile with age. Like a boutique winery, Carol carefully limits her output six to nine foals a year but like a master vintner, she fine-tunes the quality by sticking to strong principles, knowing her bloodlines, blending them carefully, and hoping always, that God is on her side. Of course, with her homebred stallion Showkayce (Fame VF x Kay) in the barn, the odds of producing show winners are on her side as well. A nine-day-old colt by Its Sshow Time (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), out of Aristokayte (Shah Azim x Kay), joyously kicks up his heels in the spring sunshine and, as he scrutinizes the first puddle he s ever met with a wary bravery, he is an exemplar of Carol s breeding philosophy: I like to breed from the feet up. I start with the structure, and then I add on the beautiful details that you always want to have. It s far better than accepting an okay structure because of a pretty face. So he has extreme Arabian beauty, but he still comes beautifully out of his shoulder, he has a wonderful rear end, and he s very balanced. He just comes out of himself with such 2 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

3 above: Head stallion at Day Dream Arabians, Showkayce (Fame VF x Kay). facing page, left: My first Arabian mare Chardonnay Chelan (Aza Destiny x Lady Chelan by Chequers Witezson), pictured at age 25 with my daughter Lisa Shields and grandaughter Kendall, notes Carol Steppe. facing page, right: Signifikaynce (Its Sshowtime x Aristokayte by Shah Azim), pictured at 10 days of age. He represents our stallion Showkayce through his son and two of my foundation mares, since his dam and paternal grandam are out of Kay and his sire is out of Mystic Heirloom, says Carol. Signifikaynce is an embryo transfer foal his dam Aristokayte is now owned by Val and Mark Sylla, River Falls, Wisconsin.

above right: Showkayce with trainer Gerard Paty. above left and facing page: Showkayce. loft and ease. He has the nice open throatlatch that s so important for a performance horse.

And he should know, since the grandparents of this colt are the four influential horses of my life: Showkayce, who is a Fame VF son out of my foundation mare Kay (a Kaiyoum daughter); Mystic Heirloom

4 above right: Showkayce with trainer Gerard Paty. above left and facing page: Showkayce. loft and ease. He has the nice open throatlatch that s so important for a performance horse. Best of all, he knows he s special. And he should know, since the grandparents of this colt are the four influential horses of my life: Showkayce, who is a Fame VF son out of my foundation mare Kay (a Kaiyoum daughter); Mystic Heirloom (an *Aladdinn daughter out of a *Bask daughter), an AHW Aristocrat mare who is the dam of Its Sshow Time; and Shah Azim, Aristokayte s sire (a Bey Shah son out of a *Bask daughter); and AHW Aristocrat mare Kay again, dam of Aristokayte, bringing in the incredible structure of Kaiyoum once more. Carol grew up with a passion for horses especially Arabian horses a passion she believes God put into her heart. The farm is God s. Everything here is His. I m just his caretaker. Fortunately, her passion was strong enough that she finally wore down her non-equestrian parents at age 15, when she was given a palomino/thoroughbred/quarter Horse/Arabian filly. But then came college, marriage, and children, and horses (but not the passion) had to be left behind. As time went by though, I hounded my husband the way I d hounded my parents. I d tell him, If you could ever get me the perfect gift, it would be a horse, and if you could get me an Arabian horse, it would be even better, and if I could have an Arabian mare, that would be the best. As luck would have it, a good friend of the family was Christine Krauch of Paragon Arabians. With her help, Carol s husband granted her wish and surprised her one Christmas with an Arabian mare. Soon after, Carol saw a young stallion Monogram That I just had to breed to right away. And I was hooked the moment that foal hit the ground. I knew that breeding was what I wanted to do. Very gradually, I added a few more horses, namely my two foundation mares Kay and Mystic Heirloom, and early on, when I bred Showkayce, that was the really big leap. 4 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

Today, multiple-champion Showkayce, who stands nearby at Pacifica Arabians with Gerard and Hillary Paty, is the centerpiece of Carol s program. Everything at the farm revolves around him, she says.

He has nine Arabian Horse World Sires of Significance and 11 National Champions in his pedigree, but most important to me is his mare line, which gives a stallion the ability to consistently

While I ve never had more than nine foals a year, and usually it s more like six to nine which is not a big breeding program we have had National contenders at the top levels of the game every year

6 Today, multiple-champion Showkayce, who stands nearby at Pacifica Arabians with Gerard and Hillary Paty, is the centerpiece of Carol s program. Everything at the farm revolves around him, she says. I would not have a breeding program without him because he is so consistent as a sire. He has nine Arabian Horse World Sires of Significance and 11 National Champions in his pedigree, but most important to me is his mare line, which gives a stallion the ability to consistently reproduce his look. Showkayce has 19 AHW Aristocrat mares in his pedigree, nine of them twice, so they layer his pedigree with quality and greatly contribute to his consistency. While I ve never had more than nine foals a year, and usually it s more like six to nine which is not a big breeding program we have had National contenders at the top levels of the game every year in halter and performance. That s my program. Building and blending, refining and layering all the time. Showkayce is a four-time U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Stallion, and of his registered purebred get to date, more than one-third are Regional, Scottsdale, or National winners, and many are still too young to have begun their show careers. Among the National winners: Show Nuff (x Chardonnay Chelan), U.S. National Champion Gelding and four-time National Top Ten; Its Sshowtime (x Mystic Heirloom), U.S. National Top Ten Heritage Sweepstakes Yearling Colt, U.S. and Canadian Top Ten Futurity Colt, and U.S. and Canadian Top Ten Stallion, and now winning regionally in Country English Pleasure; Showmee The Money (x Mystic Heirloom), a U.S. National Top Ten Gelding who also has Regional wins in hunter pleasure; Showzim Up (x SC Zimpatique), Canadian Top Ten Futurity Colt; ShowGun PGN (x PGN Solitaire), winner of 6 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

above: Carol Steppe with two of her foundation mares, both Kaiyoum daughters: PGN Kailicia (x PGN Solitaire by Bey Shah), left with her filly by Showkayce, and her nine-time AHW Aristocrat mare Kay

7 above: Carol Steppe with two of her foundation mares, both Kaiyoum daughters: PGN Kailicia (x PGN Solitaire by Bey Shah), left with her filly by Showkayce, and her nine-time AHW Aristocrat mare Kay (x Half Moon Bay by Raffon), dam of Showkayce (by Fame VF). facing page: top left: One of the Daydream foundation mares and an AHW Aristocrat Mystic Heirloom (*Aladdinn x High-Societee by *Bask) with her 2004 Showkayce colt, Victory DDA. top right: PGN Encore Zimada (Showkayce x Juda by *Bask) with her 2004 Shah Azim colt. bottom: Pictured from left are: Baskhemos Joy (Baskhemo x Miss May) with Saul, Kailalajka with farm manager Debra, Mystic Heirloom with Carol, Chardonnay Chelan with Daniel, and Kay with David.

If Showkayce is the centerpiece of the program, Kay (Kaiyoum x Half Moon Bay), his dam, is the foundation. Broodmares have a huge job.

But a program that produces great horses year after year because of its mares consistency over time that s a great program.

just add more and more details of refinement. It s gotten to the point as the program has grown, that I really know my lines and what the great combinations are that are magical.

8 two Sport Horse National Championships, one Reserve and one Top Ten; Hes Show Fine (x Mystic Heirloom), U.S. National Top Ten Heritage Sweepstakes Yearling Colt, Scottsdale Reserve Junior Champion Colt, and Top Ten Hunter Pleasure Futurity; Steal The Sshow (x SC Diamonz), U.S. National Top Ten Western Pleasure Futurity; and Kendall Marie DDA (x SC Zimpatique), U.S. National Top Ten Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Filly. If Showkayce is the centerpiece of the program, Kay (Kaiyoum x Half Moon Bay), his dam, is the foundation. Broodmares have a huge job. The show horses are the ones that everybody notices, but the broodmares are our treasures. A program that produces a horse that wins one National championship has a great moment. But a program that produces great horses year after year because of its mares consistency over time that s a great program. And you don t have to breed a lot when you have a stallion that is so consistent in his pedigree, and so consistent a sire I know how he crosses so well that every step I take, I can just add more and more details of refinement. It s gotten to the point as the program has grown, that I really know my lines and what the great combinations are that are magical. I m almost beginning to feel like an artist who s just adding the finishing touches. Does Carol experiment with this winning formula? Absolutely! You never want to get in a rut. But I experiment in an educated way. I never breed because I think 8 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

top right: The July 2003 colt Irreplaceable (Showkayce x Kailalajka by Kaiyoum). He is special to me he s the last foal out of Kailalajka, Kay s full sister.

9 above: SC Zimpatique (Shah Azim x SC Eulipia by Gdansk) dam of 2001 Canadian National Top Ten Futurity Colt Showzim Up (by Showkayce). facing page: top left: PGN Charizima (Shah Azim x PGN Yours Truley by Kaiyoum) with her 2004 filly Showanna by Showkayce. top right: The July 2003 colt Irreplaceable (Showkayce x Kailalajka by Kaiyoum). He is special to me he s the last foal out of Kailalajka, Kay s full sister. Those mares, both by Kaiyoum and out of a Raffon daughter, trace to Balalajka in tail female I m sure that s a source of their greatness, says Carol. bottom left: Aristokayte (Shah Azim x Kay), 2003 Canadian National Champion Two-Year- Old Jackpot Filly, now owned by Val and Mark Sylla. bottom right: Hes Show Fine (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), U.S. National Top Ten Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Colt, Scottsdale Reserve Champion Junior Colt, and U.S. National Top Ten Hunter Pleasure Futurity Horse.

Its Sshow Time (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), 1996 U.S. National Top Ten Heritage Swepstakes Yearling Colt, 1998 U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Futurity Colt, 2000 U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Stallion.

10 Its Sshow Time (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), 1996 U.S. National Top Ten Heritage Swepstakes Yearling Colt, 1998 U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Futurity Colt, 2000 U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Stallion. Its Sshow Time is now winning under saddle, recently capturing the 2003 championship at Region 3 in country English pleasure. something s marketable or fashionable. I always do it with a great deal of thought and study of pedigree. A good example is my foundation mare, Kay. Because she produced Showkayce with Fame VF, I am now breeding her to other Fame lines this year she s expecting a foal by Odyssey SC (Versace x Latoura Echo) and then I m breeding her to *Marwan Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x Little Liza Fame), whose dam is a Fame daughter. That way I m trying something new, but it s linked with something familiar that s been successful before. And while those two stallions are both National Champion show horses, and most people would say, Well, that s an obvious choice, what s obvious to me is that they both have Fame VF blood, so I have an opportunity to get a great horse because that cross with my mares has been proven. In spite of the fact that her true love is halter, Carol pragmatically focuses on breeding horses that can look beyond the yearling classes at Scottsdale. Everyone loves a cute foal but the goal is to breed great mature horses. Showkayce and Its Sshow Time are great examples of horses that were freaky awesome foals and have dried and refined to become even more beautiful horses as mature stallions. If you have a halter horse that s competitive as a youngster, but he can t do performance later on, you re going to struggle trying to find a niche for him. If you have a foal who doesn t quite stack up as a National-level halter horse, but goes on to have a performance career, that s a horse that ll be useful all his life. And if he can do both? That s the best. One outstanding example of this philosophy is Its Sshow Time (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom) who in his career has been a National Top Ten Yearling Colt, Canadian and U.S. Top Ten Futurity Colt, and Canadian and U.S. Top Ten Stallion. For the last two years he s been campaigned as a country English horse. He was unanimous champion at Region 3 and knocked on the door at Nationals big-time. What s exciting is that he could have 10 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

top left: PGN Kailicia with her filly by Showkayce.

middle left: Showrrifica DDA (Showkayce x Kailalajka by

middle right: Show Divine (Showkayce x PGN Solitaire by

Shah Azim), 2003 U.S. National Top Ten Western Pleasure

11 top left: PGN Kailicia with her filly by Showkayce. top right: Shownanimous (Showkayce x SC Zimpatique by Shah Azim), 2001 Region 3 Breeders Sweepstakes Reserve Champion Yearling Colt. middle left: Showrrifica DDA (Showkayce x Kailalajka by Kaiyoum). middle right: Show Divine (Showkayce x PGN Solitaire by Bey Shah), 2003 Scottsdale Top Ten Breeders Cup Fillies of 1/1/01 to 4/15/01. bottom left: Steal The Sshow (Showkayce x SC Diamonz by Shah Azim), 2003 U.S. National Top Ten Western Pleasure Futurity, with trainer Bill Porcher. bottom right: Showrrender (Showkayce x DD Mascara by Kaiyoum), a three-year-old colt currently in training for the U.S. National Western Pleasure Futurity with Bill Porcher.

12 Kendall Marie DDA (Showkayce x SC Zimpatique), pictured with trainer Jeff Schall, was 2003 Region 10 Breeders Sweepstakes Champion Yearling Filly, Region 8 Breeders Sweepstakes Reserve Champion Yearling Filly, and U.S. National Top Ten Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Filly. such a long and successful halter career, then go off and be a performance horse at the top levels of the game. And now, he s very likely to be an incredible sire. So that s what we want: home run horses that can do all three things. Another semi-unlikely superstar is ShowGun PGN (Showkayce x PGN Solitaire), because he s taken the show to the next level the open circuit. My trainer at the time, Paul Keenan, had a friend across the street Kristin Ferguson- Hardin, a hunter/jumper trainer who s made a national name showing Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods. Kristin laughed when Paul rode ShowGun over to her place in a western saddle and told her, I think you should put him over some jumps. She said, An Arabian stallion? What ARE you thinking? But she went ahead, and within five minutes she told Paul, I d like to have this horse in training. He s really talented and he has beautiful form. Inside of a month we were at a hunter show, and all summer long we went to open shows Pebble Beach, Santa Barbara, Del Mar, Woodside where ShowGun was so competitive he never finished lower than top five against the Warmbloods. Then, when we went to the Sport Horse Nationals in Virginia, he was Champion Hunter Hack, Champion Sport Horse Under Saddle Junior Horse, National Reserve Champion Working Hunter Over Fences, and Top Ten Stallion In-Hand, and Scottsdale Champion Working Hunter. And the praise pours in. Kristin is now a firm believer: ShowGun is the most beautiful horse I ve ever ridden and the easiest to train. He s very, very, very smart, but in a positive, easy-to-train way. And he loves the limelight. He s like a little movie star and he exudes class. But ShowGun isn t just another pretty face. He s got the step to get down the lines easily, says Kristin. And, adds Olympic course designer and USA Equestrian R judge, Linda Allen, ShowGun is a spectacular stallion choice for any mare owner desiring to produce the highest quality pony hunters or jumpers. He displays the conformation, movement, jumping technique, and disposition that every hunter breeder is searching for. Carol now laughs at her near-miss original plan. We thought, We ll geld him and sell him as a large pony hunter. But after the success he s had, we decided it would be better yet to make our own pony hunters. So won over is Kristin that she now has DDA Spring Time (Its Sshow Time x Kizz Me Kayte) as an open jumper who s doing a 3-foot 9-inch course, fast time, great turns, hunts the jump, not scared, loves it. I think that with Kristin s endorsement and her performance, she s going to be as great an ambassador to the open world as ShowGun has turned out to be. All of which highlights another of Carol s core philosophies: To seek out and find where a particular horse s talent lies, make the best of it, and not try to create something that isn t there. One unique way she accomplishes this goal is to work with a network of trainers from every division of the sport. They re all unbelievable, we have great relationships, and they honor my method, which is to match each horse s personality not just to a certain discipline but to a certain trainer s personality. This philosophy extends to our approach to marketing. We strive to match the right horse with its new owner to create a winning team whether that s on the trails or the show or breeding barn. Carol s outreach program isn t limited to the open horse world. Just like the neighboring wineries, she 12 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

top left and right: ShowGun PGN (Showkayce x PGN Solitaire by Bey Shah),

Hunter Hack, National Champion Sport Horse Under Saddle Junior Horse,

middle left: DDA Spring Time (Its Sshow Time x Kizz Me Kayte by Shah Azim),

saddle classes, as well as in the hunter and jumper division.

middle right: Showmee The Money (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), 2002 U.S. National Top Ten Gelding.

13 top left and right: ShowGun PGN (Showkayce x PGN Solitaire by Bey Shah), garnered several wins at the 2003 Sport Horse Nationals: National Champion Hunter Hack, National Champion Sport Horse Under Saddle Junior Horse, National Reserve Champion Working Hunter, and National Top Ten Sport Horse. middle left: DDA Spring Time (Its Sshow Time x Kizz Me Kayte by Shah Azim), has captured numerous Scottsdale Top Tens in Sport Horse in-hand and under saddle classes, as well as in the hunter and jumper division. DDA Spring Time is also a Scottsdale Top Ten Mare. middle right: Showmee The Money (Showkayce x Mystic Heirloom), 2002 U.S. National Top Ten Gelding. bottom: DDA Charizmatic (Showkayce x PGN Charizima by Shah Azim), currently in training with Jim Lowe.

14 encourages visitors to drop in several times a month. I attended those Sunday horse shows at Cal Poly as a child with my father, and if they hadn t done those shows, I m not sure I would be an Arabian breeder today. In a way, it s just giving back to that effort, especially since our industry sometimes suffers from not being inclusive enough. So I encourage visitors to tour the farm and get to know the Arabian horse. I want to bring them into the breed and change perceptions they may have about the crazy Arabian. We get darling thank-you notes, they re always thrilled, and we have gotten some wonderful clients out of it. But you don t do it just to hit it out of the ballpark with sales. You do it to share something beautiful that God has given us. And when someone does end up buying a horse, we will keep it here and make sure the new owner has instruction, because it is another of my core beliefs that we have to help people learn how to ride and develop horsemanship skills. That is definitely a time-consuming part of our program, but it s rewarding, because with our help, eventually they can take their horses home and enjoy success with them. Even if they don t necessarily want to ride themselves, they can still have a trainer, go to horse shows, have the connection, and have an incredible time. It s not cheap, but very few things that we do recreationally are. And I ve always said that a horse is a toy that nickers back at you. You have reciprocity, which you re not going to get from a boat or a car. Talk to Carol, walk through the barn with her, pore over pedigrees, watch videos, even go into a stall to schnuzzle with a horse and feed him carrots, and she absolutely lights up with the possibilities her program creates. I m in this because I love horses. I love every foal that s born and I want each one to have, if I can ensure it, a good life. That means not being held back by traditional standards that say they have to be either halter horses or performance horses. Possibly that s a choice you make somewhere along the way, but my gosh, if they have the ability to do both, how much more powerful that is. As a breeder, I think of myself as a link in a beautiful chain begun a millennium ago by the nomadic bedouins. The greatest honor would be to know that one day my horses may become a cornerstone for the future of the Arabian horse, this horse we love, this horse of our daydreams. 14 DAY DREAM ARABIANS WORLD

15 facing page: The Day Dream Arabians facility in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, California. right: Baskhemos Joy (Baskhemo x Miss May by Imatez) with Day Dream farm manager Debra Walter-Schliem.

2065 Refugio Road, Santa Ynez, California 93460 805.688.9106 fax 805.686.9916 www.

16 Day Dream Arabians, Inc. Carol Steppe, owner Contact Debra Walter-Schliem for breeding and sales information 2065 Refugio Road, Santa Ynez, California fax Showkayce is standing at Pacifica All of the Day Dream stallions are SCID clear. DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY ARABIAN HORSE WORLD

A SIRE for all REASONS

A SIRE for all REASONS day dream A R A B I A N S Carol Steppe, Owner Debra Walter-Schliem, Manager Justin McManus, Trainer For Breeding & Sales Information: 2065 Refugio Road Santa Ynez, California 93460