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[RC] RC] Malaysia WEC: The King's Horse - Lari SheaHey Steph,
We do go way back, don't we?
It's an even stranger connection between us all... I had known Brook
Sample since he was a kid, and loaned him a horse for the Kansas WEC in
the mid '90's. Brook flew to California to get to know his horse,
Caradeno, for 3 weeks and drove cross country with me. But while in
CA, he fell for Leigh, who not only had been working for me, but
was actually my own son's girlfriend at the time! They were just
splitting up, it turned out, and Brook saw his opportunity. He
invited Leigh to work for his dad, Bob Sample, at their horseback riding
vacation outfit in Queensland that winter. I was bringing another
group over to ride with them, so Leigh would be taking care of Ricochet
Ridge clients just like at home. When I got there, it was clear
that Brook and Leigh were more than co-workers... They married and moved
to Dubai, where they trained endurance horses for a famous sheik.
After about 5 years there, they moved back to Queensland, bought land for
both the sheik and themselves, and now manage both his and their
"studs", as they call breeding/training farms down under, in
the lush mountains in northern Queensland. Between the two
places, they have over 100 gorgeous Arabians who live on hundreds of
acres of hillside pasture. They've got two beautiful boys... sort
of my grandsons, wouldn't you think? They even have a Ridgeback
dog, just like me.
Two years ago when I brought clients to ride with the vacation
business which is now run by Brook and Leigh, I met Leigh's beautiful
Arab/Appy gelding, Pharaoh. And this past year when I returned for
the twelfth time, I was honored to ride him myself on our vacation.
He'd just been sold to the King of Malaysia, so my job was to NOT GET HIM
KICKED! Pharaoh is a going machine, and didn't always appreciate my
holding him a good horse's length behind his buddies, but he acquiesced
gracefully. My husband, Harvey, Cynthia Ariosta and Forest Tancer,
fellow endurance riders, all rode champion Quilty horses also. The
King owns at least one other qualified horse, so I have to admit I was
thrilled when I heard he'd chosen "my" horse on which to
compete at the WEC. Both Brook and his brother Matthew will be
competing for Australia, so I'll have riders on three teams to cheer for
in 10 days.
Wish I were there helping to crew~~~
Lari "What unites us all is a love of the out-of-doors, a spirit of adventure, and a passion for horses!" Lari Shea Ricochet Ridge Ranch 24201 North Highway One Fort Bragg, CA 95437 Riding Vacations on the Mendocino Coast with lodging at unique B&B Inns International Riding Vacations
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