The Journey

A dream that stands the test of time

In the words of Suzann Vince, owner and founder of Iniziare Arabians…

In 1980, I took a plane to Amsterdam, Holland, after meeting my mentor, Howard Kale Jr. at one of the incredible Russian Arabian seminars held at Zodiac Farms in Cedar Hill, Texas, near to Dallas where I grew up. I, along with many others, had become entranced with the beautiful Russian bred horses that Howie and his family were importing which changed the face of the industry forever by adding the incredible Russian Arabian gene pool in the early 80’s, which still has lovely influences around the world in 2015. I purchased a seven-week-old filly by Numizmat (Aswan x Nemezida by Arax) and she arrived at Zodiac Farm in September 1980. This incredible journey I had begun was shared with equal passion by my wonderful father, Guy Vince, who saw the excitement on my face and who heard the passion in my words. My father jumped in feet first to make his young daughter’s dreams come to fruition. In 1983, we purchased a package of breeding’s to the great *Muscat (Salon x Malpia by Priboj) and from those breedings came a colt and then two full sisters Petrovkka (ex *Pavlinka by Numizmat x *Rifisa by Ghibli) and Mustiskka.

Petrovkka was shown exclusively by Rick Moser who, at the time, worked for Colonial Wood Arabians. She won extensively as a two-year old but because she was seven-eighths Russian breeding, we decided to let her come home to our farm and grow up after her two-year old year. When Petrovkka was seven, she was ready to again compete with Rick and in 1992, she won first place at the Buckeye Show, Reserve Champion Mare at Region IX and went Top Ten at the 1992 US Nationals in a field of 29 mares. Quite an accomplishment for the first filly I ever bred! I then brought her home again to see how she would be as a broodmare to carry her sire and dam’s blood for future generations. She produced very well and her reputation as a mare that was producing competitive foals is what brought Kim Morgan out to our farm in 2002, a decade after Petrovkka had left the show world.

Kim’s background in showing and breeding made her recognize Petrovkka’s extreme quality, even at age 17 because when the Russian horses age, they age beautifully. Kim was convinced that Petrovkka could make a comeback at the only big show she had never attempted before—but it was a bit of a mountain to climb due to her age plus she had foaled out three babies and had not seen the inside of a horse trailer, much less a showring for a decade. Kim persuaded me to bring her out of retirement, and it was one of the proudest moments of my life when my lovely Petrovkka entered Wendell Arena at the 2003 Scottsdale All-Arabian Horse Show with Howard Kale Sr., Howie Kale Jr., and his daughter, Joanna, in attendance to watch this lovely *Muscat daughter attempt to do what no other mare had tried to accomplish at the age of 18! When Petrovkka entered the ring, it was as if she had never really left it. And when the Top Ten winners were announced in a field of 8 mares in the Mares 8 and Over Class who were all a decade younger than her, she showed the crowd what she was made of because Petrovkka took home a Top Ten award. Petrovkka currently lives with Kim and she will be an astounding 30 years old on 24 April. For a mare of 90 plus human years, she is still beautiful and very healthy. I could find no better caretaker of my prized possession than Kim, who loves her dearly and she will eventually be laid to rest in a special spot we have selected for her at Kim’s farm.

Petrovkka at age 18 and Kim Morgan claim Top Ten honors at the 2003 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. Footage by Seehorse Video.

Fast forward a number of years and in 2005, I lost my father at the age of 93. I remained in the industry until the 2006 US Nationals and then I quietly backed away from it all because it did not seem the same without my father. I literally quit reading any publications, I quit going online to follow who was doing what and I had no idea what an E-blast was, what the Vegas World Cup Show was or what a live feed from IEquine was!

However, the draw of the Arabian horse remained strong and in 2013, I decided to attend the Scottsdale Show.
It was like I had been on Planet Escape for the past six years! But as most breeders and lovers of the Arabian horse know, there is no more exciting a display of the best horses in the world than at the Scottsdale All Arabian Horse Show. I got that old take your breath away and give you goose bumps’ feeling watching the classes and as much as I tried to say I had moved on, I realized that I just had been on a hiatus from what has been my passion since 1975 when I showed a *Bask (Witraz x Balalajka by Amurath Sahib) gelding in English Pleasure under the tutelage of the highly respected Spike Barter.

After that Scottsdale Show in 2013, I decided that I might entertain the idea of coming back into the fold but I really took my time before making the decision. I attended the Region IX Show, the 2013 US Nationals and then I attended the 2014 World Cup Show to observe and absorb what had not been a part of my life for almost seven years.

Having done this and taken stock of the current world of show horses, I contacted my old friend Ted Carson saying: “I am really ready to jump back into this adrenaline-filled passion that I had been kidding myself into thinking I was over and done with!” So, last August, I flew from Seattle, Washington, to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a nine-day quest to see if any of the 17 fillies that Ted had lined up for me to see made my heart skip a beat. My intention was to perhaps purchase just one young filly who was a weanling or a yearling. During an overnight plane ride to Ocala, Florida, I found that special one, the filly that I thought at the time, was going to be my one and only purchase. On 8 August, I bought a filly sired by the exceptional Da Vinci FM (Versace x Full Moon Astar by Yahya Matuk) and out of the 2005 Brazilian National Champion Yearling Filly, *Sashaa LHT, sired by the very beautiful El Nabila B and out of Giovanna JM (NV Sure Fire x Key Rayza JP by Bay Fayek). I named her H Bella Bellezza H which means “The Beauty” in Italian. I purchased her from Hennessey Arabians at the tender age of eight weeks.

However, life sometimes throws you a delightful curveball and during my stay, Ted received an excited call from one of his clients who had just had a filly sired by Shanghai EA (WH Justice x Salymah EA by Khidar) out of *Legacys Rose HVP (Legacy of Fame x Magnum Rose HVP by Magnum Psyche out of Rohara Antiquebey), who was also a Brazilian National Champion filly prior to her importation and purchase by Cedarbrook Arabians. The owner, Glenn Garrett, just wanted to tell Ted how beautiful his new foal was and to make sure that he got down to see this filly asap. Ted told me that on our way to look at horses at several other farms, we pass right by Cedarbrook and because of the excitement in Glenn’s voice, Ted said that maybe we should stop in. So we made a day of it but oh, what a day it was because our first stop which was at Cedarbrook Arabians. Ted warned me that this foal was just seven-days old but when Missy and Chip brought *Legacys Rose HVP out, the most beautiful little filly was tagging right along beside her. I took one look at her, looked at Ted’s smile and walked over to him and whispered in his ear: “I am SO in trouble right about now!”

I was not looking to purchase a second filly, let alone one that was almost still wet behind the ears, but Ted, his wife Brandi and I all knew that there was something about this filly that required some very serious consideration. So when I left North Carolina on 16 August, I was in awe at what I now owned after being gone for what I felt was for good since the fall of 2006. I gave the Shanghai EA filly the perfect name for the way that I am feeling about my re-entry into the Arabian industry which started with my two purchases last summer. I named her Benedetta INZ, because Benedetta means “Blessed” in Italian. Meanwhile, my new farm name, which I have chosen in honour of my Sicilian father, is Iniziare Arabians, which means “New Beginnings”. It truly feels like my destiny to be on the right path once again and H Bella Bellezza H and Benedetta INZ are walking beside me as my journey unfolds for many more years to come.

But then a delightful thing happened to me in May, 2015. Ever since I was a young child, I have believed that things have happened in my life that were not a coincidence. As I got older, words like fate and serendipity entered my vocabulary. And in May, 2015 serendipity became intention unmasked. Prior to my flying into Georgia for the 2015 Region 12 show because my filly H Bella Bellezza H was to be shown in the Region 12 Yearling Filly Spotlight Futurity Class following her Top Ten Yearling Filly win at the 2015 Scottsdale Show… I called my dear friend Ted Carson and told him I had been feeling that my re-entry in the Arabian horse world might possibly need one more beautiful young weanling filly to complete what I hoped would be a winning trifecta for Iniziare Arabians. The number three has also meant family to me because I am an only child. I also told Ted that I was perfectly content with the blessings bestowed upon me by now owning H Bella Bellezza H and Benedetta INZ whom I had purchased within one week of each other in August, 2014. I believed that IF I did come across that third filly, I would have the same intense guttural feeling that I had when I first laid eyes on Bella Bellezza and Benedetta. So after Region 12 I was able to spend an extra week in North Carolina hanging out with my two yearling fillies and then the two days came around where Ted and I went on our search for what might or might NOT be my third filly.

I was presented 14 fillies to consider. While many of them were excellent fillies, there is something indescribable that happens when you see “the one”! At the time I was there in residence at Butler Farms in mid-May 2015 there was a week devoted to a photography shoot conducted by Javan Schaller coupled with a series of showings that had been requested by outside agents flying in that were working with other buyers. When one agent in particular flew in for a six hour stay…that was the first time that I laid eyes on what was to become my third filly whom I have named Celestina INZ which means “Heavenly’ in Italian. I have always had great admiration for her sire ML Mostly Padron not only for his intense beauty and attitude but because my
original beginnings in the Arabian horse world started with the bloodlines of the Russian bred Arabians and I was very involved in the 80s when *Padron was being campaigned and when he set the arena on fire with his incredible face and eye, and his extreme athletic ability coupled with his “I am King’ attitude! ML Mostly Padron is in my opinion the most look alike son of Padron ever foaled and he truly speaks for the success of the Padron bred horses worldwide both in genotype, phenotype and that ever elusive show horse attitude that comes without any outside encouragement. When I also learned during the presentation, that this filly who was capturing my heart almost instantly, was out of an SF Veraz daughter… I was thrilled that within this one 10-week-old filly I might have the opportunity to have a very young foal out of two of my most favorite show and breeding stallions! Even though I had been shown five really high quality 2015 fillies that had been at Butler Farms all along… Celestina was for me, the completion of my personal trifecta. Tri meaning trio coupled with the word perfecta. In the summer of 2014, I would have never predicted that by May, 2015, I would be gifted with three young fillies that I now proudly call my own but I believe that life is not merely a series of accidents or coincidences. But rather it’s a tapestry of events that culminates in an exquisite, sublime plan and the acquisition of Celestina INZ is not the climatic or culmination point in my life but I believe that Celestina along with H Bella Bellezza H and Benedetta INZ are God’s will in my life along with a huge outpouring of love from my father which I believe has come full circle as my Daddy looks down from heaven watching and smiling as my amazing journey happily continues…

Originally published with the kind permission of The Arabian Magazine in March 2015.