Mountain Meadows Amir Al Ahmar, “The Bay Prince” in Arabic, is truly a gift from God and we are honored and blessed to have had him born on our farm.  I believe in Fate, and that there is a higher power that controls our destiny.  I believe that Prince’s story is one of Fate & Destiny. . .

His roots go back many years, to when after searching for a new herd sire I came upon 31” FWF Debonaire at NFC Farms in Texas.  What a beautiful stallion he was, proud, prancing -- just oozing with that “Look at ME” attitude.  I knew I had to have him, but did not think that in my wildest dreams that I could ever afford him.  I will forever be grateful to Mr. Bob Erwin the owner of NFC Farms for allowing me the opportunity to purchase this stunning stallion and bring him home to compliment my small, but elite group of mares.  One of my special mares was 33” GG Cleopatra, a National Champion driving mare who I had purchased from a dear friend.  There was no doubt in my mind that Cleo & Debonaire would create a beautiful foal – and of course they did – Mountain Meadows American Express, the sire of Prince.  Express was born to win, there was never any doubt from the day he was born that  he was destined to be a Champion.  And win he did:  2X National GRAND Champion Open Halter Stallion & 2X National GRAND Champion Open Single Pleasure Driving Horse.

Prince’s dam, Mountain Meadows Shandy, was also destined to come to our farm.  Many years ago I was asked to come and get as many mares as I could catch from a farm who’s elderly owner had passed away.  I had known of this farm with the stunning little 31” blue roan Del Tera bred stallion and elite herd of beautiful little mares, perfect miniature Arabians – none over 34” tall.   I was terribly excited about the prospect of adding these special girls to our small broodmare band, however, the 2 matriarch mares, who were full sisters, Brandy, black & beautiful & Mandy, bay & beautiful where not to be caught – their grace and beauty was unmatched by any horse I had ever seen and I regretfully left the farm with 2 of their daughters and 2 other mares and hoped that I would be able to come back soon and round up the 2 elder mares.  Unfortunately, it was not to be, and the 2 stunning mares went to new homes that I was not able to track down.

  A couple of years later, out of the blue, as Fate would have it, I was contacted by a gal who was interested in finding a stallion to breed her mare to.  Imagine my delight when I again beheld the beautiful Mandy, and her stunning  bay roan daughter.  I could not contain my excitement and begged this woman to sell the pair of them to me.  She would not part with Mandy, who had finally come to trust her and held a special place in her heart, but she was willing to part with the beautiful bay roan daughter – I hard shipped her into AMHR and named her Mountain Meadows Shandy.

Shandy was much like her dam; proud, arrogant – with her beautiful chiseled head held high, her nostrils flaring, her tail flung over her back – she would gracefully prance away – just out of touching distance & defy your attempts to woo her.  Every visitor to our farm elicited the same response:  “Who is THAT beautiful mare!”

There was never any doubt that Shandy & Express were destined to create a special foal.  And when the little bay roan colt was born our dreams had been realized – stunning even as a newborn, there was a regal presence about him from early on.  Named “Special Express” in AMHR in honor of his sire. Even though he was from a sire & dam who were both over 34” tall and only AMHR registered he was small enough that we believed that he would be able to be hard shipped into the AMHA registry as a 5 year old, so the name “Amir Al Ahmar” (The Bay Prince in Arabic), was reserved for him until we could formally register him.

Prince spent the next 4 years playing in his field with his pals, growing up healthy, happy & strong.  He was  exceptionally refined and slow to mature, but there was never any doubt that he would grow to be a stunning stallion.  As the time came to begin his show career he was not too happy about the change in life – “boot camp” was certainly not as fun as romping in the tall grass at Mountain Meadows, however, he did go to several shows – measuring in at 33-34” tall, and consistently won over and over again.  The decision was made to send him to the AMHR National show to see how he would stack up against the competition of the entire nation.  In order to help him acclimate to the different temperature and get ready for the show he was sent to a well-known trainer in Texas a couple of months early and who would take him to the National show for us.  I was surprised to hear  that at the National show that he measured 34-1/2”, but rather than raise a ruckus, I left things as they were and figured that we were going to get “whomped on” since the ultra-refined little Prince needed  to compete against the horses in the 34-36” division.  When he won the 34-36” division I was  thrilled, but also warned that to win Grand he must go up against “the big boys” – 36-38”!  Never in my wildest dreams did we think that he would win again – but win he did and was pronounced AMHR National GRAND Champion Sr. Stallion, Over. 

At the time I did not realize that having Prince measure ½” over 34” tall would ever be a problem, after all, it was the one & only time he had ever measured over the AMHA height maximum, and it was a totally different registry than AMHA – however, the future would hold a different story. . .

Prince came home from AMHR Nationals and the following year, as a 5 year old was hard shipped into the AMHA and was given his permanent measurement of 34” and his AMHA registered name of Mountain Meadows Amir Al Ahmar – I was ecstatic!  Prince could finally take his place among the other admired horses of the AMHA and begin siring foals that would carry AMHA registration papers as well as AMHR papers.

 Our elation was short lived, however, because shortly after receiving his permanent AMHA card he was “protested” as being not able to be an AMHA registered horse based on the fact that he had measured over 34” at the AMHR Nationals the year before.  The protest was a surprise, and I was both hurt and offended that this beautiful horse should be singled out to be re-measured after having gone thru the very rigorous Hardship procedure.  However, it was forced that he be re-measured and when pulled straight out of the pasture and taken to a strange show grounds and re-measured he measured 1/8” over 34” – his AMHA  registration papers were revoked, pending my appeal.  Of course I was devastated – the hopes & dreams of being able to be a major contributor to the future of the AMHA registered miniature horse industry seemed crushed.   I knew that we had the Right to Appeal and I would exercise this right, but I felt that we needed to again show Prince at the National level, in the 32-34” height range in order to win over those that insisted that he was over 34”.  Therefore, the decision to bring him back out as a National contender once again was made – this was a difficult decision  to make, after all, he had already be titled National GRAND – the chances of him achieving this title again were very slim.

I turned to our dear friends Lee Crutchfield & Kirby Jones of Aloha Acres for this challenge.  Lee & Kirby has seen Prince as a young colt and were impressed with his grace and beauty and had actually asked if he was available for sale.  I knew there were no other trainers who would feel about Prince as I did – however I felt that it was important to have them actually come out, measure the horse and then make the decision about whether or not they wanted to bring him back out.  After Lee had measured Prince himself and was convinced that Prince was truly a horse that could measure the legal 34” & Under as specified by AMHA, he was on-board to show the stallion again at AMHR Nationals in the 32-34” division.  It was with great trepidation and anticipation that we entered the 2006 AMHR National show ring – could we possibly be so fortunate as to win again?   Of course it was Destiny again that called to us – and Prince was once again given the title of AMHR National GRAND Champion Stallion – this time in the UNDER 34” division!

With the title of National Grand in the 34” & Under division under his belt, it was now time to have Prince re-measured and reinstated in the AMHA.  With the careful handling and supervision of Lee and Kirby this was done and Prince was once again able to carry the registration papers of the AMHA and all his foals would now also be eligible to carry AMHA papers.

As I have said before, I have never believed that I am the “owner” of this special stallion, but more his “keeper”.  As such I believe that I am charged with helping him to achieve his destiny as a show horse but more importantly, as a sire who will have a positive impact on the miniature horse breed as a whole.  In 2007 Prince was transferred to Aloha Acres under the care & custody of Lee & Kirby to stand at stud and show as an AMHA 32-34” senior stallion before returning to his home at Mountain Meadows.  My heartfelt thanks will always go out to my friends who have been there for me during the stress of the past years, it has been a rocky road, but the future looks bright indeed.

Stay tuned for the next chapter. . .

 

Click here to view photos of Prince ~ Prince Page 1

Prince's Story ~ Prince Pg. 1 ~ Prince Pg. 2

 Prince's Harem Pg.1 ~ Prince's Harem Pg. 2

Prince's National Champion Offspring

About Mountain Meadows

Animated Intro