The horse world has lost a piece of history as the breeder and owner of Al-Marah Arabians, Bazy Tankersley, passed away yesterday at her home in Tucson, AZ. Bazy was a founding sponsor of HorseTales.org, family friend and inspiration to my father with her decades of knowledge about bloodlines, conformation and training. As she said recently, “I was blessed to do what I loved and now (getting older) to remember the names of all my horses.” Mrs. Tankersely had thousands of friends – four and two footed. Here’s a video of her at the farm
And the obit from the local paper;
“Bazy” McCormick Tankersley, an Arabian horse breeder and founder of St. Gregory College Preparatory School, died Tuesday at age 91.
Ruth “Bazy” McCormick Tankersley, renowned Arabian horse breeder and the founder of St. Gregory College Preparatory School, died Tuesday at her home. She was 91.
Tankersley bought her first purebred Arabian horse when she was 19 years old and opened Al-Marah Arabians in her early 20s when she and her husband moved to Tucson in 1941, according to Star archives.
Tankersley moved the ranch to Maryland in the 1950s but returned to Tucson in the mid-1970s.
In 2001, Tankersley bequeathed the 85-acre property at 4101 N. Bear Canyon Road to the University of Arizona, which will continue to use the property as a working ranch.
Tankersley also helped found horse breeder organizations, created a program to train young horse lovers and was a supporter of Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, known as TROT, a program that helps children with disabilities ride horses.
“You see, I come from that old-fashioned background of noblesse oblige: If you’re born with money, you have an obligation to do good works for others,” Tankersley said in a biography. “Only in recent years did I come to feel that through Arabian horses I might do more for my fellows than in any other way.”
Tankersley was born in Chicago in 1921. Her father, Medill McCormick, was a U.S. senator from Illinois and her mother, Ruth Hanna McCormick, was an Illinois congresswoman. Both parents were also in the newspaper industry.
Tankersley’s uncle, Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, appointed her publisher of the Washington Times-Herald. Tankersley wrote a column for the Tribune after the Times-Herald was purchased by the Washington Post in 1954.
Continuing her mother’s passion for education, Tankersley founded two schools in Maryland and St. Gregory in Tucson.
She donated millions of dollars to the school and gave an annual donation of $100,000 to be used for scholarships, according to Star archives.
Tankersley was a board member of several organizations in Tucson, including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, where she served as president in the late 1970s.
“Bazy was an enormously generous person and I got involved with many causes in my life here in Tucson and whenever I needed help financial or just good support, I could turn to Bazy, she was just enormously generous,” said George Rosenberg, one of Tankersley’s longtime friends and former editor of the Tucson Citizen.
Though Tankersley had a privileged life, her longtime friend Marty Lynch said she remained very down to earth.
“She was the most genuine, normal person I’d ever known,” Lynch said. “She was interested in people, in animals, in the world and had the background of being part of all of them.”
A memorial service for Tankersley is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 3738 N. Old Sabino Canyon Road.
This is Amy Dixon’s wonderful life story that can inspire us all for 2013!
The Blind Sommalier
It’s hard to believe that a mere six years ago I was preparing for my annual trip to Ocala with my beloved eventer, Calico. Blankets were washed, bodies were being clipped, my rig was tuned up, and endless hours of preparing for our dressage test were logged under saddle. Fast forward to December 2012, and I’m navigating the sidewalk with my new 4-legged companion, Elvis, a yellow Labrador Retriever who now serves as my guide and my eyes. We are traveling downhill towards the train station, en route to a meeting, and I give a half-halt on the rigid guiding harness to slow him down from our blistering pace. “Easy”, I tell him soft and low. I catch myself sometimes saying, “whoa” or clucking to get him moving or refocused. A bad habit, I tell myself, from more than three decades spent in the saddle riding eventers, showjumpers, and dressage horses. I laugh out loud, happy that I sometimes make that mistake with Elvis, but a little melancholy for those days flying through the woods, watching the trees whiz by as we clear logs, stone walls, and large gates. Now even finding a door knob seems a major accomplishment, and making it safely across a busy intersection on foot is cause for a mini celebration with my trusty guide.
I was diagnosed with a rare eye disease in my early twenties, and was told that eventually it would lead to inevitable blindness. My vision straight ahead was 20/20, but with each new attack of my disease, my field of vision would become narrower and narrower, eventually fading to nothingness. Determined to live out my life’s dream of becoming a professional equestrian, I digested this diagnosis and went on with my life. I had the good fortune of owning a scopey, brave Paint Thoroughbred/ Dutch Warmblood who was left to me by my father. He was as green as could be, but I was relentless in my pursuit of perfection with him, and he obliged by being a willing, fun, and talented student.
My vision was in a constant state of ebb and flow, depending upon the lighting, my blood pressure, and a variety of factors. I realized quickly that ‘riding by feel’ was not only important, it was essential to my safety and Calico’s. I practiced daily over ground poles to compensate for my constantly changing depth-perception. My ability to ‘feel” and not just “see” a distance to a fence made jumping natural obstacles in the woods effortless despite my vision impairment. The only time I really struggled with my disease while riding was in the warm-up area, where riders and horses milled about in no apparent pattern. In eventing, our warmups are usually in an open field with two single fences set up, so generally there’s lots of room for everyone. At one particular event, I had the misfortune of literally bumping into my idol, Karen O’Connor. She was competing against Calico and I on a young horse she was bringing along in the Open Training division. I was busy focusing on my leg yields across the field, and managed to slam right into her and the lovely Bay Thoroughbred she was riding. Horrified, I apologized, and quickly moved out of her way. Again, I came across the diagonal, and this time accidently caught her leg with my dressage whip, to which she tersely but politely said, “I seem to be getting in your way,” with a smile as she trotted off to a more remote part of the field. I stared desperately at my trainer, about to burst into tears with frustration and embarrassment. Dean quickly trotted over to Karen and explained my impairment to her, at which she looked my way, tipped her hunt cap, and smiled. “She is a class act all the way,” I thought to myself.
Be sure to catch the TV show about Al-Marah Arabians if you can!
Bazy Tankersley is a CLASSIC.
You’ve seen her horses before – a couple of my favorites are above! So much to learn, so many horses. Mrs.T and her farm have 100’s of awards – the trophies fill the shelves, ribbons the walls. She recently won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arabian Horse Association for her work which spans decades. A wealth of knowledge and personal commitment to refining the breed – she is a force of nature!
Your Life Redefined; Al Marah’s Bazy Tankersley-Arabians In America
Southwest special includes up close interview with legendary Arabian horse breeder Bazy Tankersley. Dr. Anna Marie shares her passion to continue the Al Marah bloodline. Shrimp Tacos are on the menu and how music keeps balance in one horseman’s life.
This material appears with permission. Visit Horse&Rider at HorseandRider.com
Here’s another magazine article I thought you’d enjoy.
It’s a particularly good look at the history of the books from Dad writing on the kitchen table as a teenager to the movies and all the turns on the track along the way. You never know where that “little idea” may take you! Jennifer Meyer does a great job of capturing what interested Walter Farley most – that intangible something that happens between a horse and rider.
Whose it going to be? Do you have a favorite? Union Rags? Bodemeister?
PP Horse Jockey Trainer ML
1 Daddy Long Legs
C. O’Donoghue A. O’Brien 30/1
2 Optimizer
J. Court D.W. Lukas 50/1
3 Take Charge Indy
C. Borel P. Byrne 15/1
4 Union Rags
J. Leparoux M. Matz 9/2
5 Dullahan
K. Desormeaux D. Romans 8/1
6 Bodemeister M. Smith B. Baffert 4/1
7 Rousing Sermon
J. Lezcano J. Hollendorfer 50/1
8 Creative Cause
J. Rosario M. Harrington 12/1
9 Trinniberg
W. Martinez B. Parboo 50/1
10 Daddy Nose Best
G. Gomez S. Asmussen 15/1
11 Alpha
R. Maragh K. McLaughlin 15/1
12 Prospective
L. Contreras M. Casse 30/1
13 Went The Day Well
J. Velazquez G. Motion 20/1
14 Hansen
R. Dominguez M. Maker 10/1
15 Gemologist
J. Castellano T. Pletcher 6/1
16 El Padrino
R. Bejarano T. Pletcher 20/1
17 Done Talking
S. Russell H. Smith 50/1
18 Sabercat
C. Nakatani S. Asmussen 30/1
19 I’ll Have Another
M. Gutierrez D. O’Neill 12/1
20 Liaison
M. Garcia B. Baffert 50/1
21 My Adonis E. Trujillo K. Breen 50/1