medina spirit
Tag: training
Looking for an Experience?
If you are interested in doing something special you might consider Al-Marah while you are in Florida.
They are presenting a horse experience unique in the world with horses and trainers from their years of Al-Marah Arabians and Arabian Nights!
Al-Marah Arabians Offer New Equestrian Activities for 2015
Clermont farm offers world-class, hands-on horse experiences
CLERMONT, Fla. (March 2, 2015) -Al-Marah Arabians, the country’s premier Arabian horse farm, is announcing new activities for 2015, aimed at beginners to equestrian experts – and everyone in between.
Al-Marah Arabians is owned by Mark Miller, founder of the Arabian Nights dinner attraction that wowed more than 10 million guests over its 25 year run. After Arabian Nights closed, Miller turned his focus to the operation and legacy of his family’s Arabian horse farm, consolidating the farm on 80 acres of rolling hills in Clermont. The farm offers lessons and activities for the public, horse sales, breeding and more. Al-Marah Arabians has won more than 40 National Championships in just the last two years .
New activities for 2015
Al-Marah’s new Interactive Horse
Experience allows visitors to get hands-on
with some of the farm’s famous Arabians. Guests get a meet-and-greet with the horses, a riding lesson, a paint-a-pony opportunity and will learn some of training techniques that were used in the most famous performances at Arabian Nights, including the Liberty Act, where participants will learn how to teach a horse to rear and bow. This is a rare opportunity to interact with some of the top horses and trainers in the world. This activity is perfect for horse lovers of all ages and experience levels, and is available daily from 9 am – 4 pm. The experience costs $195 for the first participant, $95 for the second participant, and $20 for observers. Guests should plan on about three hours for the Interactive Horse Experience.
Riding lessons are also available for both adults and children and start at just $65. Al-Marah’s expert instructors will customize each lesson based on the rider’s experience and individual needs.
For group events, Al-Marah offers the Interactive Horse Experience and a farm tour for groups of 15 or more. Prices start at just $20 per person and makes for a great corporate outing or team-building event.
For more information on Al-Marah Arabians, please visit www.al-marah.com or call 352-536-1502.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jennifer Peterson
Al-Marah LLC
352-536-1502
JenniferP@almaraharabians.net
Frank Wolff
Wellons Communications
407-339-0879 office
407-637-6000 cell
Frank@wellonscommunications.com
About Al-Marah Arabians: Al-Marah Arabians is owned by Mark Miller, founder and owner of the world famous Arabian Nights Dinner Attraction, which he closed at the end of 2013 in order to continue the Legacy of Al-Marah. Mark’s mother, Bazy Tankersley, started breeding Arabian horses in the late 1930s, and founded her Al-Marah Arabian Horse Farm in Tucson, Arizona in 1942. In 1956, Al-Marah Arabians added the horses from Crabbet Stud and Hanstead Stud to their herd and has been the principle breeder of the Arabian Horses first gathered from the desert by Abbas Pasha in 1815, making Al-Marah the oldest privately owned band of Arabian Horses in the world. Mark is the 6th person in the third family to have control of this herd.
… and now the rest of the story!
Hi!
Thought you might like these questions and answers from some students in the Horse Tales Literacy Program.
www.HorseTales.org
Enjoy your Sunday Ride.
And stop at the Ranch on your way home:-}
Subject: 4th grade questions
Message Body:
Dear Mr. Farley,
My name is Mr. Dan Range and I co- teach 4th grade vocabulary with Mrs. Garcia
in the Gadsden Elementary school district. We are located in San Luis, Arizona.
During our class time for the last month Mrs. Garcia and I have been reading
your fathers book “The Black Stallion” to the students as a read aloud. We just
finished this morning and the students have some questions that they would like
to ask of you in regards to your father’s book.
1. How did your father develop the character of Alec. Was he based on people he
knew in school or was there a particular family member that resembled his
personality.
2. Is the “Black Stallion based on actual events”
3. What made you and you brother decide to continue your father’s legacy in
regards to writing and literacy?
The students enjoyed the story of the Black stallion, so much so that we are
going to show the movie on Friday. Thank you for your commitment to literacy and
for writing and preserving such great American literature. The students look
forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Range and Mrs. Garcia
Arizona Deserts 4th grade class.
Dear Mr. Range, Mrs Garcia and students,
My dad started writing” the Black Stallion” on his parent’s kitchen table when he was only a bit older than your students, sixteen. He had never owned a pony or a horse but had the opportunity to work with his Uncle Bill at a farm in upstate NY. There was plenty of work and many tall tales about horses of all kinds from his uncle. One that was repeated often was about Uncle Bill’s experience in World War 1;
Bill served as a veterinarian in the Army Equestrian Corps, there were many horses used in battles at that time. If you have seen the movie “War Horse” it shows the pain and tragedy of that war, and Uncle Bill’s job was to keep the horses sound and fit.
One evening a cry went up that the base camp was being attacked and Bill jumped out of his tent to see a lone man on a huge black horse charging toward him, bomb in hand!! Bill knew that if the solider managed to throw the bomb many of his friends would die and he had to do something NOW. He raised his pistol and fired without hesitation. The shot killed the rider instantly, before he had a moment to react, and he and his bomb fell to the ground harmlessly. Uncle Bill had saved the camp, his friends and officers, he was a hero!
The Captain of the base was so impressed by Bill’s swift action he asked him what he wanted as a reward. Uncle Bill knew exactly what he wanted – that Huge Black Stallion!
From then on the German horse and Bill were inseparable – traveling all over Europe as war raged and, like Alexander The Great’s horse Bucephalus, he saved Uncle Bill’s life more than once. Finally the war finished and it was time to go home. Like thousands of other soldiers Bill made his way to France where he was to board a ship back to America. When he arrived he soon learned there was no room for his most important possession, his horse. He had to make a painful decision – his family or his stallion.
Bill found a farmer in a nearby town who would take his beautiful black stallion and with tears in his eyes he left Black with the farmer, promising to return soon.
It was years later before Bill could get the money to go back but that big horse was a treasure he wasn’t going to lose! His big stallion became the sire of many fine race horses for Uncle Bill, who treated him with love and care for the rest of his life.
This is the way the story was told to me.
I believe this family tale and Dad’s wish to be an adventurer created Alec Ramsay. Often as my father would run on the beach, he was a track runner in school, and I would wonder who he was – Alec or the Black? He seemed to be both of them at different times but his fascination with horses of all types and that special feeling of connection between human and animal was a constant. Dad didn’t want sad stories about horses, books like “Black Beauty” and later “King of the Wind”, he wanted exciting adventure and wild horses! The Black Stallion gave him the ability to meet people in all walks of life from jockeys and trainers to presidents, kings and movie stars. He was able to ride the Black Stallion around the world doing what he like best – having adventures and writing about horses.
You never know where your dreams might take you!
I grew up with my dad’s closest friend, the Black Stallion, and he was a real part of the family. Dad was able to own a few horses later in life but that special mystery horse was the BIG brother of the family. When I was just out of college I started working on the Black Stallion films as a photographer (attached pix). That was an fantastic adventure that took me from the race tracks of California to the Sahara desert in Africa. I worked with many exciting people and saw magic come to life – like the rainbow scenes at the end of the Black Stallion film.
We started our literacy program with family friend Mark Miller and Al-Marah Arabians. Mark was best friends with my sister Pam and she is the inspiration for the books “Black Stallion and the Girl” and “Black Stallion Legend”.
Mark had a wonderful horse theater, Arabian Nights, in Orlando, Florida and I always hoped we could do something together. Horse Tales started as a small idea that used my dad’s books and his horses to tell a story that made reading fun. It was hard at the beginning but after the first year we knew we couldn’t stop – too many teachers and students enjoyed the program. We’ve now had over a million students participate in ten states and three countries.
You can read more about my dad’s life; https://theblackstallion.com/web/author/
Don’t forget to join the forum – you never know who you might meet there; https://theblackstallion.com/web/mb/
We have contests and discussion about horses, writing, movies … all kinds of topics.
Join us on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/alec.ramsay.96
Check up on the happenings at the Florida farm on FaceBook; https://www.facebook.com/almaraharabianhorses
And in Arizona; http://www.al-marah.com/
Thanks for writing … and reading!
Tim & Pamela Farley
www.theblackstallion.com
www.HorseTales.org