Futurity and junior classes on Monday saw lots of eager owners crossing their fingers. However, just showcasing these youngsters to a national audience is a good promotional move. Breeders and owners are looking for quality and future prospects and are quite forgiving of a young horse’s gaffes in the ring.

 

Although Bill Trapp had ponies that he kept on his grandfather’s farm in Wisconsin, he became smitten with Arabians after World War II. “It was Armistice Day in 1946, and I was in a stadium in Tokyo when Lieutenant Dick Ryan rode in on the Japanese emperor’s horse that was named White Frost. It was an Arabian, and it was quite a spectacle. I said to myself that I was going to get an Arabian when I got back home.” Trapp went back to Wisconsin and bought an Arabian mare from a breeder by the name of Trappe. Eventually he would buy a yearling named Nabiel, and the rest is history!

 

First time Nationals exhibitors Brian and Cristina Ferris, West Hills, Calif., are on pins and needles waiting for Psymplicity VF and Joanne Fox to make their debut. “She was a unanimous winner at regionals, so we think she has good chance,” says Cristina who sports the belt buckle to prove it. Fox says that the mare is sweet and has a great work ethic. “She’s the mare that every Bedouin ever loved.”