Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

FOALING AROUND: Mountain View Arabians gain worldwide recognition

BY ERIN RHODA Staff Writer

MADISON -- Laurie Emery washed clean one of her Arabian yearling colts in the morning recently, but a few hours later he was covered in mud from playing with his water bowl.

With the black, ripped bowl between his teeth, he tossed it up and down as he ran within his fenced enclosure, dropping it and snatching it back up again.

Life is good for the energetic colt, as it is for the 18 other horses at Mountain View Arabians, a small breeding program located on River Road and owned by a mother-daughter team.

Bred and born in Madison, the horses are sold across the United States and Europe. One is owned by the Saudi Arabian king.

"You either have a lot of money, or you have to absolutely love it and be a little crazy," Emery, 40, said of the business. For her and her mother, Jane Washburn, 70, the program is based on a love of horses -- and a bit of horse mania.

Most of their horses are mares, and four will produce foals next spring. Since 1995, the breeding program has produced 30 to 35 foals, which have been sold for various uses in the U.S. and abroad, whether for shows, riding or breeding, Emery said.

They breed primarily to stallions, and three weeks before a mare is due to give birth, they set up a video camera in the stall, so they don't have to sleep in the barn, Emery said. Births generally happen in the middle of the night.

Although neither woman has studied veterinary sciences, they help birth the foals when needed. A lifetime of horse experience has taught them what to do, they said.

Combined, they have 110 years of experience.

Washburn was raised in Strong with one saddle horse. She married a farrier.

Emery grew up around horses in North Anson. As a toddler, she crawled on the barn floor around race horses. She developed calluses on her knees from pretending to be a horse.

"I was a horse," she said. "I don't remember not having a horse."

Both women also have full-time jobs. Washburn works for Occupational Health Research in Skowhegan, and Emery manages Tom and Dodie Dillon's horse farm in Anson.

"I stink right 'til early evening," she said.

The idea to start their own breeding program began when Washburn was stationed in Knoxville, Tenn. in the early 1990s, she said. There was a stable close by, so she kept an Arabian mare and eventually bred her to a stallion in Nashville.

The result was Talons Pride, foaled in 1995. The program grew from there, they said.

Talon went on to be trained by Tommy Garland, who in 2002 was voted the Western Pleasure Trainer of the Year by the Arabian Professional and Amateur Horseman's Association.

Other foals gained similar recognition. The farm's Thee Love Affair was the 2003 Egyptian Event Jr. Champion Filly in Kentucky. She was later shown at the Salon Du Cheval in Paris. She is now owned by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Emery and Washburn say a horse needs to have "a spark" to be successful. They like to see a foal prancing with its tail up. The legs and body must be fit.

Arabians love human contact, Emery said. They have intelligent, expressive eyes and are useful for their endurance. They know when they've done something wrong, Emery said, and they know their names.

The farm may be reached at rlemery@prexar.com or www.arabhorse.com/mountainview.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@centralmaine.com