The Breeding Program of Belesemo Arabians

Belesemo Arabians stallions carry on after foundation stallion Belesemo Trad

December 27 2016
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Belesemo Arabian's foundation sire, Belesemo Trad, died in 1997. His sons Belesemo Magic, Belesemo Image, and Belesemo Ibn Trad have carried on their sire's lines during and after Trad's death. They were outlined in this story - Belesemo Arabians: Beautiful and Enduring.

The breeding program of Belesemo Arabians continued through other stallions during and after the time of Belesemo Trad.

Owner Kim Johnson said, “In looking for outcross stallions to use on the Belesemo Trad daughters, we were extremely blessed to be gifted with the stallion RD Arizon, a Crabbet Ferzon/Raffles cross stallion that had a successful show career in many different divisions including Scottsdale.”

RD Arizon (Perlezon X Na Warda, by Comar Garit) is the sire of many successful show and endurance horses for Belesemo Arabians, including Belesemo Sundance, who accumulated nearly 1000 miles, and BA Fantizon, bred by Belesemo Arabians and bought and campaigned by Ralph & JoAnn Kewish, earning 2,640 miles and the AERC National Jim Jones Champion stallion award.

RD Arizon’s offspring, who are still producing the next generation at Belesemo Arabians, include Belesemo Obsidian and Belesema Arizona.

Belesemo Obsidan (RD Arizon X Velvet Dawn, by Misimma Ibn Shiko), an Idaho Futurity Champion Stallion, has produced several more winning grand-get for RD Arizon in the U.S. Reserve National Champion Sport Horse Yearling Colt, and several up-and-coming endurance and sport horses. RD Arizon's great grandson, HHR Jammazon, has over 1400 miles with Tamara Baysinger.

“RD Arizon’s most famous offspring, BA Fantizon (RD Arizon X ASA Miss Fantasia, by Barich de Washoe), came back to stand here at the farm in 2000 and 2004,” Kim said. “To date, Fantizon has produced 12 winning offspring that have over 1,000 AERC miles, and they will still be racking up the miles and titles for years to come.”

Four of BA Fantizon's best offspring sired on his return to Belesemo Arabians include Belesemo Impresario (over 3,800 miles, National Pioneer Heavyweight and Lightweight Champion, and 2016 100-mile AERC National Championship 1st place Heavyweight), Kismet Fandansk, (5,400 miles and 3rd National Champion Pioneer Award), Belesemo Emperor (over 1,100 miles), Belesemo Odyssey (over 1,000 miles), and Performizon (over 1,300 miles).

BA Fantizon continued prior to his death in 2014 to produce 1000+ mile offspring for his owners, the Kewish's Kismet Arabians, including Kismet Janina, WF Fantazee, Kismet Bolero, and Beauty’s Fantasy.

“The next stallion to become a part of the Belesemo program with RD Arizon was Overlook Farwa (Abu Farwa X Al-Marah Zaibaq, by Indraff), acquired in 1994,” Kim said. “Overlook Farwa had been a National Champion cutting horse owned by the Guytons from Nevada. Due to his advanced age, we were able to get 9 of 21 foals he produced during his time with us.”

Of those 9 foals for Belesemo Arabians, his most noted offspring were Belesema Keepsake (1,120 miles; 23 completions in 24 starts), Belesema Charrika (over 1,400 miles; holder of multiple AERC regional mileage awards), Belesemo Legend (3,200 miles; AERC title holder), and Belesema Silvress (805 miles). “Overlook Farwa was indeed a piece of history we were blessed to have for a short time.”

“We were also blessed to have Belesemo Epic+++/ , a multiple sport horse/dressage stallion purchased from Belesemo Arabians by Mona Tobias, return to stand at Belesemo Arabians for two seasons,” Kim added. This Belesemo Trad son has produced several National Sport Horse offspring which include National Champion Half-Arabian In Hand mare, four National Top Ten Jackpot 2-year-old colts, and multiple others. “He has been a phenomenal sire with limited offspring being shown.”

A third stallion to join the Belesemo roster late in life was Sanskrit (*El Shaklan X KA Samantha, by Boreau), at age 26, owned by Dee and Victor Matlock of Singing Springs Ranch. “Sanskrit was a true gift from his owners, as he came to us as an already well established sire of endurance and sport horses,” Kim said.

“He brought in different bloodlines to Belesemo Arabians through his sire, *El Shaklan, but his dam line still possessed the CMK breeding we value so highly through Raseyn, Abu Farwa and Naseem. His cross on our Belesemo Trad, Belesemo Magic, and BA Fantizon daughters is phenomenal, and although we only had him for 3 short years we still have frozen semen we are using from him that will ensure more of his foals in the future.”

Prior to coming to stand at Belesemo Arabians, Sanskrit had many notable offspring. Excalaber+/ was bred by the Matlocks and owned and ridden by Sue Nance. He had over 2,000 miles to his credit with 30 1st place finishes, including 16 Best Conditions and many titles. Sancja earned over 2,600 miles with 29 Top Tens and 4 Best Condition awards. Bailie Skrit Ablaze currently has 1,830 miles and 17 Top Tens, including four Tevis completions. In 2016, he and Pam Bailie were 1st Featherweights in the 100-mile AERC National Championship. Jessie Caswell's Sanskrit son, Appolo LH, has 1,065 miles to date with 6th place in the 2016 Tevis and 7 Best Conditions. Sans Premium Edge and Six Shooter Ruger are among some of Sanskrit's National Champion sport horse/dressage competitors.

Belesemo Arabian's most recent addition to the stallion roster is the pure Crabbet stallion BR Gold Sovereign (Seffer X PR Silver Dream, by Silver Vanity). He achieved 3 National Top Ten Sport Horse Stallion in hand wins, in addition to Regional Reserve Champion Stallion and Top Five Sport horse under saddle. His first foals arrived at Belesemo Arabians in 2016. “We are looking forward to his great addition to our breeding program for the future,” Kim said, “returning to even more Crabbet infusion.”

The broodmares of Belesemo Arabians have also contributed to the ranch's legacy. “We have been so blessed in not only the great stallions that have been a part of our breeding program, but the phenomenal mares that have produced outstanding offspring,” Kim said.

“Many of our broodmares are top endurance and sport horse champion mares themselves. They have thousands of endurance miles to their credit and many show ring placings. Our mares include multiple 1,000+ mile mares, National and Regional AERC winners, AHA 50 Mile Champion, Pioneer Award winners and WEG alternate team mares. These mares are bred to excel in the performance divisions but can still win in beauty and conformation classes.

“Mares are the bread and butter of any breeding program and are even more important than the stallions, especially in the disposition department.”

Kim sums up the challenges, hard work, successes, and joys of her lifetime developing the Belesemo breeding program:

“One, is that a breeding program should not be judged just by the number of winning horses produced or seen out on the trail, but by the percentage of winners vs. the number of horses produced. A breeding program can produce 30 foals per year and perhaps have 2 or 3 winning horses out of each foal crop. However, if a breeding program is producing only 5 foals per year and has the same 2 or 3 winning horses out of each crop, that is the true test of breeding success.

“Secondly, all of the Belesemo horses have been taken to their wins by their respective purchaser/owners. We ourselves have never ridden any of our horses to their titles – their wonderful owners have. We offer this as proof that the Belesemo horses are some of the most versatile and competitive horses being produced, with multitudes of different individuals having accomplished wonderful goals with their trail companions.

“This is the real test of a breeding program. We have been supremely blessed in the individuals that have taken our horses to ride and compete with. They are truly the wind beneath our wings as breeders, and we give them all the credit for our horses achieving their success on the trail and in the ring.

“We are honored they chose a Belesemo horse to share their journey with. We cannot thank them enough for their confidence in our breeding program. We look forward to the future welcoming even more members, both human and equine, to the Belesemo family.”

For more information on Belesemo Arabians, see:
http://belesemo.com/