I also have a beh shah mare. In my heart I am hoping she will eventually be one of the good stories. But due to her being passed around to the wrong people has presented a challenge. She has never been unsafe around our family, but she is wired differently. Fortunately, on the ground she has excellent manners. It is with her past in her mind we are trying to help her with and under saddle. I know it will be a journey but one I am willing to walk even if it takes years. I figure I can learn much from her. Today we had a really fun time and my heart sored both for her and me. She has learned to THINK and that's a good start. Something I've been waiting for before we can go on and try to repair bad memories/experienc. She was saddle trained at one time. 5 months w/never an issue until in the wrong hands. Anyway...
I have been able to ride with some folks that have some really really good beh shah horses. Or rather Mark of Fame horses which are bey shah. THere are indeed some very good ones out there. On the other hand, there are some bad ones too and I think those are the ones we always hear about. Not necessarily the postive stories.
I have found the ones my mare and I have been fortunate to ride with to be very talented horses with excellent work ethics that seem devoted and bonded to their riders. Especially if they've been raised by same. Seems they get better as they mature as well. I think they may be slower to mature mentally and need a little more time.
My mare (my endurance mare/not the BS mare) loves them as riding partners as they and she have good work ethics and seem to enjoy going down the trail getting the job done. Gets along really well with them in general.
One of the bey shahs I think should be famous is Rambo Bey. What an athlete! My daughters good friend Tosha did very well on him and just loved riding him. (thanks to you Chris) and now Dale Peterson has continued to do well on him. Another friend finished Tevis on his own little BS mare in 2006 I believe. A tough little mare. A new acquaintence I had the pleasure of riding with has a wonderful tall, 5 yo MOF/BS fellow. What a wonderful horse. (Mark of Fame) That horse followed his owner all the way down to the coffer dam w/o being led, owner off him and just followed him a good few miles, Saddled, but loose. Side by side they went. What a partnership.
Our own Marcia Smith has MA Marksman(skip) who has done pretty good. That is my mares full brother.
Another friend in Cool has a really handsome bey shah he does well with. Another outstanding and handsome athlete. His gelding has some issues but he really knows how to handle him well. I really hope they can do Tevis this year if it works out for them. (You know who you are!) :))
All that being shared, one thing I have noticed about the bey shahs I've personally seen that are successful. It is their owners. I feel strongly that for this particular arab bloodline, that they absolutely HAVE to have the right person own them. A person that understands them, has a distinct ability to get inside their minds, and also understands that the bey shahs especially are work horses. They NEED to have a job. A hard job. They seem to thrive with work. It seems then that they can bloom. If they are in the wrong hands by accident or on purpose, they can be ruined quickly.
One other thing I've observed is that these horses are sensitive to the extreme in regards to their environment, especially while being ridden. They notice every little thing. EVERYTHING... Curiously, the ones I've ridden beside have ALL reacted the same way to the same stimula. It was uncanny to me and very interesting. Some even have the same mouthing habits.
I also find them to be suspicious and yet can be very bold and give you their whole heart if they decide to like you. Which is another particular I've made a mental note of. They can pick their people. If they don't like you. It just won't work.
Anyway, these are only observations that I've experienced. No way an expert at all. I think because I have one I've really paid attention to help me understand mine better so she hopefully can be successful to some degree, or at least safe and happy.
I hope nobody minded my sharing. Just timely and interesting topic.
cheers,
kathie
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