When someone mentions Prestige Farms LLC, you most likely think of the countless national winners they have bred, shown and sold. Aside from breeding some of the finest English horses, the Schimmel family has been a fixture in the Arabian horse industry for the past forty years. Each generation of the family is involved as this tight-knit clan is all about supporting each other inside and out of the show ring.
The youngest member of the Schimmels, Patience, learned how to ride when her grandpa Irwin started taking her to the family farm in Hillsboro, Oregon. It came naturally to her as she started riding on her own at just 3.5 years old. She began riding on a lunge line in a bullpen on one of the horses that her older cousins had shown, Cohiba Baby, and has learned a lot from that special mare. Just this last fall, Patience got her own horse, In Search of Diamonds (affectionately known as Rocky) to show in walk/jog.
The 2016 Scottsdale Show was Patience’s debut into walk/jog from leadline at only 5 years old. Patience’s aunt, Theresa Schimmel-Spencer was thrilled at how the show went for her niece and how her wonderful horse, Rocky, took care of her.
“Patience improved so much by the end of the show! With the big arena full of people in the stands, it was easy for her to get distracted with all that was going on. Rocky was so well-behaved and did his thing – he is really special. By her last class, she was an old pro and had come so far,” Spencer said.
As for her Patience’s western outfit, Schimmel-Spencer loved how the contrast to Rocky’s pinto coat. “I loved how the bright red popped against Rocky – after we chose red, we gave Melissa free reign on the rest of the design,” Spencer explained. They were so excited about the end result.
For the rest of 2016, Patience will show at the local shows around Oregon and Washington, Region 4, and hopefully Youth Nationals. They also hope for her to show saddleseat in the future. We wish Patience and the rest of the Schimmels the best of luck – thank you for letting Show Season be apart of the ride!
Multi-National Champion JKF MacGregor — “Every day I refer to him as the Best Horse in the World. This horse will literally do anything that he is asked to do. He has taken me to the National’s winner’s circle (Champion or Reserve) for 7 consecutive years and in 3 different disciplines – English Pleasure AAOTR, Pleasure Driving AOTR and Show Hack AAOTR. He has won a total of 7 National Championships, 5 Reserves and has loved every minute of it! We will be taking on Side Saddle this year.”
Our son Kyle was born in 1986. On the day I went into labor, I was showing in a halter class. After our son’s birth, I took a hiatus from the horse show world and spent my limited free time showing and breeding our Whippets. We have bred over 60 AKC Champions, have won the National Specialty for Whippets 3 times (in entries of over 600 dogs), as well as over 30 Best in Shows with our Starline Whippets. In 2009, a 4th generation Starline-bred Whippet of ours, Ch. Starline’s Chanel, finished the year as the #1 Whippet, and at the time of this writing, she is the #1 dog (all breeds) in the US.