Arabians have been a part of our lives since Carey and I were married in 1982. We bought our first purebred before we even finished furnishing our house! Although our first Arabian was a successful halter horse, my true love lied with the performance horses, stemming from my childhood show years with Saddle Horses and Tennessee Walkers.
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.
Nicole was born in 1990 and by the time she was 5-years-old, we already had her up on a horse. When she was 8, we bought her a very safe hunter to show. But like her mother, she gravitated to the higher stepping Country and English horses. Nicole’s youth years were very successful, winning her first 2 garlands of many more roses to come at just 10 years of age in the Country English Purebred and Half-Arabian 13 & Under divisions, capturing Reserve Championships on Carry On+// and Pledge Of Allience. Nicole’s first National Championship was with a very special horse named TR Brazen+// in the Purebred Country English Pleasure at 13 years of age. Her crowning achievements came at her final Youth National in 2008 when she teamed up with our current trainer, and good friend, Joel Kiesner. Nicole rode in 4 classes and came home with 4 National Championships – 3 unanimously! Astride Adams Fire, Nabasken Afire and A Heart Throb MTA, Nicole lit up the arena, and melted her Mom and Dad’s hearts. It was a week all of us will never forget. Truly magical.
For me, 2008 was also a year of incredible memories, including Unanimous National Championships on Adams Fire and Nabasken Afire, as well as a National Championship in the Amateur Maturity on CP Rock On. Thanks to Joel and team Kiesner, 2009 was equally as rewarding. Adam won the Half-Arabian English Pleasure unanimously for the 3rd year in a row, and Guns Afire and I captured the roses in the Purebred English division to make it a consecutive win for me in that division as well! Nicole made a very successful debut into the AAOTR division and took home the Reserve roses in the Purebred English Pleasure on Nabasken!
Our family loves to spend time together, and for those who see us at the shows they will find that most of the time there are 3 generations of girls together – me, my mother Joan and Nicole – with my supportive husband Carey in tow, In between shows, our family – including our son Kyle who is a senior at the University of Arizona – loves to snow ski, travel to warm exotic places like Bora Bora, Hawaii and Mexico or just spend time together at home. We keep several retired National Champions at our house in Rancho Santa Fe including Carry On+//, shadow Fire SSM+// and Barbary Coast+// and enjoy riding them on the picturesque trails several times a week. We feel like the luckiest family in the world to share our lives with the incomparable Arabians, and within this horse community we have met some amazing people, whose friendships we cherish and enjoy so very much.
In 2010 we have a number of exciting young horses that will make their debuts, and we can’t wait for the 2010 show season to begin! As always, we will be looking our best in our SHOW SEASON attire! Our friends at SHOW SEASON have been dressing Nicole and I since 1998, and we are certain their attention to detail has been a part of our success!
Here’s to a great SHOW SEASON for all!
– Lori, Carey and Nicole Lawrence