Mulawa Open Day - Celebrating the Arabian Horse

Each mid-September in the dramatic, verdant hill country of North Sydney, Mulawa Arabian Stud orchestrates one of the annual highlights of the Australian Arabian calendar. Recognized as the premier open house experience on the continent in terms of program scope, quality of bloodstock and participant attendance, the Mulawa Open Day rivals the best such events celebrating the Arabian horse to be found anywhere in the world.

Always on hand to welcome guests and guide visitors on the journey of discovering anew the wonderful world of Mulawa are the indomitable trio of Greg, Julie & Jane Farrell. Easily the most hands-on, knowledgeable and involved Arabian owners in the international business, Greg is at ease mingling amongst the crowd informing and enlightening, while Julie is hard at work behind the scenes administering a flawless flow of horses and handlers, with Jane narrating on the microphone and choreographing music to create the perfect educational and entertaining event. The unparalleled Team Mulawa – both Team Halter and Team Performance – performed with characteristic precision and professionalism, presenting equine stars past, present and future with consummate skill, dignity and respect. Renowned international halter trainer Cameron Bonney performed double duty at this year’s event, enhancing his masterful afternoon presentation of the current Mulawa show team, assisted most capably by the recent addition of Polish presenter Mariusz Lipa, with an informative and insightful morning seminar on “Training and Preparing the Arabian Halter Horse”.

While Mulawa Open Days have always been firmly grounded in honouring the horses that have served as the foundation of the stud’s unprecedented modern day success, the 2012 edition had a decidedly celebratory flavour highlighting an outstanding collection of youngstock that comprise the future of proactive, standard-setting and cutting-edge 21st century Mulawa. This glimpse of future greatness was most apparent in reigning Australian show horse supreme GUILIANO and his host of superlative get. An inspired achiever who survived a nearly fatal testicular torsion in early 2011 that resulted in the removal of the affected testis, GUILIANO not only recovered with virility and improved fertility, but emerged as the dominant force in the Australian show ring, undefeated in Senior Stallion halter as successive National Stud Show, East Coast and unanimous Australian Champion Stallion. His trio of dynamic, pulse-stirring performances with Andy Sellman of Argent Farms was the sensation of the most recent Australian show season, leaving enthusiastic spectators memorably impressed and exhilarated with his undeniable charisma, ultra-exotic type, elegant extravagant forehand, smooth balanced build and powerful, animated trot. Not only did GUILIANO emerge triumphant at each of the three most important shows in Australia, so did the best of his get from his inaugural foal crop. At the National Stud Show in November, his delightful daughter MI HARMONY claimed the Yearling Filly Championship, while his sons KONQUEST MI and FORTITUDE MI took Reserve Champion Yearling Colt and Champion Yearling Gelding titles, respectively. In February at the 25th Anniversary edition of the East Coast Championships, FORTITUDE MI was awarded Reserve Champion Yearling Gelding honours, while the sensational MAXIMILLIANO trotted away with the Yearling Colt Championship. Most impressively, GUILIANO accomplished an unprecedented Aussie-first clean sweep of the Yearling Championships, with the always glorious MI HARMONY winning again in the Filly Championship, MAXIMILLIANO unequivocally dominating amongst the colts and long necked, athletically-conformed REGENT MI gaining his first major win as Champion Yearling Gelding. Adding to the significant rising influence of GUILIANO as a sire is feminine and fancy PRAVIA MI, out of reigning Australian Champion Mare PARADA, who won earlier in 2012 as Queensland Challenge Junior Champion Mare in her debut, the identical inaugural title won by her dam at the same age. The ultra-charismatic, high trotting MAJESTA MI – full sister to East Coast & Australian Champion MAXIMILLIANO - achieved NSW Breeders Sweepstakes Yearling Futurity Filly championship honours for her sire at the National Stud Show. Also triumphant in New South Wales was close relative SANTIAGO MI, out of MAJESTA’s and MAXIMILLIANO’s granddam SAHTARAH, as 2012 NSW State Titles Reserve Junior Champion Colt the weekend prior to the Open Day. The biggest winner at the same show for Mulawa and for GUILIANO was the long necked, animatedly athletic and distinctly feminine beauty MI APHRODITE, yet another of the superlative KARMAA family who emerged the clear victor as NSW State Titles Junior Champion Filly. Accomplished achievers MI HARMONY, MI APHRODITE, MAXIMILLIANO and SANTIAGO MI were all presented with great fanfare on Open Day to illustrate the siring prowess of GUILIANO, as was the youngest of the full siblings out of multi-champion and broodmare extraordinaire MUSTANG’s MAGNUM, MAXIMISE MI. Brother to MAXIMILLIANO and MAJESTA MI, the commandingly handsome MAXIMISE MI demonstrates the extreme quality, elegance and athleticism of his sire to a greater extent at the same age than both of his highly accomplished siblings.

Not only did Mulawa find success in the Australian show ring in the preceding season in the Stallion and Yearling divisions, the reliably magnificent Mulawa mares once again reigned supreme in both the Junior and Senior divisions. While GUILIANO defined the theme amongst the Yearling winners, former East Coast & National Stud Show Champion MAGNUM FORTY FOUR proved his dominant and unquestionably positive influence amongst the females. Always a crowd favorite and beloved since her youth as “Australia’s Sweetheart”, the enchantingly feminine and always glorious PARADA distinguished her return to senior competition with Senior Mare Championship honours at both the all-important East Coast and Australian Championships. She was on hand in characteristic effervescent PARADA-style on Open Day to the delight of all in attendance, as were the youngest of her embryo-transfer produce of the previous season: the commandingly spunky PRUSSIA MI (by European Triple Crown Champion ABHA Qatar) and the aptly-named KLASSICAL PRESENCE MI (by KLASS), the latter named in homage to PARADA’s beloved recently deceased dam PRESENCE, and both replete with the attributes that make their dam one of the leading Arabian mares in the breed worldwide. Add to the fact that PARADA is also the dam of the promising PROTOCOL MI (by GAZAL AL SHAQAB) and champion PRAVIA MI, and it becomes clear that PARADA has proven herself as more than just a pretty face, but a young broodmare of significant merit, and the most important member of the dam family of Pure-Polish Mulawa foundation mare DZINA.

While PARADA was busy concluding her Australian show career with definitive victories, another of the MAGNUM FORTY FOUR daughters was proving her emerging dominance with back-to-back wins at the Australian Championships. This is the ultra-reliable superlative show horse ROMANCE MI, out of the imported MARWAN AL SHAQAB daughter RIMARAA, an undeniably elegant, smooth and superbly conformed young mare with aristocratic quality, large luminous eyes and extravagant length of neck. Named both Australian Champion Yearling Filly and Australian Champion Two & Three Year Old Mare in successive years, ROMANCE was key, along with the Aussie Championship win of her younger brother REGENT MI, in distinguishing her dam RIMARAA as the leading dam of direct Australian Champions in the halter division over the last half-decade. To emphasize the growing influence of RIMARAA in the Mulawa broodmare band, ROMANCE was joined in the ring on Open Day by her younger full sister, staff-favorite ROMANTIC MI, a more compact, petite and captivatingly feminine version of her elder sister, who shows great promise as a show horse of significance.

Two other important get of MAGNUM FORTY FOUR solidified his position of influence on Open Day. The up-and-coming TRUST MI was at his flamboyant best, delighting the crowd with an animated trot of surprising strength and suspension for a yearling colt, as well as a long, elegant upright forehand and the large, dark, distinguished eyes so predictably passed on by his sire. As the first foal of his recently imported dam DM MARCEDES TRUE LOVE (by the multi-champion MARWAN AL SHAQAB son RHR MARCEDES), TRUST, along with his maternal brother KRUSADE MI (by KLASS), prove their young dam as potentially a mare of significant merit, expanding ever more broadly the scope and depth of the Mulawa breeding program. Former Victorian Classic Supreme Champion Exhibit MULAWA ASPIRING was also on hand to represent the MAGNUM FORTY FOUR influence at Mulawa, trotting and snorting up a storm in characteristic style. She will be campaigned in 2012-2013 for Mulawa as a senior mare, having already earned the title of Queensland Challenge Reserve Champion Mare in May. Her best daughter, National Stud Junior Champion Mare and East Coast Reserve Champion Two & Three Year Old Filly, as well as Australian Reserve Champion Yearling Filly MI ASPIRING VALENTINO (by DA Valentino), was one of the brightest stars of the Australian show season just past, and notably absent on Open Day as she was enjoying some well-deserved rest and relaxation at Alabama, the 1700-acre world-class broodmare facility owned and operated as a division of Mulawa Arabian Stud, located in the heart of Australia’s horse capital three hours north of Sydney.

MI ASPIRING VALENTINO represents just one of four outstanding fillies that Mulawa has bred from their established dam families by recently departed multi-US National Champion DA VALENTINO. While MI ASPIRING VALENTINO has proven the most successful of his Mulawa-bred daughters on home turf, the North American export ALWAYS VALENTINE MI (out of ALWAYS AN ANGEL) held her own amongst the best in the breed as Scottsdale Champion Junior Two Year Old and Reserve Junior Champion Filly, Arabian Breeders World Cup Reserve Champion Junior Two Year Old Filly, United States Reserve National Champion Two Year Old Filly and Region 13 Champion Two Year Old Filly, all accomplished whilst competing with fillies nearly twice her age given her Southern-hemisphere appropriate birthdate of September 30th. Given the promise and eventual success of ALWAYS VALENTINE, the mating with DA VALENTINO and ALWAYS AN ANGEL was repeated for yet another sixth-generation Mulawa-bred female, the result of which is the sensational VALENTINO’S ANGEL MI. A striking chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, VALENTINO’S ANGEL is blessed with a longer and more elegantly shaped neck than her elder sister, as well as with a more exotic face, larger more expressive eyes and an overall more feminine and pleasing allure. Always effervescent and full of vitality, VALENTINO’S ANGEL was a highlight of the 2012 Mulawa Open Day, soaking in the attention and spotlight with grace and ease, accepting the approving touch and rapt attention of the admiring crowd.

Not only has US-bred DA VALENTINO proven a success with the multi-decade strength of the Mulawa mares, so has two-time Supreme Scottsdale Champion and three-time US National Champion ARIA IMPRESARIO. His influence was represented by IMPRESSA MI, an undeniably charming young mare of exceptional quality and captivating presence, who is very reminiscent of the overall phenotype of her sire at the same age, with a more distinct feminine appeal. IMPRESSA’s dam is the important PARKVIEW AUDACIOUS daughter, MULAWA ALEXA, a former Australian Reserve Champion and the dam of National Stud Show, East Coast and Australian Champion ATUNED MI, another of the recent show ring stars bred by Mulawa and sired by MAGNUM FORTY FOUR who was on holiday at Alabama after a busy two years in the spotlight.
The younger full brother to the late great PARKVIEW AUDACIOUS, AAMAHNI was back in the spotlight with owner/trainer/handler Cameron Bonney. A former Australian Champion Two Year Old Colt and Reserve Champion Stallion, AAMAHNI has returned to compete as a more mature and impressive individual. Now going beautifully under saddle emphasizing the great length of his powerful stride, AAMAHNI is a horse of extreme size, scope and substance, with an outstanding length and slope of shoulder, a strong level topline and a full, muscular quarter, great length of leg, and an upright, elegant forehand.

The grand finale of Mulawa Open Day involved MAGNUM FORTY FOUR yet again, this time in a supporting role to the undeniable and unparalleled influence of the “Queen of Mulawa” – KARMAA. One can travel the world over and be hard-pressed to find two more beautiful full sisters than KLASSICAL DREAM MI and MI KLASSIC FANTASY, sired by three-time Australian Champion, four-time East Coast Champion and international breed icon KLASS. As the leading son of Australian and Brazilian Champion TS AL MALIK, the Mulawa-bred KLASS is most importantly the exceedingly influential standard-setting son of foundation mare KARMAA, a daughter of World Champion Kaborr and United States Reserve National Champion AN Marieta, and the leading dam within the Mulawa program, who is still thriving at the farm at 26 years young. The distinctive old-world elegance and aristocratic quality of KARMAA is readily apparent in all of the KLASS daughters, yet amplified to the extreme in both DREAM and FANTASY. Uber-feminine with desert dryness and refinement, splendid forehands, broody balanced builds, and an overall captivating ethereal charm, KLASSICAL DREAM and KLASSIC FANTASY represent the world-class quality consistently produced at Mulawa as a result of both the ambitious vision and steadfast dedication of the Farrells. The elder KLASSICAL DREAM MI has just returned from a year on holiday to resume her show career as a senior mare, after succeeding as a junior mare as back-to-back East Coast Champion as a yearling and as a two-year old, as well as Australian Champion Two & Three Year Old Filly with the highest score of the event. Younger sister MI KLASSIC FANTASY looks to bolster her successful yearling career as East Coast Champion and Australian Reserve Champion Yearling Filly, with significant wins in the Junior Mare division as a persuasive two-year old. Both scintillating sisters, presented together in grand style during the Open Day, are out of Australian, East Coast and National Stud Show Champion MUSTANG’S MAGNUM, undefeated in her yearling season of competition, who at just seven years of age has proven to be not only one of the best producing daughters of MAGNUM FORTY FOUR, but one of the leading broodmares in the country with five champion produce to her credit: full sisters KLASSICAL DREAM MI & MI KLASSIC FANTASY, the aforementioned MAXIMILLIANO & MAJESTA MI, and multi-champion performance horse FAMES PHANTOM MI.

The combination of KARMAA and MAGNUM FORTY FOUR was emphasized one final time in the extraordinary phenotype of KAVALLE MI, a yearling son of World Champion GAZAL AL SHAQAB, who represents four generations of Mulawa breeding and the pinnacle of success in breeding superlative stallions. KAVALLE’s dam is KARESS, a daughter of MAGNUM FORTY FOUR and a KARMAA granddaughter through the captivating MULAWA KARA MIA MI, one of the most beloved and best producing daughters of the “Queen” herself. Like MUSTANG’S MAGNUM, KARESS is also just seven years of age with six foals to her credit via embryo transfer, including Australian and East Coast Reserve Champion KONFIDENCE MI, the gorgeous young mares GLAMOUR MI and KLASSICAL FAITH MI, as well as the promising KATAR MI (by World Champion and twice European Champion ABHA QATAR), who sold promptly after the conclusion of the Open Day festivities to Jess Wilson of Queensland. The best of KARESS is distinctly evident in KAVALLE, a specimen of incomparable quality, superlative balance and an overwhelming “it” factor that demands both attention and respect. He is undoubtedly one of the best young sons of his illustrious sire and stands poised to raise the level of success consistently created with vision and purpose at Mulawa to its highest international standard.

A fitting tribute to the outstanding horsemanship and stewardship of Mulawa as well as to the intimate inclusiveness of the entire event, Mulawa Open Day 2012 concluded with the popular carrot feeding ritual for the 500+ attendees who chose to spend and enjoyable and unforgettable day with the Arabian horse. All three reigning purebred Arabian Australian Champion females – Four & Over Mare Champion PARADA, Two & Three Year Old Mare Champion ROMANCE MI and Yearling Filly Champion MI HARMONY – all proudly bred by Mulawa in four, two and five generations respectively, were welcomed back a final time to their palate-pleasing gratification and the delight of the crowd. As the sun optimistically set in rural Sydney on a perfect Austral Spring Sunday, the collective world of the Arabian horse smiled with pride, contentment and satisfaction with the assured knowledge that Mulawa continues to enhance the Arabian experience for everyone with uncompromising dedication and integrity.