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FOR THE NEW ENTHUSIAST
MY LIFE WITH
THE ARABIAN HORSE: SHARON EIDER-ORLEY b y De n is e He a rs t
The foundress of a breeding program and dam of 11 offspring, all of whom were champions, AMURATH CZORTEBA (*Czortan x Amurath Basksheba). She is pictured here with three of her daughters: AMURATH CRIZTINA (2000 by Magnum Psyche), CONTEZSA (1995 by Sapphire C), CZAARINA (1994 by Sapphire C).
I N 1 9 8 4 , B I L L A N D S H A R O N E I D E R - O R L E Y O F A M U R AT H A R A B I A N S , S C O T T S DA L E , A R I ZO N A , V I S I T E D P L U M G R OV E A R A B I A N S A N D P U R C H A S E D A T H R E E - M O N T H - O L D A R A B I A N F I L LY T H AT WO U L D C H A N G E T H E I R L I V E S . T H AT F I L LY, A M U R AT H C ZO RT E BA , WA S A G R E AT- G R A N D DAU G H T E R O F T H E W E I L M A R BAC H M A R E * SA N AC H T ( H A D BA N E N Z A H I X H AT H O R ) , A N A R A B I A N H O R S E T R U ST H A L L O F FA M E M A R E A N D O N E O F T H E B R E E D ’ S M O ST I N F L U E N T I A L P R O D U C E R S . F O R OV E R T H R E E D E C A D E S , T H E E I D E R - O R L E YS H AV E E N D E AVO R E D T O C A R RY T H E L I N E F O RWA R D – A S S H A R O N SAYS , “A R E A L P R I V I L E G E . ”
W H AT WAS YO U R I N T RO D U C T I O N TO A R A B I A N H O R S E S?
When I first met my husband Bill Eider-Orley, he owned a three-quarter Arabian mare bred by the Jo-Lin Ranch in California. He had purchased her as a three-year-old filly from a ranch in Half Moon Bay in the mid 1970s. At the time, Bill was beginning his career with Hyatt Hotels Corporation and his job required travel most of the week. His
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weekends were spent riding in the mountains and along the coast, fulfilling his lifelong fascination with the romance and history of the Arabian horse. H O W D I D YO U K N O W T H AT T H I S H O R S E B E L O N G E D I N YO U R L I F E ?
When I met Bill (and his Arabian mare!) I was immediately captivated by her intelligence, her great disposition and willing attitude, and her remarkable attachment to Bill. I thought it was extraordinary and wanted to explore the idea of buying a purebred mare. By now, we lived in Chicago where Bill had moved to the corporate offices of Hyatt. A very wise Arabian breeder directed us to Plum Grove Farm in the suburbs of Chicago with the admonition to buy the best quality we could afford. I’ve often reflected on how important this advice was in putting us on a great adventure with Arabian horses. It is one thing that I have kept in mind through the years. So we went to Plum Grove Farm, owned by the Loeber family, and upon walking into their barn, felt that we had discovered the true classic Arabian horse. We
were so mesmerized by the dry desert beauty of the Nazeer son *Ramses Fayek. Bill’s first comment as we stood in front of his stall was, “This is what they’re supposed to look like.” So needless to say, we became enamored with the Amurath breeding program. The influence of the Weil Marbach import *Sanacht in creating a broodmare dynasty made a big impression. Soon, we were back at Plum Grove Farm in 1984 and purchased our first Amurath-bred Arabian filly. That filly was Amurath Czorteba (*Czortan x Amurath Basksheba). Little did we know at the time how this three-month-old filly, still at her mother’s side, would influence and enhance our lives. She became one of the top champion producers in our breed
Top: Sharon and Bill with AMURATH SHAKLANA, 2009 Mare (Sharif El Shaklan x Amurath Criztina). Bottom: AMURATH CZORTEBA with ALI SATARH, 1992 colt by Ali Jamaal. ”I sold him as a foal to Debi Bisgrove,” says Sharon. “In his first show, he won first place in a big yearling colt AOTH class at Scottsdale.”
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TEMPEZST (Audacious PS x Contezsa [out of Amurath Czorteba]) U.S. National Champion Stallion AOTH with owner Nichole Mesik and U.S. National Top Ten with Ted Carson.
with eleven foals – all of whom were halter champions. And this all before embryo transfers!
Another Amurath Czorteba son, the 1999 stallion AMURATH CZHIVAGO (Versace x Amurath Czorteba), was 2006 U.S. National Reserve Champion Hunter Pleasure and three-time Top Ten in the hunter divisions, as well as 2004 U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten Stallion. He also earned the Legion of Supreme Honor and Legion of Merit. He is owned by Johanna Thompson and Mackinley Wilson.
W H AT I S T H E A R A B I A N ’ S R O L E I N YO U R DA I LY L I F E T O DAY ?
As breeders now for 35 years, our Arabians are the focus of our daily lives. We have studied the work of many of the great breeders and learned from them. In the early years, we were fortunate to travel and visit and talk with breeders who had true breeding programs. It is not a short-term project but a life-long pursuit. We are now concentrating on preserving the *Sanacht influence by carefully line breeding. We currently have eight mares and fillies in our program with tail-female lines to *Sanacht, and several have tail-female lines to *Sanacht on the sires’ side. For example, two stallions we’ve used, DaVinci and Sharif El Shaklan, both have *Sanacht on their dam lines. I N W H AT WAYS I S YO U R H U S B A N D B I L L I N V O LV E D WITH THE PROGRAM?
Bill’s love of the history of the Arabian horse was definitely the foundation of our lives with Arabian horses. His passion for the horse has allowed us to build a breeding program that is now on our fifth generation. While he worked in the hotel business for 35 years, I worked in the barn foaling out mares,
MASQUERADE PA (Armani FC x Cazsandra [out of Amurath Czorteba]) was U.S. National Champion and Reserve Junior Western Horse, two-time Youth National Champion, Youth National Reserve Champion and four-time Youth Top Ten, plus three-time National Top Ten. He’s also been Scottsdale Top Ten Stallion and Scottsdale Champion Junior Western Horse. Masquerade is also the sire of National, Scottsdale, World Cup and Regional winners. He was bred and owned by Dean Wikel, Pegasus Arabians, who purchased his dam from Bill and Sharon Eider-Orley.
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and training facility on the historic Chauncey Ranch on Scottsdale Road where we had the opportunity to introduce our horses to tourists and visitors to Arizona. We have sold many horses to first time Arabian horse buyers, and some of them have become accomplished breeders themselves. Our mares are known for their classic Arabian type and a few have been purchased by international buyers looking for beautiful grey mares with great pedigrees. W H AT W O U L D YO U S AY T O S O M E O N E C O N T E M P L AT I N G P U R C H A S I N G A N A R A B I A N ?
The Eider-Orleys stand the 2010 stallion AMURATH CHAGALL (DaVinci FM x Czasha IA), a beautiful representative of line breeding to the influential Weil Marbach mare *Sanacht, carrying four lines through both sire and dam.
Read, study pedigrees, visit reputable breeders, attend horse shows. In the beginning of my Arabian horse education, I would go to horse shows, sit in the stands from beginning to end with a program in hand. Watching every class and learning not only the specific disciplines, but which bloodlines excelled in those disciplines. W H AT I S T H E M O S T M E A N I N G F U L M O M E N T YO U H AV E H A D W I T H A N A R A B I A N H O R S E ?
making breeding decisions, taking horses to horse shows, marketing and selling our progeny, so it was a great partnership! Fortunately, we are in agreement most of the time! I N W H AT WAYS H AV E A R A B I A N H O R S E S E N H A N C E D
The most meaningful and rewarding experience has been the opportunity and ability to create a long term breeding program. To have been able to start with the beautifully bred, three-month-old filly Amurath Czorteba and to see the results over three decades has been a real privilege!
YO U R L I V E S ?
I would have to say that it has defined our lives! We have been able to expose many people to the Arabian horse through social events here in Scottsdale. For many years, we operated a boarding FLEUR EL DAKAR, 2008 Mare (*Dakar El Jamaal x Perfect Secret AF), left, and MONTANA PELAGIA, 2018 Filly (*AJ Dinar x Elsah) Interesting note: Pelagia traces to our Amurath Saratoga through AJ Dinar’s dam).
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