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Bob and Linda are the owners and operators of Desert Rose Ranch Arabians. Bob provides on-site daily care of the horse facility and trains and shows their younger horses. He also provides limited outside assistance to those with  problems related to horses using the 7 Step Safety System (7-SSS) developed by the very talented horse trainer Frank Bell. Linda is now retired from the Federal Government and aside from being a stable hand, is assisting with the business aspect of the operation.
Bob grew up on a large cattle and wheat ranch in Eastern Oregon where the old homestead is still in family hands. Horses were the mode of work and transport and he rode one to school – “up hill both ways” as his kids like to chide. One of his first horses was an Arabian cross mare that introduced him to a life long love of the breed.
Linda was a construction brat and she and her family followed her father all over the West while he worked on various projects. This lifestyle was followed into married life as she and Bob have lived and worked virtually all over the world.
Bob was fortunate to have visited the magnificent stud farm of Hailie Selassie in Ethiopia and others in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and even observed the Bedouins in their native deserts. While living in West Africa, they were instrumental in providing support to a horse facility made up of Barb or Arab extracts after a coup decimated that country. Whether in the pristine countryside of England or back home in America in-between assignments, they were never far from the horse world. Now retired from the Federal Service, Bob is able to pursue his love of horse’s full time.
Bob and Linda have two children and three grandchildren who live in the area and are the main reason they have not returned to Oregon. One daughter lives on the ranch with her husband and child and has an extensive veterinary background. She is currently the hospital administrator of an emergency clinic and provides back-up assistance to the daily operation and advice on injury or illness related issues. Their other daughter, who is a school librarian, ensures that their interests are diversified outside the horse world. Bob’s 88-year-old mother lived in the four generation household for over seven years before passing in April 2004. She was a wonderful addition to the family and reminded us all that our love of horses dates back to when she rode half broke Indian horses as a child in Oregon.
We have named our most recent foal in Mom’s honor and most likely have another horse we can’t part with. She is a gorgeous 15/16’s Arab filly which is our fourth in a row sired by the Legion of Merit stallion “Black Tie Affair”.
Bob has a philosophy that those who claim to be “expert horse people” put them in the same category as lawyers and used car dealers – folks to be avoided at all costs! We here at the Desert Rose Ranch learn far more from these magnificent creatures each day than we possibly could teach them. Come visit and plan to learn something for yourself.
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