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Our Location - We are in the heart of Virginia horse country near the towns of Warrenton and Front Royal. This is in the Northwestern part of the State near Interstates 81 and 66. See the “Location” page for additional details.
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Our Services - We are primarily a breeding and field boarding horse facility. We do offer limited stall board and assistance to owners with horse related problems. We are an experienced broarding facility and can provide lay-up support for injured horses. See the “Services” page for additional details.
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Training Methods - We are students of all training methods that can be described as natural horsemanship where a calm bonding and loving relationship is developed between humans and horses. We primarily ascribe to the 7 Step Safety System developed by Frank Bell and use this method in training all of our young horses in preparation for the show ring or sale. To learn more about Frank’s methods, please visit the his pages on this website.
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Behavioral problems - We try to ensure that none of the foals born at our facility develop any handling issues. We participate in all of our births and imprint our foals immediately upon birth. We then handle them daily and try to ensure that when they are ready for the show ring or sale they have developed a trusting relationship with humans. We have provided assistance to owners with horse problems related to loading into a trailer, standing while mounting, spooking or shying at man made objects and the like. We firmly believe that the understanding and utilization of Frank Bell’s 7 Step Safety System will greatly improve the interaction of owners and horses.
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Goals and Philosophies - We like the John Lyons edict concerning horse training, which states, “The horse should not be hurt”, “the handler should not be hurt” and “the horse should be calmer at the end of the session than the beginning”. The first two are usually easier to achieve than the third, which is where we concentrate our efforts. A training session by definition can be demanding and stressful on the horse if not handled correctly and the horse must be left looking forward to the next time rather than dreading it if continued progress is to be achieved. Our goal is always to produce safe loving people oriented horses that are stamped with our gentle training methods.
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Sport horses - The basic definition of a sport horse is any horse that participates in rigorous equestrian activity. It is neither breed nor discipline specific although the European model of those participating in dressage or three-day eventing is the basis for the evaluation of such horses. In a sport horse evaluation, the horse’s suitability for riding, conformation for long-term soundness, and purity of gaits at the walk, trot and cantor are determined. We here at the Desert Rose Ranch attempt to breed and develop young horses to fit this model. Sport horse interest in the Arabian world has so mushroomed that a separate national event was held at Lexington Virginia during 2003.
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Straight Egyptian Arabian horses - The Arabian horse breed is the oldest and purest of all the breeds dating back several thousand years and are the basis for most modern light breed of horses. Within the Arabian breed are several sub categories such as Polish, Russian, Spanish, Crabbett, etc which relates to where purebred Arabian horses were exported to and then bred for specific geographical or desired traits. The straight Egyptian is also a very specific sub category of the purebred Arabian horse. They first must be eligible to be registered as a pure bred in the Arabian Horse Registry (AHR) and one who traces in every line of its pedigree to horses born in the Arabian Desert. There are other qualifications such as being an ancestor of horses owned or bred by Abbas Pash I or Ali Pasha Sherif. The end result is that straight Egyptians Arabian horses make up something less than four percent of those registered as purebred. Some claim that modern day straight Egyptian Arabians have picked up undesirable traits due to inbreeding from a relatively small gene pool. While that may be true of some, the small number owned by the Desert Rose Ranch contains old world bloodlines and are extremely sensible as well as extremely beautiful.
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VAHA - VAHA is the Virginia Arabian Horse Association which members of the Desert Rose Ranch are actively associated with. You may visit VAHA at:
http://www.vahaarab.com
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References - We would be glad to provide references for virtually any of the services we provide. Call for additional details.
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Visitors - Yes, we welcome visitors here at the Desert Rose Ranch. Since we live and work at the Ranch, we are generally here every day. It is wise to make an appointment before arriving, however, to ensure that your visit is productive.
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