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Why These Lines
I have three breeding groups, first my Spanish related horses that came from Lee Purcell’s stock which include two Zur-El Ayn sons. Zur El Gandhy and OLF Sun Rayn, and their get along with his daughters produce Zur El Cantina. This Spanish group includes two daughters of the imported Spanish stallion *Kabull. The breeding of these two groups combine the three main importations of Arabians from Spain: Stein, Draper and the later importation of *Kabull from the Maxwell’s in England.
The Spanish related horses are combined with either our line-bred Skowronek horses or the ones of heavy Old English breeding. They have common ancestors separated by over 50 years. I feel our best horses are a combination of these three groups. I feel that when you take line-bred or in-bred individuals of compatible lines and cross them, you get a type of highbred vigor as you would in crossing two beef and one dairy breed of cattle getting a tri – hybrid beef cow. I remember going around reading the pedigrees of great horses and thinking how did these hoses come about and then picking their heritage apart. It does not matter whether it’s the Crabbet, Russian or Spanish programs, they all do the same thing in different ways. They take big raw boned horses to start with and then cross this group with two or three other lines back and forth. This can be done with family groups, strains or any related gene pools that have been separated due to time, distance or design.
We do not find any of the other lines in the Arabian bred less desirable, but found that the ones we have crossed, best for us. There are many horses that we admire that are out of our immediate breeding groups but we are not using at this time. We feel that the future of the Arabian breed is linked to the diverse breeding groups both here in the United States and elsewhere in the world. These groups each have strengths and weaknesses. We like knowing that there are people breeding horses with the specific type and heritage as with the Davenports, Turfa, GSB, Crabbet, Egyptian, Skowronek, along with many other lines and subgroups that exist in our breed.
Why Arabian
When I started breeding Arabians, it is safe to say, I did not know what I was doing even with the help of my mother. Since then, I have been exposed to different horses, breeds, and riding disciplines, and now have an idea of what good horses are and also what makes a good Arabian. There are many Arabians that I like in all of the lines. I love to ride and to me unless a horse can be used and you can ride it, the horse has little value. While horses are nice to look at, I do not see them as pets. I feel that first a horse needs to have a good mind, kind eye and a heart that does not quit. I found this in the Arabian horse. Growing up riding in the Tidewater area of VA and later spending time in the Virginia mountains and the coast of South Carolina, I found that real big horses did not work well in the swamps and lowlands or the hardwood forests unless you wanted to loose your knee caps or the top of  your head. There are times when going down the roads in our area you do not have room for both horse, log truck and a large tractor. I learned fast that a good horse needed to be able to jump ditches, go up banks and keep a level head. Having a horse that responds quickly is important to me.
To understand why I came to breed Arabians it’s important to understand how both exposure and the type of riding moved me in the direction to the horses I have today. The focus of the breeding program at Oak Lawn Farm is to produce horses that you would like to ride. Later, it also included trying to produce traditional Arabians, after finding out that a traditionally bred Arabian is a horse that is bred to ride and not just a living work of art as some view the Arabian breed today. Throughout history the Arabian has been a using horse and I hope to continue this tradition.
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