Part 3

“Generally the Arabian horse in action shows only the walk, trot, and canter. The usual height is from 14 to 15.1 hands, and the weight from 850 to 1,100 pounds. Bay, gray and chestnut are the predominating colors, with an occasional white or black. White marks on the head and legs are common, but purebred Arabians are never piebald or spotted, notwithstanding an erroneous impression created by circus horses that are commonly called Arabians.”

The love for the purebred Arab horse is so great that there are hundreds of Arab owners, but only a few large breeders. Among these few large breeders is The Van Vleet Arabian Stud, owned and operated by The Trinidad Bean & Elevator Company. Started by L.W. Van Vleet, President of the company, it is located on The Lazy VV Ranch near Nederland, Colorado. This ranch is now the mountain home of over 90 purebred Arabians.

The Lazy VV Ranch lies at an altitude of 8,500 to 13,000 feet, in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. This Arabian Stud was started with a foundation herd of about 30 head. Today it is the largest stud in our country, excepting the Remount Depot at Pomona, California, owned by the government. Trinidad, alone, has probably done as much toward proving the merits of the Arabian as anyone else in this country.

One of the main purposes of this venture was to prove that the Arabian horse could adjust himself to any climate and adapt himself to any use, without injurious effects. So, to the Continental Divide, from the hot sands of Arabia, the Arab horse has ascended.

Living and working at that high altitude, the Arab is developing greater wind and lung capacity, harder muscle, denser bone. Plenty of pure mountain water and native hay are his sustenance. In return, he gives much! Mares and colts receive no unusual care; are often exposed to freezing temperatures and trying conditions which require remarkable stamina.

Many Arab stallions can do twice the work of native stock horses ... with no signs of fatigue, poor legs, or other bad conditions which will develop in cold-blooded horses. The Arab is less susceptible to equine diseases than other breeds, and requires nothing in the way of pampering.

To know an Arab is to love him ... to love him is to want him. He is a rare and priceless possession.

With ears alert for the slightest sound, ZARIFE—head stallion of Trinidad’s Arabs—depicts everything to be desired in a purebred horse. At his ripe age, he still participates in the long cattle drives of The Lazy VV Ranch and holds a major position in the Stud’s extensive breeding program.

Unlike his desert ancestors, he is never left at home base when there is active work to be done. Bedouins’ stallions were used for breeding but not in warfare. A stallion, being much noisier than a mare, would be apt to disclose the approach to an enemy tribe.

A list of ZARIFE’S colts is as long as your arm. He is represented by his colts in all parts of the United States today. The insatiable demand for his blood continues.

Although ZARIFE’S coat is now white, his skin (like that of all purebred Arabs) is coal black.

Nearing the end of a two-day cattle drive, RIFAGE shows no signs of fatigue. When his sharp ears have assured him no calves are lagging, he will proceed on the drive. A wayward cow or calf may take him off into the brush, up a rocky hillside or down to a boggy stream, but he will get the job done and love doing it.

A son of International Champions, RIFAGE takes up the challenge of every large-sized man who questions the little stallion’s ability to carry him. Though only a little over 14 hands high and weighing less than 900 pounds, RIFAGE has easily carried a third of his weight for long hours. He returns to the Ranch with a dry coat, dancing and prancing; still ready to go. As much cannot be said about his rider!

RIFAGE, one of Trinidad’s principal stallions, has fathered many fine colts. His colts are as large or larger than those of other stallions on The Lazy VV Ranch.

Even during the heaviest of the breeding season, RIFAGE is doing his share of the necessary work with the cattle. He is really a splendid cow horse and a favorite of many of the cowboys.

Approaching the entrance gate of The Lazy VV Ranch, the two-day cattle drive will soon be over. When cows and calves have had an opportunity to “mother up” and get several days’ rest, the Arabs will escort them to the mountain range; there they will pasture for the next few months.

During each week, the stallions you have seen on the foregoing pages make regular trips to the Continental Divide to check cattle and their feed. These trips take many hours each day. Perhaps a pastern will be cut on the edge of some sharp rock; or a shoe may be lost; but these sturdy, spirited horses will not be stopped or hindered. Their masters have a job to do; and, as in the days of Arabian warfare, the master’s most effective ally is his horse.

The satisfaction any man enjoys from the use and ownership of a fine horse is doubly enhanced when the animal is an Arabian. Its dependability, gentleness and loyalty to him are unsurpassed.

Branding half over, there is a pause for refreshment! Horses are fed and watered. All participants at the branding are served some of the Ranch’s delicious, piping hot Baked Pinto Beans, with pork chops.

Yum! Yum! Trinidad Ranch Beans sure taste good. Easy to prepare, delicious and nourishing ... they “hit the spot” and “stick to the ribs,” as any cowboy will agree.

GAZYL has not been mentioned heretofore; but, like his sire ZARIFE, he is making a good name for himself. Being of light chestnut color, with flaxen mane and tail, he is being used primarily for breeding chestnut-colored mares. This is the only true law of color breeding—a chestnut bred to a chestnut will produce a chestnut colt.

Having driven The Lazy VV cattle to the lower part of the summer mountain range, these stallions carry their masters to an altitude of 12,500 feet, to check the grazing land and to determine how long the cattle should be kept in the lower mountain country. This will depend on the condition of the grass.

This mountainside is steeper than it appears. Study the taut muscles in the hind quarters. This is the work which builds better bone and muscle and develops greater lung capacity in Trinidad’s Arabs.

When shipped to low altitudes, mountain-bred Arabs frequently can outdo the native horses.

As does every other stallion in Trinidad’s band of Arabs, this beautiful bay works hard at rounding up the cattle of The Lazy VV Ranch and dragging in his share of the calves to be branded.

One day, while gathering the cattle for the branding of the calves, KAHAR was trailing a wayward cow in a belly-deep, ice-cold mountain stream. His leg was caught underneath the water by a straggly willow growth. Too anxious to stay with his chosen bovine victim, KAHAR lost his footing in that willow growth. His rider landed in the stream and KAHAR was carried fifty feet away in the swift water before he gained his footing and climbed up the muddy bank, shivering. Did he run away from his rider? No, he walked slowly back to the spot where he entered the stream and waited for his water-soaked rider to mount again and take up the chase.

KAHAR’S beauty is readily detected in the colts he sires. For the most part, those colts are out of daughters of RIFAGE, which are grand-daughters of ZARIFE.

Because of the scarcity of water in Arabia, the Arab horse who spoiled it was punished, of necessity. This respect for water has been so deeply bred into the Arab that it takes a bit of training to change him.