Huckleberry Bey was foaled on March 19, 1976. We put him to sleep on December 27, 1992. During that time he was a vibrant, enthusiastic, cheerful horse who inherited the skill and coordination of a dancer with the disposition of a favorite child.

When Huckleberry Bey was foaled, he was darling - not a very stallion - like quality, but that's what he was. An endearing horse with such joyfulness about him. People used to ask me, "Why the name?" Remember Huck Finn floating down the river, chewing on a piece of grass and thinking up pranks to play on someone? Huckleberry Bey was the horse incarnate of Huckleberry Finn. As a young horse, he would get bored at the shows and want something to do ... and, of course, we'd all have to be in on the game. Huck would ever so carefully slip the metal pull end of a jacket zipper between his teeth and blissfully run the zipper up and down, opening and closing the jacket as you stood at attention, enjoying his delicacy in the matter. Huckleberry Bey played this game all his life. I never knew him to tear a jacket or break a zipper.

Huckleberry Bey, like his father and his father before him, would not touch, chew or tear up anything you put in his stall. You could sleep with him (which he happened to love), or put any horse - whether a mare in heat or another stallion - in the stall next to him with only bars between them and it was fine with him. That's what I expected, so that is what Huck accepted. Stories about Huckleberry Bey will be told as long as those of us who knew him are around to tell them, just as the stories about Bay-Abi and Bay El Bey are repeated and treasured.

Bay-Abi was a funny horse, full of zest, who tolerated my many mistakes and allowed the two of us to engage in the gentlest of activities, as well as the wildest kind of riding.

Bay El Bey was kingly from his first breath. Always gentle, always aristocratic. Huckleberry Bey was a perfect combination of the two - a sweet, vibrant, funny, aristocratic horse, who has been everything I could have wished for. When he was six months old, I realized I had another stallion to follow in line, and I believe he has since proven to be unique to our breed, creating his own type of Arabian horse that stirs the soul of anyone who's had the privilege of owning a daughter, son, grand get, or simply admiring him.

I remember so vividly showing Huckleberry Bey at the Cal-Bred Futurity Championships which he won unanimously, then going on to win the the U.S. National Futurities where the crowds got so excited and loud, Huckleberry Bey couldn't stand still. He was a beautiful National Reserve Champion - the epitome, in my mind, of the old Schreyer paintings - a horse with a high-set neck, fine skin and hair, just oozing Arabian type. He went on to garner the 1981 U.S. National Top Ten Stallion and the 1984 U.S. Reserve National English Pleasure Champion, as well as being a four-time U.S. Top Ten English Pleasure Champion.

Under saddle, Huckleberry Bey stopped people in their tracks. He drew a crowd just being bitted and longed, and won most of the major English pleasure classes in which he competed. "Why don't you make him a park horse?" I was asked. He probably could have been a good one, but his beauty was in the effortlessness and ease with which he carried himself in English pleasure. I never considered the change.

When I first rode Huckleberry Bey, I was overwhelmed. He scared me to death. I knew I was sitting on top of the most naturally talented horse I'd ever ridden, and I couldn't figure out what to teach him. What do you teach a horse that feels like he knows everything? Later I thought that I could have started at the beginning, but I wasn't smart enough to think of that at the time.

When Huckleberry Bey's show career was over, I took down his tail and told him to do whatever he wanted. Whenever the occasion presented itself to ride Huck, I was always astonished at how good he was. Funny how you can forget what a great horse feels like, and what a thrill it is to be reminded.

Huckleberry Bey had a good life. He never changed homes. He was always loved. He lived amidst other horses, played in a grass pasture, was extremely healthy, bred large numbers of mares, and was tended to with comfort in mind. He was allowed to do horse things - stand under a tree, have his tail as a fly swatter, be barefoot, not have the insides of his ears clipped, live in a clean area, have fresh water, eat a lot of carrots, intimidate Desperado V.  While he was living life at a horse level of enjoyment, we syndicated him, with me holding the controlling interest. I was willing to share ... a little bit.

Huckleberry Bey never let me or the syndicate members down. Each year, more and more Huckleberry Bey youngsters entered the show ring in across-the-board competition. From Park and English horses, to a stakes-winning race mare, to National Champion halter horses, to my ranch horse Lightly Bey V, Huckleberry Bey was a sire who truly proved the Arabian's versatility. He is still one of the leading sires of halter/performance horses. That is important to me for the Varian Arabian program: horses that can do something well and be beautiful doing it.

It was not until the late part of February 1992 did we have a clue something was amiss. As Don and I drove away from Scottsdale, we were on top of the world. Huckleberry Bey's youngsters had had an extremely strong showing in halter, and dominated the major performance classes. It was his time.

 However, when we got home, things were not okay. Huckleberry Bey felt fine, but his semen was overpowered by gel, which affected his fertility - something we had never seen in him before. Of course, we consulted our veterinarian and tried a number of different things. In May, test results confirmed Dr. Herthel's diagnosis: Huckleberry Bey had a pituitary tumor. A pituitary tumor! Usually seen in old horses, not in my young vital Huckleberry Bey! Not in Huckleberry Bey!