PAYSON — Some of the most famous Arabian horses to have ever graced the national and international horse show circuit call Utah County home.
Although Utah isn't considered a prime state in the Arabian horse world, it's winning its place. The state has two Arabian horse clubs and numerous breeders.
"There's a lot of statewide interest, but (Utah) is just not well-recognized worldwide," said Utah Arabian Horse Club member Kathy Huddleston. The other club is the Arabian Horse Association of Utah.
Despite the lack of national and international interest, Taylor Ranch raises some of the most popular breeds with bloodlines from Russia, Poland and Egypt. One of its studs is also considered the most famous living Arabian horse in the world, Aladdinn.
Once worth $37 million in his prime during the 1970s, Aladdinn and other famous horses living on lush south Utah County farmland are helping the state become more recognized among Arabian aficionados, Rick Taylor said.
"Aladdinn is universally considered one of the best Arabian stallions of the 20th century," Taylor said.
Born in February 1974 in Sweden, he was the Swedish National Champion in 1978 before Taylor acquired him. He became a U.S. National Champion and sired four other National Champion stallions, AAF Kaset, Strike, Almaden, Exceladdinn and a National Champion mare, SS Follow Me.
Showing mares is unusual, ranch manager Dan Cybulski said. "It's not unique, but it's definitely rare."
Other internationally famous Arabian stallions to come from the Taylor Ranch are Nariadni and Muscat — with Nariadni having been considered one of the most beautiful Russian Arabian stallions in the world.
Muscat produced hundreds of show winners in all classes, Cybulski said. In 1980 he won the triple crown of show horses, capturing the U.S. National Championship, the Canadian Championship and the Scottsdale Supreme Championship, the first Arabian to do that in a single year, Taylor said.
Both horses died at age 25 of natural causes related to age and are buried on the ranch.
Another famous horse and a son of Muscat, The Mussiah, is now 18 years old. The stallion still wins shows when other horses at that age are retired.
In February, he took first place in the Western Pleasure division at the prestigious Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale, Ariz. He continues to compete and beat younger stallions, Taylor said.
The studs are bred to mares both nationally and internationally through artificial insemination. Once considered a rich man's horse, breeding fees were in the $25,000 to $35,000 range before tax reform under former President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Now breeding contracts are about a tenth of those rates, Taylor said.
Tax reform closed loopholes that wealthy investors were using to write off many of their more pricey purchases, tax experts say. Horses that were once valued in the millions were suddenly worth worth far less. Coupled with tax reform, the Internal Revenue Service challenged the horse dealers' valuation methods, one tax accountant said.
Arabians are now more affordable, Taylor said, ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. He sells to people from around the world who want to show them, breed them, race them or simply ride them for pleasure. Their bloodlines and gentleness make them especially popular, Taylor said.
Taylor Ranch is expected to produce 23 foals this year.
Eight are "on the ground" and 15 horses are still pregnant, Cybulski said. The ranch sells as many as 50 horses a year.
"There's lots of markets for our horses," Taylor said.
One element that makes the horses popular among wealthy and not-so-wealthy horse lovers alike is Taylor Ranch's philosophy that gentle hands make gentle horses.
"They're handled from birth, even before they're completely out," Cybulski said.
He petted a filly born this winter along her back and down her legs. The filly didn't jump around or fidget.
"Right from the beginning we're handling our babies. If they have constant human contact, they're not jumpy. . . . It makes a big difference when they're broken to ride."
The stallions are kept close together in a horse barn on the 150-acre spread with a seven-eighths-of-a-mile race track. Many of the prize-winning horses are also used as studs.
"We don't have any problems with the stallions, even though they're close together," he said.
"We also breed for (gentleness)," Taylor said.
The small staff keeps in constant contact with the horses. Taylor often brings his children out to ride. Of his nine children, five are still at home, he said.
"Seeing an 8-year-old on a stud horse — that's not a common sight," Cybulski said.
"They're out there all the time," Taylor said. And they bring their friends from school to pet and ride the horses.
From birth until they're at least 6 months old, the foals are handled constantly.
"They're walked, groomed, bathed and brushed," he said.
"They're easier to handle when they get older" if they're in constant human contact from birth, Cybulski said. "They're not so prone to injury."
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com