UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, May 4,1993
11
Horsing Around
Watering the horses is a task that Corky Kearney and her husband, Jim, must do twice a day.
Corky Kearney, owner of Moonlight Arabians, breeds and trains Arabian horses at her 30-acre home west of Lawrence. Thunder, left, and Ra are two of eight purebred Arabians that the Kearneys man age at home.
A Lawrence couple has worked for the past 22 years to realize a vow they made when they were married.
day they would move to the country and breed horses.
bien Jim and Corky Keamer married 22 years ago they knew that some
kearney's Moonlight Arabians produce some of the best purebred horses in the state. It's not uncommon for one of the Kearney's horses to bring home a first or second place ribbon.
In 1975 they bought their first saddle. Two years later, they bought their first horse, an Arabian English riding horse named Skiper, for Corky's birthday.
Shortly before they bought Skipper, Corky was thrown from a horse and spent several weeks recovering from six broken ribs and a punctured
hang. After the accident, Jim bought Corky horse-jumping lessons to help her regain her confidence with horses.
Now, with eight Arabian horses on a 30cree farm west of Lawrence, they have fulfilled their dream. Their breeding
Corky said she preferred Arabian horses to other breeds because of their personalities.
"They are people oriented and they like to be with you." For Corky, her horses are always first priority. Each morning before she gets ready to go to work at the family-owned Pier 1 Imports in Topeka, Corky feeds the horses.
when I left for Paris on June 17.
When Jim and I get home from work in the evenings we work on grooming and training the horses," she said. "Then, when it gets dark, we feed them again. The horses
have no need of the Corky and Jim do most of the maintenance for the horses themselves, but they hire two
been encouraged to help them with their versatility and personality," she said.
"They are percept oriented and they like to be with you."
always get first dabs. Usually, we don't eat our dinner until nine or ten o'clock at night."
Both Corky and Jim said they preferred to work together with the horses. Corky trains the horses for competitions, and Jim offers support.
"Corky and I work better together than apart," he said. "She has finesse with the horses and a lot of training knowledge. I am her grounds crew, I
college students to help one day each week
Corky said that her horses participated in six major shows each year and several one-day shows on weekends throughout the year. But she said that the shows were not the most important part of raising Arabians.
the most important part of raising our dogs is to "We want your horses to be winners, but we are most concerned with helping to improve the breed." Corky said.
also must be figured into the plan.
"It's sad because we worked so hard with the horses, but it's nice to see you can share your passion with someone else," she said.
An the hard work pays off. Corky said she sold the horses for $750 to $25,000 each. But the emotional investment also must be figured into the price of the horse.
Corky works with Paschike on perfecting different performance techniques.
Finishing a training session, Corky takes her horse, Elliott, on one last practice round. She spends approximately 30 minutes with each horse on workout days.
STORY AND PHOTOS
By
Kip Chin