My Dakafe

Dakafe belongs to another but his heart belongs to me. His owner wanted to retire him and also wanted him to have a loving home so I was given the honor. He has been with me now for nearly 5 years.

Dakafe is a 24 year old Arabian gelding but thinks he's 15. Prior to his retirement, Dakafe was trained Western and English (Dressage) and I have learned so much from riding him.

I first met Dakafe when I was hired on to clean stalls. At that time I had a career as a hairstylist but my love of horses caused me to accept the 'Sunday only' position. Always, as a young girl, I had a heart for horses though I never had one or even rode more than a couple times. In exchange for cleaning stalls, I was given riding lessons and Dakafe was one of the horses I was allowed to ride. Since he belonged to the stable, he was also available for leasing and I envied the young girl that called him 'hers'.

Imagine the ecstacy I felt when Esther (his owner) decided to retire him and offered him to me. This was beyond anything I could have ever imagined!

Trail rides are our favorite thing to do! But just grooming him brings mutual pleasure and is a very special way to spend an hour (or two). I no longer have to imagine 'racing the wind'...Dakafe and I have!

In the Spring of 1977 on a breeding ranch in Belfield, North Dakota, an Arabian colt entered this world, sired by Dakota Shiek. the breeder would always use some part of Dakota in the names of each of his foals and thus "Dakafe" ("Dak" from Dakota and "afe" which came from the mare's name) was christened.

Ann Myers (my mom) was the woman hired to halter break the yearlings and then to further train the best two year olds...and the very best were selected for an additional investment of "advancement" (one more month of training with lateral work included)...Dakafe was one of the "chosen" ones. Upon completion of his training, Dakafe and two other Arabians were sold to a rancher in Miles City, Montana for his wife and two daughters. About two years later, Ann saw an advertisement for an auction (dispersion) sale in Miles City that advertized three Arabian geldings (NOT commonplace on ranches in Montana)...and she 'remembered' Dakafe. It WAS Dakafe and two half brothers...the rancher had died of a heart attack and his wife was selling everything. Ann bought Dakafe and one of the brothers, knowing the training she had invested.

In 1982, a captain in the Air Force and stationed in Washington, DC, I arrived home for my first lesson on Dakafe. Believing my mother was influenced by the guilt of selling my beloved Zipper (3/4 Arabian/Welsh pony), I accepted my mother's gift of Dakafe and became his official owner. The next year I brought Dakafe to DC and began taking Dressage lessons and showing him quite a bit. I qualified and competed at the US Arabian Nationals in First Level dressage and was placed in the Top Ten in 1984. While on assignment in the Phillipines, I left Dakafe with one of my instructors that had moved to Boston. There Dakafe learned to swim in the ocean for exercise and also learned to jump. When I returned to the states and was stationed in Kansas (1987), I was once again reunited with Dakafe.

A new assignment took me to Scott AFB in Illinois and I bought a home in Mascoutah, a small town near the base. Later I found a boarding stable in Trenton (another small town north of the base) that I purchased. Dakafe then was made available to students and partial lease. In 1996, I retired Dakafe and moved him to his new home.

Dakafe now resides at the home of Gerry and Betty Mueller as a "retired elite".