My mother, Susan Lynn Correll Kobarg, was born crazy about horses. In fact, my grandparents swear her first word was "horse." My grandfather was a senior executive for Montgomery Wards; his uniform was a 3-piece suit. My grandparents didn't know the front end of a horse from the back end. When my mother was eight, my grandparents enrolled my mother in riding lessons at a local Saddlebred farm hoping to satisfy my mother's obsession. It didn't work. Mom spent every waking moment riding, grooming, breathing or dreaming horses. When Mom was twelve, my grandparents bought her first horse-a young Arabian colt. My grandparents, still having no clue about horses, kept the colt in their suburban backyard; that is, until he jumped the fence and ate the neighbors award winning roses.

As Mom grew up she learned a lot about horses, both the hard way and through the help of her other neighbor who was a veterinarian. Mom went to college at the University of Texas at Austin where she met my father, R. J. "Buddy" Kobarg. Upon graduation and at the height of the Vietnam War, Dad joined the Air Force. While Dad flew combat missions in Vietnam, Mom devoted her time to the horses. They purchased a young colt sired by Zarabo named Valentino Rojo++ (pictured below). Mom and Dad took "Rojo" to his Legion of Merit in Halter, English Pleasure, Western, and Native Costume-you name it, Rojo did it.

This is where I (Kristin Kobarg Herder) come into the picture. I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1974. In 1975 the Air Force moved our family to Sacramento, California where Mom's horse business took off and with it, many wonderful, funny and loving stories-more to come!! My sister Kelley was born in 1978 and Mom decided to hang up the show reins and be a "Mom"; she wanted to devote more time to taking care of Kelley and I-ballet, piano lessons and soccer practice. Then Dad received orders and we moved to Omaha Nebraska. Before the move, Mom sold all the horses except Rojo, Roiya and their foundation mare Saturn's Greylight (Hassan) which we brought with us. While in Nebraska, and shortly after the 1981 Pentathlon Mom sold Rojo to a wonderful family. Hassan was sent to stay with lifelong friends in Shreveport (Terry and Jackie Taraba) to be a broodmare. We only had Mom's favorite filly, Roiya.

Valentino Rojo++

In 1982, Hassan foaled a beautiful filly by Rasaf (a *Serafix son.) When the filly was only three weeks old, Mom, Kelley and I took a trip to see Jackie and Terry and Hassan. At this point in my life I proclaimed to HATE horses due to the loss of my first filly, Amy, when she was only 5 weeks old. One afternoon after mouthing off to Jackie and Mom, I was told to spend the rest of the day outside. "Fine, I am going out to the pond to get eaten by an alligator!" I went out to the mare pasture and sat under a tree feeling sorry for myself. Along came a very independent 3-week-old filly. I chased her away calling her a "stupid horse." She was smarter than I thought! Thinking I was playing, she came back for more and so the game of tag commenced. I went to the house and told Mom I found a horse that I wanted. Mom was so happy that I had finally gotten over the loss of Amy. We named the new filly Sera Rasan and call her "Rasan" (pronounced "raisin").

When Rasan was two we brought her, Hassan, and Roiya from Louisiana to Virginia where Dad was stationed at the Pentagon. When Rasan was three, Mom and I "broke" her (I hate that term), and at four (I was 12 going on 13) she was winning in open dressage shows and competitive trail rides. In 1987, we moved back to California where Rasan had a gorgeous filly by Hawk Hill Warlord (*Wielki Szlem).

When I went to college, I leased Rasan as a broodmare. While leased she produced 2 colts and a filly by BeauKadahn (by Beau Ibn Hanrah.) In January of 1997, I married Matthew Lee Herder and in May of that same year we were both commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Air Force and HERDER ARABIANS was established.

In January 2001 we purchased Sidan De Ville (*Sidi-Brahim X Fatima Ala Bahr) from Los Acres in Stockton California to add the Spanish and Fadjur line back into our breeding program and to fulfill my dream of owning a *Sidi-Brahim baby.

With a stallion, now came the acquisition of the broodmare band.  The Spanish bred horses really appealed to us based on their extremely small gene pool and their incredible dispositions.  Since we were concentrating on breeding performance horses we really liked the substance and conformation that the Spanish bred horses exhibited.  We were very fortunate to acquire some of the best Spanish bloodlines in the United States; daughters from Jacio, *Barich De Washoe and *Alzubio just to name a few.  Our next goal was to acquire other bloodlines to cross with the Spanish lines.  We added a Fame VF daughter and a mare with Bey Shah/Aladdinn lines to the mare band.  In 2003, the Air Force decided to move Matt and I from Texas to Dayton Ohio.  While in Ohio, our schedules allowed us to get out and show more.  It was great, being located in central Ohio, the proximity to shows was incredible-- “Danner” won numerous championships in halter, hunter pleasure and western pleasure; not to mention I was able to ride him on nights and week-ends.  We also met many great new friends and were very fortunate to find a trainer (Tammy Hawkey) that shared the same ideologies, desires and expectations that we also had.  While showing, we also continued breeding and had 2-3 babies a year.  After being in Ohio for only two short years, we were transferred back to Texas in the summer of 2005.  However, while in Ohio we purchased some property (future site of our breeding/show facility) outside the city of Troy.

As we progressed up the corporate chain, schedules became more hectic, we were traveling and spending long hours at the office; and did I mention we had 12 horses at the house and 2 horses in training out-of-state (we left the show horses with Tammy).  In 2007, Matt and I made a huge decision, our 2007 foal crop would be the last until we retired.  Rumblings of a move to D.C. and even longer hours at the office; not to mention having to live 1 ½ hours away to have the horses in the backyard was starting to become a reality.  

Sidan De Ville

We first and foremost live for our horses-they are our family. Our goal is to promote the amateur owner and continue the lineage that has made the Arabian horse so special. We choose bloodlines that carry type, elegance, charisma, beauty, stamina, intelligence, and sound workable conformation. We are personally involved with all aspects of our horses from their birth until we choose their new home. In selecting new homes for our colts and fillies, we are very selective in their placement-we can't pick all their homes, but we can pick their first one. We believe that small breeders/amateur owners are an essential part of the Arabian Horse Industry. Many of the finest Arabs in the world have come from "backyard barns" tucked away in all corners of the world.

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