KARMAA | 1986-2015

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved KARMAA. The Heart & Soul of Mulawa for over two decades, KARMAA continues to bless breeding programs around the world with four generations of incomparable descendants. 

The destiny of KARMAA involved the fortunate coming together of celebrated horses, influential breeding programs, renowned horsemen and impassioned visionaries. The result of crossing Jay & Dorothy Stream’s United States Reserve National Champion AN MARIETA with Tom Chauncey’s World Champion KABORR, KARMAA had aspiration written on her future from the moment she arrived in 1986. Consigned as a highlight of the Chauncey Auction in February of 1989, KARMAA was noticed with keen interest by a honeymooning Greg & Julie Farrell. Dining later that evening with friends Harry & Sue Cooper, a lively discussion of available sale horses in the annual Scottsdale auctions resulted in both parties confessing to finding the perfect foundation mare for the budding Mulawa breeding program in Australia. Both the Farrells and the Coopers were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that the source of their admiration was indeed mutual, as both had selected the same mare as the ideal candidate: KARMAA.     

KARMAA arrived in Australia in the Australian winter of 1989, and began a successful show ring campaign in her new homeland. She was awarded the prestigious titles of Senior Champion Mare at both the National Stud Show and the East Coast Championships with an enthusiastic Greg Farrell at the lead. The accolade of Australian Champion eluded KARMAA on two occasions due to illness, though time would establish KARMAA’s indomitable legacy of the continent’s ultimate honour through legions of Australian Champion get, grand-get and great-grandget. 

The KARMAA influence in the Mulawa breeding program is astounding, given her production record of just twelve foals in eighteen years of production. Nine of her 12 produce were fillies, of which six have produced foals within the Mulawa breeding program. Four of those daughters – MULAWA KARA MIA MI (GLF Apollo), MAE MARIE (TS Al Malik), MULAWA MARIETA (TS Al Malik) & MULAWA KARISMAA (Magnum Psyche) are still producing in the program, while descendants of the other daughter, the late MULAWA ARIA (Arrival), still thrive at Mulawa for three generations and counting. One daughter, KARISANDRAA (Magnum Pscyhe), was lost as a yearling, while her last two daughters produced via embryo transfer in 2009 – KARMELIA MI (GLF Apollo) and KASHMERE MI (Magnum Forty Four) – remain on breeding reserve for future use in the Mulawa program. At present and most impressively, there are twenty-eight (28) breeding females in the Mulawa program who trace directly tail-female to KARMAA through one of her five invaluable daughters. This total does not include those promising females aged four and younger who are sired by KARMAA’s most famous son… 

Only three of KARMAA’s offspring have ever been sold: two sons MAKERS MARK (Fame Maker R) and KARBON (TS Al Malik), and her eldest daughter KARMIA (Vision).  All three of her sons are champions in the show ring and all have been retained as sires with successful records of show ring winners across disciplines. The most celebrated of the KARMAA sons is unequivocally KLASS (TS Al Malik), a standard setter in the show ring as the first Arabian to be named four-time East Coast Champion in every colt/stallion halter division and the only horse in to be named three-time successive Australian National Champion in separate divisions: National Champion Stallion, National Champion Ridden Arabian Stallion & National Champion Working Stock Horse. 

KLASS’ record as a show horse is eclipsed only by his evolving record as a sire of international champions. All of his get shown have been winners in the show ring, with an astounding record of success at both the East Coast and Australian Championships. In early 2014, the KLASS daughter KLASSICAL DREAM MI (x Mustang’s Magnum by Magnum Forty Four) became the first female to earn all four East Coast Champion titles in the filly/mare divisions. Just one month later, KLASS set the new standard for siring superior females in Australia by siring ALL three of the Australian National Champion Females: National Champion Senior Mare KLASSICAL DREAM MI, National Champion Junior Mare KLASSICAL PRESENCE MI (x Parada by Magnum Forty Four), and National Champion Yearling Filly KLASSICAL DEVOTION MI ( x Mulawa Kiara by Magnum Psyche), the youngest a double KARMAA descendant through both sire and dam.

Seven of KARMAA’s foals have earned the title of champion on native soil. In addition to KLASS, MULAWA KARISMAA, MAKERS MARK and KARBON are Australian National Champions, while MAE MARIE is both twice National Stud Show Senior Champion & Australian Reserve Junior Champion Mare. MULAWA KARA MIA MI is a National Stud Show Champion Yearling Filly, with MULAWA MARIETA winning Reserve Champion Junior Mare honours at the East Coast Championships. The descendants of KARMAA now not only dominate the most important shows in Australia year after year, they are emerging as serious competitors globally at the most prestigious international events, with success achieved on four continents. KARMAA granddaughter KLASSICAL DREAM MI has been the principal banner carrier for Al Khalediah Farms of Saudi Arabia, as a three-time Gold Senior Champion in 2014 in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Morocco. Another KLASS daughter KLASSIC HARMONY MI (x Fames Harmony by Fame Maker R) is proudly owned by Al Shaqab Stud in Qatar, while the KARMAA great-grandson KAVALLE MI (Gazal Al Shaqab x Karess by Magnum Forty Four) has achieved a Scottsdale win as well as a United States Reserve National Championship for owners Joanne & Ram Gunabalan (USA). His first foals at Mulawa are two of the best fillies of the season, extending KARMAA's influence to the fourth generation through KAVALLE, while proving the continued wisdom of the double-KARMAA cross as each is out of a KARMAA granddaughter: East Coast Champions AUDACIA (Parkview Audacious x Mulawa Aria) & MI KLASSIC FANTASY (Klass x Mustang's Magnum).

To know KARMAA was to stand in the presence of royalty. Always vibrant and full of life, KARMAA was exuberant enough to drag any handler to and from her paddock with tail flagged and nostrils sorting until her final days, including a rather unsuspecting Greg Farrell around the presentation ring at her final Open Day appearance in 2011 at the age of 25. She was improbably noble, exquisitely feminine and unmistakably refined. It is through these essential qualities that KARMAA is most apparent in the enduring legacy of her offspring.  

From that fateful day of discovery by Greg & Julie in Scottsdale 1989, to her final breath in Berrilee the morning of 05 January 2015, KARMAA was the Queen of her domain, commanding reverence and respect, while quietly and unassumingly, yet with deliberate determination, exceeding expectations on every level. She will forever live on in our hearts, in our memories, in the scores of her remarkable descendants making a difference and raising the standard for the Arabian breed around the world. 

Our lives are infinitely richer to have shared 25 wonderful and unforgettable years with you, KARMAA. The celebration of your life is the legacy of the generations yet to come. We thank you for all that you were, all that you are, and all that you continue to be. Thank you most of all, our beloved friend and companion, for being our Good Karmaa…    

30 March 1986 – 05 January 2015

A special thank you to Kelli Greene of Arabians Australia for creating this moving tribute to KARMAA.

Celebrating Karmaa | 1986 - 2015 from Arabians Australia on Vimeo.

kaarma-TAM-2015.pdf