Page 41 - 25 May 2012

“She had a lot of heart, want, and desire,” recalled Mary. “You had to tongue-tie her and hold onto her tail, but if she got out of the gate well, she could win.”
Mark campaigned Rubiate in partnership with their son, but now that Mark Jr. is busy rais- ing his own family, the horses run for his parents. The Parsons retired Rubiate in late 2005 and began breeding her. They got three foals from her, and then Mark decided to step up and breed her to Mr Eye Opener in 2008.
“We had a lively debate about who she should be bred to,” said Mary, laughing. “I had a hankering for another stallion, but Mark kept showing me Mr Eye Opener.”
Initially, they wanted to breed three of their mares to Mr Eye Opener, but the other two mares didn’t cycle properly for the shipped semen and only Rubiate produced a foal. Kobe arrived at the List family’s Double Bar S Ranch on March 18, 2009, in Moreno Valley, California.
“Once this little colt popped out, my wife fell in love with him,” said Mark.
Mark and Mary traveled the 50 miles from their home in the Anaheim Hills section of California’s Orange County to Double Bar S every weekend to see Kobe. While Rubiate had let them handle her earlier foals, she became very protective of Kobe.
“I had to climb through the fence to get my first pictures of him,” Mary said. “He wouldn’t come to me. He was a mama’s boy. It was a month before I could touch him.”
After he was weaned, Kobe began playing roughly with the other colts in his pasture. One kicking match led to about 30 stitches, and while he ultimately came out of it with nothing more than a few scars, Mark and Mary decided he needed his own enclosure. That’s how Mark and Kobe’s match races began.
“My husband would go out and race with him,” said Mary, who wasn’t sure whether to worry more about the man or the colt during
these impromptu speed duels.
Kobe’s toughness reminded Mark and Mary
of Kobe Bryant. Huge fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, they decided to name their colt after that team’s leading scorer.
“I’m happy that our Kobe turned out to have that same toughness,” said Mary.
The Parsons have since sold Rubiate, but they own about 10 horses, including four mares. They keep their mares at Jones’ farm in Temecula, California, for foaling and while the babies are growing up. But after the mares are vet checked back in foal and the youngsters can be left on their own, Mark likes to bring the mares back to a saddle club near their home.
“My husband has a feeding program for them,” Mary said. “He loves to brush them and take care of them. He likes to pamper them, and I think they know it. He always has car- rots, and they nicker at him.”
Mark isn’t the only one who loves to spend time with the horses. One of their granddaugh- ters, 3-year-old Ryane Sarvis, is “horse crazy,” said Mary.
“We take her to Paul’s barn at Los Al, and she makes us take her to every stall,” said Mary. “He has a horse named Jennifer’s Challenge owned by two men who live in Brazil. Ryane thought the horse was named for her mother, our daughter Jennifer. We’ve become friends with the owners through Facebook.”
The Parsons enjoy rooting for Jones’ other owners, though they should have plenty to look forward to with Kobe. Now that he has a Grade 1 victory, he is likely to compete in more Grade 1 races and maybe even qualify for the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos, something Mark and Mary wouldn’t even have considered before.
“It was a dream come true to win there,” said Mary. “Doc (Ed) Allred is a hero to me. We’re fortunate to have someone like him. And to have Ed Burgart as the announcer—it’s kind of surreal. You have to kind of shake yourself.”
Kobe won the Holiday Handicap (pictured) before becoming the Parsons’ first Grade 1 winner in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby.
Mary Parsons visits Masters Call, a horse not owned by the Parsons, but still one of her favorites.
Kobe as a foal in California, where he was bred by Mark and Mary Parsons.
Kobe’s winning connections following the Los Alamitos Winter Derby victory, trainer Paul Jones with wife Marin and daughters Ali and Mia, Mark and Mary Parsons with granddaughter Ryane, Amy and Cody Jensen, Mark Parsons, Jr, Chris and Jennifer Sarvis (the Parson’s daughter) and Mark Parsons III.
Mark Parsons races a young Kobe down the fence at Double Bar S Ranch.
SPEEDHORSE, May 25, 2012 41
Los alamitos
Courtesy Mary Parsons speedhorse Files Courtesy Mary Parsons Los alamitos