The Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show (Feb. 15-25, 2024; 16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale) has set the pace in the Arabian horse world.
In 1954, Ed Tweed and 20 other breeders formed the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona. Tom Chauncey, Phoenix jeweler, turned broadcaster, turned rancher was a big part of that group and was honored as 1995 AZ Historymaker by the Historical League.
Tom Chauncey established an international reputation for Hereford cattle ranching and Arabian horse breeding, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who raised horses for the White House.
He was introduced to Arabian horses by his second wife, Dorothy (Deedie) Wrigley Rich, a member of the Wrigley gum family of Chicago.
“McCormick Ranch, Gainey Ranch, Chauncey Ranch, and the Wrigleys, are common names in the Scottsdale Area, and most new residents do not recognize that these are tightly associated with the history of the Arabian horse,” said Gary McDonald, who – along with his wife Jennifer – owns McDonald Arabians of Scottsdale. “This town, possibly would not have existed, as it is today, without these roots.”
Fun fact: In 1969 Chauncey bought an Arabian horse, Naborr, with the singer Wayne Newton, paid the record sum of $150,000 and stabled it at Tom Chauncey Arabian Horse Center in Scottsdale.
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