Date: August 27, 2004
To: Al Khamsa Supporters and friends of Carol Lyons
From: Al Khamsa, Inc. Board of Directors

We are saddened by the news of Carol Lyons' passing on August 25, 2004, at her home in Dallas, Oregon. Our condolences are sent to Carol's husband, Jim, and their children James and Diane and their families. Arrangements are pending.

Although Carol has left us, her spirit lives on in Al Khamsa.

Carol attended the Al Khamsa annual meeting and banquet on August 7 in Denver and received the Al Khamsa President's Award. In memory of Carol, we have printed below the speech that was read in presenting the award to Carol.

Presented to Carol Lyons with love from all Al Khamsa Supporters

Carol Lyons is Al Khamsa's best friend.

Way back at the beginning of time for the world of Arabian horses ‹which was 1975) a group of Arabian Horse breeders felt the need of an organization to support preservation breeding of Arabian horses. After a few preliminary moves, the organization Al Khamsa came into being. One of its key founding and continuing sponsors is Carol Lyons. No one has worked more faithfully or with more wisdom and good will for this organization. Without the contributions of Carol Lyons, Al Khamsa would not exist today in a form that those of us here could recognize or perhaps honor.

Carol was present and essential at the start of Al Khamsa. In those days, ideas needed to be worked out, meetings needed to be held, projects such as the first Al Khamsa Directory needed to be worked on, beginners needed to be educated. Later there were legal matters to consider, publicity to be organized. Carol was a strong participant in all such projects. She was one of our long-term presidents. During her time in office, Al Khamsa was in a transitional phase. The issues that came up were not always pleasant, but she handled them by finding paths between opposing camps. That was not easy. There was shouting and threats. Maybe everyone did not get what he or she wanted, but no one was hurt, and Al Khamsa remained true to its goals. During Carol's term in office, Al Khamsa's first major book, Al Khamsa Arabians, was published. She shepherded that thing through the process of preparation with the result that Al Khamsa was established as a first-class research organization.

Carol has had the gift of educating newcomers about Al Khamsa affairs. She has moved her residence several times and it seems that each new home has ended up with a circle of Al Khamsa friends who become their own Al Khamsa community. Her leadership is easy and especially effective around a kitchen table where her wisdom, quietness, technical knowledge of Arabian horses and dedication to long-term goals in Arabian breeding set the tone of discussion.

Carol's dedication to Al Khamsa as an organization grows out of her personal commitment to Al Khamsa Arabian horses. She is best known for her activity with Davenport bloodlines, but she has also been successful with Egyptian bloodlines, with Blue Star bloodlines, with the Sharp breeding program ‹which she invented ‹and in breeding and promoting a number of mixed source bloodlines. Her 100% Davenport breeding has used a spectrum of Davenport sources. She has had a major influence in emphasizing the Asara influence among these horses, and she is presently making a major contribution to core-Haifi Davenport breeding, but not as a matter of sacrificing what she has accomplished with other bloodlines.

One of Carol's major accomplishments as a breeder of Arabian horses has been the starting of new breeders. They begin with excellent horses in combination with enough education about Arabians to enable them to use their new horses successfully.

Carol is a believer in having horses that perform. Her horses have been successful in a variety of equine disciplines, including dressage, reining, pleasure riding. Until health problems interfered, she was a frequent and active rider.

Carol's accomplishments in Al Khamsa and Arabian breeding are great and would be a credit to any Arabian horseman, no matter how publicly prominent. Among the Davenport breeders, she is one of the great ones. For old timers in Al Khamsa, to have known her for many years is one of the privileges of the organization. For newcomers, well, you are fortunate for whatever contacts you have had with her. They contain an example, and how long Al Khamsa will continue depends partly on how many of you can follow her footsteps in your own ways. Without Al Khamsa, Carol would still have been a great person and a noted breeder of Arabian horses, but because she participated in Al Khamsa, she was furnished a framework for horse activity that multiplied her influence in the Arabian horse universe. This function of empowering people to give their best to Arabian horses is the greatest gift of Al Khamsa.

Thank you, Carol, for showing us how it is used.

Written by Charles Craver and read by Jeanne Craver
Al Khamsa 2004 Annual Banquet
Stockman's Club, Denver
August 7, 2004