By Evie Tubbs-Sweeney
As featured in the Spring 2024 issue of Arabian Horse World.
The Arabian horse community lost one of its most passionate leaders with the passing of Susan Meyer earlier this Spring. Sue lived a life of beautiful duality, exemplifying traits that are rare in today’s world.
She was wonderfully gentle but also a torrid force of nature.
Sacrificial and hardworking, Sue was also tenacious toward the specificity of truth.
Selfless and deeply thoughtful, she was fiercely loyal and deeply protective of respect for animals and people.
Integrity guided her every action; she never wavered from her commitment to doing what was right.
In addition to being hospital manager for Neuse River Equine Hospital from its opening in 1987 until 2020 (which she and Jim founded alongside Jim’s brother, Bob), Sue selflessly gave her life’s work to the Arabian horse community, including:
- Lifetime Member of the Arabian Horse Association (AHA)
- Lifetime Member of the North Carolina Arabian Horse Association (and manager of several shows in the 80s when her husband, Jim, was President)
- Member of the AHA Board of Directors since 2010
- Inaugural President of the Arabian Breeders Association, founded by Sheila Varian
- Inaugural member of the inaugural AHA Market Development & Promotion Committee
- Board Member of the Purebred Arabian Trust (PAT) since 2002 (where she led the Interior Design Committee for the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Galleries at the Kentucky Horse Park that opened in 2010)
- Vice-President in 2003/President of the Arabian Jockey Club since 2018. (Her greatest accomplishment as President was the $100,000 UAE President Cup return to the Preakness, which provided the Arabian breed with one of the biggest stages in the world to race in terms of crowd size, media coverage, and betting handle
- Advisory Committee Member of the North Carolina State University College’s Life Sciences
- Member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for Bayer Corp dealing with humane treatment of lab animals
- Member of the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium for ethical practices of racehorses
- Arabian horse judge to shows in Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, and Israel National Championships
Sue’s homebred stallion, Hiab Al Zaman (Hilal Al Zaman x My Shelby Cobra, by Kaolino).
Sue was a truth seeker and a peacemaker. Captains of industry depended on her gifted business acumen. When difficulties arose, she was a reliable constant, a guiding light, always seeking truth. Remarkably, she could exit a conflict or mediation and enjoy a good chocolate espresso martini with both sides afterward. Pride and ego had no part in her way of being.
Sue and Jim showed Arabian horses for many years before being introduced to Arabian racing. And while they earned several national championships and winners-circle trophies from their homebreds, being a breeder for over 50 years was Sue’s greatest source of joy and fulfillment. “My horses are my children,” she would often say. And she meant every word.
One of their finest homebreds is unquestionably the handsome deep-chestnut racehorse stallion, Hiab Al Zaman (Hilal Al Zaman x My Shelby Cobra, by Kaolino). Culminating a career as one of the world’s greatest racehorses, Hiab’s future was nearly cut short before it began. A stall accident sustained as a weanling found Sue and Jim in Hiab’s stall around the clock for almost two months, nursing the young colt back to health. Four years later, Hiab blessed the Meyers with numerous wins, including the $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) at Pimlico Race Course on Preakness Day, followed unsurprisingly by being named 2021 Darley Horse of the Year. Sue and Jim sold him this past year to new owners overseas so he could continue his blossoming campaign. However, Sue continued to joyously follow Hiab’s global success from the confines of her bed. Her Arabian horses were Sue’s full expression of joy, the “piece de resistance” of her life’s work.
In the realm of the Arabian horse, the mere thought of a community without Sue at the helm seems as impossible as a desert without sand.
In her honor, let us continue to allow Sue’s deep-seated values of compassion and integrity to guide us. Let’s follow her lead, striving for truth, unity, and justice. Above all, let’s hold on to kindness towards all living beings, especially those who remain voiceless, guarding their sanctity with the same fierce devotion.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to one of two organizations that were dear to her heart:
Purebred Arabian Trust, in which funds will be used for purposes representing Sue (such as updates to the Al Marah Arabian Horse Galleries), which the PAT will coordinate with Jim. Please make checks payable to the Purebred Arabian Trust and note “Sue Meyer” in the memo. Checks may be sent to: Purebred Arabian Trust, 9714 Niblick Lane, Naples, FL 34108
Arabian Horseman’s Distress Fund – www.horsemensdistressfund.com
