Arabian horse
In her 70-year career as a horse breeder, Tankersley emphasized athleticism and disposition in her Arabians. She is recorded as the breeder of over 2,800 registered Arabian foals in her lifetime, making her possibly the largest Arabian horse breeder in the world. At 19, she purchased her first Arabian horse, a mare named Curfa, using money from the sale of another horse she had ridden while at boarding school in Virginia. She founded the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Farm in 1941 on a property when she first lived in Tucson. Mark Miller stated that the name Al-Marah was selected by Carl Raswan, who said it was Arabic for "a verdant garden oasis".