Antezeyn Skowronek 5321

Antezeyn Skowronek in May 1976 at age 27.

He is by Abu Farwa (Rabiyas x *Rissletta by Nasem) and

out of SHARIFA (Antez x Ferdith by Ferseyn).

 

by MICHAEL BOWLING(copyright)

originally appeared in the Oct. ’76 issue of the Arabian Horse World

Antezeyn Skowronek was foaled 21 April 1949, bred by E.J.Boyer of Puente, California. He was sired by the quite literally unforgettable Abu Farwa 1960, a horse that can’t be done justice in short space. Briefly, Abu Farwa is one of the most strongly positive breeding influences on the Arabian horse in this country. His get and descendants excel in quality and conformation, and they continue to compile an impressive record in all fields open to the breed, both in and out of the show ring. Abu Farwa was an early product of the famed program of W.K.Kellogg; his sire was the end result of years of breeding for quality and athletic ability by Randolph Huntington and W.R.Brown in this country with basically English stock, and his dam was one of the most elegant individuals ever imported from Crabbet Park. He had the quality and ability for which he was bred, and he passed it on with great success in breeding.

SHARIFA 2798, dam of Antezeyn Skowronek, was not famous as his sire was – in fact she had a rather short breeding career and is best known for this one son. His success as a breeding horse indicates she must have possessed considerable genetic merit, for no sire, not even one of the magnitude of Abu Farwa, can get breeding horses without some cooperation from the mares he is bred to. Pictures and eye-witness accounts of SHARIFA show a very smooth compact mare with a beautiful big-eyed head. She had a fine disposition and was a good riding horse, certainly traits to value in the dam of a prospective foundation sire.

SHARIFA’s pedigree is less consistently English than Abu Farwa’s; her sire was one of the famous early “straight Davenports” and was trained for the track, setting records in speed trials. He has proven one of the most valuable outcrosses to English blood in this country, Antezeyn Skowronek being just one of many successful results of this blend. SHARIFA’s dam FERDITH was the first foal of the former top sire FERSEYN, and remains one of his best achievements; she topped an early-day California production sale and went on to produce many outstanding Arabians, including a remarkable lineup by ABU FARWA. It will most interesting to read Carol Mulder’s article on FERDITH and her produce when she gets to her numerically, as she knew this group of good horses well. FERDITH’s dam ARDITH founded a good family in the Northwest; she was a great-granddaughter of *ABU ZEYD, called by Lady Anne Lytton the most beautiful son of MESAOUD, so crossing back to the top of the pedigree.

[Note added in 1999: Ardith's paternal granddam Domow is registered, impossibly, as the bay daughter of two chestnut parents. The latest investigations confirm that her dam line matches that of the chestnut *Wadduda, so this *Abu Zeyd connection is no longer supported by the evidence. The sire of Domow is being sought among the bay stallions in Homer Davenport's possession in 1912. MB]

The rest of ARDITH’s background was again the Davenport desert group – so Antezeyn Skowronek’s pedigree represents English breeding outcrossed with two highly successful American lines of closer desert derivation.

This pedigree produced a remarkable horse who offers an illustration of the fact that the most worthwhile horses do not always get an opportunity to have brilliant show careers. Antezeyn Skowronek won his class at Pomona as a yearling and as far as I know never entered a show ring again. He has spent the rest of his life as a breeding stallion, although as a mature horse he was started under saddle and proved a willing and enjoyable mount for trail and pleasure riding in his spare time.

After winning that colt class he was purchased by Carleton Cummings and taken to Idaho where he stood several seasons, his first foals arriving in 1952. He was used on Mr. Cummings’ mares and on some Kellogg mares at the University of Idaho during this period. Some time after 1955 he was moved to Spokane, Washington where it seems he remained for the remainder of his owner’s life; it was at this time, the Arabian population of Washington being a bit higher than that of Idaho, that he stood to some outside mares. At Mr. Cummings’ death the horse went into retirement for a couple of years, returning to active duty in 1965 on lease to the Synowski Ranch in Oregon. He was purchased from the Cummings estate by Lois Selby Perry, spending one season on lease at Glenwood Farm in Iowa on the way to Connecticut and the Perry establishment.

Antezeyn Skowronek was not used to sharing his world with a number of stallions and did not thrive at Perrys’; he was made available to the Illings of Twin Brook Farm in New York, first on lease and eventually by sale. In January of 1975 he made what is expected to be his last move and change of ownership; he is now “alive and well in Waldorf, Maryland” and being used lightly at stud. He observed his 27th birthday quietly and shows every sign of planning on at least a few more.

Listing the Antezeyn Skowronek get and descendants of note is simply beyond me in the time at hand – besides, I don’t have the whole October issue to fill with their stories. Rather than offend some by mentioning others I will risk offending all by limiting myself to general statements. Antezeyn Skowronek and his sons have sired many winners in halter and performance in Arabian and open shows, Antezeyn Skowronek is on the Leading Sire list (he is accounted the third leading siring son of Abu Farwa) and has founded a strong male line, with many sons and tail male descendants represented every year by Class A winners. His get and descendants include regional and Legion of Merit champions and U.S. and Canadian Top Tens at halter and performance, and National Champions in performance. He is, simply, a fine sire and an influence for good on the breed.

The story of Antezeyn Skowronek has been 27 years in the telling (leaving out the years of prologue before his birth) and this short sketch is hardly an adequate summary.

NOTE: I sincerely thank all those who participated in this tribute, and apologize to those who would have taken part had they been notified, or notified sooner.

(Ad recreated from the one appearing with 1976 Antezeyn Skowronek article)

Antezeyn Skowronek

is alive and well

and living in

Waldorf, Maryland

 

Visitors Welcome — Young Stock For Sale

Call weekends (AC 301) 645-5547

Michael Bowling

Box 1332

Frederick, Maryland 21701

 and still siring foals like these:

March colt at 3 weeks

ex Faranique by RST Kumait+

He is for sale at privte treaty. Contact Intissar Arabians,

3510 Walnut St., Harrisburg, Pa. 17109

 

May filly at 2 1/’2 months

ex Mostly Magic by *Touch of Magic.

July colt at 2 days  

ex Ramnada by Damascus 

Ramnada is for sal. Contact Mrs.Richard P. Davis,  

Prly Hill Rd., Sanbornton, N.H.

(Ad recreated from one appearing in the Arabian Visions, Jan-Feb, 1993)

Abu Farwa 1960 (Rabiyas x *Rissletta by Naseem) working cattle at the Richardson Ranch, near Chico, CA in 1956. Photo courtesy the Wests of Green Acres Arabians.

A recurring theme at New Albion is reinforcing a valued influence through multiple pedigree samples; we do not believe that a single source of any desirable ancestor provides an adequate genetic sampling. Our connections to the great Abu Farwa illustrate this handily. Watch for our new series of ads featuring other major elements in our program.

Abu Farwa, foaled at Pomona, California in 1940, was bred by the W.K.Kellogg institute and has become one of the sires in CMK breeding (and he exemplifies the origin of CMK as a concept: bred at Kellogg’s from a Crabbet-imported mare, while his sire had come to Pomona en utero from Maynesboro). Abu Farwa found his niche in life as a sire for H.H.Reese, the former Kellogg Ranch manager around whom crystallized the Southern California Arabian breeding tradition of the 1940′s and 1950′s. Abu Farwa sired 235 registered foals and became a major force in show and performance breeding; he was selected a Living Legend and his influence still is highly prized where real using horses are valued.

At New Albion we have been fortunate in owning one of the greatest Abu Farwa sons and one of his youngest daughters, in breeding to several of his sons and in working with the Abu Farwa influence through more distant lines. New Albion history parallels that of the breed in general, as in the way we have accidentally lost sources we would rather have maintained (italicized below). We do not claim this to be the ultimate Abu Farwa sampling and it certainly is not meant to be a static thing — there are Abu Farwa sources we would like to add or reinforce. This is where our program stands right now, in terms of one particularly prized founder.

Abu Farwa sources at New Albion (dam and maternal grandsire in parentheses): Tamarlane (Rifanta by Rifnas); Faryn (Ferdith by Ferseyn); Aayisha (Nawari by Alla Amarward); Nirahbu (Nirah by *Ferdin); Shama (Shamrah by Balastra); Abu Baha (Surrab by *Latif); Antezeyn Skowronek (Sharifa by Antez); Awad (Shamrah by Balastra); Farlowa (Farlouma by Farana); Muhuli (Follyanna by Terhani); Shah-Loul(Pomona Avesta by Farana); Galan (Saadi by Rifnas); Miss Nateza (Nateza by *Witez II).

[Additional lines through'99 include: Riehaba (Amrieh by Kasar), Ga'zi (Ghazna by Chepe Noyon), Rokkara (Sokkar by Rantez) and Lawsouma (Farlouma by Farana).]

Our stallions trace to Farowa, Muhuli, Shah-Loul and Tamarlane. We have retained breedings to the Galan line through a son (out of the youngest Antezeyn Skowronek daughter) and grandson.

Michael, Ann and Lydia Bowling

Claire Bowen Trommershausen

The New Albion Stud

 

Crabbet-Maynesboro-Kellogg Preservation Breeding

24920 Road 96 Davis, CA 95616

(916)756-3911*

CMK Stallions at Stud and Stock for Sale

 

*The above area code has been changed,

and the number is now

(530)756-3911

  Web cmkarabians.com

Son of the Nobly Bred… Ibn Tirf

Son of the Nobly Bred… Ibn Tirf

copyright 1990 by Joyce Gregorian Hampshire

Upland Farm

Holliston, Massachusetts

Back in the mid 1980′s, the proportion of Al Khamsa horses in my herd was not so high as it is today. I started horse-breeding in the early 1970′s, with Welsh Ponies, and bought my first Arabian mare in 1975 with the royalties from my first novel. She was a dandy animal with much good blood in her, despite the non-Al Khamsa elements in her pedigree; she was a Saklawi descended from Bint Helwa the Broken-legged mare, and her sire, Zumirz, was a Kuhaylan-Haifi tracing to the Davenport mare, *Reshan. I treasure her blood still.

My first pure Al Khamsa horse was the 1960 Tripoli-Dharebah Davenport stallion, Janan Abinoam, who joined my family in 1978, and runs the farm to this day. One might say he opened the floodgates, since now at Upland Farm there are 41 Al Khamsa horses. 36 of whom are Davenports. The other five owe their presence to the influence of Ibn Tirf.

It must have been back around 1984, when I was trying to place my stallion, HMR Phario, in a new home, that I first heard of Tirf. Phario was one of those lovely dark bay horses bred by Howard Marks, who combined the blood of Gulustra and Hallany Mistanny with non-Al Khamsa elements, such as Tobruk. Phario had sired some nice foals for me, but I really wanted to find an Al Khamsa horse that would have, like him, a marked Saklawi appearance and that expressive “Gulastra” look. One afternoon, a lady called me from Virginia to discuss Phario’s availability, record and price; at the end of the conversation, in a very casual way, she said, “You know, we’ve got one of those ‘Doyle’ stallions down here.”

That lady never did buy anything from me, but I owe her a debt of gratitude, because she gave me the name and telephone number of the lady in West Virginia with “that Doyle stallion”. When she told me that his name was Ibn Tirf, I was able to look him up in the 1983 Al Khamsa directory, and my interest immediately blossomed.

In the 1983 Directory of Al Khamsa Arabians, Ibn Tirf was listed as ‘whereabouts unknown’. For my purposes, he was better than a straight “Doyle”, since his sire, bred by Charles Craver, was Sultan (a cross of the noted Egypt/Blunt stallion, Subani, on the beautiful Davenport Antez daughter, Antan). His dam was one of the great straight Egypt/Blunt brood-matrons bred by Dr. Doyle, Shillala, by Gulson out of Gulnara. I immediately asked his owner for pictures and in due course, I received a few fuzzy shots of a tough-looking chestnut stallion, with cute little ears and a wary expression. He had that Gulastra neck, however, the smooth curve from wither to throatlatch was accented by the typically heavy straight fall of silky mane.

I bought Tirf sight unseen and arranged for his pick up. His owner was gracious, but if a buyer had suddenly appeared from outer space, I do not think she could have been more amazed. She did inform me that the horse had received very little handling in his 12 years, and suffered from heaves. He lived outside year-round, and mares were put in with him for breeding.

At this same time I was buying a Davenport mare in Virginia, a young Oberon daughter, so I arranged with a good friend to use my brand-new truck to collect the two new acquisitions. My trailer was a step-up aluminum 2-horse, on which the first of 48 monthly payments had just been made. It was expensive and certainly looked well made.

Tirf was picked up first, and it was soon clear that his knowledge of handling was minimal. He couldn’t, or wouldn’t be touched on his sides. Brushing against the trailer partitions made him squeal and kick. By the time we had reached Richmond, the back door on his side was bowed out enough so that one could slip a few fingers between it and the jamb. But it still held.

Katja, the filly, was somewhat alarmed by her traveling companion (as well she might be), but they settled in well for the drive home. Tirf’s emphysema had caught up with him by the time we arrived; he practically fell out of the trailer onto his knees, coughing up heavy green mucus. My vet was not impressed by his condition. In fact, she advised me that he might not survive.

It took Tirf about a year to settle in and adjust to his new hayless diet of bran mash and alfalfa cubes. His breathing became regular and he put on weight; his coat slowly achieved the gloss it has never lost, a deeply burnished dark copper with discrete dapples. As his health returned, his vitality increased, and soon he was one of the stallions on every visitor’s ‘must see’ list.

I should point out that standing in his stall he is not especially impressive, curvy, muscular and usually wearing an expression of extreme disgust. (He lives in a row with ten stallions, none of whom are the least bit taken in by his posturing. Two, in fact, are considerably older than he and flaunt their seniority by virtually ignoring his rude remarks.) Tirf has exeptionally large nostrils, and his favorite way of looking annoyed is to draw them up so they seem to reach just below his eyes. This expression, coupled with flattened ears, gives him an “heraldic dragon” sort of look. The effort is ruined, however, when one of us grabs his strong little ears, levers them forward, pushes his nostrils back into shape and tells him to be nice.

The truth, of course, is that he is nice, easy to handle and is a gentleman to breed. It’s just that he wants so desperately to be considered wild and tough. Turned out, he puts on the best show on the place, standing up absolutely vertical, then launching into a powerful springy trot with the curve of his neck and that of his tail in exact harmony with each other. He is breathtaking.

Before Ibn Tirf came to live at Upland, he had sired one registered foal and several part-breds. I was told (but have not received confirmation of the fact), that one of his West Virginia babies is a winning Endurance horse. Given his bloodlines and personal vitality, I do not find this at all unlikely. The first mare Tirf bred at Upland, was Fred Mimmack‘s lovely Saklawi Davenport, Mae West (Kamil Ibn Salan x Maefah). His 1987 filly, Daisy Mae UF, is therefore bred in the Saklawi strain more than five generations.

Ibn Tirf had two more daughters born in 1989, the Al Khamsa filly, Iolanthe UF (x CH Fairy Flight, a Kuhaylan Davenport of pronounced Saklawi characteristics), and the CMK filly, Araba Chimera, (whose dam Kataali, one of my first and most beloved mares, is a non-Al Khamsa mare bred Saklawi in the strain; her sire Aalzar tracing to Bint Helwa and her dam Tsarou to Basilisk). Iolanthe greatly resembles Daisy Mae, like her a bold, strapping chestnut; wheras Chimera is a petite and winsome bay.

While my first loyalty is to my Davenport program, Ibn Tirf has had influence on my buying as well as on my breeding. The Saqlawi al-Abd (*Wadduda) filly, Jadiba (Dib x Jabinta), was bought for his future harem; an Al Khamsa filly combining “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt, Davenport and Hamidie Society bloodlines.

Tirf’s biggest adventure recently has been learning to be a riding horse. Because of his age, heaves, and lack of handling, I had not thought it worthwhile to bother him with training; but one of the girls who works for me fell in love with Tirf and began giving him special attention. After a few weeks she threw on an old western saddle, and started riding him around in a halter with reins attached. He was absolutely delighted. Now he has learned to carry a bit too, but even with just the halter he was perfectly obedient (if a little bouncy), when ridden in company with other stallions and mares.

It is hard to say what the future holds for Ibn Tirf. Physically, he is a springy, handsome 18-year-old stallion, green broke to ride with a few lovely fillies to his credit. In strain and pedigree he is a felicitous example of the complementary blend inherent in “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt and Davenport lines, a combination suggested by Carl Raswan both in The Arab and His Horse, and in The Index. His problem is that he lives on a farm filled with Davenport horses and dedicated to their breeding. In short, there is too much competition for Ibn Tirf to be showcased in the way he deserves.

Still, at Upland we are all grateful for his presence. His beauty and nobility have won many new friends for the Al Khamsa horse, and in the years to come the “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt component in our breeding, as it slowly increases, will be Ibn Tirf’s ultimate legacy.

Despite any past or present offices held in Al Khamsa, Inc., by the authors, the views expressed in this article are the personal views of the present authors, and do not represent any offical policy of Al Khamsa, Inc..

  Web cmkarabians.com

Indian Magic: A Master Breeder’s Masterpiece?

INDIAN MAGIC: A Master Breeder’s Masterpiece? © R.J. Cadranell II from The CMK Record VIII/2 Fall 1989 used by permission of RJ Cadranell Photo by Photonews, © Alexander Heriot & Co.

INDIAN MAGIC

at age 26, with his long-time handler Fred Rice, in a Parade of Progeny and Personalities at the 1970 British Nationals. Note that one of the judges seated at left, the late Lady Anne Lytton, appears to be unable to keep her eyes off “the prince of horses.”

In an article reprinted in the Arabiana anthology, Lady Anne Lytton wrote: “Indian Magic was, I think, Lady Wentworth’s masterpiece…” Bred at Crabbet in 1944, INDIAN MAGIC became a legend in his own time. He was one of the most famous Arabians in England in the post war era, and an important sire for both Lady Wentworth and later Cecil Covey when he inherited the Crabbet Stud. INDIAN MAGIC was the last horse Cecil Covey retained when external influences forced him to give up the rest of the Crabbet Stud. Skowronek Naseem Nasra Raktha Rasim Razina Riyala: *Astraled x Ridaa INDIAN MAGIC gr s 1944 Rasim Raseem Rim: *Astraled x Ridaa Indian Crown *Nureddin II Nisreen Nasra Pedigree extended to Crabbet Foundation Animals:

  • *ASTRALED by MESAOUD out of QUEEN OF SHEBA
  • DAOUD by MESAOUD out of BINT NURA
  • NARGHILEH by MESAOUD out of NEFISA
  • NASRA by DAOUD out of NEFISA
  • NEFISA by HADBAN out of DAJANIA
  • *Nureddin II by RIJM out of NARGHILEH
  • RASIM by FEYSUL out of RISALA
  • RIDAA by MERZUK out of *ROSE OF SHARON
  • RIJM by MAHRUSS out of *ROSE OF SHARON
  • RISALA by MESAOUD out of RIDAA
  • *ROSE OF SHARON by HADBAN out of RODANIA

Though no breeder can predict exactly where his or her great successes will come, INDIAN MAGIC did not happen by chance. Lady Wentworth did not buy an Arabian mare about which she knew little or nothing, take her to the nearest or most heavily advertised or most expensive champion she could find, and expect to produce a world beater. Rather, INDIAN MAGIC represented twenty-four years of lady Wentworth’s own breeding, on top of a prior forty years of watching his ancestors breed for her parents. INDIAN MAGIC ‘s pedigree shows eight generations of Arabian horses owned by the Crabbet Stud. With the exception of Skowronek’s antecedents and the possible exception of FEYSUL’s dam, EL ARGAA, Lady Wentworth knew first hand every single animal in INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree as far back as his great-great-great-grandparents, as she or her parents owned them all. In type as well as pedigree, INDIAN MAGIC represented the combination of Skowronek and *Nureddin II of which Mrs. Archer has written as a key to much of later Wentworth breeding. Miss Ott, writing in an article reprinted in Arabiana, characterized some of the animals representing this combination as being “a Nureddin Type with Skowronek details.”

Skowronek contributed a prettier head, arched neck, broad and level croup, high set and carried tail, and a certain ethereal beauty combined with good stout bone. *Nureddin II provided extra size, a loftier, more upright carriage, higher withers, better shoulders, and a lankier frame. Lady Wentworth began combining the two of them as soon as she had a *Nureddin daughter old enough to breed to Skowronek, but it was some years before any of the Skowronek daughters went to *Nureddin. Instead, Crabbet’s first foals from Skowronek daughters were inbred to Skowronek: *Raffles (Skowronek x *Rifala, Wright’s coefficient of inbreeding 25%) and *ROSE OF FRANCE (*Raswan x Jalila, inbred to Skowronek at 12.5%). (A third Skowronek daughter, SHELIFA, produced in the same year an Anglo-Arab colt named BLACK TOM, by CHEVALIER.) *Nureddin II later had a chance to sire his own “Raffles” when Lady Wentworth bred him to his daughter RISHNA, producing the filly RIFWA.

Most of Lady Wentworth’s more successful combinations of the two stallions came from breeding Skowronek-line sires to *Nureddin-line dams. This perhaps illustrates Carl Raswan’s oft-repeated tenet that the dam gives to her offspring size and frame, while the sire contributes muscling and detail. Anyone can name myriad exceptions to this rule, but animals like INDIAN MAGIC, GREY ROYAL, and *SERAFIX adhere to it.

The pedigree of INDIAN MAGIC’s sire RAKTHA is almost a mirror image of the pedigree of his dam INDIAN CROWN, but where one has Skowronek, the other has *Nureddin II. In the cases of both Skowronek and *Nureddin, the vessels carrying their blood to INDIAN MAGIC were NASRA foals. Lady Wentworth apparently recognized at an early point that of all the mares she had from her parents, NASRA would become one of the cornerstones of her breeding. NASRA’s *Nureddin II daughter NISREEN became the dam of the “Indian” family; her Skowronek son NASEEM was an important sire; her daughter NASHISHA was to produce SHARIMA, of great importance to post-war Crabbet breeding; while her son NAZIRI was perhaps Lady Wentworth’s favorite of all the Skowronek colts.

In INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree, both of the NASRA foals were crossed with horses “strain bred” to RIDAA before the final doubling to NASRA to produce INDIAN MAGIC. RAZINA and RASEEM were full siblings in blood, the result of Lady Wentworth’s breeding RASIM to mares that were three-quarter sisters to his own dam. RASEEM’s and RAZINA’s coefficient of inbreeding was 10.57%. (Lady Wentworth had also tried breeding RASIM back to his dam RISALA, but no foal resulted, apparently.) The cross of RASIM on RIM and RIYALA concentrated the blood of MESAOUD and RIDAA, while FEYSUL and QUEEN OF SHEBA functioned as outcrosses.

Quite different factions have maligned one or the other of the latter Crabbet foundation animals. Criticizing FEYSUL denigrates the judgment of Lady Anne Blunt, who used him at stud both in Egypt and in England. His foals RASIM, KARINA, IBN YASHMAK, and RAS EL HADD had a flare not seen in other lines of Crabbet breeding, though after his first few foal crops in England FEYSUL was used rather sparingly.

QUEEN OF SHEBA might not have matched Carl Raswan’s idea of the classic Arabian, but the mare contributed something to her descendants which must have pleased the Blunts immensely. They used two of her sons as sires, put into the mare band her only daughter to live to maturity, and by the end of the Blunt period of breeding they were using a double QUEEN OF SHEBA stallion at stud (SOTAMM) and producing triple QUEEN OF SHEBA foals (SILFA, by Rustem out of Selima). QUEEN OF SHEBA might have contributed any or all of the following: fire and presence, more wither, a good shoulder, a longer neck, the ability to move well, high tail carriage.

Breeding the key ingredients (Skowronek and *Nureddin) to NASRA, crossing those foals with strain bred Crabbet “R” horses, and finally combining the two influences produced INDIAN MAGIC. Lady Wentworth must have realized she had discovered something special: the RAKTHA to INDIAN CROWN breeding she did more frequently than any other cross in her entire history as a breeder. INDIAN CROWN’s production record, extracted from the GSB, is a follows:

  • 1939 ch f *CROWN OF INDIA, by Rix (sent to U.S.A.)
  • 1940 barren to Radi
  • 1941 gr c INDIAN GREY (died 1944), by Raktha
  • 1942 gr c (destroyed) by Raktha
  • 1943 barren to Raktha
  • 1944 gr c INDIAN MAGIC, by Raktha
  • 1945 ch c INDIAN GEM, by Raktha (sent to South Africa)
  • 1946 barren to Oran
  • 1947 gr f by Raktha
  • 1948 ch c INDIAN CRESCENT, by Oran (sent to Brazil)
  • 1949 gr c by Raktha
  • 1950 barren to Raktha
  • 1951 ch f by Grand Royal
  • 1952 barren to Dargee
  • 1953 ch f SILVER PARADISE, by Royal Diamond
  • 1954 ch f INCORONETTA, by Dargee
  • 1955 ch c SUMMER CROWN by Oran
  • 1956 not covered in 55, sold, and put out of Stud

Once Lady Wentworth had discovered the successful “nick” with RAKTHA, she repeated it frequently, but not every year. In the same way the Skowronek-NASRA cross was very successful, but in between NASRA’s first foal by Skowronek (NASEEM) and her last (NASIEDA) she also produced to RAFEEF and NADIR. Had Lady Wentworth bred NASRA to Skowronek year after year, she could have had as many as eight offspring from the cross. But in creating them she would have limited severely the future possibilities for the use of NASRA blood. She would not have made the best use of one of her most important mares. Instead, she used in her breeding program NASRA foals by five different sires. This gave her a much broader range of options to continue breeding with the NASRA influence.

Lady Wentworth did not foresee INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree twenty-four years in advance and then create it. It took many years of trial and error, combining everything she had with everything else she had, taking note of which mare lines were producing her favorite horses, or her best breeding animals, and taking each step as it presented itself for taking. Before breeding INDIAN GREY, Lady Wentworth had experimented with many combinations of the horses which produced him and his famous full brother. She had tried Skowronek on NISREEN, producing NASIRIEH and *INCORONATA, both of which produced to RASEEM. *INCORONATA produced INDIAN GLORY to this cross, a favorite colt struck by lightning and killed as a yearling. With NASIRIEH Lady Wentworth tried doubling the *Nureddin influence by breeding her to *RAHAL and SHAREER. Lady Wentworth also tried combining Skowronek and *Nureddin while doubling NASRA by breeding NASEEM to NISREEN, producing INSILLA and INDIAN LIGHT. This combination lacked the perhaps crucial elements of RASIM and QUEEN OF SHEBA.

INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree contains more crosses to HADBAN than to MESAOUD, although people generally think of the latter as the more pervasive Crabbet foundation sire. All seven of INDIAN MAGIC’s Crabbet bred great grandparents were from HADBAN influenced mare lines. *Nureddin II was doubled to him. Lady Wentworth began to focus on the tail-female descendants of the HADBAN daughters, NEFISA and *ROSE OF SHARON, very early in her breeding. Lady Anne Blunt credited the HADBAN influence with producing animals of greater height, meaning well over 15 hands. Lady Wentworth made no excuses about her own preference for the taller sort of Arabian, although she also used and appreciated the smaller ones like RASIM, Skowronek, and DARGEE.

INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree is not sire dominated, except perhaps by MESAOUD and HADBAN. Instead, Lady Wentworth has done rather consistent line breeding to two successful mare families. NASRA and RIDAA have special prominence. Using Raswan’s system of strain analysis, INDIAN MAGIC is bred three generations in the Kuhaylan strain.

INDIAN MAGIC’s pedigree is not the result of outcross upon outcross, but is instead rather tightly linebred. The five different Crabbet bred great-grandparents were all closely related through MESAOUD and HADBAN, while RODANIA and DAJANIA were also key ancestors. From this point on the pedigree only gets tighter. From 1904 until the tenure of Lady Wentworth the Crabbet horses were bred as a closed herd. INDIAN MAGIC’s ancestry represents a very small sampling of that herd, augmented with one line to Skowronek, Lady Wentworth’s outcross of the 1920′s. RAKTHA and INDIAN CROWN were roughly three-quarter siblings in blood.

The Blunts saw in *ASTRALED, RIJM, *Nureddin II, DAOUD, and RASIM, as Lady Wentworth saw in NASEEM and RASEEM, colts they wanted to retain as future sires rather than sell. The Blunts decided to keep for breeding the fillies *ROSE OF SHARON, NEFISA, RIDAA, NASRA, NARGHILEH, RISALA, RIM, and RIYALA, as Lady Wentworth kept NISREEN and INDIAN CROWN. A farm which sells every foal it breeds, and then starts over with new foundation stock, is returning time and again to “square one.”

Other than the Crabbet foundation animals, all of INDIAN MAGIC’s ancestors tabulated in the pedigree above were bred by Crabbet except his sire, RAKTHA. RAKTHA illustrates another principle which successful livestock breeders have employed: the use of “satellite” farms. Place with another breeder some of your best stock, and it might be combined in ways which never would have occurred to you, eventually producing something which you might want to use. By buying ASTRELLA and RAZINA and bringing RAZINA back to Crabbet for breeding to NASEEM and NAUFAL (sire of RIFFAL), Lady Yule provided Lady Wentworth with two of Crabbet’s greatest post 1940 sires: RAKTHA and ORAN (Riffal x Astrella). (Like INDIAN MAGIC, ORAN was by a RAZINA son and out of a RASEEM daughter.) Lady Wentworth purchased both of these stallions as younger animals with an eye to using them at stud.

Lady Wentworth started using INDIAN MAGIC at stud when he was three, breeding him to NEZMA (Rafeef x Nasra). Thereafter she used him every year, but he does not seem to have covered more than six Crabbet mares in a single season. INDIAN MAGIC completed for mares with stallions like ORAN, DARGEE, RAKTHA, INDIAN GOLD, GRAND ROYAL, *ROYAL DIAMOND, and later *SILVER VANITY, ROYAL CRYSTAL, and *SILVER DRIFT. Lady Wentworth always maintained a large stallion battery. With a few years as exceptions, no one stallion dominated a foal crop. Again, this allowed her greater flexibility as a breeder than the alternative method of maintaining only one or two stallions and breeding all the mares to one or the other year after year.

Lady Wentworth bred INDIAN MAGIC very frequently to mares of the SHARIMA family, and also to INDIAN FLOWER (Irex x Nisreen) and her daughter *INDIAN DIAMOND (by Oran). SILVER FIRE (Naseem x Somra by Daoud) produced her last two foals by INDIAN MAGIC. The “R” family had already seen its greatest days at its parent stud by the time INDIAN MAGIC came into use, but he sired foals from ROSALINA (Indian Gold x Rissella) and her daughter ROSINELLA (by Oran).

INDIAN MAGIC’s foals for Lady Wentworth were all born during the last nine years of her life, making it difficult to discern which she might have used for breeding and how. The only one she appears to have used was the SILVER FIRE daughter SILVER MAGIC, dam of SILVADORIS (by Oran) before her exportation to Australia.

What INDIAN MAGIC’s long term impact on Lady Wentworth’s herd might have been we shall never know. However, he proved himself an outstanding sire and major influence on other breeding programs around the world. ***

The grandsires of INDIAN MAGIC, photos courtesy Rosemary Archer

RASEEM (Rasim x Rim)

Rafyk and Sir James Penn Boucaut: The Arabian Foundations in Australia

RAFYK and Sir James Penn Boucaut: The Arabian Foundations in Australia ©by MICHAEL BOWLING from The CMK Record VIII/4 Spring 1990 used by permission of Michael Bowling

RAFYK was a three-quarter brother to ROSE DIAMOND, featured in Record VIII/2; for information on RAFYK’s and ROSE DIAMOND’s wonderful sire AZREK see p. 20 of that issue. RAFYK was the first major stallion produced by what was to become the breed’s most internationally influential female line. The difference between the pedigrees of ROSE DIAMOND and RAFYK was the replacement of KARS with HADBAN as maternal grandsire of the latter. HADBAN was a bay imported from an Indian racing stable to Crabbet, partly with the idea that he should take part in a highly promoted Arab race. The race was not a notable success and the Arab cause was further embarrassed when its winner was soundly trounced by a moderate TB in a match race. Arab racing in England took a hundred years to recover from its fumbled start, but the 1884 race can claim an important contribution to breed history as it was the occasion for HADBAN’s coming to Crabbet.

HADBAN: the quintessential broodmare sire

Lady Anne Blunt’s manuscript stud book describes HADBAN as

    An imported bay horse, foaled in 1878, a Hadban Enzeyhi, bred by Jakin Ibn Aghil, Sheykh of the Daafini tribe of Oteybeh, from whom he was purchased by Ali Ibn Amr of Bussora and Bombay and exported to Bombay in the autumn of 1883. Purchased of Ali Ibn Amr soon after being landed at Bombay. Imported in 1884. A bright bay with three white feet, hind feet and near fore feet (mutlak al yemin) and star. Splendid head with prominent forehead (jebha), small muzzle, neck a trifle short but well placed, good shoulder, pasterns rather too long. Fine carriage of tail, fine trotter in harness, grand mover gallopping[sic]. Hadban was the sire of Nefisa, Rose of Sharon and Bitumen [this apparently written in 1885, before the arrival of the 1886 colt MAJID].”

He stood 14:2 and 1/2 and measured 7 and 3/4 inches below the knee, “rather over than under“- in other words measured just under 8 inches of bone.

    Hadban was sold in June 1885 to D. Mackay Esq(re) of New South Wales for 120 gs for exportation to Australia. In view of the excellence of the mares by Hadban, it is to be regretted there were so few of his stock.”

Wilfrid Blunt, quoted by Peter Upton, later made a stronger statement:

    Hadban is, next to Mesaoud, the most important sire we imported, being numerously represented in the Stud Book through Rose of Sharon and Nefisa, his two best daughters and our two most valuable brood mares.”

HADBAN got just four foals at Crabbet, MESAOUD had over 25 times as many; HADBAN must have been the better sire even without considering the inextricable contribution of the HADBAN daughters to the success of MESAOUD. Those incomparable matrons *ROSE OF SHARON and NEFISA produced 34 foals between them and numbered some of the breed’s great progenitors among their offspring, so it is little wonder the name of HADBAN is “numerously represented” in modern pedigrees.

The hazards of travel

Lady Anne Blunt described HADBAN in India as

    a splendid horse–magnificent head–has had an accident which caused near foreleg to swell and swelling went down but left lump on fetlock joint–doubts as to possibility of training so that price came within our reach. Horse not lame now–but might not stand gallopping[sic]. Defect stands slightly back [at knees] also bone lighter than some but quality of sinews appears wiry and shape and style show perfect blood. Mazbut in the tribe… we get him very cheap… hardly over £100.” The next day the Blunts “Saw our own Hadban mounted. W.[ilfrid] also got on him but found his mouth very awkward, he wants teaching, seems to have had only a reshmeh [bitless Arab bridle], looks like Jerboa when trotting but would not settle, would play. The lump on fetlock better. He has a fine temper.”

The Blunts purchased three stallions in India; the other two were RATAPLAN and PROXIMO and they were shipped to England along with two other entries for the Arab race.

    On Friday evening a queer accident happened to Hadban, he got his near hind leg over the sling and also tumbled down…[it developed that] the horse had a stoppage and was in violent pain, it was frightful to see the agony. They got a syringe and so I went away, but I heard that before they could do anything to relieve him he had in his plunges got his forelegs out one in front of the other through the side bar of the box and thus hanging on had purposely banged his head from side to side against the iron hoop above as if trying to kill himself. When got out he seemed to be dying and was indeed reported dead. However, they managed to relieve him and he pulled through and was better on Sunday…”

The mind boggles at the gap in the ranks of the modern breed which would have resulted had HADBAN succumbed to the rigors of 19th century horse transport (as RATAPLAN and the younger JEROBOAM were to do in 1887 on their way to Egypt). Incidentally, RATAPLAN’s purchase price in India had been £250; his slim contribution, to Crabbet and the breed, has not justified the difference over HADBAN.

KARS and HADBAN departed together for Australia in 1885; KARS commanded the higher price (£250). He was the original Crabbet sire and had been for years a major figure in Lady Anne’s life, she not unsurprisingly noted his loss more than HADBAN’s in her journal:

    The central figure of the stud has disappeared; the glory of it seems to be put out with Kars absence.” His companion received only the comment “Hadban going too.”

Still Lady Anne came greatly to regret the sale of HADBAN after just two seasons and four foals, as reflected in later journal entries:

    This [Ashgar offered to Count Potocki by Wilfrid for £150] would be the third horse parted with in too great haste–Pharaoh, Hadban and now Ashgar.” “Perhaps Mahruss [sold to J.Hamilton Leigh] will be more valued now he is out of reach. It was so with Hadban and Merzuk, the losing of both of which–or rather the wanton throwing away of them–was a great misfortune, judging from the produce, alas too few, we did get of theirs.”

[MERZUK and MAHRUSS GSB each left one breeding foal at Crabbet--both proved influential beyond all expectation and both were out of HADBAN's daughter *ROSE OF SHARON; we will encounter RIDAA and RIJM in later chapters of her saga.]

The foundation of Australian Arabian breeding

Australia proved an important early market for the Blunts; unfortunately Australian purebred breeding was not ready for such potential foundation animals–the Australian Arabian registry was not founded until 1956, any horses which were registered up to that time being recorded in England with the Arab Horse Society. FRANCOLIN and PURPLE STOCK, KARS and HADBAN, NEJRAN (Azrek x Nefisa) and ROSE OF JERICHO were among the Crabbet Arabs to leave no descent Down Under. Dwelling on might-have-beens is generally a waste of space; fortunately there is a positive Australian breeding tradition from these early years to be recorded. Sir James Penn Boucaut maintained a flourishing stud at Quambi Springs, near Mt. Barker in South Australia, from 1891 to 1908 and publicized the breed through his writings. When the Boucaut horses were dispersed two successor programs took over, adding new Crabbet sires and bringing the influences of RAFYK and other Quambi founders (save ROSE OF JERICHO) down to the edge of modern times. Their names, in every possible permutation and combination, are at the back of most modern Australian pedigrees.

The Quambi Springs program was founded in 1891, when Sir James bought through his London agents the yearling RAFYK and the broodmares DAHNA and ROSE OF JERICHO. Lady Anne Blunt had noted, on returning from Egypt in 1891, her pleasure with AZREK’s sons, “the beautiful colt Ahmar who exceeds my expectations. The Rose of Sharon one too. Rafyk has grown well.” The Boucaut sale was recognized as a particularly important one, and every effort was made to present the best available prospects: “Rafyk…is really far the best…I still much prefer Rafyk to represent the Stud.”

Ten years later Boucaut added another top young stallion, FARAOUN, a MESAOUD son who was to be the only representative in modern pedigrees of the Ali Pasha Sherif mare FULANA; and two mares perhaps of lesser distinction: NAMUSA and EL LAHR. NARGHILEH’s first foal NAMUSA by Ahmar, described by Lady Anne as “small but lovely mover,” had been less charitably used by Wilfrid to illustrate his thesis that first foals were undesirable compared to a mare’s later produce; Lady Anne thought this an unwarranted generalization. Whatever NAMUSA’s excuse was for standing just 13.3–and perhaps she was less distinguished than such later NARGHILEH offspring as *NASIK and *Nureddin II–she bred on in keeping with her brilliant pedigree. Small size did not stop her from founding one of the most noted families in Australia, which has achieved international recognition and still produces “lovely movers.”

EL LAHR was a granddaughter of the earlier Boucaut purchased DAHNA and possessed a complicated biography. DAHNA’s Crabbet daughter DINARZADE by RATAPLAN had changed hands several times in England, returning at last to Crabbet with this filly by Miss Dillon’s *IMAMZADA. DINARZADE was then sold to Russia, which was to prove an even more effective sink for early Blunt breeding than Australia. Lady Anne recorded in her stud book

Note: Miss Dillon sent with the mare a filly foal by her horse ‘Imamzade

[sic; this spelling has persisted in the Australian stud book. Lady Anne seems to have had a mental block about the names of the Dillon horses, referring to El Emir consistently as Amir and to Jamrood as Jamrud]

    which foal I should much prefer not to have had, as it will have to be got rid of whatever good qualities it may possess, for these could not make up for its being half of a strain one cannot vouch for; moreover, if sold from this Stud, it will be counted as of our breeding, no matter what precautions be taken to contradict statements to that effect. A.I.N.B.

As if to illustrate the perversity of things in general, Lady Anne records in her journal a

    Discussion with W.S.B. about blunder I find in the catalogue [of the 1901 sale] where ‘Dinarzade filly’ is described as by Himyarite whereas Miss Dillon stated that the sire was her horse Imamzada. [In 1895 JERUD had been repurchased from Miss Dillon in foal to HIMYARITE, perhaps this had caused the confusion.] I wish the filly was not in the actual list at all but might be lead in at the end of sale (as was Barakat last year) but as it is W.S.B. now thinks our best — indeed only — course is to draw a red pen stroke through ‘Himyarite’ and write above it ‘Imamzada’.

EL LAHR overcame her early vicissitudes to fund a major line in Australia–indeed traditional Australian breeding is unique in the world Arabian community for its preponderance of the Dahman strain, owed to the DAHNA family, which includes extensive EL LAHR descent.

Quambi Springs: an eyewitness account

The balance of this RAFYK feature is based largely upon information generously supplied by Coralie Gordon. In July 1903, “The Critic,” in The Advertiser, an Adelaide, South Australia newspaper, wrote:

    At Quambi Springs, near Mt. Barker, is located the famous stud of Arabian horses belonging to His Honor Sir J.P. Boucaut. In former years there were importations of Arab stallions into Australia, but these all came from India with at least a shadow of suspicion as to their purity of origin. So enthusiastic was Sir J.P. Boucaut’s admiration of the Arabian horse that importation of Arab stallions for grade raising purposes did not by any means satisfy his ambition, and he determined to establish the pure breed in Australia. For this purpose he took the greatest precautions to secure none but animals of the purest race, and his importations were from the world known stud of Mr. Wilfred [sic] Blunt, of Crabbet Park, England [see Lady Anne's prophetic comments above about EL LAHR's identification with Crabbet].

“The Critic” quoted some colorful and fairly imaginative difficulties associated with the importation of purebred Arabians from the desert: of greater interest are his wonderful photo of RAFYK and the circumstantial commentary on the Quambi Springs horses as individuals.

    The handsome Rafyk” was “a beautiful blood-red bay, he stands 14 3/4 hands high, girths 5 ft. 9 in., measures 8 1/2 in. below the knee, 20 in. on forearm, and 21 in. from pin to pin across his loin.” FARAOUN was “dark brown and a different type to Rafyk. His beautiful wither could not be excelled by the best English Thoroughbred. Height 14 3/4 hands, girth 5 ft. 7 in., forearm 19 in., bone below knee 8 in., and 21 in. loin pin to pin. He is a magnificent horse.”

    With him were imported the two handsome mares, Elzaba [sic] and Namusa. The dimensions of the latter are 13 3/4 hands high, 52 in. girth, 14 1/2 in. forearm, 6 1/2 in. below the knee, and 18 in. loin. Both are handsome bays and are now heavy in foal. Great interest is centered around the two matrons, Rose of Jericho and Dahna. The former, a rich blood bay…shows quality combined with substance to a marked degree…Dahna is a beautiful brown…Both are admirable specimens of brood mares. The other noteworthy Australian mares are Sherifa, Keheilet, Labadah and Sadde [sic]. Sherifa is a beautiful molded mare by Rafyk from Dahna. Twice she has been to Mr. Austin’s imported stallions, Maboab [sic], and also to his latest import, Magistrate. The progeny of the latter mating is now a beautiful [mare in] foal to Faraoum [sic]. Owing to the mares being heavy in foal and in a condition more in keeping with good sense than show yard purposes, The Critic refrains for the present from presenting its readers with the photos of the female portion of the stud. When surroundings are calculated to establish and maintain constitution the beneficial course does not show out stock that run all winter with the sleekness of stable-fed animals.

Another observer, the cattle-dealer A.H. Morris, wrote in a 1904 letter that “the Purebred Arab mares are a nice lot, but Rose of Jericho is quality all over.”

RAFYK in pedigrees

Plainly, “Elzaba” was EL LAHR and “Faraoum,” FARAOUN; no doubt “Sadde” and “Maboab” were the SAADE (Magistrate x Sherifa) and MAHBOUB (imp. India) listed as foundation animals in the Australian stud book. SAADE was bred to her grandsire RAFYK to produce MECCA; she did not leave a female line but MECCA’s son KHAMASIN and grandson ZARAFA made important contributions. KEHEILET was one of ROSE OF JERICHO’s lost daughters, but LABADAH (Mahboub x Sherifa) founded an extensively branched Australian line through her granddaughter DERYABAR, responsible for SENABRA, MINIFER, MUTRIF, TOU-FAIL and ELECTRIMEL, to name just a few branch founders. (Coralie Gordon writes “I am currently doing a story on a mare named DERYABAR, a great-great-granddaughter of Dahna and a very influential Australian mare, for the Australian Arabian Yearbook. The computer printout of her progeny is an inch thick!” EL LAHR and NAMUSA from the second importation also bred on with distinction through the nick with RAFYK; AL CASWA (Rafyk x El Lahr) had two fillies by KHAMASIN and both founded most extensively branched lines. This is the family of the classically-named New South Wales Department of Agriculture horses including CALISTO, CALLIOPE, MEDEA, PROMETHEUS and PSYCHE. NAMUSA’s daughters were AYESHA, RABI and SEKH; the first produced the important early sire RAISULI and the other two founded major families to which belong such mares as BARADA II, HAMMAMET, MOTALGA, TARNEY, ATALANTA, YENBO, RUHEYM, YUSUF and TAFILEH, not to mention any of the distinguished sires that might be named here.

SAMPLE PEDIGREE — DERYABAR, a major line foundress of the DAHNA family, typifying Boucaut sources from the Winter Cooke program in Victoria Rijm:MahrussII x *Rose of Sharon by Hadban Fakreddin: Feluka: Mesaoud x Ferida Khamasin: Rafyk: Azrek x *Rose of Sharon by Hadban Mecca: Sadde: Magistrate x Sherifa by Rafyk DERYABAR Mesaoud: Aziz x Yemameh by Zobeyni Faraoun : Fulana: Ibn Nura x Bint Fereyha by Aziz Khadijad: Mahboub: Labadah: Sherifa: Rafyk x Dahna

Back to The Critic:

    Sir J.P. Boucaut is justly termed the high priest of the Arabian cult. So far he has been the only one who has made a practical attempt to establish the breed of the Arab horse in Australia. That they are becoming exceedingly valuable to the Australian horse breeders is shown by the fact that in the two years of its existence the Quambi stud has made a name for itself for which it ought to be as justly proud as it is conspicuously famous. In producing the photographs, The Critic has departed from the stiff strained attitude generally depicted in illustrations, and adopted the free, easy, ordinary pose that is always more appreciated by true lovers of the Arab horse [emphasis added]. As a reward for his labors, Sir J.P. Boucaut will have the good wishes of every horse lover and every horse breeder throughout Australia.”

RAFYK had already left England when the question of selling AZREK arose; Lady Anne summarized the state of the AZREK sire line and had a good word for RAFYK’s grey brother who was to be named RASHAM:

    I am sorry to lose Azrek (if we do lose him) before next year, still as Shah will represent him well–having greatly improved and having quite equal style to Azrek–I do not object to selling him now. There are several colts, the Bozra one and the Dinarzade are the best at present and besides them there are the bay Nefisa colt and the Rose of Sharon and Sherifa ones, not to mention the one of last year, Ahmar–so that of Azrek we have Shah, Ahmar, and two first rate of this year besides three others and probably some colts will appear in 1892.”

Still, Lady Anne recorded in her stud book when AZREK went to Cecil Rhodes in Africa.

it is impossible not to feel a pang of regret at the departure of a horse such as Azrek, whose stock are so satisfactory, while the Stud remains with yet untried sires. There should be a good many worthy sires to represent him, but they are still young, the oldest a two year old.”

In fact the AZREK male line was to vanish from Crabbet and from the breed; AZREK has only four sons (AHMAR, RAFYK, BEN AZREK and NEJRAN) in modern pedigrees and they bred only through daughters.

SAMPLE PEDIGREE–BARADA II, a key mare of the NAMUSA family, illustrating Boucaut influence through the Brown program in New South Wales Sotamm: *Astraled x Selma by Ahmar Rief Ridaa: Merzuk x *Rose of Sharon by Hadban Raisuli Rafyk: Azrek x *Rose of Sharon by Hadban Ayesha Namusa: Ahmar x Narghileh by Mesaoud BARADA II Berk: Seyal x Bukra by Ahmar Harir Hamasa: Mesaoud x Bint Helwa by Aziz Gadara Faraoun: Mesaoud x Fulana by Ibn Nura Zarif Rabi: Rafyk x Namusa by Ahmar

MINARET: unsolved mystery

The absence of a male line of course does not imply the absence of genetic influence, particularly when you note the degree of AZREK linebreeding in some of the foundation Australian pedigrees. RAFYK did have distinguished male representatives, among them the handsome BADAWEEN, whose stud card (again thanks to Coralie Gordon) denotes him

    Grand Champion of the Commonwealth of Australia 1913-4-6-7” and further notes that he was “described by the Hon. Sir Jas. P. Boucaut, K.C.M.G, as ‘one of the best horses I ever bred.‘” BADAWEEN was “a very handsome horse, just in his prime, 14.3 hands, bright golden bay, standing on a magnificent set of legs, with good flat bone of exceptional quality, and is possessed of a massive, well-coupled frame. In movement, he displays his Arabian origin by that well-known carriage of head and tail, so peculiar to the breed, and, in his build, gives abundant evidence of quality, speed and endurance. His temper is all which could be desired; and, whilst he is full of life and activity, is remarkably gentle and docile.”

One might-have-been which I can’t resist noting involves the mystery horse MINARET, a double RAFYK grandson listed in the 1924 Crabbet Stud Catalogue with a photo, 1916 foaling date and pedigree but no breeder or other provenance. Plainly, Lady Wentworth hoped at this transitional period to reintroduce the AZREK male line at Crabbet, but there seems to be no record of what happened to the horse. Coralie Gordon writes in two letters:

    Now, MINARET. We’ve all sat and pondered on this one from time to time. Now, luckily Sir James Boucaut was a prolific writer who produced all kinds of printed matter on his Stud. I am photocopying for you a page from his 1903 Stud Brochure which quotes an unknown buyer of [MINARET's sire] the stallion Zubier (Rafyk/Rose of Jericho) a full-brother to the well-known Badaween, quoted in The Authentic Arabian as being ‘Champion of Australia.’ I believe this ‘horse-breeder of Northern Australia‘ was probably Mr. A.E. Morrow who returned to Sir James’ Stud in 1908 for the dispersal auction and bought the mares Sherifa, Labadah, Keheilet, Kaaba and Abdul. Abdul (Rafyk/Dahna) was the dam of Minaret, so Minaret was probably bred by Mr. Morrow, if he was indeed bred in 1916. Mr. Morrow appears not ot have registered any horses, though I haven’t the time to pursue this at the moment. So how did he get to England, if he did get there? The reports of Sir James’ 1908 Sale give Mr. Morrow’s address as “Wyanda,’ Tolga, New South Wales — but the only Tolga I can find is in Far North Queensland, which is very tropical. This fits with the ‘Northern Australia’ vague address given for the buyer of Zubeir. In the 1924 Crabbet Catalogue, the landscape in the background of the photo is not like anything you’d find in North Queensland. It does look like England, or perhaps something you’d find in Central New South Wales or Victoria. Many early horses were lost because their buyers did not register any progeny in England. In Minaret’s case, there must have been a correspondence between Morrow and Crabbet. He wouldn’t have just suddenly ‘appeared’ in the 1924 Catalogue. I doubt if I’ve helped much, but perhaps I’ve managed to fill in a little of the background.” “Since I wrote to you I had reason to be looking through my copy of Sir James Boucaut’s book, “The Arab Horse of the Future, published in 1905, and find that it was not Mr. Morrow who purchased Zubeir. At least not originally, anyway. The relevant passage occurs on p. 245 of the book and reads as follows — ‘Mr. Warburton, a horse-breeder in Northern Australia, who purchased Zubeir, writes:

      Will you allow me to congratulate you on being the owner of such a horse as Rafyk? I can only say that words fail me to express my admiration for him. I could have spent hours looking at him. There is not such another horse in Australia; he is perfect in every way.” Again in May 1904: “Zubeir is growing very like Rafyk, and is in good trim. He has not had an ounce of stable feed since he has been up here. He is doing good work, and it would take a big cheque to buy him.

The more I look at MINARET’s photo the more its background looks like England, if not Crabbet. I wonder whether MINARET was not taken to England more or less incidently by a returning traveler and found by Lady Wentworth–as were Skowronek and *MIRAGE at the same period–but for one reason or another never go registered. Perhaps it was as difficult then as now to figure out who bred him, in the absence of an Australian Arabian stud book.

The little more which is known of the Quambi Stud is summarized in the following quote from Colin Pearson.

    Shortly before his death in 1908, Boucaut sold his entire stud except for two mares. He was then aged 77 and unable to cope any longer with the management. ‘I miss dear old Rafyk very much.’ he wrote to Blunt, ‘he was more kindly in his nature and much more sensible than many Christians.’ Boucaut had not been wholly successful in upgrading local stock with his Arabian blood. ‘You may more satisfactorily preach to a horse box than a farmer.’ he wrote–although some of Rafyk’s get were making people think, ‘or rather I should say, beginning to think.’ Rafyk’s influence on the pure Arabian stock in Australia has been considerable…but it has been somewhat overshadowed by the importance of the Boucaut mares Dahna and Namusa [at least in terms of reading charted descent tables; in fact RAFYK has six offspring in pedigrees while DAHNA has two and NAMUSA three] … Among the buyers at the Quambi sale were the Hon. Samuel Winter Cooke of Murndal, Victoria and Mr. C. Leonard Brown of Gurlargambone, N.S.W. In 1911 Cooke imported from Crabbet the Rijm son Fakreddin [ex Feluka] and two years later Brown bought Berk’s son Harir [ex Hamasa}. Another Crabbet importation of this period was the stallion Rief [Sotamm x Ridaa].”

The Boucaut influence

The Boucaut mares with those three Crabbet sires provided the basis for an active tradition which lasted into the 1920′s and provided one important element of modern Australian breeding. The Tehama Stud of A.J.Macdonald and sons played an important role in maintaining these lines.

The next phase came in 1925 when the 25% Crabbet stallion SHAHZADA (Mootrub x Ruth Kesia by Ben Azrak), with the mares NEJDMIEH DB, her en utero daughter NEJD SHERIFA (48% Crabbet by NURI SHERIF, another BEN AZREK grandson) and the straight Crabbet MIRIAM (Nadir x Ranya by *Nasik), were imported to New South Wales by A.E. Grace. These horses were bred among themselves and blended with the Winter Cooke, Brown and Tehama breeding to produce what came to be known as the Colonial Australian or Crabbet-Colonial Arabians. They will be the subject of a future Australian Record treatment, and then the background will be in place for the story of “The Lady Wentworth of Australia,” the late Mrs. A.D.D. Maclean of the Fenwick Stud in Victoria–this seems the best way to organize the series though in fact her first Crabbet imports had come on the scene a year before the Grace horses. Fenwick breeding pervades the Australian Crabbet tradition, and Fenwick is still active in the hands of the Maclean family. A fourth Australian chapter will summarize the influence of non-Fenwick later imports which were of Crabbet breeding in whole or in major part. ***

Sources:

    Notes from Lady Anne Blunt’s manuscript stud book Lady Anne Blunt Journals and Correspondence edited by Archer and Fleming The Crabbet Arabian Stud its History and Influence by Archer, Pearson and Covey The Arab Horse by Peter Upton Letters and photocopied material from Coralie Gordon The Arabian Horse in Australian published by the Arab Horse Society of Australia The Australasian Arabian Horse Stud Book

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Descent Table: RAFYK Sources in Pedigrees

It may seem strange conceptually but this charts tail-female descent from RAFYK daughters (names in bold); colts as they appear in the female line are in ALL CAPS

    Sherifa (Dahna)
      Labadah (Mahboub)
        Khadijad (Faraoun)
          Alcouza (Khamasin) Deryabar(Khamasin)

      Saade (Magistrate)

        Mecca (Rafyk)
          KHAMASIN (Fakreddin) Zem Zem (Fakreddin)
            ZARAFA (Indian Light)

    Al Caswa (El Lahr)

      Kufara (Khamasin)
        WALAD (Raseel) Melika (Ishmael)
          DIOMEDES (Prometheus) FEISAL (Sirdar) Aphrodite (Sala) Iris (Sala) Mira (Kataf) Tarfa II (Sirdar) Venus (Sala) Hebe (Sala) THESSALY (Razaz)

        Sir Aatika (Sirdar)

          ALADDIN (Kataf) Rufeiya II (Kataf) DEISHA (Kataf) ATLAS (Sala) Juno (Sala) Hera (Sala) Iona (Sala)

        Mishal (Sirdar)

          CASABLANCA (Razaz) Aurora (Sala) Nemesis (Sala)

      Mecca II (Khamasin)

        SIR AKID (Sirdar) Caswa (Sirdar)
          GHEYZUL (Sirdar) Semna (Kataf) Kassie (Kataf) Darani (Darinth)

        Cazada (Sirdar)

          CENTAUR (Genghis Khan) ARGUS (Sala) Fuewasa (Kataf) Alada (Aladdin) BERRY JERRY ZENDI (Aladdin) Sibyl (Genghis Khan) Hemera (Sala)

        Salome (Ishmael)

          Gypsy Maid (Sirdar) Buraida (Sirdar) Fara (Kataf)

    Ayesha (Namusa)

      RAISULI (Rief)

    Rabi (Namusa)

      Zarif (Faraoun)
        Gadara (Harir)
          Barada II (Raisuli) MAMALUKE (Raisuli) Dhofar (Prince Nejd) Sabiya (Prince Nejd)

    Sekh (Namusa)

      ANCHOR (Harir) Sa-id (Harir)
        Arabette (Raisuli)
          ANOUK (Rakib)

        Tatima (Shahzada)

          Zazouri (Mameluke) Motalga (Indian Light) ZATIM (Zarafa) Tazar(Zarafa) Tarney (Zarney)

        Hilwa (Prince Nejd)

      Salaam (Harir)

        Ruala (Raisuli)
          Shaniya (Prince Nejd) Rashidiya (Prince Nejd) Ruheym (Rakib) Ralla (Rakib) INDIAN MOONLIGHT (*SMoonlight)

        Salama (Raisuli)

          JEDRAN (Prince Nejd) Sayif (Prince Nejd) ZADLAM (Zadaran) SALARAN (Zadaran) ZADOLPHIN (Zadaran) Atalanta (Zadaran) SARACEN (Zadaran)

        Yenbo (Raisuli)

          Lohaya(Prince Nejd) Yenbo II (Prince Nejd) ZADARAN (Prince Nejd) Jeddah (Prince Nejd) Zuweida (Prince Nejd)

        Yussef (Raisuli)

          Neyussef (Prince Nejd) Tafileh (Yazid) (Rakib) YARAL (Rakib) Yusuf (Rakib)

The chart shows descent from six RAFYK daughters. LABADAH and SAADE are out of SHERIFA; MECCA had a son KHAMASIN and a daughter ZEM ZEM. KUFARA and MECCA II are out of AL CASWA; RAISULI is a son of AYESHA; RABI has one daughter, ZARIF. SEKH has a son ANCHOR and two daughters, SA-ID and SALAAM.

Jadaan

The Horse That Valentino Rode

By Aaron Dudley
Photos from Spide Rathbun Collection
from The Western Horseman Mar 1952

Two great horses. Jadaan visits the statue of the immortal Seabiscuit at Southern California's famous Santa Anita race track. A special platform was built in the midst of one of Santa Anita's noted pansy beds for this occasion.

Rudolph Valentino and the stallion Jadaan in full desert regalia, ready for a dash over the sands for cameras recording “The Son of the Sheik.” This costume and the Jadaan trappings are still on display in the tackroom of the W.K.Kellogg ranch at Pomona.

Probably no horse of modern time — including the favorite mounts of our current TV and movie cowboys — has enjoyed greater popularity or been viewed by more people than a proud little grey Arab named Jadaan.

That name probably means little to the average horseman, and certainly nothing to the millions of curious who have seen him, but when you say he’s “the horse that Rudolph Valentino rode” there’s an immediate reaction.

Millions trekked to the famous W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse ranch at Pomona, Calif., upon the matinee idol’s death to see this horse and view trappings the dashing Latin used in his popular desert pictures of the 1920′s. And although the ranch had many fine horses, fully 90 per cent of the visitors who came wanted to see “the Valentino horse.” Women crowded around his box stall, wore the stable door smooth pressing for a better look at the sleek stallion. And they stood to silent near-reverence when Jadaan was led riderless into the arena carrying his former master’s colorful desert regalia.

This idolizing of a movie hero’s horse continued almost unabated for 19 years until the little horse died in 1945. And then avid Valentino zealots had his skeleton preserved and enshrined in the university of California’s School of animal Husbandry.

Jadaan in later years, standing at the foot of the Valentino shrine in Hollywood. The old horse was trailered to hundreds of gatherings honoring Valentino, and was a top attraction at movieland parades.

Unfortunately, Jadaan was neither a top individual (from a horseman’s point of view) nor did he produce outstanding colts1; this in spite of the fact his ancestry was the best of old-line Arabian stock. His granddam was the famous mare Waddudda, brought to America in 1906 and presented to Homer Davenport by Achmet Hefiz, who also reportedly sent along a desert tribesman to care for the mare.

Registry No. 196, Jadaan was foaled in April, 1916, at Hingham Stock Farm, Hingham, Massachusetts. His sire was the desert-bred Abbeian, imported by Homer Davenport in 1906. The dam was Amran by Deyr, No. 33, another Davenport importation.

Deyr, a very fine individual, was the only stallion of the original Davenport importation ever at the Kellogg Ranch. His skeleton, a classic example of the Arabian, is now on display at the Los Angeles Museum at Exposition Park.

But in spite of this royal Arab lineage, Jadaan had very poor front legs and his get tended to be even farther over in the knees than their sire.2

Horsewomen Monaei Lindley dons Arabian garb and mounts Jadaan for a photo at the Kellogg Arabian Horse ranch entrance. Everything good and bad about the horse can be clearly seen in this photo. Miss Lindley, at the time this photograph was taken, was an active horse breeder of Cinnebar Hill, Reno, Nevada.

 

H.H.Reese, in charge of the Kellogg Ranch when Jadaan was at the height of his fame, complied to the public clamor for colts from “the Valentino horse“and produced a big crop of colts for several seasons.1 They sold fast, but failed to do anything in the shows, and when a noted judge finally complained about the uniform badness of Jadaan’s offspring, Reese retired the stud to the limelight of his fame as a movie and parade horse and withheld him from further activity in the stud.

This situation was made to order for Spide Rathbun, promotion manager for the Kellogg ranch and the man second only to Valentino in contribution to Jadaan’s fame. It was Rathbun who gave Jadaan the big build-up as Valentino’s horse, who made Jadaan THE Valentino horse, in spite of the fact Valentino had ridden Raseyn and other Jadaan stablemates in motion picture work.

So when Reese wrote finis to Jadaan’s career in the stud, Rathbun went to work with added enthusiasm. Jadaan’s picture began appearing in the Sunday supplements at a rapid rate. Struggling movie starlets begged for an opportunity to be photographed with him. He was a fixture at Hollywood parades, and even was placed on exhibit in a special stall right in the lobby of one of the town’s plushiest theaters. He led Pasadena’s famous Tournament of Roses parades, had half a dozen different authentic desert outfits and rivaled the famous Lady in Black in contributing to the fanatical Valentino memorabilia. People just wouldn’t forget Valentino nor anything that had been connected with him.

Spide Rathbun and Jadaan went along with them, and whatever the little horse lacked in conformation he made up in spirit and a strange human like response to parade music or camera lens.

Jadaan in his prime looks over the Kellogg ranch from a nearby hilltop, with Ken Maynard as Buffalo Bill Cody astride. Maynard was a frequent visitor at the Kellogg ranch and often rode Jadaan in parades.

Jadaan had an extraordinary faculty for falling naturally into beautiful poses,” says Rathbun. And there are literally thousands of pictures to prove it.

Jadaan had natural beauty, poise, grace, and a vibrant personality. His head and shoulder poses were described by some of Hollywood’s top cameramen as the most impressive they had ever photographed.

There is no denying he was an impressive horse.

Valentino first saw him in Palm Springs. Jadaan was in his prime and in his element, the sandy desert. And he had the benefit of a masterful rider, a European horsemen named Carl Schmidt, known to thousands of Arabian breeders today as “Raswan.”

The pair made an impressive picture, and Valentino immediately was interested in the prancing stallion. The price was $3,000 at the time, according to Raswan. (Kellogg had paid $1,200 for him.) Carl and Valentino visited at length concerning Jadaan and his possibilities as a movie horse. This was in 1926 and Valentino was about to make another desert picture in which he hoped to use an outstanding mount.

Jadaan at this time was owned by W.K.Kellogg, the cereal king, having just been purchased from C.D.Clark, of Point Happy ranch, Indio, along with nine others. Kellogg, however, left the horse in Clark’s care, with Schmidt in charge.

Jadaan was then 10 years old.

Valentino wanted Jadaan badly. Friends said he mentioned the horse often in the next few months, comparing the horse with famous statues he had seen in Italy, statuary of Garibaldi and Marco Polo, always mounted on rearing horses.

I used to look at the great, metal Garibaldi in the little park,” friends quoted the actor saying. “I can see him now, seated firmly on his rearing horse. I always wanted to ride like that.

This admiration for dashing horsemanship probably was responsible for much of the success of Valentino’s desert sheik pictures and, no doubt, led to his first interest in Jadaan. Jadaan commanded attention.

Unfortunately for Valentino and his backers, the actor did not give in to his urge to own Jadaan. Instead, it was decided to rent him from Kellogg for use in the upcoming movie.

This decision was an expensive one, for before they were through shooting, the aggregate cost of rental and insurance reached a reputed $12,000. And the movie makers had to furnish an expert attendant besides.

One day of retakes cost the film company $750 of insurance alone, and the backers were pretty sick of horse problems before they had the picture wrapped up.

And Valentino, in spite of the fact he was a far better than average horseman, was too valuable an asset to risk on a spirited horse for any length of time. As a consequence, the producer had to hire Carl “Raswan” Schmidt as his double. In the famous film “Son of the Sheik” Carl portrayed both the son and the father in all long shots and all those requiring fast or dangerous riding.

It was not long thereafter that Valentino died, and Jadaan, under the expert press agentry of Rathbun and thanks to an idolizing public, became the nation’s most famous living horse.

[From Mary Jane Parkinson's The Kellogg Arabian Ranch The First Fifty Years p. 277: "JADAAN, age 29, had outlived his usefulness. ... was destroyed on May 28" by the U.S. Remount.]

He was in such great demand that Kellogg Ranch officials had to maintain careful future booking records and exercise great caution in agreeing to public appearances for him. Idolizers of Valentino pulled hair from the horse’s tail and mane, asked for his shoes, and taxed the patience of attendants by filching jewels from the showy saddle, bridle and other elaborate trappings.

Heirs of Buffalo Bill Cody, after seeing photos of a movieland Buffalo Bill mounted on Jadaan, requested that upon the animal’s death his skin be sent them for mounting and placing in the museum at Cody, Wyoming. It was recalled that Buffalo Bill’s favorite mount was a white Arabian, Muson, a stallion loaned to him by his friend Homer Davenport. Cody always rode Muson in his appearances at Madison Square Garden; and it was on this animal he is mounted in the Rosa Bonheur painting.

Jadaan’s skin was preserved upon his death, but it apparently never reached its destined place of enshrinement at Cody.

The Jadaan-Valentino saddle is still much in evidence at the Kellogg ranch (now Southern California campus of California Polytechnic College). It looked for a while one day recently that future generations would not be afforded an opportunity of seeing this historic piece of Hollywood gear. As is the custom each Sunday, a riderless horse outfitted with the Valentino saddle, bridle, fringed martingale, and jeweled blanket is brought into the ring. The young Cal-Poly student who saddled the honored Arab on this particular day evidently saw no reason for cinching up the rig tightly, and the filly bearing it promptly bucked it loose midway in her appearance and proceeded to kick it pretty well to ribbons as it hung beneath her belly.

Harness maker Z.C.Ellis, of Pomona, came to the rescue, however, painstakingly piecing embroidery, dyed leather, and jewels back together again; and posterity can now see the saddle that Rudolph Valentino rode.

And parents can continue to scoff when youngsters look blank and inquire, “Who was he, anyway?”


 

(1) From “Jadaan 196″ by Carol W. Mulder in Arabian Horse World Dec. 1971 :

foals: 1925 Markada (x Fasal) a broodmare for Dickinson 3 reg foals (from Dickenson’s Catalog(’47):” Height 15.1 weight 1025″ “Markada is                      intelligent to a degree and has been well educated. She knows a number                      of tricks and has personality enough to make an ideal heroine for a                      ’human’horse story. She seems to take pride in giving one a good ride. Markada is above average size and well built up, especially in the                      forehand. She has deep shoulders, sloping nicely, and good withers. Her                      middle piece is well rounded and she carries herself well at both ends. This mare is close to desert breeding and strong in the blood of great                      producing dams.” ” Used 1931-1934. Sold in Tennessee” (CWM “Fasal 330″in AHW Feb. 1976: “(Markada) dying in her prime. “) 1927 Irak ( x *Raida) – no recorded get Wardi ( x Sedjur) a broodmare for Jedel Ranch 1929 End O’War (x Amham ) died at 4 months Raidaan (x * Raida) a sire for Gordon A. Dutt 7 reg. foals Jadanna ( x *Rossana) exp. to Mexico City, Mexico Gloria Davenport (x Sedjur) 4 reg foals 1930 Jadur ( x Sedjur) at 2 reg. daughters Badia ( x Babe Azab) Dam of12 offspring including the Davenport 2nd
foundation mare, Asara. Damline of Fadjur’s
favorite mare, Saki. Estrellita ( x Amham) 8 reg. foals 1931 Jadura( x Sedjur) line has died out Amaana ( x Amhan) at least 5 reg foals Raidaana ( x * Raida) Kellogg broodmare. at least 6 reg foals Destroyed by Remount in ’44 at age 13. Lame. 1932 Bedaana ( x Beneyeh) 5 reg foals Majada ( x *Malouma) died at six months Jurad ( x Sedjur) did not breed on. Hamaan ( x Amham) sire for Marie C. Scott’s Wyoming ranch 20 reg. foals Jarid ( x *Raida) a sire for Dr. Fred A. Glass Fred E. Vanderhoof bred 3 mares to him in 1938 resulting in: 1939 Leidaan ( x Leila), bred on. Havanna ( x *Bint, at least 7 reg. foals. Ravaana ( x Rasrah) at least 7 reg. foals. (2) “(Buck-knees) While this is a very unsightly disfigurement, it is not by any means as serious as several other front leg flaws, and is, in fact, considered by many experts to be relatively harmless!” Carol Mulder

Antez (448)

THE VERSATILE ARABIAN

Harara X Moliah (foaled 1921)

Author not Given
from “The Horse Lover” Apr/May ’51

A brief history of the progenitor of the Antez line; his sons and daughters are carrying on their great sire’s reputation in the show ring, on the track.

The above photo of Antez was taken in Poland and is reproduced through the courtesy of Count Alexander Dzieduszyeki, President of the Arabian Horse Breeding Society of Poland. Antez was foaled in California in 1921 from stock tracing entirely to the horses brought from the Arabian desert by Homer Davenport in 1906. His sire HARARA and his dam Moliah had been bred at the Hingham Stock Farm in Massachusetts by Mr. Peter B. Bradley.

Later Antez was acquired by Mr. W.K.Kellogg [1925 - Antez was 4]at whose Pomona California Ranch the horse was featured as one of the “tops”of that famous “Romance of Pomona” ranch and for several years he was many times a champion at shows on the West coast in halter classes as well as being first on several occasions at five gaits under saddle.

In 1933 at age of 12 years he was purchased by General J. M. Dickinson of Tenn.

He was used at Dickinson’s Travelers Rest Arabian Stud Farm for breeding purposes and in the 1933 National Arabian show he stood 3rd in the Mature Stallion championships and his daughter Fayadan won the championship over about a dozen other fine weanlings. Since then his sons and daughters have gone on to win many honors in the show rings of America.

Antez today stands undisputed as one of best sires in America as to passing on his strong breed character to his get and they in turn are passing it on to their produce.

In Tennessee he was used as a saddle mount by the 13-year-old Miss Peggy Dickinson and he made an ideal young girl’s mount, lamb-like in gentleness, yet full of life and beautiful enough to fit any horseman’s dream.

He was used and shown considerably in the driving or vehicle classes where he moved out brilliantly in the harness.

At Travelers Rest he was ridden 12 hours a day for five consecutive days in an endurance test carrying full weights where he finished perfectly sound, normal temperature and pulse — still looking for more distance to conquer.

Though featured on the Pacific Coast where he won wide popularity, Antez’s ability to race was unnoticed and the same held true for some years after his coming to Tennessee though he gave the seemingly blind folks with whom he had been associated all his life, evidence and opportunity to see what his heart must have yearned for and so it was almost by an accident he was given his chance — and this isn’t the first accident in horse history as witness the story of the Godolphin. Antez’ chance came in the spring of 1933 when as a sporting gesture Mr. Dickinson decided to run an Arabian in the flat mile race for Thoroughbreds on Overton Downs and the logical candidate was the game, hardy, handsome little chestnut, Antez, he unhesitatingly selected, though little dreaming of the startling results that would develop.

His first speed test came on his twelfth birthday, May 1, 1933, when he ran a respectable race against track trained Thoroughbreds at Overton Downs, coming in a good third behind horses that stood six and seven inches taller, weighed in racing condition two hundred pounds more — and carrying the identical weight of 150 pounds.

After showing this speed at Overton Downs, Mr. Dickinson decided to try him for a record, which was arranged by courtesy of the late John Early, southwestern governor of the national Trotting Association, and after public advertisement and on fixed days, regardless of weather, Antez made official records at fourth, half and three-quarter mile and the short European race distance of 1200 meters. He equalled the known Arabian records for the quarter and half mile, 14 1/2 and 51 seconds (though there is a tradition that a horse travelled the quarter one-half second faster over ninety years ago); equalled an eighty-year-old Arabian record for the half mile, and ran the quarter, half and six furlongs faster than any American-bred Arab on record. Quite a performance for a twelve-year-old stallion that had never been run until his twelfth year!

Shortly after his speed records General Dickinson sold and exported Antez to Poland and during the stud season of 1935 he stood at the Count Potocki Stud — and in 1936 at the Count Rostwordwski Stud.

Later an Arizona breeder of Arabians bought Antez from the Arabian Horse Breeding Society in Poland at a fabulous price and brought him back to America. ['37 or '38]

Still later, Mr. Kellogg acquired him from Arizona [1942] and put him in the hands of the capable Mr. H.A.Reese where he spent the balance of his illustrious life.

Thus after travelling over half the earth he lies buried only a few miles from his birthplace.

To Antez, who (notice the pronoun) made such a fine record to exemplify the versatility of the Arabian — the horse lovers of America pay homage to you.


ANTEZ traces in every line to the horses brought from the Arabian desert by Homer Davenport in 1906. His pedigree is shown below:

      • *DEYR 33 HARARA No. 122 *HAFFIA 45 ANTEZ REG. No 448 *HAMARAH 28 MOLIAH 109 *WADDUDA 30

*Denotes imported into the United States.

Homer Davenport writes interestingly about his trip to the deserts of Arabia and how he secured these horses and others in his book “My Quest of the Arab Horse.”


ANKAR, a son of Antez, prize winning Arabian stallion owned by Mr. and Mrs. Leland Mekeel of Whittier, Calif. While still a young stallion, his first four colts have also been prizewinners. The strong Antez blood shows marked influence in the offspring and many breeders proudly boast of horses of the Antez line.


POTIF, grandson of Antez and grandson of Ronek. The sire of Potif is *Latif, a son of Antez. Here again the blood of Antez breeds on, carrying Antez versatility and quality. Potif is owned by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer of Portland Ore. This horse has made some notable wins in the show rings of the Northwest. Observers feel that the blood of Skowronek through Ronek complements the Antez line of horses.


Sartez, son of Antez, reputed world’s fastest Arabian.


SARTEZ’S ARABIAN WORLD RUNNING RECORDS

Distance

Sartez’s time 1948

Jockey

Previous Record

Horse

Place

Date

1/8 Mile 240 Yards 1/4 Mile 3/8 Mile 1/2 Mile 4 1/2 Fulongs 5 Furlongs 1200 Meters 6 Furlongs 1400 Meters 7 Furlongs 1600 Meters 1 Mile 1800 Meters 1 1/8 Mile 1 1/4 Mile 1 3/8 Mile 2100 Meters 2400 Meters 11.7″ 12.75″ 23.15″ 36.2 ” 49.7″ 56.2″ 1:2.8″ 1:17.8″ 1:17″ 1:32.6″ 1:31.6″ 1:45.5″ 1:46.2 ” 1:59.3″ 2:00″ 2:17.1″ 2:32.8″ 2:23.8″ 2:46.5″ Onnelee Shook Onnelee Shook Buck Griffin Onnelee Shook Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin Buck Griffin 15″ 24″ 51″ 51″ 50.1″ 59.4″ 1:3.8″ 1:21″ 1:18.6″ 1:37″ 1:32″ 1:47.5″ 1:46″ 2:3.5″ 2:3.6″ 2:20″ 2:34″ 2:30″ 2:49″ Samnite Absentee Sir Hugh Antez Sartez Sharki Mahouza Kaszmir Nasr Kaszmir Taj Atiyah Kaszmir Kowkab Hadjar Balance Nasr King John Mabrucha Sart Madras India Singapore Nashville Albuquerque Egypt Iraq Poland Egypt Poland Iraq Poland Iraq Poland Egypt Egypt Egypt Poland Poland 1838 1844 1844 1933 1947 1933 1925 1932 1923 1932 1928 1934 2924 1936 1933 1924 1929 1932 1937

Alamo Downs Arabian Farm

presents

SARTEZ

“It is our intention to share some of our colts from our select breeding program and allow conscientious breeders to bring mares to Sartez for service.”

Alamo Downs Arabian Farm J.E.Mlowinckle, Owner B.W.Shook, Manager RR, 4, Box 85C San Antonio, Texas.

(The Horse Lover Magazine Dec/Jan ’49)

AT STUD – TEZEYN A.H.C. #3375 Bay Son of ANTEZ, A.H.C. #448 Out of ARABRAB #2518 Ht. 14.2 Wt 950

WM. M. BRIGGS Pioneer Bldg, Ashland, Oregon (The Horse Lover Apr./May ’51)

BARQ AHC 4138 (Photo by John Williamson) (Abu Farwa X Antana) foaled May 1, 1947 fFirst Annual All-Arabian Spring Show Palm Springs, March 24-25 Winner Class 17, Hackamore Horses, Joe Towle, President of Arabian Horse Assn. of So. Calif., Presenting the Trophy. Trained, Fitted and Shown by Ora C. Rhodes, Artesia Stock Farm.

Highland Farms :: Arabian Horses Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Cameron, Owners Phone: San Bernardino 5-3200 Rt. 2, Highland Del Rosa, California (The Horse Lover Apr./May ’51)

Some Additional Notes:


From The Journal of The Arab Horse Society 1935 – 1938

The Arab Horse in California

“Mr. R. Riddlesbarger had brought the great Antez 448 back from Poland especially to cross on Palomino mares in an effort to increase the quality and keep the golden color.”


Notes from Mary Jane Parkinson’s

The Kellogg Arabian Ranch, the First Fifty Years.

p. 164

Soon after Reese left on the inspection trip, L.V.Roberson wrote to Mr. Kellogg that he had received a wire from Reese from Nashville, Tennessee where he had just called on General Dickenson of Travelers Rest Stud and had sold him ANTEZ for $5,000. Mr. Robertson commented, “I suppose it is a very good business deal, but all of us at the ranch do hate to see him leave.”

ANTEZ was sent off to Travelors Rest early in November. Margaret Dickinson Fleming (General Dickinson’s daughter (who still operates Travelers Rest at Columbia, Tennessee, has described ANTEZ’ trip:

    Antez was supplied with hay, it being too dangerous to furnish grain as someone might have overfed him. I don’t think he lost over 175 pounds, but that was a lot for him when you consider that he never weighed over 925 soaking wet! Daddy let me have him for my personal mount and he was truly a delight, a real eye-catcher.

Chapter 1942: p. 259

But there was some good news, the return of an old and dear friend. Late in July, Rufus Riddlesbarger of the Lanteen Arabian Foundation advised Mr. Kellogg that ANTEZ [at 21] was available for purchase. It cost the Foundation a little over $1500 to secure ANTEZ [at 16 or 17 years of age] and return him from Poland ( where he had been exported by Travelors Rest in 1934), but ANTEZ’s book value was now $400, and he was offered to Mr. Kellogg for that amount.

Kellogg quickly sought the advice of his former ranch manager, H. H. Reese, who expressed a desire to have ANTEZ on his California ranch. Mr. Reese had been working with Mr. Riddles- barger in disposing of his stock, was planning to send a truck to bring more horses for sale, and offered to bring ANTEZ along on the next trip. So Mr. Kellogg immediately sent a $50 deposit to Mr. Riddlesbarger who responded with a brief description of ANTEZ:

    On August 5 he weighed 889 pounds. He is just as virile and on high spirited as a youngster, sound, and in good condition. Though I hate to part with this lovable fellow, I am entirely satisfied and happy to have him in your hands, as I am sure that you must love him the same as we do.

On August 11, Mr. Kellogg wrote to Albert W. Harris, rejoicing in his repurchase of ANTEZ: he recalled that ANTEZ had saved his life on one occasion and said that he wanted to be assured that ANTEZ “will have a good home for the rest of his life.” ANTEZ was to be Mr. Kellogg’s gift to W.H.Vanderploeg, the President of the Kellogg Company. On August 31, H.H.Reese wired Mr. Kellogg that ANTEZ had arrived at the Reese ranch in good condition, but later Mr. Reese felt ANTEZ could probably not stand a trip to Michigan, so Mr. Vanderploeg gave him up, and Kellogg presented the old stallion to Mr. Reese.


p. 461

ANTEZ 448

ANTEZ lived out his years on H.H.Reese’s ranch in Covina. See Chapter 1942. He died in 1944. [23 year of age] He has 53 registered foals in the American stud book.

Ankar

Our Cover

    ANKAR No 3063 — Registered Arabian Stallion The Horse Lover Aug/Sept ’49

Here you are privileged to see unmistakable Arabian character of the finest type.

This young stallion has a deep body of desirable width — The shoulders, chest, barrel and hind quarters are of special merit.

Ankar is well ribbed up, compact and his tail carried in an arch. His head is of unforgettable beauty and with it all his delicate thorn like ears, large eyes and magnificent expression is thrilling to behold. Ankar stands 14.2 hands — a copper chestnut and his weight 1050 lbs. Age 5 years.

In seeing Ankar and carefully going over him in the course of a prolonged visit a horseman might summarize his qualities as follows:

    (a) Very symmetrical and classically beautiful.

    (b) His head is like a masterpiece of fine carving.

    (c) Full bodied throughout, good back and loins and well developed hind quarters are much in evidence.

    (d) His legs well muscled, ample bone below the knee and hock — good feet — large clean joints. Disposition and manners good.

Antez, the sire of Ankar, proved his worth as a racer, driving horse, show horse in hand and under saddle, as well a being a champion sire. There can be no question that he also had great endurance. In a private test conducted by General Dickinson in 1932, Antez, carrying a moderate weight of 225 pounds was ridden steadily twelve hours a day for five days over fields, country roads, and hillside trails. According to General Dickinson, at the end of the test Antez was in perfect condition and apparently ready and willing to go the distance again immediately.

Rehasafa, the dam of Ankar, was sired by Rehal who was bred by W.R.Brown and later owned by W.R.Hearst. The dam Ferdasafa is by the twice champion at the Los Angeles National Horse Show, Ferdin. The granddam, Rasafa, was bred by the Crabbet Park Stud in England. Her dam, Rasima, was closely related to the noted Abu Zeyd. This mare traces in all lines to the Crabbet Park Stud and represents some of the best of their blood.

The Mekeel breeding program started in 1939, and for the past ten years they have improved their broodmare band with the purchase of outstanding mares whenever possible. They now have thirty-one Arabians headed by their stallion Ankar. They have recently purchased a young stallion from Mr. Henry Babson of Chicago. This stallion is by Fadl and out of Bint Bint Sabbah. They have great hopes for him.

Ankar has only been shown twice. The first time at the Westminster Horse Show where he won first in the mature stallion class, and the second time at the Los Angeles Country Spring Fair where he also won the mature stallion class as well as being made champion stallion.

His sire was Antez whose blood is probably as highly regarded today by some Arabian breeders as any horse of our generation. It is a rare blending — of blood lines indeed to be able to get so many desirable points to culminate in one individual.

Lack of space prohibits a detailed description of each of his four notable grandparents. One of them, however, may shed some light as to why beauty and strength may be combined to such a high degree.

GRANDSIRE – HARARA — an Abeyan Sherrak, for years a leading sire in Porto Rico and until his death in 1933 owned by the Central Aguirre Sugar Company. Harara’s dam was *Haffia, an Abeyah Sherrakieh by a Hamdani Simri stallion that was held in such high esteem by the Anazeh tribe in Arabia that they refused to set a price on him for the Italian Government. Her dam, *Abeyah, was considered by Hashem Bey, the Sheykh of all the Anazeh, to have the most rarely beautiful head in the desert. She was distinguished for speed, and, though small, was a marvel of stamina and weight-carrying ability. She was reported to have carried 300 pounds a distance of 35 miles over rough ground in four hours with the sun registering 135. *Haffia was bred by the Shammar tribe in the desert and imported by Homer Davenport to America in 1905.

Ankar is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Leland E. Mekeel, 815 West Washington Blve., Whittier, California.