CRABBET
SOUVENIR MAGAZINE July 2018
On the Cover Crabbet Stud’s first stallion, ‘Kars’, pictured in 1882.
Photo: Crabbet Archives
When the Blunts first saw Hadban in Bombay in December 1883 at the stables of trainer Abdur Rahman, he was described by Lady Anne as being, ‘theonewepreferredofall…asplendidhorse’
He was a handsome bright bay horse with three white feet and a star. He had many qualities, among them a magnificent head and a shape and style that denoted the purity of his breeding, perhaps a little light of bone with a suspicion of being back at the knee but with tough and wiry sinews.
When the Blunts first saw him however he had had an accident that had left him with a swollen foreleg and a lump on his fetlock. Although this did not affect his fine movement it did cast doubt on whether he would withstand training or galloping to any extent. This blemish however did mean that he was an affordable price so the Blunts bought him.
A few days later Wilfrid was able to ride Hadban and found that he was awkward in the mouth and unsettled in his paces preferring to play and prance but Lady Anne also noted that he had ‘a fine temper’.
Just over a month later on March 1st the Blunts and Hadban set sail on the ‘China,’ for England but within a few days Hadban met with an odd accident. He somehow got his near hind leg over the travelling sling and fell. It soon became apparent that he was suffering from a severe colic attack that grew worse and worse. His groom had fed him grain that had been neither soaked nor cooked. The colic was so severe that he swung his head from side to side banging it on the sides of the crate in his extreme distress. Taken out of his box he seemed so ill that he appeared to be dying and shortly afterwards was reported as dead. Miraculously he made a complete recovery and within 48 hours was back to normal with the same equable temperament for which he had become known.
Some days later the ship was engulfed in a terrible storm that meant Wilfrid was almost washed overboard as he made regular trips to visit Hadban and the other horses the Blunts had bought. An extra cable was lashed around the boxes containing the horses fastening them even more securely to the centre of the ship. It is incredible to think that this did not cause Hadban to suffer a further episode of colic! Fortunately the rest of the voyage was made in fine weather and was uneventful.
On May 12th the following year Lady Anne reported that Rodania foaled ‘a fine chestnut filly ‘ (Rose of Sharon) ‘adaughtertoHadbanwhodoeshimgreat credit’
Yet barely six weeks later Hadban left the Crabbet Park stud for Australia on the same day that Kars also left. At the time Lady Anne lamented Kars’ departure far more, saying,
‘Thecentralfigureofthestudhas disappeared;thegloryofitseemstobe putoutwithKars’absence’
Although Kars was considered in both England and Australia to be the superior horse he was nowhere near as successful at stud as Hadban and that has to be the true measure of a stallion.
With our viewpoint of hindsight over a century later it could perhaps be argued
that Hadban’s loss, if not greater, was at least of equal importance. But even by 1889 just three years later Lady Anne noted too that he was one of three horses parted with ‘in too great haste’. By 1900 she recorded that regarding Hadban and Merzuk, ‘thelosingofboth….wasagreatmisfortune,judgingfromtheproduce,alastoofew,that wedidgetoftheirs.’
What Lady Anne could not know was the huge influence that Hadban’s two fillies, Rose of Sharon and Nefisa, would have upon the future breeding of Crabbet horses. Wilfrid wrote that,
‘Hadban,nexttoMesaoud,themostimportantsireweimported,beingnumerously representedintheStudBookthroughRoseofSharonandNefisa,histwobest(only) daughtersandourtwomostvaluablebroodmares.’
ROSE OF SHARON
Rose of Sharon was a quality chestnut mare with good basic conformation and a particularly strong back and level croup with a high set tail and a noticeably flaxen mane. She did not always pass on her phenotype consistently however, but what she did pass on was her phenomenal breeding power. This was the ability to breed offspring that were significant in their own right as show and performance winners. They were then also able to breed on stock that showed improvement with each subsequent generation.
At Crabbet Rose of Sharon bred 11 foals including Rafyk who became the foundation stallion at Sir James Boucaut’s Quambi Stud in Australia and Ridaa who founded many successful families around the world.
Rose of Sharon was exported to the USA at the age of 20 with her in-utero foal Rodan who was to prove a hugely successful and prepotent sire.
Just one example of this was Bint Gulida, a great grand daughter of his with multiple crosses to Rose of Sharon on both sides of her pedigree. She was bred in 1956 by the Doyle family who continue to breed today, all their horses descending purely from Blunt imports. Bint Gulida was bought by Lynda Tellington–Jones who developed Tellington Ttouch, a method of training and rehabilitating horses. Bint Gulida was described as a skittish mare with a never say die attitude. With Linda she formed an incredible bond that meant together they achieved great things.
In 1960 when Bint Gulida was just four years old, they completed the first of Linda’s rides in the renowned Tevis Cup, gaining her her first Tevis Cup Buckle. The next year they won the Jim Shoulder’s 100Mile Ride in Oklahoma setting a course record that stood for seven years. Just weeks later they again completed the Tevis Cup successfully, gaining sixth place and the Best Condition Award which was an
amazing feat.
From Bint Gulida Linda bred a colt called Cougar Rock, named of course after that famous feature in the Tevis Cup. He was to become a most influential sire of endurance horses. Cougar Rock’s progeny included 17 major endurance ride winners and Top Ten champions and several were 1,000 mile-plus award winners, including National Champion Endurance Arabian, Cougar’s Scat, a seven year-old mare with 2,000 miles to her credit.
Many of his progeny were Tevis Cup finishers and Cougar’s Fete, a Part bred Arab daughter, won the Tevis Cup twice and the Haggin Cup twice, once in 1991 and again in 1996. When Cougar Rock died in 1988, he was the leading sire of endurance horses in the United States. Cougar Rock possessed the incredibly stable and loving personality of his sire Bezatal, combined with the intuitive sensitivity and “never give up” attitude of his dam Bint Gulida – an unbeatable combination.
The other daughter of Hadban was Nefisa out of Dajania. Nefisa was a tall elegant bay mare standing at 15.1 and she passed this quality on to many of her offspring.
Nefisa was an outstanding broodmare, producing 21 foals, the last at the advanced age of 27. Her major influence has come through daughters Narghileh by Mesaoud and Nasra by Daoud. These mares of the ‘N’ line were remarkable for producing high quality stallions in
went on to become the foundation stallion for the Bremervale Stud.
The legendary and world famous stallion Carmargue has lines to Naziri on both sides of his pedigree and certainly all who saw him in the show ring would agree that he exhibited that same fairy tale, ethereal quality.
Nasra appears on both sides of the prolific stallion Serafix’s pedigree (Raktha x Serafina) who sired over 250 foals. A tall, powerful and charismatic chestnut stallion Serafix was rarely beaten in the show ring and his many progeny continued this winning theme time after time.
In 1954 Serafix was exported to John Rogers in California and in his words, ‘Serafix won more acclaim because of the show winnings of his progeny than he did by
his own beauty, conformation, type, action and all that it takes to make a magnificent stallion. The biggest year of Serafix’s career was I think 1962 when four of his mares raised at our place…and one of his sons won Top Ten Ribbons including National and Reserve National Championships’ The Courthouse stallion Champurrado is another to have multiple crosses to Nasra and his line continues today through his son, the 1964 British National Champion Shammar (unbeaten in the show ring) who in turn produced Spearmint in 1982, the last Crabbet bred British National Champion in 1985. Today this line continues at Worth Arabian stud through two Spearmint daughters, Rosa Bettina and Roselle and at Moonlight Arabians where another daughter Darees competes successfully in affiliated showing, dressage and endurance. The stallion Dhay also by Spearmint out of Daleela, currently stands at stud at Guisburn Arabians.
Another son of Raktha, the aforementioned and legendary Indian Magic, had no fewer than seven great grandparents that were from Hadban influenced mare lines. He has more crosses to Hadban than Mesaoud, the sire often regarded as the most influential Crabbet stallion. It is perhaps this that led to Indian Magic’s impressive size and flamboyance as Lady Anne always credited Hadban with producing taller stock with style and presence.
Indian Magic, a big show winner himself with his ‘look at me’ quality, also produced stallions such as Indian Flame –sire of the multi ridden champion Silver Flame and Indian Star – Miss Jane Pointer’s stallion at Cranham Stud whom she bought as a two year old from Cecil Covey - both responsible for establishing dynasties of show and performance horses the world over.
There cannot be very many Crabbet breeders in the UK today who do not owe a good deal to Indian Magic influence. Avonbrook Stud’s multi talented stallion Marcus Aurelius is out of the double Indian Magic mare Fiesta Magica. Interestingly it is the fillies by Marcus who exhibit that extra flamboyance in attitude.
Silvern Prince, of Binley Arabians, is a multi show winner and HOYS champion who has lines back to Indian Magic on both sides of his pedigree through Indian Flame
and Silvadoris, a son of the Indian Magic daughter Silver Magic.
Romac Stud’s stallion Crystal Romance also has Indian Magic on both sides of his pedigree through Indian Silver, a grandson on his sire’s side and through his dam Crystal Treasure, a great grand-daughter. Crystal Romance’s son Crystal Red Drift at Moonlight Arabians certainly displays exuberance in movement and a real sense of humour when at liberty, reminiscent of Indian Magic who would dance on his hindlegs on command by his long time groom Fred Rice.
Seren Arabians had the stallion Winged Saint for the latter part of his breeding career and he had Indian Magic in his tail female line –his sons are bright chestnut but they certainly have style and presence.
Indian Idyll, senior stallion at Worth Arabians, is a great grandson of Indian Magic on his dam’s side and has a line through Silvern Dream on the sire side albeit a couple of generations further back. He has performance credentials to burn and passes on his athleticism and style to all his stock.
And to bring us completely up to date Claudiuss, a lovely grey gelding owned by Valda Angier, recently featured in Horse and Hound for his successful first ventures into eventing. Claudiuss has lines back to Indian Magic on the dam side of his pedigree through Indriss and in the tail female line through Indian Trinket.
So Indian Magic with his seven crosses to Hadban has exerted influence not only here in the UK but upon breeding programmes globally and as shown above he continues to do so to this very day. One other very prolific stallion who has multiple crosses to Hadban through both Nefisa and Rose of Sharon is Blue Domino who still appears so often in UK pedigrees too.
Lady Anne certainly regretted the sale of Hadban just a few short years after his departure and over a century later, were she still here I believe her regret would have been far greater, however much of a pragmatist she was. Who was Hadban? In short an impressive stallion that has left an incredible legacy in breeding programmes around the world. Surviving accidents, severe colic, terrible journeys at sea and travels the world over he was truly a great horse. o
horses to ride and enjoy, to look at and to treasure.
S.G. Hough’s Hydes Stud was established around this time too with the influential Nureddin II (Rijm x Narghileh) being purchased from Crabbet and Shahzada, (Mootrub x Ruth Kesia) an exceptional endurance stallion, from Captain Edmondstone. Some years later he was exported to Australia and has had a huge influence on Crabbet breeding there, with further exports in more recent times to New Zealand tracing back to this stallion. Mr C.W. Hough, son of the founder, carried the stud on, breeding quality pure breds and part breds. Visitors were always welcome and the stallions were available to outside mares.
Other breeders such as George Ruxton at Craven Lodge who bred Joseph in 1917 have made valuable contributions to Crabbet breeding. Joseph was a smart bay stallion and he still has lines, including a successful racing line, that have survived on the continent, mostly in the Netherlands, although not in pure Crabbet form. At his small stud in 1935 he aimed to breed sound horses of one type. He listed horses such as Mootrub, Ben Azrek, Naufal, Sainfoin and Algol amongst horses that he particularly liked. Algol, bred by the Prince of Wales, was the stallion at Craven Lodge at the time and was successful in in hand and ridden showing as well as at stud. Capt the Hon G. Savile of Ditton Lodge Stud
was President of the Arab Horse Society in 1922 having been a founding member in 1918 and made important contributions to Crabbet breeding with horses such as Lali-I-Abdar, (Abu Zeyd in America) Sheri-Khurshid, Uns-El-Wujood, Baida and Jasmeen. He was an all round horseman, with particular expertise in driving and was also President of the Cleveland Bay and National Pony Societies in his time.
1930s to 1945
Lord Moyne’s Biddesden Stud, was founded in the 1930’s with Crabbet mares Starilla (Rasim x Star of the Hills) and Dafinetta (Naziri x Dafina) from Lady Wentworth by Mr and Mrs Bryan Guinness who lived at Biddesden House. In 1945 Bryan Guinness inherited the title of Lord Moyne. His family is still at Biddesden. Starilla produced a son, Saladin II (by Naziri) who was a stallion at Biddesden for 23 years and his descendants still grace the paddocks. Dafinetta, the other Crabbet foundation mare, had 17 foals, most of them by Saladin, and her descendants have gone all over the world.
(Naziri) is found in many Crabbet pedigrees today, through her daughters Risseefa (Faris), Gleaming Gold (Indian Gold) and Nerina (Rissalix) .
Winestead Hall Stud founded by Mr Hay in 1937 and it was said of him, ‘there is no keener breeder of Arabs than him’. His stallion was Rangoon (Skowronek x Rish) and one of his best mares was Somara (Nureddin II x Silver Fire) who bred three fillies in successive years for him. One of the grooms at Winestead, Dennis Dee, has written a book entitled, ‘Holderness Times and Arab Horses, ’that gives detailed insights into life at the time.
Barton Lodge Stud was founded by Lady May Abel-Smith, a great grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1938 with Nuhra, a desert bred filly from Bahrain. Her descendants include Rajmek (Mikeno x Rajjela), the very correct and successful Darjeel (Dargee x Rajjela), Kazra (Mikeno x Razehra) and the stunning liver chestnut stallion Riaz (Darjeel x Razehra).
Painswick Lodge was started by Mrs E M Murray in 1932. Risslina (Rafeef x Rissla) came from Crabbet and her daughter Risira
From those first six horses at Crabbet, great studs had been established and were flourishing with the heyday of Crabbet breeding yet to come. o
go correctly. I purchased my first Shetlands at the same time as Rafina and foal but the Arab mare had to wait to foal before shipping.
So the Shetlands arrived first with a shipment for the late Mrs Maclellan and caused quite a stir as they were show ponies and a large shipment –the foundations for both our studs. In the first issue of the News the story was told of the arrival of my first Arab mare and colt foal. The story is true in every way as I went down to the boat on arrival and actually saw the mare and foal in with the sailors in their quarters after their box was smashed flat (during the voyage) and swept overboard.
I was fortunate to meet Lady Wentworth on my first visit to purchase Rafina and Raseel. When the War came she asked me to correspond with her which I did and she told me all about the early exports to Australia and asked me to try and trace them. This I did with the help of Father’s friends. Each time that any were located she told me which she considered correct and any that she had doubts about.’
Dora Maclean’s Fenwick Stud is regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious in Australian Crabbet history. It continues to run today under the guidance of Dora’s grand-daughter Vicky Johnson. o
Apart from a small number of remaining straight desert horses, you are unlikely to find any Pure bred Arabian anywhere in the world today that does not trace back
to horses bred and owned by the Blunts. And yet, if you mention the word “Crabbet” to present day Arabian breeders and owners, especially those who became involved with the breed in the 21st century, you are likely to get blank looks. At worst, they will have no idea what you are talking about. At best, they might have heard the name, but consider it something of the past, with no relevance for today.
As far as relevance for the modern show ring goes, they are right. A Crabbet Arabian is highly unlikely to win any ribbons at ECAHO shows. But, when it comes to relevance – is winning at the shows really all there is?
How and why can Crabbet Park, can Crabbet Arabians, still be relevant, 140 years on?
Let us go back in time for a moment, to the late 19th century, when it all began. The first thing we should be clear about is this: the Blunts did not breed “Crabbet Arabians”. They bred Pure bred Arabian horses; authentic, asil desert Arabians. In order to be able to do this, they travelled to Arabia to secure the best and purest horses they were able to find. A few years later, they added horses from Egypt, from the stud of Ali Pasha Sherif, which were also descended from the best and purest strains of Bedouin breeding. It is perhaps not generally known that the Blunts initially
imported Arabian horses in order to use them for Thoroughbred breeding. But they soon became convinced of the superior qualities of the Pure Arabian and changed their plans.
In this respect, they were pioneers. There are older breeding programmes, certainly.
The Weil Stud of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg in Germany and the Polish Slawuta Stud, whose horses formed the basis of the Polish state studs, date back to the early 19th century. But Crabbet Park was the first Arabian stud that was not established by kings or princes, and
its influence is arguably greater. Crabbet Park is the only foundation stud whose influence you will find literally everywhere in the world, and that includes Poland and Marbach, which still continues King Wilhelm’s breeding programme. It also includes Egypt. Lady Anne Blunt is the only non-Egyptian breeder whose horses were among the foundation stock of the Egyptian Agricultural Organisation. The average “straight Egyptian” Arabian carries between 20 and 30% Crabbet blood. Nazeer, the most influential Egyptian sire of them all, whose sire line
has nearly supplanted all others today on a worldwide scale, was the grandson of a stallion bred at Crabbet Park. This, too, is something many people are either unaware of, or prefer to ignore. Even back in the 1980s – a bare decade after the closure of the Crabbet Arabian Stud – any mention of this was likely to make breeders and fans of the Straight Egyptian Arabian bristle. They did not want their horses associated with Crabbet in any way; never mind the fact that without Crabbet Park, their horses would not exist in the first place. How could the name of a stud that used to be the chief source of Arabian horses in the Western world, a stud that influenced breeding programmes the world over, become a dirty word?
I think the answer is fairly simple. Where other breeding programmes changed with time, evolving into something different as requirements changed and fashions were born, Crabbet horses remained essentially the same. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, depends on your perspective. You can regard it as either a failure to adapt to the demands of the market, or you can see it as a refusal to follow the dictates of fashion. You can either condemn it as backwardness, or praise it as consistency. Actually, both aspects are true to some extent, and I’ll get back to that a little later. Let’s go with consistency first, which I would certainly call a good thing – especially in this day and age. Because we have to take into account just what this consistency means.
The Blunts were concerned with preserving the original desert Arabian horse, and back in the 19th century, this did not just mean pretty faces. Yes, those horses did have beautiful heads, and Lady Anne had a lot to say about that; and she certainly wasn’t opposed to a dished profile. But that is just one aspect of the Arabian, and if you had asked a Bedouin, he would have told you that it was far from the most important. The Blunts were equally as concerned with conformation, limbs, movement, temperament – everything, in fact, that makes a good riding horse. Their Arabians, like those of the Bedouins, were meant to be ridden. They were nothing like today’s over-refined and delicate-limbed show horses. If you examine the measurements of the original Crabbet imports (all of which
have been meticulously recorded), you will notice that while the horses were much smaller than most modern Arabians, they had a lot more bone. They also had knees and hocks you could actually see. They were by no means faultless – no horse is – and they were not as “pretty” as modern Arabians, but they could be ridden, which is more than you can say of many of today’s pretty faces. In the 19th century, nobody questioned the fact that Arabians were proper riding horses, and they were often used to improve other breeds. And yes, some of them won championships, too, because there were breed shows even then. Proper breed shows, where horses were stood up and trotted out properly and evaluated according to their merits, not according to the way they were conditioned and who was showing them. And apparently, everyone wanted those horses, because they were sold all over the world.
Surely, the Blunts must have been doing
something right?
When Lady Wentworth took over Crabbet Park, there were a few changes, the most fundamental being the introduction of the Polish stallion Skowronek. We can safely assume that Lady Anne would not have bought this horse, because he certainly did not meet her strict requirements for authentic desert descent. He was, however, an exceptionally beautiful horse with, not only by the standards of his time, extreme type; in fact, Skowronek is one of the rare historic horses that might still be able to win championships today. He really should, because besides his exceptional type and refinement, he also had the conformation and legs to make a proper horse. This is why Skowronek, despite adding his own distinctive type to the Crabbet herd, did not change Crabbet Park in a fundamental way. There is little doubt that his descendants were prettier than the original desert horses, but they were still proper horses suitable for riding. The
same is true of the other outside stallion Lady Wentworth introduced, Dargee, who was of predominantly Crabbet breeding in any case, with the addition of other desert bloodlines. In retrospect, it is a pity that Lady Wentworth never made use of her one authentic desert bred stallion, Mirage, selling him to the USA instead. His influence there has been huge, and he appears to have been every bit as pretty as Skowronek.
But the point here is that over the years and through three different managements – the last being Cecil Covey – Crabbet Arabians remained essentially the same. Which is to say that they did not look very different from their ancestors that were imported by the Blunts in the 19th century, except perhaps a little prettier. And those ancestors, remember, were authentic desert Arabians.
Which begs the question: just what are people breeding today?
By the time the Crabbet Stud was forced to shut down in 1972, Arabian breeding in Britain was changing. The first modern imports from Poland had already left their mark, and the first modern Egyptians were soon to follow. Only five years later, a stallion named El Shaklan arrived on the scene, who may be termed the spearhead of the movement away from the versatile as well as beautiful Arabian towards a specialized Arabian show horse. This is in no way meant as derogatory against El Shaklan himself; he was by all accounts a superb individual and a great sire, but he was also a game-changer. He was prettier and more refined than anything else at the time, the first European sire to create a fashion, and the first stallion that could be called a global sire. Other fashions followed, but the direction remained the same: towards ever more beauty and refinement. Globalisation did the rest. With the availability of frozen semen and artificial
insemination, fashionable sires became accessible anywhere in the world. The results are undeniable today. No matter where you go in the world or which shows you visit, you will see the same bloodlines, the offspring of the same handful of sires that happen to be the order of the day. The prevailing factor that defines fashion is “type”, which has somehow come to mean tiny, extremely dished heads. The deeper the dish, the smaller the muzzle, the bigger the eyes, the louder the shrieks of the adoring crowds. With all this focus on heads, which are now becoming exaggerated to the point of caricature, everything else has been neglected. Those ultra-refined heads often sit on bodies that
only dazzle because they are frozen into artificially trained, tensed-up poses and rest on matchstick legs whose joints are barely discernible anymore. Yet these horses win top prizes, and so the fashion continues. Have I been exaggerating? Maybe a very little; but not much. No, not all show horses and not all show champions are like this; but too many of them are, and this appears to be the accepted standard in the show ring today.
This development is the very reason why Crabbet Arabians, like other preservation groups, are still relevant; arguably more so than ever before. They may lack the exaggerated refinement you need to win at the shows, but they have everything that
was lost along the way. They are, in fact, just what they have always been: authentic. And that is a rare thing today. Those old and unfashionable bloodlines guarded by so-called preservation breeders – whether they are Crabbet or old Polish, CMK, or Asil – are the backbone of the Arabian breed: you may not see them, but if they weren’t there, it would all collapse. This may be taken to refer equally to the pedigrees and to the actual horses that are being bred today. Now, more than ever, we need breeders who preserve old-fashioned “proper” Arabians, with all the original Arabian virtues, not just pretty heads. Arabians that can be ridden, that can compete in sports, that are unmistakably
Today modern technology has meant that horses can travel more quickly and easily by aeroplane than those lengthy and often dangerous sea voyages of long ago. The passage of time has also seen the development of
AI, making it a reliable form of breeding, that has meant breeders can once again access the genes of some of those early
exports. In preservation breeding this is so important-to keep the gene pool as wide and deep as the oceans that those first Crabbet horses once crossed.
In recent times one of the first breeders to import an Australian Crabbet horse was Pam Flower of Llain Arabians in 2007. She chose and imported the two year old bay colt, Erin Park Excel (Erin Park Thor x Erin Park Belle) bred by Frank Murphy. At the same time Anne Brown brought the bay filly Palma Benay (Pevensey Safari x Petra
Benay) back to her Gadebrook Stud and this was the beginning of her ‘boomerang ‘ plan. This was a calculated attempt to widen the gene pool, particularly with horses clear of SCID,CA and LFS, to utilise successful show and endurance lines from Australia and to reintroduce the bay gene to the UK that had been largely lost. Both horses had to endure a lengthy quarantine of several months due to an equine influenza outbreak before their departure from Australia. They have both been successful at stud,
however, and have been very valuable additions to the UK gene pool.
Palma Benay brings back lines that trace back to Rafyk who was exported to Sir James Penn Boucaut’s Quambi Stud in South Australia. He was by a stallion (Azrek) that Lady Anne Blunt recorded in 1891 as being the main pillar of the stud. Palma Benay has been and continues to be an excellent broodmare for Anne Brown, producing the grey filly Palmyra, and bay colts Kaalif, Palermo and Dandini to four different stallions. In subsequent years Anne also imported the lovely mares Pevensey Zariffia and Inshallah Signature to widen the gene pool still further. Both of these mares have bred on; Signature has had three bay colts so far, and Zariffia had a chestnut filly, Mazaria in 2014 although Anne very sadly lost the beautiful Zariffia in 2016 after foaling a large colt to Binley Prince Salim.
Most recently Anne has used semen from Mill Park Blaidd in Australia, she is now his agent in the UK, and Palma Benay has just had a colt foal by him – a very exciting addition to the Crabbet gene pool in the UK as he is of 100% Australian Crabbet bloodlines. Mill Park Blaidd has a double line back to Fickle (Riffal x Fadoura) a line that has a long history of producing horses of consistently high quality in Australia; definitely an exciting prospect for British breeders.
Erin Park Excel was a handsome bay colt with a double cross to Crenel (Baz x Chiffon) and has imparted to his stock refined heads with large eyes and free fine movement. Three of his offspring now reside at Moonlight Arabians in Cornwall. These are the bay stallion Palermo, the bay mare Llain Murjanah and chestnut mare Llain Samina. Llain Murjanah has just produced her first foal, a very friendly and correct bay filly by the exciting young 100% Crabbet stallion Crystal Red Drift bred by Daphne Cocksedge of Romac Stud. At Phoenix Field Arabians based in Gloucestershire and owned by Rachael Farley-Claridge, Silver Zenif, 100% Crabbet stallion, (Lutfi Pasha x Imperial Silver Lace) is an Advanced endurance horse who has had a consistent record over several seasons. He has also been successful in hand being placed at the Crabbet
Championships at the National Arab Show on successive occasions. Silver Zenif has combined ridden work with his stud career and with semen stored at West Kington available for export. He has Pure, Part bred and Anglo progeny in the UK and Australia already including the 100% Crabbet filly PS Sirella Silk in Scotland. In 2018 he has foals due in the UK and New Zealand as well as a shipment of semen going to Spain. It will be interesting to follow their future careers. Sometimes horses are not imported for posterity but visit a country for a breeding season or two and their success depends on the vision of those breeders who incorporate them into their programmes.
Ben Rabba was just such a horse. In 1977 Lady Anne Lytton was visiting California and saw Aurab, sire of Ben Rabba. She declared him to be, ‘the most nearly perfect Arabian she had ever seen. That he was the horse that Crabbet had tried to breed for nearly 100 years.’
On returning to England Lady Anne Lytton
relayed her thoughts to other breeders, that she had a vision to reintroduce the Nasik line to the UK through a son of Aurab. The following year Beatrice Paine also visited California and when she saw Ben Rabba (Aurab x Rollicka) she was determined to bring him back with her. His life long owner and rider Ed Hubbert agreed to lease him for two breeding seasons in 1979-80 where he produced over 40 Pure bred foals. Thanks to the foresight of just one or two breeders this line of prepotent chestnut horses still continues in the UK. Gillian Lancaster bred the charismatic Aboud who has female descendants in Scotland and Cornwall. The multi talented ridden stallion Marcus Aurelius, (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica) bred by Diana Whittome, has sired Pure, Part and Anglo progeny who are successful in every affiliated discipline.
As so often in the breed one person or one horse becomes the catalyst for a future generation of spectacular horses. In this case Beatrice Paine and Ben Rabba deserve our thanks and praise.
It is not always an easy choice to import horses in an attempt to expand our gene pool as Caroline Sussex discovered when she imported Binley Ronaldo. Ironically he was born in Australia at Star Park Arabians at the same time as Erin Park Excel and Palma Benay were due to leave for the UK but were being held in an extended quarantine
due to the equine influenza outbreak. An elegant and fabulously free moving son of the beautiful Arfaja Robard he was found to have considerable fertility problems. But due to Caroline’s belief in him and the expertise of her vets Ronaldo now has three progeny at Binley Arabians, two fillies and a colt (now gelded) in successive years and looks more than capable of breeding many more.
Sometimes too Crabbet horses have spread their influence overseas and then come full circle, returning home. In 2007 Worth Stud bred Indian Shimad, a striking liver chestnut colt carrying rare Courthouse bloodlines and sold him as a foal to Sweden where he had a successful endurance and stud career. In 2014 he returned home to breed and to be produced under saddle for a second career as a ridden show horse. In 2016 Shimad sired two promising colt foals out of Rosa Bettina, a Courthouse/Crabbet bred mare and Soleyma. Serendipity plays its part too. At Star Park Arabians in NSW Australia renowned breeder and judge Astra Temple has followed a lifelong breeding programme blending Crabbet and Old Polish lines. Whilst achieving the majority of her breeding goals at Star Park she had however never quite managed to incorporate her favourite bloodlines from her long standing friend Bazy Tankersley’s Al-Marah Stud. But this year that changed as in January 2018, the final piece of her long term breeding programme fell into place. Whilst visiting OSO Arabians with Elizabeth Archer (daughter of her treasured English mentor Rosemary Archer) she saw a horse in silhouette under a tree on a hill. She felt as if she knew him and it turned
out that she had known his ancestors from visiting Al-Marah in the past. It was indeed a serendipitous moment.
OSO Arabians generously allowed Al-Marah Star Cascade US (AM Good Ol Boy x AM Dream Raid - Bazy’s favourite mare at the time) to go to Star Park Arabians on breeding loan where he will cover Astra’s Pure Star (Manfred UK x Kim Dande Flash Magic) daughters and granddaughters – an exciting and truly international blend of bloodlines. So the Crabbet gene pool may be limited but with sterling efforts by the breeders mentioned above and those yet to take advantage of international AI and the new variations of Crabbet bloodlines available in their home countries this is a most positive move forward in preservation breeding. o
IIn the Summer of 1965, Raktha Scha stepped off the Olford, Rice of Leicester horsebox (which the stud still owns) onto Olford Arabian Stud soil, to join the band of Crabbet horses
bred and collected by the enigmatic Betty Arnold.
Born on the 1st of November 1959, Betty Arnold bought Raktha Scha as a 6 year old, a 100% Crabbet Stallion from Mr AJ Botha of Raktha Stud in Barklay East, in very much the same way as Lady Wentworth bought his Sire Raktha from Lady Yule as a four year old many years earlier.
Betty Arnold had always held Raktha in high regard as a stallion, but due to the distance between her Olford Stud situated, at the time, just outside the town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape Province and the Raktha Stud, high in the hills of Barkley East, almost 400km, she found it difficult to make ample use of him on her mares.
Like Lady Wentworth, Betty Arnold knew her horse flesh, and when she visited Raktha stud and set eyes on Raktha Scha, she knew she had to have him.
Raktha Scha might as well have been bred by Lady Wentworth herself, as he was a stallion that I am sure she would have been proud to have had standing at Crabbet Park. Without question the most influential son of the famous imported Crabbet stallion, Raktha, bred on South African soil, Raktha Scha was out of another imported Crabbet horse, the chestnut mare, Shadilla.
Raktha Scha proved to be a versatile horse who won many prizes in-hand and under saddle in Arab classes, and open shows, as well as leading costume classes in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces. He sired 25 Pure bred Arab foals not to mention Anglo Arabs and Part bred Arabs. Although not a huge number, due no doubt to his geographical location at Olford in the Eastern Cape, and the marvels of artificial insemination not being widely used in the equine world at this time, it is a great pity that he did not leave more foals.
Even though he bred so few foals his influence is astounding through both his daughters and his sons. Of his unforgettable daughters one was Olford Serafire out of the imported Crabbet mare Serafilla. Olford Serafire had amazing movement and won many a competition under saddle and
excelled in dressage.
Other daughters that have gone on to either achieve greatness or descendants who have excelled at endurance and showing were Olford Sera-Jane, Olford Silver Trinket (Betty Arnold’s favourite riding horse) and Olford Dancing Shadow, an amazing mare in her own right.
Of his sons that have left their mark are, Olford Serad, (full brother to Olford Serafire) and Olford Serafix.
His Anglo Arab foals and Part bred foals were a sight to behold and of these the most famous was Olford High Society, an
outstanding Part Bred Arab who excelled as a dressage horse.
Raktha Scha was forever immortalised in Jean Power’s and Kaarl de Haan’s book on the Arab Horse “Sons of the Desert” where it was written,
‘However as with the truly great, the best tributes for such a stallion came from other breeders who said, ‘such magnificent foals’, and ‘What a terrific legacy to leave behind.’
His legacy is carried on in his descendants as it was only just a few years ago when one of his great-grandsons, Olford Prince
Karen Madden has had Masta (Marbon Mastarifah x Marbon Melissa) from a 6 month old foal and I’ve had the pleasure of watching
and being part of their wonderful journey together.
For the first few years Karen and Masta enjoyed their time together doing the odd in hand show, attended the Crabbet convention as a two year old and generally having fun. Masta was backed as a three year old colt and took to this riding game like a fish to water. Through no fault of his own Karen decided that Masta would be happier as a gelding, so the deed was done when he was three.
Karen and Masta carried on with their riding having fun, enjoying hacks, pleasure rides, local shows and dressage. As a four year old Masta won a strong Ridden Crabbet class at the Ridden Arab Group Wales Show beating some very well known names and experienced combinations, also taking the
at the annual points scheme with Ridden Arab Group Wales winning various titles including overall points winner.
Masta has always shown a natural jumping ability and this is where his forte lies. Masta and Karen started jumping properly in
2016. They’ve progressed quickly through the heights and are now jumping and winning regularly over 80/90cm courses and training over 1.10/1.15 at home.
They have represented their local riding club in Area 21 team show jumping in 2017 and 2018 as part of the successful Gower RC Team and qualified for the National Championships at 80/90cm.
This winning combination is now aiming at ODE and won on their dressage score on their unaffiliated début. British eventing is next on the agenda for 2018.
Masta has a bit of a fan club and is well known and adored locally as the flying Arabian! His super friendly personality and abundance of talent has turned the most hardened of anti-Arab people to appreciate and admire the breed; he is a superb breed ambassador.
The trust and partnership these two have has to be seen and is a pleasure to behold. What makes it all the more remarkable is that Karen is a mature lady who suffers from fibromyalgia and M.E which can be very debilitating for her. I’ve seen the pain she is in on many occasions but she smiles through it and refuses to give in. Her knight in furry armour Masta keeps her going. o
Our PBA Avonbrook
Odin (Marcus Aurelius x April) made his debut in British Showjumping affiliated 115cm classes earlier this year and is
consistently jumping double clears in Senior Newcomers (110cm-120cm) classes. Additionally, Odin and I competed in our second event together, a 100cm one day event around the British Eventing course at Solihull. Adding only a few time penalties in the cross country onto his dressage score, Odin finished eighth in a large and competitive section.
Odin’s 86.99% Crabbet sire, Marcus Aurelius (Aurelian x Fiesta Magica), has also been Eventing this year, completing the 80cm class around the British Eventing course at Broadway with a competitive dressage score. Marcus is now 17 and, after highly successful careers in affiliated endurance, showing, and showjumping, he is enjoying a less intense lifestyle and can often be found accompanying his progeny at lower level competitions or trying out new sports such as mounted games and polo!
Another of Marcus’ progeny excelling in their discipline is Annia Aurelia (ex Bint Zaehaebi). This 8 year old mare is over 90% Crabbet and has been performing exceptionally in affiliated showing classes. After winning her only Novice class to date, Penny has been placed in all of her Horse of the Year Show qualifiers; coming second at Aintree, third at Royal Bath and West, and fourth at Royal Cheshire. Although Penny and I are still a relatively inexperienced combination, she is proving to be an incredible young mare and will be aimed at Eventing in due course.
Makahiwi Arabians is located in the central North Island of New Zealand and have been breeding very high percentage Arabians since
the mid 1960’s beginning with the stallion Nomad (Shereef X Gipsy Maid) who had a tail female line to El Lahr one of the earliest imports to Sir James Penn Boucaut’s Quambi stud in Australia. In 1973 we imported the pure Crabbet stallion Arabian Park Bay Band, a tall bay Sindh grandson (Banderol x Flourish).
In the early 1980’s we also imported the half siblings Lochaber Turk, (Domignon x Cherokee Persian Slipper) and Lochaber Paisha, (El-Calif x Cherokee Persian Slipper) both high 90% Crabbet.
The most exciting part is now...Last year we imported Inshallah Colorado, (Inshallah Silver Echo X Inshallah Indiana), a beautiful chestnut, athletic stallion standing 15:2hh. With lines to many well known Australian breeding programmes he has a double cross to Crenel and multiple crosses to Sindh, another tall, athletic chestnut stallion whom he resembles. We were also able to acquire Rose of Aurora (Silver Omen x Fenwick Regenta), a pure Crabbet mare of
beautiful, largely Fenwick breeding, to start our 100% programme. All our imports have been from Australia.
We run around 50 horses on the stud. They were our stock horses originally, we played polocrosse on them...and of course we have been involved in Endurance riding in New Zealand from the beginning. Pure Crabbet horses are hard to come by
Spirit Arabians have specialised in high percentage Crabbet and Crabbet related Arabians since 1996.
This year we are starting a 100% Old English breeding programme for 2019 foals sired by the AHS Premium stallion Crystal Magic (Silvern Sceptre x Crystal Lazuli). We are proud to own the stunning pure Crabbet mare Mumtaz (Klinta Bashir x Moongleam) and the classic 100% 0ld English mare Golden Sylph (Silvern Sceptre x Silver Sylph). We are privileged too to have on breeding loan the pure Crabbet mare Mazaria (Marbon Masadi x Pevensey Zanffia) and the 100% Old English mares Zahlina’s Glimmer (Silvern Glimmer x Zahlina) Zuleika (Prince Sadik x Red House Zia). Shalreign (Shalkar X Winter Queen) and AA Ray of Hope (Golden Sequin x Dancers Miracle)
We will be continuing to breed high percentage Crabbet and Crabbet related horses alongside the 100% Old English horses. o
in New Zealand, but we are fortunate to be only 45 minutes drive from the other big pure Crabbet breeder in New Zealand, Supreme Arabians.
Makahiwi Arabians, Struan and Juanita Duncan, 31b, Mear Rd, R.D.4, Taumarunui, NZ. +64 7 8956900 +64 27 286 7441 (mob) csjcduncan@ hotmail.com o
PSAurora Silk (Marcus Aurelius x Imperial Silk) in her first full ridden showing season started well at the
Spring SWAHG Show winning the very first Centenary Novice Performance class and the Championship as well as qualifying for UKIAHS and BACS. At the recent Summer Show she was also in hand Crabbet Champion. She was well placed too at her first county shows, Devon and Bath and West and is perfecting her dressage and jumping before the AHS National Show. Darees (Spearmint x Dallua) has also qualified for UKIAHS and BACS, was Reserve Ridden Champion at the Cornish Group Show and most recently at the SWAHG Summer Show was Amateur Ridden Champion.
Silver Snowdrop (Lutfi Pasha x Seretta) finally started her endurance season at Boconnoc where she gained a creditable grade 3 on a very hot day. She was again selected for the Inter Regional SW team at Cirencester although due to other commitments we are unable to go.
This year we had two foals at Moonlight. Our very first part bred, Zulu Spring was born in the field one lunchtime and was trotting circles and drinking within 30 minutes! She is a smart liver chestnut filly by our own African Bey King out of our coloured mare Zulu Maiden. She is by Andrew Nicholson’s eventing stallion Just Zulu so we hope that Zulu Spring (Dot at home) will follow in his hoofprints. At around 14 hands at three months old she is already almost as tall as her !
We eagerly awaited Llain Murjanah’s first foal and were delighted when she produced a 100% Crabbet bay filly by our own Crystal Red Drift. She was also born in the field and Murjanah has proved to be an exemplary mother. This filly combines Australian bloodlines and the double Indian Magic influence of Romac breeding together with a rare line to Silver Bell.
Breeding and competing is busy but very worthwhile work as everywhere we go in open competition people remark on our calm and competitive Crabbets. o
When we first started breeding we tried various bloodlines. We also researched and felt that Crabbet blood would be the
basis for our breeding programme to give us good conformation, limbs, movement and temperament. We wanted to add to these and having researched the El Shaklan and Gainey lines these were added to the breeding programme giving us much success over the years and our focus has not changed since.
Our goal has always been to breed the best Arabian we can on a small scale. Our Arabians are shown in hand and have also proven themselves under saddle winning many championships in both spheres. One of our most memorable moments as breeders was when our homebred mare Mareesah (Mareschal x Rasmara) produced a beautiful colt which we named Aazari.
He was by British National Champion Arazi, a Carmargue son out of First Blush of El Shaklan lines. Aazari has been the cornerstone of our stud for the past 20 years winning many times in the show ring including UK International Champion at age two and at the age of four becoming British National Champion. As a breeding stallion he has had amazing success producing champions every year from a small number of mares. He is very prepotent and produces flamboyant offspring with beautiful heads, sound limbs, fantastic movement and equable temperaments ideally suited to ridden training. The following are just two highlights of the many successes we have had as breeders. Aaremis (Aazari x Bey Sheba) has been Supreme Crabbet Champion twice at the National Arab Show with many more Championships to his name and is about to start a ridden career. In 2018 he has already been Crabbet Champion at the
SEAHG show as well as winning the stallion class and going on to be Supreme In Hand Champion. Another amazing achievement was Khaazari (Aazari x Khatifa) winning at HOYS in 2014 with his amateur owner/rider Lisa Phillips and becoming ridden British National Champion in the same year. In our opinion a breeder is someone who stays true to their principles and has a longterm view on what they want to achieve. The showing world has changed from the years when we first entered the ring. I feel the actual shows have changed. There are fewer horses entered and fewer people watching. The cost of entering and costs of travelling to the shows has become so expensive that small breeders and people with one or two horses find they can no longer afford to enter. We feel that there are fewer true breeders in the UK now. The large stud farms are few. There seems to be a tendency to breed more to ‘fashion’ rather than breeders having their own programmes. I do feel we still need the dedicated breeder with their own programme otherwise the gene pool will shrink even more and then where will we go? And what will be the future of the Arabian horse? o
