“You can immediately see that these are Wilkoń’s things, the movement of the brush, the shape of the stain, the technique of combining the brush with a pen, crayon, pencil… “ – that’s what the artist himself said about his characteristic style in Agata Napiórska’s book “Szczęśliwe przypadki Józefa Wilkonia“ (“Lucky Fortunes of Józef Wilkoń“), published by Marginesy, 2018. JÓZEF WILKOŃ, born in 1930, this outstanding painter, sculptor, illustrator, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, currently lives and works in Zalesie Dolne near Warsaw. The main source of inspiration for him are animals, including horses, also Arabians, which he admires in a unique way. “I like to paint horses the most because they are beautiful, especially the Arabian horse. And a herd of Arabian horses is the pinnacle of beauty“, he confided to the author of the book. Indeed, Wilkoń’s Arabians are unmistakable and have everything that captivates fans of this breed: an arched neck, a raised tail when moving, a small, graceful head with a large, dark eye and dynamic movement rendered with a few strokes of the brush. There is no way to confuse the Wilkoń Arabians with the images of horses that came from the hands of other painters.

Horses were present in his life from his earliest childhood, spent in the village of Bogucice near Wieliczka. “When I was young, I was famous for being put on a horse, the horse would trot, and after a dozen or so meters I felt that I was irreversibly shifting to the right, left and bang, I was falling“ – he told polskiearaby.com. Already in elementary school, Józef showed his drawing abilities, although, as he claimed, “Kossak he was not“: “Juliusz Kossak, when he was twelve, made such horse drawings that the old Kossak would not have been ashamed“, he noted in the interview with Napiórska. The passion for the realism of Kossak, Matejko and Wyczółkowski came from Wilkoń’s family traditions.

He spent holidays with his grandparents in Łańcut, where there was a real zoo, of course with horses as the main characters. His grandfather, Wilkoń recalled, was Potocki’s coachman. Young Józef got acquainted with field work early. He could harness a horse and drive himself. He also learned to plow on his own, with one horse, and he was only thirteen! Agricultural work, as he admitted, is familiar to him to this day.

From Łańcut it was close to Albigowa. This is where Wilkoń came into contact with Arabians. He told polskiearaby.com: “We once went by wagon to Albigowa and an unpleasant accident happened along the way. Our mare, Baśka, got tangled in the harness and reins. She fell. And I, a young boy, had to save her. I managed. But I don’t remember why we were going to Albigowa. However, it was there that I saw Arabians for the first time, including Bandola, which stood out among others. Years later, I saw her in Janów, at Andrzej Krzyształowicz’s stud, who showed her to me. She was as great as before. He let all the horses out on the paddock, and as they ran, I understood for the first time what it was all about. “

An Arabian in trot, an Arabian mare with a foal by her side – this stimulates the imagination of every person sensitive to beauty, let alone an artist. “The animal has consciousness, a sense of beauty, the beauty of movement, “ Wilkoń told us. “The joy with which a foal runs is what an adult horse has when moving, and there is also the will to play. What a foal does is the poetry of movement combined with the joy of life. A running Arabian is a theatre, he must feel that he is beautiful and demonstrates this beauty. “

Bandola was deeply remembered by the artist. “She lived a long life and produced foals until late. I became interested in what happened later, I watched the auction successes of her children“, he admitted. What part of Bandola is present in his Arabians? Dashing and at the same time subtle, full of grace? “In today’s works, and I returned to the topic of horses, for a few seconds you can see the movement of the brush, which then curls up. One twist of the brush creates the form of a horse. Then only the head and legs are added. How? With the same brush. I turn it upside down and use the wooden grip. And the legs are formed. The wooden grip of the brush can also be used for drawing. And these legs are not distorted, they are really so delicate and subtle. Already the Greeks put horses with such legs on vases, and it was from them that I took this concept. But in my case they are even more absurd. “

He commented his dynamic line in Napiórska’s book: “The movement must be precise like a surgeon’s. For a long time I have been captivated by works of a decisive form, resulting from dynamic hand movements. “

Horses appeared in Wilkoń’s illustrations to “Pan Tadeusz“. In 1962, a contest was announced, in which many outstanding artists took part, including Zamecznik, Młodożeniec, Tomaszewski. Wilkoń won. “My «Pan Tadeusz» was quite shocking for those times – he recalled in the book – it consisted of watering-down the landscape, painting ephemeral, impressionistic and poetic scenes“. He told us that after winning the contest, in an interview with Adam Mauersberger, the then director of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum, he raised the subject of horses. “I asked if he didn’t mind that my horses have legs like spiders, something between an insect and a horse. He acknowledged, that that’s just the way it is. “

Arabian or oriental horses also appeared on the covers of Wilkoń’s children books: “Beowulf“ (1966) and Natalia Gałczyńska’s “Iv and Finetta“ (1962). The latter is one of the illustrations the artist is most pleased with. “The Arabian has an extremely compact, strong body and these unique limbs, “ he emphasized. Oriental horses are also a theme from “Ali Baba’s Treasure“ (2014). Nowadays, we have had a chance to come across Arabians from Wilkoń in public space – an open-air exhibition of his works was presented in the summer of 2015 at the market square in Piaseczno. Between July and September 2020, Wilkoń’s illustrations and sculptures were exhibited at the City Museum in Tychy – this is the latest of numerous presentations of the artist’s output.

The 50th Janów Podlaski auction held under the name of Pride of Poland 2019 took place in the premises of the Janów Podlaski State Stud on Sunday, August 11th. The Summer Sale was organized on Monday, August 12th. The total price achieved at the main auction raised to 1 million 396 thousand euro, while the Summer Sale result is 328 thousand euro. We offer you the list of the horses sold below.

Results
(Net prices in EUR)
 
Pride of Poland 2019
(19 mares offered & 2 embryos, 1 withdrawn, 1 in the offer)

Galerida 400 thousand Qatar

Potentilla 215 thousand Switzerland

Emanolla 135 thousand Belgium

Karola 122 thousand Belgium

Embryo out of Emandoria 100 thousand Saudi Arabia

Primera 90 thousand Switzerland

Cheronea 65 thousand Spain

El Gotta 60 thousand France

Anawera 57 thousand Spain

Pianova 52 thousand Poland

Atanda 30 thousand Poland

Shanson F 30 thousand Poland

Escotia 25 thousand Poland

Graciosa 15 thousand Poland

Summer Sale 2019

(24 horses offered, 1 mare withdrawn, 22 mares & 1 stallion present)

Wieża Marzeń 65 thousand Sweden

Włodawa 45 thousand Qatar

Eteryka 39 thousand Saudi Arabia

El Dorra 35 thousand Belgium

Praga 30 thousand Poland

Estonia 26 thousand UAE

Editha 22 thousand Libya

Elgora 17 thousand Libya

Patty 15 thousand Poland

Wizawa 14 thousand Poland

El Safija 10 thousand Germany

Pistolero 10 thousand Great Britain

Gossip column Pride of Poland 2019, by Ewa Imielska-Hebda

For the first time in the history of Arabian horse breeding in Poland an A-ranked ECAHO show took place – it was the fifth edition of the Al Khalediah European Arabian Horse Festival in Nowe Wrońska (17–18th of August). Like each year, the third day of the festival moved to Warsaw’s Służewiec Racetrack, where spectators could watch the A category race for the Al Khalediah Cup (19th of August).

With the fifth edition of the show, organized by Al Khalediah Stud Poland and General Manager Hubert Kulesza, the entire team joined the circle of the most prestigious shows in Europe and found themselves among just three shows held on our continent as A-ranked (there are of course also three Title shows). And only two of them take place outdoors, Menton and the hereby mentioned Nowe Wrońska.

Luckily the weather was favourable for both people and horses – the heat was bearable and the storm on the second day managed to omit the show grounds. Despite the rain there was no need to stop the show like last year, when the downpour made competing impossible. The guests also turned up in large numbers – the VIP tent was full from the first minute of the show until the last.

There was a record number (for the show at Nowe Wrońska) of entered horses – 123 was the last start number. In the end 103 horses were shown in the arena. From the very first edition the show had the pleasure of hosting extraordinary contestants and this year was no different. We saw plenty of stars in the show ring and the quality did not differ from what we can see at the most prestigious European arenas.

We must note several organizational changes – first of all the drawing of the judges (five from among seven) before each class, as well as crossing out the lowest and highest marks. The average was counted after discarding both extreme marks, which resulted in a “flattening” of scores, but also eliminated marks that clearly diverged from the rest. Such a system has both its followers and opponents. One thing did not change – the finals were not open and a third placed horse in class could not win a gold medal. The gold medalists were chosen, similarly to previous years, only from among class winners. A new feature was the awarding of Top Five titles to horses which in the finals took 4th and 5th place. The show was judged by: Silvia Garde-Ehlert (Germany), Charlotte Rowell (Great Britain), Urs Aesbacher (Switzerland), Robbie den Hartog (Netherlands), Regis Huet (France), Mohamed Machmoum (Morocco) and Pierluigi Rota (Italy).

The organizer returned to Mercedes-Benz cars, which had been prizes for winners during the first two editions of the Festival. The money prizes were as follows: 20 thousand PLN (around 5 thousand EUR) for the silver, 10 thousand for the bronze (around 2,5 thousand EUR), 5 thousand for 4th and 5th place (around 1250 EUR) in the finals and 4 thousand (around one thousand EUR) for each place in class from 1st to 5th. The Best in Show award was honorary.

And the Merecedes cars go to…

This year none of the Mercedes-Benz cars remained in Poland – all went to foreign owners: two to Jadem Arabians (Belgium), one to Halsdon Arabians (Great Britain), one to Al Muawd Stud (Saudi Arabia) and two to Germany (Murana and Osterhof studs).

The first gold medalist, chosen unanimously by the entire judging panel in the yearling fillies, was the grey, full of charisma Dana J (Excalibur EA – Dalja J/Emerald J), granddaughter of the later gold medalist, show star and proven sire Emerald J (QR Marc – Emandoria/Gazal Al Shaqab). This is without a doubt a triumph of Christine Jamar-Demeersseman (Jadem Arabians), who has been a part of the Festival since its very first edition. Her horses had been high on the winners’ lists before, but this time as many as two cars will head for Belgium. „We are extremely happy with our 2 unanimous gold champions at the AKEAHF show”, said Christine Jamar. “Of course a win is never expected. All the circumstances have to be positive for these achievements, like for example the journey to Poland, the horses need to be in a great and healthy condition and they need to perform great as well. If you combine this all together there is a chance of competing for the medals in the championships. The AKEAHF 2018 edition saw some strong entries and it is a show who always has a great quality of horses present. Very special is of course that both horses are homebred. It was nice and exciting for Emerald J to win the gold title in Poland as his dam Emandoria is most likely the best Polish bred horse till today. Even Dana J is tracing back to Emerald J through her dam Dalia J”. „Big congratulation to the Al Khalediah Poland organizing Team!”, sums up the breeder. “For us it was the best show in Europe”.

Another breeder that has once again come to Nowe Wrońska is Michaela Weidner from Germany. This time she brought the colt Muranas Magic (Muranas Jassehr – Muranas Muhtarah/Stival). A son of a stallion that was last year stationed at Michałów Stud (and who is still stationed there) won the second of the gold medals and so the Mercedes will be going to Germany. “I still can’t believe it”, said the happy breeder after the championship. “I’m still not aware that we won!”. Muranas Magic is already a fourth generation of horses bred at Murana Stud. „For us important is not only a pretty, typey horse with a nice head”, stresses the owner. “We are also asking for a good body and great legs.”

Among the junior fillies the gold medal was won (and the judges were again unanimous in their verdict) by the chestnut of great beauty, Venice MI (Allegiance MI – Valentine MI/DA Valentino), bred in Australia by Mulawa Arabians and owned by Al Muawd Stud (Saudi Arabia). „My brother found her when he was judging in Australia”, Ryan Bryn Jones told us. „I went down to double check as it was a long way to bring a horse and we both agreed that she would be great for Al Muawd Stud.” „She reminded me a lot of Aukubra (Aurabba – Pearl Lady/Bay Shadow), a colt my dad had junior world champion with in Paris in 1990. She is a different, modern style but very special at the same time. Next stop for her will be Aachen”, he also announced.

The next gold medalist was the three year old Cyclone OS (RFI Farid – Inspired Najla/Ajman Moniscione), representing the German Osterhof Stud owned by Karl-Heinz Stöckle. As the participants of the previous shows remember, Cyclone OS has already been in Poland, together with his beautiful dam, silver medalist from 2016 and class winner from 2014. Cyclone OS himself won a car for his owner for a second time – in 2016 the main prize for a gold medal was a Ford. „Yes, it was the second time Cyclone OS ended up at the AKF show as gold champion”, confirms Karl-Heinz Stöckle. “I love this show, the organisation takes amazing care about the participants of the show. I only missed the show last year, there were no cars at the 2017 edition and I love to fight for the cars. It makes an event very exclusive and exciting.” He adds: „My personal feeling is, everyone is very relaxed and happy, even without ending up as someone expects it. You never ever can expect a champion if you decide to compete at a level A show, you only can bring a strong competitor to a show and hope your horse performs well. There are only two things which maybe the organisation of the show could add”, the breeder from Osterhof has some suggestions. „They could introduce a participation lottery: it means the computer draws out the participation number of the competitor of class which begins. Second it needs to be at least five judges which need to be counted, then at this year edition there was a lot of tie in the qualification classes.” However Karl-Heinz Stöckle ensures that he will return to Nowe Wrońska next year. „Thanks to the organizer for giving us all a very exciting weekend in Poland.”

The bred at Janów Podlaski and owned by Halsdon Arabians Etnologia (Gazal Al Shaqab – Etalanta/Europejczyk) won the gold in the senior mare category and then the title of Best in show. The owners, Shirley and Charlie Watts, were present in Nowe Wrońska and collected the awards themselves. They appeared very comfortable at the Festival and did not decline photos to fans and smiled to everyone around.

Yearlings

The yearling classes saw the get of such known sires as FA El Rasheem, Fadi Al Shaqab, Excalibur EA, Ascot DD, Zeus EA, Marajj or finally Gazal Al Shaqab. Due to a flattening of scores, which we wrote about above (the exclusion of lowest and highest marks), there were a lot of ties – and so the first three finalists from class 1A had the same score of 91,33 and the order was determined by higher notes for type and movement. Victorious was the later gold medalist, the Belgian-bred Dana J. The winner in the B series was a representative of Falborek Arabians, Shanson F (Nofal NK – Shilla/Kahil Al Shaqab), also with a score of 91,33. The filly later won the silver, before Alyssa OS (FA El Rasheem – Accra OS/Ajman Moniscione) from Osterhof Stud, who added a bronze medal in the finals to the gold of her stablemate.

Muranas Magic won his A series with a score of 91,17 and behind him placed Lancaster OS (SMA Magic One – El Lucina OS/El Sid), another competitor of Gestuet Osterhof, confirming the high quality of his maternal stud. Lancaster OS won the Top Five title in the finals, being outdone on the podium by: the winner of the B series of the yearling colts Magic Al Gazal (Gazal Al Shaqab – Ale by Magnifique/Magic Magnifique), bred by Sweden Arabian Stud and owned by Sh. Arahman Saud Bin Khalid Alqasse and Janów’s Erantis (Ascot DD – Eugara/Om El Bellissimo), who placed second in this group.

Juniors

The 2 year old fillies were also divided into two groups and the winner of the first was a charge of Minnesota Arabians of Małgorzata and Józef Pietrzak, Markiza of Justice (WH Justice – Markiza of Marwan/Marwan Al Shaqab). 92,33 is a beautiful score and Markiza of Justice was not omitted in the finals, taking the silver. The second group had a winner in the shape of Excalibria (Excalibur EA – Etnida/FS Bengali) bred and owned by Zalia Arabians of Katarzyna Dolińska-Witkowska (91,83), however in the finals she succumbed to the three year old fillies, which were the most numerous class – as many as 12 participants! Unbeaten proved Venice MI (92,83 and 2×20 for type and movement). Behind her placed Michałów’s great mover, Emanolla (Vitorio TO – Emandoria/Gazal Al Shaqab), 92,33 and as much as four “20s”: for type and 3 for movement, a recent gold medalist from the Polish Nationals in Warsaw, who here ended up with a bronze medal.

Among the junior colts not only Cyclone OS had been to Nowe Wrońska previously, but so did the other medalists: Aanan Lembarak (Hadidi Al Shaqab – AJ Sundos/Marwan Al Shaqab), bred and owned by Mohammed Mubarak Abdullah Al Sulaiti, won his class in the same place a year ago and repeated this success now. In 2017 he won a gold medal, but at the time there were no cars as main prizes and this time he was bested by Cyclone OS. Aanan Lembarak (91,67) had to settle for the silver. Also the bronze medalist Safwan Nayyar (Fayyad Al Fayyad – Starlight by Sissi/Psequel), from Nayyar Stud and owned by Abdullateef Ahmed Al Kandari, who entered the finals from third place in class, competed successfully in Nowe Wrońska last year winning his class and taking the gold (and prize money, because as it was already said there were no cars at the time).

And so ended the first day of the show (Friday), which began on time at noon and finished before 7:00 pm.

Seniors

The senior classes were held before lunch on Saturday and the finals after the break. The A series of the 4-6 year old mares class was commenced with flair by Janów’s Adelita (Kahil Al Shaqab – Altamira/Ekstern), who did not receive a 20 for movement from only one judge. She set the bar for this class and for the scores of the three finalists – they received 92,83 each! However Adelita was bested in type by Michałów’s Wildona (Shanghai EA – Wilda/Gazal Al Shaqab), the silver medalist of the Polish Nationals (2×20 for type, 1×20 for head and neck and 3×20 for movement). Yet none of them stood on the podium, because those places were taken by their rivals from other classes: the winner of the B series of 4-6 year old mares, the Michałów-bred El Omarissa (El Omari – Ernissa/Ekstern), owned by Andrzej Wójtowicz, whose mare won the silver and earned a score of 93,83 in class (the same marks for movement as Adelita: 4×20); and Al Inaya (WH Justice – Al Dofina/Mahadin) from Al Hambra Arabians of Michael Huber, who won the A series of the 7 year old and above mares class with a score of 93,17 (20 for head and neck and 2×20 for movement). In the finals she secured the bronze.

There was an interesting situation in the B series of the 7 year old and older mares class. It was the least numerous with only four contestants (Chrcynno-Palace Stud withdrew the senior horses at the last minute), including three from one stable, namely Halsdon Arabians of Mr. and Mrs. Watts. Two of them were born at Janów Podlaski (Biruta by Ekstern out of Bajada by Pamir, and Etnologia) and one in Michałów (Ereira by Piruet out of Elgina by Ekstern). All three found themselves in the finals, but Etnologia broke the bank by earning – before getting the gold and the Best in Show title – as many as 94,17 pts, the highest score of the show with a 20 for type and a full set of 20s for movement! (This feat, namely a full set of 20s for movement, was managed by only one more horse, Atius O by Shahim Al Nakeeb out of Atia Oone/Johann El Jamal, bred by Oone LLC and owned by Regina Arabians of Czesław Gołaszewski.). Ereira’s trot also earned her 4×20 (93,17). We don’t need to add that the finals of the senior mares delivered all viewers plenty of aesthetic experiences. Beauty, finesse, charm – everything that Arabian horse breeding is about (or what it should be about).

But the senior stallions did not allow to become overshadowed. The 4-6 year old stallions class was won by Shadi Al Khalediah (F Shamaal – Layan Al Khalediah/Dakharo), a son the beautiful 2007 World Champion Mare. The bred at Al Khalediah Stables (Saudi Arabia) stallion is owned by Reza Allahdadi. As a junior he won titles at shows in Europe and the Middle East, but started his breeding career just this season. His high mark of 93,17 consisted of 20s for type (2×20) and movement (3×20). In the finals Shadi won the silver, as he was bested by another stallion that has been marching through show arenas like a storm – Emerald J who received 3×20 for type, 2×20 for head and neck and 3×20 for movement (93,67). And so two of Emandoria’s produce stood on the podium – Emanolla (bronze) and Emerald J (gold).

A very spectacular performance in Nowe Wrońska was delivered by Lawrence El Gazal (Gazal Al Shaqab – Lara El Ludjin/Ludjin El Jamal), representing La Movida Arabians of Gerlinde and Ferdinand Huemer. With a topline “line an ironing board” (citing Prof. Krystyna Chmiel) and a greatly set tail, he gained the same amount of points as Emerald J (with one top mark for type and two for movement) and the bronze in the finals.

Racing Sunday

From the beginning the favourite in the Al Khalediah Poland Cup, an A category race over 1600 m for 4 year old and up horses with 66500 PLN (around 16625 EUR) in prize money was the French mare trained by Michał Borkowski, the 4 year old General Lady (General – Rivale d’Efner/Dormane), owned by Rafał Płatek, winner of the Kabaret and Bandos Stakes. She was ridden by Szczepan Mazur, who had already won 43 races this season. General Lady won the race before the British-bred Shahad Athbah (Amer – Klover/Vert Olive). The time 1’48,7 turned out to be one of the best races over 1600 m at the Służewiec track.

Photo gallery of medalists & Top Five title winners, by Ewa Imielska-Hebda

Results

PDF version of the article and photo gallery

49th Janów Podlaski Auction – Press release (janowauction.com)

The „Pride of Poland – 49th Janów Podlaski Auction” was held on Sunday evening on August 12th and the Summer Arabian Horse Sale 2018 on Monday 13th. The overall result of both auctions is 734,000 euro net and 17 sold horses.

This year the organizers decided to reach back to the auction’s roots – at the beginning the auction was strictly an event for people associated with the industry, directed at potential clients and not an event for the masses. More focus was also placed on the Janów Podlaski brand, with a greater financial discipline than in past years. The guests were surprised by a new scenery, different than ever before. The indoor riding arena was transformed into an elegant, friendly interior. In turn the auction offer was smaller, but had undergone a greater selection in regard to the actual demand of the market. 12 horses were offered for sale – from the State Studs of Janów Podlaski, Michałów, Białka and from the private stud of Falborek Arabians. One horse (Lot 10 – Wilda) was withdrawn due to veterinary reasons, therefore 11 horses were presented for bidding. Clients were present from such countries as Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and the Czech Republic. Six horses found buyers. The highest price was achieved by Michałów’s Parmana – 180 thousand euro. The total outcome of the sale was 501 thousand euro net. The prices can be considered satisfactory when compared to the current state of the saturated market. The auctioneer was Marek Grzybowski, a co-creator of the Janów event in years past.

Before bidding started for Arabian horses, a charity auction took place. Its outcome will be entirely donated to a family from Janów Podlaski that suffered a fire. The charity equine was none other than a pony named Ursus from Michałów and the auction was conducted by the director of the auction and president of Michałów Stud, Maciej Paweł Grzechnik and the auction’s announcer, Brian Scott. An amicable and full of enthusiasm atmosphere made a good setting for higher and higher bids. The final outcome was 5600 euro, which is a large amount for such an offer.

At the end of the auction the guests had yet another surprise – up for bid was the valuable copy of the manuscript by Wacław Emir Rzewuski titled „Sur les Chevaux Orientaux et Provenants des Races Orientales”. This incredible piece of art, published and presented by Dom Emisyjny Manuscriptum, had its Polish premiere right before the auction. There were several interested clients – after a fierce battle the manuscript was sold for 8 thousand euro. The lucky buyer came from Saudi Arabia and the bidding was once again conducted by Maciej Paweł Grzechnik and Brian Scott.

The auction’s director, Maciej Paweł Grzechnik, says: „I would like thank the entire team that worked under great pressure and among general hatred in the media. Despite that the event was a success. We want to thank the bidders of Lot 0, the charity equine. We also of course want to thank the buyers. Pleased buyers, who know that the event is custom made for them, are an investment for the future. We wish them many breeding successes. I might add that we really wanted to restore the brand of the Polish State Studs, a brand that has been somewhat lost in recent years. Now three Arabian State Studs not only organized the auction, but also the Open Day at Janów Podlaski. Here I would also like to thank our entertainers, the Cavalry Squadron of the Polish Army, as well as Katarzyna Cygler and her Equine Theatre and the wonderful groups that added splendor to the Open Day and Evening Gala: TULIA and „Rokiczanka”. Their fantastic performances were a great attraction for our guests and public”.

On Monday, August 13th, at Janów Podlaski the “Summer Arabian Horse Sale 2018” was held, during which 20 horses were offered – 19 mares and one stallion – from the studs of Janów Podlaski, Michałów, Białka and Dąbrówka Arabians.

The auctioneer was again Marek Grzybowski. 11 horses were sold for a total amount of 233,000 euro. The highest price was offered for Michałów’s Prosaria – 35,000 euro.

The director of the auction, Maciej Paweł Grzechnik, summed it up: “We are rather pleased with the final result, though it could always be a bit better. However both the situation on Arabian horse markets worldwide, as well as the constant attempts of torpedoing the Janów Sale, do not help in achieving success. That’s why we are happy that as many as 17 horses found buyers. I want to stress that the weight of the auction was placed solely on the shoulders of the three state studs, also in terms of finances. We have greatly limited costs in comparison to past editions”.

Results
(Net prices in EUR)
 
Pride of Poland – 49th Janów Podlaski Auction
(12 mares offered, 1 withdrawn, 11 present)

Parmana 180 thousand Israel (not picked up)
Pilarosa 133 thousand Czech Republic
Esima 65 thousand Saudi Arabia
Foggita 56 thousand Poland
Elbera 52 thousand Belgium (not picked up)
Perika 15 thousand Israel (not picked up)

Summer Arabian Horse Sale 2018

(20 horses offered, 19 mares and 1 stallion)

Prosaria 35 thousand UAE
Elawira 32 thousand Belgium
Polka 31 thousand Romania 
Anawa 23 thousand Saudi Arabia
Wieża Nimf 22 thousand Poland
Binduga 21 thousand no info (agent)
Perla 21 thousand Mongolia (not picked up)
Cenobia 15 thousand Poland
Elfontana 11 thousand UAE
Parimala 11 thousand Mongolia (not picked up)
Milian 11 thousand Mongolia (not picked up)

49th Janów Podlaski Auction: video impression

PDF version of the article

For the enthusiasts of Arabian horses cheering on Polish breeding the Arabian Horse Gala 2017 (August 11-14th) was not an easy experience despite a beautiful 200 year anniversary of Janów Podlaski State Stud. For the first two days horses, presenters, organizers and the public suffered in the tropical heat and on the third – in rain and cold. But Arabian horse fans fared well with extreme weather conditions and can endure a lot. It was only the greatly disappointing Pride of Poland Sale that ended with the lowest result in this event’s history: 410 thousand Euro from the main sale (six mares sold) and 144 thousand from the Summer Sale (eight mares) that spoiled the mood. This inevitably raises the question whether the auction should be continued in such form. The organizers will definitely have to think over the selling of horses this way.

Stumbling blocks

It seems that we have to get used to the fact that our recent national pride (Arabian horses) stopped being a pride to certain group of people – although it is the same group of horses. It is difficult to distinguish where those people are eagerly awaiting organizing mistakes and where they are provoking unfavorable situations for the event. This leads to one conclusion: it’s not about horses or concern about breeding, but a fight for lost power. “What has happened with Arabian horses in Poland is unfortunately our country in a nutshell”, said Anna Stojanowska (formerly of the Agricultural Property Agency) to money.pl portal and it is difficult not to agree with this. Also in other fields – almost all – there is a ruthless fight to get everything as it was before the last presidential and parliamentary election (2015) that have changed the political scene in Poland.

Two weeks before the National Show its organization was endangered, as the draft list of competing horses was leaked online. All who had a chance to see it realized that it was not a file ready for any publication, but waiting for correction (for example one of the fillies was placed among colts). How did it manage to find itself on of the subpages of the Pride of Poland website? The administrators of the website – Poznań International Fair – participated in the championships already for the second time, so they knew that the list cannot see daylight until a day before the show. As a result of carelessness or bad will (last year the Pride of Poland website was hacked) the entries had to be annulled and collected again, which greatly delayed work on the championship catalogue. In the end the catalogue was printed on time, but there was a lot of confusion and bad emotions.

Bad press was also heated by “fake news”. In case of the Pride of Poland the main fake news circulated first by “Świat koni” and later by other “friendly” media was the alleged plan to sell Pinga as Lot 0. The bogus info was probably a continuation of last year’s hysteria associated with the delayed return of the mare from her lease. However despite all efforts the spread of the news was limited to media owned by Verlagsgruppe Passau.

Later we witnessed a comedy regarding free passes called “invitations for honor guests”. The loudest were: a person representing a non-existing (since several years) magazine and seller of horse cosmetics… And the hostility of real media towards the Pride of Poland event truly surprised people from abroad following this situation. It was difficult for them to understand why Polish media are trying to destroy a signature event of Poland. Perhaps an answer to this question comes from many year French correspondent in Poland Bernard Marguerite, who told the weekly “Do Rzeczy” that “the media are more and more often becoming only a tool in the information war”.

Failure of the auction. Lots of guests, few buyers

There was no lack of people from the industry at Janów. There was the owner of Al Baydaa Stud from Egypt, Ahmed El Talawy, current lessee of Galerida; there was also Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani representing Al Shaqab Stud from Qatar. There was the long time cooperating with Polish breeders Christine Jamar from Belgium (Jadem Arabians). There were also the long awaited guests from China. The organizers stated that 30 people registered for the sale (44 last year, which shows a drop by 30%). The best clients were buyers from Romania, who last year made successful purchases and returned to the sale this year to buy. Who was missing apart from Mrs. Shirley Watts? Very noticeable was the absence of Tomasz Tarczyński and his Iranian group, rather active during previous sales.

The bidding, unlike other parts of the program, began with a half hour delay. Perhaps it was due to final testing of the electronic bidding system, which technically worked seamlessly. But already during the first horse it turned out that electronics slow down and “dehumanize” the bidding process. Increments of two thousand Euro in case of a horse that achieves over a 100 is a true lesson in patience. What’s worst is that the prolonged biddings most often did not lead to selling – either way the horse returned to the stable without achieving its reserve price. After two hours we were only in the middle of a drowsy auction with no end in sight… After more than four hours only six horses were sold. The lack of spotters in the ring, which have direct eye contact with the clients, did not help. The auctioneer, Michał Romanowski, did not see the faces and could not read their intentions – for him these people were just numbers. The bidding was therefore mechanical, without any emotions. In short, instead of fun there was boredom and finally torment of the guests, eagerly awaiting the auction’s end.

Everything shows that the valuation of the horses failed, just like last year. If we’re not offering huge stars, but decent broodmares, then the prices must be adequate. Not accepting some of the offers must have caused a surprise.

It all began rather well, because Gerda from Michałów, offered as Lot 1, was sold for 36 thousand Euro to Al Baydaa Stud. However the second in line, Janów’s Etira, walked off the arena unsold, although the bidding for her, step by step, reached 45 thousand Euro. This cooled off the natural emotions accompanying the beginning of the sale and caused consternation among the buyers. The mare, apart from one medal from St. Petersburg, cannot boast more show successes or any breeding achievements. As a daughter of Etnologia she definitely has a huge breeding potential, but cannot be considered a star. It seems that this mistake was costly, because that is the moment when the event came to a halt. There were no buyers for Psyche Victoria from Chrcynno and the owners’ expectations were high – the auctioneer started off from 100 thousand Euro. With Anawera (Lot 4), a five year old show mare who already has one filly on the ground and is in foal to World Champion EKS Alihandro, the bidding slowly took off – and after a long and tedious road to success achieved 110 thousand Euro. The price was offered by guests from Romania. Unfortunately there was only one buyer interested in Michałów’s Laranda (Lot 6), so he would have had to bid against himself. In previous years there would probably have been an “anonymous buyer” from Down Under to bid over the phone. But this way the 50 thousand Euro was too low to have the horse change owners. The buyer wanted to negotiate after the sale, but the president of Michałów Stud decided to offer her at a different time. Falborek’s Eksterna (Lot 7) returned to the stables unsold; while El Dorella found a buyer from Sweden for 47 thousand Euro. Then came out Prunella – and it was her who became the auction’s record seller, although this record is “just” 150 thousand Euro. Her bidding was not fierce, rather weary – a characteristic of the electronic system – but she did reach a reserve price. Prunella went to Suweco Stud of Nina Suskevicova of the Czech Republic. Is such a price for a three year old show champion high or low? At a recent auction organized by Giacomo Capacci in Villa Passerini near Cortona (Italy) the highest price was also 150 thousand Euro, offered by buyers from Israel for this year’s Reserve Champion from Scottsdale and Las Vegas, Arwa Aljassimya.

The auction continued and subsequent mares left the arena unsold. Only Pianissima’s granddaughter Pimenta was purchased for 42 thousand Euro (Great Britain) and the granddaughter of Pipi, Polana, achieved 25 thousand Euro. That was the end of any selling during the Pride of Poland 2017.

Some of the buyers set their minds of purchases at the Monday Summer Sale. But even then the interest was lower than expected – only 8 of the 29 offered horses were sold. After the sale Białka closed off on two transactions, thanks to which three horses will go to China – Janów’s Alsara and Białka’s Peluza and Emrisa. The highest sold horse at the Monday sale was Michałów’s Elgazonda (29 thousand Euro), won by Christine Jamar from Belgium. Two other Michałów horses (El Empiria, 23 thousand, and Zenga, 15 thousand) will go to Romania. The most touching moment was when for 12 thousand Euro Mrs. Anna Janas-Naze purchased Białka’s Hulina. The Polish breeder did not conceal her happiness. “My horse life has turned full circe”, she wrote on Facebook. “We welcome Hulina to our family, from the damline of my beloved late Herold!”. Such moments show that this “fun” can have a deeper sense.

And so the highest amount from selling horses was collected by Janów Stud (Prunella and Anawera are this year’s record holders; in all Janów sold 5 horses). The most horses were sold by Michałów (seven). Białka found buyers for 3 horses among the five offered. The least successful were the private breeders – only one horse changed owners, for the lowest price of both sales (Echo Bey Karima, 5 thousand Euro).

Efficiency suffered due to transparency

It is difficult to not ask why despite an intensive and properly aimed promotion potential buyers did not come to Janów? Definitely a result of “bad press” that could scare off those less resistant or calling for boycott. Scaring clients with a prosecutor is also not a good way of promoting Polish breeding. At least we were spared the exalted claims of “saving horses”… Either way it seems that the most that suffered were the private breeders, though it is not their war. Similar to the play of Max Frisch “The Arsonists” (1953) – a capable businessman living in a city full of arsonists believes that being nice will spare him trouble. He is disillusioned in the fire, but then it is too late…

But the list of causes of the failure of this year’s auction is longer and they are not just inner reasons. There are competitive auctions, saturation of the market (Middle Eastern studs such as Al Shaqab once came for breeding material to Poland, now they organize auctions themselves with hundreds of horses); the spread of embryotransfer due to which there are several foals from one superb mare per year.

There are several conclusions. First of all, a fear of accusations of selling out the most valuable breeding material stood in the way of the auction offer being more attractive. There were too few magnets on the list to stimulate the imagination of buyers. Conservative decisions did not bring success, especially since it would be best to counteract the intimidating of buyers by giving them an offer to fight for.

Second, the passivity in defending last year’s sale, which was not a failure, took its revenge. Its result placed it in the middle of the table. But the opponents of the event not only imposed their narration but also caused guilt in the organizers due to alleged violations, still under investigation by the prosecutor as notified by the “total opposition” and former president of Janów Podlaski, Marek Trela. Telling the public opinion that there was a crime (when in fact there was not) is sawing the branch you’re sitting on. Undermining the integrity of the auctioneer from a year ago also did nothing positive for the sale. The auction is an element for the brave. This courage was not here – and that’s how the one of its kind innovative bidding system came to be. It provided transparency of the auction, killing off all spontaneity, bidding speed and atmosphere of this event. You don’t need to have foresight to know these machines will be gone next year. As farrier Radosław Mojsym said in an interview for “Duży Format” (Gazeta Wyborcza): “This business has its cheats. Horses at markets will always be sold before dawn”. Transparency is a great virtue, but when you sell dreams – and that’s what it’s all about – the machine will not replace a person who knows his job.

Despite many adversities the organizers owe the failure also to themselves. It’s not enough to set up glamorous tents, the buyers should be cared for. If this is not taken care of, then you are working against yourself. Surprising is the wide smile of former Michałów director Jerzy Białobok (although he did not win Anawera), who after the auction appeared to be the happiest person in the room. He immediately walked towards the team of TVN, known for “cheering on” the Pride of Poland. Because he is also sitting in this wobbly boat of the Arabian business. The boat has not yet sunken, but has taken on a lot of water.

As we found out next year we can expect even five different auctions in Poland (two state stud and three private ones). So if there will be no auto reflection then the situation can become even more complicated, for all participants of this war. A collective suicide of the entire industry will take its toll also on the “trolls”, though none of them has their own horses.

And what conclusions will the Pride of Poland organizers draw from this year’s failure? We will see in a year’s time.

Results
(Net prices in Euro)
 
Pride of Poland 2017
(24 offered mares and 1 stallion)

Prunella 150 thousand Czech Republic
Anawera 110 thousand Romania*
El Dorella 47 thousand Sweden
Pimenta 42 thousand Great Britain
Gerda 36 thousand Egypt
Polana 25 thousand Poland

Summer Sale 2017
(29 offered mares)

Elgazonda 29 thousand Belgium
Demeter 23 thousand Namibia
El Empiria 23 thousand Romania
Fermata 22 thousand UAE
Alsara 15 thousand China
Zenga 15 thousand Romania
Hulina 12 thousand Poland
Echo Bey Karima 5 thousand Poland

Europia sold after the sale for an undisclosed sum to Romania
Peluza sold after the sale for an undisclosed sum to China*
Emrisa sold after the sale for an undisclosed sum to China*

*not picked up

You can find the whole coverage of the Polish Nationals and the Pride of Poland Sale here:

Polish Nationals 2017. Pogrom Best in Show, Zagrobla impresses with form. Pride of Poland Sale: time to change the formula?

A horse may have four legs, but that won’t prevent it from tripping

Chaos, lack of music, a sleepy audience and complete lack of a mood that should be present at this kind of event. The auction itself ended with a slight feeling of dissatisfaction, quick falls of the hammer, discontentment of the buyers, repeated biddings and a heavy and strangely stiff atmosphere… 

The above words are not a description of this year’s Pride of Poland, but a quote from an article that covered the Janów Sale in 2009. It was then that we witnessed a chaos surrounding the selling of Fallada. „She achieved a price of 480 thousand euro, after which the auctioneer declared that the mare did not reach her reserve price. However Jerzy Zbyszewski, who commented the sale, gave a contrary information that the mare was sold, but did not say where”, we wrote (through Rafał Czarnecki) on our website. The mare was eventually sold after the sale by way of negotiation to Belgium (Knocke Arabians) for 465 thousand euro.

We recall these events because human memory is short and unreliable. We’re not writing about last year’s records, because others are already doing so. A majority of people making comments about the last sale, surely imperfect in many ways, do not want to remember that it was not always so wonderful back in the day.

Either way, Janów Podlaski 2016 was to be different than ever before – and it was.

The main sale – a chronicle of the anticipated disaster

After a successful Polish National Show the organizers of the Janów event were full of optimism. There were stands full of people, 44 potential buyers who paid the required deposit, contentment on the faces of the guests from the VIP sector. First we heard the voice of Marek Grzybowski, organizer of the once Polish Prestige Sale, who visited Janów for the first time after 16 years of absence. It seemed that history made a loop, bridging new times with those past, though this time Marek Grzybowski did not conduct the sale, but represented a company which insured the sale horses. Auctioneer Greg Knowles started the bidding with humour and charm (though he later tended to mistake euro for dollars). Unfortunately that’s where the pleasant moments ended…

The first bidding – of Lot 0, being the 16 year old Emira, Polish National Champion from 2001 and 2004, 2002 champion from Aachen, 2014 World Bronze Champion – went rapidly. The price quickly achieved 350, then 450 thousand euro. Finally it was announced that the mare was sold for 550 thousand euro and everyone waited for information which country she would go to. This information however did not come. The concern of the gathered public was further roused by the bidding of another star, which was to give the auction a „push”. Al Jazeera, despite receiving a bid for 350 thousand euro, was not sold. This significantly contributed to the graveness of the atmosphere. At the end of the sale the auction’s commentator, Joanna Duszyk, announced a surprise – a repeated bidding of both mares.

However before we get to that, the buyers form Qatar successfully bid on Sefora (Lot 1) for 300 thousand euro (the highest price of the sale). Formia also surpassed the coveted 100 thousand euro mark and was sold for 125 to Romania. Ballena received an offer of 60 thousand (Sweden). Piaconella was not sold, and next came the confusion with Al Jazeera. Despite the consternation of the arena and the joy of a group of „well-wishers”, who awarded the blunder with huge applause, another mare, El Emeera, again achieved a good price – 160 thousand euro, offered by guests from Qatar. Esparta was purchased to Kuwait for 90 thousand euro. Later came a stagnation and subsequent horses left the arena unsold. Surprising was the lack of interest in the WH Justice daughter, Ekspiracja out of a dam by Monogramm. An interesting pedigree and beauty of the mare offered a chance of a high price. A lack of buyers willing to purchase this mare is one of the secrets of this auction.

This stagnation was finally broken by Wabia (Lot 13), sold for 100 thousand euro to the Middle East. The buyers from France activated themselves during the bidding for Ebona (30 thousand euro). The Kuwaiti purchased Angelina (50 thousand euro). A decent price was offered also for Cerena (33 thousand, Kuwait). The clients from Romania also successfully bid on Gabi (15 thousand euro), Cefena (15 thousand), Dama Trefl (18 thousand), Złota Korona (20 thousand) and Goltra (18 thousand). Edwina was sold to Saudi Arabia for 12 thousand.

And later, prior to the bidding on Alert (who didn’t have any interested buyers at 50 thousand, rather unsurprisingly), came the „surprise”. Emira once again entered the arena. The bidding proceeded strenuously, but proceed it did – until it reached 225 thousand euro, offered by the Swedish agent Anette Mattsson. The true buyer soon turned out to be the Qatari Al Thumama Stud – the one that the media informed would boycott (beside the American Hennessey Arabians) the auction. Let’s remind that Al Thumama is still leasing the stallion Morion.

„Important clients are boycotting the Pride of Poland Sale in Janów Podlaski”, heralded „Dziennik Wschodni” on May 9th**. And following the RMF FM radio station clarified that among the studs absent in the upcoming auction would be the “conflicted with Michałów Stud” Al Thumama from Qatar. „Important clients won’t come. Boycott of the Pride of Poland”, echoed TVN24 BIS and also mentioned Al Thumama. The information was also given among others by „Rzeczpospolita”, „Newsweek”, „Wprost”… Translated to English, it was spread across social media, as well as on the Facebook page „Reinstate Anna Stojanowska, Jerzy Białobok & Marek Trela”, set up by the manager of Al Thumama Stud.

„If an important buyer announces his absence at the Janów sale, others may find it suggestive”, Anna Stojanowska told the „Polska. Metropolia Warszawska” newspaper (16.08). No wonder that an influential buyer (and show sponsor), who first threatened to sue the stud that he previously cooperated with and announced that he won’t participate in the Janów sale – something that could discourage other potential buyers, including agents who could be worried about being stigmatized in the community – and later purchased the star of the auction for a price regarded by many commentators as a deal, was to many a great surprise. 

It seems that in the future potential buyers should not pay attention to information in the media (boycott of the sale, a dispute with a contracting party etc.) or a negative campaign in social media. Because they will be acting to their own disadvantage.

As „Gazeta Współczesna” wrote, a role in the bidding of Emira was also played by the former director of Janów Stud, Marek Trela: „Friends asked me to help them in the purchase of two horses, which I did, adding a little to the sale outcome”, he said. As the newspaper states, one of those horses was Emira. So did he therefore contribute to the selling of the sale’s star? „Also, because I was in constant contact with the lady who finally bought her”, admitted Marek Trela to AIP agency***.

However – if there was no (at least) six figure discharge allowance together with a non-competition clause – one shouldn’t expect that the fired stud directors would not run any business activity in the industry of Arabian horses. Though there may now be concerns about international judges having obligations towards particular studs and persons. „It would be bad if the former directors would act in the interests of buyers now. They possess reserved knowledge about the offered horses and on internal matters”, said the president of Janów Podlaski, Professor Sławomir Pietrzak (gazeta.pl****). 

However back to the auction. Al Jazeera was not sold. The bidding stopped at 200 thousand euro and the mare returned to the stable. The overall outcome was 1.271 million euro. Among the 31 horses offered for sale 16 found buyers.

Many people today ask whether the repeated bidding of both mares was a mistake or not. According to the organizers the purpose was to show the transparency of the auction. Marek Grzybowski comments: „It was a mistake. The reserve price was set at 700 thousand euro, which was unachievable in these conditions. Such prices can be paid for young mares with both a show and breeding future ahead of them. The confusion in not being able to establish the bidders of the highest offers during the first time was in my opinion the fault of the ringmasters. Perhaps the buyer withdrew himself, counting on the mare returning to the stable and being able to buy her for much less. Putting her in the auction ring again was as if saying „please give what you can”.

Also incomprehensible appear some of the other decisions regarding the reserve prices. For example Piaconella was offered a year ago (08.08.2015) at a tender in Michałów for 80 thousand PLN. Demanding a huge amount for her now had a very small chance of success. It would also be quite a feat to sell a horse with evident depigmentation. This was not managed.

Also not without significance was the offer itself, weaker than in previous years. That was noticed by auction frequenters, among others Faisal Al o Taibe from Saudi Arabia, who said to the New York Times newspaper: „the quality of the horses of the auction has dropped”*****. Similar opinions could be read on internet forums.

For the first time there was a group of people on the arena who clearly waited for every mistake. That was a novelty. Until now the public was always happy with the auction successes and was sad when the auction hit some bumps. This time there were clearly people wishing the sale ill luck. The conduction of the sale itself is still disputed about and this subject will probably continue for some time.

The disaster of the auction (though in the financial sense it was not a complete disaster; its result, as given by TVN station******, is 9th best since 2003 during the last 14 years) was made up of many other factors, which will definitely be analysed more than once. The organizers are not without fault (the commentary and music were poor and the ringstewards – though experienced according to TVP Info, as they had worked years ago with Animex and Polturf******* – just couldn’t cope). However it must be noted that the organizers worked under lots of pressure. Never before was there such a crowd of cameras and microphones right after the sale during an improvised press conference in a tent. There never were, because nobody expected such a conference before. No one attacked the organizers, even if the results were not the best and all explanations were considered well-meant. Not this time. The media behaved like hunters pursuing their prey. Already before they made the sale a political matter, which could not benefit the selling. Buyers do not like to be in the hot seat in the public eye – neither in Poland, nor in the world.

The overall bad atmosphere could not have not affected the potential buyers. Many people are noticing more and more that the declarations to stigmatize the people that would come to the Pride of Poland contributed to a smaller attendance. „Everybody has the right to buy a horse where and whenever they want”, we read in one of the comments pointing to the ethical aspect of the entire situation.

It should be mentioned that the „witch-hunt” was actively conducted by people who each time emphasize that Arabian horse breeding is something very close to their heart.

The effects of this love could’ve been witnessed during this year’s auction.

In the satirical play of Alexander Ostrovsky titled „A horse may have four legs, but that won’t prevent from tripping”******** (1868) one of the characters is working on a „Treaty on the harmfulness of reforms in general”. It also includes many other interesting and surprisingly modern motifs. I won’t encourage to read it, because nobody probably will. And that’s a shame.

Monday: the success of the Summer Sale

The excellent impression which accompanied the participants of the Janów event after the Polish Nationals appeared again during the Summer Sale. Auctioneers – Greg Knowles (USA) and the accompanying him Michał Romanowski, who has conducted many sales at the Służewiec Racetrack, were a harmonious duet and worked hard on each horse in order to sell it as best they could. The result of their efforts was very good – it was one of the best auctions ever since it became the Selection Sale and later the Summer Sale. Out of the 25 offered horses 18 found buyers. The prices stretched from 8 thousand euro for Michałów’s Chimera (who will remain in Poland) and Janów’s Poema (who will go to the UAE), to 50 thousand for Ersa from Michałów, purchased by Stanisław Redestowicz (StanRed Arabians). Ersa will also be joined by Kachiria (14 thousand euro).

Ersa would not have been the highest sold horse of the Summer Sale, had the owner of Lot 11 Ewarda, Krzysztof Goździalski from Falborek Arabians, decided to sell his mare. The bidding reached 95 thousand euro! The reserve price was 100 thousand, which is an unheard of amount at a sale considered „supplementary” to the main sale. Usually the seller, when the sum gets close to the reserve price (and this was the case here), agrees to sell the horse slightly below his expectations. Not this time.

The Chinese were expected to participate in the sale, however they did not show up. But guests from Romania turned out to be rather good buyers. This is a new direction in the selling of Polish horses. During the Summer Sale the Romanians bought 4 horses: Oria (20 thousand), Czeszka (33 thousand), Egipta (20 thousand) and Elekteria (20 thousand). They also made purchases the day before during the main sale. Buyers from Kuwait secured two horses (Fila with a colt by Pogrom for 36 thousand and Alshira for 27 thousand). Other buyers came from Namibia (Złota Rola – 28 thousand, Perylla – 17 thousand), the UK (Pustynna Perła – 35 thousand, Felliza – 12 thousand), Saudi Arabia (Hulina – 13 thousand), Italy (Zenteria – 23 thousand) and the United Arab Emirates (apart from Poema also Entorja – 32 thousand and Fuksja – 13 thousand). The efficient and good atmosphere resulted in the total outcome of more than 400 thousand euro. The buyers were pleased, because the prices reflected the real value of the horses. So were the sellers, because it turned out that the lack of buyers was untrue.

Results

(Net prices in EUR)

Pride of Poland 2016

(30 mares offered and 1 stallion)

 
Sefora 300 thousand, Qatar

Emira 225 thousand, Qatar

El Emeera 160 thousand, Qatar

Formia (colt Filister by Vitorio TO sold after the auction with her) 125 thousand, Romania

Wabia 100 thousand, Kuwait

Esparta 90 thousand, Kuwait

Ballena 60 thousand, Sweden

Angelina 50 thousand, Kuwait

Cerena 33 thousand, Kuwait

Ebona 30 thousand, France

Złota Korona 20 thousand, Romania

Dama Trefl 18 thousand, Romania

Goltra 18 thousand, Romania

Gabi 15 thousand, Romania

Cefena 15thousand, Romania

Edwina 12 thousand, Saudi Arabia

Al Jazeera sold after the auction for a price not publicly given to Qatar

 
Summer Sale 2016

(25 mares offered)

 
Ersa 50 thousand, Poland

Fila (with colt by Pogrom) 36 thousand, Kuwait

Pustynna Perła 35 thousand, GB

Czeszka 33 thousand, Romania

Entorja 32 thousand, ZEA

Złota Rola 28 thousand, Namibia

Alshira 27 thousand, Kuwait

Zenteria 23 thousand, Italy

Oria 20 thousand, Romania

Egipta 20 thousand, Romania

Elekteria 20 thousand, Romania

Perylla 17 thousand, Namibia

El Kachira 14 thousand, Poland

Hulina 13 thousand, Saudi Arabia

Fuksja 13 thousand, UAE

Felliza 12 thousand, GB

Chimera 8 thousand, Poland

Poema 8 thousand,GB

—————————————————————–

P.D. – Examples of other auctions, which did not necessarily avoid complications:

2012 – we wrote: „Few buyers, low prices, very slight enthusiasm from the public – one could only dream about a heated atmosphere which should accompany an event of this rank”. (The overall sum at the time was 1.325 million euro from the main sale and 99.6 thousand from the Selection Sale). There is also some confusion with the selling of Ejrene: „The auctioneer announced that the expected priced is one million euro, but when the bidding came to a halt he was ready to seal the transaction at 450 thousand euro. The buyer however did not raise his offer and the mare returned to the stable. It was not until the end of the entire sale that Ejrene once again appeared on the arena. It was announced then that she was sold for the last offered bid”.

2011 – 14 horses are bought by a mysterious buyer from Australia, who does not pay for the horses later on. The final result of the sale is therefore much different than the one that is made public.

2010 – the main sale brings in just above a million euro. „The round 10th anniversary of organizing the event by Polturf did not end in a great celebration, as there wasn’t much to be happy about. It was the weakest auction of the past several years, as 10 out of the 36 horses offered in the main sale did not sell. Several were bought without any fight whatsoever after reaching the reserve price, which this year seemed to be set for many horses at a low level of 10 thousand Euro”, we wrote.

2001 – a new organizer (Polturf) takes over the auction after the removal of Polish Prestige. Out of the 39 horses offered in the main sale as many as 15 remain unsold and the average achieved price per mare is slightly below 40 thousand dollars.

———————————————–

The whole original article about the Arabian Horse Gala 2016 (A horse may have four legs, but that won’t prevent it from tripping) you can find here

**http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/artykuly/520145,wazni-klienci-bojkotuja-aukcje-koni-arabskich-pride-of-poland-w-janowie-podlaskim.html
***http://www.wspolczesna.pl/polska-i-swiat/a/pride-of-poland-marek-trela-prestiz-janowa-podlaskiego-dotkliwie-ucierpial,10517386/
****http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,20564115,naganna-aukcja-w-janowie-a-wladze-stadniny-przykrywaja.html

*****http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/14/world/europe/ap-eu-poland-prized-horses.html?_r=1
******Fakty, 16.08. http://www.tvn24.pl/wideo/z-anteny/16-08-2016-nie-cichna-glosy-krytyki-po-tegorocznej-aukcji-w-janowie-podlaskim-czy-posypia-sie-dymisje,1550552.html?playlist_id=19989

*******http://www.tvp.info/26615005/kto-wylicytowal-emire-portal-tvpinfo-odslania-kulisy-chaosu-w-janowie-podlaskim
********Polish title for the play „Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man” (original Russian title: „На всякого мудреца довольно простоты”)

Record after record at the 2015 auction

The 2015 Pride of Poland Sale (Sunday, August 16th) was just five thousand Euro away from achieving an aggregate of a round 4 million Euro. As a comparison: last year this sum amounted to 2.74 million Euro, so twice as less. In turn the Summer Sale for the first time surpassed 600 thousand Euro (the final result of both auctions was 4,598,500 Euro: 3,995,000 from the main Pride of Poland Sale and 603,500 from the Summer Sale). The record result was made up of record prices for individual horses: Pepita achieved 1.4 million Euro – more than in 2008 World Champion Kwestura, purchased by Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi from Ajman Stud for 1.125 million Euro. For the privately bred and owned (Falborek Arabians) Wasa a buyer paid 252 thousand Euro and for Melody (bred and owned by Małgorzata and Józef Pietrzak) as much as 60 thousand Euro during the Summer Sale. 

There was also a record number of buyers – the tables in the VIP sector during the National Show were so close that it was almost impossible to walk by. There were even – perhaps for the first time ever – guests from China. However the highest bid came not from the VIP sector, but from the honorary tribune. Pepita’s buyer, representing Switzerland, outbid offers from Saudi Arabia and Qatar and later came onto the arena to celebrate his success in the spotlights. The arena was buzzing not only from the loud music, but also from gossip. Such spectacular purchases are usually made by well known Arabian horse buyers – descending from the Middle East or the UK (Halsdon Arabians). This time was different, which caused a wave of speculation. For who was this buyer working for? Iran? UAE? Saudi Arabia? Will he prove to be trustworthy? We will have to wait for an answer. 

Mares as hot items

Meanwhile however Polish mares were snatched up like scarce goods during the communist era. Only four (Esmeta, Cyraneczka, Flaminia, Ewena) did not reach their reserve price and left the arena unsold, but probably even they will find new buyers in the days to come.

After the Janów-bred 2014 Polish National Champion Pepita (Ekstern – Pepesza/Eukaliptus), listed as Lot 1, came time for Michałów’s 21 year old Georgia (Monogramm – Gizela/Palas), the dam of World Champion Galilea. “For Georgia it is the last moment in terms of breeding, though with today’s breeding techniques she will still be able to produce several foals. She can also win at prestigious shows. This is an offer for a true connoisseur”, said Michałów director Jerzy Białobok before the sale. The connoisseur turned out to be Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmad bin Abdulaziz, the owner of the Saudi Athbah Stud, which is already a home to several other Polish mares – Piacolla, Pomerania, Panika, Andaluzja, Ellissara, Etenta and Ermina. Because many horses purchased by Athbah Stud don’t leave Europe, remaining at European training centers, Georgia doesn’t have to worry about a radical change of climate. She will also probably meet her former stablemates from Poland. The mare achieved a price of 105 thousand Euro.

Lot 3, Janów’s Berenika (Eden C – Belgica/Gazal Al Shaqab) turned out to be slightly cheaper, but still quite expensive – 75 thousand Euro was offered for her by Suweco Stud from the Czech Republic. Lot 4 – multichampion Pistoria (Gazal Al Shaqab – Palmira/Monogramm) from Michałów, rekindled the auction thrills. Her bidding ended with a staggering result of 625 thousand Euro and the lucky buyer was Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani from Al Zobair Stud, known for his respect and admiration towards Polish horses. Pistoria will definitely become a worthy successor at is stud to her grandam Palestra by Penitent.

A high price was also predicted in the case of Michałów’s Wieża Róż (Ekstern – Wieża Babel/Laheeb). And this soon proved true – the mare will go to Qatar (Al Thumama Stud) for the sum of 270 thousand Euro. Also to Qatar, to a new stud of an undisclosed name, will go the new record price holder for a private owned horse, Wasa (WH Justice – Waresa/Empres), the dam of the internationally successful Wersa (by Ekstern). Her bidding was very interesting, because the increments “dripped” by a thousand up to 204 thousand Euro, after which the price took off to 250 thousand. Finally an agent from Germany raised it to 252 thousand and that was that. In that moment the overall auction result surpassed 3 million Euro. 

There were so many Saudi buyers that sale announcer Anna Stojanowska said more than once: “The mare will traditionally go to Saudi Arabia”. The Saudis won Anilla by Pesal (35 thousand). Eustachia by QR Marc (21 thousand), Wkra by Gazal Al Shaqab (260 thousand), Nefertari by Piaff (20 thousand), Ganga by Emigrant (88 thousand), Argolida by Grafik (16 thousand) and Farsala by Laheeb (36 thousand). A new home in Kuwait will be found by Esidona by Galba (56 thousand), Eureda by Ekstern (65 thousand) and Febris by Amir Ashiraf (40 thousand). Panonia by Eukaliptus (67 thousand) will head to the UAE. Iran will take over Wadi Halfa by Ekstern (36 thousand).

Not counting the buyer of Pepita, only four non-Middle Eastern countries were actively represented during the auction: the Czech Republic, Austria (Pellena by Ganges, 17 thousand), Great Britain and Belgium. The purchases of Shirley Watts this year included the mares Adyga (Kahil Al Shaqab – Amiga/Piaff) – 130 thousand and Altamira (Ekstern – Altona/Eukaliptus) – 250 thousand. Another known breeder, Christine Jamar, enlarged her collection with El Ghazala (Ekstern – Emigracja/Palas) – 65 thousand among others.

Just the daughters of Ekstern brought in 2.86 million Euro during this year’s auction. Even if we add the 45 thousand achieved during the Summer Sale, it will be clear that the 21 year old Polish multichampion and sire deserves great congratulations!

On Monday (August 17th) the records continue

Not only the main sale, but also the Summer Sale can boast record prices. For Melody by Psytadel (S/14), bred and owned by Małgorzata and Józef Pietrzak, a buyer from Iran paid 60 thousand Euro. Up to now the highest price at the Summer Sale was 42 thousand Euro offered last year for Elfera. As a matter of fact the prices at this year’s Summer Sale turned out to be record-setting in general. For Perespa (Enzo – Polenta/Ecaho) buyers from Saudi Arabia paid 42 thousand, Egeriana (Poganin – Elizka/Pamir) will go to Kuwait for 31 thousand, Wersja by Poganin to Saudi Arabia for 35 thousand, Elara by Gazal Al Shaqab (Poland) – 39 thousand, Mata Hari (Werbum – Martynika/Monogramm) – 47 thousand, Natasza by Ekstern (Kuwait) – 31 thousand and Złota Księga by Ganges (Saudi Arabia) – 30 thousand. Only 2 mares did not reach their reserve price. Also the stallions, Espimar and Gaspar, remained unsold. 

An unparallel success of this year’s auction lets us remain calm about the future of Polish Arabians – at least in the near years, until the time for an economic downturn comes again. But even in times of crisis, as previous years have shown, the Polish studs are doing rather well.

Results

(Net prices in EUR)

Pride of Poland 2015

(28 offered mares)

Pepita 1400 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Pistoria 625 thousand, UAE
Wieża Róż thousand, Qatar
Wkra 260 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Wasa 252 thousand, Qatar
Altamira 250 thousand, GB
Adyga 130 thousand, GB
Georgia 105 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Ganga 88 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Berenika 75 thousand, Czech Rep.
Panonia 67 thousand, UAE
El Ghazala 65 thousand, Belgium
Eureda 65 thousand, Kuwait
Esidona 56 thousand, Kuwait
Emmbelarda 46 thousand, Belgium
Febris 40 thousand, Kuwait
Farsala 36 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Wadi Halfa 36 thousand, Iran
Anilla 35 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Eustacha 21 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Nefertari 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Sanda 20 thousand, Belgiium
Pellena 17 thousand, Austria
Argolida 16 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Ewena sold after the auction for a not publicly given price

Summer Sale 2015

(29 offered mares nad 2 stallions)

Melody 60 thousand, Iran
Mata Hari 47 thousand, Kuwait
Perespa 46 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Elara 39 thousand, Poland
Wersja 35 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Egeriana 31 thousand, Kuwait
Natasza 31 thousand, Iran
Złota Księga 30 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Galeona 27 thousand, Kuwait
Bursa 23 thousand, Iran
Czateria 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Karbala 20 thousand, Kuwait
Estuma 18 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Zuzelia 17, 5 thousand, Kuwait
Etisa 17 thousand, (?)
Ereira 16 thousand, GB
Eyrynia 16 thousand, Kuwait
Brekina 15 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Euzetia 15 thousand, Poland
Miriana 14 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Papua 11 thousand, Kuwait
Fellena 11 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Grasantka 10 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Heriana 9 thousand, Kuwait
Baida 9 thousand, Sweden
Floriana 8 thousand, Poland
Elwa 8 thousand, Saudi Arabia

Read the whole article about the Arabian Horse Days 2015 (Record after record at the 2015 auction. The Nationals almost without private breeding) here

Breathtaking Piacolla (August 15th-17th)

 
If we were to assess the macroeconomic situation by the results of this year’s Pride of Poland Sale we should herald the end of all crises. However it is common knowledge that the Arabian horse market goes by its own rules and doesn’t necessarily reflect the global tendencies. Nevertheless a certain „sagging” could be felt over the last couple of years – there were less buyers, lower prices, more horses remained unsold. This time there was an air of optimism and the atmosphere of the auction itself was much better, because even those horses that returned to the stables unsold stirred interest – a huge feat, since in the past the auctioneer’s best efforts were sometimes met with a deadly silence. This year the auction was indeed a true gala of the Arabian horse and the buyers didn’t have to be begged to place quite high bids.

Prices and destinations
 
There weren’t any „high income” horses that would bring half a million euro, but nevertheless the vast majority of the horses changed owners. The public’s enthusiasm did well for the bidding. The highest sold horses, as expected, was the Michałów-bred young champion Piacolla (Enzo – Polonica/Ekstern). Just two years of age, she already has a huge collection of titles under her belt, including Junior Spring Show Champion Mare from Białka, Polish National Junior Champion from Janów Podlaski and European Junior Bronze Champion from Verona. The magnificent looking and full of charm bay filly was out of reach for many of the auction’s guests. The highest price – 305 thousand euro – was offered by Athbah Stud from Saudi Arabia. And so Piacolla will join other Polish mares (Pomerania, Panika, Andaluzja, Ellissara, Etenta and Ermina) already owned by Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmad bin Abdulaziz. After a very promising beginning, when the first three offered mares readily found buyers (Gazal Al Shaqab daughters: Norma for 250 thousand euro to Al Muawd Stud from Saudi Arabia, Perfirka for 220 thousand euro to Cedar Ridge Arabians from the US and Alabama for 165 thousand euro to Qatar), there was a slight musical break before the „entrance of the dragon”, namely – the bidding for Piacolla (Lot 4). And though after her sale the tension subsided somewhat, the buyers still kept the momentum going. Already Lot 7 – Wieża Marc’a (by QR Marc), sold for 70 thousand euro to Sinus Arabian Stud (Sweden) – broke the barrier of one million euro. Two millions were „broken” after the sale of another Gazal Al Shaqab daughter, Windawa (45 thousand euro, Saudi Arabia). The overall outcome of the Sunday sale amounted to 2.074 million euro.

 
The purchases of Shirley Watts (UK) this year included three mares: Cenoza by Ekstern (240 thousand euro), Emantia by Emigrant (180 thousand euro) and Alhambra by Ecaho (140 thousand euro). What’s interesting is that the Halsdon Arabians breeder usually buys horses from Janów, but this time she decided also on a Michałów purchase (Emantia). Two horses from the main sale will remain in Poland: Pustynna Róża by Emigrant (15 thousand) and Piraneza by Ecaho (36 thousand). The first will enrich the stud of StanRed Arabians and the second of PPH Parys. Out of the stallions offered at the Summer Sale only one found a buyer – Pegasus (Gazal Al Shaqab – Pepesza/Eukaliptus) and he will also stay in Poland. Only Europia, Chimera, Dębowa Polana and Elima left the ring unsold, but in the course of post-sale negotiations the last two found buyers soon after.

 
Clients from Iran made themselves seen with their purchases of Papusza (20 thousand), Piera (81 thousand), Zigana (34 thousand), Perrara (7 thousand) and during the Summer Sale – Herminja (7 thousand). Monday’s Summer Sale revealed that new destinations for Arabian horses are in the making: heading for Namibia (Africa) are three daughters of Ganges: Janów’s Eora (12 thousand) and Czartana (10 thousand) and Michałów’s Drzewica (18 thousand).

The private breeders also had reasons to celebrate. Fortycja (Pegasus – Florencja/Oset) from Bełżyce Stud was sold to Saudi Arabia for 80 thousand, Falborek’s Szanta (Ekstern – Słonka/Wojsław) to Germany for 24 thousand, whereas Przemysław Sawicki’s Lenka (Piaff – Ludmiła/Pesal) also went to Germany for 37 thousand. Not to mention the rather large sums that the Monday Summer Sale brought. Its record holder was the Lech Błaszczyk bred Elfera (Psytadel – Eiffla/Ekstern). Buyers from Saudi Arabia paid 42 thousand. The yearling Zinaria (Shanghai E.A. – Zeksterna/Ekstern, Czeple Arabians) achieved 20 thousand (Saudi Arabia); Bint Mama (Marajj – Bint Moleta/Ecaho) from Falborek – 16 thousand (Kuwait); similarly her stablemate Sotika (WH Justice – Słonka/Wojsław), which will head for Germany; Moja Miła (Złocień – Malowana Lala/Empres) of Krzysztof Falba – 23 thousand (Saudi Arabia), Ewitacja (Ganges – Ewunia/Etogram) from Mała Wieś – 7,5 thousand (Saudi Arabia), Missouri (Wachlarz – Mina/Monogramm) – 14 thousand (Saudi Arabia). Only three mares from the Summer Sale remained unsold (out of 26) which is an unusual result in comparison to previous sales (last year only 8 were sold out of the 26 offered). The concept of creating a separate Monday sale appears to be a huge hit and seems to be developing in the right direction.

Results

(Net prices in EUR)

Pride of Poland 2014

(28 mares offered in the catalogue, 1 withdrawn, 27 present)

Piacolla 305 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Norma 250 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Cenoza 240 thousand, GB
Perfirka 220 thousand, USA
Emantia 180 thousand, GB
Alabama 165 thousand, Qatar
Alhambra 140 thousand, GB
Piera 81 thousand, Iran
Fortycja 80 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Wieża Marc’a 70 thousand, Sweden
Zadora 47 thousand, UAE
Windawa 45 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Lenka 37 thousand, Germany
Piraneza 36 thousand, Poland
Zigana 34 thousand, Iran
Szanta 24 thousand, Germany
Primawera 22 thousand, Belgium
Czarnota 20 thousand, Qatar
Hestia 20 thousand, Russia
Papusza 20 thousand, Iran
Elima 15 thousand, GB
Pustynna Róża 15 thousand, Poland
Huella 12 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Perrara 11 thousand, Iran
Dębowa Polana sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to Australia

Summer Sale 2014

(28 mares offered in the catalogue, 1 withdrawn, 27 present and 3 stallions)

Elfera 42 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Espa 30 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Emberiza 26 thousand, GB
Moja Miła 23 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Zinaria 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Drzewica 18 thousand, Namibia
Bint Mama 16 thousand, Kuwait
Sotika 16 thousand, Germany
Lanckorona 15,5 thousand, Kuwait
Missouri 14 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Eora 12 thousand, Namibia
Bordiura 11 thousand, Kuwait
Emfonia 11 thousand, Belgium
Czartana 10 thousand, Namibia
Eskarina 10 thousand, Kuwait
Bajana 9 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Elfuria 9 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Erie 9 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Ellua 8 thousand, UAE
Ewitacja 7,5 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Celma 7 thousand, Kuwait
Cyrwila 7 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Herminja 7 thousand, Iran
Gemellia sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to do USA
Piktawia sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to Poland

Pegasus 16 thousand, Poland

You can find the whole article about the Arabian Horse Days 2014 (Janów Podlaski 2014: Sensational Equator, breathtaking Piacolla) here

Half a million for El Saghira

The grand success of this year’s Janów Podlaski sale which brought in more than two million Euro last Sunday (August 18th) and a further 124 thousand on Monday (August 19th) can easily obscure the fact that there is still a lack of buyers for the average-priced horses. Transactions are sealed mainly for the biggest stars for sky-high prices and for bargain-horses, being good specimen at low prices. Decent horses, which should achieve decent prices, find buyers only when they are really inexpensive! It is extremely difficult to sell a weak horse. 63% of the overall outcome from the Pride of Poland Sale – 2,072,000 Euro – was “made” by just three mares: Belgica (410 thousand) and Ekspulsja (400 thousand), purchased by Shirley Watts (UK) and the record seller of this year’s sale, El Saghira, sold to Ajman Stud for a round half a million Euro. It remains a mystery why Spała, a price record holder of the Summer Sale from Monday (40 thousand Euro), was not featured in the Pride of Poland, while others that qualified sometimes did not find interest among the buyers even for 5 thousand Euro.

New and good ideas

Without a doubt the construction of the auction list in such a way to have the (potentially) most expensive horses accelerate the bidding turned out to be a good move. We all remember how the atmosphere sank in previous years when subsequent horses left the arena unsold. The level of optimism decreased with each horse that did not find a buyer. This time the sale received a huge boost when the price of Belgica (Gazal Al Shaqab – Belladona/Europejczyk), offered as Lot 1, soared to 410 thousand Euro. Right after Lot 2 – El Saghira (Galba – Emira/Laheeb), set the record of the 2013 sale: half a million Euro! El Saghira was won by Elisa Grassi (wife of Frank Spönle) for Ajman Stud. Lot 3 was a “return to reality”, achieving a still decent price of 45 thousand Euro. Eferada (QR Marc – Efuzja/Emigrant) will head for Saudi Arabia. In all a total of 12 mares from the main list will end up in the Middle East (beside those already mentioned: Alegra, 45 thousand, Wagira, 45 thousand, Figurantka, 21 thousand, Zmowita, 20 thousand, Ostoja, 18 thousand and Espinilla, 67 thousand – will head for Saudi Arabia; Perlahaba, 20 thousand and Prosna, 12 thousand – to Kuwait, Eudora, 33 thousand – to UAE). Remaining in Europe, beside Belgica and Ekspulsja, are: Pietra (95 thousand, will join the others at Halsdon Arabians of Mrs. Watts’), Dama Kier (50 thousand, France), Cerinola (25 thousand, Germany), Kraśnica and Złota Orda (65 thousand and 35 thousand, Sweden) and Enaam (33 thousand, Austria). Palatina and Poezja will not leave Poland (90 thousand and 22 thousand, PPH Parys Ltd.); Antaja will fly to the USA (21 thousand). As we can see almost half of the sale’s result (905 thousand Euro) cames courtesy of Shirley Watts, before which Janów Podlaski should roll out the red carpet and maybe even build a monumental statue. Out of the 27 mares in the offer only 5 returned as unsold to their maternal stables.

The successful result of the sale probably also had to with the fact of moving the Arabian Horse Days so that they would took place after the Ramadan. This date is definitely more suitable for buyers from the Middle East.

Another good move was the rescheduling of the sale, known previously as “silent”, to Monday and changing its formula. Bidding on horses in an empty arena gave a very sullen impression. This time the horses were led out onto the arena just like during the main sale. And though there was less public and VIPs than during Sunday, the noon-ish time of day made the auction less dreary than when held in previous years after the main sale. Only 8 mares out of the 26 offered were sold. The most emotions were stirred by Spała (Ekstern – Słonka/Wojsław), bred and owned by Bogusław Dąbrowski, for which a buyer from Saudi Arabia offered a higher price (40 thousand) than those offered by buyers the day before for several mares from the main list. Second placed Michałów’s Pustynna Fiesta (Ekstern – Pustynna Róża/Emigrant), secured by buyers from the UAE for 23 thousand Euro.

The new auctioneer from Ireland, Andrew Nolan, lived up to his task and conducted the bidding very well. It’s only a pity that the sound system in the arena was a bit shaky over on the “worse” side, as in the one on the opposite side of the VIP tables. It took a lot of effort to understand what the auctioneer and announcer, Anna Stojanowska, were saying.

The biggest income was made by Michałów Stud, which is a lovely result in a year when the stud celebrates its 60th anniversary: 1.194 million! Plus an additional 55,600 from the Summer Sale. Second placed Janów Podlaski with 816 thousand plus 10,500 from the Summer Sale. Third came the private breeders with 81 thousand (including the Summer Sale). Closing the field is Białka with 39 thousand from both sales.

An analog heritage park

Battling modern methods of coverage is tilting at windmills – you can delay the introduction of changes, but they are inevitable. Similarly to the coverage. The lack of broadcast from the National Show caused a wave of outrage among normal viewers, who could not come to Janów. Regardless of the organizer’s reason behind this, there simply is no other way – of course if we care about the promotion of Polish horses. If not, we can create a heritage park of sorts. We must add that the decision was not consistent – in the last moment it turned out that the auction was broadcast after all. So what, since many people convinced that there is no coverage, didn’t even bother searching for it. Either way, the confusion with the broadcast did not suit the promotion of the “Polish Arabian” brand, though we will find defenders of the non-broadcast concept who will say that it is better to meet in person than by means of the internet. That’s true, but the organizers of the Arabian Horse Days do not make these meetings easy for the Arabian community. Strictly divided zones, guarded by an army of security people are not a good idea for creating a pleasant atmosphere. Especially since many participants were unpleasantly surprised that their VIP passes were not what they thought they were. Breeders which gave up on the catering (there were complaints about it for years anyway) were additionally sentenced to separate entrances (one would want to say “from the kitchen”, though it was the kitchen that the breeders wished to avoid…), sitting behind high barriers in the indoor arena which made viewing difficult and on Monday – a lack of tables and water – unavailable outside the VIP sector. The Monday restrictions, which hit many interested breeders, were difficult to understand because the “better” VIPs were already few that day. Therefore the excessive protection could not have resulted from fear of a large crowd in the VIP sector. In turn the members of the PAHBS, who on Friday and Saturday had at their disposal the worse part of the tent, were outraged that they only saw a part of the arena – the rest was obscured by a curtain hanging between two sectors.
Since the better and worse guests did not have a chance to meet, it is hard to speak about a gala, a mutual celebration in the real world.

What next?

Let’s hope that in the future the National Show will not transform into a competition between just two studs. It is true that standing in the barns of Janów and Michałów are one of the most beautiful horses in the world, but the temperature of the contest would rise if other horse owners could have a feeling that it is also their show. Returning like a boomerang is the subject of qualifying horses for the main sale. Despite a clear decrease in numbers, motivated by the “elitism” of the group, the list still includes horses known colloquially as “monthly tender” horses, meaning they are of lesser value and lower the overall quality of the offer. In turn the auction, which today is known as the Summer Sale, each year brings surprises showing that a proper selection of private bred horses can bring a rather good result.

Results
(Net prices in EUR)

Pride of Poland 2013
(27 mares offered)

El Saghira 500 thousand, Ajman, UAE
Belgica 410 thousand, GB
Ekspulsja 400 thousand, GB
Pietra 95 thousand, GB
Palatina 90 thousand, Poland
Espinilla 67 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Kraśnica 65 thousand, Sweden
Dama Kier 50 thousand, France
Alegra 45 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Eferada, 45 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Wagira 45 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Złota Orda 35 thousand, Sweden
Enaam, 33 thousand, Austria
Eudora 33 thousand, UAE
Cerinola 25 thousand, Germany
Poezja 22 thousand, Poland
Antaja 21 thousand, USA
Figurantka 21 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Perlahaba 20 thousand, Kuwait
Zmowita 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Ostoja 18 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Prosna 12 thousand, Kuwait

Summer Sale 2013
(26 mares offeres, 1 withrawn, 25 present)

Spała 40 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Pustynna Fiesta 23 thousand, UAE
Wieża Snów 14 thousand, UAE
Permila 18 thousand, Belgium
Cervinia 10,5 thousand, UAE
Dombra 7,5 thousand, USA
Ellanda 5,6 thousand, France
Zatoka Perska 5,5 thousand, Germany
Alcazara sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to Saudi Arabia
Bint Moleta sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to UAE
Ezygona sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to UAE
Warsa sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to Saudi Arabia

Read the whole article (Arabian Horse Days 2013: half a million for El Saghira, Norma Best in Show) here

Unattainable millions

Few buyers, low prices, very slight enthusiasm from the public – one could only dream about a heated atmosphere which should accompany an event of this rank. Even the number of trade booths was considerably smaller than last year. That in short is the summary of this year’s Pride of Poland. The two stars offered at the auction – Etnologia and Ejrene – were sold for impressive sums, but sums which weren’t even close to the expected millions. Both mares, though of world-class quality, did not manage to give the entire auction the much needed “push”, which indicated that the crisis – so long avoided by the Arabian horse industry – finally found its way to Poland. The overall outcome of 1,325 million euro brought in by the main sale and a further 99,6 thousand from the Selection Sale is not a result which can be considered a great success, though two years ago the aggregate from both was even lower, barely surpassing one million euro with only one mare being sold for more than 100 thousand euro (Pilar). Of course things could always be worse. “I remember many auctions, also those with much lower prices”, comments Prof. Krystyna Chmiel from the Polish Arabian Horse Breeders Society board. “After the American financial crisis the 1995 sale’s highest price was 35 thousand dollars for the daughter of Pilarka – Pisanka by Pepton. But it is also true that this year’s offer was all over the place. There were three stars, then nothing for a long while and finally the rest of the offer. In my opinion there was too large of a disproportion in the quality of the offered horses.”

How the stars were sold

The highest price of the auction was achieved by Michałów’s Ejrene (Gazal Al Shaqab – Emocja/Monogramm), for whom the owner of Kwestura, Sheikh Ammar Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, the Crowned Prince of Ajman, offered 440 thousand euro by means of his agent, one of the most renowned trainers and handlers in the world – Frank Spönle. The price was not immediately accepted by the seller. The auctioneer announced that the expected priced is one million euro, but when the bidding came to a halt he was ready to seal the transaction at 450 thousand euro. The buyer however did not raise his offer and the mare returned to the stable. It was not until the end of the entire sale that Ejrene once again appeared on the arena. It was announced then that she was sold for the last offered bid. Therefore the Director of Michałów Stud, Jerzy Białobok, could enjoy the highest price of the auction. On a side note – demanding a million euro for Ejrene or Etnologia was a rather risky marketing gimmick. It doesn’t seem probable that either of them can compare to World Champion Kwestura.

In the case of Etnologia (Gazal Al Shaqab – Etalanta/Europejczyk) there was also just one determined buyer, namely Shirley Watts from Great Britain, known for her great weakness towards Janów-bred horses. Now her collection will be enlarged by Etnologia for the price of 370 thousand euro. It was as clear as day that the market again verified the initial, too daring estimation of a million euro. Besides Etnologia Halsdon Arabians will also welcome a mare which unexpectedly achieved the third highest price of the sale – Janów’s Biruta (Ekstern – Bajada/Pamir), for whom the new owner dished out a round 100 thousand euro. And so the purchases of Mrs. Watts turned out to constitute more than one third of the outcome from the main auction, similarly to the purchase of Sheikh Ammar. Less than one third of the aggregate came from the remaining 16 horses sold from among the 28 which qualified for the main list. “It seems that the offer was not attractive enough to draw numerous buyers to the Arabian Horse Days”, says Krzysztof Poszepczyński from Chrcynno-Palace Stud. “The breeding material should be of a higher quality. Two stars is not enough. It was actually the buyers themselves who evaluated the offer by not coming to Janów this year. And those who did come made no secret in their conversations that the offer leaves a lot to be desired. Of course we have a crisis, but regardless of the economic situation there will always be those willing to buy good horses. Those responsible for compiling the offer, the Organizing Committee and the Qualifying Panel, have some food for thought. The auction’s well-being is definitely also in our best interest; we want it to be attractive, not plain.”

Very decent prices were offered for private owned horses. The young star from Bełżyce, Gataka (Ekstern – Gwarka/Monogramm), will find her way to Saudi Arabia for 55 thousand euro, which turned out to be the fourth price of the sale. Espinezja (Psytadel – Entaga/Ganges) from Falborek will also head for Saudi Arabia – the buyer paid 50 thousand euro for her. The owned by Przemysław Sawicki mare Piawea (Ekstern – Powiewna/Wachlarz) was sold for 30 thousand euro. Emmonida (Gazal Al Shaqab – Emmona/Monogramm), for whom bidding reached 63 thousand euro, did not meet her reserve price. Quite a large number of mares from the main list – as many as seven, not counting those which remained unsold – were outdone in terms of price by the Selection Sale-offered Echidna (Ararat – Elandra/Monogramm), for whom the buyer from Saudi Arabia paid 20 thousand euro. There’s a good chance that if the mare was presented on the main list, her price could’ve been even higher. It seems that different criteria apply during qualifications for the main sale depending whether the horse is state or private owned.

Benita and Benita

The happiest people during the entire sale were those buyers, who on Sunday purchased their first horse ever. Benita Zuzek, known to the guests of the Pride of Poland as the owner of the bed and breakfast inn “Dworek nad Bugiem” near Janów together with her husband Zbigniew, had long dreamed of buying the Janów-bred mare bearing the same name: Benita (Enzo – Bogini/Arbil). And that dream came true! For the sum of 30 thousand euro the mare became her property and Benita and Zbigniew Zuzek became the only buyers from Poland this year. Their joy was the most touching moment of the Sunday afternoon. “I rode horses when I was young”, said the excited Benita Zuzek. “But I never suspected I would have my own! We have observed Benita for years, because Director Trela was inspired with my name when naming her. We felt a great sentiment towards this horse and decided that it cannot go anywhere else than to us. And now my husband has to deal with two Benitas – one with four legs and one with two. I will take care of the four-legged one and my husband will have to deal with the other.” And so Benita not only stays in Poland, but will remain very close to her home stud!

On the fingers of one hand

The award for the buyer of the greatest number of horses went to the client from Saudi Arabia. Let’s hope that he will turn out more trustworthy than last year’s record buyer from Australia, who did not collect about a dozen of his purchases. Apart from Saudi Arabia (which was represented by two buyers), the United Arab Emirates and Great Britain, the only other buying countries included Germany and Poland. France, the USA, Ireland and Belgium “joined in” during the Selection Sale. This means that the number of buyers could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Perhaps the event should get a new wind, some new energy, which would bring back the excitement and make buyers from all over the world reach into their pockets to purchase our wonderful Polish horses?

What next?

It would be wonderful to be able to say that another edition of the great gala of the Arabian horse in Poland has come to an end. However, when speaking of such a festive occasion, there are too many “buts”, the most visible of which is the decreasing presence of breeders from both Poland and abroad. Even those that make their living in euros are shocked by the high price of the VIP cards. And the Poles? Among those visiting the stud on Saturday where several who decided to not stay until Sunday for the finals and auction, though it was initially in their plans. Instead they made their way towards the Bread Festival.

Results
(Net prices in EUR)

Pride of Poland 2012
(28 mares offered)

Ejrene 440 thousand, UAE
Etnologia 370 thousand, GB
Biruta 100 thousand, GB
Gataka 55 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Espinezja 50 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Pomerania 47 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Herlina 45 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Funkia 35 thousand, Australia
Benita 30 thousand, Poland
Piawea 30 thousand, Middle East
Elgina 25 thousand, GB
Cymra 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Emboria 19 thousand, Middle East
Agatia, 13 thousand, Middle East
Nizara 11 thousand, Middle East
Pepina 11 thousand, Germany
Esmirna 10 thousand, GB
Ciri 7 thousand, Middle East
Elirdia 7 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Emmonida sold after the auction for a not publicly given price to Belgium

Selection Sale 2012
(26 mares offeres, 1 stallion)

Echidna 20 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Elgara 15 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Emlahaba 11 thousand, France
Epifa 8,5 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Bastia 7,5 thousand, Denmark
Cisowa 6,5 thousand, USA
Epikryza 5 thousand, Denmark
Giralda 5 thousand, Saudi Arabia
Wieża Maraam 4,6 thousand, Belgium
Nefer 4,5 thousand, Belgium
Emissa 4 thousand, Ireland
Eukaria 4 thousand, Germany
Zariba 4 thousand, Ireland

Read the whole article “Pride of Poland 2012: Unattainable millions. The Polish Nationals: A shower of medals for Janów (August, 10-12th)” here

SHEIKH HAMAD BIN ALI AL THANI, since February 2015 the manager of AL RAYYAN FARM, one of the oldest and most significant in Qatar.

Together with Sheikh Hamad Al Rayyan begins a new chapter. Sheikh Hamad, one of the creators of the power of Al Shaqab, was for 17 years the main breeder and manager of a stud which brought the world, among others, two of the most famous Arabian sires – Gazal Al Shaqab and his son Marwan Al Shaqab. Today it is difficult to imagine modern breeding without these two champions, which have become living legends. Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani spent his entire life among horses: he began with his own small stud in Egypt, until in 1992 he was elected by the then Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalif Al Thani, as the director of Al Shaqab Stud. After a break resulting from an illness he returned to work which is his passion – the breeding of Arabian horses. Al Rayyan, a city that is closely adjacent to the country’s capital Doha and which lent its name to Al Rayyan Stud, is a special place for the Qatari people. It is here that the historic, victorious battle against the Turks took place, after which they had to abandon the lands of Qatar. Its name means “the source of irrigation” and as per Islam it also means “a door in heaven” or “one of the Gates of Paradise”. It is here that we find the Aspire Dome sport complex with the 300 m Aspire Tower (The Torch Doha), designed by Hadi Simaan, dominating over the vicinity. It is here that we find the seat of the Qatar Foundation, as well as the Racing and Equestrian Club. And it is here that the horses of Al Rayyan Farm have their home, together with the stud’s 19 year old senior multi-champion, Ashhal Al Rayyan (Safir – Ansata Majesta/Ansata Halim Shah). Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani personally gives us a tour of the stud.

Monika Luft: Did your love for horses come from a family tradition?

Sh. Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani: It is hard to say when my interest in horses began, because the moment I opened my eyes for the first time, I saw horses.

M.L.: It was here, in Doha?

H.A.T.: Yes. Like every child, I loved horses. The horses were in the stables, and we used to play close to them. At that moment for us, the kids, horses were just something big that was always around.

M.L.: Did you have your own horse at the time?

H.A.T.: No, but I visited my cousins’ horses, I played with them and then I started riding. I was about 7 years old. I rode them Bedouin style, no saddle, just for fun. When I wanted to ride a horse, especially if it was a good and famous horse, I did all the work in the stable and then got the permission from the owner. I loved the horses so much that I went to the Federation to learn to be a professional rider. And I started racing, like everybody else there. It was the time when Arabian horse races started here in Qatar. We had been in contact with the people from the UK as the best riders came from there in that time. They had flat racing, they had a program. I also travelled to Poland and Russia and France. But of course the UK was the most important place, we have been allowed to buy houses there, so a lot of Qatari people knew this country better than others. I was 13, maybe 14 years old when I went there for the first time.

M.L.: Did you go to school there?

H.A.T.: No, I went to school here in Qatar, but then I spent some time learning English at Cambridge. After that I bought three Arabian horses from the UK for racing, but they had more beauty than speed. They were very, very pretty, so I don’t know why I picked them for racing! Of course I lost. So I understood that I don’t have an eye for racing. But still racing is something that we all like a lot, so I started training horses for races. But I did not succeed.

M.L.: So eventually you chose the beauty of the horse as your main interest.

H.A.T.: Yes, speed was a wrong choice for me… After that came Egypt. This was already a higher level. Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Thani was my cousin, my friend and the greatest teacher. Also Sheikh Nawaf Nasser Bin Khaled Al Thani was like an older brother, we started riding in Doha together. He brought the best horses to Qatar. We went to Egypt as we were very fond of the Yosreia line, the one of the great Aswan. And it was close to my racing education – big horses, big movers… To me they were just the best. I had a riding background and even if I did not know at the time why I was so attracted to them, that was the reason. I had never seen horses standing, I knew the horse from his back, from the saddle position. I could describe the shape of the neck or the carriage from the position of the rider, I could see the tail when I was turning my head. I knew where it should be, I knew how the legs should look like, how the neck should look like.

M.L.: Do you remember your first horse?

H.A.T.: It was the mare Yosra (by Shaarawi), from the Hamdan Stables, in 1987 or 1988. It was a moment that I started to be interested in pedigrees, not only in riding. I bred her to Shadwan, a stallion from Egypt and I had a very nice chestnut filly that won the class at her first show here in Qatar. I rode her afterwards, everybody was surprised, but I am a rider, for me a horse, even a show horse, should be ridden. And then I had a flea-bitten big mare, of Hadban blood, no dished head, but a beautiful eye. Then the Foundation started here in Qatar and we started buying horses for His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. Why me? He saw that I am young, interested in horses and from his family and he said: why won’t he take over? So we went forward and started buying horses from Egypt and later also from Tersk, Russia which was something totally new here, first Russian horses in Qatar ever. There were three fillies, one of them was a chestnut Balaton daughter Malvina, very good producer and race winner. Those horses really stole my heart, as they were charismatic for showing and they also had the speed. You could count on them on both fields. Since then people started bringing Russian horses for racing. And after that we bought French horses. I remember sitting one day at the Club (QREC) and His Highness asked me: what is this horse? Is it an Arabian? And I said: yes, a French Arabian. And he said: No, it must be another breed. From that moment we stopped buying French horses for racing maybe for 6 years. Then people changed their mind again, as they just wanted to win. And HH allowed it because he was always open to people, even if we did not like French horses ourselves. And I still don’t like them. In 1991 we went to the U.S. And that made a huge difference! That was a totally different story. We saw a different world in every sense. We went to a small show, to the Egyptian event, but anyway, we were very surprised. We have never seen horses shaved and with oil put on them. We have always seen the horses being presented the natural way. No halter, liberty style. So we were like kids: what is this? What is happening here? Believe me, we could not even touch a horse because of the oil. We were shocked, we had been asking ourselves, what is all this for? And then we knew about ginger and we asked: why ginger? We have never used this.

M.L.: It is forbidden!

H.A.T.: Yes, but that was the first time that we ever heard about it. And this pose, a horse like a statue, this was a big shock. We knew Egypt, where it was all rather chaotic, everybody fighting, the stallions hardly controlled by people, everybody shouting: be careful, the stallion is coming! And here the stallions were very sweet, everybody could touch them, give them sugar, they were not dangerous at all, they did not kick you, not hurt you, nothing of this. We were really surprised. And then the marketing. We saw how to do that for the first time, how to promote horses, how to do business. This was the moment when we were introduced to Michael Byatt, in 1992. And we started building a professional breeding at Al Shaqab in September of 1992.

M.L.: And a new chapter begun.

H.A.T.: Yes, we went very, very professional. In the beginning it was more fun, and from that moment it was a serious thing.

M.L.: How many horses did you buy in the States in this first moment?

H.A.T.: Nine. Before those three fillies from Russia came, we only had Straight Egyptians. Imperial Phanilah (by Ansata Imperial), a champion mare, and her sister Imperial Impharida, the best producing mare, and the stallion Sabiell (by Nabiel), who became Reserve World Champion. First we showed them in the U.S., at the Egyptian Event, where we took the champion title, and then we brought them to Qatar. In 1993 we went to Paris. With Sabiell we claimed the Reserve Male Championship, in 1994 with Phanilah we took the World Champion Mare title and the highest score of the show. One of the most beautiful mares ever.

M.L.: Amazing start, indeed!

H.A.T.: Phanilah was an incredible horse, you looked at her eyes and you knew: this is not just an animal. Flea-bitten, feminine, you immediately gave her 20s. She was not a mover but when standing, you could see her natural beauty, a real dream of desert.

M.L.: This is what you look for in a horse: desert beauty?

H.A.T.: Yes. I always look for a beautiful head and good conformation. And of course the pedigree. I can tell you if the horse can move, when I see the pedigree. Maybe he doesn’t move today. Most of the Egyptians don’t move indoors. They need space. If they are loose outside, they will show that they can move. For example when speaking of Polish horses: if they have Aswan in their pedigree, they usually can move.

M.L.: How did you discover Kajora?

H.A.T.: We were really lucky. We bought her from the Gucci Herd after his bankruptcy. We were in the States at the time. Michael Byatt did a great job. He showed me those horses and he said: maybe they will be sold. We came back to Doha and I remember him calling me at 4 o’clock in the morning: this mare will be put on auction today. Are you in? And I said: what is the price? And he said, I don’t know, it’s an auction. So I said, go ahead. There were the best horses in the world at that auction – US National Champions Kajora, Shahteyna (by Bey Shah), PR Padrons Jewel (by Padron) between them. We bought 13 horses. And then Michael called me: remember Farid? I must say that I had the opportunity to buy Anaza El Farid. And not buying him was one of the biggest mistakes of my life! There were two stallions. First one was 50 thousand and the other was 90 thousand. This was Farid. But I went for the cheaper one… So Michael calls me and says: the mare is in heat, we can breed her to Farid. I said: go on! And from this cross Gazal Al Shaqab was born.

M.L.: What is so special about him?

H.A.T.: He is different in so many ways! I have to say that before Gazal we bought Ansata Halim Shah (by Ansata Ibn Halima) from Judith Forbis. He came to Doha, but we had very bad luck with him. He stayed with us for 6 months, he tried to jump a fence and he broke his leg. It happens sometimes at every farm… But Gazal is special, first of all because of his pedigree. He got the best from the Polish blood and the Egyptian blood. People say that the golden cross is between Spanish and Egyptian lines but this is wrong. It’s between Polish and Egyptian. It is happening everywhere: when you cross the Polish with the Egyptian, you succeed. Because the Polish blood is more light than the Spanish. Spanish is too heavy and even the Egyptian cannot add the refinement needed. It’s very hard. Of course they can produce the eye, but not a complete horse. The neck, the bone, is still too heavy. And Gazal is a gift for us. I need to tell you what I believe in. I think horses are like a gift from God for the people. I think the biggest affection for humans is the horse. They can feel about you, they know from your walk who you are, it is a very special relationship. If you don’t believe in horses and don’t love them, this gift goes to waste.

M.L.: Is that why Al Shaqab stud achieved success so quickly? Because this gift was appreciated?

H.A.T.: It is possible. I know many breeders of the world and hundreds of horses that never produced anything. Al Shaqab is different. We were young, we had no big knowledge. We had trust in our collaborators like Michael Byatt but in fact I don’t know why we were so lucky. But we got the best of the best.

M.L.: So luck is also important.

H.A.T.: Absolutely. And our strategy at that time was also to help the people in Qatar. The stud was open to every Qatari who wanted to learn something from us. For breeding, for shipping horses, for education, for vets, for any support. We even gave horses to the people every year, maybe 30 or 40 horses were just gifts. And when you give, God gives you.

M.L.: How did you discover Poland and Polish horses?

H.A.T.: After the U.S. we went to Poland. And we discovered another different story about the relationship with the horse and how to work with horses. For me Poland is a different style. It is like reading a history book. Everything is in a right place. And we have never seen hundreds of mares in one barn.

M.L.: Did you visit Janów Podlaski or Michałów?

H.A.T.: Both. I met Director Andrzej Krzyształowicz and Director Ignacy Jaworowski. I sat with them, we had lunches together, we talked about horses. I started to judge at that time, I was judging in Poland too, so I spent quite a lot of time with them. I was really lucky.

M.L.: What was the most surprising for you?

H.A.T.: The bay. We had never thought that the bay can produce, we always had the idea of the white horse. And they were breeding very good horses, also bay ones. For me it was more than Egypt. In Egypt there was a lot of small breeders, everybody with their own ideas. The government there lost the plan, the influence, they sold all the best they had. But in Poland there was planning, they knew how to sell horses and which horse could be sold and which one should stay. Because everybody wanted to buy horses from Poland but who would be producing the foals afterwards? They knew which horses they should keep to continue the breeding.

M.L.: Whose idea was it to lease Gazal Al Shaqab to Poland?

H.A.T.: It came from them, the Polish directors. They asked me and I considered it a very good idea. I was a young breeder, only for 5 years at that time and the opportunity to breed Gazal to a hundred mares was a fabulous idea to me. A small breeder could not do it. And it was also the opportunity for me to be known and respected as a breeder. And it was good for the promotion of my country.

M.L.: Did you expect such marvelous results from that decision?

H.A.T.: Gazal dam was the Polish Kajora, so I knew it would be a good cross with Polish blood. But I did not expect that much! Of course they know what they are doing. I was very pleased and I am still pleased with that decision. I expected more from Gazal than from Marwan. I am still more convinced about Gazal than Marwan. Because my type is more Gazal than Marwan.

M.L.: When you see Gazal daughters, do you immediately know who their sire is?

H.A.T.: I can tell from a hundred meters. Any Gazal get. Even yesterday I saw a horse and I said: I would swear it is Gazal blood and it was!

M.L.: Do you feel fulfilled as a breeder?

H.A.T.: I cannot say I am a breeder yet. A breeder should have bred his own line. I don’t have my own stamp yet. OK, I bred the best stallion. But that’s it.

M.L.: In that case who, in your opinion, can call himself a breeder?

H.A.T.: It is a person who dedicated his life to create one line. And when what you breed is good. It is like you own a factory and you have one product, your own product. In Al Shaqab we have done different products. And we had the chance to have different blood. We succeeded because we took the chance. I thank God that he gave me this opportunity, God gave me this feeling about the horses. Let’s take the dam of Kahil Al Shaqab, OFW Mishaahl. Ask Michael! I just knew she would be a producer. Or Kajora. I knew it. I feel in my heart that this horse can be good. I don’t know if it comes from experience or from something else. The dam of Kahil, nobody liked her, and she is the dam of the best stallion of the world now. She has not even a great pedigree but she produces. Have you seen full sister to Kahil, Sultanat Al Shaqab, the yearling champion filly at this year’s Qatar Int. Arabian Horse Show? Her dam had several problems and Michael said: Hamad, what is it about this mare, why do you want her? And I said, I don’t know, I just have a feeling.

M.L.: Maybe you see the horse’s soul by looking at his eyes?

H.A.T.: I think it is about the relationship, maybe. I can work with any horse. I ride all the difficult horses. Yesterday we got a horse that the grooms could not take out. And I did it with no problem and he walked with me, with full confidence. Maybe it’s about the smell.

M.L.: So you are a real horseman.

H.A.T.: I think I am. I am more a horse lover than a breeder. I can sleep with horses, I did it many times. For example when the horse is sick and I love him a lot, like Halim Shah. I slept with him in his barn, I read with him the Koran. And he cried. I just love horses, I don’t care if they are good or not. The problem is that people always ask you about the famous horses. And this is far away from human. There are horses that cannot be successful but still they deserve love and care. Like Amira Al Shaqab. I showed her in Dubai 3 or 4 years ago myself. I knew we could not win, but I just loved looking at her. Everybody laughed at me and I said, I don’t care. One of my old friends was judging, I told him: why did we not win? And we both laughed. But she is really a lovely mare.

M.L.: So who do you think deserves to be called a breeder?

H.A.T.: Judith Forbis. She has her own stamp. I know her since the 90s. She has knowledge, she knows how to promote the horses. And this is also important because there are a lot of good breeders who don’t know how to market their horses. We are lucky at Al Shaqab because we have Michael Byatt. He is good in marketing. He played a huge role in promoting Al Shaqab. And now people look at us in a different way.

M.L.: Do you still travel to shows?

H.A.T.: Yes, I travel, but in the 90s the shows were more fun. People talked to each other. We went to many shows but we never stayed until the championships. We did not care about the champions because we already picked the horse we liked. I remember Sheikh Abdulaziz or Sheikh Nawaf, all the old friends, we talked later in the car about the horses that looked nice and that could fit our breeding and could be maybe fifth in class, not necessary be the winners. OK, we loved the horse who won, but did not care. It was important for the owner but not for us. Now is different. I can’t sit with people now, because they say: you know my horse? We had a “19” at a show. And what do I care? First: what is the name of your horse and his pedigree? And why you bought him? What do you want from him? You want to make salad? Pizza? Do you ride him? Do your kids ride him? I think a horse should not stay in a farm without work. He has to have something to do. Like a human, if the horse has nothing to do, he will eat himself. You cannot change the nature. You have to know where the horse is coming from. We believe God made him from a south wind. It means he likes freedom. Don’t keep him in the box. Keep him loose, in the paddocks. Let him go around.

M.L.: But this is not possible when it comes to today’s show horses…

H.A.T.: Believe me, that is not the way. Horses like Marwan are living in the paddock all the time, never in the box. Gazal was living in the paddock, with grass. But now it is more politics, it is about sponsors and money and money and money. We always loved Aachen because Aachen is for us a breeders’ show. In the beginning we never had a VIP table, we just sat with people and walked from breeder to breeder and talked. And we saw all those Polish horses move and win, and it was amazing. I remember Mariusz Liśkiewicz, he was showy himself! And if horses had a winter coat, nobody cared. Now I don’t like to see the horses all shaved, it is a plague to me. But this is the show world today, you need to do it.

M.L.: Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge about horses?

H.A.T.: Of course, I can talk about everything openly, but I could not have my own school. I always say: don’t follow anybody. Breeding is art. I cannot tell you how to do it. You cannot teach breeding. Breeding is collecting from many sources. When I started breeding, I read the book of Judy Forbis “The Classic Arabian Horse”. And I put points on every picture of a horse: this is a “19” in the head, “18” in the neck… I did it by myself, with no advice. I educated my eye this way. The eye is very important. It is also a gift, if you are able to evaluate the horse when you see it. You see where is the fault and where is the good point. And then you can go back to the pedigree and see: ah, ok, this eye is because of the mother, this back is because of the father. And the bad legs are from the grandfather. Would it be a good producer? No, he cannot. But this one, with bad legs, he can be, because it is coming not from his pedigree but from how he grew up, in a bad place, wrong box. When you can judge all this, you can be a breeder. You have to have the knowledge, but you also have to have the eye. And then you have to have the tool, I mean the horses. I was lucky because I had been at Al Shaqab and I had the tool, I had the horses to breed. Tools, eye and decision. That’s it. I believe in the horses that I bred. I know that they have some faults, but I will not talk about it of course – it’s my horse!

M.L.: What are your plans now, at Al Rayyan?

H.A.T.: I started here this year. I have to know my tool, my mares. To know them, to scan them, I have to breed them all to one stallion. I know their pedigrees, I know their faults and good points, but I have to see how they produce. Next time I will know what to expect and what I need for them. For example I will know that Morafic blood with this mare doesn’t work. So I have to change. Of course luck is also needed. Marwan’s dam was bred to Gazal six times. And there is only one Marwan. God gave you this. You ask more but maybe it is enough. You try, but it will not happen again. This is God. People believe in embryos. I hate it! Do you expect you will have everything? Thank God for what you have already got. From 5 embryos maybe one will be good. And it will come if God wants to give you it, today or tomorrow. So what for? Are you a breeder or what? A breeder who loves horses will not do this. He would never throw a horse out because he is not good enough. If the mare doesn’t give you what you want, don’t breed her anymore, stop taking more and more embryos! Use her for riding. But five embryos from one mare? This is ridiculous. People who love horses would not do this. This is business and business in breeding doesn’t work.

M.L.: The most beautiful moment in your life as a horseman?

H.A.T.: Very hard to tell. Every time when you get a nice horse – when you buy it or when it is born, is a happy day. I have a big lunch then. I swear, when I win, I am never as happy than when I have a good baby. Yes, you are pleased when you win but it is not for yourself. The win in a show is not for yourself, it’s for your country. For the people who respect you. You have to work hard to please your country and the people who put you in this position. But is not for you. For me is when a nice baby is coming, this is my gift, this is my chocolate.

M.L.: What will be your future now?

H.A.T.: My future is enough when I smell the horse’s back. Michael asked me: how are you feeling the first day? I said: Michael, the smell of the horse’s shit smells like heaven to me. This is my life, this is what I care about.

M.L.: Could you say “I have a dream…”?

H.A.T.: It is about a horse that is coming. I would love to have something between Gazal and Marwan. And grey.

M.L.: Do you already know how to do it?

H.A.T.: No, not yet, but I believe it is coming. Nice neck, not as long as Marwan’s – more balanced, big eyes, not very dishy head, but nice. And a stallion! We have nice mares already.

M.L.: Let’s see this dream fulfilled.

H.A.T.: Inshallah.

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PROFESSOR ANDRZEJ STRUMIŁŁO – born in 1927, an exceptional Polish artist, successful in many artistic areas: painting, graphic art, drawing, photography, illustration, book design, art exhibitions, stage design. Author of poetry and books on nature and culture. A traveler and collector, an expert on the Orient. He was the head of the graphic studio of the United Nations General Secretariat, co-creator of The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw. At his stud in eastern Poland he keeps pure bred Arabian horses. He is an extremely colorful persona of the Polish Arabian horse community.

Monika Luft: Is the abode that you set up in Maćkowa Ruda on the Czarna Hańcza River, where you have bred Arabians for more than 20 years, still your place on Earth?

Andrzej Strumiłło: I am an amateur breeder – a chronic amateur, an enthusiast of the breed and its huge fan, but I can’t call myself a specialist. My duties in Warsaw don’t allow me to be present at Maćkowa Ruda the entire time. But the horses are there, my son, the groom. So that place is very much alive – but how long and in what form it will survive, that I don’t know. I would still like to have some foals… I have left four broodmares that have some genetic value. Czarina, my oldest mare, who is currently twenty something years old and still in great condition, had a foal not so long ago. Czarina is a daughter of Etogram and Czara by Banat, from the line of Czapelka. Czara was sold to England, while Etogram, an El Paso son, lived to the end of his days in Janów Podlaski. Czarina’s daughter, the chestnut Czadra by Perlik, a large, strong mare of a very gentle nature, also resides at Maćkowa Ruda. She is stronger than her sire, because Perlik was a pleasant, handsome horse, but of small size. I trained Czadra to drive in harness – she was even presented at Janów in front of Polish and foreign public. The next mare, whose name also begins with “Cz”, is Czarina’s youngest daughter, by HS Etiquette, a stallion bred by Mr. and Mrs. Watts.

As a nod towards Charlie Watts she received the name Czarla. I also have a brown mare named Czasufi, who I left at the stud due to her coat color and beautiful conformation, though her head is more the French than Polish type. Her sire Epejos by Pilot, a black Janów Podlaski stallion, was sold to France and was quite successful there on the show arena. There was a time when I had 15 horses, among them some notable ones, such as the stallion Czakamar (by Eldon), in his time one of the best racing horses at the track. “Kamar” means “moon” in Arabic, so “Czakamar” is simply a Moon out of Czarina.

M.L.: Did any of your ancestors or close relatives breed or ride horses?

A.S.: My family descends from the lands near Minsk, so my ancestors probably had something to do with horses, because at that time all people associated with land had them in that area. But my grandfather and father escaped from there during the October Revolution. My father fought against the Bolsheviks and later settled down in Vilnius. He had no land, no farm, so horses were not an option. My mother was a girl from the Sudaty village. The land of my grandfather bordered from the north on Zułów, an estate which in the 19th century was leased by the Piłsudski family. It was here that Marshal Józef Piłsudski* was born.

M.L.: Despite having to flee and being forced to move as a result of the war, you became a traveler as an adult. And that was not easy in Poland in the 50s, not many people were let out of the country. Yet you managed to do it.

A.S.: The mechanism was very complicated. At first it was a matter of luck – somebody had to do it! My first serious foreign trip was to Beijing, in 1954, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. A delegation from the department of culture travelled there at the time. We had the opportunity to visit all of China in very privileged conditions. I drew a lot during that trip, I made about 200 sketches and drawings, which were later exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Chinese Marshal Czu Teh bought 15 of my works. At the evening gala I sat next to the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama, very young boys at the time. I was young, but they were even

younger! When the reporters rushed towards them, they fled on all fours under the table. But I want to emphasize that although I really wanted to travel, despite pressure I did not enlist into the party [the communist Polish United Workers’ Party]. Already then I had enough political experiences. And besides, the lots of my family did not allow me to – I felt loyalty towards my father, who died in the Kolyma** region, at the age of 46, after he was arrested and sent to a forced labor colony.

M.L.: You strongly emphasize that your travels greatly influenced your views on the world and opinions about people.

A.S.: My interest in the East and its matters greatly deepened at the time, though it existed before, as my grandmother was born in Vitebsk and my grandfather came from Minsk. The East is very attractive in terms of philosophy and richness of art. Even if I only had the chance to get to know it on the surface – because it is very hard to get to know it really thoroughly, you would have to go in deeper, become one of the people of the East, leaving yourself elsewhere. It is impossible to get to know China or India, they are enormous empires both in terms of time, number of people, philosophy and space. But you can get a taste of them and that’s why every time I had a chance to travel there, I took it. Even in rather risky times. Poland had a cultural cooperation agreement with Vietnam – in a default way, like a socialist country with a socialist country. However during the time of war it was very difficult to find someone in the Ministry of Culture who would agree to go there. For one, the risk of amoeba infection, and two, no chance of selling any works, trading or establishing business contacts. It was an exotic country, wild, raw. But I wanted to see with my own eyes the lots of those people, see how it looked like not only in the paper, which was manipulated, but in reality. So I went, I saw the war, I was at the 17th parallel, on the Vietnamese-American front, the Chinese-Vietnamese front, I had an exhibition in Hanoi, I made a Vietnamese exhibition in Poland. I never regretted that decision.

M.L.: When did Arabian horses appear in your life? Supposedly it was in the States that you decided to breed Arabians. Did you have a chance to visit studs when working for the UN?

A.S.: In the 80s I was the head of the UN Graphic Presentation Unit in New York, where I hired Ewa Stanisławska, a very hard working person, who quickly mastered the newly supplied computers and who knew Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet, which was one of the conditions of getting the job, because we also worked in Russian. Her husband was a Polish businessman, he dealt in meat and also horse trade. At the time the government had a monopoly on the export of Arabians. I learned how much an Arabian horse is worth on the American market, which bloodlines are valued, what studs are in Poland. I decided that after returning to Poland – I missed my country too much to think about remaining in America, though I had plenty of offers – I would purchase land and start breeding horses.

M.L.: In those times that was a very difficult dream to make come true for a private person.

A.S.: The government had a monopoly on breeding, but there were people who luckily broke that monopoly. Anna Dębska, Wanda Jackowska, Andrzej Ou, Zygmunt Braur bred Arabian horses despite difficulties. I went to Janów Podlaski, to Director Andrzej Krzyształowicz and he told me that a certain Englishwoman purchased a good mare and that mare gave birth in Poland, in the stud of the Duda family. The foal remained at the stud as payment for the mare’s keep. And that was Czarina! I bought her and when I only finished setting up – on the ruins of a small building – an entire farmyard, together with a stable, I began breeding Arabian horses. Later came a second horse, then a third, fourth, and so on.

M.L.: Director Andrzej Krzyształowicz influenced your choices also later on. Acting on his advice you later took the mare Enpara (Pamir – Engara/Gwarny). How do you remember him?

A.S.: I am full of the highest recognition for his heart, full of respect for his knowledge, passion, expertise on the subject. He was an exceptional person, who knows if not epoch-making when it comes to saving the concept of Arabian horse breeding in Poland. In difficult conditions in terms of politics, when the Arabian was not a privileged horse, he saved it, bred it. Luckily the foreign markets helped him out. He was a phenomenon of the Janów stud, he devoted his entire life to it. He had what was needed in breeding, not just knowledge, but also intuition, instinct and luck.

M.L.: Another mare that you had was Michałów’s Wojsław daughter, Wirga. This one in turn was recommended to you by Director Ignacy Jaworowski. Was there friendship between the two of you?

A.S.: I would be very careful in laying claim to friendship with such great, independent people. It’s true, we met often, similarly as with the Białoboks, because we were active in the breeders’ society. He was definitely one of those people whose energy and passion caused the Polish Arabian horse to be one of the best in the world. I must also mention Director Marek Trela. Here I can say that it is a form of friendship. His wife Magda studied with my children, Anna and Rafał, at the Academy of Fine Arts. Marek Trela himself rode horses with my daughter at a sports club in Warsaw, later became a veterinarian, then Director Krzyształowicz’s assistant and finally an independent, wonderful breeder.

M.L.: Your large hearted gesture, the gifting of the watercolor of the mare Mlecha by Juliusz Kossak*** dated 1845 to Janów Podlaski Stud, was greatly talked about in the community. The watercolor hung in your home for several years, what is the story behind it? Did the gesture result from the mentioned above friendship?

A.S.: Yes. I actually felt that I owed this to Kossak himself. There is an extremely touching story behind this, proof that people are capable of beautiful acts. I was collecting material for the “Al Jawad” book – which title means “noble, generous” – about the history of the Arabian horse in Poland. I was searching for images of the first horses brought to Jarczowce by Juliusz Dzieduszycki**** – Mlecha, Sahara and Gazella. In Białowieża I found Joanna, a descendant of the Kossak clan. She was the one who had that watercolor. I asked for a copy to place it in the book, but the reproduction that I got was of very poor quality. I thanked her and said that I would try to work with it, though the copy is poor. Imagine that for Christmas she sent me the original! For several years the work hung in my living room in the countryside house. But I worried about its safety and also thought that it should hang where the benefactor would also be honored. I think

that Janów is the best place for this work. I must also mention that there was a problem with the identification of the mare on the watercolor – some sources claim that it’s Mlecha, others that it’s Gazella. But finally the experts and organizers of the pre-war exhibition of Juliusz Kossak in Lviv decided that it’s Mlecha. This expert opinion is glued at the back. Literature is often wrong… The illustrations made in Jarczowce by Kossak, at the Dzieduszycki estate, were young, a bit primitive. Beautiful and with the charm of that era, but painted prior to his Parisian studies at Vernet’s.

M.L.: Do you keep track of what currently goes on in the Arabian horse world? For example the successes of Polish breeding, the results of the World Championships in Paris? Michałów recently brought home 3 medals from there.

A.S.: I don’t really follow it, but I do hear something from time to time. I’m happy that Polish breeding is doing so well. State breeding has had, has and will have great successes. But private breeding is also progressing and is becoming a serious competition for the state studs. Private bred horses are receiving high marks on the show arena.

M.L.: Director Jerzy Białobok mentioned you once in an interview when speaking about private breeders. “I like the view presented by Professor Strumiłło: he draws colossal pleasure from his breeding! Due to organizational issues he always leases a stallion, doesn’t bring in semen to his stud and yet he has managed to breed some rather decent foals. He is deeply affected by the performances of his graduates. He has made himself comfortable in this breeding and feels no discomfort just because he is not using the most trendiest stallions of the moment”, he said. Is this correct?

A.S.: Indeed so. I could not always afford the trendiest stallions, but Janów was kind enough to let me try out young, good sires. Several stallions, which later stood out in breeding – Entyk, Gabaryt, Perlik, Epejos – began their duties at my place. I have been breeding Arabians for more than 20 years. I have personally delivered tens of foals and have to say I only lost one. It was Czarina’s first foal, who in her sixth month of pregnancy bumped her shoulder into a concrete electrical pole, injuring her shoulder muscle nerve. The foal, by the Bask son Biquest, imported to Poland by Joanna Grootings, was born weak and did not want to nurse. The local veterinarian gave the mare a tranquilizer shot and the foal fell asleep. It survived only one day. I wanted to have a Bask grandchild so badly! Beside this one occurrence, everything else was reared with no health issues.

M.L.: You have the Midas touch.

A.S.: Those horses of mine are in many places today. I want them to have a good life, to have a pasture so that they can gallop and to have a chance at a sports career. I know people that derive pleasure from my horses. Some have built small studs basing on my produce. I exported a mare and stallion to Lithuania and even one mare to Belarus.

M.L.: You wrote that we owe a lot to the horse, that we received more from it than we could give. Do you feel you owe your horses something?

A.S.: I feel like I owe something to horses in general. The horse has played a great role in our civilization, as a work animal, a means of transport, our companion in battle and life. Horses simply deserve respect.

M.L.: But you also said: “When I am tired with the troubles of life, I go to the stable, cuddle up to the horses and I feel a lot better”.

A.S.: Yes, and the horses also cuddle up to me. A horse has the same need of friendship and closeness.

M.L.: You rode horses for many years. What kind of mount is an Arabian horse in your opinion?

A.S.: Yes, I used to ride. In my opinion the Arabian makes a good mount. People are afraid of their spirited nature or restlessness. But if the human is calm, then the horse is also calm. The horse understands the human so well that – I presume – he reads his mind. Man simply thinks about turning right and the horse turns.

M.L.: You focused on performance traits of the Arabian horse in your breeding. On the other hand, as an artist, you are sensitive to beauty. Meanwhile charisma and impressive beauty are the traits of show horses.

A.S.: I praise Polish breeding very much. Polish breeding is complete, pays attention to conformation traits. That’s very important to me! Beauty is the fundamental wealth of the Arabian, apart from the strictly physical traits, such as resistance, health, metabolism that guarantees stamina, adaptation to every kind of feed, to all conditions. That’s why those Arabians that descend from Tersk or France, athletic, strong, fast, are not as subtle as Polish ones and don’t bring me joy.

M.L.: When you observed horses out on the pasture in Maćkowa Ruda did you want to immortalize them in drawing or painting?

A.S.: Not really… Although when I had Gabaryt in 1996, a wonderful horse who has since passed away, I made a portrait from nature and gave it to Marek Trela.

M.L.: You claim that the Arabian horse is a beautiful, cultural relict. And today we see an increasing interest in Arabians, which have become fashionable, especially in the Middle East.

A.S.: Those words of mine related to the past. As rich societies develop and the culture of the middle class increases, the Arabian horse ceases to be a relict, but is now a symbol of wealth, its value is reborn, it has achieved a new significance. It is the object of friendship, aesthetic satisfaction, is used for sports.

M.L.: I have a feeling that it can serve one more function – an excuse for different cultures to meet. A month before the massacre in Paris, during the World Championships 2014, we witnessed the decoration of an Israeli horse, which was presented under the banner of the United Arab Emirates.

A.S.: We should find reasons to have more of such gatherings! Each path, each symbol that unites is valuable, each common passion draws people together. The love for the Arabian horse can unite Arabs, Israelis and other nations. There is definitely something like an “equine family”. I remember how Laheeb stood next to Gazal sons.

M.L.: The Arabian horse is also considered a symbol of freedom, space, they are called “drinkers of the wind”. Today Arabians don’t always have that wide space at their disposal, but we can still recall the words of Emir Wacław Rzewuski: “Who once has been a rider, will never be a slave”. Is that why this horse has such a warm place in your heart, because you were also very attached to freedom? You were ready to quit your job, classes, career – to only not be tied to anything.

A.S.: Sometimes I gave up very large amounts of money. After several years of work in New York I could have had a senatorial pension. But I chose my own plot of land, freedom and horses.

M.L.: Has the Arabian horse become a form of inspiration to you?

A.S.: First of all it brings me great satisfaction. To assist a mare in labor. To deliver a foal, rear it. Later break in and ride your own horses, which I often did myself. My Arabians were so easy to be broken in that I was surprised how people could have any problem with it. I just got on and rode. Perhaps I didn’t ride well, because I don’t consider myself a trainer or good rider. Working with a horse is very hard, it’s like working with a child, which you have to lead into life in a proper way.

M.L.: Once again it turns out that you have the Midas touch.

A.S.: Yes, I guess so. I am inspired by historical personas, such as Wacław Rzewuski. I have reached some sources and painted an image of Rzewuski on a horse – Emir Złotobrody [Emir Goldenbeard]. He was the exponent of the spirit of freedom. I wrote many times about him in the mentioned above “Al Jawad”. Not only did he spend several years among the Bedouin tribes, brought from Arabia the title of Emir and 137 desert horses, but he also left valuable notes in the “On Oriental Horses and Those Descended from Eastern Breeds”, personally illustrated. And later he led the life of a free daredevil. As Słowacki***** wrote, “he built arbors for horses in the garden, gilded the mangers and provided crystal walls”. A unique, restless figure. Another inspiration is Juliusz Kossak, a superb expert on the horse, its conformation, movement and nature, fascinated by Arabians since childhood, which is seen even in his earliest works, painted at the threshold of his career.

M.L.: “Evil spirits don’t enter a tent with a horse” – this saying is attributed to Mahomet. Horses are the good spirits of Maćkowa Ruda?

A.S.: For now – they are. Until they are there, so is Maćkowa Ruda. But I don’t know what the future will hold. My life is quite complicated and is nearing its end. I don’t know what the final years will bring. Perhaps I will change the stud’s address, maybe I will move it closer to Warsaw. But that would also mean a lack of everyday contact. These choices are extremely hard. Sometimes I wonder whether the biological potential of my mares is not wasted. This year I don’t have any foals, for the first time in many years. It’s a bit of a pity. I can’t afford to import semen of the highest world quality, but there are very promising Polish stallions. Who knows – maybe I will still bring a new life into this world?

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*Marshal Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), was a Polish statesman; Chief of State (1918–1922), First Marshal of Poland (from 1920), and de facto dictator (1926–1935) of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland’s politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene.

**Kolyma – a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. Under Joseph Stalin’s rule, Kolyma became the most notorious region for the Gulag labor camps. Described by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of The Gulag Archipelago, as “pole of cold and cruelty”.

***Juliusz Kossak (1824–1899), a Polish painter specializing in battle and historical paintings. He most liked painting horses. His most important works include “Sobieski at Vienna”, “Stud of Mohort”, “Arrival of Emperor Franz Joseph to Cracow”, “A stud in the Podolia region”, “A portrait of Count Rzewuski”.

****Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki (1817–1885), Polish land owner, horseman. In 1840 he set off on a famous, full of adventures expedition to Lvov to acquire the stallion Bagdad and in 1845 to Arabia, from where he brought the mares Gazella, Mlecha and Sahara. Their significance for Polish Arabian horse breeding does not need to be emphasized. This stud, similar to the others, did not survive. The only ones to survive the extermination of the World War I and the Bolshevik invasion in the years 1917–1918 were the mare Pomponia 1902 and three fillies, which sent to Janów formed the foundations of the stud (Gazella II 1914, Mlecha 1914 and Zulejma 1914). Descending from Pomponia and Zulejma was the epochal Ofir.

*****Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), Polish romantic poet, author (among others) of ballads referring to the Orient.

Read also:
A bibliophile portfolio of illustrations by Andrzej Strumiłło

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