Text & Photographs: Polish Arabian Horse Breeders Association

It’s been three years now that the Polish Arabian Horse Breeders Association – under new management – came up with the idea to foster a growth mindset amongst Polish Arabian horse breeders. A year later, we organised our first seminar, with another one following a year later. Recently, we wrote “Chapter 3” of our novella on education, and we are beyond certain that we’re doing the right thing. Our seminars and courses attract not only Polish breeders and enthusiasts of purebred Arabians alike, but also from (basically) all over the globe. Sounds neat, doesn’t it? Well, it does indeed!

Last year, we wrote that a lot had changed in recent years in the world of Polish Arabian horses, and we truly meant it. After the new Board of our Association had been elected, we started growing again and have been gaining new members regularly ever since. At the same time, we have been conquering ceaselessly new fields of activity – courageously, because “no risk, no champagne” as the saying goes. Being a PBO (“public benefit organisation”) helped us a lot, there’s no denying this fact, as at the end of 2023, PAHBA was granted tax exemptions and free-of-charge access to public media. This in turn made our activities in the fields of education and charity “easy peasy lemon squeezy” as our British friends might joke. Yet jokes aside, we take both our charity work and educational mission extremely seriously. You can say it’s a vocation, a walk of life.

A quarter million reasons

The word “million” never fails to pique one’s interest, or does it? Our friend and member Jolanta Gębka summarised the three auctions we have thus far successfully organised during the All-Polish Arabian Horse Championship in Tarnów – a horse show that we resurrected after the pandemic. The auctions always have the same goal: help children and youth from institutions and foster homes, many of them orphans.

During our first auction for Przyjazny Dom (“The Friendly Home”), it only took us half an hour to raise 17,250€. Our members, the Rzepka Family who own Klikowa Arabians Stud, then invited the kids to their stables to show them Arabian horses up close. Last year, at the second auction, we raised 20.500€ for Słoneczny Dom (“The Sunny Home”). This year, we raised 21.000€ for the Janusz Korczak Care and Educational Facility. All three are local institutions who look after and take care of kids who need our help the most. And we pledge to continue this work, because if you add up what we raised for kids and teens, you will get an impressive quarter million Polish złoty! All of which goes directly to help the youngest member of society have a good life as full-fledged adults; much of it towards a good education.

Learning? We like that a lot!

In autumn 2023, more or less a quarter of the year after the first Tarnovian edition of the All-Polish Arabian Horse Championship, our first seminar for breeders took place. One of the instructors was Bérengère Fayt of Faber Arabians, a well-known and accomplished breeder and judge with incredible insight into the purebred Arabian horse, who was one of the judges in Tarnów. She eagerly shared her knowledge, experience, and passion with Polish breeders who met with her at the Grabów nad Pilicą Arabian Horse Stud. It was our first course and we still didn’t really know what people wanted and needed the most, even though all of us have been part of the industry for most of our lives! Still, we felt like pioneers wandering into the unknown as we were opening this wonderful new chapter in the history of our Association.

The “DC & Judging Course and Breeding Seminar”, at which Bérengère together with Tomasz Tarczyński, Farhang Fazeli and Mariusz Liśkiewicz were instructors, was a triumph. Several people who participated have already become judges in their own right, others chose the path of DCs – and we’re proud of them. Since we successfully broke new ground, it made sense to strike while the iron was hot.

Next up came a dressage course in the spring of 2024. We invited Agnieszka Kolek-Kowieska, a graduate of Janów Podlaski Stud and accomplished rider who has won countless awards with her horses, to teach how to ride horses. She accepted and coached a group of young equestriennes in the arcane art of dressage. Some of them, you could later see participating – and winning! – at the European Championship for Arabian Sport Horses in Wiener Neustadt or at the All Nations Cup in Aachen. As we laughed last year: “education for the win”. Literally.

Next came the ECAHO DC Course which preceded the 2024 All-Polish Arabian Horse Championship. Here the teachers were Janet Court and Dr Nils Ismer, and it was the first time the Association organised an international teaching experience. We had students not only from Poland, but also Italy, Denmark, even Kuwait and Australia! But this time, the course was a lot more complex and tough, as the practical part lasted two days. That’s right: two days in the scorching sun labouring as disciples of Janet, Nils and Farhang who joined them to help them get a massive group of followers under control. Once again, we were pleased to hear two magic words that Janet spoke with a broad smile on her face after the show: “Everyone passed”.

Inter-National

The logical thing to do was to raise the stakes and step up our game. The fact that we were organising international courses for breeders and professionals working in the purebred industry crossed borders big time reaching faraway corners of the world. Seeing this as an immense opportunity, we announced our first “Judging Course and Breeding Seminar” at Klikowa Arabians Stud. We had 25 students from all over Poland, but also from Iran and Sweden. Those were two very intense days, packed with so much knowledge that it took us from early morning until the early evening to cover the entire curriculum. The list of lecturers and instructors was equally impressive: Scott Benjamin, Allan Preston, Kathleen Ohlsson, Antonia Bautista, Łukasz Goździalski and Tomasz Tarczyński.

We called it last year “a crazy experiment”, since it doesn’t really happen every day that there are as many as six lecturers shedding light on the secrets of Arabians at the same time. But it worked! And if it works, why change it? Improve on it, refine it, repeat it. So a year later, we met once again at Klikowa Arabians Stud, once again there were six teachers, and we spent another weekend taking in as much knowledge as we could. Obviously, the list of experts was no less impressive than year ago: Anna Stojanowska, Scott Benjamin, Jennifer Dhombre, Allan Preston, Łukasz Goździalski and Tomasz Tarczyński. Our students were – again – not only Poles. Poland is a global nexus for Arabian horses, it is no surprise then that we had students this year from Romania or Sweden, but also from Kuwait and… Venezuela! And this year’s curriculum?

Just like last year, we began with the most rudimentary of fundamentals, going as far back in history as 50 million years, all the way to the fox-sized forest-dwelling Eohippus, or “dog-horse” as Scott Benjamin called this prehistoric proto-equine. We covered the basic anatomy of modern horses, analysing all major body parts one by one, sometimes in excruciating detail, and still the students would ask questions. We discussed the purebred Arabian type, how and where this majestic breed evolved, most frequent and commonplace posture defects, faults and deficiencies, some of the most famous Arabians that roamed the global show stage over the past several decades, but also how to score, how to judge, what to look for in horses and why, as well as ethics and genetics. If we said “there was enough time to answer all questions”, we’d be lying as our students had plenty and didn’t hesitate to ask them over lunch or supper or during breaks.

When all our students, some of them future judges (fingers crossed!!!), were done with theoretical knowledge, came the practical part. Our instructors painstakingly and thoroughly helped their wide-eyed pupils analyse the horses that the Rzepka Family generously brought out of their stables. Everyone was asked what they thought about the legs, croup, wither, hooves or movement of the horses in front of them. And while those weren’t trick questions, they were far from easy. Because whoever thought judging was simple was – let’s face it – wrong. The mock class was followed by a mock championship, so their expertise could be put to the test to the fullest extent, and after they were done, they returned all their scorecards to the instructors. Oh, lest we forget: there also were a written exam and oral test… Like we said at the beginning, we take our educational mission extremely seriously. All the seriousness aside, we may rejoice as it looks like we are going to have more new probationer judges at ECAHO-affiliated shows next year, so… congrats!

We shalt not rest on our laurels

Education remains one of the top-priority statutory objectives of the Polish Arabian Horse Breeders Association. There is an insatiable hunger for knowledge out there which knows no borders. And we are lucky to be the epicentre of lifelong learning about Arabians. Which does indeed make sense. After all, Poland is one of the global capitals of purebred horses – the hub, heart, and hotbed of all things Arabian. That is why already now we promise and vow to continue our mission, and come 2026, we shall start writing “Chapter 4”. Everyone is invited – no matter where you’re from, come and learn with us. Even the best videos are not going to replace a real-life course during which you can freely interact with teachers, colleagues and fellow breeders. So it’s not really a question if you should come. The right question is: why on Earth wouldn’t you?!

The meteoric rise of Lubochnia Arabians into the top echelons of the Arabian show scene is no accident or stroke of fate, but a combination of preparation, application and great teamwork. Lubochnia Arabians was only founded in 2021 by Dobrochna and Przemysław Wawrzynczyk, but their arrival on the European show circuit has not been unremarkable, as they’ve started in tremendous style, already having not one, but two, All Nations Cup Championship medalists. However, upon meeting this charming and enigmatic couple, one immediately understands that success is no fluke – as Przemysław’s ethos is based on his favourite quote: ‘Luck is not enough!’ and the more you get to know these ambitious owners the more you get to realise that nothing is left to chance, everything is planned to the enth degree and there is always a strategy and calculated outcome for every decision made. There is also, however, a very human touch to all of this ultimate efficiency, as Przemyslaw is quick to point out that it was due to his daughters’ Olivia and Maria’s love of horses that stables were built at their new home in Lubochnia in the first place. 

Neither Dobrochna and Przemyslaw are new to horses, as both spent some of their childhood with them – Dobrochna developed her equestrian skills at Pony Club Camp, whilst Przemyslaw’s first job, at the age of 10, was to earn pocket money by taking care of the horses at the local stables.

However, he had always nurtured a keen sense of achievement, and being technically minded, Przemyslaw later trained to be an electrician, and 25 years ago he started out with his father as the first emplyee of the company, working on local homes. Through word of mouth and contacts his business grew and grew and now his company Electro-Klim carries out large installations throughout Europe for companies such as: Amazon, Opel, Mercedes, TK Max and developers of warehouse halls such as: Panatonni, GLP, MLP, SEGRO.

Meantime Dobrochna, also very bright, was spotted and sponsored at university by Volkswagen, later to be employed by them and becoming the first woman to represent them at conferences around Europe. One day Przemyslaw was attending one of their installations at Poznan University when he caught sight of Dobrochna. Dobrochna has an unusual education for a woman at the time – she holds a Master of Science degree in industrial production management, especially automotive production and quality management in machine construction. Perhaps fate decided that these two technically minded people would compliment one another as the couple have been together ever since, having a daughter Maria, sister to Przemyslaw’s daughter Oliwia from his previous marriage.

They now work together too, as Przemyslaw decided he missed Dobrochna too much when she went away on business for Volkswagen, so she became Electro-Klim’s Finance Director. In 2015 the couple bought a 35 hectare plot at Lubochnia, which was mainly brush and woodland at the time – Przemyslaw describes it as a ‘jungle’. However, with Dobrochna and Przemysław’s vision, as can be seen with every aspect of their life, the building of their new home and landscaping of the surrounding land was planned with immense forethought and attention to detail.

Their stunning house took three years to create and is built on a rise looking down on the horse pastures and stables to the front, whilst behind are views of their large boating lake.

During this time both Oliwia and Maria had begun to show a passion for horses, Oliwia was taking riding lessons and Maria went with her when Przemyslaw was driving her to the riding school, so it wasn’t long before she had the bug too. Soon Oliwia had two riding horses of her own – one a part bred Arab – which she kept at a friend’s stables behind where the house was being built. Quality family time is very important to Dobrochna and Przemyslaw, and so they decided that they would rather build stables at home, to spend more time with their daughters while they enjoyed their horses …and if building stables to house their daughters riding horses, why not have some of their own? And next two stunning barns were built that housed 20 stables.

Then friend Krzysztof Kapała stepped in. Krzysztof was one of Electro-Klim’s early clients and he and Przemyslaw had since become friends for many years, and so it was a natural conclusion that Krzysztof would take Dobrochna and Przemyslaw to his farm in 2020 to show them his Arabians and tell them: ‘If you’re going to fill your stables with horses there is only one breed to follow – the Arabian’. Dobrochna and Przemyslaw immediately recognised the qualities and essence of Krzysztof’s horses, and that’s how Lubochnia Arabians started. Krzysztof is often at the farm to help and advise, most especially when Dobrochna and Przemyslaw are away, and he represents them at shows too. Later in 2020 Krzysztof introduced Dobrochna and Przemyslaw to Mateusz Jaworski and he too became their friend and consultant, and indeed they bought their first Arabian from Mateusz, the classy bay Kahil Al Shaqab daughter Washa (x WH Justice daughter Wasa) and she had the first foal born at Lubochnia Arabians, a bay filly by Dominic M, who they named Wajana L.

2021

Now Dobrochna and Przemyslaw decided to invest in their first show horse, and of course not just any show horse, but one of the utmost quality. Unfortunately this was at a time when Covid was restricting travel, so going abroad to view horses was not a viable proposition. Mateusz contacted Paolo Capecci to ask what they had for sale, and so due to travel not being an option, Paolo and Susy decided to give their first live presentation of sale horses via video link! Team Lubochnia – Dobrochna, Przemyslaw, Oliwia, Maria, Krzysztof and Mateusz all sat together in the hotel’s conference room, during Bialka Spring Show, with pedigrees of ten horses, ranging from previous championship winners to complete novices, and it was the beautiful bay yearling D Narjeseyyah, who, says Dobrochna ‘Captivated us and touched our hearts’.

As soon as Covid flight restrictions were lifted they flew to Capecci Training Centre and as soon as they saw D Narjeseyyah in the flesh they instantly knew they had to have her. The stunning filly had an illustrious pedigree to match her looks, being by FA El Rasheem from the gorgeous mare Exaltress by Excalibur EA. Dobrochna remarks that this occasion was also the beginning of their cooperation and friendship with Susy and Paolo ‘So not only were we able to buy our first show horse, but also to team up with one of the most successful training stables in the world, Capecci Arabian Training Centre, and so we were able to present our vision to a handler who is at the top of his game’. Przemyslaw adds ‘I’m a people person, for me it is very important to have nice people around, and to build a team around friendship and loyalty. We wanted to have one handler and to give 100% loyalty each way, and we believe we have the perfect collaboration with Susy and Paolo’.

For sure this first purchase of a show filly of the highest quality was a sign of things to come and the level of success that this ambitious couple hoped, or intended, to achieve, as at her initial show for Lubochnia, the Spring International Arabian Show, D Narjeseyyah won her class and then went on to take the Gold Championship!

She followed this success with Gold at the Milan International Cup and also at the Bergamo International Arab show – so three Golds out of three as a Yearling! It couldn’t be any better!
And the Bergamo show was made even more special and significant for Dobrochna and Przemyslaw as here they bought the classic and classy white mare Juwanda OS (WH Justice x Shak Lavanda by ZT Shakfantasy).

The successes of D Narjeseyyah had whetted Dobrochna and Przemyslaw’s appetites. They knew this young filly could not go to too many shows, and so they had decided to buy an already titled mare for the senior female section. They had previously noted Juwanda OS (Top Ten at Paris and Gold at many shows, including the Europeans) and here she was competing – and winning her class – at Bergamo.

A quick decision was made and Juwanda OS became the latest addition to the Lubochnia team – and the following day Dobrochna and Przemyslaw were able to walk into the arena to be presented with the Silver trophy as proud owners of this wonderful mare. And a few months later at Verona Juwanda OS rewarded her new owners’ faith by not only winning her class by earning a magnificent seven 20s but also being awarded Gold Champion Senior Female.

2022

Saw Lubochnia get an exciting acquisition in the spectacular chestnut four year old D Modi (FA El Rasheem x D Nawal by Royal Colours). Paolo had found D Modi in the UAE and circumstances were such that he was able to purchase her for Lubochnia. D Modi had already won at the UAE National Championship in Abu Dhabi and now Lubochnia had two very top quality FA El Rasheem daughters.

Dobrochna recalls ‘D Modi represented extremely high qualities, full of charisma and attitude, correctness, prettiness and she gives goosebumps to everyone watching her when she’s moving free and snorting, enjoying herself’. Not just a super show mare, D Modi also has great bloodlines as a broodmare, being full sister to show champions D Nayel and D Nawasy and Lubochnia are excitedly awaiting her embryos due in Spring 2024.

D Modi duly had her first show representing Lubochnia Arabians at Palermo Arabian Horse Cup, and along with her stable companion D Narjeseyyah. What a show for Lubochnia! D Narjeseyyah was class winner and Gold Champion Junior Female, and not only did D Modi copy the younger filly’s success, she topped her by having the highest score of the show with a huge 94 points, including seven 20s! So D Modi’s inauguration for Lubochnia was a huge success, with Highest Score and Best in Show.

Next on the calendar was the Spring International Arabian show at Arezzo, where yet again D Narjeseyyah won her class, and also Dobrochna and Przemyslaw were there to see homebred Wajana L, the yearling filly from Washa, win her class and get awarded Gold too! Again, the Bergamo International show was particularly special for Dobrochna and Przemyslaw as this time not only did D Modi win Bronze Champion Senior Female, the wonderful D Narjeseyyah return to be awarded another Gold – this time as Champion Junior Female.

And now one of the top Arabian horse shows in the world, the All Nations Cup, Aachen, where one year old Lubochnia Farm had not one, but two serious contenders entered, a remarkable achievement for such a young farm – but perhaps not such a great surprise if one knew the application and dedication to success that epitomises Dobrochna and Przemyslaw.

To their utter delight stunning D Narjeseyyah won her class, and yet D Modi went even one better – being awarded Silver Champion Senior Female! Dobrochna recalls that she was so overwhelmed she actually fell and was caught by Przemyslaw! Indeed, the couple acknowledge that it was this superb chestnut who first put Lubochnia in the spotlight.

But of course they didn’t rest here; now they knew they had to keep moving forward. Says Dobrochna: ‘By now we understood that there are no half-measures in the world of Arabian horse breeding; if you love the beauty of these horses and want to develop your farm seriously, you must choose the best quality horses, so because we already had two successful show horses with the ‘D’ prefix we decided, as a team, that the next step should be the Dubai Stud’s auction at the end of October. However, we had only recently returned from holidaying in Dubai, so we decided to make any bids by phone, with the assistance of Toader Iacoban, who would be present at the auction’. Lubochnia pored over the catalogue and decided they wanted the two lots they considered to be the very best entries in the auction: two year old D Leen (D Seraj x D Maya by Eden C) and five year old D Dawaly (FA El Rasheem x D Danat by SG Labib). Auction day dawned and the team re-evaluated the two horses during the morning showing, which gave them confirmation that these were definitely the two they wanted to buy, and now they had an exciting and anxious wait until the auction started. Evening time saw the Team watching and waiting with baited breath. ‘Emotions, emotions and more emotions!!’ recalls Dobrochna. Toader was on hand to take the bids and two hours later Lubochnia were indeed a very happy and content team, having made the successful bids on both girls, they were now buzzing with new plans for the following years. 

Dobrochna muses ‘It’s a reflection on todays market that in the past the most important sheikhs came to Poland to buy amazing horses, and today Poles are going to the Middle East to find something unique’.

2023

In April D Leen had her first outing for Lubochnia at the Travagliato Arabian Horse Festival, where to their delight she won her class and was unanimous Gold, yet another perfect start to a show season.

And topping this, a month later D Dawaly joined her stablemate at the Palermo International Arabian Show where this time both girls trotted away Gold, D Leen Junior Female Champion and D Dawaly Senior. Lubochnia’s latest wise purchases had certainly hit the ground running! And in July D Dawaly duly took Gold again at the Montefalco show.

However, the next show in the calendar had a special place in Dobrochna and Przemyslaw’s hearts – SOPOT, held in their native country. Being family and friends orientated this was their opportunity to show everyone what their new passion was all about, plus they were very proud to have two special Arabians competing for them here, so Dobrochna and Przemyslaw invited forty(!) friends and family to come and attend the show with them!

Capacci Training Centre brought the horses all the way up from Italy, staying over at Lubochnia for a few days to give them a break, and then travelling on up to this popular show.
To the large crowd of Lubochnia supporters’ excitement both mares once again fulfilled their promise – and both took Golds in their respective sections!

And then to cap the day Przemyslaw himself presented D Narjeseyyah in the Amateur Handlers Cup! After which, renowned for their hospitality, the party started!

Good news came from other quarters too, as Walkirie L, Washa’s yearling filly by Shanghai EA, was awarded Gold Champion Yearling Filly at the Elementa Arabian Masters Show in Rome for her new owner from Bahrein.

D Leen had had a break until that most important show came around once more – the All Nations Cup, Aachen. Dobrochna and Przemyslaw knew already that here competition was at its highest level and their girl would be competing against some of the best Arabians in the world. To their utmost joy, their glorious grey D Leen secured herself a place in the the championship by being awarded second in the strong class. And then on Championship day, Paolo had D Leen showing her socks off to thrill the judges yet again and get rewarded with Silver in a particularly strong Junior Female Championship. Incredible results and fantastic teamwork from this small, newly formed farm!

And what next for Lubochnia? What of 2024?

Needless to say, Dobrochna and Przemyslaw have already been thinking about their 2024 campaign and after deciding which horses they have for junior and senior categories they decided a few months ago that they could add a yearling contender. It was time to search for a foal, preferably a top quality foal born in Europe which therefore could participate in European shows and the European championships.

The Lubochnia team, including Susy, Paolo, Mateusz and Krzysztof traveled around several farms searching out their next show horse – and then they heard about a very special grey filly foal at Osterhof Stud… Sana OS, by the rising superstar sire Exagon from one of the exceptional mares with a royal pedigree bred at Osterhof, Panamera OS by Psytadel.

It was love at first sight for everyone, as not only were they swept away by the filly’s beauty, but also by her sweet character.

Says Dobrochna: ‘Sana is not only very beautiful, but also particularly people friendly, we love horses with a calm and easy character, we believe it helps them to develop in the show training – if they are charismatic and move well then they can more easily transform to a show horse in the ring. We have high hopes for Sana OS and are grateful to Heinz Stoeckle for letting us have her join our show team. We understand though that it’s very difficult to predict the future of a little foal who is changing alot every month of her life, but we hope for the best’.

Przemyslaw speaks out ‘Now we are making our plans for 2024. Preparation is all and consequently we make our strategies according to our dreams and ambitions, but of course with horses we have to be prepared to adjust and adapt those plans. Our ultimate ambition is to breed for success – I want to hear our Polish National Anthem at the Worlds! However, we are already aware that to breed on is not easy and requires much time and patience, plus we need to concentrate on sourcing the very best quality. To this end we understand that foundation mares are the cornerstone of a successful breeding programme, which is why we are trying to collect an interesting group and why we are so looking forward to the spring, as our recipients are expecting nine foals from our best mares in 2024 here at Lubochnia. And usually we attend every foaling ourselves too.

We repeat very often; all this was only possible thanks to the wonderful people who surrounded them and are now their friends: Susi, Paolo, Krzysztof and Mateusz and the entire team of people who cooperate in their everyday life. All of the Team are being truly helpful with encouragement and decision making, we’re always aware that still we need to adapt and learn, so we will carry on attending breeding and horsemanship courses and seminars continue acquiring as much knowledge as possible. It’s a step by step process for us to carry on moving forwards, as we sincerely hope that if this continues to be a successful programme then Olivia and Maria might have something out of it rather than just a hobby and that Lubochnia Arabians will be a part of their futures too’.

Adds Dobrochna: ‘Next spring will be an exciting time for us – but also a kind of exam for us, to see if we made good breeding decisions’.
One comes away with the feeling that if anyone can fulfil their dreams, it’s Dobrochna and Przemyslaw through their enormous diligence and attitude to creating success with the close-knit team they have built around them. With maybe a bit of luck thrown in…

On September 28th, 2022, Mrs. Krystyna Karaszewska, a long-time registrar of the Polish Arabian Stud Book and Polish Stud Book (for Thoroughbreds), passed away.

Krystyna Karaszewska spent her entire professional life at the Racing Track at Służewiec. She started working at the races in 1968, and from 1970 she became the Stud Book Registrar taking over from Krystyna Molenda. Thanks to her many years of hard work, in 1996 the Polish Stud Book for Thoroughbreds (PSB) was recognized by the International Stud Book Committee (ISBC).

For at least two generations of Arabian horse breeders, Krystyna Karaszewska was an integral part of the Polish Arabian Stud Book. Many people knew Krystyna Karaszewska from visits to the office. In recent years, there had been no opportunity for personal contact with Krystyna, for example at the PAHBA (Polish Arabian Horse Breeders Association) meetings in Janów Podlaski or the National Show, where her presence was always an important element of these meetings.

We all knew her professionally, but who knew what she was like privately? It was probably in 2008. The autumn breeding inspections in the studs started that year in Janów Podlaski. Among the few guests there was an exceptional one – Zenon Lipowicz. I had met him a few years earlier during the Scottsdale show, but this fall meeting in Janów was deeply remembered by me. Zenon Lipowicz is an icon of Polish racing, the discoverer of the talent of the famous Sabellina, who gave rise to the famous dynasty of Oaks and Derby winners, as well as the co-author of the successes of Algorab and Sambor in the USA. Even his presence at the autumn stud inspections was something special, and in what company! It was a meeting of friends who knew each other and worked together since the late 1960s, during the “golden era” of Polish breeding in the USA.

Zenon Lipowicz, Izabella Zawadzka and Krystyna Karaszewska met after many years and together they returned to their old memories, and there was no end to the stories. It was then that I met these people from a private side. Amused like teenagers, they happily remembered the times when “Zenek” took care of Algorab and Sambor at Leon Rubin’s Sir William Farm stud, which led to the greatest successes on US tracks. They both won the prestigious Oklahoma City Derby and won the Racing Horse of the Year titles in the USA. At that time, Izabella Zawadzka was in the USA and she and Zenon had a lot to tell about the Polish horses that went to famous American breeders. Zenon Lipowicz had shared memories with Krystyna Karaszewska from his work on the track at Służewiec, of which he was deputy director during 1972-1973. How many wonderfully colorful stories about people and horses had been told. How much joy from the meeting was in their relationship. It was the first time that I saw Krystyna Karaszewska as a free, sociable, warm person. A woman full of humor and a brilliant knowledge of Arabian horses that I did not expect. This memory allows me to remember Krystyna Karaszewska as a person for over 50 years associated with breeding and racing, which she knew like no other in our country. With her departure, the whole era slowly closes, which we connect with her and her friends Zenon Lipowicz and Izabella Zawadzka.

Although she is mainly associated with the stud book, it should be mentioned that Krystyna Karaszewska was also the head of the Selection, Breeding and Racing Organization department, advisor to the President of the Polish Jockey Club, a member of the Stewards Committee and a highly valued racing commentator.

In these days of computer science and mechanization, it seemed that there was no longer a place in the military world for one of man’s oldest friends: the horse.

However, beyond the ceremonial units that continue to use this type of mount, the horse is reluctant to disappear. Last year we already saw the case of Colombia, whose Army has formed Mounted Units after realizing its usefulness in mountainous areas. In the case of Poland, something similar has happened. The Poles are a horse-loving people, as much or more so than the Rohirrim in Tolkien’s books. In fact, Poland is the only country in Europe that dedicates one of its national holidays to cavalry (in the world I only know of one other case like this: Thailand). Let us remember that the important Battle of Warsaw in 1920 was won thanks to a powerful cavalry charge, the anniversary of which the Polish Army celebrates annually as its Armed Forces Day.

Beyond the mockery generated by the myth of the Polish cavalry charges in World War II, as Alberto Gómez Trujillo, president of the Poland First to Fight Historical-Cultural Association in 2017, already pointed out here, “the land of eastern Poland, mainly flat, but plagued by marshes and with scarce and primitive ways and roads, was much more suited to the movement of mounted troops than to the primitive and fragile vehicles of the time.”

These last hours we are seeing again the Polish military on horseback and not for a parade, but to defend the country’s borders, in this case against the migratory invasion organized by Belarus against Poland and Lithuania. Belarusian servicemen are taking to the border thousands of immigrants brought from the East and the Middle and Africa with the sole purpose of destabilizing those two neighboring countries, in a vile response of the Lukashenko dictatorship against the European Union, for its criticism of the violations of human rights in that country.

The 2nd Lublin Brigade of the Polish Army’s Territorial Defense Force (WOT), the local equivalent – so to speak – of the United States National Guard, is developing a pilot program with horse patrols to support the Border Guard of Poland against this migratory invasion.

WOT has released images of these riders, wearing wz.93 Panther camouflage uniforms and FAST special operations helmets, with the horse gear in the same mimetic pattern. An image without a doubt very striking.

As in the interwar period, these horse patrols are especially useful in the difficult border terrain between Poland and Belarus.

At the moment, these WOT horse patrols only exercise support functions for the Border Guard, which is the one that is mainly dealing with this migratory wave, in which immigrants often arrive accompanied by Belarusian soldiers who try to force them to cross. border.

The Polish military and border guards are mainly engaged in searching and locating the parties of illegal immigrants who are camping in the immediate vicinity of the border, either on the Belarusian side, waiting to pass, or once they have passed the Polish border.

But the work of the Polish military goes beyond surveillance. Members of the WOT carry medical backpacks, blankets, food and hot drinks so that they can care for illegal immigrants, who often arrive in very poor condition. First of all, what the Polish soldiers do not forget is that they are dealing with human beings, who are being used in a miserable way by a dictatorship that does not mind abandoning them in the middle of a forest without food or water.

I hope this post serves not only as a curiosity, to publicize the new use of cavalry by the Polish Army, but also to remember the role of Poland in the European Union, as a border country with Russia and Belarus, whose regimes maintain a hostile attitude towards NATO countries. These Polish soldiers are not only defending the borders of their country, but also the limits of the European Union.

On the evening of August 24th, news spread around the world about the death of Charlie Watts, the drummer of the legendary band The Rolling Stones, which has been giving concerts for nearly 60 years, on which several generations of music lovers grew up. In the international community of Arabian horse breeders, Charlie Watts was known as an inseparable companion supporting his wife Shirley in breeding, subsequent purchases and collecting trophies for Arabian horses owned by their Halsdon Arabians stud, which regularly gathered the most expensive horses bred in Poland. Hence, Charlie Watts has been a regular guest in our country for years, as well as at almost all the most important Arabian horse shows that his wife has attended since 1987, when they appeared together at the European Championships in Ostend.

Professionally – a musical legend, considered one of the best drummers of all time. Privately – extremely modest, always elegantly and impeccably dressed, winner of the Vanity Fair Award for Best Dressed Stars, with a sense of humor, patiently posing for hundreds of photos with anyone who asked for them. The opposite of the stereotype of a rocker associated with, for example, his band mates. As he claimed in numerous interviews, show business did not interest him at all, he did not watch MTV, he was virtually alien to stimulants, he even quit smoking in the 1980s. Described as “the quiet giant” by another outstanding drummer – Stewart Copeland of The Police. So Charlie Watts will be remembered by hundreds of Arabian horse lovers around the world. Let us give the floor to those who knew him the closest and remember him in touching words:

“Dear Charlie, the day I heard about your death, the pain and the feeling of emptiness did not leave me for many hours,” Elvis Giughera, co-founder of the ArabianEssence platform, privately a friend of Charlie and Shirley Watts, began his extremely personal memory.
– It seems impossible to me that we will never have another happy time together again. In recent years there have been many of them: a short trip to Paris, where you and Shirley liked to spend your free time; dinners on the occasion of the holidays in London, which were our regular item on the agenda; or Shirley’s birthday in September, when my mother made apple fries for you; to watching X-Factor together – it was almost unreal for me that a rock legend sat in my living room to comment on the performances of reality show participants. How many fun moments we spent together! You were always happy and smiling, your disarming surprise was unforgettable when Shirley invited us to a concert in Hyde Park, and you, surprised, asked: did you come especially for me? You were a gentleman, sensitive and sensitive to the needs of others, always available to everyone. Today the whole world mourns a percussion virtuoso, and I mourn a friend I will always carry in my heart ”.

The disarming modesty of Charlie Watts is also confirmed by the breeder from Brazil, Paulo Jamil Saliba: “During the first tour of The Rolling Stones in South America, Charlie Watts was planning to visit our stud. Unfortunately, the band’s flight from Mexico City to Sao Paulo was delayed which resulted in a delay in the scheduled concerts as well. Charlie called our office to say that he would visit our stud a day later than we agreed. When I laughed and replied that all of Brazil already knew about it, I had the impression that Charlie did not realize how important an event his band’s first visit to our country was. The horse inspection at our stud, which he eventually visited in the company of The Rolling Stones bassist Darryl Jones, was a lot of fun for him”.

The visits of the Watts’ to our country were of great importance, recalls Marek Grzybowski, the organizer of the Polish Prestige auction, who first invited Shirley Watts to buy Polish horses in 1989. A year later, she and Charlie came to Janów. “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the news of Charlie Watts’ death,” writes Marek Grzybowski. “He and his wife Shirley were among the most important clients of the Polish Prestige auction in Janów. When in 1989 I met Shirley at one of the most important shows and invited her to the auction, I did not know that she would come to Poland with her famous husband. Mr. and Mrs. Watts did not miss any auction. They watched the horses together, then Charlie made the bidding. Very discreetly, with a gentle finger gesture or a slight nod of the head. He clearly enjoyed the bidding game. As an auctioneer, I knew Charlie would never give up once he started fighting for a horse for his wife. For the journalists and photographers gathered at the auction, the participation of the famous “Rolling Stones” was the most important event of the auction. The same was true for the public, the inhabitants of Janów Podlaski, as well as for people travelling to Janów from all over Poland. The Watts won the auctions with spontaneous joy, and the audience welcomed this with sincere applause. I look at old photos. There is joy on all the faces. It was a joy and pride for Poles that the wonderful Polish Arabians were appreciated by the global clientele. For guests from abroad, it is a joy to participate in the Polish Arabian Summer Festival, the most important event for Arabian horses in the world. For us it was an opportunity to show the public, especially Polish politicians, that the state studs are such a good promotional asset that they should never be privatized. I think that our distinguished foreign guests, such as Charlie Watts and others, contributed, albeit unconsciously, to the decision by Polish politicians to abandon the privatization of the studs in Janów, Michałów and Białka”.

On the day of Charlie Watts’ death, The Rolling Stones were in the process of preparing for another tour, which Charlie Watts had to give up for health reasons, but he said he was working hard to get back to playing. Unfortunately, both the legendary group and the Arabian horse community, without the figure of Charlie Watts, a virtuoso with always smiling and cheerful eyes, will never be the same again. On behalf of the polskiearaby.com portal, we would like to join the condolences flowing from all over the world to his loved ones.

An interview with Marek Rzepka, the owner and founder of Klikowa Arabians, who brought Pianissima’s son, Prometeusz, to Poland.

Why do you have such great passion for Arabian horses?

My grandfather was a great animal lover. He served in the Austrian army, he did all his service with horses, he bred pigeons, fish and dogs. He died in 1950. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet him, but I feel that it is partly from him that I inherited a great passion for animals. My grandparents kept carrier pigeons. My grandma used to remind me not to scare them. These pigeons were something magical for me, something I always dreamed of. My father was not a fan of animal breeding, unlike my grandfather and uncle. He forbade me to get too involved in breeding. But the more inaccessible something is, the more we strive to own it. So, already in elementary school, I started breeding carrier pigeons. I kept them on the Sanguszko farm. Although I am a graduate of the AGH University of Science and Technology, pigeons have stayed with me to this day. This is my great passion.

How did the place of birth and upbringing, i.e. the former estate of the Sanguszko family in Gumniska, influence the development of this passion?

I was born in the vicinity of the palace in Gumniska. I dreamed of horses, but it seemed completely inaccessible to me; horses were something unattainable for me for many years. After working for two years in the Provincial Office in the environmental protection department, I realized that something bigger needs to be done in life. Having no idea then to what size my plan would grow, I decided to start my own business. Currently, my company, Polmark, produces all the electrical components needed at home. I started by distributing the products of one of the factories that were in bankruptcy. After a year, I became its largest representative, and other significant companies on the market signed contracts with me for the sale of their products. I was able to buy a package of the company’s bonds and gain the position of chairman of the supervisory board. Within one year, without firing a single person, I made the bankrupt company profitable. 320 people were employed. After two years, the company already employed 600 people.

Klikowa is a former state stallion depot, previously owned by the Sanguszko princes – how did it happen that it is in the name of your stud?

I wanted to buy the stud in Udórz, still having Arabian horses in my head. However Udórz, located 140 km from Tarnów, was not an attractive enough place on the map. My wife dissuaded me from this idea. At that time, I became one of the founders of the Klikowa Foundation, composed of 32 members – institutions and companies focused around horses. The members of the foundation are also Janów and Michałów studs. The purpose of the Foundation was to save the declining herd in Klikowa. Unfortunately, it was the worst period in the history of this place. At the moment I am the vice president of the board of the founders of the Foundation. Thanks to this, I entered the environment of horsemen and breeders. They were not breeders of Arabian horses, but mainly those of the Małopolska breed. My first horse was the Małopolska leopard-colored stallion Birkut, bought at an auction in Michałów. I wanted breeders to use him extensively; in this way, I intended to support the foundation. However, I knew that Arabian horses were my target. Quite by chance, while travelling, I ended up at the stud of Mr. Dariusz Konstanty in Trzyciąż, and there I bought my first Arabian mare, Gamia 2007 by Ganges. I read with great interest all articles about Arabian horses on portals and in trade magazines. I was absorbing knowledge about them. The real adventure with breeding began with the purchase of a few mares from Przemysław Sawicki. It was then that I acquired a strong group of mares with solid, one could say, predictable pedigrees. Then I started to plan my own breeding. During the stallions parade in Klikowa, I met Monika Stefaniuk-Szmukier, a zootechnician working at the Agricultural University of Hugo Kołłątaj in Krakow, strongly involved in the subject of Arabian horses. Monika successfully completed her doctorate and postdoctorate title in genetics of Arabian horses. She was positively crazy about Michałów. I like people for whom passion is of great importance and determines their lives. I bred Arabian horses in Klikowa for four years, before in March 2020, i.e. a year ago, they came to the newly built stud in Wola Rzędzińska, in the vicinity of my Polmark company and my home. Agnieszka Pustelnik worked in Klikowa and turned out to be a very committed and professional person. In the new stable in Wola Rzędzińska, she takes care of our horses and is the head of the stable. Monika and Agnieszka are in our team until this day.

I believe that knowledge should be constantly deepened, despite the fact that we gain experience in a given field over time. However, we learn all the time, as well as take in the humility that accompanies it.

What is the current breeding structure of your mare herd and in what direction are you planning its development?

The basis of my breeding remain four Ekstern daughters – Erigone (out of Eryka by Eukaliptus), Lili PS (out of Lenka by Piaff), Zazulka (out of Zuzelia by Werbum) and El Dorilla (out of El Dorra by QR Marc). His daughters, especially from Milordka’s dam line, are very valuable mothers. At the moment in Klikowa Arabians we are adding their daughters to our breeding herd, which is a great satisfaction for me and shows the value of the stud for the future. The second branch of breeding herd are daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters of Gazal Al Shaqab, so I tried to select and purchase good quality mares by Gazal, Marwan and Kahil. I placed my bets on the Michałów “E” line and Janów’s “P” line. Unfortunately, I have never seen Pianissima with my own eyes. Perhaps that also contributed to my desire to collect her daughters so much. And now it turned out that we had the chance to become the owners of her son, the exceptional stallion Prometeusz.

For me, it was extraordinary with what respect, artistry and fascination Pianissima was spoken of and written about all over the world. She was an absolutely outstanding horse, who set Janów’s breeding at the highest level, leaving competitors far behind. This petit bay mare was admired on all continents, millions of euros were offered for her. Without worrying about what some said – that Pianissima is a freak of nature, from whom it will be difficult to breed good offspring – as soon as Pianissima’s daughter Pianova (by Eden C) appeared at the auction in 2019, we decided to buy her, and then completely by chance I found out about another daughter of Pianissima, which was put up for auction in Ajman Stud, this time by El Nabila B, the grey AJ Penelope. She was bought for me by Frank Spoenle’s wife – Elisa Grassi. In this way, we became the owners of two Pianissima daughters. Such wonderful horses as the European Gold Champion Efora KL or the granddaughter of Pianissima (out of Pianova by Eden C) – the filly Pianissa, were born still at Klikowa. The acceptance of the stable where we are now was not easy. A pandemic was already raging in Poland, and the newly built Klikowa Arabians is not only a stable, but also a banquet hall, conference room, guest rooms, and professional catering facilities. In the end, however, we succeeded and from March 19th, 2020, we have Arabian horses here.

What are your plans for the near future?

At the moment, we are starting to implement another project – an indoor arena and most likely more stalls and an indoor carousel. In my head I have a long list of Arabian horse projects and events that I would like to see here in the future. We organize breeding inspections where, I hope, we will regularly host Polish and foreign breeders. We are trying to expand the acreage needed for horse breeding, and the local community is aware that we are a stud and will not be threatened by a developer or other speculations about the area in the neighbourhood. That is why everyone around me is very sympathetic and we are slowly succeeding in consolidating more and more areas. There are already 20 hectares, which is quite a good acreage for further development. I believe that in order to properly breed horses, you need to have full control of the feed you feed them. We have a very good agronomist in our team, who takes care of keeping meadows and pastures in the best condition. We grow oats ourselves, we mow meadows, all our crops are subordinated to horse breeding. I naturally became a farmer thanks to it. As a farmer, I purchased a good-quality machine park. The first time I got in a Ferguson I thought it was an exceptionally pleasant thing; it is fascinating how highly developed mechanization in agriculture is. Sitting in the new tractor felt more comfortable than in the new Mercedes! Radio, air conditioning, air-cushioned seat, lots of joysticks – it’s a great pleasure to be able to cultivate your own fields. It really is a fairy tale. 25 years ago I bought 50 hectares of meadows and forest near Krynica by accident. The area is currently under lease, kept in good condition and in an appropriate culture. Mountain streams, forest … Who knows if it will not be useful in the future for the development of activities? I think I was very lucky in my life, thanks to so many coincidences. Sometimes certain elements come together. Every year in breeding, whether we like it or not, must bring progress. We have to follow fashion and maintain the right pace, be aware of current trends. If we miss important elements, it will be difficult to make up for it later.

An important moment was the purchase of the Michałów-bred mare Erigone 2003 by Ekstern, from Mrs. Helen Zaleski from Lutetia Arabians in France. We took two mares to Belgium, to Knocke Arabians, to breed to the stallion QR Marc. Porta KL was born out of Pegala, out of Erigone – Efora KL, last year’s European Champion. It has been the greatest success of our breeding so far. We’ll see what this season brings.

My son Marcin is extremely involved in breeding pigeons, dogs and horses. For years, we have been studying pedigrees, show results and offspring rankings together. Our best year in terms of shows is 2020: medals in Białka, Janów Podlaski and at the European Championships in Prague. Last year I bought two daughters of the stallion Kahil Al Shaqab at the Monday auction in Janów Podlaski – Erskina and Pliwia. I believe that these are important mares that have enriched our breeding program. We are looking forward to adding to our herd the wonderful daughter of WH Justice – Ophrah, who will be presented this year at the Junior Spring Show in Białka.

What are your plans for the near future for Prometeusz?

The anticipation of his arrival was amazing. After his long delayed arrival in Amsterdam due to Ramadan, we waited for him at the farm. However, his arrival was delayed. Phones rang, more explanations were given as to why the transport would be delayed for another and another day. It was a very difficult period. When Prometeusz finally arrived, I was captivated by his gaze, his expressiveness. When he starts moving in the paddock and is slightly agitated, he looks like the eighth wonder of the world. We will use him on our mares and maybe he will take part in the Polish National Show in Janów. We want Prometeusz to live in good, comfortable conditions that every stallion should have. He will be available to breeders in Poland and Europe, but with a limited number breedings, because we want to maintain the high quality of the semen. We dream that he will be used on such mares where his potential will be fully used. He is a stallion in his prime, the breeding future is ahead of him.

What stallions, apart from Prometeusz, will be used in your breeding?

This season, apart from Prometeusz, we use such stallions as D Seraj, El Jahez WH, EKS Farajj, RFI Unique, Naseem Al Rashediah. And the season is still going on, we will see what the next stallion selection decisions will bring. We try to ensure that the stallions we use have, even somewhere far back in their pedigree, Polish roots, Polish ancestors. This is an added value for us. Apart from Al Ayal AA, all the stallions we used had Polish ancestors. Of course, we cannot limit ourselves, we must go with progress and fashion. El Jahez, Dębowiec are also references to Polish ancestors, while maintaining high quality and breeding progress. We will absolutely adhere to it so as not to lose the positive aspects of our Polish lines, we should come back to it and make them unique and sought after all over the world. The Pure Polish horse is a beautiful and complete horse. It is not true that these horses are not modern. We have to be consistent in breeding. My son Marcin has been analyzing the horse show results for five years. This is very helpful when drawing conclusions as to which stallions are worth being interested in. Why make mistakes when there are horses that give a lot of champions?

For me, the greatest value in breeding are the mares who have Bey Shah in their pedigree, preferably several times. What I heard from you when we were walking in the pastures is inspiring, that the real challenge for the breeder is to breed a stallion, a sire that others will want to use in their breeding. You called it the highest art and true success. You are definitely right to say that the stallion breeder goes down in the history of breeding. We both know that breeding a good stallion is much more difficult than a good mare, also because the selection is much stricter, not every stallion is a good sire. We are lucky that Pianissima, FA El Shawan and hopefully Prometeusz are epochal horses that have an impact on breeding.

After last year’s successes at the shows, is Klikowa Arabians still planning the performances of its charges in Poland and abroad? What are the preparations like?

Plans for this year: we entered six horses for the Spring Show in Białka. They are young horses, we will see how they develop, each month makes a difference for youngsters. Once a week we meet with my son for a breeding inspection. We assess the condition of the horses and, together with those responsible for training and nutrition, decide on the next steps. The facilitation is that I live very close to the stud, I come here almost every day, 5-6 times a day. We train horses at home, so far we do not send horses for training abroad. I believe that this is a good system and obviously needs improvement; we are learning and gaining experience all the time. But I don’t like sending my horses to another stable, because even if I fully trust the trainer and his crew, I lose touch with my horse, I can’t see how it’s developing and I can’t judge its quality as well as in everyday contact. I really like looking after the horses personally and taking care of details. I am a perfectionist in everything I do in my life. Our staff is in the process of training and gaining skills – they are young, ambitious, hard-working people, which makes our task easier. In addition, many trainers and presenters visit us frequently. They supplement the team that works here on a daily basis. We have three vets: for emergency, reproductive and orthopedic situations. We strive to ensure that horses are under professional care.

How do you evaluate, from the customer’s point of view, the auction in Janów Podlaski, as well as the media hype around Arabian horses in Poland?

Little people, who do not understand the Arabian horse business, will write something there, scribble, and the majority of society buys it… And the auction, customers, transactions, money, all these elements like silence and harmony. If I was the manager of the Janów Podlaski auction, I would make sure that the free drinks were always delivered to the guests’ tables during the auction. Together with my wife, we have fond memories of the excellently organized auction in 2018. It was an unforgettable spectacle at the highest level – and the auction should be heading in this direction. A unique event that will be remembered.

PROMETEUSZ  (US), bay stallion, born 2012

Sire line: Saklawi I 1886, bred by Anazeh Ruala (B)

Dam line: Szmrajówka ~1810, bred by Biała Cerkiew (PL)

“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.

A million dollars – remains until this day an unbeaten record for a Polish Arabian stallion. Such an amount for EL PASO was offered in 1981 by Armand Hammer (1898–1990), an American oil tycoon descending from a Jewish family in Odessa. Although he was called “a friend of Lenin”, he was followed by the KGB when arriving in Moscow and by Kadafi’s secret service when in Libya. Upon his arrival in Poland groups of “sad gentlemen” in Polonez cars and Fiats traced his every step.

Janów ’81 and the horse that money couldn’t buy

The auction in Janów, its 22nd edition, took place on September 20th, 1981. The sale’s results were listed on front pages of even such tabloids as “Express Wieczorny”, right under an announcement of the PZPR (Polish Communist Party) Central Committee Politburo, which shows of how great significance they were. “Armand Hammer’s arrival in 1981 caused some political pressure on us, because he was not only wealthy, but had friends in the Soviet Union”, recalls in an interview with polskiearaby.pl Marek Grzybowski, who at the time organized the Janów Sale as a representative of Animex (in those days the event was called Polish Prestige). “He intended to buy El Paso and was counting on this being made easy. The stallion was already well known. He had already managed to claim the titles of US Champion and the nickname of “The horse that money couldn’t buy”, because his breeders had numerous times declined to sell him, using him broadly in Polish breeding. When Hammer appeared in Poland, the horse was already designated for sale – he had left a suitable number of daughters”.

Indeed, in the pedigree base we find forty Polish daughters of El Paso (Czort – Ellora/Witraż) born during 1973–1982. The stallion, representing the Kuhailan Haifi d.b. sire line and the damline of Wołoszka 1810, was born in Janów in 1967. A grandson of Witraż and Wielki Szlem, he had the legendary Ofir twice in his pedigree, a horse that was lost in Russia after Janów was robbed by the Soviet Army in 1939. Luckily two famous grandsires of El Paso survived, saved by Jan Ziniewicz during the bombing of Dresden. As a result, 23 years later after those tragic war events, El Paso was born, whose significance surpassed the record price set in 1981. During 1972–1975 he was used in Michałów, later in Janów. Leased by Lasma Arabians (1976–1978), successfully shown in the US, including at Scottsdale and the US Nationals, he died in 1995 at the age of 23 years old. His last get was born in the US in 1994. In Poland he left such sons as Etogram (out of Etruria by Palas) and Europejczyk (out of Europa by Bandos). His most famous daughters include 4 full sisters born at Michałów, out of the mare Warmia (Comet – Wadera/Doktryner): Wizja, 1977 US National Champion and dam of Wiaźma; Wilejka, 1982 Polish National Champion and All Nations Cup Champion in Aachen, dam of the stallion Wojsław and mare Worskla; Wistula, sold at the famous Polish Ovation sale in Scottsdale in February of 1985; and Wersja, exported to the US similarly to her sire in 1981.

The sale of El Paso was a huge event not only due to the record price, but also because of who the buyer was. This is how Marek Grzybowski recalls that time: „Seated at a large table were breeders and representatives of the Animal Trade Association, but almost no one spoke English. Just as well, because thanks to this I could peacefully carry out the negotiations. They were quite long, because we didn’t want to give in too quickly. Suddenly Hammer said: I’ll give half a million dollars for the horse! Everyone’s eyes became round and I could see that they wanted to agree, but I said: wait a minute, we won’t accept half a million, but we can think about it for a million. Hammer hit the table with his hand and shouted: sold! And I thought: darn it, I put in a too low bid. And added: under one condition. Tomorrow is the sale and you must buy at least five mares. He paid 380 thousand dollars for those mares, but I still had the impression that if I said “a million and a half”, he would also have agreed”.

The 1981 auction offered 34 mares and one stallion and the bidding took place in a circus tent. Armand Hammer was seated next to other prominent buyers, Eugene LaCroix and David H. Murdock. “After the welcome speech by Director Andrzej Krzyształowicz and just prior to the auction El Paso was led onto the arena and M. Grzybowski announced the sensational news”, wrote Antoni Święcki, the then chief editor of “Koń Polski” in his coverage from Janów (4/1981). “Today Mr. Armand Hammer, a businessman from the US, purchased the 14 year old US and Canadian National Champion – the stallion El Paso – for one million dollars. This information garnered a round of applause”. Hammer, as agreed, also purchased six mares: Harsza (Ego – Harfa/Omar II) for 76 thousand dollars, 1972 Derby winner Sasanka (Almifar – Santa/Czort) for 80 thousand, Gonitwa (Palas – Gonagra/Negatiw) also for 80 thousand, Kampania (Bandos – Kama/Eleuzis) for 31 thousand from Janów Podlaski and the Michałów El Paso daughter Wilczyca (out of Wadera/Doktryner) for 61 thousand. He spent exactly 373 thousand USD. By the way, during that auction lot 1, Michałów’s Milada (Burkan – Mila/Gwarny), was announced as sold after which a buyer was not found. (Let’s recall the hysteria after the 2016 sale when the first bidding of Sefora ended in an announcement that the bidder could not be identified.)

An “unexpected” visit, or even two

Soon after the 1981 auction the “Express Wieczorny” daily (September 22nd) reported on Hammer’s meeting with journalists which took place a day earlier. Armand Hammer announced that he came to Poland “unexpectedly”, which does not line up with reality. Since he made purchases two days earlier at Janów, then he must have been expected there; not to mention that Marek Grzybowski recalled the political pressure. In fact the visit’s entire course proves that it was definitely expected, from talks with the highest state authorities to a press conference. “Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski welcomed on the 19th of this month the known American businessman, president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Dr Armand Hammer”, wrote the “Trybuna Ludu” daily, the official organ of the Communist Party, in its Monday edition (21.09.1981). Together with General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who was then the prime minister and minister of national defense, Armand Hammer was to talk about the participation of his company in “mutual investments”: “The American party wants to give Poland a loan of 100 million dollars to build a new sulfur mine near Tarnobrzeg and 40 million dollars to build a plastic compound plant in Włocławek”, wrote “Express Wieczorny”. What they really talked about we will probably never know, but it must have been a continuation of earlier negotiations, because the millionaire visited Poland several months before the sale, in mid-December of 1980, something that few people today know about.

The fact that nine months later El Paso was sold at a table and not during the sale could have been a nod toward the millionaire, a way to “soften” him or to show gratefulness for some of his promises. “I want to treat this as a beginning of greater things and after my return to the US I will tell about my impressions and suggestions to the president-elect of the US, whom I know personally, why it is worth to help Poland in the field of agriculture”, Hammer promised during a press conference ending that first visit (“Życie Warszawy”, 17.12.1980). As we know, the president-elect at the time was the anti-Soviet Republican Ronald Reagan. It is said that in the 80s Michail Gorbaczov placed Hammer on the list of participants in negotiations with Reagan (whose campaign was financially supported by the millionaire) and as an observer Hammer was the only private person who took part in the talks. Mariusz Janik wrote about this in a biographic article on the Forsal.pl website: “When asked in one of the interviews if he has more power than the main inhabitant of the White House, he smiled understandingly and nodded his head”. However, as we can deem in light of Hammer’s later fate, the agreed amounts did not come to Poland, apart from the payment for the horses. And anyway just three months later, on December 13th, 1981, Wojciech Jaruzelski imposed martial law in Poland and in the face of such a difficult political situation the negotiations with the Americans must have become greatly outdated.

Do we know the real answer to the question why Hammer, who was in talks with the highest authorities of Communist Poland, took the time to visit Janów? Although he definitely liked horses, the reason could have been taxes (of course there could have been more reasons). In the same issue of “Koń Polski” in which he covered the auction and National Championships of 1981 Antoni Święcki published an interview with Andrzej Żółtowski, a cooperator of McNeill Group Inc from Florida. “Today the participation of financial tycoons in Arabian horse breeding is determined by financial and tax aspects”, explained Święciski’s interlocutor. “The support of the state is seen in exemption from taxation for 5 years from sums spent on establishing farms, purchases of horses and all other associated costs. They have specialists – lawyers, that developed a system of investing in the Arabian horse for protection and exemption from taxes”.

Agent, millionaire, bankruptcy

There were numerous legends about Hammer, and not just positive ones (he personally attended to those), who like other American businessmen resorted to investing in horses to evade taxes. “Armand Hammer dreamed about fame and respect all his life”, we read in the afore mentioned article from Forsal.pl. “For half a century of America’s post-war history he was one of the symbols of the country’s economic powers: in his time he was equal to the Rockefellers or Carnegy”. At the age of 23 he became the first foreign businessman with a license for activities in Soviet Russia. He was a great admirer of Vladimir Ilyich. “If Lenin asked me to jump out of a window, I probably would”, he declared. He obtained millions of dollars for Moscow, using a network of companies and banks, trading works of art confiscated by the Bolsheviks, including Faberge eggs, icons from tsarist monasteries and paintings from the collections of the Ermitage, not to mention that he often sold counterfeits to the buyers. Also false were his testimonies before FBI agents – but he managed to avoid jail. He made his greatest wealth on Libyan oil. On his last hagiography, as Janik informed, he spent 200 thousand dollars! However the myth fell soon after his death in 1990: “Among the thousands of declassified notes from the archives of the KGB and FBI and hundreds of hours of talks carried out in Hammer’s office emerged a completely different picture of the legendary millionaire”. First, it came out that the gigantic fortune, assessed by Forbes in 1986 at 200 million USD was an empty shell, because his debts were larger. Unsuccessful business activities cost Occidental Petroleum, Hammer’s company, more than 2.5 billion USD and the promises of donations to charities and cultural institutes turned out to be empty phrases. “Therefore investments in the USSR and China, such as a film studio and statues of the boss, got axed”, concluded Janik.

A figurehead and “carrier of intelligence”

In Poland Hammer was welcomed like a star. Nine months prior to the auction, on December 15th, 1980, tens of TV reporters were awaiting him at Warsaw’s Okęcie airport. Thanks to documents of the secret police known under the name of Security Service (SB)* we know that the millionaire’s every step was monitored. Hammer had a file set up, thanks to which we even know the details about his clothing. These notes shed a new light not on the history of selling El Paso, but on the associated historic events. Hammer was followed as a “carrier of intelligence”. The task of the secret police was to “secure a secret search”. The “figurehead” was taken under observation right after his arrival by private plane (a special charter from Budapest). From that moment on he was under a watchful eye. Documents from the observation were received by lieutenant P. Kamecki. Hammer was accompanied by: his wife, employees of Occidental Petroleum Corp – Donald Baeder, Donald Cooper and Bohdan Broniewski, described as a “known employee (or: known to the employees) of Dept I Office B of the Ministry of Internal Affairs”. The group was welcomed by Minister Gorzelak. Awaiting the guests on the parking lot were Peugeot and Mercedes cars, which took them to the Victoria hotel, from where they headed to the Polish Parliament. The secret police file also tells us that Hammer was about 175 cm tall, obese, had a round face, wore glasses in light frames, had grey hair and was balding on the forehead and had a grey, small mustache. He was dressed in a grey coat, navy suit, white shirt and a tie. In his hand he held a brown briefcase. His wife was of average height, with a pale and oval face, grey hair; she wore a white sheepskin with a white collar and a light-colored hat. The observation was carried out in total by some dozen officers in at least seven cars. “The operation room was not used”.

As the “Trybuna Ludu” daily wrote the day after his arrival: “On the 15th the first secretary of the PZPR Central Committee Stanisław Kania welcomed the president of the board of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Armand Hammer, who was visiting Poland at the invitation of chairman of the Planning Commission by the Council of Ministers, deputy prime minister Henryk Kisiel, who participated in the conversation”. As you can see, although Armand Hammer was considered by the authorities as “one of their own” (“Dr. Hammer is known as an initiator of a several decade long beneficial cooperation with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries”, we read in “Życie Warszawy” from 17.12.1980), they acted according to the principle of Feliks Dzierżyński: “Trust, but verify”. During the exhibition titled “Secret operational techniques of communist Poland’s secret service” in the former prison on Rakowiecka street in Warsaw you could see the original phone taps from one of Warsaw’s hotels. Cables from the rooms joined each other in one wardrobe, where on each shelf was a tape-recorder. In the adjoining room sat a person responsible for creating transcripts out of the recorded material. It is more than probable that Hammer was also recorded.

The truth is more interesting

Was the surveillance of Janów Sale’s clients the norm or an exception? Was Hammer the only one that drew the attention of the secret police? “The scale of surveillance that we underwent was incredible”, Jacek Pawłowicz, director of the afore mentioned museum, told the weekly “Sieci” (2/2018, 8-14th of January). Meanwhile some people still think that the Arabian studs operated “outside of the system”, outside of history of that time. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Though not all documents are available so far, the mentioned here story of Armand Hammer clearly shows the times in which the sale of El Paso took place. The secret police was a powerful force and did not leave things to their own course, and definitely not when foreign currencies were involved. Saying that the Arabian studs were islands of freedom in a sea of communism is being naive or hypocritical. The truth was different and it is worth learning about it, because the truth is always more interesting than the most sweetened legend.

A calendar of visits by Armand Hammer to Poland during 1980/81

15.12.1980 – Armand Hammer arrives in Poland by private charter from Budapest, at the invitation of the first secretary of the PZPR Central Committee, Stanisław Kania.
16.12.1980 – The millionaire’s press conference.
19.09.1981 – Armand Hammer is received by the prime minister of Poland, General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
20.09.1981 – Hammer in Janów Podlaski, the morning before the sale, purchases the stallion El Paso and during the sale six additional mares.
21.09.1981 – The millionaire’s press conference and his departure through London to Los Angeles.
—————————————————————————————————–

*Służba Bezpieczeństwa – the main security organization in Poland from 1956 until the end of the People’s Republic (PRL) in 1989. A stronger body responsible for political repression in that times.

Over the course of several years of travels and conversations with people from the Arabian horse industry I discovered a list of most frequently asked questions about the Polish State Studs. The Pride of Poland Sale, taking place at Janów Podlaski in the stud’s jubilee year (200 years of the stud’s existence) seems to be the perfect opportunity to answer them in one go. All of the below – sometimes surprising – questions were asked more than once in conversations with experts from the equine industry, show organizers, representatives of the industry media and breeders from Austria, Qatar, Belgium, Italy and the United States.

Is there still such a thing as a Pure Polish Arabian horse?

Yes. “Pure Polish” is a phrase distinguishing Polish breeding from others around the world. Regardless of its pedigree, every horse born in Poland is considered Pure Polish. Due to the general availability of “global” stallions there is no other way to define a Pure Polish horse. A horse by Polish parents, born abroad, will have a Polish pedigree, but will not be described as Pure Polish.

Are only State Stud horses registered in the Polish Arabian Stud Book (PASB)?

No. All horses born on the territory of Poland with parentage proven by DNA tests are registered in the PASB and it doesn’t matter whether they are of state of private breeding.

Does every horse from a state stud have a “PASB” suffix added after its name?

No. Sometimes in foreign publications you can find a “PASB” suffix next to the names of horses, but it is not part of the name, only an information that the horse comes from Poland and is registered in the Polish Arabian Stud Book. So this suffix can by all means be removed from the pages of show catalogues.

How many Arabian state studs are there in Poland?

Today in Poland there are three Arabian state studs: the oldest of them, celebrating its 200 year anniversary this year, is Janów Podlaski. In 1919 an Arabian breeding department was established here. Another stud is Michałów, established in 1953 and from the very beginning intended as an Arabian horse stud. In Białka Arabian horses have been bred for only 35 years. But we must emphasize that in 2020 Białka will be celebrating its 90th anniversary, because the first horses came here in 1930.

Is the 200 year anniversary of Janów Podlaski Stud the same as 200 years of Arabian horse breeding in Poland?

No. In Poland Arabian horses have been bred for centuries by private breeders, mainly by studs owned by Polish magnates, especially those from the Borderlands, as well as in smaller estates. Though the first stud in Poland to breed oriental horses was the stud of Polish King Sigismund Augustus in Knyszyn in the 16th century.
1778 is considered as the symbolic date which marks the beginning of Arabian horse breeding, when Crown Grand Hetman, Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (1729-1819) established a stud in the Szamrajówka khutor.
We must underline that it were the horses from private breedings that formed the foundations of the successes of horses from the Polish state studs in 20th century.
Janów Podlaski, established by tzar Alexander I in 1817 as a National Stud in the Kingdom of Poland, was the first State Stud on Polish soil. But he had to wait for more than a hundred years before it became synonymous with Arabian horse breeding.
And so the history of Arabian horse breeding in Poland is 239 old and Polish Arabian State Stud horse breeding – 98 years.

How many mares are there currently in Arabian state studs in Poland?

More or less one fourth of all Arabian mares in Poland are the property of the three state studs. Since in 2016 there were 1090 mares registered in the PASB in total, this means that the State Studs own about 270.

What does it mean that the Polish State is the owner of the horses?

The studs are commercial law companies, in which the Polish State has 100% shares. The studs are supervised by the Minister of Agriculture.

Are the Polish studs of military nature, since their workers wear uniforms? Are the stud presidents generals?

No, the Polish studs are not military, but due to the cavalry traditions in Poland the workers wear ceremonial uniforms during special occasions. There were numerous state stallion depots in Poland in the past, which delivered horses for the army. They were considered to be companies of strategic importance. The uniform is therefore a symbol not only of a continuity of Polish breeding, but also of the Polish statehood. During the years of the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939), when Poland regained its independence after 123 years of partitions, right up to the outbreak of World War II when Poland found itself under German and Soviet occupation, government officials from postmen to foresters, from stud workers to stallion depot staff, all wore uniforms similar to military ones. After the war this tradition remained.
As Michałów President Maciej Paweł Grzechnik informs, the Michałów uniforms will soon be slightly modernized. “We will be modifying the cut and colour”, he explains. “As well as tidying up the symbolism. The ranks on the uniforms will reflect the employee’s rank in the stud”.

Will the state studs be privatised?

Arabian horse studs in Poland, as one of the best in the world, are a national treasure, that’s why there are no plans to privatise them. Although in the past, especially in the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, when the political transformation in Poland was taking place, there were a lot of talks about this. Bogdan Szumański, the President of the Małopolska Hodowla Roślin (Małopolska Plant Production state company), owner of the stud in Białka, answers: “Privatization of Białka is not in the works. The Stallion Depot is and will be a part of the Małopolska Hodowla Roślin company.”

Has Janów always grown in strength?

No, the stud suffered ups and downs during its history.
For the first time the danger of liquidating the stud appeared in 1864. A committee was sent to Janów which eliminated 98 horses from the herd! The stud was saved thanks to the intervention of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, a reformer of the Russian cavalry, horse expert and enthusiast.
Also later history was not so fortunate for Janów.
In the first years of the 20th century the liquidation of the stud again appeared to loom on the horizon. However Count Alexander Nieroth, the then director of the stud, was luckily able to obviate this danger. He remained as director until his death in 1913.
Next World War I and later World War II completely ruined Polish breeding. However despite many adversities the Janów Stud is now celebrating 200 years of almost uninterrupted existence.

Do Polish horses descend from Russian ones?

No, it is the opposite – many Russian horses come from horses robbed in Poland. The first robbery took place during World War I.
In 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the herd was evacuated to the Kharkov Governorate and in 1915 it was evacuated again – and did not return to Janów. “Practically the entire pre-war herd died in Russia and during the revolution of 1918”, writes Prof. Witold Pruski in his book “The history of Janów Podlaski Stud 1817-1939”. “When after regaining independence the Polish government rebuilt the stud, the foundations for it were made of completely different horses, imported from Austria and Hungary and acquired from various private Polish herds (…). The old Janów blood ceased to exist”.
Also the majority of private-bred horses died or found themselves in Russian hands due to the Bolshoi Revolution of 1917.
The second robbery took place in 1939.

Several days after the Germans crossed the Polish border the stud at Janów Podlaski evacuated itself East. At the news of the Russians attacking from the East, both people and horses turned back to Janów, reaching the stud in pitiful condition after a 12 day long journey. Several hours later the Soviet troops came. All horses were robbed; they were loaded onto wagons and transported to Caucasus – to Tersk. Among the mares robbed by the Russians 7 were lost and 20 made it to Tersk, from where they were again evacuated in fear of the approaching German troops – by foot! – to Kazakhstan. Only 9 of them lived longer than 3 years, among them mares who would become famous dams in later years: the Ofir daughter Mammona 1939, great-granddam of Monogramm, foundress of a dynasty from which the majority of Russian horses today descend, and Taraszcza 1937, who produced Negatiw, the sire of Nabor and Bandos; as well as the wonderful Gazella II 1914 and the valuable Kewa 1923 (in 1953 her granddaughter Piewica was purchased, who began today’s world-famous “P” line in Poland), the remarkable stallion Piołun 1934, the later sire of Priboj 1944 who left 203 foals at Tersk and the famous race horse Hardy 1926. And most of all the epochal Ofir 1933, son of Kuhailan Haifi.

Is it true that under the German occupation nothing bad was happening at Janów?

The years 1939-1945 were as dramatic for Janów as for the entire country. Indeed, the German administration gave rise to Janów Podlaski from ruin, but treated the horses as spoils of war and did not intent to give them back to Poland. So they were actually taking care of their own livestock.
In 1941 there were already 13 pure-blood mares in Janów, including Iwonka III 1936 (together with her daughter Bałałajka), taken by the Germans from Kraśnica Stud. However this valuable mare was sent by order of Colonel Gustav Rau, a German equine expert and head of studs on the occupied territories, to Hostau in the Sudetes mountain range on the Czech side of the border. The Janów mares were bred to various sires, including colts which avoided being transported to Tersk thanks to their escape – the later famous Witraż, Wielki Szlem and Witeź II.

Andrzej Krzyształowicz, who during the German occupation worked at Janów the entire time, recounted that in Autumn of 1943 the Gestapo discovered a unit of the Home Army (Polish resistance movement) on the stud’s premises. Seven grooms were arrested. Six of them were executed – only one of them returned to the stud.
In July of 1944 the Nazi authorities loaded all the horses onto trains heading West. For half a year the stud was stationed at Sohland near Rotstein (Saxony), after which it set off on foot to Dresden, by order of Colonel Gustav Rau, to the local cavalry barracks. The column reached Dresden at a time of the carpet-bombing by the Allies – on the night of the 13th and 14th of February, 1945. Many horses perished.

Who is the breeder of horses born in the state studs?

Horses from state studs belong to companies, as that’s what the studs are. Therefore the breeders of the horses registered in the Stud Books are State Studs, not people with a name and surname. The stud managers are employed by the owner of the companies, the Polish State, which has 100% shares in them.
Jerzy “George” Zbyszewski once compared Arabian horse breeding to major fashion houses. “I like this comparison”, admits Hanna Sztuka, director of breeding at Michałów Stud. “Breeding is creating. I see it like this: if John Galliano designed for Chanel, then his services are huge, but the brand remains Chanel. When Chanel changed its designer, the brand did not change. We are working for a brand which is Michałów. We believe that after us will come other designers, which will continue the tradition that we are continuing today.”

Who was the longest manager of Janów Podlaski in history?

In 1956 the management of Janów was taken over by Andrzej Krzyształowicz, who was associated with the stud since the 30s of the 20th century. As a worker of the stud he accompanied its evacuation during the war (1939) and later worked there during the German occupation. He retired in 1991, meaning he ran the stud for 35 years.

Who was the longest manager of Michałów in history?

The first president of Michałów Stud, Ignacy Jaworowski, took over the post in 1953 and held the position unceasingly until his retirement in 1997. So he was the head of Michałów for 44 years!

Why do foals have names starting with the same letter as their dam’s name?

This system was introduced just after World War II in the then Polish studs: in 1950 in Albigowa Stud, 1951 in Nowy Dwór Stud and from 1952 in Klemensów-Michalów Stud. This rule is in effect until this day, not only in the state studs, but in private breeding as well.
Earlier other solutions were used, for example after World War I the largest Polish studs took on a naming system which consisted of subsequent foal crops receiving names beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. This “countdown” begun in Janów Podlaski in 1919, when foals received names starting with the letter “A”. During 1940-46 Janów-bred horses received names from “A” to “G”, respectively. Unfortunately in the post-war disorder the naming system also turned into chaos. The alphabetic system was again introduced in 1947, starting the cycle from the letter “A”. Soon however today’s rule became effective.

Do all Polish Arabian horses race at the track?

No, today the studs send only selected horses from the racing program to the track, as well as those which should undergo stamina trials. Arabian horse racing was initiated in Poland in 1927. The creator of the concept that the breeding program should also encompass racing trials was Bogdan Ziętarski, who was also the starter in races at the track in Lvov.
President Maciej Paweł Grzechnik has informed that starting from 2016 Michałów Stud is sending all fillies from a given crop to the track. “Only after such a trial the mare will be eligible to be introduced into the herd”, he ensures.

What is the Polish breeding tradition about?

Polish tradition is about rearing horses together in groups, in a natural way. The horses are not isolated, but are allowed to remain longer in the herd. “This often makes a huge impression and causes surprise among the stud’s visitors”, notices Hanna Sztuka from Michałów Stud. “Fifteen mares with foals, together, and they don’t kill each other? No, they live in perfect agreement”.

Why does the Polish State maintain Arabian horse studs?

The most important task of the stud is to maintain the genetic pool of Arabian horses by cultivating Polish sire and dam lines, which allows to preserve a variety of genetic population of the species. Therefore their aim of existence is not a business one. “Polish breeders are famous for their ability to breed horses, not only Arabians. It is out cultural heritage”, adds Hanna Sztuka. “Modern private Arabian horse breeding also comes from the tradition cultivated by state studs”.

What is the difference between the Pride of Poland and Polish Prestige auctions?

Auctions at Janów Podlaski under the brand of Polish Prestige were organized by Marek Grzybowski, working at the time in Animex, and his colleagues. He conducted the first auction in 1974. At the beginning of the 90s, during the political transformation, he left Animex and established the Polish Prestige company, existing until today. Since 1996 to 2000 he organized auctions under the banner of his own company. In 2001 the organization of the auction was taken over by Polturf company (until 2015). The established at that time brand name of the auction – Pride of Poland – exists until today. The Pride of Poland trademark is the property of Janów Podlaski Stud.

Who is the manager of the state studs today?

The studs are administered by managers chosen in competitions organized by the Agricultural Property Agency, which is a government institution under the Ministry of Agriculture. Chosen as president of Michałów Stud in October of 2016 was Maciej Paweł Grzechnik, a PhD in agricultural sciences, specializing in animal husbandry. The Janów Podlaski Stud is managed since June 2016 by Sławomir Pietrzak, professor in agricultural sciences, employee of the Horse Breeding Department of the Biology and Animal Breeding Faculty in Lublin, equestrian judge, president of the Lublin Equestrian Club. The director of Białka Stud is veterinarian Lucjan Cichosz, stemming from regions near Krasnystaw, also a member of the Małopolska Hodowla Roślin board, owner of Białka Stud. The president of this state company is Bogdan Szumański, earlier a member of the Supervisory Board of the Tarnów Regional Development Agency, a member of which is Klikowa Stud, known as the organizer of many events for Małopolska horses.

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In some second-hand bookshop in Warsaw I happened to come across a work unavailable to today’s readers: „The history of Janów Podlaski Stud 1817–1939” by Professor Witold Pruski*, published in 1948 by the Poznań Society of Friends of Science. It is a rather interesting read, because the Professor mentions not only plenty of details regarding the history of the stud, but also great amounts of anecdotes.
 
The era of Potocki
 
The first persona of Janów Podlaski was the Crown Grand Equerry Aleksander Potocki from Wilanów (1776–1845), son of Stanisław Kostka Potocki and Aleksandra of the Lubomirski clan. It was him who by the decree of the tsar was appointed as the herd’s supervisor. He entrusted Rzewuski’s equerry, a German named Ritz, with a mission to select and bring home 150 stallions and mares offered by tsar Alexander I. The national treasury provided 121 thousand Polish zlotys to cover the costs of preparing and setting up the stud, the location of which was chosen in Janów Podlaski. Meanwhile Ritz, a Thoroughbred enthusiast, selected 25 stallions and 90 mares and purchased the rest. He arrived at Janów with 54 stallions (including 9 Arabian), 100 mares (including 2 pure bred) and 33 three year olds on December 18th, 1817. In 1822 three Arabian stallions were purchased for the herd, including Alabadżak from the breeding of Emir Wacław Rzewuski.
 
Potocki’s rule is remembered by the chroniclers of Janów with wide recognition. He remained at his post until 1832, being not only a skilled administrator, but also a good breeder. He passed on his love for horses to his descendants – his sons August and Stanisław were the directors of Janów Podlaski; another son, Maurycy (and also his son August) were many year presidents of the Horse Racing Society; daughter Natalia married Roman Sanguszko of Sławuta.
 
The year 1831 (the November Uprising)** forced Janów to evacuate the herd and wander with the horses across the country. After the uprising was suppressed, the breeding was reorganized; Józef Dulewski (a student of Aleksander Potocki) was chosen as inspector and the up to then „animal doctor” Filip Eberhard was chosen as subinspector. „The 30s and 40s were a golden period for Janów. Later it all began to decline and the herd started to quickly deteriorate, until finally several unfortunate experiments that intended to change the breeding direction literally killed it in the fifth and sixth decade almost completely”, writes Pruski. The Janów herd enjoyed great respect for many years and private breeders often used the chief sires. But already at the beginning of the 40s the Janów horses began to exhibit „symptoms of being too delicate – from a too strong dosage of Thoroughbred blood”. By the end of the decade the decline was very much visible and the used sires gave unpromising get („slim, thin-boned”); the selection of dams was also insufficient. In order to fix the situation large and heavy half-bred horses were brought to Janów, which did not give the expected results.
 
Easy to brake, harder to fix
 
In 1848 Aleksander Potocki’s son August was appointed as the director of the herd. This nomination, Pruski recalls with somewhat sadness, brought less successful years for Janów. „He was not an expert such as his father Aleksander (…). He took up the post in a very difficult period, the herd was degenerating, it had to be rescued, but it is easy to break and harder to fix”. It was by the decision of August that „Clevelands, Yorkshires, Mecklenburgs, Orlov Trotters etc.” started to be imported to Janów. In 1857 it was decided that Arabian blood should be added and so the herd was joined by the stallion Dżelabi (Dżelaby d.b. – Beko III/Amurath) and the mares Zulejka (Amurath – Sady), Alma (Chaban – Alga) and Arabka (Amurath – Saya) from the herd of the Württemberg king in Weil. The sire of Dżelabi, purchased in Cairo in 1844 to Rejterowice of Władysław Rozwadowski for 2,500 guilders, was sold to Weil for 20 thousand guilders. His son cost 3,500 guilders. When describing this stallion Karol Fryderyk Seelig (born in Saxony in 1798, died 1873), an „animal doctor” since 1835, a main groom from 1845 in Janów Podlaski and at the end a herd inspector (he worked until 1867), he wrote about Arabians in an article titled „Materiały dla oznakomlenija s Janowskim Konskim Zawodowom” („Żurnal Konnozawodztwa” 1868): „These horses are too small and weak for carriages, too short and insufficiently strong for riding. A question comes to mind – what use can they be; perhaps only for stallion depots, as in this country Arabian horses are especially liked; regardless whether they are good or not, whether they are suitable for breeding or not – it doesn’t matter (…), also mares by Dżelabi cannot bring anything but harm to the herd: what can be produced by a dam of a short height, thin-boned, with long pasterns turned outside, with flanks not spacious enough for a foetus…”. As you can see, Arabian horses did not enjoy a great opinion everywhere.
 
Run for the hills… Escapes from Janów
 
August Potocki resigned from his post in 1861. And although it was said that he brought the herd down from its one-time high, later it got even worse. History also contributed to this – in 1863 the January Uprising*** broke out. Over several years (1861–66) there was a change of four directors in the headquarters in Warsaw and three inspectors in Janów. Janusz Konrad Rostworowski, who took over after August Poniatowski, took a leave after three months, left for Dresden and never returned. When it became clear that the director would not come back, August’s half-brother, Stanisław Potocki, took over the reins. However he soon also took a leave and went to Berlin. When all the deadlines had passed and once again it was clear that the post was vacant, this function was given to Zygmunt Wielkopolski. After several months he also took a leave, left the country and… was never heard of again. At least in Janów, because his family probably knew what he was doing. It is not known what haunted Janów so badly that subsequent managers fled after several months of taking up the job.
 
In 1864 a committee was sent to Janów which eliminated 98 horses from the herd. There was also a concept of liquidating the herd and if not for the intervention of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, brother of emperor Alexander II, a reformer of the Russian cavalry, horse expert and enthusiast, perhaps that would’ve been the end of the Janów stud. Upon his request the decision was postponed and the administration of Janów was handed to colonel (later general) Alexander Meszczerski. Janów became fully subordinated to the government in St. Petersburg; the official language was Russian and staff began to be sent from Russia.
 
Dżelabi becomes Tough
 
A new chapter in Janów’s history begins in 1868. Prof. Pruski writes about then director Meszczerski that „he was a man without any special equine preparation and lacking skills in that area”. An intensive russification was exhibited among others in changing the horses’ names. For example the Arabian Abubekir became „Wiesioły” (Happy), Dżelabi „Twiordy” (Tough), Kair „Ziemlak” (Mate) and Basza „Głupoi” (Stupid). Soon the stud welcomed stallions Bagdad Koheilan d.b. 1854 and Iskander Pasza 1851, a gold medalist from the world exhibition in Paris in 1967 (purchased from Roman Sanguszko of Sławuta) and later other Arabian stallions and mares. In 1874 Meszczerski was replaced by General Boris Sievers. „This nomination did not improve the situation. On the contrary – it made it worse.” Sievers was a civil officer, who first of all wanted to be rich, and at that he was a zealous russificator. During the reigns of Meszczerski and Sievers, according to Pruski Janów „lost its spiritual leadership in breeding, ceased being a forge and propagator of progressive equine concepts”.
 
In 1881 Sievers’ place was taken by Count Alexander Nieroth (1849–1913), owner of a racing stable and a keen sportsman, initiating a new phase in the stud’s history and leaving (according to Pruski) „the best memory”. He raised Janów from practically ruins – that’s how neglected the stud was. He also set up a breeding program and because he was a racing fan, there came an era of Thoroughbreds. „The herd took on a distinct character and type, the horses became correct, of a strong build, resistant conformation and enjoyed great popularity and recognition”, writes Pruski about the herd from Nieroth’s reign. However after several years the herd was too saturated with Thoroughbred blood. There were too many investments and too little income – because Janów was not a place where superb stallions were born. And again the liquidation of the stud appeared to loom on the horizon as it was too expensive – however Nieroth was luckily able to obviate this danger. He remained at his post until his death in 1913.
 
In 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the herd was evacuated to the Kharkov Governorate and in 1915 it was evacuated again – and did not return to Janów. „Practically the entire pre-war herd died in Russia and during the revolution of 1918”, writes Pruski. „When after regaining independence the Polish government rebuilt the stud, the foundations for it were made of completely different horses, imported from Austria and Hungary and acquired from various private Polish herds (…). The old Janów blood ceased to exist”.
 
1919: Janów becomes an Arabian herd
 
After regaining independence in 1918, among the many tasks laying ahead of the young Polish state was the restoration of the breeding of all horse breeds. Already in February 1919 a Horse Breeding Office was established in the then Ministry of Agriculture. Its panel included Stanisław Wotowski, Jan Grabowski and Major Jan Köppl. At the time Jan Grabowski was only 27, but this choice turned out to be extremely fortunate. In May the State Stud Board took over Janów, whose condition turned out to be tragic. There were no horses and the infrastructure was destroyed. One of the four soon-to-be-established divisions was the Arabian one. The first mares (from the breeding of Radutz) were brought from Austria in April: Siglavi Bagdady 1908 (Siglavi Bagdady d.b. – Malta/Hadżar), later dam of Fetysz and Haszysz, and Anielka 1909 (Amurath Weil – Belgia/Mazepa). Subsequent mares from the same breeding were purchased from the National Science Institute of Agriculture: Hebda 1913 (Hermit d.b. – 221 Amurath/Amurath), who produced Kaszmir, Hermitka 1913 (Hermit d.b. – Belgia/Mazepa), dam of Damaszek, and Koalicja 1918 (Koheilan IV – 238 Amurath-25/Amurath), who wrote herself down in history as the dam of Enwer Bey by Abu Mlech and Miecznik by Fetysz. All the mentioned mares descended from Sławuta damlines. Soon they were joined by the Antoniny-originated Elstera 1913 (Ibrahim d.b. – Lezginka/Obejan Szarak d.b.), who produced Morocz, and her full sister Kalina 1909. Next, coming from Jezupol of Władysław Dzieduszycki, the epoch-making Gazella II 1914 (Koheilan d.b. – Abra/Anvil), Mlecha 1914 (Koheilan – Pisanka/Nabob), Pomponia 1902 (Zagłoba – Kadisza/Kalif) and her daughter Zulejma 1914 by Koheilan d.b., direct descendants of mares imported from the desert by Juliusz Dzieduszycki. „All that was best in Janów, as well as in Poland, descended from Gazella II, Pomponia and her daughter Zulejma”, states Pruski. This noble group also included Sławuta’s Fontanna 1906 (Lenkorań – Sława/Jussuf), bred in pureness of blood. Stallions which showed up at Janów were: Amurath III 1910 (Amurath – 392 O’Bajan-3/O’Bajan d.b.) from Radutz, Sławuta’s Bakszysz 1901 (Ilderim d.b. – Parada/Rymnik) and Abu Mlech 1902 (Mlech I – Łania/Al Nabi) from Jezupol. Soon the Thoroughbred division was transferred to Kozienice and Janów became a herd of Arabians, half-breds and Anglo-Arabians. Great services in compiling the foundations of Polish Arabian horse breeding in the interwar period were rendered by Jan Grabowski as the General Inspector of the State Studs (a function which he served since 1920).
 
Pruski noticed that there were two distinct group of broodmares in the stud: one descending from the Jarczowce damlines and the other from the Sławuta damlines. „The stud’s aim was to systematically cross these two lines in the future, even with a strong inbreeding to outstanding specimens”. Among the chief sires were also: Farys II 1905 (Mlech I – Sahara IV/El-Kebir), bred by Florentyna Czartoryska-Cieńska, the before mentioned Enwer-Bey, Fetysz 1924 (Bakszysz – Siglavi Bagdady/Siglavi Bagdady d.b.), Koheilan I 1922 (Koheilan IV – 10 Gazal/Gazal) and the famous Ofir 1933 (Kuhailan Haifi d.b. – Dziwa/Abu Mlech), who bred for just 3 seasons, but still managed to leave such excellent sons as Witraż (out of Makata/Fetysz) and Wielki Szlem (out of Elegantka/Bakszysz). „He had a very expressive head”, Pruski describes him, „but his legs left a lot to be desired (…) he was small, pony-like, with some defects in his conformation. But with beautiful Janów mares he gave remarkable get”.
 
„The Arabian horse division set a goal for itself”, sums up Pruski. „To create Arabians with a distinct type, much beauty, sound conformation, excellent bone and tissue, full of stamina, not too fast on the track, but dealing well with larger distances and weight. The Janów Arabian was to be a combination of the Saklavi and Kuhailan types, as some describe them”. After which he adds: „I personally do not agree with the opinions about the existence of a specific external appearance associated with particular lines”. According to the professor, the Janów stud, managed at the time by the talented and thorough Stanisław Pohoski (1895–1944), did not adhere to the opinions popularised by Raswan and his followers. „The greatest concern of the stud was to consolidate the deserts traits of the horse beside striving to obtain horses that were full of stamina, health and correctness”.
 
In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, the herd was evacuated to Volhynia. It was led by Pohoski and Tadeusz Machowiecki. Here Prof. Pruski ends his account. Having published the book in 1948 he could not have written about the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact or where Janów’s valuable horses – including the epochal Ofir – were robbed and taken to. The history of the Janów herd in that period was not spoken about for many years. Perhaps on the account of a one hundred year anniversary of breeding Arabian horses in Janów, which will take place in 2019, we will see a new history of the Janów Stud told in full.
 
Post scriptum
 
Cited below is a fragment of my text about the lots of Polish Arabian horses during World War II, associated with the war times of the Janów Stud in 1939 („From Caucasus to America – the war wanderings”):
 
Several days after the Germans crossed our borders the stud at Janów Podlaski evacuated itself East. In all a total of 260 horses and 19 horse-drawn wagons with forage and equipment, under the care of tens of people, set off on the road. At night, on the road to Brest, a column of tanks ran into the group of yearling colts. The horses scattered and the then director of the stud, the remarkable breeder Stanisław Pohoski, who had brought the stud during the years of peace to its peak development, nearly committed suicide out of despair. Meanwhile however, at the news of the Russians attacking from the East, both people and horses turned back to Janów, reaching the stud in pitiful condition after a 12 day long journey. Several hours later the Soviet troops came. All horses were robbed; they were loaded onto wagons and transported to Caucasus – to Tersk. At a given signal also the Belarussian people from across the Bug River, a territory which at that time lay within the Polish borders, set off to plunder the Janów Stud. „Even the metal roofing was torn off and root crops dug out”, Roman Pankiewicz**** reported. „Only the coming of the Germans brought an end to this”. He further added: „Probably it never crossed Pohoski’s mind that he would suddenly lose the entire stud: chief sires, broodmares, all the youngsters and foals”… Out of 27 mares only Najada 1932 remained, who did not allow to be led out of her stall. Fortunately later on the yearlings, lost during the evacuation, were found. Among the mares robbed by the Russians 7 were lost and 20 made it to Tersk, from where they were again evacuated in fear of the approaching German troops – by foot! – to Kazakhstan. Only 9 of them lived longer than 3 years, among them mares who would become famous dams in later years: the Ofir daughter Mammona 1939, great-granddam of Monogramm, foundress of a dynasty from which the majority of Russian horses today descend, and Taraszcza 1937, who produced Negatiw, the sire of Nabor and Bandos. The entire female progeny of Koalicja was lost. Taken away was the wonderful Gazella II 1914 and the valuable Kewa 1923 (in 1953 her granddaughter Piewica was purchased, who began in Poland today’s world-famous „P” line), the remarkable stallion Piołun 1934, the later sire of Priboj 1944 who left 203 foals at Tersk and the famous race horse Hardy 1926. And most of all the epochal Ofir 1933, son of Kuhailan Haifi. „And so ceased to exist the most wonderful Arabian stud in Europe, and perhaps even in the world”, wrote Pankiewicz about Janów.

—————————————————————————
*Professor Witold Pruski (died 1983) – hippologist, research worker of the Polish Academy of Science, expert and organizer of horse breeding in Poland, the author of the pivotal work „Two centuries of Polish Arabian horse breeding 1778–1978 and its successes abroad”. Original Polish title of the book described in this article is „Dzieje państwowej stadniny w Janowie Podlaskim 1817-1939” (publisher: Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, 1948).
 
**November Uprising – Polish–Russian War 1830–1831, also known as the Cadet Revolution. An armed rebellion of the partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire.
 
***January Uprising – began in 1863 as a spontaneous protest by young Poles against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army.
 
****Roman Pankiewicz – breeder at Albigowa Stud in the 50s, where the epochal stallion Bask (Witraż – Bałałajka/Amurath Sahib) was born. In the 60s he was employed at Michałów Stud. Author of numerous articles on the history and breeding of Arabian horses, published in Poland and abroad. His works also include books dedicated to Arabians, „Polish Arabian horse breeding 1918–1939” and „Register of Polish Arabian purebred stallions” (two volumes: 1944–1983 and 1983–1993) among others.

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The horse, man’s companion for centuries widely used for farm work, transport and traveling, was an object of interest for artists, though usually not the leading motif. In Polish painting this changed due to JULIUSZ KOSSAK (1824–1899). Who knows if that would’ve happened if the painter did not come across Arabian horses. Honoré de Balzac distinguished three synonyms of beauty: une jolie femme qui dance (a beautiful lady dancing); un pur sang en libérté (a pure blood steed set free); une frégate sous voiles (a frigate under full sail). The second aesthetic model became an artistic trademark of Kossak, the progenitor of a clan which rendered great services for Polish culture.

A carriage – a catalyst for labor

On October 29th, 1824, Juliusz Kossak was born in a small town Nowy Wiśnicz. Why there? Because his careless pregnant mother decided to leave the Kniahinin settlement by the upper San River and travel to Cracow. The journey by a four-horse carriage over bumpy roads of the Podkarpacie region quickened the delivery. Fortunately, the group was passing by Wiśnicz. A folk healer was called, soon joined by a medic who arrived on horseback and delivered the newborn. After some dozen hours, when the mother recovered, she returned with the baby to her home estate to have him baptized. This was done in a Uniate church by a pope, because the Kossaks treated Ruthenians like Poles, not differentiating between Roman Catholicism and its Greek variety. Due to this approach the young boy learned Polish and Ukrainian equally since his early years.

His blissful childhood was cut short by the death of his father, a judge, in Lvov. His mother took to raising five children, as Juliusz had two sisters and two brothers. Leon Kossak, after his exile to Siberia for participating in the January Uprising (1863), also became known as a painter specializing in battles. Władysław – a participant of the Spring of Nations (1848) in Hungary, landed in Australia, where he settled down, established a family and gave rise to the Australian branch of the Kossak family, whose descendants live there till this day.

Dead models

Already during his school days (the Lvov education center of the Basilian Order) Juliusz displayed a talent for art. Portraits of his classmates brought him respect among his peers, whereas the caricatures of the teaching staff often ended with penalties such as standing in a corner, kneeling on peas or even corporal punishment, probably “applied by the teacher by rhythmically hitting the culprit’s hands with a ruler”, as Wiktor Gomulicki* described the 19th century pedagogical sanctions in “The memories of the jolly uniform” (1906). Hurtful blows to his hands did not however discourage the insubordinate student from reaching for pencils and coal (he used these techniques during his early years). He had his first artistic success at the age of 15, after drawing a portrait of his classmate’s sister, an 18 year old ready for marriage. Pleased with her image, she went with our artist in spe on a date and allowed herself to be kissed!

Juliusz did not abandon his interest in art even when starting law at the John II Casimir University in Lvov upon the strict orders of his mother. However instead of learning ancient Roman maxims by heart and listening to juridical lectures he preferred to visit urban slaughterhouses (!). He sketched the anatomy of animals, mainly horses, which he later showed to his – as well as Artur Grottger’s – painting mentor, Jan Maszkowski (1793–1865). Years later he told Stanisław Witkiewicz**: “It was in such gruesome setting that I learned to precisely recreate all elements of the horse’s conformation”. Supposedly he was not aware at the time that this four-legged model would give him immortal fame. Although 117 years have passed since Juliusz’s death, he is still the number one equine portraitist in Poland.

Borderland clans

Bored with law, he abandoned his studies, broke ties with his family that did not accept this decision and began to live on his own. He earned his keep with his brush, supposedly of horse hair. He wandered with his palette from manor to manor of Volhynia, Podolia and Pokucie. Beside a humble remuneration – for the paintings of noblemen, dogs, horses, settlements and landscapes – he received meals and a roof above his head.

The daredevil fame of the arrogant artist swelled thanks to protection. As Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska writes (“The Kossaks”), in 1844 Juliusz was invited by Alfred Potocki for a great par force hunt in Łańcut. He illustrated it a year later. The same year also brought the creations of “The grey mare Szaytanka” and “An Arabian stallion with a Bedouin”. His stay at Łańcut resulted in further connections. Kazimierz Dzieduszycki from Niesłuchowo acquainted Juliusz with Władysław Rozwadowski from Rajtarowice, who directed the young man to Medyka, managed by Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski, who in turn introduced him to Leon Rzewuski from Podhorce. Everyone liked him not only due to his artistic talents, but also for social ones. Juliusz turned out to be an excellent companion for hunts and parties.

Landlords invited him over readily. They even tried to put together a scholarship for his foreign painting studies, but the collected amount was too small. Fortunately it was then that Piotr Michałowski (1800–1855) returned to his homely Bolestraszyce. Seeing that the young man’s works were promising, he decided to give Juliusz some painting lessons.

But who knows whether horses would dominate Juliusz’s output if not for the Dzieduszycki family. An expanded clan of the borderlands, with great services to Poland and many large estates under their management, which – as Roman Aftanazy put it – “its hobbyhorse were Arabians”. The pride of their stable in Jarczowce were pure bred equines (usually worth a fortune), imported mainly from Asia Minor. But it was not an investment, more the satisfying of their desires.

Stable Latin

In 1845 the vagabond and eccentric Juliusz Dzieduszycki*** imported a herd of Arabians purchased from the Bedouins, among them broodmares that have made history – Mlecha, Gazella and Sahara. They were placed in a barn adjacent to the living room, whose walls were covered in crystal mirrors and the floors in Persian rugs. From time to time he visited Lvov in order to “civilize” himself. Once he was sitting in the local bath house, listening to students talking. One of them said: “It’s a pity Juliusz isn’t here with us, he’d paint us nicely…”. Another answered, that Juliusz only paints horses. At the time Kossak was 21 years old and so his great career began: for immortalizing his herd on canvas Dzieduszycki gave Juliusz a roof over his head and paid him a salary.

Both men were linked by friendship and temperament. “They lived as genuine Epicureans. Tired after daylong riding in the saddle Dzieduszycki would lie down in the stable on a rug and read classic Latin. He especially liked Horace’s «Odes». Carpe diem! – this was a pleasant sense of life (…) In the evening friends and family arrived, as well as other company. They drank excellent wine, talked about horses and women, only later about politics, joked about one another… During this time the manor staff were already giving thorough baths to girls from villages, which were to share the bed with the «lords» through the night. There was never a lack of such «volunteers», as the girls received remuneration for their affection from the generous lords. At dawn the temporary lovers returned to their shabby cottages, delighted with the splendor and happy for several coins, which were usually eagerly awaited by fathers, brothers and even husbands”, wrote Aleksander Piskor in “Seven excellencies and one lady”.

Dzieduszycki, a would-be doctor, turned Kossak’s attention to equine anatomy. Only when the young painter learned it thoroughly, the steeds on his canvases became alive and soon even started literally coming out of the frames. Was this due to both Juliusz’ visits at the Lvov race track? In 1845 they witnessed – as chronicler Józef Skarbek-Borowski wrote – a “terrible tragedy” there. “Whether the meeting was so large in numbers, or the sportsmen required so much to drink in the summer heat? The fact is, written down in the town’s chronicles, that Lvov ran out of champagne wine! (…) Horsemen were sent out to manor houses to drain wine cellars and save the town from a terrible drought…”.

The Galician Slaughter of Jakub Szela (1846), the Cracow Uprising of Edward Dembowski (1846) and then the Spring of Nations**** ended the carefree time of the painter’s life. It was not until three decades later that he made a sentimental journey across the East Galician province, whose landscape despite the abolition of serfdom and industrial development changed little. The steppes still had herds of horses galloping across them. Including their most beautiful version, Arabian.

Kossak, who was guided through the painting world by Piotr Michałowski, also a stud owner, initially made watercolors. After acquiring painting knowledge – hours spent in galleries of St. Petersburg, travels to Hungary and Vienna and thorough painting studies in Paris, where he found a mentor and friend in the shape of Horace Vernet (1789–1863), brilliant painter of battle scenes, did much to help – he began using oil paints. But before that Kossak tasted other illustration techniques. He discovered daguerreotype, as photography was called upon its invention. In order to refine the first photos they were painted over on a mass scale. And that’s what the future “Uhlan with a brush”, as General Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski called him, started doing, in the Warsaw workshop of Józef Giwartowski. It was not the only source of keep for Juliusz. He added to his income as an illustrator of books, as well as newspapers: “Kłosy”, “Przegląd Tygodniowy”, “Przyjaciel dzieci”. Several years spent in the Warsaw streets resulted in connections with students of the Academy of Fine Arts: brothers Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski, Józef Brandt, Henryk Siemiradzki. He continued his acquaintances later in Munich pubs, leading long discussions there after lessons with Franz Adam, a lecturer in the painting Mecca of the second half of the 19th century, the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts.

After the January Uprising, wishing to avoid educating his children in schools Russified by the tsarist invader, he moved with his family to Cracow. They settled down in a manor known over time as the Kossakówka, whose threshold was often crossed by such huge names of Polish culture as Adam Asnyk, Stefan Żeromski, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Teofil Lenartowicz, Henryk Rodakowski, Józef Chełmoński, Wojciech Gerson, Jan Matejko, Jacek Malczewski.

Leitmotif on four hooves

Horses are a symbol of the output of Juliusz Kossak (his son Wojciech and grandson Jerzy also; the latter, according to his daughter, sometimes copied the works of his ancestors). Steeds were present in genre, lifestyle, historic and battle scenes, portraits of aristocracy and landlords (the Fredro, Gniewosz, Tyszkiewicz, Branicki, Lipski, Morstin, Potocki, Sanguszko families). He was often a guest in the most famous Arabian studs of his time: Sławuta, Jarczowce, Gumniska, Biała Cerkiew, Janiszówka and Uzin. Their inhabitants became a Kossak trademark. A very precise one at that, proof of which is the gallery of Arabian steeds – the pride and joy of the studs by the Bug River: “Chestnut horse Carogród”, “Grey Arabian stallion Obejan”, “Horse Oleś”, “Grey mare Gulda” or perhaps the most famous “Farys”.

A stallion with a stripe on his forehead and white socks jumps over an equine skeleton lying on a desert shrouded in the darkness of the night. He is carrying a rider clad in a jellabiya, poised to shoot from a bow. The pursuit, that we can only guess is there, is not the only danger. The barren landscape is diversified by vultures circling in the sky and clouds of dust heralding a sand storm.

The watercolor was created in 1881, inspired by a poem of Adam Mickiewicz*****, “Faris, a qasida in honor of Emir Tadż-ul-Fechra, dedicated to Jan Kozlov” (1828). The poet dedicated this piece to Count Wacław Rzewuski, who in 1817 with a retinue of Kossacks and accompanied by a doctor, secretary, translator and veterinarian set off for an oriental expedition in search of pure bred Arabian horses. He wanted to divide them among the studs of tsar Alexander I, the queen of Württemberg and his own, in Sawrań in the Podole region. The expedition, leading through the Balkans and Constantinople, reached Aleppo. From there it headed for Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, to arrive at the Arabian Peninsula after many dangerous adventures and funny situations. Rzewuski gained the trust and in the end friendship of leaders of many Bedouin tribes. He even participated in their war expeditions. The Bedouins gave him the honorable title of Tadż Fahr Abd el Nischaane (“Wreath of Fame”) and led him to the cradle of the breed, where no European had set foot. The count purchased a herd of more than a hundred horses and managed to bring most of them to the Ruthenian steppes. This herd was a cornerstone of Polish Arabian horse breeding, which quickly became our trademark. Juliusz Kossak followed its development closely, documenting its subsequent stages with the aid of his palette and easel.

Another of the artist’s superb canvases depicts the stallion Bagdad. As Stefan Bojanowski wrote in 1904 in “Profiles of Oriental Horses and Their Breeders”): “In order to make the purchase Juliusz received a full purse of ducats in gold from his father, took all of his own money and went to Lvov by carriage, drawn by a team of four horses. Having looked upon Bagdad he became so enthusiastic that he not only gave all the ducats he received from his father and those which he took from his own coffers (and it is said that there was quite a lot in there) for the steed, but also sold the four carriage horses, the carriage itself, the rugs and a whip richly fitted in silver to gather the demanded sum for the horse. He travelled back to Jarczowce atop Bagdad, while the coachman returned home on foot”. Bagdad’s son, Pielgrzym 1851 (out of Gazella d.b.) was sold to Babolna, where his name was changed to Bagdady. And such a caption can be found on this painting, but is said not to be reflecting the truth. Considering that the painter spent his time in Jarczowce in the 40s of the 19th century, the same period that Bagdad was there, as well as the fact that in the last decade of his life (as told by Kossak’s biographer Kazimierz Olszański in the book “Juliusz Kossak”) the artist painted from memory, repeating previous motifs, it can be presumed that the painting, today in the hands of a private collector, indeed shows the stallion Bagdad.

The legacy of Juliusz is a huge, collective picture of the greatness and beauty of the culture of knights and noblemen. And – not less important – of equine Poland.

From under hammer to up on walls

The quality of the technique used in Kossak’s works and their patriotic impact brought the artist esteem and splendor still during his life (which isn’t all that common). And commissioned equine paintings brought him a fortune. The Kossakówka became the place to be for the artistic elite of Cracow and Galicia. Whereas the ambition of many new-rich was to hang Juliusz’s equine watercolor in the living room or study. Just like today.

Horse scenes and battle compositions of Juliusz Kossak invariably continue to thrill collectors. Since the very first art auctions they are priced high. “Farys” was bid at Agra from its 39 thousand PLN asking price to 50 thousand and the “Zaprzęg czterokonny” (Four-horse drawn carriage, 41×79,5), years earlier the pride of the collection of Entailer Wilhelm Siemieński-Lewicki, achieved 70 thousand PLN (from the 60 thousand asking price).

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*Wiktor Gomulicki (1848–1919), Polish poet, writer, investigator of the history of Warsaw.

**Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851–1915), Polish painter, architect, writer and art theorist.

***Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki (1817–1885), 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.

****Galician Slaughter – a peasant uprising on the lands of western Galicia in the second half of February and March of 1846, of an anti-noblemen and anti-serfdom nature. Jakub Szela was the most known leader of the peasant units. Cracow Uprising – an attempt at an all-Polish uprising in the name of democracy. The Spring of Nations – a series of revolutionary and national uprisings in Europe during 1848–1849.

*****Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), romantic poet, author of the Polish national epic „Pan Tadeusz”.

Read more:

Bagdad – a stallion that became part of a legend

I chose my own land, freedom and horses

Jarczowce. Tracking down Mlecha, Gazella and Sahara

Who was Gliocco, the seller of Bagdad

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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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