The visit of the group of Polish breeders at the Annual Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale, in the sunny at this time of year Arizona, started out unusually, because with an all day excursion to the Great Canyon.
The group consisting of Czesław Witko, Tomasz Tarczyński, Przemysław Sawicki, Lech Błaszczyk, Bernard Łukaszewski, Beata and Marek Błaszkiewicz, as well as Renata and Władysław Fortuna (together with the coordinator of this trip, being the author of this coverage), has so far spent most of the time outside the show premises. Just one day of the event gave us mixed feelings regarding the quality and type of the presented horses, even when considering the differences between the types preferred in Europe and America. Our attention was unfortunately drawn to many flaws, which could be found in many horses: not so good legs, bodies and hindquarters; the heads also left a lot to be desired. However there was also a group of horses which decisively differed from the rest with large frames, a correct, impressive conformation and good movement, which here in Scottsdale is still a rarity, especially since the American way of presenting horses in the ring does not allow much space and time for showing a horse in motion. A group of horses which distinguished themselves positively consists mainly of the progeny of Magnum Psyche and Padrons Psyche; in many cases a sure success belonged to horses which had David Boggs on the far end of the line.
The horse, which during the Monday classes made the largest impression on the Polish breeders, was the chestnut son of Enzo, Eden C, shown by Greg Gallun. He clearly stood out from the entire lot of presented horses and as expected – won his class. That’s a pleasant, partially Polish accent at this show, as Poland already has a group of foals by Enzo and this season his breedings are also enjoying huge success in our country.
A Polish accent in Scottsdale will not only be Janów’s Olita and Białka’s Hun, but also Ecaho and Equifor, who won’t be presented in classes, but will take part in special presentations for the public.
After the Monday classes and an initial reconnaissance, our group left the show to journey across studs located near Scottsdale, accompanied by David Cains. David and Scott Bailey (owners of Stonewall Farm and the arabhorse.com website) are truly fantastic guides. We did not expect such a hearty welcome! While Scott takes care of the internet side of the event, David traverses tens of miles with us, showing the fantastic breeding and training centers (including North Arabians and the International Training Center of Rodolfo Guzzo and Sandro Pinha, O’Neill Arabians, Arabian Expressions of one of the leading trainers – Greg Knowles and the already mentioned own Stonewall Farm) and numerous very interesting horses. David is well informed, knows which horses are worth seeing; not everyone knows
that he was the promoter of many famous purchases, including World Champion Stallion Marajj or the mare Shownel to the Middle East, as well as the stallion Imperial Baarez. At the same time he is a very talented breeder himself; it is a pleasure to spend time with him, exchanging comments about breeding, not only about the American one. The taste of David resembles our own, so the discussions are very lively. Imagine our surprise when on the hilly paddock of the fabulous Stonewall Farm we found a fantastic daughter of Padrons Psyche, being the granddaughter of Eukaliptus! Stonewall Farm is also the owner of the full sister to Magnum Psyche – the mare Magna Psyche, who also pleased the eye of the Polish breeders.
With huge interest the Polish breeders inspected mainly the young progeny of the stallions Padrons Psyche and Marwan Al Shaqab, but also grabbed the chance to see a couple of famous stallions used widely not only in the US, as for example the very effective brown Magic Dream (grandsire of QR Marc), Magnum Chall or Psytanium. We had the opportunity to also see the first US born filly by the stallion QR Marc. On the distaff side the filly is a granddaughter of the sire Versace, who unfortunately died not more than a week ago, however leaving in the USA (and not only) some very handsome and titled progeny. The filly was born two weeks prior to the planned date and is currently 11 days old, but made a huge impression on all those gathered with a terrific head, a wide forehead and nicely set eye, highly set neck and a correct body. A couple of days ago the owners received a high offer for the filly and probably she will become the property of one of the Middle Eastern studs soon. Unfortunately photos of her during the presentation could be taken only by a professional photographer.
Tomorrow the Polish team heads early morning to California, where they will visit Padrons Psyche himself and a group of his progeny. Anxiously awaiting this trip is Tomasz Tarczyński, who has in his stable the progeny of Padrons Psyche, including the titled Primadonna. Possibly the trip to Scottsdale will allow the Polish breeders to bring a couple of souvenirs back home… in the form of horses and breedings!
