The farm owned by Marina Pasquali and her husband Claudio is located in a wonderful setting in Verona, surrounded by hills and nature, with the Alps in the background. Marina and Claudio not only breeds but also trains the Arabian horses when they are at home. In the show season, the horses are prepared by the trainer Roberto Zaniboni. The stud owes currently 17 mares – most of them are Pure Polish or Polish line descendants.
As Marina Pasquali writes – their horses that are are structurally and physically Polish, they conserve the characteristics of typical movement of the Polish Arabs, never short necks, expressive eyes, very good legs, docile character for the work and available with the man.
Below we are publishing the interview for Tutto Arabi
with Marina Pasquali who – in beautiful words – tells a story of her life with Arabian horses – Polish Arabian horses….
Among the paddocks we caught a glimpse of some of the purebred Polish that are a distinctive feature of this stud. During the visit to the boxes I asked:
Fabio Brianzoni: How did you come to the decision to train purebred Arabians? And why Polish Arabians?
Marina Pasquali: Claudio and I met through a mutual friend. My husband already had the 23year-old horse from the Russian bloodline that is still with us today. Then came my first Arabian horse, a grey Polish Arabian Kołczan (Probat – Kłonica / Palas). We have this gelding for twelve years. Thanks to him we got to know the Polish Arabians and we have not left them ever since. Why Polish Arabians? For their history, the documents certifying the oldest paper
stud book in the world, the selection criteria, the training technique and, last but not least, the bloodlines and the breeding horses used. Yes, this is my rational answer. The emotional answer is much simpler. It is their eyes, their body, the structure, the bearing, the personality, the neck – all this made us fall in love with Polish Arabians.
F.B.: Which mares in your stud are you covering this year?
M.P.: Well, we will wait, for the time being. We will wait for the mares to give birth and let’s hope everything will go smoothly. We have 8 pregnant mares, but the choice of the stallions for next year will certainly bring many surprises …
F.B.: Let’s talk about Enigma, the latest arrival for the Ongarine stud. Tell me about her purchase and the plans that you and Claudio have for her.
M.P.: It is no longer a secret. It all started because I hate jewellery. I never wear any, not even the wedding ring. Claudio being aware of this, this year he gave me Enigma as a present to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. I have never received a better present. From her sire side (Fawor), Enigma is a direct descendant of the legendary Partner, who was her grandfather. She is pregnant, too. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! And if you want to know what we plan for her, just have a look at her in movement and you will understand.
F.B.: Also, tell us briefly about the other mares that you have bought. Which ones are your favorites?
M.P.: With Enigma we have reached a total of six black mares Sissy by Rhomb (Rhomb (US) x Kharima), a Polish blood line our first purchase; Naomi by Rhomb (Rhomb (US) x Perina El Assuad) , Polish-Egyptian to the former and a totally black like her sister Sissy; Desire (Rhomb (US) x Pandhya) , another one of Rhomb’s (Carradine x AA Barbazia) daughters; Khantaara (Khajam El Gaug x Khamsa), granddaughter of Rhomb and finally Perla (LM Perlamoor x S Lu Lua / Thee Desperado) , the only mare who is related to the Spanish
bloodline, she descends from Thee Desperado from her dam’s side and from El Perfecto, from her sire’s (Perlamoor) side. I think Gonada (Partner x Gonagra/Negatiw) bred by Janów Podlaski does not need presentations. She is one of Partner’s daughters and won the Mediterranean Championship in Menton. Ekbatana (Pesal x Ekspozycja/Eukaliptus) bred by Michałów is also Partner’s granddaughter from her sire’s side (Pesal). Alexja (Szafir x Aladyna) is the darling of the stud. How can you not adore her?
From her dam’s side she belongs to the polish bloodline A. The last, a outside bloodline (Russian – Crabbett), is one of Padrons Ghibli’s chestnut daughters. My husband decided to buy Lady Padrona (Padrons Ghibli x Plamena QQ). She does not live here, but with Roberto Zaniboni. For my husband, Arabians of Russian bloodline are a return to his first passion.
Our favourites? I find it difficult to answer. We have the baby, the grumpy yet adorable one, the wise one, the scaredy cat, the sweet and raving mad one, the lost sheep, the cuddly one, the loving one, the one we nicknamed the lion due to her temperament, the queen… which one should I prefer? It is impossible. I would say that each of them is a piece of the jigsaw that we have to build birth after birth. In other words, they are like parts of a set plan.
F.B.: I will leave the last word to you. Say something that you would like to say about your stud.
M.P.: Our stud is fairly recent, although our passion goes back a long time. The first offspring maintained the good physical structure and the movement of their dams. We have acquired some experience with our horses at shows and we are growing day after day at our stud. We hope to keep on learning and breeding good horses. What more could we wish for?
