CRABBET BREEDING IN THE UK
AT THE INTERNATIONAL CRABBET CONVENTION, TOOWOOMBA,
AUSTRALIA
by October 2005 by Caroline Sussex
Thank you for that very kind introduction. I feel honoured to be asked to speak at this
very special Crabbet Convention and I would like to thank the organizing
Committee very much for the wonderful time we have all had so far with more to
come. I also want to thank everyone who
has brought horses to the Convention for producing them for us. I know what effort is put into it and we all
really appreciate the distances and expense you have gone to so we can see your
beautiful horses.
I need to thank Trevor Mattocks who has been
responsible for putting together all the photographs and the display today and
for whose help I am very, very grateful and I could not have done this
presentation without his help.
There are three questions that this presentation will
attempt to answer :-
WHAT LINES ARE BEING USED IN THE UK?
WHO IS USING THEM?
HOW ARE THEY SHOWING UP IN THE GENERAL ARABIAN POPULATION?
PAUSE
Time is running out in the UK and although things are
picking up a little, we should not be complacent as we are not in the strong
and healthy position that we enjoyed in 1985 or that Australia finds itself in
today! When I was first asked to speak
at this Conference on the above subject, I quickly wrote down a list of the
100% Crabbet stallions that I could think of in the UK. Then panic set in and I wrote to Coralie and
said I couldn’t possibly talk about only 100% horses as there were so few and I
would have to include 75%+ horses.
It is unbelievable therefore that I can now talk about
the amazing dominance of the Crabbet bred horses in the world of Ridden Showing
and Endurance in 2004/5. 2005 in
particular has been a wonderful year for UK Crabbet bred horses, not only in
the 100% status but in the 100% Crabbet/GSB/Old
English category which in most cases is at least 95% Crabbet.
In 2004, PHA Silvern Risalm (99.5%), by Silvern
Sceptre out of Rislina, having already won over 60 Ridden Championships,
including European Champion and Ridden Stallion of the Year, took the British
National Champion Ridden Arabian at the National Show and also the Supreme
Ridden Champion of the Show. In 2005,
Risalm has been competing at Intermediate level dressage with great success with
his talented rider, Darren Crowe.
Risalm was taken once more to the Horse of the Year Show and took the
Ridden Arabian Stallion of the Year but sadly missed out on taking the Ridden
Champion of the Year and had to settle with Reserve place. PHA Silvern Risalm, owned by Tiffani McCarthy
(a member of our Crabbet Organisation Committee), ridden and produced by Darren
Crowe and bred by David and Jean Peck has done more to promote the Ridden
Arabian in the UK than any other horse in recent years. It is therefore very fitting that in 2005,
Risalm was awarded the WAHO Trophy for outstanding achievement for a horse
competing in the UK. This was presented
to Tiffani at the AHS National Show and Darren performed a wonderful and moving
dressage to music display in the mud!
His record will continue and it is wonderful that this
horse is of nearly 100% Crabbet bloodlines.
If I ever believed in rounding up a percentage, I wish I could do it
here!
This year, Muzonomy (Golden Samurai x Muzehraa) continued
the Crabbet winning ways taking the Supreme Ridden Championship at our National
Show and then did the double by winning the Ridden Arabian of the Year at the
Horse of the Year Show just a month ago.
Achievement in the ridden ring does not get any higher. I cannot stress how difficult it is to win
these awards in the UK but to win both in the same year is a truly brilliant
feat. It has only been done once before, by another very high percentage
Crabbet horse, Imad.
In 2004 in the United States, the stallion Magic
Domino (100%), by Ludomino out of Hamsfah, achieved the “Living Legend” award,
given every 25 years to just 6 horses.
Surely a top accolade for any breeder and owner. However, success did not stop there for
breeder of Magic Domino, Anne Brown of Gadebrook Stud. In January of this year, Anne was to witness
what must be a supreme achievement when Hachim (100%), by Achim’s Silver Magic
out of Hamsfah put in a galloping finish at the World Endurance Championships
in Dubai to win and break the World Record in a winning time of 7 hours, 3
minutes and 22 seconds. Hachim is owned
by HH Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the UAE. These two achievements alone would be enough to retire on but
fortunately Anne is buoyed up by these successes and continuing to preserve the
100% Crabbet family.
Vlacq Khamal (Vlacq Khazad out of Honey Pot) of the
Blue Domino line scored the highest ever result for a British Bred horse on the
FEI Worldwide Endurance Rankings. Bred
by Sue Pyke and ridden by Tricia Hirst, Khamal was been ranked 9th
and 6th best Arabian in 2004.
At the toughest endurance ride in the UK, the Golden Horseshoe, Lumahla
Gold (Golden Cavalier x Luisha), Ludo line, ridden and owned by Mary Chowne,
claimed a gold award and Golden Horseshoes Premier award 2005.
Then another member of our Crabbet Organisation
Committee, Susan Hawes, rode Dahlih (98.10%) by Ahmoun, a Ludo grandson, out of
Ludahla, to become Endurance GB National Champion for 2005. There aren’t many top awards in one season,
but these successes of horses all bred in the UK show that Crabbet is still at
the very fore of competition at the highest level and we are very proud of
these achievements. Credit must be
given to the breeders as well as the performers as without them there would be
no horses to compete with and they are responsible for preserving these
bloodlines. We all have a part to
play. There are people who have taken
up the “Save our Crabbet Horses” and are new to breeding or have come back to
preserve the 100% lines. I am really
pleased to report a growing number of foals in the UK this year and 100%
Crabbet mares being bred for 2006.
In 1985 Rodania was the strongest family and the same
is true today. The main line is through
Rose of Sharon to Risala, dam of Rissla and Rasim and to Riyala, who produced
Razina. Rissla was perhaps the greatest
of all the famous Crabbet mares and her influence is undeniably the strongest
in England. Her exceptional action is
passed down the generations and Wilfrid Blunt described her dam, Risala, as the
finest mare at Crabbet “without question”.
It was the policy of the Blunts that unless the
produce of any mare however good individually, failed to produce a sire of the
first class after three generations, the line should be eliminated from the
stud. It is extraordinary and proof of
the soundness of this policy that 125 years later there are still mares of these
bloodlines producing outstanding sires.
The importance of Silver Fire for beauty and style
cannot be underestimated. The cross of this beautiful mare and her
daughters with Oran and Indian Gold produced outstanding offspring. Most famous of all, is Silver Vanity (Oran x
Silver Gilt), one of the finest sons of the Sobha line. In the UK, descendants of Silver Vanity come
through his daughters Indira and Silver Ripple, the foundation mare of the
Worth Arabian Stud. Other important
offspring were his son Zeus owned by Harwood Arabian Stud and the full sister
Zilati at Briery Close. However, in
terms of Crabbet breeding, whilst Zeus was bred and born at Crabbet, Zilati was
not.
When Crabbet closed down in 1972, Geoffrey Plaister
had the good fortune to be ready at the right moment to purchase many of the
Crabbet horses including the lovely Silver Vanity son Hanif who has bred his
own dynasty at Geoffrey’s Imperial Stud.
Hanif out of Sirella went with his two half sisters, by Bright Shadow,
Siretta and Sherilla. He is sire of
British National Champion Haroun, the Scottsdale winner Shatir and the
beautiful Zarafah who swept the board at the National Show as a two year old
becoming Female Champion of the Show.
Geoffrey has this line in his stud today through the high percentage
son, Imperial Zar, and the mares, Zaidah, Zarinah and Zarora with other lines
including the Nefeuret daughter Imperial Zarafah and a daughter by the
Courthouse bred Spearmint, Zafah.
No one can forget the domination of Hanif in the
Veteran Stallion class at our National Show until age 30. He didn’t always win under the judge but he
certainly won with the crowd and he made himself heard. Disillusionment in the in-hand showing scene
amongst many breeders in England has meant that Geoffrey’s horses are no longer
shown but the lines are beginning to make their mark in endurance.
However, it is a different story in the ridden arena,
where Crabbet horses still excel. Al
Mesdam (100%), a grandson of Hanif, out of his daughter Sherifah, and by
Silvern Idyll has hardly been used as a sire but is now available at public
stud. This beautiful grey stallion with
double Bright Shadow and Silver Vanity, had a glittering ridden show career. With
many championships at regional and group shows; it was at the Towerlands
International in 2000 that he took the Championship for Sheila Fleming, his rider
and trainer, and now his owner. Then in
2001 he was Ridden Stallion of the Year at the Horse of the Year Show (the
grand finale of the showing season for all breeds). The following and final year of showing, Al Mesdam took Reserve
Ridden National Champion and again Ridden Stallion of the Year and Reserve
Overall Ridden Champion of the Year. The
line of Silver Blue is proving to be one of the strongest Crabbet lines in the
UK. His dam is Silver Sheen (out of
Silver Grey). Shabash, double Silver
Grey, sired the stunning Imperial Silver Star owned by Geoffrey Plaister. However, it is mainly through Hanif’s
daughters that the Silver Vanity line continues.
Another Silver Vanity son who deserves a mention is
the chestnut Rayyan, bred by Mrs. Archer from Risseefa. Rayyan spent nearly all his life with Mr.
Denniss Hulme and bred particularly well with his mare Bright Dawn (Bright
Shadow x Dancing Diamond). Amongst
their progeny Bright Dancer was outstanding and was Ridden Champion at the
National Show and the first Arabian bought by Shirley Watts of Halsdon Arabians. Two daughters of Asam, another Rayyan/Bright
Dawn cross are now owned by Mrs. Daphne Bamforth and are both 100% Crabbet.
To demonstrate the influence of the special Silver
Vanity daughter, Silver Ripple, bred by Mrs. Rosemary Archer of the Worth
Arabian Stud out of her mare Risseefa, tail female to Rissla you can see the
list of 100% stallions in the UK. Her
line has produced some excellent stock including two beautiful and top
performance producers, her son Silver Flame (ex Sunset), and grandson Silvern
Idyll, (ex Silvern Dream) have made this line so influential in Crabbet
breeding in England. Another son,
Rajeyd, by Ludo, also left some very important and influential lines in the UK.
From the list below, fourteen colts/stallions
of 100% Crabbet breeding have Silver Ripple in their pedigree (asterisked).
*Indian Idyll (Silvern Idyll x Indian Golddust) at
Worth
*Ikoni (Prince Sadik x Silvern Image) – but not at
stud
Star Silver (Akhbar x Selina) – not available at
public stud
Astar (Akhbar x Aurora) – not available at public stud
Stardrift (Star Silver x Sapphire Star) in
Aberdeenshire
Klinta Bashir (Nefeuret x Star Solitaire) – now in
ENGLAND
*Klinta Sharif (Shabakka x Star Solitaire) – now in
WALES
Indian Banner (Silvadoris x Xarifa)
Magilla (Magic Sun x Sherilla) – at Imperial
Imperial Star (Nefeuret x Sadah) – at Imperial
Imperial Dargee (Shabash x Malihah) – at Imperial
*Prince Sadik (Silver Gauntlet x Princess Alia) – at
Binley
*Grecian Idyll (Silvern Idyll x Grecian Gilt) – at
Binley
*Silvern Prince (Prince Sadik x Silvern Image) – not
at public stud
*Prince Iman (Indian Idyll x Princess Gaila) – at Azul
Arabians, Kent
Winged Saint (El Santo x Silver Blue Wings) – now in
Devon
*Naresh (Prince Sadik x Rose of Bediya) – stands in
Devon
*Colt (Naresh x Marbon Melissa) – 2005 foal
Spirit of Silver (Ludomino x Silver Sheen) in
Gloucestershire/Cornwall
*Prince Santros (Prince Sadik x Rose Star) – in
Worcestershire
Shaded Silver (Golden Silver x Magics Moonshadow) – in
Suffolk
Paisano Phantom Flight (Cochise x Asam) – in Yorkshire
*Al Mesdam (Silvern Idyll x Sherifah) – at stud in Hampshire
Ibn Silver (Indian Silver x Sherifah) – at stud in
Wales
Lutafi Pasha (Silver Blue Ludo x Lusarah) – in
Cornwall or Gloucestershire
*Klinta Sultan(Shabakka x Star Solitaire) – in Ireland
Klinta Saeed (Klinda Nader x Grey Sparkle) – in Wales
Spitti (Shirar x Moulton Star)
*Binley Silver Spark (Spirit of Silver ex Sema) – foal
2005
*Binley Prince Salim (Prince Sadik ex Silvern Image) –
foal 2005
Silver Ripple’s son, Silver Flame, by Indian Flame II,
was perhaps the Silver Vanity of the 70’s and 80’s. This beautiful stallion with swanlike presence was to win at the
National Show on 2 occasions, and in 1982 became British National Champion
Stallion. The same year he was Champion
at the Royal Show and won numerous other championships. But the proof is in the line down the
generations and for many years Silver Flame’s children and later his
grandchildren excelled in the ridden show ring and on the race track.
The only pure Crabbet son of Silver Flame is Shabakka,
owned by Gunilla Hamer at her Klinta Arabian Stud in Ireland. Gunilla purchased her foundation mares from
Daphne Gilbert’s famous Star Arabians.
Due to Gunilla’s retirement from breeding, the stallion Klinta Sharif by
Shabakka out of Star Solitaire, has been sold and now resides at Pencader Stud
owned by Pam and Paul Flowers, an endurance home in Wales. A high percentage son of Silver Flame, Gleam
of Flame is influential in the endurance field today, particularly through the
endurance horse Silver Mistrahl ridden by Sarah Tyson and picked for the British
World Championship team, being the only member to finish.
Silver Flame’s most famous daughter is Sa’lilah. Geoffrey Plaister bred this lovely grey
filly. My mother, who had asked for
first refusal, managed to purchase her as a two year old. It is my very good fortune that eventually
Sa’lilah came to me as a foundation mare for Binley Arabian Stud. Sa’lilah has that special quality and it is
England’s loss and America’s gain that all her wonderful sons, Sa’ika owned by
Al Marah Micanopy and Seffer owned by Michael Bowling along with Seyad at
Crestones Arabians all reside in the States.
Sa’ika spent much of his time performing in the “Disneyworld” spectacle,
Arabian Knights.
In the UK we have to look to Sali’s daughters. Sema a grey full sister to Seffer and Sa’ika
is on permanent loan to Binley Stud.
Sema has produced four Crabbet daughters, Semira by Nefeuret owned by
Leslie Thacker at his Vale Arabians, Sabera (by Indian Idyll) and the full
sisters Simana and Binley Sala by
Prince Iman (Indian Idyll x Princess Gaila).
Sala is now at Pencader Stud.
Ivy Arabians claim the only daughter of Sa’lilah not
owned by the Archer family and this is Siala by the Silvern Dream son,
Shiffal. Shiffal was by Prince Saraph
(the sire of Seffer, Sa’ika and Sema) and his blood is quite rare but he comes
from the important family of Samson, a bay son of Count Dorsaz and Samsie. Siala has produced the lovely mare Rosaliah
Gold (by Golden Silver) now on the ridden show circuit and she took 4th
place at the Horse of the Year Show in 2004 together with wins and high
placings at major shows. Trevor and Tina are great supporters of
Crabbet and they are here on their first trip to Australia. They are great show people and not
frightened to participate in the main arena, in-hand and under saddle.
The first foal at Binley was the Sa’lilah daughter
Sefina, by Silvern Idyll. Sefina has
had one foal (by Daas) and has competed under saddle, achieving a win at novice
level and reserve championship. Sali’s
last daughter, Sa’ira (by Indian Idyll), spent the first four years of her life
competing at the top level of Ridden Showing gaining some good wins and
qualifying for the Horse of the Year Show in 2003 by winning the South East
Region Qualifier. There are 12-15
qualifying shows a year and horses from each section, stallions, mares and
geldings. They qualify for the Horse of
the Year Show by being the highest placed (previous non-qualifier) as long as
they are in the top four in their classes.
However, such is the strength of ridden competition that you generally
have to win to qualify. Since this
innovation, the standard of riding has improved enormously.
The other lovely daughter of Silver Flame is Azeme
Bint Gleam out of Bright Gleam who goes back to Razina in tail female through
Shamnar. Azeme, whilst not 100% Crabbet
is the dam of the very famous English stallion, Aboud. Originally owned by
Gillian Lancaster in Scotland, Aboud later went to the Middle East but has
since returned to the UK. Gillian’s
horses are very beautiful and include the son Ibn Aboud doubling up on the
Indian Flame line through Aureme. She
is a daughter of Aurelian, a son of Ben Rabba, and out of Azeme Bint
Gleam. Ben Rabba of the Nasik male line
was based on Crabbet, Maynesboro and Kellogg lines and was leased by Mrs.
Beatrice Paine in the 80’s from the US.
Many top class mares visited him at her Bowdell Stud in Kent. Star of the Seasons is a very pretty
chestnut stallion with intense Rissla breeding and is a very successful show
horse, including 2nd in hand at the National show this year. Zou Zou Zaphelia is again line bred to
Aboud, being out of Zaphelia who is by Aboud out of Zohar who is a mixture of
Courthouse, Polish and Crabbet. Zohar’s
dam, Zarossa was a full sister to Zaria who produced well here in Australia.
From Silver Ripple my mother bred the beautiful mare,
Silvern Dream by Silvadoris. “Dream” is
now 28 years of age and has produced a dynasty in the UK. She is responsible for the outstanding
stallion, Silvern Idyll (by Masjid who was Bright Shadow x Naxindra, an Indian
Gold daughter). He was bought and is still
owned by Frances, Duchess of Rutland.
Dream’s daughters include Silvern Image, a full sister to Silvern Idyll,
Copper Fantasy by Fanto (who we can’t find), Silvern Pearl and Lou Lou both by
Prince Sadik.
Silvern Idyll himself was shown under saddle
successfully as a youngster, winning at the National Show and being Junior
Ridden Stallion at the age of five where he also won the coveted Sire Produce
Class. His son, Silvern Sceptre, bred
by Frances, Duchess of Rutland, out of her mare Silver Circlet produced the
exceptional PHA Silvern Risalm out of the Pure Crabbet mare Rislina. Risalm needs no introduction now on all
sides of the world, playing a key role at the 2002 Crabbet Convention and his
achievements are too many to name. A
half brother of Risalm is the grey gelding, Silvern Enchanter, bred by Mrs.
Iona Bowring (now McVean) and Mr. and Mrs. Peck. This impressive gelding, has five crosses to Silver Fire, goes
back in tail female to Silver Sheen and includes the famous show horse, Donax
in his pedigree. Donax again traces to
Ludo with some other Old English lines.
Silvern Enchanter was Reserve British National Champion Gelding as a
yearling and then in only his second season under saddle, won the other top
accolade with Darren Crowe, Ridden Arabian of the Year at the Horse of the Year
Show. Another Silvern Idyll son, Indian
Idyll is mentioned later.
The chestnut son Grecian Idyll at Binley Arabian Stud
(100%) is out of Grecian Gilt who was out of Golden Gilt, a full sister to the
famous mare Sunset, so Grecian Idyll is another double Bright Shadow. His 2005 filly foal out of Rose Star is at
Binley and his yearling filly, Saraphina Sunset, out of Siala, is owned by the
Mattocks and these fillies show the quality he passes on. His only other pure bred is a double Silvern
Dream, Binley Silvern Gem, and is now owned by Kay Burrough in Devon.
Amongst Silvern Idyll’s daughters is the lovely Silvern
Princess (out of Princess Rubi’a) a full sister to Prince Rasheyd who you saw
yesterday. She was shown successfully
in hand as a youngster and has bred some excellent foals including a colt by
Imad to be retained at the Rutland Stud.
Silvern Image is on permanent loan to Binley and continues
to visit Prince Sadik, producing for Binley the stallion Silvern Prince shown
under saddle in 2005. He won the Ridden
Stallions at the South of England Show in his very first ridden class, beating
his brother Ikoni, and then took the British National Novice Ridden Stallion
title at the National Show this year. In
2005, another superb moving and showy colt (Binley Prince Salim) of this
breeding has been bought by Anne Brown of Gadebrook Stud. Ikoni, owned by Hayley Budge, qualified for
the Horse of the Year Show in 2004 when he was 4th and again in 2005
where he took 3rd place. Binley
owns the Silvern Image daughter Ismala (by Nefeuret) who as a two year old won
her class and was Reserve Junior Female Champion at the Wessex Summer
Show. She has since been shown and
placed in hand and under saddle at the National Show. A yearling, Binley Isharah, by Prince Sadik
is retained at Binley.
We move onto Silver Grey – full sister to Royal
Radiance. The impact of these two mares
on different sides of the world is immense.
When the Crabbet Stud disbanded, Silver Grey was bought by Iona Bowring who
later purchased Silver Sheen. It is
largely thanks to Iona and her Chedglow Stud that this family is so famous
today.
Carol Carpenter of Nomad Arabians in France originally
lived in England and has based her whole breeding programme on these lines successfully
line breeding to them. Silver Blue Ludo,
(Silver Blue x Golden Ludo) full brother to Golden Silver, is an eye catching
white stallion with exceptional movement, enormous eyes and a pretty head. Carol has retrieved many mares of interesting
breeding and is continuing to breed these horses straight Crabbet and has some
young mares for sale.
Silver Blue himself was Reserve Champion at the first
International Class held in the UK at Ascot when Ralvon Pilgrim came over from
Australia and won. Silver Blue is sire
of the 100% Crabbet mare Rose of Bediya (out of Princess Rubi’a) who is most
famous as the dam of Foal Champion and 2 times British National Junior Female
Champion, OAS Panache by El Saleem (about 73.97% Crabbet). (NB – It is likely that Panache is in fact
well over 75% Crabbet as some Spanish Arabs traced to the predominantly Crabbet
Veragna stock, but it is not recorded which ones.) Panache came out under saddle in 2005 and made an amazing impact
on the ridden show ring, so far unbeaten in her class and taking numerous
championships and reserves, including Reserve Ridden Pure Bred Champion of the
Show at the National Show this year.
Produced by Anne Hooley with Susan George of Georgian Arabians, the
story of this mare will run and run with her outstanding beauty and lovely
nature.
Shaded Silver (Golden Silver x Magic’s Moonshadow a
direct descendant of the Heavenly Twins) is owned and ridden by Julie Green and
is a real all rounder, competing in Hunter Trials, Dressage, Show jumping and
Endurance. He has been shown in hand
and under saddle. His crop of pure
Crabbet foals in 2005 are promising. Shaded
Silver looks to throw back to the Ludo family and the tail female line goes back
to Shadowlight (Indian Gold/Silver Shadow).
Iona Bowring crossed Silver Sheen very successfully with the Foxbury
horses of the Murray family. Latterly,
Iona went into a very successful and important partnership with David and Jean
Peck. Silver Sheen’s daughter, the ever
young Silver Aura (24), by Ben Rabba is the treasured senior brood mare at
Gadebrook stud. Iona bred the mares
Silver Sheba by Fari II and Crystal Sheen by Crystal Magician. Her daughter, Magic Sheen by Hachim, bred by
Anne Brown, has been sold to Dubai. The other daughter of Crystal Sheen is
Silvern Sheena, winner of the Home Counties Crabbet class this year, owned by Alicia
Quispe Flores.
The lovely compact little stallion, Spirit of Silver
who has excellent limbs and beautiful movement is by Ludomino (Ludo x Yemama)
out of Silver Sheen. He was bred and
owned by Carol Carpenter but is on lease to Ba Tobin’s stud in Gloucester and
to Hazel Crowle in Cornwall alternating between the two studs every other
year. Sadly Spirit of Silver has not
had enough outside mares but these two studs do have some of his stock and some
of them are competing in the endurance world where Ludo descendants are so
dominant.
Very successful in endurance is Lutandorvici
(Eaglescliffe x Tandoora Kiymali) whose pedigree contains many lines to Ludo
through his dam and the tail male traces to Silver Blue and thus to Silver
Sheen, with Dargee and Indian King thrown in as well. He came second with his young rider Katie Parkin in the FEI 160K
at the Red Dragon in 2004.
The Silver Fire x Nureddin II daughter, Somara has
left very few lines in England.
However, it is thanks to Miss Pointer who owned Platinum Pearl, a
daughter of Silver Bell by the typey Naseel that the line exists, and again,
not in England but with Carol Carpenter.
She has the typey stallion, Platinum Domino, now 20 by Ludomino out of
Platinum Pearl who was seen as a foal at the 1985 Convention. Two very important sons of his, both 100% Crabbet
and both geldings compete at the highest level of endurance. The Silver Gambler (ex Souhoura), bred by
Mr. A. Chappell and Tigre (ex Masarah), bred by Carol. The Silver Gambler, a past racehorse with
many wins and placings under his belt now turned into an endurance horse is
regularly ridden by his owner Joanne Holman, an enthusiastic endurance rider
and supporter of Crabbet bloodlines.
The Silver Gambler has also successfully taken part in the AHS Marathon
when he was 4th in 2002 on Salisbury Plain. Injured in 2004, The Silver Gambler made an
impressive start to the 2005 season taking 2nd place in a 160K 2 day
ride and Grade 1 in 66K ride later. He
was entered for the Marathon but sadly went lame again and had to be withdrawn.
Tigre, second at Berkshire Downs,
Ridgeway Ride, was 4th in the Red Dragon 160K over 2 days in
2004. The first hill of this ride is
one of the toughest starts on the endurance calendar.
The line of Silver Shadow (Oran x Silver Fire) was
combined with Indian Gold very successfully.
Her two daughters by Indian Gold, Shadowlight and Wentworth Golden
Shadow have left lines in England. At
the 1985 Convention, these lines were fairly plentiful. Daphne Gilbert’s Star
Arabians had the Shadowlight daughter, Aurora by Oran who was bred to the
lovely Indian King son, Akhbar. Akhbar
was out of the famous mare Bint Astreelia and was a really attractive chestnut
stallion eventually sold to the Royal Jordanian Stud. Daphne retained Sapphire Star and Astar by him. She line bred Aurora to Astar and produced
the mare Star Bint Aurora who in turn was bred to Indian Banner (Silvadoris x
Xarifa). Daphne bred many foals in the
past but has stopped breeding now but she has leased the mares Crystal
Stardrift (Astar x Crystal Sunset) and Star Holly (Indian Banner x Star Bint
Aurora) to Daphne Cocksedge of the Romac Stud in Wales who is breeding these
mares to pure Crabbet stallions. Gunilla
Hamer of Klinta Arabians purchased many of Daphne’s horses but is now selling them
and some of these lines are filtering back to England. Sapphire Star’s daughter, Star Solitaire by
another Indian King son, Indian Reflection, has produced several foals for
Gunilla and is now on lease to my sister, Elizabeth Archer. The stallion Klinta Bashir (Nefeuret x Star
Solitaire), much admired at the 2002 Convention, is now at stud in Norfolk.
Klinta Nader, a full brother to Star Solitaire, left a
filly out of the “N” line mare, Grey Sparkle and a son, Klinta Saeed, owned by
Pencader stud. Another daughter by
Klinta Nader has been retained by Alexia Ross out of the mare Cantata, a Majal (Indian
Magic x Mifaria) daughter.
Wentworth Golden Shadow was a magnificent mare by
Indian Gold out of Silver Shadow. The line
is retained in the UK although sadly, many disappeared after the dispersal of
the Hawkhurst Arabian Stud which moved to France. Despite this, some stock were sold in Devon before leaving for
France and the pure Crabbet mare, Silver Ingot by Sadi out of Silver Mantle is
now owned by Kay Burrough at her small stud in Devon. Kay is very keen on endurance riding and is
a member of our Crabbet Organisation Committee. She has some other horses of
these lines in her stud including Golden Mantle by Golden Scimitar out of
Silver Ingot. Kay purchased last year the
pure Crabbet Stallion, Winged Saint (El Santo x Silver Blue Wings) and the last
stallion of the Moulton Stud. It is a
great benefit to Crabbet breeders that this delightful stallion is in the UK
and now available at stud.
Wentworth Golden Shadow is retained in 100% form through
AHS Premium Stallion, Prince Sadik out of the lovely broodmare, Princess Alia
and by Silver Gauntlet, a son of Silver Mantle’s by Rajeyd. He produces outstanding movement in all his
foals. He has left many pure Crabbet
children and some sons at studs in the UK.
The cross with the Worth Arabian Stud Silvern Dream family has been
outstanding.
Other Sadik offspring are the stallion, Prince Santros
out of Rose Star (El Santo x Rose Flame) standing at Sharloam Stud and Naresh, (ex
Rose of Bediya). Naresh has not bred
many pure Crabbet mares but this year has a son out of Marbon Melissa owned by
Diane Ellis at her Marbon Stud and a daughter Mellway Crystal Light who has
been very successful on the race track.
Other Sadik stock are the geldings, Desert Drifter past winning ridden
horse, who transferred to endurance in the UK. The outstanding moving son,
Sha’heil Ibn Sadik has recently been sold to Dubai as a prospective endurance
horse.
I move on to the incredible influence of Rissla (Berk
x Risala) both in the UK and around the world.
Rissla had superb action and was a prolific broodmare. Her son Rissalix was very influential in UK
breeding. Irex (Naseem x Rissla) too,
was a beautiful stallion, and so very important in breeding especially here in
Australia. The strongest female line in
England is Risslina who was by Rafeef.
Risslina’s granddaughter, Nerina by Rissalix, was bred to Oran to
produce Nerinora, dam of Indian Flame II and Indian Star. Oran, by Riffal out of Astrella, was the
last stallion used at Crabbet who did not contain Skowronek blood.
In Indian Flame II’s short life, he produced some of
the most flambouyant horses in England.
His son, Taqah (out of Angelica) was the main stallion at Harwood Stud
for years and many of you will have seen Taqah’s son Kasadi (out of Anna Rose),
a very typey horse. Indian Flame II’s other
son of renown was Silver Flame.
Kasadi’s foals are stamped with the type of their sire
and always have good conformation and action.
Mrs. Calvert considers Kasadi to be one of the best horses ever bred at
Harwood. The Harwood Stud’s main mare
of Pure Crabbet lines by Indian Flame was Jacynth, out of Rose Shade. Jacynth’s daughter Gentian by Genaro, is
being successfully crossed with a variety of stallions now used at Harwood who
specialize in racing and performance horses. To achieve this aim most of the horses are now blended with some
other lines but success on the track has proved yet again the different
disciplines which these horses are capable of.
Kasadi crossed with the mare Sophy has produced top ridden horses who
have also done well in hand. The female
“Rose” line from Harwood has also excelled in performance. Whilst they are not 100% Crabbet, the
bloodlines retained at Harwood have some important lines, lost to the 100%
Crabbets in the UK and the quality of horses there continues to this day. At the Crabbet Convention in 2002 in
England, four of Kasadi’s children were shown in the Indian Flame II group.
Another Taqah grandson who has influenced a small stud
in England is El Sharluke, out of the mare Senadiha. El Sharluke was the main stallion at Marbon Stud owned by Diane
Ellis who is breeding Crabbet Arabians for performance.
Princess Alia, bred and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Archer
at their Worth Arabian Stud, is one of Indian Flame II’s pure Crabbet daughters
of some influence. Her son Prince Sadik
has already been mentioned but another important cross was with the bay
stallion Samson (Count Dorsaz x Samsie), producing the correct and typey Prince
Saraph who sadly died suddenly at 16 but not before leaving valuable offspring
for the world. There were two full
sisters, one has left a few lines in the UK today. Another daughter, Rissaretta, (ex Rissetta) was found through our
trade stand at the National Show.
Shiffalia (ex Rose of Bediya) is an interesting cross
being a double Princess Alia, by Shiffal (by Prince Saraph) out of Rose of
Bediya (ex Princess Rubi’a). She was
shown very successfully as a youngster and only a few years ago took 4th
place in hand at our National Show. She
has competed in endurance and raced but sadly has not bred any foals to date. This mare lives with Heather Jackson in
Norfolk. A full brother to Indian Flame
II, is Indian Star. His famous son is
the stallion Aboud already mentioned.
In 1985, the Crabbet Convention in England had a Blue
Domino group. I have looked at the
lines in this group and sadly, only one horse has left significant produce in
the Pure Crabbet or 75% form. Blue
Sapphire, out of Blue Rhapsody by Mikonos, a son of Mikeno left a dynasty at
Mrs. Hedley’s Briery Close Stud and some of that line joined the famous
Hawkhurst Stud before its dispersal in France.
Blue Sapphire was retained at Briery Close Stud owned by Annette Hedley. She is by Mikonos a son of Mikeno. Mikeno is not quite 100% Crabbet. He has a line to Algol who was Crabbet/Old
English. However, Mikeno is world
famous for his extreme trot and is found in many lines in the UK.
Risira, by Naziri out of Risslina, produced the
important mare, Gleaming Gold, by Indian Gold, foundation mare of the Foxbury
Stud owned by the Murray family. This
stud had tremendous influence in the 70’s and 80’s and you will find horses
with their pedigrees in many Old English horses. Caroline Murray imported from Australia, Bremervale Emperor who
blended so well with her horses.
General Gold continues through his 100% grandsons, Prince Iman and
Grecian Idyll and in “Old English lines” through his sons, Golden Emir and
Golden Samurai.
Another line left in the UK comes from the beautiful mare
Dancing Queen 100% Crabbet (Dancing King x Ludmilla) and the last Crabbet horse
to win at our National Show in hand. In
2002, she won the prestigious Princess Muna Group class. This class is for progeny directly through
the female line where the lead mare must be shown together with at least 2
daughters. The class asks for a maximum
of five horses and minimum of three but it looks better if grandchildren are
shown and the type is expected to be passed down the line and improvement to be
made with each generation. It is a
nightmare of a class to prepare for, taking an enormous amount of organization
and usually only a few groups take part.
However, it is one of the highlights of the National Show and is held at
the end of the second day. Winning it
is hard, competing in it is an honour!
Dancing Queen has left many offspring at Jane Kadri’s
Al Waha Stud in Surrey, one not to be missed on a UK tour. The lines are GSB and Old English and the
quality of the horses is high. The
successful crossing of Old English bloodlines with this famous family in
particular with the line bred Blue Domino stallion, Midnight Gold produced a
succession of outstanding mares for Jane with Queens Topaz being retained at
her stud along with Dallua (by King Cotton Gold), Dahisha, Difla and Daleela
(by Imad). Jane has maintained
exceptional quality and versatility in her stud and they have performed well
under saddle in ridden showing and racing.
We now turn to the horse who I think is one of if not
the most important of all horses in pedigrees in England today, LUDO. This exceptional horse by Blue Domino out of
Rithyana (therefore a full sister to Princess Troubadour, dam of Princess Alia)
was purchased as a five year old by Mr. and Mrs. D.D. Wright for their Moulton
Stud in Norfolk. Their successful
breeding programme with Ludo for nearly 20 years maintained them at the top of
the showing world in the 70’s and the outstanding action passed on is seen in
so many of the offspring today. His
action came from his grandsire, Rissalix.
Ludo had an outstanding showring career under saddle which included twice
winning the coveted Winston Churchill Cup for Supreme Riding Horse at the Royal
International Horse Show in London.
Ludo’s progeny have been exported all over the world.
In England it is probably through his daughters that
Ludo has been most influential although his sons Rajeyd and latterly El Santo
have played their part. Ludo comes out
as the dominant Crabbet sire in Endurance.
His daughters were outstanding but a note of caution here. It is very easy to lose the best lines
through tail female without realizing it is happening. The families of Yemama
and Indian Starlight are the most important.
You have lines from Indian Gem and Indian Astra here in Australia. They
may not be the most beautiful mares but they do produce outstanding offspring. Indian Snowflake, one of Starlight’s best
daughters was foundation mare at Mr. Pitt-Rivers world famous Tollard Royal
Stud but sadly although she bred a pure Crabbet daughter by Silver Flame, there
are no pure Crabbets left in this line.
However, Indian Golddust bought in late age by my
sister has left a pure Crabbet line but again through the sire line, it has
been lost through tail female. “Goldie”
was sent to Silvern Idyll and produced first the son Indian Idyll and then a
daughter, Indian Moondust. Indian Idyll
was trained to race and was outstanding on the track with many excellent
performances in his short career when racing was run by the Arab Horse Society. His most dramatic win was by 15 lengths at
Lingfield but he also came 4th in an all grade race over the Derby
course at Epsom, one of the first races to be run on a thoroughbred card. Indian Idyll had to cut short his racing
career after injuring a tendon, but not before his performance ability was
confirmed. Indian Idyll sired Crystal
Eyas (out of Crystal Treasure), who qualified as an advanced level Endurance
Horse this year and is owned and ridden by Sue Marriott. Indian Moondust’s beautiful daughter, Indian
Shimmer is of the rare Courthouse bloodlines being by Shabako going back to
Champurrado (not to be confused with Shabakka). It is hoped she will carry these special lines on.
Another Ludo son of great influence is Ludomino. The very pretty Ludomino son, Ahmoun owned
by Tina Cooke, although not quite pure Crabbet bred some important horses in
the UK. He is out of the mare Shtaura
(Mikeno x Safara). Ahmoun’s son, Saker,
already mentioned, stands at Harwood Arabian Stud, and is out of the Pure
Crabbet mare, Moulton Star (Dancing King x Indian Astra). He thus has two crosses to Ludo. Saker proved his worth by taking the Junior
Male British National Championship as a yearling and then went on to be
successful on the race track. Saker is
proving an excellent sire for them. His
prize winning daughter, Selene, out of Caecilia (Kasadi x Freyr) has the Indian
Flame II son, Taqah twice in her pedigree.
Tina Cooke brought from the US the high percentage
stallion Ganemede (Gai Radiant x Gai Beisha) and bred him to Shariah, the Ahmoun
daughter out of Spitti who is also from Moulton Star. Shariah, therefore, is a full sister to Saker. This combination has produced some lovely
horses including the mare Bey Sheba shown at the 2002 Convention.
The Ludo influence in endurance comes from descendants
of: Ahmoun (with 7 horses competing - Coquet
Dahrish at Advanced), Platinum Domino, Prince Sadik (Desert Drifter), Spirit of
Silver, Ludriss, Indian Idyll, Silver Domino, Winged Saint, and Blue Lucius to
mention some of them. Lumahla Gold, bred by Tina Cooke and mentioned earlier,
carries Ludo and General Grant blood as well as Indian Gold.
Irex (Naseem x Rissla) is remembered for his great
beauty and exceptional head. With parents
like that, need I say more. He also had
brilliant free movement and this is passed on through the generations
today. The Irex type have pretty heads,
and are often bright chestnut. Irex was
the sire of Iridos, bred at Hanstead and produced the very beautiful daughter
British National Champion Nimet owned by Michael Pitt-Rivers at Tollard
Royal. Greatheart, owned by Margaret
Greely, was another influential son, and when crossed with Roxana, produced
Bint Roxana, foundation mare for Pat and John Coward’s world famous Cwm Farm
Arabians. Bint Roxana was dam of Roxan,
a grey used for many years in the White Horse Whisky advertisement. The Coward’s breeding programme is world
famous with the outstanding Rusleem, British National Champion both in hand and
under saddle. Rusleem is 73.18% Crabbet
and his story as a sire is just beginning.
Gold Rex, by Alexus out of Gleaming Gold, was another
of those beautiful chestnuts and this line continues today through General Gold
at Coed-y-Foel Stud through Diana Whittome’s Gold Roseires line. Diana bred Gold Roseires to Firesong, who
was by the Polish stallion Banat to produce the lovely Danse De Feu who has
three crosses to Irex. A daughter of
Danse De Feu by Imad is Imadia now shown under saddle by Elizabeth Harries. At 13 years of age, Elizabeth qualified Imadia and rode at the
Horse of the Year Show and this year qualified again and came 4th. She is probably the youngest rider ever to
compete in the Arab Section.
The stallion Hadeir bred by Michael Pitt-Rivers, owes
his Irex connection to both sides of his pedigree. His sire was Ralvon Elijah and his dam the stunning Nimet. Hadeir whilst just failing to reach the top
accolade as a colt in hand and taking the Reserve National Champion slot
succeeded under saddle to become British National Ridden Champion. Sadly he has not been used much at stud and
most of his stock have been exported.
In the 1980’s Pauline Hitchings stallion Donax, by
Ludrex (out of Sirikit) who was line
bred to Irex, out of Dargemet dominated the show ring and his children today
still play an important part. The
Hanstead stud bred Champurrado by Irex, a beautiful stallion and very important
in the Courthouse breeding programme.
There are only two straight Courthouse horses left in the UK today, Siwa
and Spearmint owned by Jane Kadri. What
a trajedy that this wonderful stud has not been able to make its mark on
history but at least the influence of Courthouse with its rare old Crabbet
lines on Old English breeding has been preserved. Horses of significance on these lines are Imperial Zar owned and
bred by Geoffrey Plaister out of British National Champion, Zarafah, Iyad a
really beautiful chestnut colt bred and owned by Jane Kadri, both these are by
Spearmint.
Nurmana, daughter of the desert bred mare Nuhra (from
Bahrein) was bred to Irex to produce Zehraa.
Zehraa started a dynasty at Lady May Abel Smith’s Barton Lodge
Stud. Today these lines remain in just
a few horses including Muzonomy, already mentioned and the 21 year old Khairho
who traces on both male and female to Irex, through his sire Zourrak by Iridos
and tail female Zehraa line. Khairho’s
endurance career has been very impressive and he was picked for the Under 21
British Team World Endurance Championships in Spain ridden by Anna Williams. He has been consistently placed in the Arab
Horse Society Marathon and has also raced.
He is owned by Major and Mrs. Cheryl Logan and has been used at Cheryl’s
stud in Somerset. Geoffrey Plaister is
using Khairho on some of his mares and the outcome is very promising. Khairho is still out competing in 2005.
The main line to Irex in the UK is through his
daughter, Indian Pride, dam of Indian King. Indian King was bred by Miss Ianthe
Bell and owned by Ronald and Rachael Kydd.
The “Heavenly Twins”, Dancing Sunlight and Dancing Shadow bred at Crabbet
were given to them at their Cruglas Stud and these two mares blended so well
with Indian King producing the outstanding mare Tarantella and the stallions
Dancing King and Sunlights Allegro.
Tarantella was foundation mare of Diana Whittome’s Coed-y-Foel
stud in Wales and was a daughter of Dancing Sunlight. Tarantella was Broodmare Champion in 1971 at the National Show
and each of her first three daughters were in turn, Reserve Junior Female
Champion. Diana has her daughter
Carillion, by British National Champion, King Cotton Gold, a beautiful bay
stallion owned by Caroline Murray by the famous Fari II of the Farette line. This line does not appear in the 100% form
in the UK sadly.
Diana owns the highly successful AHS Premium Stallion,
Imad (99.81%). Imad, bred by Jane
Kadri, is by Golden Cavalier (General Gold x Crystal Gold) and out of Ivory
Wings who is a daughter of Silver Blue and Silent Dove (a full sister to
Ludomino). So Imad carries 4 crosses to
Blue Domino in his pedigree. In 2001,
he achieved the double of British National Ridden Champion and Ridden Champion
of the Year. This delightful and very popular white stallion with an
outstanding temperament had his own group at the 2002 Crabbet Convention and
was star of Diana’s stud with his effervescent son, Sorrento on the following
stud tour. Many of his offspring compete
in the world of endurance, including the two Advanced level horses, Magica
Minstrel and Imagine both out of the 100% mare Fiesta Magica. Imagine ridden by Libby Whittome successfully
completed the 120K ride at Dukeries, Robin Hood country, in 2005 finishing 2nd. Imad’s children are too numerous to mention
but naming a few, Ariosto, Silent Storm who competes in hand and under saddle
and is owned by Teresa Sheward, Sarafiah, the beautiful grey mare out of the
Tarantella daughter, Sarafina and Sumadi.
It is through Indian King’s son, Crystal King that
there are also numerous lines retained in the UK but very few straight Crabbets. Crystal Magician (Crabbet/Old English), a dark
liver chestnut stallion with flaxen mane and tail was very successfully shown,
winning numerous championships. He is
out of the lovely mare, Sheer Magic who is by Scindian Magic, an Indian Magic
son. Scindian Magic bred many
successful performance horses, especially top class Anglo and Part Breds including
Magic Rogue who represented the British Eventing Team at the Atlanta
Olympics. Sheer Magic was exported to Australia. Crystal Magician was shown in hand and under
saddle by Nadia Howard-Price and her daughter Frances and there are many of his
stock out there competing in the show ring today, including Crystal Magic, bred
by Anne Brown out of her mare Crystal Lazuli.
Whilst Nasra’s family comes mainly through Indian
King, the other line is from the famous little white stallion Naseel, bred by
Lady Yule. Naseel carries a double line
to Skowronek. He spent his life in
Ireland and bred a variety of mares. He
had a show pony daughter, Pretty Polly, who not only won most competitions
there were to win in the Show Pony world but she is remembered as well for
being an outstanding brood mare. Naseel,
owned by Mrs. Nicholson collected a group of mares of this line in Ireland and
some Crabbet mares were bred to him.
Sengoran, by Oran out of Senga (Rangoon x Somara) was bred to Wadiha,
out of Wardi by Naseel. Wardi was by
Irex out of Rishka and a full sister to Risheem, so prominent in your pedigrees
here in Australia. In the UK the line
lives on through Diane Ellis’ Marbon stud.
The Wardi grandson, (out of Wadiha) Ranadi, was a bay
stallion by Sengoran. Ranadi’s
daughter, the grey Narishka born bay is owned by Alexia Ross and has been bred
to Indian Idyll for 2006. The only bay
100% Crabbet stallion in the UK is by Ranadi out of Rare Magic, bred by Rose
Ennik. This stallion is sadly with an
owner who has not licensed him or put him at public stud. It is to be hoped that someone will take him
on before it is too late to see if the bay line can be retrieved.
Many breeders consider the mare Silver Bell (Raktha x
Silver Crystal (Rangoon x Somara) to be of importance. It exists through Crystal Treasure and Carol
Carpenter has retained mares from Platinum Bell, Manon Somerville in Ireland
bred Shabakka (Silver Flame x Mona) from the Silver Bell daughter, Indian Chime
by Indian Gold (already mentioned). Manon
also acquired Nazli, by Naseel out of Raxina and she is the dam of the typey
stallion Nefeuret who was leased from Ireland by Geoffrey Plaister. Geoffrey has retained the son Imperial Star
by Nefeuret.
The last main group of influence is Razina through
Bright Shadow, Indian Magic and Oran. Lady
Wentworth always kept a keen eye on breeding programmes at other studs and
never missed an opportunity of buying colts or fillies. One point I believe that breeders can make a
mistake in today is not using enough stallions in their breeding programmes. The temptation is to buy a stallion, cover
all your mares with that stallion and then buy a colt to breed these resultant
mares to. Lady Wentworth’s policy was
to keep a large number of stallions in proportion to mares even though this
meant some of them might cover only one mare in a season. It also meant she had a much wider choice of
bloodlines from which to breed.
One stallion she acquired was Bright Shadow by Radi
out of Pale Shadow and whilst he was not widely used, he has shown to have
considerable influence in the breeding programmes of the UK and Australia. Bright Shadow had an extremely kind nature
and this is one of the characteristics which he invariably passed down the
generations. His most important progeny
come from the Silver Fire family and these you will see have been represented
in the Parade you saw yesterday mainly through his son Greylight went to
Australia in utero and was leading sire at the Fenwick Stud. Another son, Bright Wings, out of the Oran
mare, Silent Wings, sired Odessa, the dam of the US National Champion Padron.
As an individual Bright Shadow is underrated, as the
photographs of him show him in “good” condition and although not as flamboyant
as his contemporaries, he was, however, a very pretty horse. His dynasty around the world proves that his
contribution has not been equaled by many other stallions. His reputation in the UK was made through
his daughters and include Silver Sheen, Crystal Clear (Crystal Trinket), Rose
Shade (Rosalina), Adagio (Tarantella) and Sherilla (Sirella) Sunset and Golden
Gilt.
His sons, however, have bred good horses. Bright Crown, from the Mikeno mare Crowning
Glory, whilst not quite 100%, has produced a good line for the Rutland
Stud. Bright Crown was the sire of
Bright Cavalier, Silvern Glimmer in the UK and full brother Silvern Gleam who
has taken the ridden events in South Africa by storm and dominated the ridden
show ring for some years. These two
stallions are both out of Silvern Dream.
Laterly, Silver Scimitar (full brother to Silver Sheen) stock are
reappearing and showing their importance in breeding programmes and performance.
Rohaise Thomas-Everard’s stud in Devon has the stallion
Yahmur (shown in the veteran class at the National Show) at stud. He was bred by Hazel Moss and is by Masjid,
out of the mare Yolande who has a double cross to Irex. Rohaise used to be at the top of the in hand
showring with her lovely horses but she has now turned to breeding endurance
horses and these are now excelling themselves and are being picked for the
British team. The gelding Yamavar is
ridden by one of the top young endurance riders, Zara Moon. In 2004, he was second at the Haywood Oaks 120K
for young riders, 3rd at Berkshire Downs, 160k over two days just
beating another high percentage Crabbet stallion, Khairho (by Indian
Silver). At Cirencester, he was again
pipped at the post in the 100K ride but eventually won at the Northern Championships.
Yahmur is also sire of Yakamin who traces back to the
Blunts’ riding mare in the desert, Hagar and he clocked up four wins in 2004
and continues with excellent results in 2005, recently picked for the Junior
World Endurance Championships. An up and
coming Yahmur offspring is Yogurt, ridden by past British Team member, Emma
Froelich.
An outstanding gelding, King of Hearts out of Queen of
Diamonds, again from the Silver Bell line was beaten just once as a foal, when
he stood Reserve Foal Champion at the National Show. For two seasons he raced successfully and also completed several
long distance rides. He returned to the
in-hand show ring at a later date and had a remarkable career including many
championships. He was awarded a special
medal for his outstanding achievements and for helping to bring the Arab
gelding into recognition.
Another really eye catching gelding is Zinjadi, bred
by Hazel Crowle in Cornwall. He is by
another Masjid son, Masjadi Gold Shadow out of Silver Zingara. He stands very tall at around 16hh and has
won many gelding classes both in hand and under saddle, including at the
National Show this year. He was noticed
by an international judge as excellent for his conformation and presence
despite his height.
Mareschal (96.68%), bred by Mr. Peter Whitlow and
owned by the late Sue Connor was the mainstay of Sue’s, Woodfields
Arabians. Mareschal is by Militaire out
of Charming Shadows and again is double Bright Shadow. He contains a line to the beautiful Indian
Magic daughter, Silver Charm, who tragically died young but left this dynasty
through her Bright Shadow daughter, Charming Shadow. Mareschal’s progeny have won all over the South of England both
in hand and under saddle and won the Wessex Group Sire of the Year award on
numerous occasions only being beaten by Tina Cooke’s Ahmoun. Six of his progeny appeared at the 2002
Crabbet Convention so although he did not have his own Group, he was one of the
most important sires represented. There
were many outstanding offspring, mention must be made of Mareesah whose claim
to fame is dam of the very pretty bay stallion, British National Champion, Aazari
(71.63%) by Arazi a Carmargue son bred by Joan and Lisa Culnane. A great triumph is to own and breed a
British National Champion and it is worth mentioning just how much Crabbet
percentage is in the lines which are still capable of winning the major in-hand
championships even now.
In endurance, Bright Shadow appears through Bij Bij
(Mareschal x Mahrani Magic), Blue Barraka (by Sadi), Blue Twist (x
Mur-es-Shams), Crown Prince (Bright Crown x Silvern Princess), Crystal Eyas,
Golden Mantle (Golden Scimitar x Silver Ingot), Jumeirah Magic (Nikoli x Magic
Sunset), Silver Zharif (Masjadi Gold Shadow x Silver Zingara), Siyah (Militaire
x Charming Shadows), Bitterwell Spirit (El Crysto x Shadeeka), to name just a
few. If you include all the lines to
Silver Sheen, I would suspect that Ludo and Bright Shadow are the most
influential sires in endurance. Siyah,
bred by Mrs. Caroline Murray and owned by Rachel Harvey is ridden by Sarah
Tyson, another brilliant young rider.
They completed the Red Dragon 160K ride coming fifth in 2004. Bitterwell Spirit has had an outstanding
year in 2005, taking 4th and Best Condition in the 94K ride at the
tough Golden Horseshoe and 3rd at the 65K ride at Berkshire Downs
and in October competed in the AHS Marathon, (the only one in the world) and
finished 7th taking the highest placed Crabbet. This event is not what you understand as
Marathon in Australia. It is a race at
about 30kph over the Marathon distance of 26 ¼ miles and is one of the toughest
events on the horse calendar. To put it
into perspective, one competitor described it in the following terms. “Endurance riding is like watching paint
dry, the Marathon is something else.”
I believe that when you think of Crabbet, many people
conjure up one or two horses and one of them has to be Indian Magic. I remember Indian Magic at Crabbet in old
age and saw him steal the show at the UK Nationals in his last public
appearance. It is something I will
never forget and had a great impact on me, the sight of this spectacular white
horse with his presence and his magnificent trot was breathtaking. It is because of this that I put movement
very high on my agenda for breeding and will forgive conformation faults if the
movement is good as long as the rest of the horse is up to standard.
Indian Magic is of course by Raktha (Naseem x Razina)
out of the mare Indian Crown. A number
of his offspring were exported to America, including Indian Silver, bred in the
UK and brought back here to leave one pure Crabbet son, Ibn Silver, now owned
by Daphne Cocksedge. His daughter,
Silver Magic produced Silvadoris before being exported to Australia. Indian Silver is of course sire of Aliha,
World Champion owned by the Maxwells. Other
sons leaving lines in England are Indriss, Scindian Magic (ex Scindia) Rafid
(ex Sunset), and Shirar (ex Sirella).
However the most significant pure Crabbet lines are through his sons,
Indian Flame II and the full brother Indian Star.
The mare Soumana of Fairfield, by Indian Magic out of
Hadassa, shows an interesting pedigree going back to Rythal and Bashida. The 100% Crabbet mare Marillion Platinum
Wings by Platinum Domino has three crosses to Indian Magic and is surely a very
valuable mare for owner Janet Moores.
Found out of the blue for the Crabbet Convention 2002 was the Indian
Magic grandson, Indian Fanfare by Rafid out of Indian Miracle and so another
double Indian Magic.
Note should be made of Maureen de Popp and her Milla
Laquen Stud (now disbanded) in Norfolk.
Maureen and her late husband Shebaan, struggled to keep going with some
valuable Crabbet lines and it is thanks to them that many of these are now
becoming available to mix in with the established lines in the UK. Maureen had the grandchildren of the
heavenly twins and a line nearly lost being that tracing to the “N” line mare, Leya
of Weatheroak by Indian Blizzard, a son
of Indian Magic, out of a Ludo daughter.
Maureen introduced into her stud a “pure Blunt” stallion, Kildimo from
the Doyle Arabians in the US. The lines
are heavily inbred going back to just three early Blunt/Crabbet horses but the
crossing out into established Crabbet lines is a very interesting exercise.
The Crabbet/Old English stallion, Bright Cavalier, is
another double Indian Magic but is by Bright Crown. He was Overall Ridden Champion at the UK International Show at
Towerlands in 1990 and his progeny have been out winning in performance not only
in the ridden show ring but doing show jumping, driving and endurance.
Mr. Roger Titterington brought the high percentage
Crabbet Silver Satyr down from Cumbria to the 2002 Convention. This stallion is a wonderful ambassador for
the breed and by Indian Silver. He
became British National Champion and Overall Ridden Champion of the National Show
in 1986 and in 2002 went back to the National Show entering the Veteran
Stallion class and coming 2nd.
The Indian Magic daughter, Xarifa (Indian Magic x Rasana),
full sister in blood to Silver Charm, is the dam of the Oran styled Indian
Banner. Indian Banner is owned and bred
by Dawn Sloan and stood at stud in the UK for the last time this year. Indian Banner, although double Indian Magic
close up, paraded in the Oran group at the UK Convention. Indian Banner has
some offspring in endurance, including Magic Banner, 100% Crabbet out of Star
Bint Aurora.
The impact of Oran on Crabbet breeding in the UK is
immense. You cannot say that there is
really a look alike horse to Oran but he was so successful blending,
particularly with the Silver family. He
bred the larger horses for Lady Wentworth and traced back to Queen of Sheba in
the tail female line. It should be
noted that he was not bred at Crabbet, but at Hanstead but was bought by Lady
Wentworth for her stud. Notable sons, apart
from Silver Vanity, were Noran (based in Holland), sire of the famous show
jumper “Rex the Robber” ridden by Alwin Schokomohle the white horse in the
German Show Jumping team. Most of Oran’s
influence has already been covered in this talk but his great grand-son Sellwyn
a grey gelding bred by Daphne Cocksedge was very successful in Arab Horse
racing. Sellwyn is out of the double
Rosalina mare at Harwood Stud, Jasmyn by Sollum a grandson of Oran. He is probably the most recent high percentage Crabbet horse to participate
in racing in the UK.
In summary, things have improved very slightly. However, the success of Crabbet horses in
performance this year is creating more interest mainly positive! We have started Crabbet classes at Regional
Shows for in hand and will be holding the first ever Crabbet Show in the UK in
2006. These classes do not allow the
horse to be turned in a circle or have a high head posture. We generally ask an in hand judge
sympathetic to Old English lines or ridden judges to judge the classes. They are becoming popular. The Crabbet Organisation gives special
rosettes at these and at other events throughout the year, including one to the
highest placed 75%+ Crabbet Arabian in the Pure Bred classes at the National
Show.
Crabbet horses still hold many of the top places under
saddle so we do not need to promote separate ridden classes. However, it is essential that we should not
abandon taking part against the rest when we can still win. If your horse ends up bottom you may be
disappointed but it doesn’t matter.
Remember, the judges are the crowd, not the person in the middle of the
ring! Three great comments from the
past and present are: Lady Anne Lytton
commenting on a judge at the National Show, “I like your back row”! A top endurance rider watching the Veteran
Stallion Classes at Malvern, “I liked the one at the bottom of the line” and
from Lady Wentworth herself. Mrs. E.M.
Murray wrote, “I exhibited three two year old fillies. One was first, one third and the other,
Nerina, 6th. That night I
was rung up by Lady Wentworth who asked “How much do you want for the filly
that was sixth”? She promptly bought
her!
Every single person in this room is important to the
future of the Crabbet Arabian. It
doesn’t matter if you are a supporter, breeder, writer or rider. You are here because you love the Arabian
horse but also because of the Crabbet Arabian horse and with time running out,
we need to work together to preserve these very precious lines. There is no
time for quarrels, we have work to do. I
attended the first Crabbet Convention in Denver, Colorado in 1983 and I want to
just quote a part of the opening ceremony from there read by Bazy Tankersley.
“We are a fraternity of breeders of the greatest of
all horses, we know that down through the ages from dam to foal the homozygous,
prepotent blood of the generations past will keep on faithfully
reproducing. Let us pledge ourselves
here and now, from the United Kingdom to the United States, from Canada to
Australia and all in between, Crabbet breeders all over the world, to keep this
most precious blood pure, to never compromise in striving to breed the best
with the best so that a hundred years from now people all over the world will
have the spiritual lift of an exquisite new soft muzzle touching their finger
tips and the blessed release of soul that comes from riding the wind, which is
riding a Crabbet Arabian horse.”
Over a 1,000 people registered to attend that
Convention and resulted in the first one being held in the UK in 1985. I hope that after this Convention, America
may think about having an international one, for all of the USA or as large a
section as possible, perhaps 2008 which would be 25 years after Denver?
List of Sources
The Crabbet Arabian Stud, Its History and Influence –
Archer, Covey and Pearson
The Crabbet Organisation Journals
The Catalogue of the 1985 and 2002 Crabbet Conventions
in the UK
Endurance GB Results