Lost asil tail females: Gazella O.A., from Poland
I am no “expert” on Polish Arabians (and I have a lot of trouble with the concept of “expert” in general anyway), so don’t expect these posts will tell you anything many of you don’t know already. I am writing them for the record only. As a reminder to reader that there was a blessed time when some Arabian horses from Poland – this great horsemanship country – were Asil.
Then there was a time when only, or two, or perhaps three Polish Arabians were Asil. That was in the 1960s and 1970s, not such a long time ago. When Arwila, Rozka, Lassa and a few others were alive. Now that time is gone.
This new series of posts will feature the last Asil mare from each desert-bred line imported to Poland or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Lets start with Arwila (Amurath Sahib x Wilga, photo above from Skorkowski’s book, I think), a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz tracing to the desert bred Gazella, imported by Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki in 1845. Her pedigree is one of the 24 extended pedigrees originally compiled by Ursula Guttmann in her 1968 book
Arwila was born in 1947 and exported to England in 1965. She did not leave any Asil progeny.
The combination of Amurath Sahib, Ofir, and Kuhailan I help explain how Arwila managed to stay away from the non-Asil lines carried by the likes of Fetysz, Enwer Bey, etc. Amurath Sahib and Ofir were some of the last Asil stallions in use in Eastern Europe at that time. But luckey crosses like the one that produced Arwila were not the norm after WW II. Arwila’s sister Carmen, who went on to produce Comet, was by Trypolis, which carried non-Asil lines.
In Ofir’s pedigree we find Feruk -Chan according to Britta Fahlgren:”He was adark bay purchased in 1858 by Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki in Paris from the Persian Ambassador of that name” was he an Arab?or like Zboj OA said to have been of Turkoman origin and present in many Polish pedigrees,or like Malta OA purchased in Malta by the same Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki from an Englishman general Simpson.
On the other hand the Dzieduszycki’s were famous for breeding pure Arab horses not like the Sangusko’s or the Branicki’s.
The only one who can answer if Feruk -Chan is a pure Arab is our Friend Britta.
Fascinating stuff. Thank you both.
Dear Sir,
I thought you might like to know about my mare KTP MYSTIC FLIGHT, she is by WIKING (ETAP x WILMA) out of MEWA (MOKAN x MURHEJKA).
Both WIKING and MEWA’s tail femail lines go back to GAZELLA O.A. but whether she is Asil I do not know.
When Alice Payne visited Poland in 1961, the mares in the State Studs still included:
Arwila (Amurath Sahib x Wilga by Ofir)
Ferha (Kuhailan Abu Urkub x Udzda by Kuhailan Kruszan)
Darda (Amurath Sahib x Brda by Mersuch II), and
Brussa (Amurath Sahib x Brzytwa by Mersuch I).
Did she take any photos of them at the time? I have a very soft spot for the Polish horses, so always love seeing more pictures of them.