A Polish Love
Affair
© 1990, 1996 Roxanne Rogers
This is a story about unsung heroes. As with all fields, those
individuals at the forefront are not necessarily the most skilled
or deserving but sometimes the products of luck and promotion.
Promotion being a main theme in the Arab industry.
The first unsung hero in this tale is my father, Allan Rogers.
I grant that my opinion is biased, but a better horseman exists
no where else on the planet (though I'm sure there are some as
good <g>). He is a true horseman from a long line of horsemen.
His father bred prize Percherons on the Canadian prairie and was
the regional expert on livestock ailments. This background shaped
my father into the practical all around horseman that he is today.
When he became involved with Arabians he brought with him a solid
reputation and a knowledge of basic conformation that is translataeable
into any breed. As he has so often said to me,"A good horse
is a good breed."
After years of hard work and reputation building my parents came
into the employ of P.B. Williamson, a wealthy man looking for
a tax write-off and a nice hobby for his children. The original
horses of the Double U Ranch were of mostly old English and some
Hallany Mistanny breeding. A young stallion (later gelded) named
HMR Hallany's Talab was trained and promoted by my father and
became the first Legion of Merit recipient in Canada. The Williamsons,
by this time, enjoyed winning at the shows and decided to aim
for the Nationals.
While at the Washington, Coalfax show the beautiful Polish import
*Dornaba was espied and admired. She looked like a prime candidate
for the Nationals and she certainly reinforced the interest in
Polish Arabians that would set our family on a lifelong course.
Mr. Williamson informed father he was to negotiate on *Dornaba
with the Kale's. They asked a large sum which Mr. Williamson agreed
upon but the Kales backed down. The decision was then made to
travel to Poland on a buying trip to acquire a future National
Champion. So Mr. Williamson and my father set sail on the Queen
Mary in the fall of 1964.
The first stop was Britain where father looked at some of the
stock but did not find anything he felt worthy of importation.
When they did get to Poland it was at the time that Kruschev was
ousted and the country was in political upheaval. (I have always
felt sympathy for Poland stuck between two monumental and sometimes
vicious, super powers). So the result was that the two Canadians'
passports were confiscated immediately and they were kept, somewhat,
as hotel hostages! They did manage of course, to carry on with
the buying trip, but under close supervision.
The racetrack and two stud farms, Janow and Michalow were visited.
The Poles presented their horses with a basic horsemanship that
appealed to father and instilled in him a confidence in that country's
horse breeding and management techniques. The initial visit was
made to Michalow where approximately 70 head of horses were kept
and all of them were viewed by the buyers. They then went on to
Janow where in excess of 130 horses were kept and all of those
were viewed as well. They had already viewed a lot of horses before
the magical moment when *Arwistawa appeared. When this dapple
grey vision of queenly splendour appeared to them my father experienced
that lightning flash of recognition that all horsemen dream of.
That moment when perfection is made manifest in this tawdry physical
realm and time stands still. That's what *Arwistawa did so well
- she made time stand still, for her quality transcended mere
physicality and whispered of things beyond this earthly boundary.
The buyers had been provided with a list of horses available for
purchase at both stud farms and father immediately asked the guide/interpreter
where this glorious creature was on the list. He was told she
was not for sale therefore she was not on the list. Now, to a
Scots-Canadian horse dealer this was no deterrent, and though
he said nothing further at the time, he got her name from the
interpreter. After they had been shown all of the horses at Janow,
Dad decided he had a preference for the offspring of the outstanding
stallion, *Pietuszok. Of all the stallions he saw, Czort, Gwarny
and the aforementioned *Pietuszok gained the most respect from
him. The next day they went to Michalow and finally, the racetrack
was visited where the majority of horses were chosen.
The two Canadians had picked out nine horses by the final day,
they were: *Barysz (Faher x Bandola) - *Barysz was the exclusive
choice of Mr. Williamson because the horse had rather a nice head
- *Esterka (Anarchista x Estokada), *Gorszyca (*Naborr x Gwara
), *Arnika (Faher x Arwila), and *Rusaalka (Czort x Gwara) all
from the racetrack. From Janow they chose *Harpia (*Pietuszok
x Harfa), Harda (*Harpia's full sister) and *Edycja (*Naborr x
Estokada). From Michalow one horse was chosen, the lovely stallion
*Kirkor (Gwarny x Carmen). Mr. Williamson also insisted on the
two *Naborr daughters since *Naborr was so popular at the time.
Now was the time for the wily horse trader to make his move. They
gave the list of the nine chosen horses to the Poles and said
that if *Arwistawa was not the tenth horse there would be no deal
at all. Initially they met a brick wall. The Poles told them *Arwistawa
was necessary for Janow's breeding program because not only was
she an astonishing individual, she had done extremely well on
the track, her race record is 2/15 (4-4-5)+2 and she broke the
then track record for 2600m. So the Canadians went home to wait
it out and negotiations continued on for one month. Luckily 1964
was a lean year in Poland for foreign purchases, so an agreement
was eventually reached. By the time the deal was struck Mr. Williamson
had paid the most for any Polish horse coming to the North American
continent up to that date (the LaCroix's and Kales had already
imported a lot of stock), and *Arwistawa, the exquisite daughter
of Geyran (a Kaszmir son) and Arfa was coming to Kelowna, British
Columbia, Canada!
When the horses arrived by train in British Columbia it was one
of the coldest days on record. The doors of the train were frozen
shut and had to be pried open with crowbars. It's a good thing
the horses weren't coming from Egypt! *Arwistawa was six years
old when she arrived in Canada, and she was immediately put into
conditioning for halter competition. Father always felt it was
an honour to work with her for her queenly bearing and dignity
made it easy to develop her natural abilities. Her conformation
is absolutely flawless, she stands15.2 &1/2 hands tall and
her presence is that of royalty. She is the type of horse that
stopped people in their tracks, reducing them to a state of excitement
and admiration. Many times at shows people came up to Dad and
asked who she was and could they please touch her. Not only did
*Arwistawa capture the imagination of the general public but she
appealed to horsemen of all preferences. This mare was not only
breathtakingly beautiful but she had substance, perfect legs and
perfect balance.
*Arwistawa qualified for the Nationals in only four horseshows
and met up with *Dornaba very early in the game. A precedent was
established immediately between the two mares and although the
competition was extremely stiff (some say 1965 was the most glorious
mare's class ever at the Nationals) it was always a two horse
race between *Arwistawa and *Dornaba.
*Arwistawa's first horseshow took place at Coalfax on the fair
grounds and Dad had all he could do to handle her because she
took one look at the racetrack and thought she was there to race!
She was always a natural, but there was a special magic between
the handler and the horse. To this day an ineffable communication
exists between *Arwistawa and Dad, though father would never admit
to it being a man of few words. However, to those who know him
his expression becomes reverent whenever he reminisces about his
time spent in the showring with the great mare. At times when
he thinks no one is looking he talks sweetly to her in the few
Polish phrases he knows and she listens quietly with her eyes
soft and glowing. I think it's pretty safe to call such an exchange
love.
*Arwistawa was campaigned with another Polish import, the stallion
*Gaypolka++++ (*Pietuszok x *Caliope). They went to the Canadian
Nationals together where *Arwistawa became National Champion and
*Gaypolka++++ went Breeder's Champion in the open show. The next
stop was the U.S. Nationals in Springfield, Illinois.
By this time *Arwistawa had caused quite a sensation wherever
she travelled and people were starting to watch for her. *Gaypolka++++
was to be shown in the Nationals this time, and the two Polish
Canadians were considered very tough competition. No other horse
had won National Champion in both the U.S. and Canada and the
speculation that she might be the first to do so was very exciting.
Of course, she did go National Champion in the United States as
well, defeating some very good mares. The lady who presented her
with her trophy was overcome by tears and said she was the most
beautiful Arabian she had ever seen. Mrs. Williamson broke a blood
vessel in her hand from clapping so enthusiastically and a guard
had to be posted outside *Arwistawa's stall to keep the public
from stripping her mane and tail for souvenirs! One fan took the
souvenir craze to the limit by collecting her manure with the
intention of having it bronzed! *Gaypolka++++ went National Top
Ten and so the two horses from Canada really left a mark on the
1965 U.S. Nationals.
On her way back to Canada one of the stable owners where we stopped
over was so impressed by *Arwistawa that he threatened to board
up her stall and put a sign on the door stating that *Arwistawa
had slept there. Everywhere she went she inspired both awe and
respect, for her like had never been seen, nor has it ever been
seen since.
In five horse shows the exquisite Polish mare had reached the
pinnacle of accomplishment for her day, and it was decided that
she should be retired and bred. Exorbitant sums of money had been
refused for her so her offspring were greatly anticipated. The
sad epilogue to her tale is that she was practically a barren
mare. Every effort was made by all the best experts yet no foal
could be had until 1972. *Arwistawa had been turned out with *Gaypolka++++
all the previous year in the hopes that nature would prevail -
and she did. A filly was born and she was named, for obvious reasons,
Gay Miracle. In 1973, *Arwistawa was shipped away from home to
be bred and contracted a devastating infection which left her
uterus riddled with scar tissue. In 1974 she again caught to *Gaypolka++++
, using the same natural method, and had a colt. The colt was
born stunted because of the condition of the mare's uterus but
it was decided that he was too valuable genetically to eliminate.
His name is Arwitraz.
By the mid-seventies the Williamson's did not want to be involved
with Arabians any longer and our family acquired a small breeding
nucleus which had been carefully selected from the original importation,
including,*Arwistawa, Gay Miracle, Arwitraz, and *Gaypolka++++.
*Arwistawa never had another foal, though she resided at George
Allen's for many years where the effort to get one more foal was
made.Gay Miracle has been a phenomenal broodmare and is the jewel
of our broodmare band. Arwitraz is on lease and sires beautiful,
normal-sized babies.
The real Polish love affair of this story is between our old Polish
stallion, *Falat (Gwarny x Forta) and *Arwistawa. At thirty two
years of age she has fallen in love again (*Gaypolka++++ died
in 1978). *Falat is a mere 21 years of age, and from the day *Arwistawa
came home from Will-O-Mar she's been with him. We turned her out
in the yard so she could free range all the alfalfa she wanted.
She went directly to *Falat's paddock and attached herself to
him making quite a nuisance of herself every time he had to go
and breed a mare. She has spent the entire winter with him in
his quarters and they make quite a couple, those two Royally-bred
geriatric Poles!
My father dropped out of the showring in 1972 and none of *Arwistawa's
offspring or their offspring has ever been shown nor will they
ever be unless the spirit of the showring changes drastically.
I have concentrated my efforts on racing and an *Arwistawa granddaughter,
Arieadne showed brilliant speed in her one start which she won
handily. Though *Arwistawa is largely forgotten in the modern
show world her quality and beauty has been the inspiration to
our breeding program and dedication to the Arab horse. In my lifetime
I will never see another like her and I feel indescribably enriched
for having known her.
Postscript:
This article was written in 1990, and sadly, *Arwistawa has since
passed away at the ripe old age of 35.
Tanglewood
Breeders of Polish and French Arabian Horses and Thoroughbred
Racehorses
RR1
New Noway, Alberta
Canada T0B 3L0
Tel (780) 352-6413
roxannerogers13@gmail.com
This document © 1996 - 2009
Roxanne Rogers, all rights reserved.
