he purchased Hungara (Wan Dick x Pelotera), chestnut, 1922; Arancenilla (Ursus x Babara), chestnut, 1923; Duquesa (Vissir x Montasena), bay, 1918; and Despierta (Vissir x Hele), bay, 1918. In France he acquired Andjer (El Sbaa x Adelaide), chestnut, 1927, and bought Guerrero’s Sada-Yama from Ybarra. In Argentina, through an agent, he imported 10 mares and one stallion from Hernan Ayerza, the oldest stud in the Western Hemisphere. Driven by an insatiable obsession to breed “the perfect Arabian horse,” he imported no fewer than 14 mares from England, including: Insilla (Naseem x Nisreen), grey, 1930; Ranya (Nasik x Riyala), grey, 1916; Ritla (Jeruan x Rissla), chestnut, 1930; Shalaimar (Yakoot x Jiwa-Jiwa), grey, 1921; Amuseh (Rasim x Arsua), bay, 1922; Awalani (Rissim x Libnani), bay, 1923; Kirat (Sher-I-Khurshid x Shejret Eddur), bay, 1926; and Libnani (a desertbred of the Mejamieh strain), bay, 1919. He also imported stallion Ajlun (Rasim x Merjamieh), bay, 1926, which became a foundation sire at the Portuguese National Stud. Veragua’s exceptional prowess as a gifted breeder culminated with the acquisition of five Skowronek daughters, all greys: Reyna (ex Rissla), 1930, Jalila (ex Rasima), 1922; Namira (ex Nessima), 1928; and Shelifa (ex Selima), 1922, and Nasieda (ex Nasra), 1927, a fullsister to Naseem. If one bears in mind that only five daughters and three sons of Skowronek ever arrived in America, his lust for excellence and aptitudes as a horse breeder becomes clear. Colón’s senior sires were Razada (Shazada x Rana) grey, 1923, and Sirio III. During the Second Republic he also bought, desechado, the desertbred Marouf and used him to sire 11 foals. Likewise, he was the only private breeder to use Sultan III (a Keheilan Nowag), chestnut, 1922, as a sire for potential racehorses. The “Vera mares,” especially Veracruz, through her only daughter, Galatife, established a dynasty of several hundred members that includes a myriad of extraordinary individuals such as the latter’s sons Orive (by Barquillo), Galero and Jaguay (both by Zancudo), and her daughters Teorica (by Barquillo), Zulema and Alhama III (both by Congo). Similarly, Veralca (the dam of Sablista), Verana (whose sub-family includes
prodigious sires such as Melikatoa, An Malik, Jalisco and the mare Estopa), Veranda (the dam of Habiente and Uzacur) and Veraz (the dam of Tea etc.) each had a huge impact upon postcivil war bloodlines. Veragua-bred stallions Nana-Sahib (Razada x Jalila) and Kashmir (Razada x Reyna), foaled in 1934, and to a lesser extent, Ifni (Razada x Reyna), 1937, all greys, likewise played pivotal roles in shaping the modern “Spanish family.” Cristóbal Colón y Aguilera’s singular contribution to the universal breed cannot be overstated.
1927 I
n an effort to obtain new bloodlines specifically for Spain’s recently created racing industry, in 1927 the Cria Caballar sent another Commission (its last), led by Commandant Javier Naneti, to Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Prior to departing for the East, it made a stop at the French National Stud to look over a group of stallions that had been imported in 1925, then sailed to Egypt to inspect all of the racing stables at the hippodromes of Alexandria and Cairo. At the palace of Prince Mohamed Ali they attempted to buy Nasr, who later was imported to the United States and used by General Dickinson at his Travelers Rest Stud. From Beirut they traveled by train to Damascus, then in rented Model-A and Dodge automobiles to Hama, Homs, and the ancient ruins of Palmyra, then into the desert in search of factions of the Beni-Kaled, Anazé Fedaan, Sbaa-Abade, SbaaGomosa, Mawali, Addidines and Arrakán tribes. They returned with four noteworthy grey desertbred stallions: Bagdad, 1923; Marouf, a Saklawi Jedran 1919; Sultan III; and Sawah-the-Second, 1920, who was bought on behalf of Manuel Guerrero. Additionally, they acquired 14 mares among which were Ghazel, Faouaza, Beni-Kaled and Selimieh, each of whom augmented the Yeguada Militar’s broodmare band and established formidable families whose descendants continue to influence the breed.
The Second Republic (1931-1936) I
n 1931 the Cria Caballar and the SSB were placed under the direction of the Department of Agriculture. During that corrupt administration, several sales of irreplaceable breeding stock occurred, including the loss of most of the desertbred mares that had been imported only four years before. By 1930 the breeding programs of the Guerreros and Domecq had been dispersed, their herds having been incorporated into the yeguadas of Veragua and Ybarra. The only positive development from an equine point of view that occurred during that tumultuous period was the exportation of four mares and one stallion to the United States. That small group would have a tremendous Desertbred and long-term beneficial effect stallion Marouf upon the American segment of
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Arabian Horse Times • March 2007