An Interview with Jerzy Bialobok

an interview with

Jerzy Białobok director of Michałów Stud

b y

A n e t t e

E

M a t t s s o n

veryone familiar with the showring knows of the

Michałów State Stud in Poland, where great horses like Emandoria, El Dorada, Kwestura, Ganges,

Emigrant, and Elkana were bred. This famous stud farm has been breeding Arabian horses since 1953 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2013.

With over 100 broodmares and a total of 400 Arabians at

the stud, Michałów is the largest Arabian horse farm in Poland

and is considered to be one of the most prestigious and successful farms in the world. Michałów is located in the beautiful Holy Cross Mountain (Świętokrzyskie) province of Poland in the

Above left: Mitra (Celebes x Manilla by Doktryner) with Jerzy Białobok, Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka and Urszula Białobok at Michałów.

Above right: Urszula Białobok riding Dambor (Badr Bedur x Daszawa by Nabor) and Jerzy Białobok riding Eufrat (Elf x Estebna by Nabor). Both of the above were taken in the late 1970s, most likely 1978.

For the last 16 years Director Białobok has been at the helm

region of Ponidzie between Pińczów and Wodzisław glacial

of the stud after the retirement of Director Ignacy Jaworowski.

and 100 km north of Krakow, Michałów lies within the crux of

manager at Michałów.

crests. Just 45 km south of Kielce, 230 km south of Warsaw,

authentic “Old Poland.” The ancient capital of Wislica is found

He lives at the farm with his wife Urszula, who is the breeding I had the pleasure of sitting down with Director

just 25 km to the northeast of the stud, where civilization thrived

Białobok after the 2013 Bialka Spring Show in June, and as a

the first Polish king in 966.

through the history of the stud.

under Christian rule a century before Mieszko I was crowned as

thunderstorm raged outside the office, we had a wonderful walk

32 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

an interview with

Jerzy Białobok director of Michałów Stud

b y

A n e t t e

E

M a t t s s o n

veryone familiar with the showring knows of the

Michałów State Stud in Poland, where great horses like Emandoria, El Dorada, Kwestura, Ganges,

Emigrant, and Elkana were bred. This famous stud farm has been breeding Arabian horses since 1953 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2013.

With over 100 broodmares and a total of 400 Arabians at

the stud, Michałów is the largest Arabian horse farm in Poland

and is considered to be one of the most prestigious and successful farms in the world. Michałów is located in the beautiful Holy Cross Mountain (Świętokrzyskie) province of Poland in the

Above left: Mitra (Celebes x Manilla by Doktryner) with Jerzy Białobok, Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka and Urszula Białobok at Michałów.

Above right: Urszula Białobok riding Dambor (Badr Bedur x Daszawa by Nabor) and Jerzy Białobok riding Eufrat (Elf x Estebna by Nabor). Both of the above were taken in the late 1970s, most likely 1978.

For the last 16 years Director Białobok has been at the helm

region of Ponidzie between Pińczów and Wodzisław glacial

of the stud after the retirement of Director Ignacy Jaworowski.

and 100 km north of Krakow, Michałów lies within the crux of

manager at Michałów.

crests. Just 45 km south of Kielce, 230 km south of Warsaw,

authentic “Old Poland.” The ancient capital of Wislica is found

He lives at the farm with his wife Urszula, who is the breeding I had the pleasure of sitting down with Director

just 25 km to the northeast of the stud, where civilization thrived

Białobok after the 2013 Bialka Spring Show in June, and as a

the first Polish king in 966.

through the history of the stud.

under Christian rule a century before Mieszko I was crowned as

thunderstorm raged outside the office, we had a wonderful walk

32 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

Tell us about your introduction to horses — did you come from an equine background?

I actually don’t come from an equine family. My father was a tree breeder, or rather a forester and a horticulturist. He was a professor, a director of the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kórnik. He came from Puławy, where his father (and my grandfather) was also a tree breeder.

As a matter of fact, my grandfather created a new type of spruce, known to this day as the Białobok spruce. So breeding traditions have always been present in my family, though they did not always involve horses.

The institute in Kórnik was surrounded by a large park and in those days (the 1950s) there were horses working in it. So my contact with horses came early. I began riding and I grew very attached to them. My peers at the time were interested in cars, motorization, airplanes, whereas I was interested in horses.

In those days horses were treated as a sort of “necessary evil” — they were associated with the interwar period, which was not very popular in the 1950s and 1960s in Poland, but then there weren’t enough tractors for field work. Later, this interest in horses led me to study animal husbandry at an agricultural university with a specialization in horse breeding.

During my education at the university I had internships at

renowned horse breeding facilities in the Poznań region. One of these was Posadowo Stud, which at one point was home to Arabian horses reclaimed from Germany, and, for a short while to Director Andrzej Krzyształowicz. Also, my predecessor, Director Ignacy Jaworowski, began his professional career in nearby Racot, a stud with half-bred horses. After ending my internship in Posadowo, which was also the subject of my master’s thesis, I began a six-month apprenticeship at the Trakehner stud Liski. At the time it was managed by Mr. Pacyński, who spent his entire life there. In my opinion, it was the best Trakehner stud in Poland. I spent half a year there, receiving a solid education.

How did you first become acquainted with the Arabian horse, and when did you start working at Michałów?

I was always drawn to oriental horses. Maybe it had to do with the romanticism of the adventures of Emir Rzewuski.

(Count Waclaw Rzewuski traveled to Damascus in 1817 to search for Arabian horses, eventually returning to Poland with 89 stallions and 45 mares, the finest he could acquire, according to Roman Pankiewicz in his book Purebred Arab Horse in Poland.)

I was always interested in the Orient, the Middle Eastern countries and the fact that the last 200 years of Polish history

33 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

was always somehow intertwined with the East. That’s why I turned my first steps toward Janów Podlaski. Unfortunately, at the time they weren’t able to take on trainees, because the stud had no lodging accommodations. But one day, during a spring inspection of horses at the racetrack, Mrs. Izabella Zawadzka, after consulting Director Krzyształowicz, suggested that I speak to Director Jaworowski. After a short conversation, Director Jaworowski agreed and told me to come to Michałów as soon as I could. So right after defending my master’s thesis in July, I began working at Michałów on August 15, 1977, making my dreams come true. This was almost 36 years ago. Back then, I never thought that I would remain here so long.

My first encounter with Arabian horses took place during my early years in the Poznań region. In the post-war era of the 1950s and ’60s, some of the mares that were eliminated from stud herds were sold to agricultural estates. There, they were used as harness horses for long journeys, as they had plenty of stamina and could manage 8-12 hours in a carriage, traveling tens of kilometers. Those were the circumstances in which I encountered “performance” Arabians for the first time. Later, on a much larger scale, I dealt with them at the Służewiec racetrack in Warsaw, and of course here, when I came to Michałów.

Michałów is located in the Kielce region. What makes the location ideal for horse breeding?

This area has a historic background. During the interwar period many farms and estates in this area produced horses for the needs of the army, which was quite a profitable business.

These regions — the provinces of Kieleckie and Świętokrzyskie — were famed for being good environments for raising horses.

I believe that the soil here has a lot of calcium and many mineral elements, which builds good bones. This area, Ponidzie, is located in the Nida River valley and has many natural meadows that serve as pastures for horses.

The previous location in Klemensów was not so advantageous, because the environment was too rich and lush for Arabians. That area had first- and second-class soils, suitable for wheat and beetroot, very “greasy,” located in the Wieprz River valley, with high humidity in the summer and very strong grass.

According to director Jaworowski, the foals often suffered from infections of the upper airways, though of course there weren’t as many antibiotics available then as there are today. But it was the rich environment that caused the Arabian, which was supposed to be a dry horse — just skin and muscle — to become bloated, with a lot of fat tissue. The hocks weren’t dry enough and often acquired bog spavins, while the head and neck were simply padded with fat. After three to five years it was decided to move the stud to Michałów in the Świętokrzyskie province, where the soils were poorer, with plenty of mineral elements, and where the climate was more continental, windier, and hotter. The sun often

34 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

turned the pastures yellow and the ground cracked. That’s why I believe that the environment here in the Świętokrzyskie province is much better for the horses.

What do you think about the importance of keeping the sire lines and mare families intact at the stud? I am thinking of the foundation mare families of Murana and Scherife that were lost

MATTSSON PHOTO

SPARAGOWSKI PHOTO

In terms of the way horses are handled and stabled at Michałów, how much is the same as it was 50-60 years ago? What has changed?

The system of raising and keeping horses is practically the same as it was 60 years ago. In our climate there was never a tradition to keep the horses out on the pastures throughout the night. There were several reasons for this: the horses were valuable and the stud was located in a place that was accessible to strangers. Furthermore, the fencing was made of wood and could easily be damaged; therefore there was a danger of the horses leaving the premises at night. For that reason they always spent about eight hours out on the pastures, which I think is enough for an Arabian. An Arabian is different from a Thoroughbred, who needs to spend a maximum number of months outside to build up his body mass quickly so that he can make his racing debut at the age of two. The maintenance requirements of an Arabian to build body mass and to grow are much smaller than those of the Thoroughbred — that’s why this regime, this system of daily procedures, has remained unchanged for 60 years. Of course in the historic regions of Volhynia, Podolia (where the studs of old were located) these horses spent most of the summer outside, but then the owners had at their disposal endless pastures, steppes, and a large group of people who kept guard over the herds on horseback. But even there the most valuable specimens returned to the stable for the night.

How many horses are currently at Michałów, and how many people are employed there?

Michałów Stud not only breeds horses, but also two breeds of cattle: the Polish Black-White and Jersey. As for horses, apart from Arabians we also have “colored” half-breds, the Appaloosa leopard-patterned Malopolski sport horses, and a small group of Shetland ponies. The staff, including myself, numbers 44 people. This includes 15 horse grooms, 8 people taking care of cattle, 10 animal husbandry specialists who supervise animal breeding, the accounting department, and people who cultivate crops. Crop production is an important sector, because Michałów produces nearly 100 percent of all feed for both horses and cattle, including barley and hay. We produce about 1,000 tons of grains for our livestock. We only have to buy mineral supplements.

There are 400 horses and 600 cattle at Michałów. Among these 600 cattle are 300 dairy cattle and the rest are youngsters.

All this takes place on 670 hectares [about 1,600 acres]. I think that our number of staff is a necessary minimum for the running of the stud. Twenty years ago there were about 100 employees at Michałów, so the number has decreased by half due to the mechanization of various tasks. Horse breeding definitely requires a large number of people — the more, the better, but we must also consider such things as economic conditions, profits, and the liquidity of the company; that’s why we must manage to work within these standards.

Pictured in one of the mare barns at Michałów are, from left

A representative of the Saklawi I sire line, Emigrant (Ararat x Emigrantka by Eukaliptus),

to right: Jerzy Białobok, the late Director Jaworowski, and

2002 Polish National Champion Stallion, sired excellent broodmares at Michałów.

Urszula Białobok.

35 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

MATTSSON PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

Gaspar (Emigrant x Gaskonia by Probat), a Michałów stallion representative of the Saklawi I sire line.

Galba (Plakat x Gza Gza by Negatraz), who sired several good horses for Michałów while on lease to the stud in 2005 and 2006.

in Michałów’s breeding program, and then three other mare families that have been added (Selma, Rodania, and Adjuze).

Of course from a breeding point of view it is extremely important to maintain the greatest genetic variety and have as many dam lines and sire lines as possible. That’s the theory.

But life is life. Sometimes we ask ourselves why some families develop wonderfully and some poorly, or even negatively, because it is getting harder and harder to obtain interesting mares from them.

The first Arabian mares that found their way to Michałów were Miriam, Mufta, and Armenia in 1950. They were sent to the half-bred stud, located here at Michałów. In 1953, 22 mares from Klemensów joined that first group and formed the Arabian herd.

It’s interesting to compare the dam lines that came here in 1953 and the ones that are here today. For example the dam line of Gazella was represented in 1953 with two mares and today, with 20. Mlecha, on the other hand, is very resistant, because her dam line began with two mares and today we still have two mares.

Sahara proved much better — she began with three and today has seven. Whereas our flagship and best dam line, Milordka, which had eight representatives, has grown to 42 today. As I mentioned — some families develop superbly like Gazella or Milordka, whereas some stand still. One that is developing is Ukrainka, who had one mare in 1953 and today has seven. Szweykowska has grown very well — from two to 14 mares. Wołoszka has stopped in her tracks — she had and still has three mares. But we lost the dam line of Murana. She had two mares, but they didn’t produce daughters good enough to be included in the herd. The dam line of Semrie has increased — from one to four mares.

Another dam line that we lost is Scherife — we had one, now we have none. But we managed to acquire three new families: Selma, who today has 16 mares, Rodania — seven mares — and Adjuze with two mares. So we lost two families, but obtained

El Saghira (Galba x Emira by Laheeb), 2012 Polish National Silver Champion Mare.

three new ones. During those 60 years the initial 25 mares grew to today’s 124.

This changes all the time and especially today it is very hard to maintain such a variety. Mainly because the mares either produce colts or daughters who do not meet the minimum selection standard to be included in the broodmare herd. On the other hand the stud, like every breeding center, must make a profit, as that is expected by our owner, the State Treasury.

If it doesn’t, then the stud’s fate is sealed. That’s why, when constantly trying to raise the standard of breeding, we sometimes have to suffer some losses. Breeding is a creative process and you must deal with its consequences. We often, with great persistence and a lot of goodwill, try to restore some families by giving weaker mares good mating opportunities.

It’s also interesting to look at the sire lines that our mares descend from. Today we have 10 mares from the line of Bairactar, five from Ibrahim, five from Ilderim, three from Krzyżyk, three from Kuhailan Afas, 30 from Kuhailan Haifi and then — there is Saklawi I. We have 68 mares from Saklawi I, which make up more than 50 percent of the entire herd.

How did that happen? The answer is pretty simple — we always used stallions from a sire line that had the highest quality.

And the line of Saklawi I offered the best stallions. For example we used Wiliam — he was a racehorse, so it was easy to assess his value. It’s a little trickier when it comes to beauty. We recently used Enzo and Eden C and both gave remarkably goodlooking get. Another stallion from that line was Emigrant, who sired mares of a very Polish type — with a very beautiful neck, nice head, I would even say that it was a slightly “older” Polish type, but nevertheless very elegant. And they made excellent broodmares. Another Saklawi I representative used at the stud was Gaspar (Emigrant’s son) and the leased Galba, who sired several quite good horses. Perhaps the best sire from that line

36 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

SPARAGOWSKI PHOTO

FINKE PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

The Egyptian stallion Laheeb (Imperial Imdal x AK Latifa by Ibn Moniet El Nefous), was on lease to Michałów for two breeding seasons: 1999 and 2008.

The Tersk-bred stallion Palas (Aswan x Panel by Nil), sired at Michałów in the late 70s and early 80s.

was the Egyptian Laheeb, who in my opinion, along with Palas, turned out to be best suited for our mares. But it’s also a sort of breeding mystery as to why Laheeb gave splendid mares in his first Polish crop, mares that claimed the most prestigious titles such as Emira, Galilea, Dumka, Ellissara, whereas when used several years later he left nothing special, even though he was bred to mares of similar quality.

These “breeding comebacks” are always different. An epoch-making sire for us at one point was Probat, who gave splendid mares and several very good sons. Not long ago we used his son Piruet, hoping that he would give us very good mares, full of beauty, robust and well-moving, just like Probat.

But here is where director Krzyształowicz’s intuition proved infallible. He said that Piruet was a very beautiful horse, but that he didn’t believe in him as a sire. Therefore he sold him at a young age. Piruet went on to win the World Championships at the Salon du Cheval in Paris twice, but he was not a good chief sire. Here at Michałów we want to use not only trendy stallions, but also those of pure Polish blood. So we used Piruet, but he left nothing special here or at Janów Podlaski.

But returning to the subject of Saklawi I — another stallion that left us with good mares was Laheeb’s son, Poganin. Sanadik El Shaklan was used on a small scale, but made a bang with the grand El Dorada. Since we didn’t have a leading sire for our lot of Monogramm daughters, we decided to use Gazal Al Shaqab and he managed to sire an excellent group of get at Michałów.

And then there is QR Marc, the trendiest sire of today, whose get such as Wieża Mocy and Equator triumphed in the arenas in the 2012 season.

So we are constantly looking for good stallions from other sire lines, but they are not always easy to find. Summing up — when we began our breeding in 1953, our 25 initial mares descended from 10 sire lines. Today we have 120 mares who

Probat (Pohaniec x Borexia by Exelsjor) was used as a sire on a large scale at Michałów. The daughters of Probat were one of the more important groups in the period after 1980.

descend from seven lines. This shows that it is harder and harder to breed and find stallions from many different sire lines.

Some lines are too weak or do not meet the standards of today’s Arabian, which makes it even harder to obtain remarkable sires from them.

Michałów’s foundation was based primarily on grey horses with pedigrees and conformation that reflected the Saklawi lines according to Dr. Skorkowski’s thesis. Have the breeding programs changed with the addition of horses of Kuhailan type or would you say that Michałów still has a group predominantly of Saklawi-bred horses?

Dr. Skorkowski was responsible for the restoration of Arabian horse breeding after the war. His task was to gather horses that had been dispersed all over the country. The ones that survived the war were mostly those that were removed to Germany and later reclaimed, though with some losses. The horses that were transported to the East in September of 1939, to Tersk, never returned. We were only able to later bring back their subsequent generations. So all that survived, including the material dispersed at private studs, was then divided by Dr. Skorkowski into three separate group types, which to him were very distinct.

The Saklawi type was considered synonymous with beauty, refinement, wonderful movement, but also a certain kind of fragility and less resistance to the hardships of training. And opposite were the Kuhailans, which at that time were considered to have a bay coat color, slightly less beauty without swanshaped necks and dished head profiles, slightly smaller in size, in smaller frames, more stocky, short-coupled but full of stamina, hardy, and tough. Skorkowski also distinguished a third group, the Munighi, the chestnuts. What he actually did is, he labeled every horse that didn’t fit the Saklawi or Kuhailan type as

37 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid x Kajora by Kaborr), on lease from Al Shaqab, was chief sire at Michałów in 2003.

MATTSSON PHOTO

horses or half-breds, which were used in agriculture. The country was just rebuilding itself from the war and there was a lack of tractors. And obviously food production was the most important thing, because hungry people are rebellious people. So the people had to be fed. For years, since the 1960s really, the driving force in agriculture were horses. For that reason a project was born, which was partially realized, to create a utilitarian type of Arabian. An Arabian that would be useful for fieldwork — these horses were taller, had more body mass, but lacked beauty. They appeared to be “vulgar,” and luckily, after a while we were able to steer off that breeding path.

Arabian horses had a hard time finding a purpose in the history of postwar Poland. What else could they do besides refine the half-bred herds? And that’s when a “safety gate” opened up for them in the shape of export, in exchange for valuable dollars, which were especially important for our rebuilding economy.

In my opinion the export of Arabians, which began developing in the 70s, saved those horses. But also it determined the fate of our breeding, because if you want to export horses, then you must be aware of what is trendy in the market and produce horses according to those trends.

Although it was the English that were the first to purchase our horses, we quickly began selling a lot to the U.S., and therefore we produced horses in their type. A horse that revolutionized our export market and showed Americans that they should travel to Poland for good horses was Bask. He created a whole new quality of Arabian horses on the American market — a large horse, with good movement, in large frames, with a splendid neck and head and very good natured, thanks to which he did well in training under saddle. The Americans were very interested in horses that could perform and that type

MATTSSON PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

Munighi. But when one reads Arabian horse literature or speaks to people from the Middle East, whose grandfathers bred Arabian horses, whether in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the Emirates, it turns out that they never had such a strict division and they didn’t really stick to it when breeding.

It was customarily considered that Michałów is a stud of Saklawi horses, also because we used Amurath Sahib, who sired horses white as snow. He also unified the overall type of the herd and the resulting type was one that Director Jaworowski was in love with. Director Jaworowski was a sort of rebellious director and treated Dr. Skorkowski’s divisions not all that seriously, because he claimed that the Arabian horse should first of all be a beautiful horse. Beautiful, slim, a horse that was depicted on the paintings of Juliusz Kossak or that was described in books or in drawings by people who had visited wealthy estates in the Eastern Borderlands. That’s why he very much wanted to return to the bloodlines of the most refined Saklawi horses — hence Negatiw and later his son Nabor at Michałów. That was a time when the get of those sires totally changed the image of the Michałów herd.

Later, the decision to use those sires turned out to be very correct. We may think that our horses are good, but the real test is to exhibit them out in public and allow them to be evaluated by a group of other experts. And so in 1973, the first European Championship in Verden, Germany, was held. Our Estebna (Nabor x Estokada) won, electrifying everyone with her quality.

And that was a confirmation that the breeding path we were on was good; that the Arabian horse must be beautiful.

During the postwar era there was this pressure from the government that the Arabian horse could no longer be a horse for aristocrats, it had to be used to refine the stock of draught

Equator (QR Marc x Ekliptyka by Ekstern), 2012 Bialka Spring Show Gold Champion Colt. His sire, QR Marc (Marwan Al Shaqab x Swete Dreams), has also sired several good mares for Michałów.

38 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

Jerzy Białobok with the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Champion Fillies of the 2012 Bialka Spring Show: Wieża Mocy (QR Marc x Wieża Marzeń by Ekstern), Emandilla (Om El Shahmaan x Espadrilla by Monogramm), and Diara (Eryks x Diaspora by Ganges).

In your opinion, which stallions and which mares have been particularly influential in the breeding program at Michałów both prior to 1980, and after 1980?

It’s a long period — 60 years of unbroken breeding. Like I said before, to me the greatest revolution at the stud, which moved our breeding to a much higher level and unified the entire herd, was made by two stallions: Nabor and Negatiw. Although they appeared a little later. I must first give credit to the earlier Amurath Sahib, who stood at Klemensów. He unified all those different mares, giving them a strong skeletal framework, excellent toplines and a well-set neck. So it was Amurath Sahib who formed the foundation upon which it was easier for us to build later. The legendary horses, in my opinion, were definitely the daughters of Nabor, Negatiw, and Comet.

Although he was active for only a short while, excellent work was done by Comet, who sired very delicate, beautiful mares, who, just like the Nabors and Negatiws, were also grey.

In my opinion, his daughters were completely different from the Nabors and Negatiws. The Comets were more sublime, they were as though carved by the desert wind, lighter, more elegant, just like ballerinas. To me they were synonymous with beauty, dryness, freedom, superb movement. Sadly, Comet died too soon. So these were the three that formed the foundations of the stud’s herd.

The daughters of these stallions crossed really well with Palas and this mating even earned the nickname of the Polish Golden Cross. Palas’s daughters were also very beautiful, refined, but unfortunately they did not always equal their dams in quality — Palas often stamped his get with a short and fatty neck, a round croup and soft topline, but he also gave extreme dryness and refinement. Luckily the Polish mares often managed

RACZKOWSKA PHOTO

SPARAGOWSKI PHOTO

of horse remained very popular in the U.S. for many years. Later it was El Paso, a horse similar to Bask in type, that became U.S. National Champion. Fast-forward to today, Pogrom also resembles Bask in some way — he is strong, a kind of Kuhailan, with a good eye, robust, with excellent movement, full of energy and dynamism. All those horses I have mentioned were considered by us to be Kuhailans.

At Michałów, I still believe that we have a herd of Saklawis.

The majority of our core broodmare herd have a grey coat color, such as the entire line of Milordka with her “E” descendants such as Emanda, Emandoria, El Dorada, Emigrantka, and Emanacja.

These mares are superb representatives of the Saklawi type.

A stallion who proved very useful to us was Eukaliptus, who gave excellent daughters at Michałów, whereas his sire Bandos did not suit our herd at all. I remember a breeding inspection at Janów Podlaski, where 16 adult daughters of Bandos were presented. Michałów only had two or three that remained at the stud. Despite various different attempts, Bandos simply didn’t fit in with our mares. In our opinion also Banat, from the line of Krzyżyk, wasn’t very suitable for our mares, but we did use a different Krzyżyk representative, Piechur, who was grey and resembled a Saklawi more than a Kuhailan.

Anyway, my predecessor, Director Jaworowski, claimed that sometimes “hybrids” were the best. But you have to be very careful, because some mares mate well with various stallion types, while sometimes “strong” Kuhailans give negative results with “strong” Saklawi mares. And I’m still on the lookout for a stallion, perhaps an Egyptian one, for those mares — like Palas or Laheeb — but he has to be very modern, bearing a modern outline.

A stallion who proved very useful was Eukaliptus (Bandos x Eunice by Comet), who sired excellent daughters at Michałów.

According to Jerzy Białobok, the greatest revolution at the stud, which moved the Michałów breeding to a much higher level and unified the entire herd, was made by two stallions: Negatiw (Naseem x Tarascza), above center, and his son Nabor (x Logodna), known as *Naborr in the U.S., above right.

39 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

ESCHER PHOTO

TREES PHOTO

Although he was active for only a short while, Comet (Abu Afas x Carmen) was a foundation of the stud and sired very delicate and beautiful mares.

Monogramm (Negatraz x Monogramma), “a stallion who, in my opinion, had the greatest influence on Michałów’s breeding in recent years,” says Jerzy.

to break through his genotype and deliver their own long necks and splendid movement.

We really wanted a comeback of Comet, so a search was begun for a stallion who would carry his precious bloodline. And that’s how Probat, son of the Michałów-bred Pohaniec by Comet, was found in Sweden.

Director Jaworowski fell in love with this stallion and Probat was used on a large scale in Michałów. He sired very good and very unified get, which were considered remarkable in those days. We won many shows with Probat’s get — sometimes we even had five fillies in the class top fives. The daughters of Probat were definitely one of the more important groups in the period after 1980.

To this we must also add a stallion who, in my opinion, had the greatest influence on Michałów’s breeding in recent years.

This is Monogramm, from the sire line of Kuhailan Haifi, who was used at Michałów on a large scale, through both natural breeding and artificial insemination. He gave an excellent type of mare. His daughters were very feminine, superbly moving, with a nice eye, an excellent neck, and he actually improved the beauty of the already beautiful Michałów mares. What I still can’t understand to this very day is why this horse, when used in the States, gave nothing special besides his son Concensus and gave no mares. His only daughters present at shows and exhibitions were the Polish ones. His Polish daughters claimed several championships in the U.S. and Europe, his daughter Kwestura was the highest-selling Polish-bred horse in the history of Polish breeding for 1.125 million euros and was also a U.S. National Champion, just like another Monogramm daughter, Zagrobla. They are excellent mares. The stallion was only used at Michałów, as he did not gain the approval of Janów breeders, mainly because of his coat color. It turned out that he sired many grey horses and only a few chestnuts with white markings. The

Kwestura (Monogramm x Kwesta by Pesennik), with Mariusz Liskiewicz and Jerzy Białobok. Kwestura was the highest-selling Polish-bred horse in the history of Polish breeding and a U.S. National Champion Mare.

Monogramm daughters represented a whole new era in terms of mare quality, similar to the Nabors, Negatiws, and Probats in their time.

Another stallion that left a positive mark in recent years was Laheeb. He sired mares in the Saklawi type — very beautiful and good broodmare material. Among the youngest generation of stallions there is definitely QR Marc, who has already given several good mares at Michałów and I think that some of them will be excellent broodmares.

But to return to Monogramm. Besides the lovely group of mares he sired two superb sons, Ganges and Ekstern. They are completely different, like night and day. Ekstern is a petite, grey horse, rather compact, with an excellent head and movement. He was shown nine times and was named champion nine times at the most important events in Europe. Whereas Ganges was more in the American type, that’s why we leased him to the U.S. where he became U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion, losing by just a few points. He is a completely different horse from Ekstern; he is large-framed, with great length of neck, superb movement, receiving almost always top marks for his trot, but he represents the older Polish Arabian type. Ganges never gave such a strongly dished profile as Ekstern does. In my opinion, daughters of both make very good dams, forming a group of elite broodmares. Some need to have their heads slightly improved, but sometimes the head is the easiest part. I think both will leave several more good mares, and this is all thanks to Monogramm.

Speaking of influential mares up to 1980 I would definitely point to the daughters of Nabor and Negatiw, such as Fama, Estebna, Daszawa, Zazula, and Dewiza — those were the fundamental mares in that period. Of course, also Warmia and her entire family, as well as Ekstaza, a lovely, delightful mare.

Post-1980, I would definitely have to mention the entire large family of Emigracja together with her daughters Emigrantka,

40 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

Ganges (Monogramm x Garonna by Fanatyk) is a multiinternational champion, stakes race winner, and sire of very good broodmares for Michałów. “He is not completely a Michałów type, but simply represents a perfect horse,” says Jerzy.

Emanacja, and granddaughters Emandoria and Emanda; the Emigracja family; and of course, the Monogramm daughters, such as Fallada, Zagrobla, Kwestura, and Emmona. Another group of excellent mares post-1980 are the daughters of Probat, of which the best was Gaskonia.

If you were to name three influential moments for Michałów during the past 60 years, what would they be?

The first turning point in Michałów’s breeding was when, after 10-15 years of the breeding, they stopped using stallions that lacked type, were large, hardy, who produced utilitarian Arabians and were used for refining half-breds. This breakthrough happened with the arrival of Nabor and Negatiw. It was a fundamental change.

The second moment was during the late 60s and early 70s, with the first larger export of horses to the U.K. One of the first buyers was Patricia Lindsay, from whom Dr. La Croix himself later repurchased horses. This in turn drew other U.S. clients to Poland and was the reason behind the first auction at Janów Podlaski, 44 years ago, in 1970. The auction changed the entire breeding philosophy, because for the first time so many people came and both Krzyształowicz and Jaworowski saw for themselves that the horses they produced attracted buyers willing to pay quite large sums for them. So it was decided that the auction should be continued. Later, in 1973, three years after the first auction, Poland entered the first Arabian horse show, and in 1978 we went to the Salon du Cheval in Paris for the first time. And then the Polish Championships began in 1979.

In my opinion the biggest promotion of Polish horses took place in the 70s, when the world opened before us. Nobody was asking anymore whether it made sense to breed Arabians and whether they were necessary. Arabians became our best and most prestigious export brand. Famous people began coming to

VESTY PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

VISEL PHOTO

Another excellent Monogramm daughter is Zagrobla (x Zguba), both Polish and U.S. National Champion Senior Mare, pictured here in 2010.

Ekstern (Monogramm x Ernestyna by Piechur), shown nine times and champion nine times and recipient of the WAHO Trophy, is another important sire for Michałów.

Poland, such as Armand Hammer, who was a personal friend of Lenin’s, a fact that was very exotic for our authorities. Among those traveling to Poland were also famous singers, actors, and directors, such as Mike Nichols, Stephanie Powers, Kenny Rogers, and later Charlie and Shirley Watts. This world began to expand with more and more attractions being added, creating an atmosphere of grandeur around the Arabian horse.

Another breakthrough moment was the stud’s transformation 20 years ago from government ownership — when we didn’t have to worry about survival in the economic world — to a separate company of the State Treasury. The economy started to play the leading role in managing the stud. Not to mention that after we joined the European Union all government aid for the agricultural sector came to an end and all these agricultural companies, studs included, have to earn their keep by what they produce and sell. They can’t count on any subsidies if something goes wrong. We have to run the stud in such a way that it makes a profit.

So those are in my opinion the three most important moments in the stud’s history that left their strong mark on breeding and the breeding programs.

In what ways has the changing use of the horse today changed the way you think about breeding?

You can’t breed merely for the sake of breeding — it has to be in connection with life and the surrounding environment.

Because the horses that you are breeding or producing, you are producing them for someone, for some client, and not just for yourself. This is true for all breeds. Just take a look at how the warmblood horse has changed. It used to be solely a military horse or used for transport, and today it is a saddle horse for sports or recreational riding. Arabian horses have also changed.

Even today we speak about horses in the old Polish type and

41 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

those more modern. We, the Poles, try to stand our ground, saying that the horse should be looked upon as a whole, not just a pretty head. And our horses win at shows. Although they do not always have that ideal dished profile and arched neck, they win because they have good legs, very good bodies, and great movement.

Name the biggest moments in your career, those that have been special for you personally.

My most important decision was to begin working at Michałów as a groom. This was a bit strange back in the 1970s, as I had a university degree and people like that took up positions in management, not in the stable mucking stalls. But I figured that if I wanted to change anything, modernize certain things, it would be easier to do if I would have a direct contact with the staff and horses. Of course, I condemned myself to being in the stable 10 or 12 hours, because horses don’t care whether it’s day or night, a weekday or a holiday. But I believe that big things come from small things — that really small changes can make a huge difference. For example, I could begin preparing horses for sale in advance. Because human nature is such that we only do what is needed now, we don’t like doing anything “extra.” And I wanted to do that extra something, to go the extra mile. Because you can’t get a horse ready in several days, it takes months. Also managing a stable — it is much easier to do things when you are personally involved, the “hands-on” experience. So I worked in the stable and then had plenty of paperwork to fill out in the evenings; that’s also an important and necessary part of breeding.

I worked at that position for several years and got along really well with Director Jaworowski. Later, when I considered that certain things had been done the way I wanted them and

others had been changed, I changed my position and became a senior specialist. I took care of more paperwork, of stud promotion, I had more international contacts, I began judging and traveling more with the horses — for example, I traveled to the U.S. for the Polish Ovation Sale in 1985. There I deepened my knowledge of horse training, how everything is done, the philosophy of the American market, the relations between the breeder, seller, and the buyer, who is not necessarily a horse person and comes from various backgrounds. This was another phase of my career and I thought it would last for quite a long time. Unfortunately Director Jaworowski’s health was beginning to deteriorate and he had to retire. This made me face another difficult decision. I knew what the job of a director required and I also knew that there would be difficult times ahead. We were then already a company of the State Treasury, which was a lot of responsibility. So that was a second important moment. I already had a lot of experience, 25 years of stud work behind me, and my candidature met the requirements of the agency’s authorities.

Perhaps the saddest moment was the sudden passing of Director Jaworowski. Because then I realized, standing over his grave, that I was alone. Before, I could always go get advice, talk about how he would see a given situation. And now I was alone.

On the whole I have to say that the life of a stud director, who was first a breeder and then a director, with emotions attached to everything, is a lonely life. You live among decisions that you have to make yourself: which horses should stay, which should go, and why. Breeding is nothing else but constant decisions, which are often very hard. I always say that breeding doesn’t like sentiments and that we shouldn’t go by our emotions but by economic principles. But unfortunately we are only human, or perhaps fortunately, and we sometimes give in to our

Two daughters of Negatiw that were influential mares up to 1980: Dewiza (x Druzyna), pictured above left with Dick Patterson just prior to her importation to the U.S., and Zazula (x Zlota Iwa), above center.

Emigracja (Palas x Emisja by Carycyn), who was an inluential broodmare post-1980, along with her large family — her daughters Emigrantka and Emanacja, and granddaughters Emandoria and Emanda.

42 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

Jerzy Białobok accompanies Director Joworowski’s funeral procession in 2004.

Following the casket is the mare El Dorada (Sanadik El Shaklan x Emigrantka).

Exemplary models of Michalow beauty, the three mares, from left to right: Emanacja (Eukaliptus x Emigracja), Emigrantka (Eukaliptus x Emigracja), and Emanda (Ecaho x Emanacja by Eukaliptus).

43 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

MATTSSON PHOTO

VAN LENT PHOTO

VAN LENT PHOTO

What is your favorite part about your job? What’s your favorite part of the day, or the thing that gives you the most joy?

To me there are two times of the day that I consider joyful.

One is when I get up in the morning at 6:00 and go to the stable where I spend an hour or two. These are the only moments when I can really devote my time to the horses, look at them thoroughly and return to the kind of work that I did in the beginning. This is particularly valuable in the winter, when foals are born. And the second is the evening, when everyone has gone home. The horses are alone in the stables, and I take my dog and go to the barns. I go when it is quiet and finally peaceful. There are no clients, the phone’s not ringing. These are the two most pleasant times of day for me.

The middle part of the day is hectic. Because today the stud is not just about breeding horses. It’s also cattle breeding and

crop production. If you want to make the right decisions, then you have to take a thorough look at each case, each matter. You have to have control over them, maintain a financial discipline, decide what to buy and what not to buy, make an investment plan, see what needs to be built — will it bring us closer to our goals or not? There are tons of things that I need to decide on and that’s the part I least like.

But what I also like are the travels, because in order to sell horses you have to move from where you are, go out into the world. I very much like traveling abroad with the horses, though it is stressful — on one hand, I hate these trips and on the other, I love them. I love that we go up against the toughest contenders in the world and numerous times come out victorious. The victories are confirmation that our breeding concepts were right and that our horses find acknowledgment in the eyes of others. This is the best type of promotion you could have. No article can say as much as our horses actually winning championships.

NOVAK-ZIMPLINSKI PHOTO

sentiments and pay a dear price for it. My wife Urszula, who has stood by me for more than 30 years and just like me has given her whole life to the stud — taking care not only of the horses but also managing cattle breeding — has definitely helped me cope with this professional loneliness. Interestingly, I’m against married couples working together, because it is harmful to both husband and wife, but the reality is that we are here in the country, working toward the same goal together 24 hours a day, and very often this mutual passion brings people closer. The other person can also motivate us to find new energy and new ideas. I devote a lot of time thinking about what to do next — how to improve something, how to find that perfect mating, etc.

A person looking at me might think that I’m just sitting there doing nothing at all. Sometimes I catch myself walking through stables and talking to myself, but I think that is not very harmful.

VESTY PHOTO

MATTSSON PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

Emandoria (Gazal Al Shaqab x Emanda by Ecaho), granddaughter of Emigracja and international champion mare in the U.S. and Europe.

El Dorada (Sanadik El Sanadik x Emigrantka by Eukaliptus) at the European Championships in Moorsele in 2012.

But that middle part of the day is unfortunately filled with office work, which I don’t like but must do. I can proudly say that Michałów is a very well-managed farm, and in 2001 we received the President of Poland’s award for Best Agricultural Farm in Poland and for the promotion of Polish Arabian horses abroad.

As both you and Urszula are working and living on the farm, your life is very much about what happens at Michałów. What do you do to relax and charge your batteries?

Today I relax and charge my batteries according to my age. When I was younger, we traveled to Krakow or to the nearby city of Kielce — to meet with friends, go to a bar, go dancing, to get out of the countryside and at least for one night live the life of the big city. Even though I spent my entire life in the country, I am very fond of big cities — I like New York, Paris, or London. So that’s how we recharged when we had half the years we have now.

Today I get the most pleasure and relax when I can take care of my granddaughter who is two years old, take her on a walk, have more time for her. I never had that time for my now-adult son. Or I like to get in the car and drive to the nearby fields and meadows, look at animals, birds, and listen. Today I value peace and quiet more than the uproar of the city.

Another way to recharge the batteries is meeting my colleagues during our annual stud inspections. These meetings are also a bit sentimental, when we can still meet with people like Iza Zawadzka. We start to reminisce about the good old days, all 60 years of them. I also like to talk to Marek Trela about various subjects, though we have totally different opinions. But sometimes these differences give rise to excellent ideas.

Emmona (Monogramm x Emilda by Pamir), 2011 Polish Nationals Best in Show and Gold Champion Senior Mare.

What do you think is important for Polish breeding when you look at the international market today? What is the general challenge in Arabian horse breeding today?

This is an extremely difficult question that doesn’t have a simple answer. We are well aware that Arabian horse breeding is suffering a rather large crisis worldwide. Previously this market was ruled by the Americans, because they were the largest recipient of our horses. The American market was extremely capacious and business was going great. Besides North America there was also South America — Brazil, Argentina — which also had a large group of wealthy people for whom purchasing Arabian horses was their dream come true.

Today the market has been transferred to a completely different part of the world, with the recipients being the Arabic countries: Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar. Beside buying horses these people also sponsor various European championships and present their horses there.

Meanwhile, the market of breeders and owners of average horses has totally collapsed. In this Arabian horse pyramid we have a peak and we have a base, but we don’t have any middle part, breeders who breed just a few mares.

It seems that the “Arabian” world has divided itself into two groups. One is the breeders of straight Egyptian horses and the second are all other Arabians, with a large dose of Egyptian blood in them as well. But the best horses are usually the result of mixing Egyptian blood with domestic lines, be they Polish, Spanish, German, or Russian. Today, in pursuit of perfection, the breeders want to achieve success as quickly as they can. So heedless of anything else they increasingly use stallions that give beautiful heads, but the rest — the body, neck, legs — is rather bad. Often the movement of these horses is bad — these horses can fall over their own feet when moving normally, because that’s how badly they’re conformed. But on the other hand,

44 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

VESTY PHOTO

VESTY PHOTO

Fallada (Monogramm x Fanaberia by Probat).

“Another group of excellent mares post-1980 are the daughters of Probat, of which the best was Gaskonia (x Gizela by Palas),” says Jerzy.

these people are also our recipients and besides our own Polish pedigrees we must sometimes use the so-called “trendy” and “fashionable” stallions. Anyway, thanks to using these trendy stallions on our mares we were able to promote and propel some of them to stardom, such as Monogramm, but also Gazal Al Shaqab, who prior to being used in Poland was not a horse that was all that well-known. It is thanks to his winning get that he claimed fame, and of course later also through his wonderful son Marwan. But definitely using Gazal in Poland did this stallion plenty of good.

It is difficult for me to say where this world of Arabian horses is heading. It is really concentrated on the large shows, which are a test of what was born and bred that given year and what the current trends are. Our Polish horses meet with the best horses bred all over the world. The sheikhs buy horses in South America, North America, Australia, and bring them to Europe to show them at the World Championships in Paris, the All Nations Cup in Aachen. To my satisfaction our horses are often able to win with them. I think that Europe is slowly beginning to revive and the average-classed breeders are starting to come back. These people breed horses that are meant to be beautiful, but in addition they should be correct, well-built, with good movement and not just a pretty head. This trend is starting to return and this is a very positive signal.

wanted to compare the Michałów and Janów types, then I think that our mares are larger, more robust than the Janów mares.

This is definitely changing all the time, but the mares that stand out in my mind as being the exemplary models of Michałów beauty were Emisja — I really liked her — also Emigrantka, Emanacja, Emanda, and others, like El Dorada, Pistoria, Palmira, Emmona, and Zagrobla. The ones that I consider to be more of the Janów type are Warmia and Wieża Mocy. I like them very much, but they are not typical Michałów type. I like Ganges, who is completely not a Michałów type, but simply represents a perfect horse. More in the Michałów type were definitely Endel, Emigrant, Eldon, and Penitent.

How would you describe what a Michałów horse is for you?

There is this phrase going around that refers to a horse that is “the Michałów type.” Long ago I thought that a Michałów type horse could only be grey. Today this has slightly changed.

But besides that, it is definitely a horse in large frames, a horse that measures about 153 cm, with a very well-set and high neck, well-conformed, very good moving, elegant, a nice outline, with an excellent dark eye, full of temperament, yet gentle. But if one

You have a lot of local riders here, the horses are ridden, and you have horses at the racetrack. Do you feel any change in demand for ridden horses in the market? Is it important for you to have them ridden and raced? How do you decide which horses get sent to the racetrack?

Racing for Arabians is essential to our breeding program.

I have been observing horses at the track for years and have noticed that after half a year in training the horse changes so much that he is sometimes hard to recognize. His entire silhouette changes. The horse changes from being a foal into an athletic youngster. Training enhances the development of the skeleton, muscles, the respiratory and circulatory systems.

Whether the horse is fast or not is a completely different matter — what mattered to the breeders was that race training influenced the development of the horse.

In the “old days,” when everything was based on a different system, 95 percent of all the horses born were sent to the track. It was a bit of a closed loop — we didn’t receive the prize money, instead it covered the keep of the horses at the track. At the time, we had about 70-80 horses at the track in a given year. Today

45 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

this has radically changed because the cost of training is covered by breeders and owners themselves. Therefore, only the fastest horses have a chance of recouping their expenses. How are the horses chosen? Those that have a “racing” pedigree and proper conformation. About 50 percent of the horses are put in race training. I also try to send all those mares that are later to become broodmares at the stud, as well as those stallions that we hope to make into chief sires in the future.

For now we manage this quite well, but it is again a sort of closed loop, because a superbly racing horse has to earn the keep for his average-racing stablemates. Today many studs simply can’t afford to send their horses to the track. The same is happening all over the world — the prizes do not cover the costs of racing keep. In short — I am a deep supporter of all horses undergoing race training, but unfortunately we can’t afford for all of them to do this.

An alternative is to simply ride these horses. In the past we only broke in geldings, but today the market cannot take in so many breeding horses, so mares that do not conform to our breeding standards, or there is simply too many of them, are also trained to ride. That way they are broken in when offered for sale — they can be used for riding, but also later for breeding if the buyer wishes.

For several years now there have been riding competitions organized in Poland. We also have Polish Arabian Sport Horse Championships and more and more people are discovering that an Arabian is a good riding horse. That is something the Bedouins knew a long time ago, when the Arabian was the only

means of transport in the desert, the only way to acquire food or to fight in battle. They were the only type of animal to withstand the harsh environmental conditions. That’s why Arabian horses have dominated endurance rides, where you have to cover a distance of 160 km in one day, with an average speed of 25-30 km/h.

About 15 years ago, when this discipline was just beginning to develop, the average speed was 8-12 km/h. So the stamina and respiratory capacity of the horses has greatly improved, though we must keep in mind that many horses do not meet these requirements.

I think that endurance and overall under saddle usage of Arabian horses is a great thing. This takes place on a broad scale in Australia and the U.S., where at Scottsdale there are 2,300 horses, but only a small percentage of them are shown in the halter classes. The rest are presented in performance classes: western, hunter, and native costume, where there’s more emphasis on presentation and beautiful costumes. So this is also a way to use Arabian horses and is a good idea for the future.

You have been at the helm of Michałów for 16 years, since Director Jaworowski died. What do you think your legacy is at Michałów so far?

It is the hardest to talk about yourself or your own achievements. I was taking over Michałów in a difficult economic time for the stud. It was going through ownership changes and we had to perform a reorganization. I figured that I had to do it immediately, right off the bat, because you can make changes only when you are still wealthy enough. Later, when you’ve run

46 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013

out of funds, it is too late to do anything. So I knew that I had to modernize the production — invest large amounts in milking parlors and mixer feeders and in agricultural machines (for the collecting of hay, grains, and maize), limit the number of ineffective machines that we had, and, what was most painful, part with some of the employees.

I didn’t want to hurt anybody, so I spread the process of reducing employees over four years. Thanks to this many of them could retire early, others found employment in companies that cooperated with Michałów, such as a security firm that protects the stud. But the first and earliest thing I did was invest in machines, high quality tractors, for the harvesting of corn, and horse trailers. That was something that could be done the quickest. People also discovered that due to these changes their work became lighter. Many investments were made. Being aware that the market of Arabian horses is an unsteady market — sometimes you sell horses for a million euros, at other times for two or three. I decided that the stud needed some stability. So we enlarged the cattle herd by 100 percent and made cattle breeding a second pillar that the stud can firmly stand on.

Over the last 10 years we also built new facilities and renovated old ones. We created a horse training center with an indoor arena and stables, and an insemination and semen freezing center for worldwide shipping. We obtained additional funds for renovating and building cattle barns, renovating other horse buildings, building housing for young cattle and finally the renovation of the old warehouse, which will be a reception area for guests, with an exhibition of the stud’s successes, a history of the oriental horse. We somehow managed to realize all this, one step at a time, while still maintaining a high standard of breeding.

And as you look forward to the next 60 years of Michałów, where do you hope to see the stud going?

This is the hardest question, because everything depends on the kind of people that the stud will meet during its future existence. What happens at the stud is the creation of one person who must have a vision. This person has to spend a lot of time in the countryside, in order to understand and run the stud, but on the other hand he or she has to go out into the world, know what’s going on with the latest trends. And you always have to be aware that generations of wonderful horses require time to be built, but can be lost momentarily.

Horse breeding is like a pyramid, at the very peak is a small group of the best horses. The middle is very important, because it consists of those very good mares that produce excellent foals.

The most horses are located at the base of the pyramid and these

are horses of various quality. They are also hard to breed and hard to sell, but if we disturb the pyramid’s proportions and get rid of horses from the peak and the middle, then we can quickly come to the end of breeding. To obtain a pyramid with the correct proportions we would need several horse generations, some 15, 20, 30 years. So it is a very laborious process. If we want the studs to exist, we must have a vision of our future actions. And the state, our government officials, should see to it that such facilities are maintained.

I think that the government’s aid is essential with studs such as Michałów and Janów, where the quality of the breeding is so high, because the studs cannot exist simply to make the highest possible profit from their horses. We are constantly tempted to sell the best horses by receiving superb offers. But at the same time we are aware that we can only sell one, maximum two or three of the best specimens each year, and only if we have their replacements already waiting in line. That’s why I feel that a control of our most valuable product, the Arabian horse, by the state is necessary; otherwise the overall breeding will suffer.

I believe that this stud will exist for the next 60 years, although it may be smaller, with fewer mares. I’m not sure whether it will be breeding a type similar to today’s, but looking at the paintings of Juliusz Kossak we can see that the type hasn’t changed so much. With the right people and the right horses this is very possible.

Jerzy and Urszula Białobok pictured with the Shetland stallion Storczyk in 2007 when he celebrated 30 years at Michałów.

This interview was done in collaboration with Araby magazine, where it was published in Polish. Both the Polish and English articles are available online at http://arabianhorseworld.com/Bialobok Translation by Joanna Krawczyk.

47 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b AUGUST 2013