Rissla: The Queen of Crabbet, Part 1

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r issla- THE qUEEN of CRABBE T Part one

by John Schiewe

Ri ssla (Be rk x Ri sa la)

Skowronek, Nazeer, Comet, *Ansata Ibn Halima, *Bask, and Raktha are among the great stallions that are considered transformative and deserving of everlasting fame. It has become clear that given enough time, Rissla blood ultimately unites with these great horses and others to give elite standard-bearers for the future. A most remarkable contribution to the Arabian breed has been made by this Crabbet-bred mare. Rissla now belongs to all of us in that her blood has reached all continents where Arabian horses are bred and, in addition, has penetrated deeply into such varied designations as Domestic (U.S.), Russian, Polish, Spanish, as well as the more obvious Crabbet connection.As we celebrate Rissla’s birth which took place just over a century ago, it is a fitting time to note just how pervasive her influence has been.

Rissla’s arrival 101 years ago is all the more poignant when one recalls that Lady Anne Blunt died in the same year, 1917. Through the efforts of Lady Anne and her husband Wilfrid, Crabbet Stud was entrenched sufficiently after 40 years to have

the elements in place for their daughter Judith to wield in masterful fashion. Judith is more familiar to most as Lady Wentworth. The Arabian horse expert, the late Gladys Brown Edwards, among others, has already documented the brilliance of this chestnut mare, as well as the traits of her forebears that were brought forward with such a near-perfect blending.

In addition, consulting the writings of Rosemary Archer provides information about the Crabbet program in general.

Let’s first look at the presence of the influential stallion Mesaoud, who is Rissla’s maternal grandsire and paternal great-grandsire. This stallion was purchased by Wilfrid and Lady Anne Blunt as a two-year-old from the stud of the Ali Pasha Sherif in Egypt, who had died two years before. Mesaoud stands up well on so many levels. Often, the images of the ancestors of our modern horses seem to suffer in comparison with today’s horses. This may call more into question the factors of husbandry and camera technologies than of horse quality. But Mesaoud looks splendid. There are very few faults

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Ber k (Seyal x Buk ra), Si re o f Ri s s la.

to diminish his reputation, while his good points are abundant. The overall class of this stallion was arresting. Lady Anne once gave this characterization of the stud that Mesaoud sprang from: “I don’t know what it is, or rather, I don’t know how to put into words that indescribable air of distinction which marks the horses and mares of Ali Pasha Sherif’s …”

The Blunts’ daughter, Judith, before she went on to achieve prominence as a breeder and scholar, had the opportunity to assess Mesaoud as a using horse: “Mesaoud became Lady Anne’s favorite riding mount while he was in Egypt.” As Judith reached adulthood, her immersion in the Crabbet affairs was significant, even though her parents, as the owners of record, had the final say on matters of most import.

Agreement among these principals was to prove elusive as time passed. The separation of Wilfrid and Lady Anne led to a formal state of partition in 1906. This meant that the breeding decisions in the year 1907 and for the next decade were made by each party, dictated by the fact that each owned a different set of mares. Access to the Crabbet stallions was largely shared. Mesaoud had been brought to England in 1891. The Crystal Palace was a prestigious venue in its day, and it is reported that Mesaoud was a first-prize winner for three years in a row. Mesaoud’s travels did not end in Great Britain.

He was sold to Wladislas Kliniewski and quickly made his way to the stud of Count Stroganov. This stud would go on to be world famous as the Tersk Stud.

Due to the Russian Revolution, none of Mesaoud’s Russian-bred offspring, derived under the ownership of Stroganov, had descendants that bred on into the modern day, but a powerful Russian-themed chapter involving Mesaoud blood was yet to be written. In 1922, the British Pathe News Agency captured film of Crabbet stallions being shown in-hand. The consistency of the mature, mostly chestnut horses was arresting. The presence of Mesaoud in their pedigrees was significant. The alert, showy attitudes with proud tail carriage, arched necks along with great definition of wither and bone was a tribute to the vision of Lady Wentworth and her parents. Certainly the general “air” of these stallions gave credibility to Lady Anne’s comment about the stamp of Ali Pasha Sherif breeding.

Through Rissla’s sire line we see that she was sired

by Berk, a son of the Mesaoud son Seyal. Berk’s action was glowingly characterized by Lady Anne: “the sight of all was Berk lunged, as his action is magnificent — he was a perfect picture in motion ...

“Rosemary Archer discloses a startling opinion when referring to Berk: “Lady Anne had noted his brilliance when moving, but Blunt never liked the horse and was glad he had never sent any mares to him as his stock were all ‘weedy and second rate.’” This just goes to show that even with a learned family like the Blunts, all with profound exposure and experience with the Arabian breed, dramatically different viewpoints could be held. In the case of Berk, his dam Bukra was a daughter of Ahmar, who garnered a favorable evaluation: “a bright bay with four white

Me saoud (Azi z x Ye ma me h), gra ndsi re and gre a t gra ndsi re of Ri ssla .

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Ri s a l a ( Mes aou d x Rid aa) , d am of Ris s l a.

feet and narrow blaze, very beautiful head, small muzzle, fine shoulder and magnificent action both before and behind, tail set high and splendidly carried.” Ahmar’s sire, Azrek, was a desert-bred Crabbet import. In 1897, marking Crabbet’s 20th year, Wilfrid declared: “Of the stallions used at Crabbet, by far our best has been Mesaoud.

Followed by Azrek.”

Rissla’s dam Risala was a daughter of Mesaoud.

Risala traced back via Ridaa and Rose of Sharon to the Crabbet import Rodania in the tail female line. Lady Anne Blunt gave this summation of Rodania herself: “A chestnut mare, near hind foot white to above fetlock and blaze to the mouth with a pink upper lip, fired on quarter, belly and chest, deep jowl, eyes showing white like the human eye, extraordinary strength and style of going, up to any weight, but uncertain temper. A celebrated mare.”

Since Rodania had descendants that influenced the Egyptian breeding program, plus other nonRissla descendants that also had a global impact in general, she is probably one of a handful of mares for whom a case could be made in terms of eclipsing Rissla’s breeding luster. Rodania had three daughters that bred on. Rose of Sharon, by Hadban, carried on the tail female family as the most influential of her generation. Her essence can be partially noted by factoring in this information from Lady Wentworth: “Rose of Sharon. Golden chestnut with white mane and tail. The colour constantly reappears in her descendants and after crossing with brown develops maroon almost black chestnut with flaxen or golden manes and tails. With golden bay cross instead of brown it sometimes reappears

as a vivid iridescent buttercup gold of dazzling brilliancy with lighter gold mane.”

The Blunts’ taste and knowledge is shown by their stock selection, but over time they discovered that a relatively small percentage of their mare families were able to give stallion-quality individuals.

One of these families was that of Rodania, while the other most prominent was through Dajania, who established the noted “N” family through her daughter Nefisa. A third family of note was ultimately that of Sobha, Berk’s grandam. Sobha’s family is identified today as the Selma family, since she was Sobha’s dam. The inability to give sons of stallion quality became a factor in broodmare retention at Crabbet, which ultimately led to a severe winnowing away of most of the mare families. Wilfrid gave this maxim: “the produce of certain imported mares, however good individually these were, will become eliminated from the stud and it will be idle out of sentiment to retain them. It is better such strains should be lost when after three generations they have failed to produce a sire of the first class.” In the final analysis, according to Dr. Dee Whittlesey, a prominent breeder and scholar, the line of Rodania was deemed to be supreme by one important observer: “Rodania’s line was the most important in the opinion of Wilfrid Blunt.” Crabbet, while under the management of Wilfrid and Lady Anne, brought in 18 foundation mares. It is testament to the power of the three families just mentioned that they stood the test of time in terms of long-term retention by

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Rodani a (De se rt Bre d x A Kuh a ylah Rudani ya h) a s de pi cte d by Pe te r Upton.

// Crabbet. Some of the other original Crabbet mares bred on for other programs. For instance, the Ferida line through *Ferda gave the very important *Raseyn son, Ferseyn, in America. Ironically, Ferda had Mesaoud in the exact same places in her pedigree as did Rissla, i.e., paternal great-grandsire and maternal grandsire. In addition, she was only three generations away from her imported foundress.

Lady Wentworth used the stallion Faris successfully after Wilfrid’s passing. Faris was also three generations away from Ferida in the tail female line.

Rissla was a feminine-looking mare, with exceptionally clean looking bone. This appearance was compatible with Rissla’s shoulders. Not only did she have the signature angle of Mesaoud, but the rippling relief of every bony fiber seemed to jump to the eye in the photographic record of Rissla. The long humerus descending from the prominent point of the shoulder seemed to promise great abilities at the trot. In fact, Rissla was a fantastic mover, not only at the trot, which her offspring almost unanimously demonstrated, but also on the track, efficient movement for sure on the racetracks of Russia, Poland and the United States would ultimately be traced to her. From among those who were privileged to know Rissla on a more intimate basis, we can pass along these words courtesy of Cecil Covey: “Rissla was another beautiful mare, with a lovely head and refined body, short back. She stood out on her own owing to her great quality and wonderful action. She was also quite a character and was the only mare I can remember being difficult to catch out in the field during the summer.

She was never any bother in the winter when she knew there was a nice manger full of hot mash waiting. This little habit of Rissla’s was passed on to several of her fillies. Traits like this are often passed on to the next generation, more so from mares than stallions.” Covey’s father Geoffrey was Lady Wentworth’s stud manager. Cecil started working at Crabbet in 1926 and assumed his father’s role in 1937 when Geoffrey retired. Judith Forbis, whose breeding acumen and scholarship dictates that she is one of the few who deserves to be compared to Lady Wentworth, passed along this interesting piece of information: “Lady Wentworth noted that the post mortem on Rissla indicated seventeen ribs and

Mesaoud Seyal Sobha Berk Ahmar Bukra Bozra RISSLA Aziz Mesaoud Yamama III Risala Merzuk Ridaa Rose of Sharon

Aziz Yamama III Wazir Selma I Azrek Queen of Sheba Pharoah Basilisk Harken Aziza Shueyman Yamama II Wazir

Hadban Rodania

seven lumbar vertebrae, a unique count in horse breeds, while her dam, Risala, had seventeen and six as compared to the usual five.” The fact that Rissla’s back was “short” even though she had the high count for ribs and vertebrae is a point to ponder.

Finally we are left with this insight, which speaks to the high quality of both Rissla and her dam Risala, courtesy of Rosemary Archer: “Risala, whom Blunt described as the finest mare at Crabbet ‘without question,’ was foaled in 1900. Her principal son was Rasim (by Feysul). Of her daughters, Rafina founded a good line in Australia, Rythma (by Berk) had Myola (by Algol) who was the dam of Dargee, while Rijma has left prolific lines through Riz to Rizada (by Shahzada). Risala’s most important daughter, though, was undoubtedly Rissla who combined the beauty, quality, and style which are so striking in her family with the brilliant action of her sire.

These characteristics have been transmitted very noticeably to her descendants.”

Rissla had 13 foals, of which three were sired by Skowronek. Some records show multiple sires for the 1936 Rissla daughter Rissilla. One possible sire was Faris, which would have made Rissilla a full sister to Rissalix. The other sire put forward is Sultan Rasim. Since Rissilla left no offspring, confirming her parentage would seem to be of

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Ris s l a 's f irs t f oal , *Rif al a ( by Skow ron ek) .

marginal importance. A Nasik son, born in 1924, also left no registered purebred offspring behind.

Named Rajkputana, he was the only bay foal that Rissla ever had. Ritla, by Jeruan, was a chestnut Rissla daughter foaled in 1930. She was sold to Spain and left no purebred offspring in England or Spain. The 1923 Skowronek son Rissaal is the final Rissla foal that had only a minimal impact. He was a full brother to *Rifala and Reyna and left only one registered purebred.

Now it is time to turn our attention to the more prominent offspring of Rissla that comprise the rest of our group. *Rifala was Rissla’s first foal, born in 1922. *Rifala’s sire, Skowronek (Ibrahim x Jaskolka) was Lady Wentworth’s crowning achievement in terms of bringing in crucial new blood, expressed in a silvery vision of beauty. Lady Wentworth was unique in her ability to recognize his potential in contrast to all other breeders of the era. The previouslymentioned Pathe news video from 1922 drove home the point that Lady Wentworth had already built upon the foundation her parents had put in place.

A separate crop of young colts, predominately grey, exhibited their own panache, largely attributable to Skowronek. *Rifala was a mare of exquisite type.

She had a shapely neck and stunning eyes. Movies depicting her at the trot show *Rifala to be a very stylish mover. She was a smallish mare, and Lady Wentworth elected to conduct a bold experiment by breeding *Rifala back to her sire. *Rifala certainly did not possess the shoulder and wither of her dam, and the repeated cross to Skowronek left the resultant son *Raffles with withers that were barely visible, but

his dynamic movement at the trot was only slightly diminished from that of his dam. *Raffles definitely had a pony-like build. Lady Wentworth bred Welsh ponies during part of the time that she was conducting her life’s work of Arabian horse breeding. *Raffles certainly had the potential to be a fantastic sire for the Welsh breed. Lady Wentworth came to the conclusion that *Raffles was sterile. Therefore, he ended up as a gift to one of her best customers, the wealthy Ohio shoe magnate, Roger Selby, in 1932.

Mr. Selby’s wise choice in hiring Jimmy Dean as a farm manager/trainer bore even more fruit when it became apparent over time that there was something of a two-for-one deal, thanks to Dean’s wife Thelma. She also exhibited an incredible devotion towards the horses in their charge.

Ultimately, with perseverance and insight, the Deans settled upon a therapy that made it clear that *Raffles was more than capable in the breeding shed. *Raffles was primarily put to the task of siring purebred Arabians, and his impact upon American breeding was significant. Later, when *Raffles suffered a broken leg, it was the Deans who refused to give up and with the aid of a homemade sling, which kept weight off the stallion’s leg for months, gave *Raffles additional years to live and sire. To shed more light on this achievement, it should be pointed out that it was Mrs. Dean’s initial, desperate

Bre d back to h e r own si re , *Ri fa la produce d *Ra ffle s (by Skowrone k ) one of th e most e nd u rin g

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si re s of th e Arabi a n bre e d.

// plea which lead Mr. Dean to create the referenced sling as a last ditch measure after an intercession with Mr. Selby. *Raffles’ first son was Indraff, who was purchased by Bazy Tankersley of Al Marah Arabians. He was the foundation stallion that she utilized to build her very influential program. *Rifala is also famous as the dam of Image, bred

by Mr. Selby and foaled in 1933. *Rifala had been imported by Mr. Selby in 1928, thus predating the arrival of *Raffles.

Image sired 73 foals — a good number considering the era.

His greatest claim to fame is surely the fact that through his son and grandson, Arabi Kabir and Errabi, respectively, the U.S. National Champion son Bay-Abi came to be. Since Bay-Abi sired Bay El Bey the rest is, as they say, Im a g e ( * M i ra g e x *Rif al a) history.

The sire of Image, *Mirage, was the principal in a formidable international trek that rivals the Mesaoud saga.

Mirage was owned by the King of Iraq and made his way to the Crabbet Stud, before moving on to his final destination in the United States. Mirage had many attributes, especially when assessing head, neck and general forehand. Lady Wentworth also sold *Mirage to Mr. Selby, and it was under his auspices that Image was foaled in the United States.

Mr. Selby evidently was not dissuaded from using *Rifala for inbreeding, as he ended up breeding her to her own son, Image, to give the colt Phantom.

Phantom also had a decent career at stud, though not rising to the level of his three half-brothers.

Phantom was the last registered purebred for *Rifala. Phantom was foaled in 1941 when *Rifala was 19 years old. *Rifala’s only registered daughter was Ragala, foaled in 1934 and a full sister to Image and Rifage.

In rather marked contrast to *Rifala, whose total foal

Reyna (Skowrone k x Ri ssla), ma de h e r mark i n Spa in , wh e re sh e we nt to th e Ye gua da M i li tar a fte r t he Du ke of Ve ra gua 's ma re s we re di spose d.

count, five, with a tally of replacement daughters, one, was rather slim, Ragala really delivered the goods. She had 16 lifetime foals when she was between the ages of 5 and 25, with 10 of them being daughters. Late in life Ragala was bred to Rapture, a *Raffles son out of a *Raffles daughter, producing two sisters, Bint Ragala and Lakshmi. Both these mares were broodmares for Lasma Arabians. The relatively small number of foals for *Rifala renders it all the more remarkable that she bred on so well. *Rifala’s full sister Reyna, foaled in 1925, combined outstanding production with an amazing life odyssey. Reyna was a champion at the Richmond Show in Great Britain as a yearling. She was a

Huck le be rry Bey (Ba y El Bey x Taffona), a de sce nda nt of Ima ge .

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// specifically identified. Since their purity was not contested and their quality was so exemplary, some elite females were given new names and labeled “Veragua mares” as they took their place as unique foundation horses in the Spanish studbook. The Yeguada Militar, historically the largest and most influential Spanish breeding entity, snapped up some of the best of the Duke’s surviving stock. The Duke’s niece, Christina Valdes Colon de Carvajal, was apparently given the chance to utilize two surviving Skowronek daughters from among the Duke’s jewels, but elected to pass on the opportunity due to their age and poor condition.

One of these mares was Jalila out of Rasima, while the other was Reyna. Reyna went to the Yeguada Militar, where her compromised condition did not

T h e s ta l l i o n Kas hm ir ( Razad a x Reyn a) was h u g e l y i n fl u en tial in Sp an is h b reed in g.

stretchier mare than *Rifala, and, like her sister, she exuded splendid breed type. Among her most arresting features was a beautifully-made neck and lovely eyes. Certainly, these traits were shared with *Rifala. Reyna’s ears were longer than *Rifala’s but they were still pleasing in appearance. In 1929, Lady Wentworth was persuaded by a very distinguished gentleman, the Duke of Veragua, to part with five first-class Skowronek daughters, including Reyna.

The Duke was the last direct descendant in the male line from Christopher Columbus. These noteworthy Skowronek daughters made their new home at Valjuanete, in Spain, the main hub of the Duke’s breeding activities. Just like Mr. Selby, the Duke was a repeat customer of Lady Wentworth. In addition, just like Selby, the Duke bought a daughter of Naseem as well. This was Insilla out of Nisreen, who made her trek to Spain in 1934.

The Duke was praised as a serious and meticulous breeder. His program was noteworthy for blending the best Arabian strains in his native country with the splendid material from Crabbet, and his contributions continue to this day. However, these contributions were tragically diminished when catastrophe befell the Duke and his carefully constructed empire. During the Spanish Revolution, 1936 to 1939, the Duke was seized and killed by revolutionaries attached to the pro-Franco forces.

Many of his horses were killed outright. Those that survived were dispersed. Young stock could not be

*An Mali k (G ale ro x Ispa h an) de sce nds from Reyna 's da ugh te r Ma na ja ma II .

He si re d ove r 4 70 foals.

prevent her from having three foals during the post-revolutionary times. Prior to the Revolution, Jalila had given the very important stallion, Nana Sahib. Nana Sahib sired Reyna’s last foal, Jalila III, who was named after her paternal grandam, as opposed to carrying on with an “R” name in connection with her Rodania/Rissla family. Jalila III had two chestnut daughters, Sagaz and Teja, who bred on. There were two terrific sons that we can thank Reyna for. These standard bearers were bred by the Duke in his heyday. Reyna’s first son, Kashmir, was a winning show horse as a youngster. Kashmir

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// was by the British import Razada (bred at H.V. Musgrave Clark’s Courthouse Stud in England) and was foaled in 1934. As the sire of 96 offspring, Kashmir’s influence in Spain was significant. He was, in a sense, repatriated to Great Britain in 1953 but had no more lifetime foals at this last stop. Kashmir’s full brother, Ifni, foaled in 1937, sired 77 foals and also had an impact on Spanish breeding. Their full sister Marayma II, is found in the pedigree of the influential grey stallion *An Malik, imported to the United States. By this time, quite a bit of time had passed since the important Draper and Steen importations from Spain, so the selection of this prominent stallion refocused attention on the high quality of the Spanish Arabian, at least as far as the American public was concerned. An Malik sired over 470 foals in his lifetime, including 27 U.S. and Canadian National winners, among them Top Contender (x Rho-Sabba) U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt, Canadian National Champion Stallion and U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion, and LH Garcia (x LA Tasha) U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt. *Malikitoa, a full brother to *An Malik, was purchased by Lasma Arabians and also made his way to the United States. *An Malik and *Malikitoa were born in 1970 and 1974, respectively, but in 1973 a Spanish-bred mare hit the ground who would go on to be world famous.

This was *Abha Hamir. She was bred by Pedro Salas and his daughter Marieta. Marieta Salas promoted and cared for Abha Hamir in a most exemplary manner. Abha Hamir was brought to the United States and was named both a U.S. and Canadian National Champion Mare in 1979. In 1982 she was declared a U.S. National Champion in Pleasure Driving as well. *Abha Hamir was taken back to Spain in 1988, where she lived out her life.

She was bred to only straight Spanish stallions and left nine daughters with the last coming when *Abha Hamir was 26 years old. The produce of these daughters have crossed well with some of the most successful bloodlines from across the world and have left a legacy of excellence. *Abha Hamir was by Bambu and out of Garbi, both descendants of Kashmir.

The sisters *Rifala and Reyna shared certain

breeding likenesses, in that their lifetime production was small, leaving a tenuous link in the tail female line that burgeoned much more prolifically in the coming generations, while also giving significant sons, exceeding by far the expected percentages for this U. S. Na ti onal Ch ampi on Ma re happy occurrence.

Abh a Hami r (Ba mbu x G arbi ), This concludes was a de sce nde nt of Kash mi r. the first installment of our three part Rissla story. We have established a base, by way of exploring Rissla’s ancestry and individual quality, as well as noting the influence of her two beautiful daughters by Skowronek, *Rifala and Reyna. In the next issue of the Arabian Horse World, we will trace the exploits of four more Rissla offspring: three daughters, Risslina, Rixalina and Rissalma, and one striking son, Irex. Rixalina and more importantly, Rissalma, have had a tremendous impact on the Arabian horse breeding programs of Russia and Poland.

Rissla’s Progeny Chart Rifala, 1922 Mare

Grey

Skowronek

Crabbet Stud

Rissaal, 1923 Stallion

Grey

Skowronek

Crabbet Stud

Rajkputana, 1924 Mare Bay

Nasik

Crabbet Stud

Reyna, 1925 Mare

Grey

Skowronek

Crabbet Stud

Risslina, 1926 Mare

Chestnut Rafeef

Crabbet Stud

Irex, 1927 Stallion

Chestnut Naseem

Crabbet Stud

Rixalina, 1929 Mare

Chestnut Raseem

Crabbet Stud

Ritla, 1930 Mare

Chestnut Jeruan

Crabbet Stud

Rissalma, 1932 Mare

Chestnut Shareer

Crabbet Stud

Rissalix, 1934 Stallion

Chestnut Faris

Crabbet Stud

Rissilla, 1936 Mare

Chestnut Faris/Sultan Rasim

Rissella, 1939 Mare

Chestnut Radi

Rissilletta, 1943 Mare

Chestnut Indian Gold

Crabbet Stud Lady Wentworth Crabbet Stud

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