Windt
im Wald Farm
Geauga County, Northeast Ohio
since 1995
Articles of History:
FROM
NEEDHAM
MARKET
TO OYSTER
BAY
By Thornton Chard
from The Horse May-Jun 1942
Such horses are
The jewels of the horsemen's hand and thighs,
They go by the word and hardly need the rein.
John Brown's Body, Book v.
S. V. Benet
Kismet, Garaveen, Maiden. the mention
of these horse notables in Mr. Albert W. Harris' timely article,
"Arabs for the Remount," in the November -December THE HORSE, where
he describes the Remount's plan of a separate stud for breeding
pure-bred Arabs, prompts this review of the circumstances of the
arrival of the descendants of some of these particular individuals,
and of some of their kin, in the United States. For it is owning,
in part, to them that the Remount is able to carry out its plan
so important to the future horse stock of the Western Hemisphere;
and possibly of Europe too.
In 1875 the late Major Roger D. Upton,
author of Newmarket and Arabia (1)
and of Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia, (2)
having been commissioned by Albert G. Sandemen, M.P., and Henry
Chaplin, M.P., brought from the Desert to England, among other horse,
four individuals: a chestnut colt, the horse Yataghan and the mares
Zulieka and Haidee. The cost of his importation was $62,000 in gold.
(3)
"Upton
himself selected [these horses] from the Gomussa with
the assistance of their Chief who was the greatest man and the
greatest authority on horses among the Bedouins. The Gomussa
breed none but pure horses." (4)
As a result of the mating of Haidee
and Yataghan, the chestnut filly Naomi was born in England in 1876.
And, with her importation to the United States, in 1888, by Randolph
Huntington, the first opportunity, since
Keene Richards time, to breed pure Arabs, in a serious and intelligent
way, was made use of by Huntington who, convinced of the necessity
of the Arab "yeast," saw his chance by reason of the previous arrival
of General Grant's two Eastern horses
Leopard and Linden Tree.
In the following letter Huntington
tells how he acquired Naomi:
"It was
by accident that I got the mare Naomi. Capt. Upton died; then
the Rev. Vidal got her, (5) and as Vidal
was about to be retired from his living, it was proposed by
Lady Anne Blunt
and the Hon Etheldred Dillon that he let me have her. Immediately
he offered her to me (it is true the price was strong) I accepted
her by cable. After I got her over I was offered three prices
for her return. I even had offers for her from Algiers; but
I did not buy her to sell but to breed...." (6)
That Naomi's value was known in England
is shown by a letter to Vidal from W. S. Blunt who wrote:
"I think the idea of changing a
mare is a good one and I should like to send someone down to see
Naomi. I have two mares that I shall be willing to part with this
year, and perhaps a third.... I hope if you are coming this way
you will pay us another visit at Crabbet this summer and in the
meantime if we can come to an arrangement for exchanging I shall
be very glad as I know the breeding of your mare must be correct."
(7)
Vidal sent to Huntington a copy of
Blunt's letter on which Vidal wrote:
"The
exchange did not come off because I did not consider either
of the three [Blunt] mares at equal to Naomi."
As already mentioned, Naomi arrived
in America (Rochester, N.Y.) in 1888. She was not bred in 1889,
but in 1890 Huntington made use of General Grant's horse Leopard
by whom she produced the chestnut colt Anazeh. (7a)
He was her fifth foal, as she had already produced four in England,
the fourth having been the chestnut filly Nazli by the desert-bred
steeple-chase Arab Maidan.
At this point a slight digression is
necessary in order to show how some of Naomi's offspring in England
were bred to a famous desert-bred Arab sire and how his and some
of Naomi's descendants got to the United States; and a few other
things.
The "cloth" (8)
has contributed more sportsmen to England than to America, so, it
is not surprising to learn that the famous desert-bred racing Arab
Kismet was owned by the rector of Creeting St. Mary, the Rev. F.
Furse Vidal, through whose good offices he was rented to and imported
by Huntington to die a few hours after landing in New York. (9)
This tragedy in the horse world temporarily
delayed the important and patriotic plans of Huntington who not
only intended to breed pure Arabs, but, by uniting the bloods of
Arab and Clay, sought to give the United States a national horse
built on blood as good if not better than that from which the English
thoroughbred was created. (10) However, the
delay was brief, for, with typical courage he at once opened negotiations
again with Vidal for the purchase and importation of more of the
same blood in a group of individuals comprising Nazli, daughter
of Naomi, Garaveen, Naomi's grandson and Nazli's son Nimr. (11)
As both Garaveen and Nimr were sons
of Kismet his loss, though tragic in its dramatic suddenness and
because of his remarkable turf career, was not irreparable, for,
luckily these sons were living and available; and, under the devoted
personal supervision of Vidal the group landed safely, in New York,
the spring of 1893 (12)
So, in the year 1893 the United States
could boast of the blood of the desert-bred Yataghan in his daughter
Naomi, in his granddaughter Nazli and in his great grandsons Nimr
and Garaveen; and of the blood of the desert-bred Kismet in his
sons Nimr and Garaveen; and of Naomi himself and her blood in her
daughter Nazli and in her grandsons Nimr and Garaveen. Besides the
blood mentioned there was that of Blunt's highly prized Saqlawi
Jidrani horse Kars in Garaveen and of Miss Dillon's desert-bred
Muniqi-Hadruj horse Maidan in Nazli and Nimr. All in all a closely
related group mostly of the Muniqi-Hadruj strain of which
Carl Raswan says:
"The
Miniqi-Hadruj of the Kismet, Maidan, Naomi, Khaled, Nimr, Yataghan,
Haidee blood lines are the most important in America as far
as speed, size and bigger bone are concerned." (13)
Vidal's opinion of the blood value
of the group of horses that Huntington imported and his regret at
having to part with them was frankly expressed in a letter to Huntington
in which he wrote:
"Since getting
your letter which concluded our bargain [the purchase of Nazli,
Nimr and Garaveen] I have received an offer of LB 2,000 for Nimr;
and had there been time I perhaps should have asked you to let me
off. But, on consideration, I feel satisfied that it is as well
as it is -- (tho', of course, the difference in price is a serious
consideration to me) I am happy to think he will be in the hands
of such a thorough believer in the value of blood, as you --than
that he should be lost in the general crowd. (14)
"Dear
Mr. Huntington, you are now receiving the fruits of 35 years
of careful study, expenditure and experience. Alas! Alas! that
it should come to this. One soweth but another reapeth. You
will have the finest stain of blood that has ever come out of
the desert and it should be your task to preserve it pure for
the use of future generations. " (14)
Huntington in his letters and in his
stud bills always stressed the fact that he had a group of horses
"of one family blood" and it was his intention always to
preserve a group whose blood was "intensified" by being interbred
in the same family. And, when it is recalled that at this date little
was known, outside of Arabia, about the different strains and their
special values, Huntington should be credited with close observation
in his pioneer breeding experiments, for, besides the Muniqi strain
he had individuals of other strains whose characteristics, he noted,
differed from those of the Muniqi. His close study of the offspring
of the few strains that he had the opportunity to observe led him
to declare that the Arabian horse was in different families with
different instincts.
(3) Included in the Upton importation were
the following colts and mares, the portion of the Hon. Henry Chaplin
ex-British Minister of Agriculture and breeder of Hermit and other
Derby winners: Jocktan,
bay colt 3 1/2 years old; Ishmael,
dark bay colt 2 years old;Kesia
bay mare 10 years old; Keren-Happuch,
chestnut mare 8 or 9 years old. (The Arab Horse Stud Book, Vol.
1, No. 4). As the Chaplin lot were not kept as a pure-Arab Stud
and as their descendants, so far as is known, never came to America,
they do not concern this review.
(4) Except from a letter of F. F. Vidal,
Dec. 24, 1895, to Randolph Huntington.
(5) Vidal bought Naomi from Albert G. Sandeman.
(6) Huntington to C. V. Bouthillier, Dec.
17, 1890.
(7) Blunt to Vidal, Feb 2, 1885.
(7a) Foaled May 10, 1890; bred and owned
by Huntington who in a letter to the press,
May 25, 1890, wrote:
"That Naomi should be brought from
the Desert[in her dam]to England,
and there produce a son [ Gomussa, sold to the Chilean government]
to an Arab horse [Kouch] presented by the Sultan of
Turkey, Murad V, to the Princess of Wales, and then come to
America and produce another son [Anazeh] to the credit
of an Arab [Leopard] presented to a representative of
the American people [General Grant], by a second Sultan
of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, is singular, if not phenomenal."
(8) It may not be known generally that John
Wesley, the renowned English evangelist, was a great horseman and
cross-country rider. On his tours about the country he rode above
100,000 miles with slack rein. He wrote a sermon on the horse prophesying
that at the last days horses would enjoy a state of exalted happiness.
(The Horse (English) vol. VIII, No. 31, p. 199).
(9) For a detailed account of Kismet's remarkable
career, see The Horse (Washington, D.C. )vol. 19, No. 1,
Jan. -Feb., 1938.
(10) In Bruce's American Stud Book (vol.
VI, 1894, pp. 1165-1168 inclusive) are registered 51 Americo-Arabs;
most of them bred and owned by Randolph Huntington.
(11) Besides these three Vidal brought over
on the same ship a bay Arab, Ibex,
by Miss Dillon's El Emir, for Fullerton Phillips of Philadelphia.
Ibex did not enter into the breeding project here described.
(12) Shortly after his arrival Vidal went
to the Chicago Exposition to judge Arab and other classes.
(13) Western Horseman. Jan. - Feb.,
1942. p. 14.
It was claimed that the Darley Arabian was
a Muniqi. "Later discovery of his pedigree in the files of the
Darley family proved him to be a Muniqi Hadraji....From him descended
Flying Childers." (W. R. Brown. The Horse of the Desert.
New York, 1929, p. 126.)
(14) Vidal to Huntington, May 20, 1893.
______________________________
Images
image of Rectory:
CREETING ST.
MARY RECTORY
Reproduced from a photograph through the
courtesy of Mrs. H. A. Fleetwood, wife of the present (1936) rector
who succeeded the Rev. Vidal.
________________________________
Image of church:
CREETING ST. MARY CHURCH
The late Rev. F. Furse Vidal, who owned "Kismet,"
"Naomi," "Nazli," "Nimr" and "Garaveen" and bred the last three
and from whom the late Randolph Huntington bought the last four,
was at the time and for many years the rector of this church. In
one of his letters he wrote: "I have been much occupied of late
with various Parish matters ... I have had five sermons to preach
in the last week -- this means a good deal of time and thought."
(1) For recreation
he indulged in a small breeding stud and with his sons and daughters
was active in the hunting field.
"St. Mary's stands on the top of a hill
[near Needham Market], surrounded by trees, and is a building
of flint and stone in a variety of styles .... The registers date
from 1681." (2)
Reproduced from a photograph through the
courtesy of Mrs. H. A. Fleetwood, wife of the present (1936) rector,
who succeeded the Rev. Vidal.
(1) Vidal to Huntington, Xmas day, 1903.
(2) "County Churches -- Suffold." T. Hugh
Bryant. London. 1912.
______________________________
Photo of 2 handwritten pages
Pages 1 and 5 of Vidal's letter
to Huntington quoting Upton's Note
about His Importation of Valuable Arabian Stock. the letter in full
follows:
"Mrs. Upton cannot remember the date
of the arrival -- but she thinks it must have been in March
or April 1875 or 1876. the latter date would tally with 'Naomi's'
age and with what Mr. Sandeman told me."
"In a note he, Upton, says:
'I have tried to get a Managhi Hedrudj of the family of
Ibn Sbeyel of the Gomussa tribe of Sebaa Anezeh which I hold
to be the best breed in the Desert. I have succeeded and one
of them is now in my stable. I had enquired at the same time
about the mares; and two have come of the same family. The four
are as follows: No. 1. Chestnut stallion, 4 yrs. old. 14.2.
His dam a Keheilet Jeabeh taken from the Heissa Anezeh, and
his sire the famous Keheilan Hellawi of the Shammar tribe. No.
2. Pearl Grey stallion with black mane and black tail, tipped
with white, 4 years old 14.2 His dam "Managhi Hedrudj" of Ibn
Sbeyel family of Gomussa anezeh, and his sire of the same breed,
now in the stud of the King of Italy. No. 3. Bay mare 5 years
old 14.1 1/2. Same breed as No. 2, but dam and sire not the
same. No. 4. Chestnut mare 4 years old 14.3. Same breed as No.
2 and 3, but dam and sire not the same. Noted for speed and
bottom'."
" 'The Keheilan Hellawi, sire of the chestnut colt,
is preferred to any Seglawi Jedraan stallion for covering mares,
on account of the constant success of his progeny -- colts got
by him are always sought after. All horses bear the name of
the breed of the dams and this Keheilan jeeban is therefore
considered first class, as that is on of the best varieties
of the Keheilan Adjooz breed. The Hellawi strain is also a branch
of the Keheilan Adjooz -- but not in general so much thought
of as the sire of this chestnut colt is in particular. The Managhi
Hedruj is highly esteemed as a breed -- and those of the family
of Ibn Sbeyel of the Gomussa tribe are known as the best strain
of that blood though not always so handsome as some other breeds.'
" 'The name means "long necked." Jeeban is the
:proved" and Hellawi "the sweet".'
"I also send you a facsimile of a translation
made by Upton of the delivery note and description of my old
mare Zulieka (the No. 3, I presume) -- the others have been
lost.
"I think these notes of Uptons which
have only just been unearthed, will go far to confirm you in
what I have always told you, that Naomi's blood is the finest
and best that could possibly be.
"P.S. You will note that the Shiek
Suleyman ibn Mirschid is the famous chief of the Gomussa spoken
of by Upton in [and] Lady A. Blunt in their books."
Photographed from a letter found among the
letters and papers of the late Randolph Huntington.
__________________________
Image of a facsimile
"Fac Simile of a translation [from the
Arabic] made by Roger D. Upton of the delivery note and description
of my old mare "Zulieka" (the No. 3 I presume) -- the others [translations
for other horses] have been lost." (Excerpt from a letter, Jan.
15, 1896, of F. F. Vidal to Randolph Huntington.)
"The No. 3" refers to a quotation by Vidal
of Upton's description of the Arabian horses and mares imported
to England by him.
No. 1 in the same letter refers to Chestnut
colt.
No. 2 in the same letter refers to "Yataghan."
No. 4 in the same letter refers to "Haidee."
"Yataghan" and "Haidee" were sire and dam
of "Naomi."
"Zulieka" was half-sister "Haidee." All these
horses were registered in the G.S.B.
Reproduced from a photograph of the original
found among the letters and papers of the late Randolph Huntington.
________________________
Photo of "NAOMI"
"Naomi," a chestnut sorrel, of the Munigi-Hadraji
strain, 15 1/2 hands high, was imported to England in 1875, in her
dam "Haidee," from the Euphrates Valley, by Captain Roger D. Upton
of the 9th Lancers. Her sire, "Yataghan," and her dam "were full
brother and sister." (1)
Foaled in 1876, the photograph shows her
at nineteen years of age with her ninth foal, the colt "Khaled,"
thirteen days old. Up to 1898, the year she died, she had produced
twelve foals as follows:
1884, bay colt "Gomussa," by Princess of
Wales' Saqlwai-Jidrani Arab "Kouch."
1885, not bred.
1886, chestnut filly "Kushdil," by S. W.
Blunt's Saqlwai-Jidrani Arab "Kars."
1887, bay filly "Naama," by Hon. Miss Dillon's
Shammar Arab "El Emir."
1888, chestnut filly "Nazli," by Hon. Miss
Dillon's Muniqi-Hadraji Arab "Maidan."
1889. not bred.
1890, chestnut colt "Anazeh," by Gen. Grant's
Saqlwai-Jidrani Arab "Leopard."
1891, seal brown filly "Ruth Clay," by the
Americo-Arab "Young Jack Shepard.
1892, bay colt "Boaz Clay," by "Young Jack
Shepard."
1894, chestnut colt Nejd, by Arab "Anazeh."
1895, chestnut colt "Khaled," by Arab "Nimr."
1896, chestnut filly "Naomi II," by Arab
"Nimr."
1897, chestnut filly "Narkeesa," by Arab
"Anazeh."
1898, chestnut filly "Naressa," by Arab "Anazeh."
Reproduced from a photograph found among
the letters and papers of the late Randolph Huntington.
(1) While this is the oft repeated statement,
Vidal quotes Upton that they were of the same family but of different
parentage.
____________________________
Photo of "Nazli"
(G.S.B. Vol, XVI, p. 655
By "Maidan" [G.S.B. Vol. XVI, p. 657] out
of "Naomi"; height 14h. 3 in., without shoes. Measures under knee
7 7/8 in. chestnut mare (same color as "Naomi") white star on forehead.
Splendid shoulders; clean flat legs and good feet-- hocks good --
but not quite so fine as "Kushdil's." Was quiet to ride last year
but has been turned out October as she is believed to be in foal
to "Mesauod" (Lady A. Blunt's horse). Stands true. Action like her
Mother's. This mare is considered to be the handsomest Arab mare
in England. Carries her tail high and straight. Plenty of good strong
hair on fetlocks. (1)
"Nazli" and "Nimr" are beauties of the first
water. (1)
"Nazli" was foaled in England in 1888. She
was 7 years old as shown here, held by Mr. Huntington, with her
second foal, "Naarah." She had produced, when 3 years old, "Nimr"
in England. Up to 1904 she had produced one foal in England and
nine in America, as follows:
1891, "Nimr" chestnut colt by "Kismet."
1895, "Naarah" chestnut filly by "Anazeh."
1896, "Naaman" chestnut colt by "Anazeh."
1897 "Nazlina" chestnut filly by "Anazeh."
1898 "Nadab" chestnut colt by "Anazeh."
1899, "Nazlita" chestnut filly by "Khaled."
1900, "Nazlet" chestnut filly by "Khaled."
1901, "Nejdran" chestnut colt by "Anazeh."
1903. "Nahor" chestnut colt by "Anazeh."
1904, "......." chestnut filly by "Anazeh."
Reproduced from a photograph found among
the letters and papers of the late Randoph Huntington.
