WARSAW, POLAND
AUGUST 8 - 13, 2004
"Photographs use courtesy of and copyright of Christine Ansel
and Natalie Meredith. Reproduction in any form prohibited."
ARABIAN HORSE PARADE, WEDNESDAY 11TH AUGUST:
After lunch we left for the Polish Arabian Horse Parade set in the beautiful wooded parkland alongside the historic racecourse at Sluzewiec, which everyone later agreed was the highlight of the whole week. The Directors of the three State Studs of Janow Podlaski, Bialka and Michalow, together with Poland’s increasing number of private breeders, had worked and planned to prepare an extraordinary and unique presentation of Polish Arabians, brought together from all over the country.
Normally when visiting Poland, one sees the horses either at their home farms or in competition with each other at the shows. What was unique about this Parade is that the horses were presented as a National group, giving the audience an insight into both the tradition and the innovation of the Polish Arabian breeding programme. It also gave a rare opportunity to see groups of related horses from the different stud farms follow each other into the arena, representing the most famous modern families in Poland, for example the Janow Podlaski "A" and "P" mare families, and the Michalow "E" and "W" mare families, to name but a few.
The first horses presented were the stallions, representing different sire lines. They were followed by the female groups and individuals, here representing different foundation mare dam lines. During the two hours, group after group delighted the audience, with up to four generations of famous families from each stud following one another into the specially prepared arena. The weather was kind, the commentary by Anna Stojanowska and Scott Benjamin was informative and detailed, and the horses were, quite simply, breath-taking. Many World, European, National and Nations Cup Champions, as well as leading racehorses, were presented with an elegance and lightness of touch that characterizes the Polish way of showing Arabian horses. From the charismatic masculine stallions, to the ethereal beauty of the mares and the cheeky presence of some self-confident foals, the presentation flew by.
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| Mares representing the foundation Arab Dam lines included: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Finally, three young horses were shown to the audience, specially selected to represent Arabians currently in training at the racetrack, which have already been succesful junior Show horses, to illustrate Poland’s long-standing tradition of racing their horses prior to selection for their breeding programme, to ensure their soundess in wind, limb and temperament:
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| Siklawa (2001 grey filly Laheeb x Siewka). Janow Podlaski |
Poganin (2001 grey colt Laheeb x Pohulanka)). Janow Podlaski. |
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| Galia-Bis 2001 grey filly (Pamir x Gracja-Bis) from Niewierz Stud | ||
At the end of the presentation, the three Directors of the State Studs, Dr. Marek Trela, Mr. Jerzy Bialobok and Dr. Jerzy Urbanski were introduced to the audience, who rewarded them with a well deserved round of applause.
After this very impressive presentation of lovely Arabian horses, we enjoyed a delicious Polish-style buffet dinner in the huge tent set up next to the presentation arena. The meal was accompanied by talented jazz musicians and it wasn’t long before people took to the dance floor in happy celebration of a wonderful day.
