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Skowronek was probably the greatest recorded Arabian sires of
all time. His influence has been nothing short of amazing and spans much
of the recognized modern Arabian horse breeding world.
Skowronek was more than a prodigy as a sire.
He was, fortunately, an individual of truly outstanding merit, quality,
and type. He strongly fixed a beautiful, classic type in the gene pool of
the breed.
Circumstances of the early part of this celebrated
stallion's life were not planned or conducive to later greatness; it was
mere chance that put Skowronek in the right place at the right time, thus
enabling him to gain his justified and deserved place in the sun and in
the annals of the Arabian breed's history.
There is some discrepancy about the foaling date of Skowronek.
The Polish and English Arabian stud books show the year 1909, but the
General Stud Book of England and the original Potocki pedigree list 1908,
the date I use for his birth.
Thus,
Skowronek was foaled in 1908 - or 1909 - at Count Jozef Potocki's
important Antoniny Stud in Poland. There neither he nor his two
fullbrothers seem to have been recognized as extraordinary; both of
Skowronek's full-brothers were sold in 1914 to the Cossacs of the Caucasus
mountain area of southeastern Europe.
Skowronek was taken to England in 1913, at age 5, by Walter
Winans, an American who was a Hackney exhibitor, game hunter, and artist.
Mr. Winans had originally gone to Poland to hunt game at Count Potocki's
private animal park, Pilawin, located north of Antoniny. While with the
Potockis he tried to buy a team of half-Arabian driving horses. When that
proved impossible he bought Skowronek instead, at the suggestion of Count
Roman Potocki. The price was 150 pounds. Later, at Crabbet, Skowronek's
stud fee was 120 pounds - nearly the amount of his original price. Mr.
Winans used Skowronek as a hack and as a model for his bronzes.
In 1914, when Skowronek was 6, he was sold to
Mr. Webb-Ware who also used him as a hack. In 1919, at age 11, Skowronek
became the property of H.V. Musgrave Clark and was used at stud for the
first time. Mr. Clark also entered Skowronek in Arabian classes in some
shows; in this way he came to the attention of some other English Arabian
breeders, including Lady Wentworth of Crabbet Stud.
In 1920, when Skowronek was 12, Lady Wentworth
acquired Skowronek and he eventually became almost legendarily famous. Mr.
Clark always felt that Lady Wentworth purchased Skowronek by ruse. He
seems to have sold the horse - whose potential he, himself, obviously
failed to recognize - to an American agent for export, but the export
order was canceled and Clark found Lady Wentworth the owner of Skowronek.
Lady Wentworth must be given full credit for recognizing the touch of
greatness in Skowronek and for providing him with his opportunity to prove
himself. Up to 1920, when she acquired him, nobody in his life had fully
perceived his worth to the Arabian breed. As for her manner of buying
Skowronek - Lady Wentworth may have felt it was her only way to get the
horse for, if Clark had known of her desire to own him, he may have taken
a closer look at the horse for himself or may perhaps even have not wanted
to let his rival Arabian breeder own Skowronek. In any case, Lady
Wentworth's purchase of Skowronek was a point of a bit contention forever
after between the two parties.
Lady
Wentworth later reputedly refused an offer of the equivalent of $250,000
for Skowronek from the Russian government. If true, this figure
represented a lot more money in Skowronek's lifetime than it does
now.
Value as an
Outcross
Lady Wentworth most
frequently used Skowronek as a pedigree outcross which, because of
Skowronek's extreme and unusual prepotency, usually resulted in stock much
improved in coupling, hindquarters. and hind legs. The Skowronek stock
also usually showed the strong stamp of the Skowronek classic head and
overall type. At the same time these dramatic improvements appeared in
Skowronek stock, his get sometimes displayed somewhat shortened - although
very well shaped - necks, shortened shoulders, and flattened withers; it
was probably for those reasons that Lady Wentworth most often utilized
Skowronek close-up in single lines only. She blended the good qualities of
Skowronek with the good qualities of other Crabbet lines; this was done
with great effectiveness and in that way Skowronek changed the character
of Crabbet breeding in a positive and rewarding manner. The good effects
of a cross to Skowronek were long lasting and highly visible even some
generations away from Skowronek.
Most of the countries which obtained Skowronek blood used it in
the same manner as that developed by Lady Wentworth and with the same
general results. The famous and influential Kellogg Ranch generally
blended its Skowronek blood in this way with excellent results. Several
other well known farms in several different places in the world did the
same - for example, the Tersk Stud in Russia.
It was only in the United States that some breeders developed
programs based on multiple breeding to Skowronek. While many different
American breeders made this interesting - and sometimes exciting - choice,
probably the two most famous Skowronek close-breeding programs were those
of Alice Payne and Dan Gainey. Mrs. Payne and Mr. Gainey put different
emphasis on trait selection and individual base animals and as a result
their end products differed. Mrs. Payne's intensely inbred horses tended
to often be more or less chunky, compact, and sturdy in appearance, while
the Gainey stock appeared more refined and elegant with some individuals
almost ethereal. Mrs. Payne used various Skowronek bloodlines available to
her, but her strongest emphasis was on *Raffles. Mr. Gainey also used more
than one source of Skowronek blood, but his main base was Ferzon 7723, a
horse closebred to *Raseyn, mostly via Ferseyn 1381. Representatives of
the Gainey program have gone to several different parts of the world,
Today in the United States there are still several breeders whose programs
feature Skowronek close-breeding and many beautiful animals are produced.
The products of these programs sometimes go back into the same breeding
plans from which they come, but they are often also utilized by other
Crabbet/American breeders in the same way that Crabbet and Kellogg used
Skowronek blood - as crosses to reinforce, introduce, or reintroduce the
special Skowronek class and qualities, including the beautiful heads often
seen in such breeding.
Skowronek, himself, was the result of an outcrossed pedigree. He
was the product of a desert bred sire crossed onto a very old Polish dam
line.
Ibrahim, sire of Skowronek, was a gray Seglawi
Faliti foaled in the Arabian desert in 1899. Count Jozef Potocki purchased
him from his agent in Odessa, in the Ukrain on the Black Sea, the agent
having brought Ibrahim there by way of Constantinople, Turkey, from the
Orient in 1907, when Ibrahim was 8. He was taken to Poland that same year.
He was chief stallion at Antoniny Stud from 1907 to 1916. He was an
attractive horse of small size; he was known as a good sire. The names of
his desert bred parents are probably garbled versions of their strain
names. With the transliteration and translation of the various languages
involved, it is today not possible to figure out what strain name Heijer
was meant to designate, but it is obvious that Lafitte comes from her
strain name of Seglawi Faliti.
Jaskolka, dam of Skowronek. was considered one of the best of
the Antoniny mares. Her name means "the swallow"; Skowronek's name means
"the lark." Jaskolka was a gray bred by Satanow Stud and foaled in 1891.
Her name is sometimes seen misspelled "Jaskoulka'' or "Yaskoulka." Rymnik,
sire of Jaskolka, was a gray foaled in 1876. Bred by Chrestowka Stud, he
proved an important and influential sire of his time. He was known for his
high quality. Derwisz, also gray, was foaled in the desert in 185- and
taken to Poland in 1861 by Count Potocki after his purchase at Stamboul,
Turkey. He was later owned by Prince Sankguszko. He is said to have been a
small horse. Iliniecka, founder of Skowronek's dam line, was foaled in the
desert in 181- and taken to Poland by Slawuta Stud in 1820.
What was
Skowronek like? I offer impressions of Skowronek from four different
people.
Four
Opinions
On August 26,
1922, when Skowronek was 14, E.S. Humphries wrote, ''Count Potocki's stud
of Arabs was unfortunately dissipated during the war in Russia. Lady
Wentworth's stallion Skowronek came from this herd. He has a fine head and
neck but no shoulders or withers and is not much in the legs." Mr.
Humphries was the manager of W.R. Brown's Maynesboro Stud in New Hampshire
and his opinion of Skowronek was the result of seeing the horse in the
flesh.
Herbert H. Reese, manager of
the old W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch in California, saw the then 19
year old Skowronek during his 1927 visit to Crabbet Stud in England. In
his book, "The Kellogg Arabians," Mr. Reese wrote about Skowronek as
follows: "Although Skowronek was greatly admired for his distinctive
'gazelle' head and arched neck, a good head and neck were not unusual in
other fine Arabs of that period. His other outstanding qualities, which
have proven so great a contribution to the breed - which were more
difficult to find even among the top specimens - were his eye-pleasing
symmetry; refinement; smoothness of outline; good croup; and especially
his unusually good legs. Although at an advanced age he showed a slight
tendency to be over at the knees, his hindlegs were straight enough to
please even a Thoroughbred breeder, his hocks were strong and his bone
flat. Such near perfection in underpinning was rarely seen in the breed up
to that time, and fortunately he was as dominant in this regard as he was
in the matter of color and type. "
Lady Wentworth wrote of her own stallion: "Snow white. Splendid
arch of neck and crest. Exquisite head, small sharp cut ears. Enormous
strength and breadth of back and loins. Tail set high and arched very
high. Dancing prancing action.''
(author's opinion on next
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