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Where? Of course in two stud farms supervised by KOWR (National Centre for Supporting Agriculture) – Janów Podlaski and Michałów. This tendency was visible at Autumn Breeding Inspections, which – for this time – weren`t classified secret any more (at least not completely and not for all). In both facilities presented were similar numbers of broodmares and this year`s foals, whereas within those herds different tendencies appeared. The respective figures are shown in the Table 1.

Table 1. Comparison of Janów Podlaski, Michałów and Białka stud farms with regard of using Pure Polish Arabians in reproductive season 2024/2025

Białka – despite being placed in the same table – must be estimated separately, not only because it doesn`t come under KOWR (it comes under Małopolska Plant Culture Centre), but mainly because until the last spring it was run by Mrs. Hanna Sztuka, who implemented there her ideas about cultivation of Polish sirelines and damlines. She was fired from the job because of political persecutions, but the pregnancy of mares lasts about 11 months, so those, who were mated according to her author`s scheme, carry in their wombs its results. 

In horse breeding one must wait a long time for results of somebody`s breeding policy. Thats why only in 2024 born were foals conceived during the term of office of the Director Marcin Oszczapiński. It was surely a negative period for the Janów Stud, because within the 4-y.o. and older broodmares` band of 103 heads only 18 mares (17,48%, what makes the lowest indicator among the tested herds), fulfilled the pedigree requirements of Pure Polish. Moreover, from 71 foals born from the matings in 2023, only three were sired by stallions from Polish sirelines: a filly and a colt by Alert (Ilderim DB) and a filly by Almanzor (Bairactar DB). No conclusions were drawn from the previous mating season, when caused was a large overproduction of foals by Haash OSB. In the next season used was KA Nabras on not much lower scale. His get was mostly pretty and refined, but a nice foal not always develops for a nice horse and such numerous group of siblings is hard to disperse.

At the same time in the Internet circulating are films and pictures of Polish „epoch-making” stallions and mares, who founded multi-generational „dynasties” of their produce, obtained record-setting auction prices, won title shows and were hard to beat in races. Appeared even the iconic, black-and-white documentary film „Araby” from 1963. Such world-famous horses, as Comet, Bask, Orzeł, Sambor, Wiking…, El Paso, Kwestura, Pepita, Perfinka… descended from 7 sirelines and 15 damlines classified as „Pure Polish”. The latest news – the mare Estonia 2015 (Palatino – Esparta), bred at Janów, sold to Arab Emirates without leaving behind any offspring in Poland, just won at Ajman Show the class of 4-year-old and older mares. I wonder, would she win this competition, if she performed in Polish colors? Considering so low numer of Pure Polish foals born and only 18 broodmares left – one can hardly find attractive horses for sale, because acceptable prices and demand for assembly line produced „clones”, similar throughout the world, may be hard to obtain.

The mating schene for 2024 seemed more hopeful. More broadly used were such Pure Polish stallions, as Alert, Palatino (both from Ilderim DB sireline) and Salar (the sireline of Ibrahim DB). They got 13, 11 and 8 mares respectively, whereas other Pure Polish stallions, as Echaron, Edmund (both from Kuhailan Haifi DB sireline) and Forman (Krzyżyk DB sireline) got 1, 2 and 1 mare, respectively. It makes together 36 mares (33 got in foal , what means 39,29% of mares bred to Pure Polish stallions – quite a good result! Even the first foal born in 2025 – a filly – has both Polish parents, Edmund and Pia. What a pity, that the former President of Janów (now the breeding advisor), cynically depreciated his own decision, announcing, that the stallion Alert, Palatino and Salar were given a chance because of their advanced age! Of course it was a positive decision, especially for Salar – a representative of an expiring sireline, but one must take under consideration, that in his previous career he combined well only with one damline – of Scherife DB. Out of its representative – a good racer Abba from Białka – he sired the stallion Abba 2006, who in 2012 won the Senior Champion Stallion title of Emerald Trophy Show in Belgium. From 8 mares allotted to him at Janów in 2024 only 2 belong to this damline – Ascalona and Amorena. 

Nevertheless, another positive decision was surely putting to stud for the season 2025 the young stallion Papavero gr. 2021 (Ecaho – Piola), a well-grown one, with a refined head. Perhaps somebody at last reflected and came to a conclusion, that there is a high time to stop selling out yearlings o two-year-olds by Ecaho, when there is no idea, what can develop from them? Moreover, the dam of Papavero is a granddaughter of Pianissima!

Janów was the first stud publishing a list of leading sires for 2025, although the term „leading sire” has a different meaning now than before. Offered are 12 stallions, including 5 (41,67%) with a Pure Polish pedigree.

Michałów has a relatively higher share of Pure Polish broodmares – 29 heads (25,22%). In the season 2024 born were more – 14 (18,92%) - foals with a Polish origin. On the other hand, for the season 2025 only 13 mares (19,40%) were bred to Pure Polish stallions. Of course, that is better than nothing, at least some Polish stallions were used, but on a very limited scale – they were given one (Edmund) or two (Alert, Forman, Palatino) mares each. The effects of such matings could be random and suggest, that the mares were allotted to those stallions on the off, in order to prove, that some Polish sires are used for reproduction.

Michałów put at disposal 15 stallions, from which 5 (33,33%) were Pure Polish. With regard to sirelines, within the Polish group 3 stallions belong to the line of Kuhailan Haifi DB, whereas 2 – father and son (Forman and Złoty Owoc) – to the line of Krzyżyk DB. According to the classification by Dr Edward Skorkowski, they belong to the conventional „kuhailan” type. Traditionally horses in kuhailan type were preferably kept at Janów, whereas at Michałów – rather saklavis; now we deal with the opposite situation. Of course, there is nothing wrong in it – more diversified stock is a positive symptom!

Białka has a different status, although in its broodmares band only 10 (17,54%) has a full Polish pedigree. On the other hand, in 2024 born were 26 foals (60,47%) by Polish sires (assuming that all damlines are Polish), whereas 24 (55,81%) of mares in foal were bred to Polish sires. Białka as the only state stud realized in practice a requirement from my program, concerning leasing the stallions of expiring sirelines from private breeders.

Years ago we took for granted, that state studs are obliged to maintain an untouched gene pool of their broodmares` band, whereas private breeders could mate whatever they wanted. From circa 2006 initiated was process of eliminating successive Polish sirelines from state studs, replacing them with imported stallions from the sireline of Saklawi I, later also Mirage. Neither the monopolists running state studs until 2016, nor their descendants, pompously announcing „the good change”, cared for it. The „Program of Polish purebred Arabian horse breeding”, recommending maintaining 7 Polish sirelines and 15 damlines, commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture to the Breeding Unit of Polish Arabian Horse Breeders` Association in 2001 (its authors were: Mrs. Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka, Professor Marian Budzyński and me) – from year to year became covered more and more thick layer of dust. The same fate met its modifications, which I vainly suggested to successive ministers nominated by PiS (Law and Justice). None of decision makers didn`t think even for a moment, that wasting of achievements of the last 200 years, to which the Polish breeding owed its high position in world markets, finally means cutting off their own branch. There isn`t still too late for reversal of that trend, although stallions and mares with both-sided Pure Polish origin make a minority in a flood of foreign blood. Thanks God, Arabian horses are long living, so single representatives of expiring bloodlines still exist, if not in state studs, then in private breeding. We must, however, hurry up with using them, because now we really deal with „the last call”!