By Galen McBride © November 2002
Perhaps the most difficult and honorable task a writer can undertake is composing the obituary of a friend.
On November 3, 2002, one of our breed's most respected and beloved horsemen, retired veterinarian John R. ('Doc') Aldred died at the Hospice of Northern Virginia in Arlington after fighting courageously for years against the ravages of Parkinson's disease. He was 86.
Known for his deep love of family, lifelong commitment to friends, tremendous intellect, delightful sense of humor and zest for life, Dr. Aldred's passing leaves a huge unfillable hole in not just the Arabian community, but the 'horse world' at large.
An avid student of horsemanship and horses of many breeds, Dr. Aldred became an accomplished rider, breeder, exhibitor, and judge, from Clydesdale and other draft breeds, to saddle horses and ponies. Over the years, he held senior judging cards from both the American Horse Shows Association (now USA Equestrian) and the International Arabian Horse Association for breed specialties.
As an AHSA 'R' judge, Dr. Aldred traveled extensively throughout the United States. He started and managed the St. Paul's Parish Horse Show for many years, and with daughter Terry, he organized what became the Arabian Horse Festivals at Frying Pan Park, and hosted the Anchor 4 Arabian Horse Shows.
In 1950, Dr. Aldred and his late wife Chrysanthe, established Rollingwood Farm outside Haymarket, Virginia, as one of the foremost Arabian breeding farms in the state. There, gathered around the kitchen table, the Aldreds, along with some of the most influential Arabian breeders in the country, founded what ultimately became the Virginia Arabian Horse Association.
He served the association with multiple terms as President and Director, and frequently represented the organization as Delegate to the International Arabian Horse Association national conventions.
Dr. Aldred first discovered Arabian horses as a veterinary student and ROTC cavalry cadet at Michigan State University just prior to WWII.
Philanthropist W. K. Kellogg, of Battle Creek cereal fame, donated several Arabian horses to the school's agricultural and animal science program. These horses, only a few generations removed from desert stock, were among the first Arabians registered in the U.S.
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Dr. Aldred enlisted in the Army Horse Cavalry, where he was soon selected for Officer's Candidate School. Posted first to the famous 7th Cavalry and then the 9th Cavalry Regiments, Aldred also served a stint at the Fort Riley Pack Mule School - partnered with 'future famous horseman' Monte Foreman.
Initially deployed to Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines, young Lt. Aldred found himself assigned to occupied Japan immediately after the end of the war. Friendships made at the Imperial Stables provided him the rare opportunity to ride Emperor Hirohito's personal mount, a grey Arabian stallion named Hatsu Shimo, meaning 'First Frost.'
And it was in Japan that he first rode Anglo-Arabs, establishing a permanent appreciation for them as dressage, 3-day eventers, and endurance mounts. Today, Anglos (half-Thoroughbred and half-Arabian crossbreds) comprise a substantial percentage of the horses bred at Rollingwood.
After the war, Dr. Aldred returned to Michigan State with a new wife, the former Chrysanthe Economos, of Vienna, Va., to complete his veterinary training. Following graduation, the couple settled in Haymarket.
There, newly anointed 'Doc' Aldred hung up his shingle and, with encouragement from his wife's family, began breeding dairy cattle, and soon after, the Arabian sport horses that would make Rollingwood famous.
Many of the people now active in the Arabian horse industry got their start with Dr. Aldred's help, either by buying one of his horses, breeding to his stallions, or just following his sage advice. His immense generosity, coupled with decades of professional experience, often supplied the critical edge to novices just beginning their showing or breeding careers.
A charter member of the Eastern Crabbet Arabian Horse Society (ECAHS), Dr. Aldred was devoted to the preservation of the true desert warhorse. In recognition of his contributions to the Arabian breed, he received the ECAHS Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization's 1999 Crabbet Celebration.
ECAHS President-Elect Pat Bobb expressed the club's great sense of personal loss:
Our hearts go out to his family. Doc was a mainstay of ECAHS and a passionate believer in - and supporter of - children's involvement with horses in general, and Arabians in particular. He will be sorely missed."
Dr. Aldred is survived by two daughters, Teresa Aldred Kerr, DVM, and Barbara Aldred Schumacher, both of Haymarket, and a granddaughter, Lydia Chrysanthe Schumacher.
FOLLOW UP ARTICLE, first published 27 November, 2002.
They'd always shared a connection, an indefinable something that bonded them together. Something more than just cattle and fine timothy hay and ever-hungry Arabian horses.
The Colonel and Doc were friends after all - long time neighbors, fellow farmers, astute businessmen with an eye for a quality beast. Both from the 'greatest generation,' the one that saved the world.
And though they often spoke of the comfortable humdrum of their lives or the funny things that always happen when you live close to the land, they didn't talk much about serious things.
The chairs were hard and the room was cold in the old firehouse on Route 15. At 86, after a heroic battle with a dread disease, Doc had finally passed to the great Beyond. Glancing around the crowded room, I saw that through his life Doc had sown many seeds and reaped a bumper crop of friends.
From time to time, one would rise and wend his way to the front, and, wiping a tear, would begin a tale of love and humor or compassion, each one grateful for having shared even a small portion of Doc's long life.
The line of mourners waiting to speak gradually thinned out until, finally, it seemed there would be no more. But then, a tall white-haired gentleman rose and strode purposefully toward the podium.
Ramrod straight, with a catch in his throat, and his chin tucked into his chest, the Colonel began, his voice low and slow:
"When I was young and the rumble of war rolled across Europe, my friend Carl and I signed up for the civilian flight training program under FDR. War broke out and I became a pilot in the Army Air Corps, but Carl joined the cavalry. We lost track of each other when Carl was sent to the Pacific."
"After the war, I ran into Carl and found that, despite our misspent youth, he'd become a Methodist minister. He explained that he'd been injured in battle and, certain he was going to die, he promised God that he would devote his life to the ministry if only God would give him the chance."
"A young cavalry lieutenant, a vet school dropout from Michigan State, rescued Carl and got him to a hospital where he recuperated. The lieutenant went on to serve in Japan and, according to Carl, often rode Emperor Hirohito's Arabian stallion."
"It wasn't until I saw Doc's obituary and the photo of him on that white horse," the Colonel concluded softly, "that I realized that my neighbor, John Aldred, was the soldier who'd saved my best friend."
**All of the articles included in the re-launched Crabbet.com site from the original website, Georgia Cheer, Silver Monarch Publishing and The Crabbet Influence magazine are shared here with permission of Georgia Cheer given May 16, 2012.**
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