Irex Archives | Crabbet.com

Ben Rabba: An Exceptional Influence on the British Arabian

September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 Angela2 Comments

By Alexia Ross. Ben Rabba’s visible debt to the Nasik son Rifnas appealed to many of the breeders of Crabbet lines at the time. It reintroduced a factor for extreme shoulder and front structure that was hard to find within the surviving Crabbet gene pool in the UK. Less obvious to the English eye was his debt to other early American influences, notably the Davenport importation. It is to this influence that Ben Rabba owed his good hindquarter and exceptionally well muscled loin, the latter a trait often overlooked by Arabian breeders for the show ring but essential to genuine athleticism in any horse of any breed.

Risslina (Rafeef x Rissla) 1926 chestnut mare. Photo from the Crabbet Arabians by Cecil Covey.

Margaret Murray and the Painswick Lodge Stud: Part 1, 1932-1967

August 25, 2019 Angela1 Comment

By Emma Bennett. Perhaps the inspiration to own and breed Arabs came from Margaret Murray seeing her mother drive a pair of South African Arabs in a phaeton, for in 1932 she bought a grey two-year-old colt from Mr. T.C. Armitage’s stud at Taunton in Somerset. This colt was Sahban, by *Aldebar 1864 (bred by the Prince of Wales) out of the Crabbet mare, Seriya (Skowronek x Somra). Sahban was the start of a long friendship between Margaret Murray and Tom Armitage who was president of the Arab Horse Society three times. Sabhan was used mainly on pony and Thoroughbred mares and only sired a few purebred foals as at that time Arabs were used mainly to improve other types of horses.

Rissla (GSB) Chestnut Arabian Mare at Crabbet Park, England

Rissla – The Legacy of Crabbet

June 4, 2019June 4, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

From the Crabbet Convention Organisation. Continuing the series begun in the March issue we feature this month the most famous mare of the great RODANIA female line – RISSLA. RODANIA was a celebrated mare in Arabia and the Blunts first heard of her on a journey through the Nefud two years before they saw and bought her. Lady Anne Blunt described her as “having extraordinary strength and style of going” and the mare had been so much sought after that she became the object of a feud between the Sheykh of the Roala and his kinsmen.

Three Great Crabbet Sires: Serafix, Silver Vanity and *Raffles

April 13, 2019May 3, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

By Georgia Cheer. Have you ever wondered what is so special about the Crabbet Arabian? Could it be their wonderful dispositions, their tractable minds or tremendous athletic ability, their prepotence for passing these characteristics through several generations, or that they excel in everything they are put to? Well, you could say that about nearly all Arabians, but here in the United States, Crabbet Arabians were some of the earliest and largest imports to our country, going back to 1893 when the bay stallion *Bedr 239 (Azrek x Bozra) was imported by W.H. Forbes. Altogether, about 145 Crabbet Arabians were brought to the U.S. from the years 1893 to 1976. So, what was the origination of the Crabbet Arabian?

Star Arabian Stud, Lincolnshire – UK Summer 2000 Stud Tour

April 11, 2019April 11, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

By Georgia Cheer. Daphne and Keith Gilbert began their Star Arabian Stud in 1971 when they purchased two gray mares from Crabbet. Those mares were AURORA (Oran x Shadowlight), who was foaled in 1966, and SELINA (Hanif x Dancing Diamond) foaled in 1968. Sadly, SELINA had died in 1999, AURORA the year before and their stallion INDIAN REFLECTION had passed away just a few months before my arrival in the summer of 2000. It seems my stud visit was far overdue and regrettably I had missed seeing these lovely Crabbet treasures.

Coed-y-foel Arabians, Wales – UK Summer 2000 Stud Tour

April 7, 2019April 7, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

By Georgia Cheer. Diana Whittome does not breed pure Crabbet; instead her lines are predominantly Crabbet/Old English, with a dash of Polish, Egyptian or Russian. Her emphasis is to breed performance horses and she has done this exceedingly well. Diana is also a show judge, plus she holds several committee positions on the Arab Horse Society council. She writes articles for the AHS News and other publications and is delightfully entertaining and extremely knowledgeable on pedigrees.

Pilgrimage to Crabbet Park – 2002 Crabbet Convention

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

By Tiffani McCarthy. Like a modern-day Canterbury Tales, the devoted pilgrims flowed to Crabbet Park in Sussex for the opening of the Crabbet Convention. The only problem was that Crabbet Park is now less Canterbury Cathedral and more Bodiam Castle, just a shell of its former glory and purpose. This did not deter the delegates, however. This was the ancestral home of their beloved horses. For a few moments all of the memories from countless books and film clips and for a lucky few actual time spent at the stud came together through the magic grout of the imagination.

Azrek GSB 70 (A Saqlawi Jidran DB). Grey stallion purchased in the desert in the spring of 1887 and imported to England in 1888.

Queen of Sheba and Azrek

March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 AngelaLeave a Comment

By Alexia Ross. The word ‘Crabbet’ conjures visions of the gaudy, flaxen chestnuts preferred by Lady Wentworth but the Blunt legacy also came in other shades and types. The elegant bays and browns descended from Queen of Sheba and Azrek were one inheritance whose survival owes much to breeders outside Crabbet Park.

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