From the 1977 Sitting Rock Arabian Farms sales brochure in the archives section.
The impact that *Raffles has had on the Arabian breed has been so significant that it defies analysis - it has simply become an accepted part of Arabian history.
*Raffles, by Skowronek, out of the Skowronek daughter *Rifala, was born at Lady Wentworth's Crabbet stud in England in 1926. Roger Selby of Selby Shoe Company fame was responsible for bringing him to America.
The year was 1927 and Selby was rising. Big Ben tolled the hour of six on a typical London morning with dense fog and gray dampness touching everything. Selby visited the hotel's the hotel's restauarant with his copy of the London Times and began his usual breakfast of juice and coffee.
He didn't know it yet, but he was about to become a tremendous part of Arabian horse history.
Selby read his paper with great care, as was his custom, and even noticed a small advertisement stating: "Arabian by appointment, Crabbet Park." He decided to make time in a busy schedule to visit the stud.
Probably just another place to see, but then, again, possible a new challenge.
Later that day selby visited Crabbet Park where several Arabians were presented. He was impressed. He knew he must own a few of those beautiful Arabians.
Selby visited Crabbet Stud on numerous occasions, Lady Wentowrth (who became a long-time friend), and through talking with her and through extensive research, Selby gained knowledge concerning Arabian horses. One in particular was Skowronek, brought to England in 1913 following his purchase in Poland. He became one of the greatest Arabians in history.
Lady Wentworth exhibited Skowronek in numerous Arabian shows. He placed well and was named Champion Arabian on several occasions. Needless to say, Selby was impressed with the record of the stallion Skowronek and his foals. One example he saw at Crabbet was *rifala, daughter of Skowronek, whom he bought and imported in 1928.
It would make a romantic story to be able to state that Roger Selby was awe-struck by the beauty of *Raffles when he first saw him, but this was not the case. He stated in later years that he remembered *Raffles as a small but typey stallion. At that time he had no idea of his breeding!
Then in 1932, Lady Wentworth gave *Raffles 952 to Roger Selby as a riding horse for his children! *Raffles was at that time six years old.
*Raffles had not been used at stud in England. Lady Wentworth had been unsuccessful in her breeding attempts with him. He would be described today as a shy breeder. (He had been checked by numerous veterinarians in that country and was believed sterile.)
Followng his journey to the Selby Stud in Ohio, *Raffles was not used for breeding for the next few years. *Raffles still showed no willingness to breed a mare, so he was used as a saddle horse.
Some trainers at the Selby Stud were not gentle in handling horses. The spirit of *Raffles created problems for these trainers which, of course, were not known by Roger Selby. The little Arabian stallion was a fighter and eventually all trainers succumbed to his 'fits' and left him alone.
In 1934, Roger Selby began looking for new management for his breeding establishment. He was not pleased with many of the incidents on his farm, so a highly qualified saddlebred trainer was hired at that time and moved to the Selby Stud. This trainer had not worked with Arabians at that time [as they] were not considered show animals, but pets or objects of great beauty. So Jimmy and Thelma Dean began their jobs as managers of the Selby Stud.
No one grew to love *Raffles more than Jimmy and Thelma Dean. Their devotion to the horse was reflected in the hours spent regaining his confidence and the many months of 24 hour watches helping him through an ordeal suffered after a broken leg.
Without Jimmy and Thelma, chances are the story of *Raffles would have gone no further than a fighting little Arabian stallion that challenged all comers. It most certainly would have ended when he broke his leg, had not Thelma insisted that he be saved.
When Jimmy Dean took the job as manager of the Selby Stud, he was soon attracted by the beauty and ability of the Arabians on the farm, and in particular a classic stallion: *Raffles.
Raffles, says Jimmy, he wouldn't tolerate any kind of whip and would rear up and come after you when he saw one. Even years later a ten-inch weed would upset him, and no one could use a whip on that horse as long as he lived."
Jimmy spent many hours working around the stall area, leading *Raffles about and getting acquainted. Basic training required great caution. His fighting spirit was easily aroused because of years of improper handling...
It was over a year before Thelma could ride him without his breaking into a sweat and trembling with fear. He just couldn't let himself trust one human when another had treated him so badly.
Devotion and love of those two finally convinced *Raffles no harm would come to him. And theor patiece was also responsible for helping him overcome his breeding problems and start him on an illustrious career as a sire.
The first mare ever bred to *Raffles at the Selby Stud was a Shetland pony. Jimmy felt that the smaller size of the mare might give *Raffles a little more confidence, and extra pains were taken to see that no injury would come to the stallion during breeding.
The pony mare settled and produed one of the most beautiful ponies ever seen. This pony was owne by a young girl and won many ribbons in show ring competition. In later years, the pony was entered into jumping competition and was a winner in the Winter Fair, in Toronto, Canada.
The Deans didn't show *Raffles. In fact he never agai.n left the Selby Farm until he was sold many years later. His disposition became very good, but he never completely forgot his previous treatment. He always remained suspicious of strangers.
The story of his broken leg and his sale later to Alice Payne of California, are all part of the history of *Raffles.
Thelma Dean tells the story:
Raffles was the smartest horse I ever rode. It took many months of very careful and patient handling before I ever got on him, but as soon as he learned that I was not going to abuse him in any way, he began to trust and respond to me. It was mutual love. He could hardly wait to get started on our daily long hill rides, many days we would go as much as 25 miles and he always came home dancing and prancing and seemed ready to do it all over again - but I wasn't! He was the biggest little horse I ever rode. *Raffles also trusted Jimmy and he did most of the care personally for him. You could not carry a crop and stay near *Raffles so when he needed a bit of punishment it was a big smack under his belly by Jimmy's big hand. That was sufficient accompanied by a severe scolding. He was a very sensitive animal and I could talk him into doing all the things I asked of him."
One cold night in January my son Pete came rushing in breathless and soeechless. We got him calmed down and he told us he thought *Raffles had a broken leg. Jimmy rushed over to check and Pete was correct. His right hind leg was broken a few inches above the hock joint."
Jimmy called Dr. Tharp of Ohio State. He came down and brought Dr. Rudi and several big strong students with him. He advised due to age of horse and location of break to put him down, but I could not stand to let him go.
The doctors, students, and Jimmy worked all night setting and making a Thomas splint or crutch for him. It was a battle between several big strong men and a small horse when he started coming out of sedation.
Jimmy and several helpers including good neighbors worked all day making a harness with ropes and pulleys so he could be lifted up and let his good legs rest occasionally. He adjusted to his enclosure but would fret if we all went away from him so he got his way...someone was with him all the time.
Jimmy put a bed in the stall and slept there every night. I took the day watch and Pete took over after school. That routine was followed from January into spring. During that time *Raffles had colic in the wee hours which caused many more anxious hours."
One night Jimmy called me to come help him - *Raffles was having a tantrum and Jimmy couldn't get near him or calm him down. We now think maybe he had gone to sleep and when he woke up there was too much pain for him to cope with for a short while.
We decided to take the cast off then and there as we were going to remove it soon anyway. He would let me near him and I started cutting and removing tape and by that time he had calmed down and would let Jimmy help me.
When we finally removed cast and splint - I held my breath but he very carefully put the foot down and very little weight on it. We had his harness adjusted to hold him uo if he did not have use of the leg or foot."
We would hold him steady and et him make a few steps then put him back in his harness and that exercise was repeated many times. He did regain his balance and use of his leg very soon.
Then came the awful day to turn him loose in his paddock on his own. By this time I was a complete nervous wreck, but as usual, *Raffles handled his new freedom with complete aplomb."
Taking care of *Raffles was much extra work and untold amounts of worry but for me it was a labor of love...and we won!"
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