By Jim Robbins of We Love Arabian Horses
**originally published in the January/February/March 1995 Stallion Issue of the Crabbet Influence magazine.
"Mr. Selby's stud is of the greatest importance, perhaps greater than he himself realizes," wrote the Right Honorable Lady Wentworth of Crabbet Stud after the Selby importations.
Seven stallions and thirteen mares were imported by Roger A. Selby, a wealthy shoe manufacturer and horseman from Portsmouth, Ohio, America, between 1928 and 1933. With the addition of James P. (Jimmie) and Thelma Dean to the stud in 1934, all of the pieces were in place to breed horses that would leave an indelible mark on the Arabian breed that is in evidence today just as much as it was 50 years ago.
Roger Selby had an artist's eye for beauty. He was an avid photographer, particularly of flowers, but also turned his eye toward his own horses.
A breeder of World Champion American Saddlebred horses for many years, it was natural that on one of his many business trips to England, Mr. Selby would eventually visit Crabbet Park. Over the next several years he would frequently return and made his first importation from Lady Wentworth in 1928.
The 1928 Importation
One stallion and three mares arrived in the U.S. in 1928. The stallion *Mirzam (Rafeef x Marhaba by Daoud) was a bright chestnut standing 15 hands and possessing great action, which he passed on.
He was used lightly at Selby's, only siring nine foals, two colts and seven fillies, with several of his daughters going on to produce well for other breeders. The three mares were, however, of dynastic importance, and went on to be the heart of the stud.
The first mare, *Kareyma (Naseem x Julnar by *Abu Zeyd), was of the rare Kehileh Jellabieh Feysul strain and traced to the mare for which Abbas Pasha paid £7000. *Kareyma was a very correct and beautiful grey mare who was broke as a five-gaited riding horse.
During her show career, *Kareyma won first place both in hand and under saddle at the Ohio State Fair in 1932 and second in the National Arabian five-gaited Championship in 1934.
During her breeding career, she produced two exceptional sons, Ibn Mirage (by *Mirage) and Arabi Kabir (by Image), who both went on to be major breeding horses.
Ibn Mirage was owned by Comar Arabians and was their foundation stallion while Arabi Kabir went to Loyd Silva in Oregon, and his influence can be felt today as the grandsire of National Champion Stallion Bay Abi.
Of the *Kareyma daughters, Rafeyma (by *Raffles) and Rageyma (by *Mirage) were the most influential producers.
Rafeyma produced the incest-bred Raffey and Rafleyma (both by her sire *Raffles) while at Selby's. Rafeyma and Rafleyma were both later purchased by Garth Buchanan Comar Arabians as her foundation mares.
Rageyma was bred to *Raffles to produce his replacement, Geym, and she was then sold to Dan Gainey in foal to *Raffles. The resulting foal, Gajala, produced an enviable string of first-class breeding animals and top sires for the Gainey Arabians.
When bred to Ferzon (Ferneyn x Fersara), Gajala produced the fabulous "four sisters"; Gavrelle, Gafferra, Ga Rageyma, and Ga Gajala.
Rageyma also produced two important stallions, Galimar and Skorage, and a mare Gageyma by Gaysar (Rifage x Ralouma). Tragically, two of *Kareyma's daughters, one by *Mirage and Keyma (by *Raffles), died in accidents at Selbys before they could produce.
*Kareyma lived out the last years of her life with Dr. William (Bill) Munson and his family at their Shalimar Arabians in Nebraska.
The second mare of the 1928 importation was *Indaia (Raseem x Nisreen by *Nureddin II). A rich bay, *Indaia was imported as a yearling and was a Kehileh Dajanieh by strain.
She was a tall mare with a pretty head and very good body, and as a broodmare produced seven colts and seven fillies Selbys, eight of which were by *Raffles.
Of *Indaia's non-*Raffles foals, her daughter Mirzaia (by *Mirzam) produced one of *Raffles earliest sons, Rafmirz, who was the foundation stallion for Mr. and Mrs. Carl Asmis's Never Die Farm.
*Indaia produced two sons by *Mirage; Ragin, who was purchased by Garth Buchanan and died at a young age, and Indrage, who went on to become a popular early East Coast sire.
Her blood is most available today through her *Raffles offspring, who were some of the most significant horses bred at the stud.
The first colt from this cross, Indraff, needs little introduction. He was the foundation sire for Bazy Tankerlsey's Al-Marah Arabians and for many years was the leading sire of all *Raffles sons.
His daughters were among the most prolific broodmares in the breed, producing several National Champions as well as being great show mares themselves.
Indraff was one of the few stallions who produced sons that were equally as important as his daughters, with many of them going on to found major breeding programs in the U.S. and Canada.
Indy, a second full brother, was owned the majority of his life by Roy Dean of New Jersey, where he was an important breeding stallion. Dairaff, a third full brother who was bay, was used lightly at stud spending most of his life in the Oklahoma area.
The last full brother, Athos, was a bay who only sired two foals in the U.S. before his exportation to Italy.
Of the daughters of the *Raffles x *Indaia cross, the only grey was the grand mare Flaia, who went on to Dr. William (Bill) Munsons for most of her production career.
Editor's Note from Crabbet.com (added 2025): Flaia was an important mare as the dam of Shalimar Flaraff who sired Tailormade Binta. Tailormade Binta was bred to Lewisfield Sun God, producing the foundation mare, Sun God Heiress, of Annette Weber's Phara Farm.
The two bays were Rafaia and Raffia. Rafaia was originally kept at Selbys, but was then sold to Roy Dean, who had Indy. Raffia went to Bazy Tankersley where she produced well for Al-Marah, and was occasionally bred to her full brother Indraff.
The only chestnut mare of this group, Rafla, is best known for her inbred son Rapture, by *Raffles. Rapture, who was bred at Selbys, was a foundation sire for R.B. Fields in Washington State for many years.
In the 1950s when the Fields horses were purchased by Al-Marah, Rapture was used lightly at Al-Marah and was then leased to Xanadu Arabian Farm in Michigan.
Rafla's other notable offspring was the grey mare Phala by Phantom (Image x *Rifala), who was owned by Jimmie and Thelma Dean. Phala produced Phleta (by *Raffles) who is the mare line behind the popular show and breeding stallions Gai Parada (Ferzon x Azleta), Phazon ( Ferzon x Phleta), and Gai Campaigner (Shar Mar Ferzay x Azleta).
*Rifala (Skowronek x Rissla by *Berk) was the last, and arguably the most influential, of the 1928 importation. An exquisite grey mare, she was a Champion in England prior to her importation and was then Champion Mare at the National Champion Arabian show in Nashville in 1933.
She produced *Raffles (by Skowronek) in England and was the dam of four purebred foals in the U.S. Image (by *Mirage) was *Rifala's first foal at Selbys, where he went on to be *Mirage's replacement, and will be discussed later in the article.
Rifage was the leading sire of all of the *Mirage sons as far as champions and numbers were concerned. One of his best daughters was the early National Champion mare, Romina.
The only daughter of *Rifala was the grey Ragala, by *Mirage. Ragala was sold as a youngster to Mrs. Morrill of the Bear Claw Ranch in Wyoming, where she produced six sons and ten daughters who were all grey.
After the dispersal of the Bear Claw horses, many of the Ragala daughters and granddaughters went on to become prized broodmares for Lasma, Comar, Friendship Farms, and Bo-Gin Arabians.
Probably the best-known of the Ragala daughters are; the full sisters Bint Ragala and Lakshmi by Rapture; the full sisters Ariana and Bois Du Rose by Qahir; and Lalla Kadija by Al-Marah Radames.
The last foal of Ragala was the uniquely bred Phantom, who was sired by Ragala's son Image. Phantom was like his dam in many ways, a small horse with extreme type and fluid action, both of which he passed on to his get.
He was the subject of a famous oil painting by Jane Ott that was commissioned by Daniel Gainey Sr., which was sold for a very high figure a couple of years ago at the Trust Art Auction in Scottsdale.
During his breeding career, Phantom only sired one foal at Selbys before going to Gaineys, where he was used with great success as a broodmare sire. At an advanced age, Phantom was sold to Lodwick Arabians of Ohio and lived out his years there as a sire.
The 1930 Importation and *Mirage
The next group of Selby imports arrived in 1930. This group included eight mares and the legendary stallion, *Mirage. Being a destert bred horse, *Mirage is listed in the Selby catalog as being sired by a Kehilan Ajus and out a Seglawieh Jedranieh of Dalia of the Deneduasha tribe of Seba.
Very much a Seglawi in appearance, he stood 14.2 hands and weighed 900 pounds with an alabaster white coat. *Mirage had the distinction of being a champion on two continents, first at the Richmond Royal Show in England in 1926, and later he was named champion stallion at the National Arabian Show in Nashville in 1934 at the advanced age of 25!
This stallion was only made available to Mr. Selby as Lady Wentworth was unable to get the horse registered in England due to a technicality. *Mirage was unquestionably Mr. Selby's favorite horse, and when the initial dispersal was made at the stud most of the horses held back were *Mirage get and grandget.
As a breeding horse, *Mirage's record is unparalleled for a stallion who only got 27 purebred get. He sired fourteen colts and thirteen fillies, of which four never produced. Two of his daughters, both full sisters out of *Kareyma, died when they were tragically struck by lightning.
Of the two sons that never produced, Batu (x Slipper) was gelded and Ragin (x *Indaia) drowned in a freak accident. This left twelve sons and eleven daughters producing offspring.
The most well-known of the *Mirage sons were the full brothers Image and Rifage, both out of *Rifala. Image will be described later in the article, as he lived his whole life at Selbys as a breeding stallion.
Rifage, who was mentioned under *Rifala, sired the greatest number of foals of any *Mirage son with 101 registered. His most notable offspring include the U.S. National Champion Mare Romina, the U.S. Top Ten mares Rishima and Shihada, and the Top Ten stallions Khatan and Sulyman.
Rifage lived to the ripe old age of 31 and died at the Van Vleet Stud in Colorado where he lived his whole breeding life.
Ibn Mirage was mentioned earlier with his dam, *Kareyma. He stood the majority of his breeding career at Comar Arabians in Iowa, and was later leased to R-Farm in Washington state, where he died in 1968.
The Ibn Mirage daughters were bred to Azraff (*Raffles x *Azja IV), and this is where his blood is most available today.
Idol (*Mirage x *Selmnab) was a grey stallion that greatly resembled his sire and was a noted action horse sire in the East. Among his descendants are the Park and Formal Driving winners Lidell, Gey Idol, Lidol, and Sterling.
Another important son of *Mirage, although he sired few foals, was Agwe (x *Hilwe), who was bred by Selbys. He sired the memorable producing mare Rodetta (x *Roda), as well as her full siblings Weda and Jaspre, who was a popular sire.
Adonis (*Mirage x Curfa) was an early influential stallion in the Northwest and his breeding is available through horses with the Nejd prefix that were bred in Montana. Several of these Adonis daughters can be found in the tail-female of older Lasma and Kale breeding. Indrage (*Mirage x *Indaia) was a bay full brother to the ill-fated Ragin and died.
His best daughter was undoubtedly Miraba (out of Aba-El-Riel), who produced the mares Model, Mira Raffa (once owned by Georgia Cheer), and Tiraffa. For many years Tiraffa was a John Rogers broodmare that crossed particularly well with *Serafix, another Crabbet Park import.
Several of the *Mirage daughters bred on into modern pedigrees. In addition to the aforementioned Ragala and Rageyma, the royally bred Romira (x *Rose of France) produced daughters by both Geym (*Raffles x Rageyma) and *Raffles.
Kae (*Mirage x Keturah) was the granddam of the famous cutting horse Overlook Farwa (by Abu Farwa), as well as the stallions Shirik and Faesan. Two full sisters by *Mirage and out of the Selby mare Slipper were Peraga and Pera, who produced several foals.
Geyama (*Mirage x *Kiyama) blood can be obtained today through Comar Bay Beau, Rose of Comar, Comar Bay Brummel, and Camiraff. She was owned her whole breeding career by Garth Buchanan and was frequently bred to Ibn Mirage.
The last really prominent daughter of *Mirage is Joharah (x Rihani), who was bred by W. C. Shuey, who along with his daughter Margaret, founded Sunny Acres. Joharah produced the best chestnut *Raffles daughter, My Bonnie Nylon, as well as her grey full sister, My Gypsy Rose, who had a brief production career for Bazy Tankersley.
She was also bred to the *Raffles sons Geym and Tut Ankh Amen (*Roda), as well as the straight Davenport stallion Ibn Hanad, during her long production career at Sunny Acres in North Carolina.
Part two of the Selby Stud will appear in the next issue of The Crabbet Influence and will feature *Raffles, Image, and the remaining Selby broodmares.
**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.**
🐴 Related Articles & Resources
See Do You Remember The Selby Stud? by Carmel Rowley
Comments
No Comments