Földvári Books

Pedigree Charts of the Polish Arabians

Skorkowski, Edward, Dr.

Tablice genealogiczne polskich koni arabskich czystej krwi. […]. Tabulated Pedigrees of Polish Pure Bred Arab Horses. […].

Warszawa: Towarzystwo Hodowli Konia Arabskiego, 1938. First edition. In publisher’s blue cloth. Gilt title on front panel. 32 leaves (many folding; 2 loose as published). Cover rubbed, stained, with small damage at the spine. Pages yellowed due to aging. Few leaves with wormholes and stains, the loose leaves are moderately chipped at edges, otherwise in very good condition. Overall in good condition.

First edition of the first pedigree charts of the pure-bred Polish Arabians.

In this book, Edward Skorkowski, the first Secretary of the Arab Horse Breeding Society of Poland, attempted for the first time to record the pedigrees and to give a historical picture of the female lines of the Polish pure-bred Arabian horses of the pre-WWI Polish studs. Skorkowski claims that all pure-bred Polish Arabians are descendants of twenty-four Arabian mares, and describes their origins in the introduction, starting in the 19th century by the breeders and founders of stud farms Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki and the Sanguszko family. “The history and development of the Polish Arabian is inextricably involved with war. Without natural boundaries, Poland has for centuries been the prey of stronger, more aggressive nations. First the Mongols, then the Tatars and finally in the seventeenth century, the Turks, attempted to conquer Poland.

Through the years, Polish horsemen came to appreciate the sound, tough war mounts of their Middle Eastern and Asian adversaries, and the horses – Arabians – became the most desirable prizes of war.

The captured horses were retained and stud farms were set up. As early as the sixteenth century, writings mention the breeding of purebred Arabians in Poland. In 1699 a truce with Turkey severed the Polish horsemen's most convenient means of acquiring Arabian horses. To compensate, they began organizing expeditions to the desert to obtain bloodstock, and during the eighteenth century, the breeding of Arabians grew.

World War I nearly destroyed Arabian breeding in Poland. Since the cavalry was then a viable military weapon, the horses were even more vulnerable; by the close of the war, only 25 mares and seven fillies were left. The Poles built back, and the Arabian Horse Breeding Society was formed in 1926, introducing racing as a means of physical testing in 1927. The Society also published the first studbook in 1932.” (Kirkman)

Bibl.: Kirkman M.: Polish Arabians. Retrieved Feb. 21, 2019, from https://www.arabianhorses.org/.content/aha-docs/Bloodline_Arabian_Polish.pdf

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Price: €3,000.00