# Polish Arabian

The Polish Arabian (Polish: Czysta Krew Arabska) is the variety of Arabian horse bred in Poland. Arabian horses were introduced to Poland in the 16th century via prizes of war. It was not until the 19th century that organized pure-bred breeding was established. The Polish Arabian was decimated during the two world wars, leading to the loss of breed registry and the vast majority of the livestock. In 1926, Dr. Edward Skorkowski created a studbook and a dedicated breeding society. Breeding resumed in the 1940s and 1950s, based on a small group of surviving breeding stock.
These horses have an excellent international reputation for beauty, as demonstrated by Bandola and Pianissima. They are, however, less successful in endurance riding than other strains of Arabian horses. They are bred at various national and private stud farms, the most famous of which is the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm.

## History

The Polish name Czysta Krew Arabska translates as "Arabian Thoroughbred". Considered one of the oldest and most important Arabian horse populations in the world, the Polish is a renowned lineage within Arabian horse breeding, not a separate breed. It is a good example of a small population of horses genetically stabilized from a finite number of founder-breeders. Most of the founders of today's Polish Arabian are 20th-century horses.
The first Arabian horses were introduced to Poland in the 16th century, during wars and invasions. Texts mention the presence of pure-bred Arabian horses used by the Turkish army, and captured by the Poles. The truce signed in 1699 enabled trade between Poland and the Ottoman Empire: Polish merchants travelled among the Bedouin tribes to acquire Arabian horses used as crossbreeds to produce carriage animals, cavalry and farm animals. It is likely that Syrian mares were exported to Poland, due to the presence of a haplogroup specific to these two Arabian horse populations alone.
The earliest historical records of Arabian horse breeding concern the Szarajówka stud farm, established in 1778. It was not until 1795 that the Sanguszko family established the first stud for breeding Arabian horses. Poles have been carefully preserving pedigree records for their horses since at least 1800. Throughout the 19th century, Polish aristocratic families maintained large stud farms. These were generally located in the southern part of historic Poland, corresponding to present-day Ukraine.
In 1845, the Dzieduszyckis imported a strain of Arabian horses from Saudi Arabia. Further imports followed, until 1930–31. The stallion Ibrahim, sire of the famous Skowronek, comes from Polish breeding.

### From 1914 to 1945

The World War I and the October Revolution considerably weakened Polish breeding, not least due to the evacuation of horses from Janów Podlaski Stud Farm, then breeding Anglo-Arabians, to Russia. Polish stud farms were almost totally destroyed , and almost all genealogical information on the horses was lost. The achievements of generations of breeders from 1778 to 1918 have all but disappeared.
It is estimated that of the 500 Arabian brood mares in Poland before the war, only 25 or 33, with 44 stallions, are still alive in the country in 1918. Breeding resumed intensively between the wars, using imports from the Middle East and other European countries, this time in purebred Arabian orientation at Janów Podlaski. This purebred breeding program was conceived in 1921 at the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm. The Polish Arabian studbook was created in 1926 by Dr. Edward Skorkowski, along with a dedicated breeding society. Previously, the horses' genealogical information had been recorded incompletely. The studbook was revised in 1932, and its pedigree charts were published by Skorkowski in 1938. Polish Arabian horses were then tested in races in Warsaw. Arabian mares Rodania, Selma and Cherifa were imported to Polish stud farms.
In 1931, a mission by Prince Sanguszko brought back two desert horses, future pillars of Polish breeding: the stallion Kuheylan Haifi, and the stallion Kuheylan Afas. They themselves sire the stallions Bask and Comet. The Sanguszko family also bred Ilderil and Excelsior, Amurath Sahib and Arax. In the 1930s, a number of American breeders imported Polish Arabs, most notably J. M. Dickinson in 1937. The World War II led to the death of 89% of the country's Arab broodmares, including over 80% of those at the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm as a result of the 1939 campaign alone. The Poles made great efforts to hide their studbook from the Germans, as a horse of unknown origin loses much of its value.

### From 1945 to the present day

A few Arabian bloodlineages are preserved at Janów Podlaski. About 59 mares and 8 stallions survive the war on Polish territory. Hungary exports Arabian breeding stock to Poland, to help revive its breeding industry. Around 14 mares of Polish Arabian stock are claimed from Germany, and transit through the Bábolna National Stud in Hungary in 1951. Arabian breeding was fully nationalized in 1947, and from then on continued exclusively at Polish national studs. Over the next 50 years, Polish breeding developed from this founding stock. The Polish studs also used Russian Arabians, importing horses from the Tersk Stud, most of which were also of Polish origin. The national studs involved are Klementów (1946–1953), Nowy Dwór (1946–1960), Albigowa (1947–1961), Michayów (1953), Janów Podlaski (1960), Kurozweki (1973–1998), and Białka (1981). Political changes in the 1990s led to a return to private breeding. The privatization of breeding then proceeded apace: 19 Arab broodmares were privately owned in 1989, compared with 65% of the 723 Arab broodmares registered in the breed studbook in 2002.
Breeding expanded worldwide, particularly with the export of Bask to the United States. Bask generates millions of dollars, and plays a major role in launching Arabian horse breeding in the United States. In the late 1950s, British breeder Patricia Lindsay acquired horses and became an important intermediary in the export of Polish Arabians to the United States.
Polish horses have gained worldwide renown, thanks in particular to the mare Bandola (crowned "Queen of Poland"), and the stallion Piruel, crowned Senior Male World Champion at the 1989 World Arabian Horse Championship.
In 2016, the arrival in power of the conservative right-wing Law and Justice party was accompanied by a purge in the management of Arabian horse breeding studs, putting the breeding organization in jeopardy. The death of two precious mares prompts Polish Arabian horse owners to repatriate their animals.

## Description

The average height of females is 1.48 m, compared with 1.52 m for males. Average adult weight is 420–450 kg, with birth weights of around 42 kg for females and 45 kg for males.

### Morphology

Horses from the Białka stud have a morphology that is clearly different from that of horses from other studs. Thus, the Polish Arabian is not a morphologically homogeneous variety of Arabian horse.
The Polish Arabian is renowned the world over for its extreme "beauty" and refinement. However, this aesthetic criterion is difficult to assess objectively. The Janów Podlaski and Michałów stud farms selected their horses on different morphological criteria than the Białka stud farm. This could be explained by the fact that Janów Podlaski has historically bred the Koheilan type, while Michalow breeds the Saklawi type, and Białka a mixture of both bloodlineages. However, there is no correlation between founding lineage and morphology. Neck length, considered a criterion of beauty, is longest in Michalow horses, while those from Białka clearly have the shortest necks. Conversely, Białka horses have a longer pelvis, a characteristic associated with greater motor efficiency.

### Coats

The most common colors are gray, bay, chestnut and, more rarely, black.

### Temperament, care and health

Polish Arabs have developed the ability to adapt to extreme environmental conditions. They mature slowly, but have a long life expectancy. However, around 10% of Polish Arabs have eye problems, including 5.5% with uveitis. Polish bloodlineages are free from Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SCID), a genetic disease of the Arabian horse, according to genome studies of 271 horses.

### Selection

Polish Arabian horses come from a variety of genetic backgrounds. Fifty four founder horses account for around 84% of today's Polish Arabians. The breeding orientation of the Polish Arabian, very similar to that of the Russian Arabian, aims to preserve the breed's endurance and speed. Two genetic bottlenecks have been identified in the breed's history, corresponding to the two world wars. Polish stud farms exchange breeding stallions, resulting in a progressive standardization of horse pedigrees, facilitated by the relatively small size of the equine population. However, the genetic diversity of the Polish Arabian is being maintained thanks to the recent tendency of breeders to avoid pairing horses that are too closely related to each other, and to imported breeding stock.

#### Blood lineages

The Biała Cerkiew and Sławuta breeding farms have mares from five different bloodlineages, two of which are local. The second group of mares is made up of animals from the Middle East, descended from Gazella, Mlecha, and Sahara. The Szamrajówka and Rodania mare lineages come from the Tersk Stud farm. Among the male lineages, the most represented are those of Kuhailan Afas, Ibrahim and Saklawi I, characterized by a type adapted to the saddle. The oldest surviving male lineage is that of the stallion Gniady, imported to the Syawuta stud from Vienna in 1793. Four founding stallions predating the World War II account for 25% of the pedigrees of today's Polish Arabians: Aswan, born in 1958 (Saklawi I lineage), bred at El Zahraa stud in Egypt, whose 8 sons and daughters were all imported to Poland; Kohejlan / Koheilan / Kuhailan, imported at Jezupol stud in 1910; Kuhailan Haifi, imported at Gumniska stud in 1931; Ilderim, imported at Slawuta stud in 1894. The existence of these lineages is not reflected in significant genetic differences.
About 65.3% of Polish Arabian foundation horses are listed as desert bred. Seventeen founder horses are of unknown origin. Of the 213 founders identified, 130 were born at Polish stud farms. Of the founders of foreign origin, 30 came from Bábolna National Stud (Hungary), 22 from Weil Stud and 18 from Crabbet Park Stud (England).

#### Reliability of genealogical information

Pedigree information for the Polish Arabian is recorded in the Polish studbook and the Skorkowski registers, both of which were considered reliable sources until the 1990s. One of the Polish Arabian's female lineages has been called into question by Kwiatkowski, who believes that one of the two branches of Milordka's lineage actually comes from the mare Malikarda. This plausible hypothesis is based on a study of the mitochondrial genome. DNA parentage analyses have shown that these records contain some errors in the 15 maternal lineages, representing 14 haplotypes.

## Usage

The Polish Arabian is essentially a show horse, winning numerous world championships. It is showcased at locally-organized competitions such as the National Arab Show. Poland is also active in Arabian horse racing, which led to an analysis of performance factors. Some Polish Arabians have broken sales price records: Bandos, a son of Bandola (Ibrahim bloodlineage) sold for $800,000, and El Paso, a stallion from the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm, went for $1 million.
The endurance performances of 10 male and 17 female lineages were evaluated: the best-performing male lineages were, in order, those of Kuhailan Afas, Saklawi I and Ibrahim for the male pedigrees, and those of Gazella, Mlecha and Sahara for the female lineages. At the same time, Kuhailan Afas, Ibrahim and Saklawi I lineages account for the highest number of competition entries. Unlike France, Poland does not really have any selective breeding of Arabian horses for endurance. Between 2005 and 2009, 225 Polish Arabian horses competed in endurance. Training for this discipline begins between the ages of 4 and 6. The average speed of endurance Arabians in Poland is a little lower than the world average, but increased between the 1990s and the 2000s.

## Breeding spread

Poland is Europe's leading breeder of Arabian horses. The Polish Arabian consists of a lineage of Arabian horses locally adapted to Poland: it is considered rare in this country, despite the Arabian's widespread popularity worldwide. In 2015, around 1,500 Arabian horses were bred in Poland, but the numbers are declining. Although breeding is spread throughout the country, it is particularly concentrated in the southeast. The Polish Arabian is highly reputed worldwide, with Polish sales attracting investors from the Gulf States and the US. These auctions, the most prestigious of which is the Pride of Poland held on the occasion of the Polish Horse Festival, generate significant sales, in the region of 1.4 million euros in 2015. Indeed, breeding Arabians is a strategic and economically advantageous activity for Poland.
The Polish Arabian is bred at three national studs: Janów Podlaski, Michałów and Białka, as well as at private studs. An annual horse sale is held in early August at the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm.

## Cultural impact

Polish breeders are relatively humble about their horses. The Polish Arabian is the subject of the documentary film Path to Glory: The Rise and Rise of the Polish Arabian horse, released by Horsefly Films in 2011, which won the Best Documentary Award at the Equus Film Festival in Chicago in 2013.