Mark of Clover
By: by Judith B. Kelly, with Courtney Willard.
Edition: [Special ed.]
Publisher: The Jarman Printing Company
Published: 1953
Place of publication: Charlottesville [Va.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 156
First sentence: In the ninth century, before they entered middle Europe, under the leadership of the Chieftain Arpad, and settled in the rich valley of the Danube that is now Hangary, the Magyars lived in an Asiatic land that suffered a great draought.  The Taltos, or High-Priest, slaughtered many snow-white horses and kept the sacrificial fires burning day and night to appease the evil spirits that kept the rain away from the pastures and fields, but it was all in vain, for no rain fell upon the parched and barren lands.

(Subsequent paragraph...)  The Magyar's were a horse-loving nation, and each family sought to surpass the other in breeding a superior line of animals.  The competition was strong, fut for some years Tokos had been the undisputed owner of the best breed.  These horses were fast, cunning, and brave.  In endurance and speed tests agains the other Magyar animals they always won.  Tokos was taking all of his horses with him, for none was ever sold or given away.  A few mares were carefully bred each year, and, if the colts were not perfect or did not live up to the standard set by Tokos, there were destroyed.  Many of these horses bore a strange sign upon the tips of their muzzles, a mark in the shape of a four leaf clover.  It was rumored among the Magyars that it was the mark of the Gods, and, as long as the Gods favored the clan of Tokos, no one could hope to breed a better horse.
Description: A delightful collection of tales and lore covering 1000 years of Hungarian Warmblood breeding, beginning in the Ninth Century and covering World War II and their escape to the United States (Virginia).  Each chapter details key horses in the heritage, and one can trace the bloodlines through the ages.   For any horselover, this is a book worth reading.
Notes: A series of short stories chronicling the history of the breed through lore and records.  The author is Countess Judith Gyurky (later Judith Kelly) of Hungary, and she was personally responsible for getting 64 horses out of war-torn Hungary, with 12 of them surviving throughout the war and making the journey to Virginia.
Table of contents: title: Jegyes; title: Mez; title: Clover; title: Bayram; title: Rezust; title: Sarga; title: Igezo; title: Mokus; title: Epilogue