Historic Model British Arabian Studs
by Caroline Jones

When the British model horse hobby began in the late 1960s some of its first and most influential members were Arabian enthusiasts. They were among the earliest pioneers of real pedigrees for models, and strove for realism both in the breeding programmes they followed and in the models which they acquired or created to represent their stock. Though a latecomer to their circles myself, I appreciate the significance of what they did and thought it fitting to write this record as a tribute to the more important studs and their contribution. I feel that this is especially important now that most of these people have left the hobby and only a small fragment of the bloodlines they built up is now represented in the studs of current collectors.

A few generalisations can be made about this group of collectors and their studs. Most of them began their collections with Julip and Isis models, both of which were made of latex on a wire frame with mohair manes and tails. These models were aimed at the toy market (although not cheap) and were quite crude and lumpy in shape. In about 1971 Rydal models made their appearance; although constructed in the same way as Julips, they were created by the talented sculptress Pamela H du Boulay and were immensely superior to the other makes in conformation, presence, and quality of finish. For those wishing to see them there is a section devoted to them on Janet Piercy's Model Horse Gallery. [4/22/03 Webmaster Note: Unfortunately, the Model Horse Gallery appears to have been taken offline.] Rydals quickly became the most desirable models for Arab collectors, most of whom were still at school and who fanatically saved up their pocket money to acquire as many as they could. When Mrs. du Boulay stopped production in 1973, collectors could not face seeing the progeny of their ethereal Rydals as lumpy Julips and so began the idea of "Details Only" for their youngstock, hoping something else would come along. Some made and sold their own clay models, and slowly other makes such as Beswicks which had been considered only as ornaments began to be accepted in the hobby also. However it was not until the later 70s when Breyers became available over here and British collectors though themselves to customise them that a really acceptable alternative was found. Many of these foundation Arab breeders became the country's first customisers, and their work dominated the live shows in the 1980s. However by 1990 almost all of them had ceased to be active in the hobby, and so stock from the studs featured in this article has not, by and large, joined the "resin revolution" which seems to have been the feature of the 90s.

With regards to bloodlines, in the late 1960s the real Arabs to be found in Britain were (naturally) of English, mostly Crabbet, lines, together with the blood of a few notable Polish imports such as the stallions Argos and Grojec. These therefore were the lines which most British Arab enthusiasts first chose to pedigree their studs. A couple of early collectors were interested in the Royal Jordanian Stud and so Jordanian blood was also featured. In the 1970s as they read more widely on the subject and were influenced by real Arab trends in America, several breeders grew to preefer Straight Egyptian lines and these came to dominate during the 70s and 80s. At first this largely meant the "New Egyptian" lines of Nazeer et al., but then an interest in Babson and other "old" Egyptian blood grew up, fuelled by the importation to Britain of the real Babson stallion *The Shah, who became British National Champion and an influential sire. By the 1980s the Arab breeders who dominated the hobby were mostly fans of the Old Egyptians and actively disliked the Crabbet and Polish lines. Also as this period the model world mirrored the real one by starting to take more account of lines such as Russian and Spanish Arabs and so more diversity began to creep in.

The Arab breeders were able to foster contacts with one another and publicise their models and breeding programmes by means of various clubs and newsletters. One such in the early days was the Rydal Society Newsletter run by Caroline Johnston; another was the Lindfield Showing Association run by Marion Rickerby, which evolved into Model Horse News and eventually into the current club Model Horses Unlimited. In 1977 the Model Arab Horse Society (MAHS) was formed by Keren Heath (later Woods, now Gilfoyle-Migroarty) and ran upon realistic lines, registering models and holding series of shows including (from around 1978) twice-yearly live shows. Also in 1977 the magazine The Arabist was founded by Karron Gorrie (now Grieve); editorship was taken over in 1981 by Keren Heath and Marilyn Sweet; at which point it became The International Arabist (TIA). Its brief was to bridge the gap between the model and real Arab worlds and this it did admirably, with informative articles of a high standard, although its devotees did gain a reputation for elitism among the wider hobby. From c. 1982 the MAHS ceased to function as a registering body but its biannual live shows were taken over by TIA, which was basically the same group of people. In 1989 TIA became the all-breed Model Horse International, but sadly folded three years later. The MAHS, after a brief spell with Karon Gorrie in c. 1983, was revived by Traci Young in the later 80s and has operated periodically under her since then. However the main point is that the heyday of British model Arab breeding, from c. 1970-1985, was supported by an admirable infastructure provided by the society and these magazines, enabling the main breeders to promote their stock, exchange them between studs, and generally ensure the high profile of many individuals.

Among the earliest breeders of note was Liz Bentley (now Crossley) and Jane Fountain (now Boswell), both of whom owned some of the earliest famous Rydal models. Liz was the owner of the stallions El Caid, a liver chestnut of Jordanian breeding originally created for an earlier collector, Michelle Henfrey, and Night Vigrant, a black who nevertheless had an English pedigree (not much was known about colour inheritance then as now). Night Vigrant is now in the USA with Elizabeth Bouras, though under another name. A survey of model Arab studs in 1984-5 found 8 and 7 progeny respectively of these two stallions, impressive considering that Liz had not been active in breeding for some years by then. Liz was also notable for making the clay "Electra" models. Jane Fountain left the model scene even earlier than Liz, but was the original owner of the Rydal stallion Jamshyd and mare Bint Sabeena, both whom we will meet again with Judith Shepherd. In the late 1960s Jane ran the Model Pony Club which was responsible for introducing both Caroline Johnson and Freda Warrington to the hobby. Jane was also the joint discoverer, with Marilyn Sweet, of the Rydal stallion Antared El Masri who was "rescued" by them from a real Arab breeder in the 1970s. Marilyn later bought out Jane's share in the horse.

Another early influential stud was the Godolphin Stud of Caroline Johnson. She entered the hobby in 1967, having found out about it through Pony magazine, and acquired her first Rydal in 1970 after seeing them displayed that year with the real Arab Horse Society Show. From 1971 Caroline had the good fortune to work with Pamela H du Boulay on the Rydals and so built up the country's largest collection of them. Her stud boasted no less than 5 Rydal Arab stallions and 3 mares including the unique *Troika Belle, the only mare made at the 4 1/2 inch scale. Caroline was interested in a variety of bloodlines and her stud contained English, American, Polish, and Jordanian horses. However the ones to have the most lasting influence outside her own stud were two Egyptian stallions; *Achernar (Amaal/Magidaa), a chestnut New Egyptian, and *El Aurens (Ibn Fa Serr/Maar-Ree), a white grey Babson who was not a Rydal but another du Boulay sculpture, a forerunner of the current "Horse With A Golden Saddle". The survey of 1984-5 found that *Achernar had 21 progeny in the hobby, the greatest number of any model Arab stallion, and this was a low estimate as Caroline's own records show that between 1974 and 1984 he sired no less than 77 offspring, most of which became adult models. This was quite surprising since although the Godolphin Stud was having a brief resurgence of activity in the mid-1980s, it had been dormant for much of the preceding 10 years, and Caroline never attended any live shows. However, both stallions had for a while been leased to other studs (*Achernar to Andor and the USA, *El Aurens to Om El Asil) where they had been used more widely at stud. In more recent years Godolphin was largely inactive as Caroline concentrated on her real Arabians, but having sold these she has just recently rejoined the hobby and so we may see the offspring of some of these historic horses competing at shows again.

In 1967 Freda Warrington founded her Nightingale Stud which was to produce some high quality horses. Typically, the first stock was of English breeding: the mare Tangelina (Silvadoris/Bint Roxanna) and stallion Glendovey Sprite (Greatheart/Zehraa), a beautiful Rydal who was ordered and painted as a palomino, but had his details changed when this was found to be impossible. However they were soon joined by three Egyptian horses: the black Rydal stallion *Malik-El-Nasiim (Tuhotmos/Cleopatraa) and mares *Red Sunlight (Alaa El Din/Mouna) and *White Opal (Ghazal/Malacha). Together these horses formed the foundation stock of Nightingale; they were highly successful show horses and later their offspring were too, mostly as Breyers beautifully customised by Freda. In the later 1970s Freda became interested in Blue Star horses and, intrigued by the idea of breeding the purest Arabians possible, founded a small stud under the name of Imrryr Blue Star Arabians. This comprised the mares *Nasseret, *Ghaliet and *Elujera and the stallions *Nazareth and *Fascynation (Ibn Sirecho/Sifana), a very striking model customised by Freda from a Breyer Legionario III. He was a mauve-y rose grey based on the real stallion El Shaklan, with a bloody shoulder, and had many notable offspring onto whom he passed this coloration and marking. The last stallion to arrive at Nightingale was a liver chestnut Babson, *Fay El Maarouf (Fay El Dan/Bint Gammousa), and like all the stud's stallions he was popular with outside mares. Freda herself ceased to be active in the hobby by about 1990 but although she still has most of her notable models, the popularity of her quality stallions means that their blood is still found in other studs.

A close friend and associate of Freda was Keren Heath, later Woods and now Gilfoyle-McGroarty. She founded her stud under the name High Romany Arabians in 1970; in the early 80s this name was changed to Om El Asil. Keren's earliest important stock were two English-bred Julips, the bay stallion Sham of Godolphin and grey mare Rangari (Silver Vanity/Simra). Soon she too acquired some Rydals, notably the two Egyptian stallions *Melek Es Shoherah (Morafic/Zebeda), a white grey, and *Al Kerim (Kaisoon/Moheba II), an iron grey, both of whom became live show champions and very well-known sires. *Melek's son Melek Es Surur is the most recent live show champion to represent him. However Om El Asil was really founded on the blood of the chestnut mare *Nur Jehan (Julep/Bint Maaraouda), a horse of "borderline" Egyptian blood and a "Galexis" (clay) model made by Keren. Nur began her breeding career in 1972, and by 1984 an article by Keren revealed that she had no less than 38 known descendants through the female line, stretching into 5 generations, most of whom were still at Om El Asil. Those bred in the 1970s tended to be by the New Egyptian Rydal stallions or the real stallion *The Shah, but in about 1980 Keren created the Old Egyptian stallion *Sar Mohammed Aly (Serris/Julyanne) specifically to be used on Nur and her descendants. "Mo" was a stunning golden bay Traditional Black Stallion extensively remodelled by Keren, and took the live show world by storm in the early 1980s. Many of Nur's descendants, by Mo and others, went into the showing as Keren's superbly reworked Breyers; among the most successful were the mares Mattiyeh, Shahzareth, Jehanieh Mehmet Alia and Flaia, and the stallion Sidi Mohammed. A few of the later representatives of the Nur line were sold, but most are still with Keren. Keren's last new stallion was the brown Babson Shah Faarad (*The Shah/*Fa Maarad (M)), a PAM reworked by Keren into a very characterful stallion who followed the stud tradition of becoming a live show multi-supreme champion. Like most other stallions at Om El Asil he was also popular with outside mares; thus blood of Om El Asil stallions was and still is to be found in many British studs. Keren ceased to maintain an active breeding programme in the later 1980s, but more recently has made contacts with IPABRA members via the listserv and may now be resurrecting this aspect of her collection to some extent. The blood of her historic stud may therefore still be available "from source" as well.

Marliyn Sweet (nee Taylor)'s Lasmas Arabians was first founded in the early 1960s with Isis models, notably the roan(!) mare Carmen, by Mikeno, and stallion Zaragoza. Another notable roan at Lasmas was the 4 1/2" Rydal stallion Mayerling (by Ringing Gold), who sadly was one of the batch of small Rydals whose latex later perished. The stud achieved its highest promimence from the mid-70s to mid-80s, when its stock did well at the live shows, mostly as Breyers customised by Marilyn. After the English-bred foundation stock listed above, Marilyn became interested in bloodlines from a variety of countries and the stud's stock reflected this, but inevitably, apart from the Polish x English Amon Ra (Argos/Alzehra), it was the Egyptians who were most prominent. These included the afore-mentioned Rydal Antares El Masri (Shaker El Masri/Salha) and his son Ibn El Masri, both bay, the chestnut Kusuuf Es Shams (by Achernar), and the New Egyptian *Ansata Nile Warrior (Anasata Ibn Sudan/Ansata Nile Star) and Babson *Zaar-Fa (Ibn Fa-Serr/Ba Roufa), both greys. The stud's foundation mares were *Dhanaba Rifala (Sharawi/Moniet El Nefous), a chestnut Rydal of New Egyptian lines, and the Babsons *Fanfaarah and AK Shaaroufah. The latter had 12 foals before being exported to Susi Bosche in Germany along with her daughters.

Marliyn left the hobby in the later 1980s to concentrate on her impressive Beswick collection. She has written two books on the subject and also, with her husband Peter, concentrates on photographing real Arabian horses throughout the UK. Unlike other studs, it seems that Lasmas always sold more youngstock than it kept, and so descendants of Marilyn's horses are still to be found with other collectors.

Andor Arabians was founded by Karon Gorrie, now Grieve, in c. 1975 and was active until 1980 when Karon went to live in Greece for five years. When she returned to the hobby in the early 90s her main interests had shifted from pedigree assignment to other spheres such as sculpting and customising, but she still has pedigrees for all her models, although I believe they may now be fixed (non-aging) age. The bloodlines of Andor were almost all New Egyptian and the models were mostly Breyers reworked by Karon. The most notable stallions were the bay Thutmose II (Tuhotmos/Fayrouz), a PAS reworked by Keren Heath and now owned by Karon's old friend Jane Freeman (nee Ikel) at Dragonfly Arabians, and grey *Ibn Gha'zi (Morafic/Ghazalah), who was sold to Sweden but is now back in the UK. Again, Andor-bred horses went to a number of other studs and may still be encountered.

Mention should be made of Jay Felton's Starfire Arabians, founded by her in 1982. This is a stud which has always "done its own thing", being influenced very little by other studs and selling very few stock. Jay has bred steadily from her foundation stock, the stallions True Flame (Indian Flame II/*Annabella), Crabbet x Polish, Mithril (Silver Blue/Starshine), Crabbet, and *The Baron (*Mista Beaujangles/SharMoliah), USA/Egyptian, black, and mares mostly of English and Polish lines with one *Shah daughter. Starfire is noted for being almost exclusively made up of mini models, Jay being one of the first people in this country to take these seriously and to produce reworked minis, tack, and performance props, all to a high standard.

Milford Arabian Stud was founded by Judith Shepherd and acquired some important representatives of the earlier years of the hobby, including the Rydals Jamshyd and Bint Sabeena. One stallion, The Wizard Stargazer, was of High Romany bloodlines being by Meleh Es Shoherah out of a daughter of Rangari. Another, Shetan, was black but Crabbet-bred (as I have said, we were not quite so careful about these things back then!). The older broodmares were all of English lines and to begin with Judith concentrated on these and Polish lines, but later switched to the English-Egyptian cross and made a conscious effort to lose the Polish blood. Jamshyd lost his old Polish pedigree and became a product of the rare English Courthouse Stud (Benjamin/Sabrina), whilst a newer Polish stallion, *Sapphire Cascade, became straight Egyptian (AK Shahm/Allah Atteyah). Whilst we may frown at this change, it should be explained that it occurred under tremendous anti-Polish prejudice among model Arabists at the time, and was done with proper attempts to trace the owners of offspring and notify them.

Judith's stud was represented in the showring by her own customised Breyers, which were careful and high quality but, perhaps because she did not go in for flashy repositioning, often had to play second fiddle behind the "big three" of Om El Asil, Nightingale, and Lasmas. Around 1984 Judith sold up her entire collection to buy her real mare, and sadly I believe that many of them went without details, although some may now be in existence in Sweden.

Celia Russell, now Gregory, started her Kingfisher stud in the late 1970s with English and Polish blood although her first stallion, Firefly (Legend of Europe/Mabrouka El Ajzaa), also carried Babson and American blood. This was gradually expanded with other bloodlines through some use of outside stallions and also the acquisition and leasing of some stock from Lasmas and Om El Asil. Celia has retained a core interest in English lines, particularly the rarer, non-Crabbet ones - she now has a Courthorse bred stallion - but also has some Egyptian and other stock. This is one of the few studs in this article to be still be operational in the British hobby, now under the name Winterton.

Brief mention will now be made of a few more studs which started and mostly folded in the 1980s. Most prominent member of Catherine Dewick's Cloud Cape Arabians was the Babson stallion CC Bogart (Charab/Mekkha); there were also a number of other horses, mostly of Babson or Domestic Arabian lines, including a black-breeding programme. Many of these are still with Catherine, who is still involved in the hobby although almost exclusively with Thoroughbreds. Anubis Arabians was founded by Tamara Driver on Astarte, a New Egyptian mare bred by Andor; it rapidly gained other New Egyptian and Babson horses and a separate Spanish line. It had a prolific breeding period in the mid 1980s, but I think most of its stock stayed with Tamara when she dropped out of the hobby, although some may have gone to Sweden.

Lucy Southworth's Park Lodge drew stock from Om El Asil and Lasmas, along with a few foundation stock with real pedigrees. The stud was all Egyptian, mostly Babson, and is now I think dispersed. The Copse Stud, owned by Julie Parker, obtained its stock similarly but had a wider variety of lines including the Crabbet/Polish stallion Es Zeeba. I think most of the stock left the hobby with Julie, although the Lasmas-bred Zara-Gin is now with Justine Watson along with her old stable companion Ibn El Masri.

Lyn Hanham's Shammar Arabians was entirely founded on model stock, mostly from Andor and Lasmas, and later acquired many of the horses that were dispersed from other studs such as Park Lodge. These models are still with Lyn and most still have original details or those of their "offspring". Among the stallions are Sapphire Cascade and two sons of Sar Mohammed Aly, Sidi Mohammed and Moziah, while the mare band boasts offspring of many of the horses named in this article. Lyn still keeps up an interest in the hobby and the models are shown occasionally.

Lastly I will mention my own Sector A Arabians, founded c. 1980, which breeds a wide variety of lines. Some stock have real parents but the stud also boasts horses which descend from stock at Om El Asil, Nightingale, Milford, Lasmas, Anubis, and Cloud Cape. By the time this article appears I hope a sire/dam list detailing them all will be in preparation.

In writing this article it strikes me how few of the studs I have mentioned are still operational. Although I have said that many of them sold youngstock elsewhere or had stallions which were used by others, this spread of bloodlines tended to mostly be to other studs which have also vanished. The only people of whom I can think who are currently in the hobby owning and breeding lines which originated from these historic studs are Celia Gregory, Lyn Hanham, Justine Watson, Sue Beard and myself. Perhaps there are a few more unknown to me. I hope that this article will have served to commemorate and record the achievements of these early studs and perhaps to encourage a few more people to find and conserve some of these lines, before it is too late.

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