|
Back Ground Information
In 1963 the first Russian-born horses were rejected by the AHRA, not on grounds of purity or quality, which were not then disputed, but because, according to an AHRA letter to the importer, Ed Tweed, "we mustn't deal with the Russians". Yet in 1963, the same year as Mr. Tweed's importation, the AHRA registered the Russian-born *Naborr #25472, who had spent some time in Poland before importation. Although Tweed's stallion *Park (by Knippel out of a full sister to *Pietuszok) had been purchased in England, not Russia, the AHRA informed Tweed that a) a Russian horse from Poland or England would be approved if it had been there a number of years before purchase by an American, b) his horses were not eligible because they had not been owned by Polish or British citizens, and c) "the Registry would take a dim view of the matter" if Tweed tried to register the horses in England. In 1967 they removed even that option, restricting all imports from England to horses whose pedigrees traced to the English studbook of 1950, "or from Registries currently acceptable to the American Registry", thus allowing Polish imports to England but not Russian.
In response to a query from Gladys Brown Edwards about this restriction against future imports, AHRA resident officer Ward Howland concealed the originally stated political reason behind a smokescreen of concern for type and purity, stating "We feel, the Russian English Arabs, are of a somewhat different type than the ˜so-called" classic Arab. We must therefore question their purity. We must also question their judgment in breeding to animals of this type. Finally, we question the Arab Horse Society's acceptance of the animals..." Yet two years later in 1969 the AHRA registered *Magnat #60574, a Russian-born 3-year-old which had arrived in Poland only the year before in 1968 (apparently the excuse quoted to Tweed that the horse had to be there several years was forgotten). It would appear that the AHRA's allegations about "questionable" purity and type were applicable only if Russian horses went to England rather than Poland.
So Mr. Tweed, an experienced and successful breeder with an excellent show record, was denied the opportunity to compete in the really big league. The owners of *Naborr and *Magnat enjoyed an AHRA protected monopoly on Russian breeding until 1978. The two sired more than 500 foals between them, while Tweed's stallion *Park remained unregistered by the AHRA until his death in 1974, siring only 7 foals out of registered mares (one of his daughters out of a Polish mare, AHRA #235660 was subsequently registered).
Tweed's two Russian mares *Napaika (Pomeranets x Nomenklatura by Naseem) and *Palmira (Arax x Provincia by Priboj) were finally sold unregistered, the last in January 1978. By the end of that year the AHRA finally approved the Russian studbook, and both mares were subsequently allowed to be registered by their new owners. A third Russian mare *SPORTSMENKA (Pomeranets x Sahara by Skrzyp), arriving in 1965 for another importer and also sold unregistered, was finally registered in 1979. [AHRA Letter June 19, 1967 from Ward Howland to Gladys Brown Edwards; Registry Report- 1966, International Arabian Horse (Jan 67, p36); "The Russian Imports of Ed Tweed and L.B. Sheppard", Melissa Paul, Arabian Horse World, November 1984, p 471-474; The Registry News, December 1978]
|
