California Breds

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

I don't know if the history of breeding Arabians in California
follows the same pattern, but there is a classic "West Coast"
Morgan pedigree that anybody who knows a little about Morgan
history can spot right away.  It all has to do with successive
importations over the decades of eastern show-breeding stallions
to cross onto "native-California" bred Morgan mares.

The mare's bottom line will be some early 20th century western
ranch bred mare from somebody like Roland Hill or Richard Sellman
or one of the Jubilee King sons.  On *very* rare occasions, you
might even find one of the old Winterset or Jubilee de Jarnette
mares that survived from the 19th century to the 20th only in
the Pacific Northwest.  These mares are known for toughness
and performance, but were not known for their looks or graceful action.
Doers, not lookers.

Then you get a Government-bred stallion imported from Vermont,
in the 30's and 40's like Hill's Querido, crossed on this mare.

Then you get a Ben Don or Pecos or Ulendon stallion imported in the
1950's, 60's, or 70's like Art Perry's Windcrest Don Again or UC Marquis,
or Robert Morgan's Lippitt Pecos or the Beckley's Orcland Royal Don up
in Washington.

Sometimes you see the Beamington's crossed in in the next generation
when he was the hottest thing in Morgandom in the early 80's.  The
HVK Santana stallion at Woodland Stallion Station outside of Sacramento
is one of these imported Beamington sons.

And then lastly, you get one of the inbred Nocturne-Nocturne-Nocturne
stallions.

A pure Old California pedigree is a rare thing to see anymore.  But
you can see it all over the place on these mares' bottom lines,
sometimes close, but usually not too far back there somewhere, acting
as a source of substance to balance out the endless show quest for
"refinement."

Linda B. Merims
lbm@naisp.net
Massachusetts, USA