POLAND 2007

I am back from Poland with just under 3500 photos from the races, the show, the auction and the stud tours. I will try to tell a story.

Let's start off with the ONLY horse that didn't sell in the Auction. She is NINIWA (Etogram X Niwa by Eukaliptus) a small bay mare standing 146cm. She was bred by a private Polish breeder. She is the 2006 and 2007 European Arabian Show Jumping Champion. She was jumped at the night preview, the day preview and when she went to auction. She cleared fences up to 1.3 meters never looking like it was even an effort.

She was bid up to €70,000 ($93,100) but that didn't meet the reserve. I talked to the owner after the auction, she didn't really want to sell the mare, she just wanted people to see her jump. All the other auction lots sold. They sold for an average price of approximately $100,000.

From a photographic point of view my new camera also allowed me to capture images I never could before. This photo of NINIWA was shot at the night preview. The arena was not fully lit and yet a could capture this shot of her jumping, without a flash (ISO 2500, 500th, F2.8). The low noise of this camera at ISO 2500 is amazing will allow me to shoot performance classes indoors without flash.

The events started with a trip to the race track in Warsaw for a day of Arabian racing. Last year there was no racing because of disputes over what should be done with the track. Apparently that has been settled and a private company is operating the track on lease. There has been a full year of racing so far and the winners are getting paid. The track is in desperate need of work as both the turf and the facility are in need of maintenance.

Here YPSELON (Drakon X Phaija by Pamir I) wins the 2nd race. Bred in Germany he was one of many German horses running in Poland.

Racing from my experience is about as strong of test that a horse can face. That is why the Poles started using race to evaluate their horses when the military test (a very rugged evaluation not unlike three day eventing) was abandoned in the 1920's.

Here WADI NUR(Gazal Al Shaqab X Wenessa by Egon) bred by Michalow is preparing for the 3rd race. His race record for 2007 entering the race was 1,1,4. I really like to see the sons and daughters of stallions like Gazal showing what they can do at the track.

There were quite a few American's on had. Here the Bob and Dixie North and Frank Hennessey check out the race card for the upcoming race.

WADI NUR ran a competitive race but was beaten to the finish by the winner #2 ELSANA (Gafal X Elba by Gabaryt) and #4 MAGNA S (Prince d'Orient X Margo by Gusar).

The start of the EUROPY CUP (the biggest stakes race in Poland) was a competitive affair, but the race is 2800 meter (1 3/4 miles). The Stakes races in Poland are very long, much longer than anything run in the US. Notice the high rise apartments in the background it will give you an idea why this large race track and training center is so valuable for the land.

By the end of the race the winner Amor Amor (Marwan I X Tralala II by Proszek) was running by himself. He is a five year old gelding bred by Maria von Furstenberg in Germany. He won 44000 pzl ($12,200) pretty comparable to an Arabian Stakes race in the US.

Emma Maxwell, the daughter of well known breeders Pat and Joanna Maxwell, was on hand. She is writing the Polish commentary for the Arabian Horse World coverage of the events.

One of the delights of Poland is to catch up with old friends. Emma is a super show handler and trained and showed *KORDELAS for us when we lived in England. We became quite close with Emma, Joanna and Pat.

From Warsaw it is a four hour bus ride to the small village of Janow Podlaski where the Polish National Show and Auction are held. We stayed at Zaborek, a rustic retreat built from old house imported to a lovely property of fields and woods. The houses have been converted to have individual rooms most with private baths. The rooms are small, the beds are small, the baths are small but it really is a delightful location and most visitors enjoy the beauty and tolerate the rather primitive accommodations.

People need to realize that this is a very well conducted Auction. There are two full previews. The first is on Friday Night, after guests arrived in Janow from the races in Warsaw. There is a nice buffet, and free drinks to get people in the mood for the initial introduction to the horses.

This is the best time for the horses to make an impression on the audience. The catalog is well prepared but a photograph can never capture the totally of a horse. Some of the horses demand attention and this enhances their value in the auction.

EUKARIONT (Gazal Al Shaqab X Euzetia by Etogram) a four year old bred and owned by Janow Podlaski. I was interested in this young stallion for pricing reasons as we have a three year old Gazal son out of EROTOMANKA (Eukaliptus X Erotyka by Eufrat) who is very similar. I wouldn't expect to sell him for the same price but it certainly is a good sales point. He sold for €42,000 ($56,000 + $10,000 for shipping = $66,000 in US).

One young mare made a big impression, ZULEJKA (Ganges X Zuzanna by Wojslaw) six year old bred by Michalow. She was 2nd highest selling lot and sold for €205,000 ($273,000).

MELONIA (Batyskaf X Meta by Partner) 11 year old mare bred by Bialka. She sold for €36,000 ($47,900).

All the activities were held outdoors on grass up until last year. A lovely new show arena was built at Janow. All night time events are know held inside. The daytime events are held outdoors on grass unless it rains.

EUMENIDA (Eldon X Euzetta by Etogram) 2002 bred by Janow Podlaski. Sold for €18,000 ($24000) to France.

One of the favorites of the auction was WIAZMA (Arbil X Wiezja by El Paso) 1991 bred by Michalow. This powerful mare is full of charisma and is great fun to watch. We would have loved to purchase her but she was very exoensuvem she sold to France for €80,000 ($106,400).

Johanna Ulstrom, from the European Training Center in Belgium. Johanna, who comes from Swedan, is one of the top European trainers. She was hired by Janow Podlaski to show their horses in the show and auction.

She has a wonderful way with horses and gets them to present at their best without intimidation or abuse. She showed horses for people at Las Vegas this year. She showed *Kordelas for us. We plan to ask her to show again at Las Vegas in 2008.