LEADERS OF THE TIMESApril CalendarFeature:"Emanor andWindhorse Farmby Erin Murphy

Every great horse has a story ... one

filled with modest beginnings and

magiuil ending Vet. bdoK1 a horse has

the chance of being great they must be

discovered. Behind every renowned horse

is a talented person that had the ability to

see that next superstar's potential.

The sterling silver stallion that floats

across your calendar this month is

'Emanor ('Wojslaw x Emanacja),

owned by Ron and Mila Hart of

Windhorse Farm in Santa Ynez, Calif,

The story of 'Emanor and hissuccessful debut as a North American

sire began in Poland. During an annual

visit to Poland, trainer GeorgeZbyszewski saw the masculine stallion

on the racetrack and was immediately

taken with him. "He was brighter andbetter moving than all of the others

even then," recalls George. "I next sawhim New Year's Eve in 1997 while 1 was

on my way from Warsaw to visit my

mother. When he trotted out in front ofthe barn, I knew this horse belonged in

the United States — that he was an

international horse."

George's keen eye for quality wasaffirmed at the 1998 Polish Nationals

when *Emanorwas named the PolishNational Champion Stallion. George

describes what happens next as a

"whirlwind of faxes, video and photosto Ron and Mila Hart."

The Harts began their breeding

program with only a few pure Polish

rnares that tliev h,;J purchased from a

northwestern Polish breeder. They had

been looking to expand their breeding

program and took the advice of their

good friend and trainer George

Zbyszewski and leased 'Emanor. Sight

unseen, except for minimal video, the

Harts knew that this was the horse to

reshape the way people look at

Arabians."We trusted and believed inGeorge, and seeing the videos and

pictures, we knew he was right. This

horse is an international stallion,"

explains Mila.

•Emanor made his way to the United

States in 1999 to gain international

recognition. 'Ernanor became the

international stallion his owner and

trainer proclaimed him to be when he

was crowned the 1999 U.S. National

Champion Stallion.

year of showing, the Harts were ready to

buy 'Emanor. They knew it was the

right lime before he began his

performance career. Fortunately, Poland

agreed that "Emanor could do more for

them by staying in the U.S. Just before

his 2000 English pleasure win at

Scottsdale, the Harts became the proud

owners of the magnificent stallion.

* Emanor went on to further prove he

wasn't just another pretty face with a

reserve champion win in English

pleasure at the Canadian Nationals and

a top ten placing at the U.S. Nationals.

"In a total of three years, 'Emanor has

become a National Champion on two

continents. And to top it all off. he did it

in both performance as well as halter,"

enthuses George.

"Emanor is getting a well-deserved

break from the show ring and will be

concentrating on the 2001 breeding

season. "Emanor is producing great

movers as well as putting some of the

best necks I have ever seen on these

babies," comments George.

The entire story of "Emanor has yet

to unfold. But, after glancing briefly into

his successful life so far, it is safe to say

that there are many more roses to be

won and champion get to be born. J

Arabian Horse Times Feature

Dr. Howard Kale:Jl Life Enriched

by Erin Murphy

Much has been written about Dr.Howard Kale and his son,

Howie, and their success as Arabianhorse breeders. But, what does Dr.Howard Kale think about the Arabianbreed today? At the age of 93, it isevident that he still has passionaterespect and admiration for the breedthat shaped his life and the life ofhis family.

The story of Dr. Howard Kale andhis life with Arabian horses begins in&the rainy city of Seattle around 1940.At the time, he was a young doctorwho had just graduated from medicalschool and was new to the city. Hecomments that in those days peopleused to say "go west" and so he did. Hemoved from his home state of Ohio toSeattle to work as an intern at ahospital. Dr. Kale admits that, likemany other young people, he becamecaught up in the romance of Seattle.o rOn Thursdays, his one day off eachweek, he used to climb into his oldFord and drive around Seattle/savoringthe romance." On one particularafternoon he stumbled upon a golfcourse. What he saw there foreverchanged the direction of his life.

"I took a tour around LakeWashington and came upon a golfcourse that had fallen into financialdifficulty during the depression — itwas owned by the Weyerhausers," heremembers. "They had converted theclubhouse into a barn and the greenswere lined with white fences. I spenttwo or three hours just sitting on thosewhite fences, watching those beautiful

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Dr. Howard Kale: A Life Enriched

horses out in the pasture. Imaginehaving beautiful horses on agolf course!"

From that day on, most of his days offwere spent on a fence post admiring thebeautiful horses that inhabited the golfcourse. Kale soon discovered that thehorses were Arabians, and he wasdetermined to have one. Unfortunately,an intern's salary did not afford sucha luxury.

On another fateful day a few yearslater, Dr. Kale acquired a new patient,Dr. Gordon Dutt of Montana, whowas also, as destiny would have it, anArabian horse breeder. It was from Dr.Dutt that Dr. Kale bought his first ofmany Arabian horses with the purchaseof the filly Indaieh, The Kale herd soongrew to include the stallion Adonis,who became the family's riding horse,and the mare Anah, both purchasedfrom Dr. Dutt as well. "So, there I wasin the horse world," he laughs."Thatrequired other things, and we moved toa place that had a little barn. That wasour foundation."

In the next 60 plus years, Dr. HowardKale and his son Howie bred andimported some of the breed's mostimportant horses. Names like *SilverDrift, *Dornaba, *Eskadra, Tornado,* Muscat, Amber Silk and Amber Satincan all be associated with Kale ArabianHorses (KARHO).

In the early years of his involvement,before Kale-bred horses were in thespotlight, Dr. Kale, his wife, MaryBeth, and their children enjoyed trailriding. "We lived right on the bridlet> o

trails and would go out every Thursdayand Saturday afternoon with two tothree people and their horses," Kaleremembers vividly."! had one littlehorse that I probably put 25, 000 mileson. I rode him all over."

Dr. Kale is not just an Arabian horseowner and breeder, but also anaccomplished horseman withchampionship honors in western,costume and English pleasure."! didthe whole works," he laughs."! nevercould ride park, though. English wasmy best act. I had a national champion

Dr. Kale aboard bis favorite horse Rossidor (Ross1 Zi x *Dornaba).

costume horse named Ross' Zi (Ga'Zix Rose Of Rossana). I used to ride himin the Rose Parade. One year JudgeFairbanks called me up and asked if Iwould lead a group of costume horsesin the Rose Parade. So, me, WayneNewton, Monty Montana and a bunchof other people rode in the RoseParade. It was quite a Memorial Day!"

Dr. Kale, always an ambitious soul,was not content with just owning and

riding his horses, although he enjoyedthem immensely, and decided early tobreed his own horses.

"Adonis was a good horse, but hewasn't the typiest horse. I decided to gointo breeding because I was seeking abetter horse, a better performancehorse and a prettier horse. When Imade the trip to England and Poland, Ihad run out of breeding sources in theUnited States. We had *Raffles

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Dr. Howard Kale: A Life Enriched

breeding and a few others, bur I wasseeking a better ourcross,"

In England, Kale found what he waslooking for in a stallion when he visitedCrabber Stud. There he saw thedapple-grey stallion *Silver Drift, a fullbrorher to *Serafix, who at the timewas making quite an impact inAmerica. Once he had purchased*Silver Drift, Dr. Kale traveled to theMichalow State Stud in Poland, wherehe was so impressed by *Naborr thathe purchased two of his promisingdaughters. On that same visit, at JanowPodlaski State Stud, his friend andtraveling partner Dr. Eugene LaCroixpurchased the immortal *Bask. Upontheir return to the United States, thetwo doctors convinced AnneMcCormick to purchase andimport *Naborr.

In the 1960s, Dr. Kale was ringside ashis two Polish imports *Dornaba and*Eskadra racked up championships inperformance and halter. In 1966,*Dornaba became the first horse to winthe triple crown, claimingchampionship mare honors atScottsdale, Canadian Nationals andU.S. Nationals with Howard Kale Jr.At U.S. Nationals that year she wasalso named the Reserve NationalChampion English Pleasure Horse."They were beautiful horses, but theywere young horses, just 2 and 3 — Ihonestly didn't know how they wouldturn out to be," he says of *Dornabaand *Eskadra.T bought them and*Dornaba, especially, excelled intoperfection. I think she could exceleven today."

*Silver Drift also found his way intothe show ring, winning championshipsin halter and English pleasure. Hisbiggest contribution to the Kalebreeding program, however, wasthrough his beautiful daughters. Inorder to take his breeding program tothe next level, Dr. Kale needed to find astallion to cross with his *Silver Driftdaughters and his Polish mares. He

c

found the match with the *Bask sonTornado. In 1967, Dr. Kale purchasedTornado from his old friend Dr.

Dr. Kale riding the 1967 U.S. National Champion Native Costume Horse Ross'Zi.

Dr. Howard Kale aboard *Dornaba (Naborr x Darda), the first mare to ever win the triple crown.

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Dr. Howard Kale: A Life Enriched

LaCroix and bred 63 Tornado offspringof which more than 30 werechampions. The next great stallion toenter the Kale breeding program wasor othe Russian import * Muscat. "My sonbrought *Muscat in," he says with

O /

pride. "Muscat was probably one of themost exotic horses we had, and he gaveus a great cross with the *Silver Driftline and the *Dornaba line.

"I have to brag on my son Howie alittle," he continues. "He is probably themost knowledgeable horseman intoday's world of the Arabian horses. Hecan quote almost any breeding. My soninvolved me with pedigrees more thanany other person. I told him he shouldspend as much time on his Englishbooks as he did studying pedigrees."

Howie Kale's passion for pedigreesled him to the Tersk Stud in Russiawhere he saw *Muscat for the firsttime. It ended up taking three yearsand 13 trips to Russia to purchase andimport *Muscat, but the striking redstallion with the distinctive white blazewas well worth the wait. In 1980, hebecame the first stallion to win thetriple crown. Dr. Kale rememberswatching with pride as his sonHowie led *Muscat to the 1980U.S. National stallion title, for thelast jewel in his crown.

Eight years later the Kale breedingprogram received ultimatevalidation when Amber Satin wasnamed the 1988 U.S. and CanadianNational Champion Mare. AmberSatin was by * Muscat and out ofSatin Silver, who was by Tornadoand out of the ^Silver Driftdaughter Silver Sprite. Sherepresented the very best of theKale breeding program.

With more than 60 years as anArabian horse breeder, Dr. HowardKale possesses a wealth ofknowledge on the subject. Hisadvice to todays breeder is to buythe best, usable horse you can andenjoy. He also advises breeders tonot stick so closely to one particularbloodline.'! think people shouldgive their good horses not just one

chance by inbreeding, but rather theyshould outcross them two or threedifferent ways."

From experience, Dr. Kale knows thatlady luck plays a role in successfulbreeding and says, "Breeding horses isjust like breeding your kids. You canhave three or you can have six kids andthey are all different. They don't followany one genetic pattern. If they turn outgood, they turn out good. There is anew champion every year!"

With all of the champions Dr. Kaleand his son bred and imported, onemight assume that it would be difficultfor Dr. Kale to choose just one favoritehorse, but for him the choice is easy."He was a son out of *Dornaba and byRoss' Zi called Rossidor. He was myfavorite English pleasure horse.Rossidor was just outstanding! I couldgo in the ring with the purpose oftaking the blue ribbon, and I usuallycame out with the blue ribbon!"

Kale still loves a good horse show andtries to attend the Scottsdale Show for

a couple of hours each day. Althoughhe is impressed by the quality of horsesexhibited today, he does see somedifferences from his days in center ring."Today, they compete for just oneprize" he says of the show world."! likeversatility. I always emphasizedversatility, because if you couldn't ride ahorse for pleasure and still ride it in ashow, it didn't appeal to me very much."

Dr. Kale knows exactly what he likesin a horse and has never lost sight oftheir purpose in his life. "I did itbecause I enjoyed it, and it was apleasurable thing to breed anothercreature and bring it along. We hado o

some great times. The most fun Iremember having was when we used toplay a little polo on our horses withbroomsticks," he chuckles. "We wouldplay polo as a winter sport in the arena.Those were good times. Of course, thegreat times are when you win. I havehad a good life and I have goodmemories, and that is all you take withyou, so enjoy!" <^\

Dr. Howard F. Kale Sn, his late wife, Mary Beth, and Sandy ana Howard Kale Jr.

Arabian Horse Times . May 2003 215