Witez II

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Witez II
Stallion
Foaled1938
CountryPoland
ColorBay
BreederJanów Podlaski Stud Farm
OwnerU.S. Remount, Earle E. and Frances Hurlbutt
Honors
1951 Grand Champion Southern California All-Arabian Show, 1953 Pacific Coast Champion Stallion
Last updated on: January 13, 2008.

Witez II (April 1, 1938 – June 9, 1965) was a

stallion foaled at the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm in Poland. He spent his early years at Janów at a time when Poland was under occupation by Nazi Germany before ultimately arriving in the United States in 1945, where he lived for the remainder of his life until his death. His name came from an archaic Polish word meaning "chieftain, knight, prince and hero."[1]

Ancestry

Witez II was by Ofir out of Federacja. Ofir was by the desert-bred stallion Kuhalian-Haifi, foaled in 1923, who was imported from the Jauf region of the

Babolna
stud of Hungary.

The 1938

Soviet invasion of Poland. Ofir's daughter Mammona also made the trek from Janów to Tersk Stud
as a suckling foal and later became a dam of significance in the USSR.

Early years

Witez II was only a

Third Reich
.

General

horsemeat. Patton issued orders, and on April 28, 1945, Colonel Charles H. Reed, Sperl's superior officer, with members of Troops A, C and F of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, conducted a raid behind Soviet lines and accepted the surrender of the Germans at Hostau. Reed later said that the surrender was "more a fiesta than a military operation, as the German troops drew up an honor guard and saluted the American troops as they came in."[3] Being one of the relatively few horses at Hostau who was broke to ride, Witez II carried a rider throughout the evacuation and came through sound.[1]

Life in America

At the end of the war, Witez II and other horses captured from the Nazis were shipped to the United States, much to the dismay of the Poles, who had hoped to recover the horses they had lost. The journey by ship from Europe to America was quite rough, but the horses arrived safely in

U.S. Army Remount station at Front Royal, Virginia.[4] In early 1946, Witez II and the bulk of the imported Arabians were shipped to the Army Remount station at the former W.K. Kellogg Arabian Ranch in Pomona, California,[5] where he stood at stud until 1948. In that year, the remount service was put under the authority of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the horses were sent off for auction.[1]

Witez II was purchased in 1949 by Earle E. and Frances Hurlbutt of the Calarabia Ranch near Calabasas, California, who owned him for the remainder of his life.[1] Because the remount horses had been shipped to a consolidated site in Oklahoma for sale, Hurlbutt flew to Fort Reno, Oklahoma, specifically to bid on the stallion, and paid $8100 for the horse.[1][5] Witez II lived on the Hurlbutt ranch for many years, but left California from 1960 to 1964 on a lease to Burr Betts of the Betts Circle 2 Ranch in Parker, Colorado. He returned to Calarabia for the final year of his life.[4]

Although not shown a great deal in America, he was 1951 Grand Champion at the Southern California All-Arabian show in Pomona, one of the largest shows of the day, and then Pacific Coast Champion Stallion and overall grand champion in 1953, at the age of 15, winning one of the most prestigious awards for Arabian horses at the time.[4] He sired 223 foals, of whom 10 had been born outside the USA prior to his importation.[4][6] His offspring included 16 national winners in both halter and performance,[4] which was particularly notable because the first U.S. National Championship show was not held until 1958.[7] His daughter Ronteza made a significant mark in open competition, winning the 1961 World Champion Reined Cow Horse at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, defeating 50 horses of all breeds.[8]

Witez II passed away while sleeping peacefully in his pasture at Calarbia, June 1965, shortly after his 27th birthday.[9]

Pedigree

Kuhailan Kharas (desertbred)
Kuhalian-Haifi (PASB)
Imp. Arabia, 1931
Kuhaila-Haifi (desertbred)
Ofir (PASB)
(Polish Arabian Stud Book)
Abu-Mlech
Dziwa (PASB)
Zulejma
Witez II[1]
1938 bay stallion
Obejan-Szerrak (desertbred)
Burgas (PASB)
Seglavi-Dzedran (desertbred)
Federacja (PASB)
Koheilan IV (ASBB)
Babolna Stud, Hungary
Koalicja (PASB), Imp Babolna, 1919
Amurath II

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-316-80031-0
  2. ^ a b "Karlsson, Helena. "Kuhailan Haifi OA part I: Wielki Szlem, Wind and *Witez II."". Athenaarabians.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  3. ^ "United States 2nd Cavalry Rescued Rare and Noble Lipizzaner Stallions". Lipizzaner.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-911647-48-1
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-938276-00-X
    p. 112-116
  6. ^ Piper, Tricia. ""Did you know?" *Witez II Breeders Alliance". Hintonarabs.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  7. ^ "A Toast to Champions", Arabian Horse World, October, 2007, pp. 164–185
  8. ^ Varian, Sheila. "Ronteza at the Cow Palace". VarianArabians.com. Varian Arabians. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  9. OCLC 952567026.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )


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