Raffles

Raffles

Raffles was an Arabian stallion foaled in 1926 and imported to the United States by Roger Selby in 1932. Raffles was bred by Lady Wentworth of the Crabbet Arabian Stud.

Background

Raffles was a son of the Crabbet foundation sire Skowronek, out of a Skowronek daughter, Rifala. Lady Wentworth deliberately chose an inbreeding cross in hopes of producing a suitable Arabian for crossing on Welsh ponies.^[1] She partially succeeded, as Raffles only matured to be 13.3 hands.^[2] However, Raffles never produced any offspring in England, and it is generally thought that his handlers at Crabbet believed he was sterile.

He came to America as a free gift included with a group of Arabians that Roger Selby purchased from Lady Wentworth,^[3] Selby had previously purhased Raffles' dam, Rifala in 1928.^[3][4] There is an alternative theory to why Raffles was given to Selby; rather than being a sterile throwaway, Selby may have claimed that Rifala was infertile, thus prompting the gift of a perfectly fertile Raffles as a replacement.^[5]

Life in the United States

Upon his arrival in America, he did not sire any foals until 1938.^[6] The popular explanation is that only after he was placed under a proper management regimen, did he turn out to be fertile.^[7] However, there are two other theories. One version claimed that Raffles was such an outstanding riding horse that he could not be spared for stud duties until he was eleven years old.^[8] And indeed, he did well in the show ring. Awards and honors Raffles earned included the 1933 three-gaited championship at Nashville, Tennessee's Nashville National horse show.^[9] The other theory is that he was discounted as a breeding stallion, was viewed merely as a potential pony sire, only used on purebred mares after the Arabian horse expert Carl Raswan urged his owners to do so.^[10]

However, once retired to stud, he went on to have a tremendous influence on Arabian horse breeding in the United States, siring 122 foals.^[1] In addition to horses he produced by outcrossing on Arabians of other bloodlines, breeders also had very good results by linebreeding his offspring to those of Raseyn, another Skowronek son who had also been purchased from Lady Wentworth and was imported to the USA by W.K. Kellogg.

He broke a hind leg in 1950, when kicking his stall.^[11] He recovered and was purchased by Alice Payne for her Asil Ranch in Chino, California, where he was stalled next to Raseyn, whom Payne had obtained from the Kellogg ranch in his old age.^[12] Raffles died on May 11 1953.^[5]

Among his better-known offspring were Indraff, Rapture, and Azraff.^[7]

Registry data

Raffles was registered with the Arabian Horse Club Registry of America, the precursor to the Arabian Horse Association as number 952. His registration lists him as a "white" horse, even though he was actually a gray.^[14]

See also

• Crabbet Arabian Stud
• Arabian horse
• Skowronek

Notes

References

• "Arabian Foundation Horse - Raffles"
• Arabian Horse Club of America The Arabian Stud Book Volume V 1944 Chicago: Arabian Horse Club 1944
• Archer, Rosemary The Arabian Horse: Allen Breed Series London: J. A. Allen 1992 ISBN 0-85131-549-6
• Carpenter, Marian K. Arabian Legends: Outstanding Arabian Stallions and Mares Colorado Springs, Colorado: Western Horseman ISBN0-911647-48-1
• Conn, Dr. George H. The Arabian Horse in America New York: A. S. Barnes and Company 1966
• Edwards, Gladys Brown The Arabian: War Horse to Show Horse 3rd Revised Edition Denver, Colorado: Arabian Horse Trust 1980 ISBN 0938276-00-X

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