About Ferlita Arabians
Poland is a land of legend, renown for its rich and accomplished history, unparalleled fortitude and perseverance and its centuries-old commitment to and partnership with the Arabian horse. From this land of legend has emerged an equine legend in the making – a consummate modern standard of both the uncompromising Polish commitment to excellence and the classic Arabian horse - *ECAHO.
The tale of *ECAHO is very much the intermingling of legends – an illustrious dam, an universally celebrated sire line rich with world-renown sires, master breeders and a venerable international stud – a remarkable combination of extraordinary horses, humans and environments. The story began in the hallowed stables of Janow Podlaski Stud – long the beacon and cornerstone of international Arabian breeding - in the spring of 1989, when the decision was made to breed the reigning Polish National Champion Mare to a Polish racing legend just returned from North American lease. That mare was Etruria, the stallion was Pepton, and the brilliant breeder behind the masterful mating was the late Director Andrzej Krzysztalowicz. After two barren years of production, Etruria caught early in the season, an event, which marked an end to an unparalleled show career and full-time duties as a broodmare of supreme status. Pepton, on the other hand, was just beginning a siring career at his maternal stud, after considerable success at Michalow, Kurozweki and in the United States; on home turf later that summer, Pepton would be crowned Polish National Champion Stallion.
The following March 1st, Etruria delivered a stunning grey colt – exotically typey, exquisitely refined, enthusiastically upright, perfectly conformed and abundantly athletic with a magnetic, majestic presence and the unmistakable “look of kings”. Praised by many as the best produce of Etruria's already distinguished breeding career, the grey colt was the sensation of the 1990 foal crop and was widely regarded as the most promising heir apparent to the internationally celebrated sire line of Ibrahim in Poland. In the ensuing months, the indomitable pair of the Stud's most accomplished show / broodmare and her exemplary young colt were the highlight of each Janow Podlaski breeding presentation. Inevitably, it was during the most distinguished occasion of the season that the young colt would earn his distinctive name.
Later that spring, Poland hosted the Annual General meeting of the European Commission of Arabian Horse Organizations, a considerable honor for the newly-formed, post-communist republic. The conference schedule included visits to each of the State Studs and breeding parades of the finest stock. Izabella Pawelec-Zawadzka, the Polish Inspector of Arabian Horses at the time, recalls that the Janow visit was plagued by particularly cold, grey, damp and wholly inhospitable weather, the effect of which was a rather indifferent response of the distinguished guests to the presentation of the chief sires, who themselves were rather subdued by the elements and not at their best, still robed in thick winter coats. The impassive aura of the formal presentation quickly dissipated however, during the stroll through the stables in which the mares and foals were housed. As is customary, several of the best mares with foals at side were presented for the guests in paddocks directly adjacent to the stables. This select collection of mares of course included World Champion Etruria, the paragon of the Janow Podlaski breeding program and a 
favorite of Director Krzysztalowicz as well as many of the conference participants. To the pleasant surprise of all, Etruria emerged from the stable with a magnificent colt at side, a confidently charismatic, upright and enchanting "frosty-grey" with tremendous presence and an extraordinary head and neck, who when turned loose with his dam, managed to keep pace with her powerful, animated trot stride for stride. The murmurings of excitement at the charm of both mother and son quickly broke into enthusiastic and spontaneous applause from the crowd, who were in unanimous agreement that a superior colt such as this warranted a memorable, world-class namesake, as his future as a show horse and sire of merit were irrefutably foreordained. At the request of Inspector Zawadzka as a tribute to special event, Director Krzysztalowicz agreed to allow the Congress to propose a name for the colt. In a moment of inspiration, the Arabian Horse Society of England's President Joan Ratcliff suggested ECAHO, in honor of the commission's acronymic designation. Perfectly conforming to Polish tradition of naming foals in honor of their dams by prescribing the first letter of the dam's name to that of the foal's, the appellation of ECAHO was unanimously approved by the esteemed gathering with more applause. That fall, the 1990 foal of Etruria, sired by Pepton, was registered as number 5161 in the Polish Arabian Stud Book as ECAHO.
Having been born prior to the inception of the Polish Spring Show and the annual Polish National Junior Championships for colts (initiated in 1993), ECAHO led a simple herd life amongst the group of yearling and two-year old colts at Janow Podlaski satellite farm of Pozary, never to see the limelight in the show ring as a junior colt. At three and four, he performed obligatory racehorse duties on the Warsaw track, competing in twenty races over two seasons with a pair of wins and thirteen placed finishes.
During these early years, the evolution of ECAHO was carefully watched by American Raymond Mazzei, a successful breeder and trainer, who has a long history with and considerable passion for the Polish Arabian horse. Having always been a fan of Pepton, Mazzei had imported the Michalow-bred Elston, out of Polish National Champion Mare Ekstaza, and was very interested in the potential of another son out of a world-class mare like Etruria from the Janow breeding program. Knowing that all negotiations with the Poles require both perseverance and patience, Mazzei began to subtly make his interest in ECAHO known to those with the authority to control his destiny.
The much anticipated debut of ECAHO as a sire was to take place at Michalow in 1995, the Polish stud famed for its glorious mares. Michalow had long been looking for the opportunity to incorporate the genetic value of Etruria into the herd, as well as the invaluable contribution of another esteemed descendant of the Ibrahim sire line, an infusion which, had brought the Stud tremendous success.
The realization of a colt embodying the superior characteristics of ECAHO was a welcome event by all Polish breeders, as all had been focused on creating a successor to the Ibrahim sire line in Poland. Originally established outside of Arabia at the Antoniny Stud in Poland, the Ibrahim sire line has gained recognition around the world through one Polish-bred son – the immortal Skowronek. Now universally acknowledged as the most influential Arabian stallion of the 20th century, the blood of Skowronek can be found in abundance on every continent within which Arabian horses are bred.
The saga of Skowronek has all the makings of a modern-day epic, blessed by good fortune, laced with intrigue and shadowed by deception and destruction. It began on the steppes of Eastern Poland, now within the borders of the Ukraine, but then in the final days of dominion by the Russian Czar. Skowronek was a product of the highly influential and proliferative equine breeding of Count Jozef Potocki at the Antoniny Stud, whose primary mission was to create solid, well conformed cavalry mounts with assured athleticism and endurance. An essential element of this breeding program was a nucleus of purebred Arabian horses, long integrally linked with Polish history. The source of the Antoniny Arabians was the Slawuta Stud of the Princes Sanguszko, Europe's most famous Arabian Stud of the 19th century, as a result 
of inheritance by Klementyna Sanguszko, wife to Count Potocki. A descendant of the invaluable Slawuta herd, Jaskolka, was bred to the original Arabian import Ibrahim to produce Skowronek in 1909. Discovered by American artist Walter Winans while on a hunting expedition to Antoniny in 1913, Skowronek was purchased for a nominal sum and exported to England. The following year he was sold for use as a hack throughout the ordeal of the First World War, a mundane existence no doubt, but one that spared him the atrocity inflicted upon his stablemates at Antoniny, as both human and horse alike were brutally massacred by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. In 1919, esteemed English breeder, H.V. Musgrave Clark acquired Skowronek, and for the first time, utilized him as a sire and introduced him to the world in the show ring. He was there discovered by the legendary Lady Wentworth of Crabbet Park, who was eventually successful in obtaining Skowronek via an agent under false pretenses. Despite the deliberate trickery, the legacy of Skowronek is undeniably owed to the steadfast belief of Lady Wentworth in his value and ability as a sire; all of his noteworthy get were produced at Crabbet according to her design.
The blood of Skowronek eventually found its way back to Poland via Naseem, Skowronek's heir at Crabbet, who was sold to Russia later in life and used successfully for several years. He was there bred to a Polish confiscate, the Janow Podlaski-bred Taraszcza, to give Negatiw, the best of his sons born at Tersk. An All-Union Exhibition winner amongst all breeds in Moscow, Negatiw enjoyed chief sire status for well over a decade in Russia until he was finally secured by the Poles at age 17. With his purchase, his highly successful son Nabor was sold to the United States, and Negatiw began his second wind as sire in both Janow Podlaski and Michalow. Highly valued for producing beautifully feminine and prolific daughters, Negatiw would sire his eventual replacement during his second year at stud, out of none other than the “Queen of Poland” herself – Bandola. Bandos would become a sire of international significance through dozens of exceptional get and at age 19, would set the Polish auction record as all-time high seller for the royal sum of $806,000. He would leave behind two important sons in Poland to carry on his legacy – Polish National Champions Eukaliptus, world-renown for his extraordinary daughters, and Pepton, athlete extraordinaire and sire of ECAHO.
ECAHO is a sterling example of what the Poles proudly refer to as the “Diamond Cross” – the mating of the blood of Negatiw with that of another Polish import – Palas. This cross has been an enormously successful nick within the Polish breeding program over the last three decades, resulting in scores of international champions and invaluable bloodstock. Like Negatiw, Palas was also imported from Tersk, primarily as an outcross stallion designed to introduce the blood of Nazeer in the breeding program. Nazeer was the grandsire of Palas via Aswan (originally named Rafaat), a gift to the Russian government from Egypt as a token of appreciation for financial support in the construction of the mighty Aswan High Dam along the Nile. Hugely successful at Tersk, Aswan remained in Russia for his entire life as the most esteemed of sires. There he was bred to Panel, daughter of yet another Egyptian import, Nil, and the Polish-French-Crabbet cross Platina to sire Palas. In Poland, Palas would establish himself as the greatest of the Aswan sons, an honor due in large part to his crowning achievement as a sire – the ethereal Etruria. An aristocrat dam of five international champions, Etruria is also a dual winner at the World and European Championships as both a Junior and Senior Mare, the only mare in the history of the breed to be so honored.
"Impossible" was a word synonymous with Etruria's dam, Etna, as this was the standard reply when determined international breeders would incessantly inquire as to her availability for purchase. She was a Krzysztalowicz favorite and a cornerstone of modern Polish breeding with an impressive five sons and seven daughters incorporated into breeding programs around the world. She was the only produce of her dam to remain in Poland, as Elzunia was exported to Holland the year of Etna's birth, where she would be named National Champion Horse amongst all breeds and would become a dam of great repute. Elzunia was the youngest of three famous sisters, the elders being British National Champion Celina and Polish matriarch Ellora, sired by Witraz and out of the intensely linebred, predominantly Crabbet-bred Elza, all conceived by the genius of Roman Pankiewicz at Albigowa.
It was this prestigious heritage that Michalow greatly desired to incorporate into its world-class breeding program, and to that end, many of the Stud's best mares and a select few from Janow Podlaski were bred to ECAHO in 1995 and 1996. Following his first season at stud, ECAHO made his show ring debut in the capable hands of the Michalow training staff at the Polish National Show in 1995. Vying for the ultimate honor on home turf, ECAHO decisively claimed the National Championship with a whopping 46.33 (out of 50), including four perfect scores of ten for type and head and neck, an almost unheard of two tens for body as well as the highest leg score amongst all his competitors. That same fall, ECAHO would make an international splash at the All Nations Cup in Aachen, home to Europe's most competitive Arabian exhibition, handily winning an impressive class of Four-to-Six Year Old Stallions by scoring several more perfect scores for type as well as head and neck and overwhelming Arabian breeders and enthusiasts with his extraordinary phenotype.
Early the next January, the first foals of ECAHO were greeted with great enthusiasm, as each arrival ignited the realization of superior siring ability. Several exemplary foals were born that year, but chief among these was the enrapturing Emanda. Stunningly gorgeous, wonderfully complete and impressive in both size and construction, Emanda embodies all of ECAHO's most desirable characteristics in splendid combination with the precious qualities of her famous dam. Destined for international stardom from birth, Emanda became a considerable force in the show ring as a two-year old, earning the Reserve Junior Female Championships at the Polish Spring Show and the Polish Nationals, Junior Champion honors at the Babolna International, as well as the most prestigious title of Junior Champion Filly at the All Nations Cup. Growing ever more glorious with age, Emanda reentered the show ring following her racing career, conquering Europe in 2001 as Reserve Senior Champion Mare at both the All Nations Cup and European Championships as well as earning the pinnacle achievement as World Champion Mare at the Salon du Cheval. Like all good Polish broodmares, Emanda continues her breeding duties while dazzling her legions of fans, and has already produced Poznan International Reserve Junior Champion and Polish National class winner Emaks. in 2003, Emanda astonished the audience at the 25th Polish National Show with a brilliant display of Arabian magnificence, tying for highest point score of the entire show and earning the title of Polish National Reserve Champion Mare.
While Michalow was enamored with Emanda that first spring, Janow Podlaski was celebrating the birth of the alluring Olita, remarkable proof of ECAHO's ability to vastly improve the virtues of the dam. Extreme in all areas, Olita possesses extravagant length and shape of neck, extraordinary type, refinement and charisma and a bold, exhilarating trot. It is these qualities that earned her the Senior Mare Championship and Best in Show honors at the highly competitive All Scandinavian Championships in Sweden as well as solid Top Ten status at the World Championships in 2002. Prized by Janow as one of their most cherished elite, Olita, like Emanda, is destined for additional honor and glory in the future, as she continues to grow more beautiful and refined with each passing year.
While Emanda carried the banner most capably for Michalow and her sire abroad, another daughter of ECAHO began to attract attention on the homefront. This was the exquisite Elwia, a mare of particularly magnificent show quality, who was quickly identified as a prime candidate to woo international interest in the Pride of Poland auction. Offered as the pivotal Lot 3 in 2003, Elwia established herself with ease as the star attraction of the annual event, pitting buyers from four continents against each other for the high honor of taking her home to add considerable prestige to their programs. Ultimately, the sum of 140.000 Euro was paid by HH Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Al Aryam Stud, an Arabian breeder determined to have the mare at any cost.
The success of both Emanda and Olita prompted Janow to insist on ECAHO standing at his maternal stud beginning in 1999. That first foal crop the following year produced one of his best sons, the decidedly masculine and well-built Salar. Tracing to the legendary racing family of Sabellina through his Polish National Top Five winning dam Saba, Salar is proving to be considerably athletic as well as beautiful, with wins on the racecourse at three. Prior to his track endeavors, Salar was very successful in the show ring for Janow winning the yearling colt class at the Bialka Spring Show (the Polish National Championships for colts) and Reserve Junior Champion at the Warsaw Summer Show at two.
The appeal of Salar from the first ECAHO foal crop gave way to overwhelming enthusiasm for an extraordinary filly in 2002 - the incomparable Palmeta. Described by Janow Director Marek Trela as "the most beautiful and feminine creature at the stud", Palmeta is an ultra-exotic mare of remarkably complete type, quality, conformation and athleticism. These exceptional qualities have earned Palmeta significant international titles including World Top Ten Junior Mare, Junior Champion Filly and Best in Show at the Warsaw Summer Show, Junior Champion Filly at the Bialka Spring Show and the ultimate honor of Polish National Junior Champion Mare and Best in Show this past August. Her exceptional type earned her a perfect score of three 20's at the National Show, the highest among the junior entries. With four significant titles, including a pair of Best in Show honors, Palmeta is the most successful junior show mare bred at Janow Podlaski since her grandam Etruria, who captivated Europe in the the late 1970's.
The success of ECAHO as a sire did not go unnoticed by Raymond Mazzei, who, upon witnessing the first of his foals at Michalow in 1996, began to inquire more fervently about the possibility of purchasing or at least leasing the stallion. As was the case with both his dam and grandam, the departure of ECAHO from Poland was unequivocally "impossible". Despite, the rebuttal, Mazzei remained determined to pursue ECAHO for the greater good of the North American market, as ECAHO represented the most appealing incarnation of ideal Arabian characteristics built upon the solid foundation of the most highly esteemed and consistently prepotent horses in the centuries-old Polish Arabian breeding program. Mazzei was confident that his captivating phenotype would be greeted with universal admiration by Americans; moreover, his proven ability to sire exceptional foals with mares representing a broad range of diverse types and dam families meant his success as a sire in the largest Arabian gene pool on the planet was inevitable.
In 2002, a longtime client and business partner of Mazzei's, Dr. James Ferlita, indicated to Raymond his interest in securing a world-class stallion for his breeding program. Well into its second decade, the Ferlita Arabians program had already had considerable success as the source of multi-National English and Pleasure Driving Champion Kool Fire, multi-Regional, Scottsdale and Youth National Top Ten Champion Oso Alliste, as well as multi-Regional and National halter and performance winner TF Totally Kool. His early partnership with Mazzei led Ferlita to begin traveling to Poland in the late 1980's, during which he developed a keen interest in the Polish Arabian. These excursions eventually led to the importation of several promising young mares from Poland, a collection which, included *Edina - an eventual Regional Champion, US Top Ten and Canadian National Champion Mare.
Emboldened by Jim's interest to acquire a superlative sire, Mazzei commenced a worldwide search for a stallion with that rare triple-threat combination of perfect phenotype, a venerated pedigree and a proven siring record. Several long-distance inquiries and cross-continental trips later, Mazzei discovered that the horse he had highly valued and long admired in Poland for over a decade stood alone at the top of his list of choice stallions. So the phone call to Janow Podlaski was once again made; to the good fortune of Mazzei and Ferlita, the request to sell was met with the much more optimistic "we would be open to negotiation". The timing was right for Janow Podlaski, as ECAHO was entering his prime as a sire; with the reassurance that frozen semen could remain behind in Poland, Director Marek Trela was convinced that ECAHO should be granted the opportunity to achieve success on a grander scale. The affirmative response was all the encouragement Jim and Raymond needed; within days, they were on a plane to Warsaw to see their much desired stallion once again and to finalize the details with the Poles. With the frozen semen secured, the deal was done and the once "impossible" to purchase stallion was on his way to Southern California to begin the second successful stage of his life. As with every successive sire in his past for six generations, *ECAHO was destined to make his mark in his new home
Janow Podlaski expressed bittersweet sadness at the departure of ECAHO; for most at the stud, like the emblem of the organization after which he was named, ECAHO was the quintessential symbol of the Arabian horse in Poland. As both a show horse and sire, he had not only met, but wholeheartedly exceeded the expectations heaped upon him at birth. With the likes of Emanda, Olita, Palmeta, Salar, Alhambra and scores of other promising sons and daughters left behind, his incomparable legacy remains secure for generations to come.
For Mazzei, *ECAHO is irrefutably the best and most important horse he has ever imported. With the highest of expectations, he is confident *ECAHO will be a brilliant ambassador for the Polish Arabian horse in the West, as well as an icon for the Arabian breed. As promised, *ECAHO delivers on all fronts: phenotypically - as a sterling example of the Arabian stallion with extraordinary type, superb conformation and dynamic athleticism; and more importantly, genotypically - with an impressive siring record of champion get in the toughest international competition and a heritage representing the best and most prepotent Arabian bloodlines. In all ways, *ECAHO is the perfect blend of proven past with promising future - a contemporary Arabian with the most desirable attributes of the breed with the ability to consistently sire foals exhibiting those same qualities across a broad cross section of bloodlines.
*ECAHO's arrival in December has already generated considerable excitement with Arabian breeders across the country. Those who know his heritage are quick to book their best Polish-bred mares, with multiple breeding packages already committed for 2004. Those who are not familiar with *ECAHO, but who have had the privilege of seeing him in person in his new home at the Mekeel Ranch are so enamored, they too have altered breeding plans for the upcoming year to include *ECAHO, sending mares of predominantly American heritage to a stallion which, represents the qualities most universally sought after in the breed. The plan is to attract even larger legions of fans in Scottsdale, where *ECAHO will make his public debut, with the support of Ferlita, Mazzei and Janow Director Marek Trela. It is there that Dr. Ferlita expects the Arabian horse community to discover what he has always known - the *ECAHO is a superior equine of perfect conformation and versatile athletic ability representing the upper echelon of the Arabian breed, by demonstrating the highest level of quality, refinement, presence and ideal type. In the tradition of his great-great-great-grandsire Skowronek, *ECAHO stands poised with enormous potential to propel the breed forward into the 21st century to the benefit of us all.