CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS Regions I and II H eritage Com m ittee 1999 FOREWORD When we decided to present a history of IAHA’s first fifty years, we didn’t want to simply chronicle names, dates and activities. Anyone could do that. We wanted this to be special. As we went about our research, we stumbled across Earle and Frances Hurlbutt’s series on IAHA’s first 25 years that appeared in the Arabian Horse World in the late 1970’s. Then it hit us!! Why not let those who were most intimately involved tell the story for us? Let's get the story directly from the horse’s mouth! We telephoned Denise Hearst at the Arabian Horse World and shared our idea with her. Without hesitation, she gave us permission to reprint the article. Now we were on our way! Next, we contacted all of the Past Presidents of IAHA that we could locate; in some cases, we gathered our information from spouses, trainers, children, etc. It was our plan to begin with the Hurlbutts’ history, augment it with information from as many Past Presidents as possible, and end with Tom Connelly’s thoughts on his first year as IAHA’s current President. So here it is! We would like to thank Denise Hearst and the Arabian Horse World, as well as Sue Brown who donated her time and talent helping us prepare this history for printing. We are both grateful for and proud of the original art that was created specifically for us by the talented artist, Johanne Strong. In addition, we would like to thank all of the breeders, owners and friends who shared photographs from their personal collections with us, and the members of IAHA’s staff for all of the help they have given us. Finally, we would like to thank all of the Past Presidents and their families who have wholeheartedly supported this project. We begin our story with the editorial that accompanied the first installment of the Hurlbutts history in the October 1976 issue of the Arabian Horse World. It is followed by the text of the Hurlbutts’ history of IAHA’s first 25 years. Finally, we present information from most of the other Past Presidents of IAHA, bringing you up to the present date. We hope you enjoy reading this history as much as we have enjoyed putting it together for you. The Regions I and II Heritage Committee Ginger Detterman, Editor & Publisher THIS PUBLICATION IS A LIMITED FIRST EDITION. THIS IS COPY # o f 1000. Copyright ©, 1999 by Ginger Detterman. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted C over : The Listening Mare o f the Anazeh by George Ford Morris, 1951. in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including This painting was used for the first four color cover on any Arabian magazine photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval in the U.S.A., appearing on the cover of the May 1953 Arabian Horse News. system, without prior written permission from the publisher. Art provided courtesy of Bob & Ginger Detterman. who knows Earle and Frances Hurlbutt will Anyone appreciate our delight one day last summer when a shiny new (huge) motorhome drove in and who should get out but those two charming people. To many they are known as “the last owners of *WITEZ II, ” and Frances has many contacts from the “*WITEZ II Fan Club” she kept so active for many years. Earle is remembered also for being “the father of International”— the man whose enthusiasm, expertise, and just plain dogged­ ness saw International from its iffy beginnings through many storms to its pres­ ent position as one of the most vigorous and respected breed organizations in existence today (notwithstanding its recent financial problems due mainly to “overreach ”). Anyone who knows the Hurlbutts also knows they are very purposeful human beings, so along with enjoying the socializing we wondered exactly why we had been so honored as to get a visit from this couple—who, incidentally, had recent­ ly driven their motor home 13,000 miles the length and breadth of the U.S.A. and Canada. Considering that Earle first saw the light of day before the turn of the century and Frances had seen the light of quite a few days with him, this is an unbe­ lievably bold undertaking. (But the Hurlbutts are so full of vitality and health that it hardly seems worthy of comment, and certainly not unbelievable, considering the participants.) Anyhow, it turns out that the Hurlbutts have written the History of the International Arabian Horse Association. To give newcomers some idea of the work and wisdom that has gone into that organization, and to provide oldtimers with some nostalgic glimpses back in time, they asked if we would be interested in serializing it in WORLD. INTERESTED! We about grabbed it out of their hands! We are grateful to present it to you now — may it inspire you as it inspired us. (Reprinted from the Arabian Horse World - October 1976) H ISTO RY OF TH E I INTERNATIONAL ,/V r A BIA N H ORSE ^ASSOCIATION by E. E. Hurlbutt (assisted by Frances Hurlbutt) lthough Arabian horses had been in the United States before the Civil War, very few people A really knew what they looked like. Ideas ranged from almost mythical fire breathing steeds to the heavy white circus horses billed as Arabian. Sometimes an unscrupulous horse dealer would capitalize on the unruly antics of a fractious animal by falsely assuring an unsuspecting prospect, “That’s the ARABIAN in him!” On September 2, 1908, at a meeting in the Hotel Belmont, New York City, the Arabian Horse Club of America was founded. Officers were James A. Lawrence, president; Peter B. Bradley, vice-president; Homer Davenport, second vice-president; H. K. Bush-Brown, secretary and treasurer; and the fifth director was Charles Arthur Moore, Jr. In 1909 the U. S. Department of Agriculture approved the Stud Book, establishing the Club as a national registry. Seventy one purebred Arabians had already been registered and the first Arabian Stud Book was issued. The purpose of the Club was “to encourage and promote the Arab horse.” Up to 1920 promotional activities were represented by Spencer Borden’s two books, “The Arab Horse” and “What Horse for the Cavalry” and two Cavalry Endurance Rides, one in 1919 and the second one in 1920 with the Arabian coming in with flying colors. In 1925 W. K. Kellogg founded the Kellogg Ranch at Pomona, California. Their popular Sunday exhibitions, demonstrating the versatility of the Arabian horse, introduced the breed to many visitors for the first time. Glamour and interest were added when motion picture studios used these horses in their productions and in publicity stills with such stars as Laura LaPlante, Tyrone Power, Rudolph Valentino and Will Rogers. Yet by 1944 there were no Arabian horse shows, no Arabian classes in shows, no Arabian horse associations, no Arabian horse magazines, and most of the books on the subject were out of print and not even available in the library. Subscribing to a clipping service for pictures or data on the Arabian horse brought no results. The few Arabian owners sought out others, eager to exchange books, pedigree information and to admire the horses. After 36 years only 2,924 Arabian horses had been registered and, since some of them had been foaled before the turn of the century, many of them were dead. It was at this time that Arabian horse owners Warren and Joanna Phillips of Glendale, California, decided something should be done to promote the Arabian horse. The Registry was consulted, and correspondence between Albert W. Harris, its president, and Joanna Phillips indicated no desire on the part of the Registry to participate in any activities except registration and transfer of Arabian horses. On December 12, 1944, the Phillipses invited a group of owners to their home to discuss the advantages of an Arabian association. The Arabian Horse Breeders’ Society of California (later the Arabian Horse Association of Southern California) was formed with 20 members, the first permanent Arabian horse association in the United States. They realized the need for cooperation of owners with each other as well as with other horse organizations to defeat legislation being enacted to the detriment of the Arabian and horses in general. At first, monthly meetings were held at owners’ ranches but soon interest and membership increased until it was necessary to set a definite meeting place at a restaurant. Most of the members had their horses only for pleasure riding or backyard pets. However, when attending open or other breed shows they were disappointed that there were no classes for Arabians — the foundation stock of all the light horse breeds — “after all, our horses are better looking and smarter, but nobody knows it but us.” Soon plans were being made for their own Arabian Horse Show. Colonel Cecil Edwards and Dr. Wayne Shipley of the Kellogg Ranch, and other horsemen, came to the meetings as guest speakers to demonstrate how to prepare horses for the show ring and how to show them. And so a one-day show was held in September 1945 at the Hunter Trials Course in the arroyo above the Pasadena Rose Bowl. This was to be a ‘dress rehearsal’ to give both horses and owners a little experience before braving open shows. Ready or not, nearly every member entered, sure that he had the best horse — some decked out in fancy ribbons — one even marcelled like a prize bull.