In The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine Collectors’ Edition 2021, we ran an in-depth feature on the legacy Monogramm through his incredible daughters. We have been serialising this feature here on TheArabianMagazine.Com over the last month, and this is the final part.
For part one in this feature, click here.
For part two in this feature, click here.
For part three in this feature, click here.
And still there are more…
While none of Monogramm’s other Michałów-bred chestnut daughters could ever surpass the improbable standards set by Kwestura and Fallada, several others did go on to find acclaim both in the international show-ring and as matrons of merit.
The flamboyant Zalotna (ex Zaleta by Piechur) was both All Scandinavian Champion and Swedish National Reserve Champion, while the always dynamic Demona (ex Dalida by Probat) was a Polish National Top Five Champion and the dam of twice Polish National Silver Champion Drabant (by Gazal al Shaqab) and his full sister Dama Kier, Emerald Trophy Bronze Champion Mare.
Demona (ex Dalida by Probat). Credit Stuart Vesty
Dama Kier (Gazal al Shaqab x Demona by Monogramm). Credit Sylwia Iłenda
Gracja-Bis (ex Grenada by Set) is best remembered as the dam of Swedish National Champion as well as World and European Silver Champion Girlan-Bey (by Pesal), whereas Wyborna (ex Wybranka by Piechur) is celebrated as the dam of Belgian Bronze National Champion Wojda (by QR Marc), and KAAHC Gold Champion and Scottsdale All Arabian class winner Wkra (by Gazal al Shaqab).
Girlan Bey (Pesal x Gracja-Bis by Monogramm). Credit Erwin Escher
Ekelzja (ex Erudycja by Probat) would prove to be an invaluable foundation mare for Słowianin Arabians, a leading Polish private breeder, while Mina (ex Minerwa by Piechur), a rare Monogramm bay, would lead the way for Józef and Małgorzata Pietrzak, producing several important progeny and champion show horses. Of all the bay daughters of Monogramm, the most enduring has proven to be Martynika (ex Martyna by Europejczyk), maternal great-granddam to twice Polish National Gold Champion as well as World and All Nations’ Cup Gold Champion Morion (Kahil al Shaqab x Mesalina by Ekstern), a current chief sire in Poland and a leading progenitor of the newest generation of champions.
Morion (Kahil al Shaqab x Mesalina by Ekstern) – double Monogramm. Credit Erwin Escher
An enduring legacy
The word ‘unprecedented’ has now become so synonymous with Monogramm and his descendants, it seems almost improbable to conceive that a mere quarter century ago, Arabian sires did not dominate class line-ups and winners’ circles at elite level events around the world, nor did these same horses continue to be honoured with the most prestigious accolades in the breed across two full decades of achievement.
From the earliest days in Poland when the Monogramm daughters stood first through fifth in the filly classes, to the mind-boggling high-scoring escapades of those same females as eleven aand older senior mares, dominating the competition at every leg of the Triple Crown, and filling half the Top Ten at the World Championships while taking home Gold in the process, the achievement of these mares is unquestionably the stuff of legend.
We are unlikely to ever see again in our lifetimes the likes of these magnificent mares, energising and inspiring the world stage with supreme confidence and poise in such a treasured collection.
Paraphrasing an unforgettable conversation with Emma Maxwell: “For every Monogramm daughter in the winner’s circle at any of the Triple Crown shows, there are undoubtedly ten more like her back at Michałów that have yet to step foot into a show-ring!” – such were the heady days of the Monogramm daughters of Poland. For those of us fortunate to have borne witness to these extraordinary moments with these exquisite mares, they shall remain some of the most treasured and transformative in our long history and connection with the Arabian breed.
The Monogramm influence in the class for mares aged eleven and over at the 2014 Polish National Show: (l-r) 1st Georgia, 2nd Espadrilla, 3rd Laranda (by the Monogramm son Ekstern out of Larissa by Eukaliptus) and 4th Embra. Credit Shannon Lawlor
Participants at the Arabian Breeders Insights Tour in 2015 with seven legendary daughters of Monogramm still in residence at Michałów (l-r): Embra, Emmona, Emocja, Espadrilla, Georgia, Palmira and Zagrobla
For those professionals blessed with the opportunity to stand alongside and guide the superlative daughters of Monogramm in the show-ring, especially Mariusz Liśkiewicz, Greg Gallún, Michael Byatt, Frank Spönle, and Raphael Curti, we thank you for showcasing these precious pearls at their best and for sharing with the world the pinnacle of what can now be expected of the Arabian mare on display. Perhaps no one has guided more Monogramm progeny to glory, nor knows their dispositions, quirks and all, better than Mariusz, chief training specialist at Michałów, who literally owes his start as a handler of Arabian show horses to the improbably gifted get of Monogramm. That magical moment with Zagrobla under the spotlight in Paris in 2000, when the era of dominance of the Monogramm progeny was just beginning to gain unstoppable velocity, is a quintessential snapshot of the Arabian breed at its best, and a fitting tribute to not only the enduring legacy of the Polish Arabian to the breed at large, but of the indispensable bond we share with this most noble and ancient of equine breeds.
Author Scott Benjamin (left) with Georgia. Credit Fotograf Mattsson
No tribute to Monogramm, who passed away in 2019, would be complete without honouring those who made his ascendancy as an uncompromising breed legend a possibility. This begins with his breeders, Richard and Kay Patterson, and his life-long owners, Bill, Meredith and Shilo Bishop, who possessed both the foresight and the generosity to share their treasured stallion with the world when they partnered with Poland. To the visionary breeding team at Michałów – the late Director Ignacy Jaworowski, Deputy Director Urszula Białobok and former Managing Director Jerzy Białobok – the world owes you an immense debt of gratitude for investing in the future of Michałów with Monogramm and for breeding him to so many of your treasured mares to him without reservation. The phenomenal success that was created from this stroke of breeding genius is the gift that continues to keep giving to the Arabian breed worldwide, year after year after glorious year. One stud, utilising one stallion, can truly change the world, irrevocably, for the better…
Monogramm as an aged stallion in California. Credit Fotograf Mattsson
First printed in The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine Collectors’ Edition 2021.
You can read more features from The Arabian Breeders’ Magazine here.
