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3.
Back in Arabia—Completing the Circle
By Albert W. Harris
I had thought to write of Mr. Hopkins' feats of horsemanship on his Mustangs,
of his meeting Ras Rasmussen in Paris, and of their probable conversations regarding
the Mustangs and Rasmussen's Arabs; of how these Mustangs, because of the fact
that there were no other horses for hundreds of years in the places where they
lived and bred, had been able to maintain the purity of blood and characteristics
of the old war horses of Arabia; of the Barbary States; of Spain; of Mexico; and
as war horses of the Indians for upwards of twelve hundred years.
Reading again Mr. Hopkins' letters, I conclude that the facts as presented
by Mr. Hopkins cover all I should like to say and will be more interesting
and conclusive, so they are given here. If the reader gets the thrill I
got when Mr. Hopkins on Hidalgo, carrying the blood of the breed that left
Arabia in 647, meets his forebears' blood in the most grueling test the
Arabs ask of their horses, namely, 3,000 miles, and proves his superiority,
it will not be surprising.
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February
18, 1940
"My dear Mr. Harris:
"Mr. Charles B. Roth, whom I esteem very highly, has asked me to answer
your questions in your letter to him dated February 4th and I hasten to do this
so that you may have the information first hand.
"The little stallion Joe that I rode from Galveston, Texas, to
Rutland, Vermont, in 1886, was dark buckskin in color with black tips,
mane and tail, weight about 800 pounds. He was caught as a wild Indian
pony running with a band in the Shoshone Valley, Wyoming, and I happened
to get him in this way: Buffalo Jones bought him with a number of
unbroken ponies; Joe was very wild—the horsebreakers soon gave
up all hopes of breaking him. As I was at the time riding as a dropper
for Jones that winter on the buffalo runs, the pony was given to me
as a hopeless outlaw, but in two months' time of careful handling
I rode him on the runs. When he got used to the crack of the gun and
other things that went with the chase, Joe was the best buffalo horse
I ever rode and he never seemed to tire. So far as I know, Joe was
not related in any way to the White-y family of Indian ponies.
"The White-y family, as I call them, started with a small white
mare—even her eyes were white. This little 700-pound mare belonged
to one of the Sioux Indians, Red Calf by name. The Indians had been
put on Pine Ridge Reservation, their droves of ponies were taken away,
leaving only two ponies to each tepee. This Indian, Red Calf, asked
me to buy the little White-y, as he thought a lot of her, and Red
Calf also told me that the mare could lope along all day without tiring.
Red Calf and I had played together as small boys (his father was a
Government scout at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, where I was born) and we
were still the best of friends. The following morning after I had
talked with Red Calf I bought White-y from General George Crook (I
was a dispatch rider for him) for three silver dollars. The mare raised
five colts for me—four of them were dark cream in color with
white manes and tails and the fifth colt was spotted cream and white.
That spotted mare was the dam of Hidalgo, the stallion that weighed
950 pounds. It is my personal opinion that Hidalgo was the greatest
endurance horse that ever carried a rider.
"I mention
that I did not cross these ponies with other blood, but got the best stallion
that could be found of the Indian pony blood.
"I bought White-y
the year 1877 and continued raising colts from the strain. The last horse of that
strain, a stallion named Chenango, died at the age of twenty-two (1926) the year
before my friend King Stanley passed on. Most of these ponies weighed about 950
pounds, although the starting stock weighed between seven and eight hundred pounds.
"I believe the Indian ponies are without doubt horses that were
brought here by the Spanish—the Mustang were the same horse until
other horses got mixed with them, horses that got away from the Army
and wagon trains during the troubles with the wild bands. The Indians
kept their ponies herded and in that way kept their blood clear. Inbreeding
was the cause of their ponies being so small.
"I sincerely hope that your article will be highly successful and I
assure you I shall be pleased to answer any questions within my ability that you
might ask."
March 9, 1940
"My dear Mr.
Harris:
"This was how my going to Arabia came about: During the World's
Fair in Paris, France, I was contesting against cavalry men of all
nations of the World—men who had been picked by their own government
and sent there. Naturally I met many good horsemen, among them one
Ras Rasmussen, who controlled the entire camel freight in Aden, Arabia.
He seemed to take quite an interest in me, told me of the endurance
rides that took place in his country every year and asked me to visit
there. He spoke particularly of one ride that was run every year for
more than a thousand years and no one but Arabs rode in that race.
He was a great horseman of that country and he brought some of his
horses to the Fair; they were the best I'd ever seen, but they were
small. After the contest was over, at the end of the Fair, 1889, our
Show got ready for the voyage back home, and one morning Nathan Salisbury
sent for me and with him was Ras R. I got the greatest surprise of
my life when they told me I was to go to Arabia! The funds for the
trip were furnished by the Congress of Rough Riders of the World.
"I shipped three of my ponies—one called Hidalgo and two
of his half brothers; all of them cream and white spotted stallions.
Hidalgo was eight years old then and I trained him for the long ride.
He was as fine a looker as could be found. I had ridden him on some
hard rides and knew what he could do if called upon. The long ride
started from Aden (this was in 1890); we rode along the Gulf to Syria,
then inland along the borders of the two countries. Much of this ride
was over limestone country, the only feed available were plants called
vatches and to my surprise these weeds were very nourishing food for
our horses if they were dry—some of the riders fed the vatches
green. The only grain was barley. Over one hundred horses started
in that ride; many were ruled out the first week. My Hidalgo began
passing other horses on the fourteenth day of the ride and gradually
moved up toward the front every day. Hidalgo reached the finish stone
thirty-three hours of actual travel ahead of the second horse. I was
sixty-eight days in all on that ride of over 3,000 miles; there were
a few days that we rested. Some of the way was over loose sand and
the air was very dry and hot and water scarce. My horse lost quite
a lot of flesh, still he finished strong and in good spirit.
"I left him in that land of fine horses where he belonged. I
heard of him often, though, until he died—at the age of twenty-eight.
Ras R. raised many fine colts from Hidalgo and Arab mares. Most of
these colts were pure white; strange how the color will throw back
at times.
"I am returning herewith the pictures you so kindly enclosed
with your letter, for I know how important they are at times with
most horsemen."
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Naturally
I met many good horsemen, among them one Ras Rasmussen,
who controlled the entire camel freight in Aden, Arabia. He seemed
to take quite an
interest in me, told me of the endurance rides that took place in
his country every year
and asked me to visit there. He spoke particularly of one ride that
was run every year
for more than a thousand years and no one but Arabs rode in that race.
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Red Calf, the Shoshone Indian who persuaded Mr. Hopkins
to buy the little Mustang mare White-y from General Crook, is of course,
one of the essential actors in this drama, but the climax is reached when
this incomparable horseman on his wonderful Mustang Hidalgo takes the measure
of the best horsemen and horses in all Arabia. When Mr. Hopkins is asked
to leave Hidalgo in Arabia for breeding purposes and we realize that the
blood has made the circle and been joined again with the bloodstream of
its Arab ancestors, the greatest of war horses, this part of the story is
told.
The statuette of Hidalgo and Indian on the adjoining page is characteristic
of the Indian war horse. Mr. Hopkins says it is a good likeness of the horse,
including his tail carriage.
This might well be a companion piece to the famous statue of the Indian
on his horse overlooking the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco, entitled "The
End of the Trail." As it happens, Hidalgo was headed for Arabia, so
this title might be "The Beginning of a New Trail."
To Frank Hopkins we can show our appreciation of his horsemanship and generous
contribution to our efforts in no more fitting way than to express to him
the sentiment contained in Charley Russell's letter to Edward Borein.
To Frank Hopkins:
"If hosses were health,
I'd comb the range and trim every band I knew
You'd go to the end of a long long trail
with a top hoss under you."
Albert Harris won America's first government-organized endurance race
in 1919. He was president of the Arabian Horse Registry from 1926-1942,
and author of the famed book, Blood of
the Arab. |
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