The Gazlan - Gazal Line  by Dr. Fritz Gramatzki - 1979


The most significant sire line today, both in numbers and influence, is that of Gazlan - Gazal. We will now follow this line from its beginnings, documenting the extent of its influence in the breed today.

The foundation sire of this line was the grey stallion Gazlan, foaled in 1840, whose background is bescribed by Graf Wrangel in "Horse Breeding in Hungary" as follows: „This stallion was sired by Hamdanie Semri out of the mare Tamorie Koheili, of the Koheilan family. Purchased from the Anazeh Would Ali bedouins in the plain of Mezeribe." The grey stallion Gazlan was bred to the roan Arabian mare Groczana, who was by the grey Tadmor db out of the chestnut mare Gidran, an original Arabian of the Seglavy Jidran strain.

This mating produced the bay colt Gazlan 1864, who was sold as a two-year-old to the royal stud of Lipizza. In May 1879, the royal Hungarian state stud of Babolna bought this stallion for 500 Ft. Wrangel gives the stallion's height as 1.74 m, which in modern measurements would be around 1.64 m - an impressive size.

This tallness must have been a genetic trait of this strong foundation sire, for the entire line descended from him shows a tendency towards large size and strong bone. Unfortunately no further description is given of this bay Gazlan, but no doubt he was heavily used at Babolna, as his size and bone must have made him ideal as a sire of versatile working horses such as Babolna was aiming to breed. His son, the bay Gazlan I, and grandson Gazal were purebred Arabians. With them, the purebred sire line of Gazlan died out at Babolna. At the Rumanian state stud of Mangalia, purebred Arabians with Gazlan blood still exist today.

The first chief Shagya-sire of this line was the bay Gazal I, foaled in 1903. His dam was 177 Shagya X. He is particularly influential through his son Gazal II, foaled in 1922, whom Dr. E. Frielinghaus, who has seen him, describes as follows: Gazal II, foaled in 1922 at Babolna. Measurements: height 157 cm, girth 180 cm, bone 19,25 cm. The most successful sire at the stud. Excellent pedigree with symmetrical inbreeding: his sire and dam are related 4 times through: 1. Gazlan I (purebred). 2. Jussuf (purebred), twice in the sire's and four times in the dam's pedigree. 3. O'Bajan db, 4. Shagya VIII. Excellent Arabian Type (of the 16 ancestors in the 4th generation, 10 are purebred Arabians). A wonderfully expressive, dry, short head with small ears, an unusually long, fine neck, high withers, powerful shoulders, short back, long croup, deep flanks; the legs are a bit too long. This single fault, together with the uniquely beautiful head and neck, has influenced practically the entire look of the stud, as he was heavily used (36 broodmares are his daughters). A tendency towards long legs has also been passed on by other stallions (for example, Jussuf IV). The legs are of sufficient strength and dry, with particularly good hocks.

This significant stallion Gazal II had the strongest influence on the broodmare band at Babolna. His daughters are characterized by a great elegance, refinement, strength, and particularly by their rhythmic and powerful movement under saddle as well as in harness. 10 of Gazal II's sons became chief sires, foremost among them Gazal VII, a stallion of international siginificance. His blood has not only formed the broodmare band of Babolna to a large extent, but has also had a decisive influence on the Shagya breed in Germany.

 Gazal VII was born during the War, in the year 1944 during the evacuation of the Babolna Stud to Bergstetten near Donauwörth. Here he grew up during the first 3 years of his life, until he returned to Babolna with the other horses in 1947. The stallion had developed well, was used for 6 years as a sire in the country and in that time sired 203 foals. His prepotence brought him to the attention of the stud management, and he was brought back to Babolna as a chief sire and during the next 15 years stamped his type on the entire broodmare band. It was an event of great significance for the breed, when this important sire came to West Germany at the age of 23 to stand at the stud of Dr. Albert Schmidt-Ankum. After his arrival there, I wrote the following enthusiastic description in the December 1967 issue of the Sankt Georg: „Gazal VII is 23 years old. When he comes out of his stable at Ankum and stands up, all the fire of the Arabian breed shines from his eyes, nostrils and the wonderful head that seems carved from some precious material, set upon a well-placed and nobly shaped neck. His entire appearance shows the definite look of the Arabian. The breeder's eye dwells with delight on the fine topline, the high withers, the strong back well made to take a saddle, and a croup well shaped for an Arabian. The flanks are deep, though he appears slightly tucked-up at present, not having quite acclimatized to the change from Hungary to Oldenburg. The sound, strong legs with well-defined knees and hocks show no sign of age. Under the fine silky coat, veins, sinews and the movement of the muscles are clearly visible. It should be mentioned that his long lines and rectangular shape are exceptional in an Arabian, together with a height of almost 1,60 m."

Gazal VII did not disappoint the hopes German breeders set in him. The best Shagya mares in the country were brought to him to be bred, and he was also used on select mares of other light horse breeds (see Schilke in No. 1 and Löwe in No. 2 of Arabische Pferde). The influence he had during his 7 years at Ankum is unique, continuing and perhaps even exceeding the influence he already had at Babolna. This goes for his sons as well as for his typey, usually tall daughters.

Altogether there are 19 licensed sons of Gazal VII at stud in Germany, including 5 that were imported from Babolna. Most of them are still active today. The oldest of them is Gazal I, 23 years old at the time of this writing, owned by Mrs. Magnussen, Seehof Stud. His dam is the black mare Olympia by O'Bajan X. His youngest son, Letzter Gazal, foaled in 1975 out of Puszta by Jussuf VII, is used as a sire by Gier, Neumünster/Holstein,

Special mention should be made of the grey stallion Czardas, who was also used to refine the Hanoverian breed. He has sired 4 licensed stallions, among them the tall, strong Amor, foaled in 1971 out of Anka by Shagya XXXVI. Gazal, foaled in 1956 out of 295 Kuhaylan Zaid (purebred), had a strong influence on the East Friesian breed of light horses. His get were characterized by a strong jumping ability and made excellent show jumpers. This son of Gazal VII was also used at the Trakehner studs of Birkhausen and Rantzau.

A grandson of Gazal VII was the winner at the 1978 stallion licensing at Kranichstein, the bay Nasrallah (1975, by Bartok out of Nedda by Jussuf VII), a stallion with plenty of type and presence. He stands at the Urihof Stud owned by Mr. and Mrs. Buschmann, and it is to be hoped that this high quality stallion will get worthy mares to breed.

The Gazal VII sons and grandsons regularly achieve excellent results at the stallion performance trials, and many of them are regularly used as show jumpers. One of the most versatile stallions, who has been successful in many endurance rides, jumping competitions and military events, is the grey Gazal VII-9. Together with his owner Scarlett Bertram, he has also won flat races. Unfortunately, this tough, grey stallion is not much used for breeding. The same goes for the black stallion Othello, who is equal to Gazal VII-9 in endurance, toughness and jumping ability. Mention should also be made of the powerful grey stallion Balaton, owned by Mrs. Pack, a sure jumper and a versatile performance horse. Balaton was a three time World Champion Grand Prix stallion at dressage. The largest collections of Gazal VIl descendants can be found at the Reichshof Stud with the stallion Balaton and the mares Eboli, Zerline, and Ziska, and at the Seehof Stud through the stallion Gazal I and the champion mares Gazala and Galina.

At Babolna, no Gazal stallion was used during the 10 years following the exportation of Gazal VII. Only in 1978, the stud management brought back a typey Gazal VII son who had been used in the country. This stallion, now known as Gazal IX, was foaled in 1967 out of the grey mare 34 Kemir II (out of 89 Shagya XXXI, out of 284 Gazal II). This reintroduction of Gazal blood into the Babolna herd is to be welcomed, especially since Gazal IX, with his correct conformation and size, shows promise of improving upon the mares that are now often too light, and bringing back the classic Babolna model. Gazal IX is notable for a fine face, a long, elegant neck, an excellent back, good topline, and hard, strong legs. His way of going is powerful and elegant. Among the present-day sires of pure Shagya descent at Babolna, the noble Gazal IX must rank as the finest.

All this goes to show that the Gazlan-Gazal line is by far the most numerous in the Shagya's in this country. Taking into account the fact that many mares also carry a high percentage of this blood, one can estimate just how much our breeding programs are influenced by this line. Under the circumstances, a certain amount of often close inbreeding cannot be avoided. There are now many results of such inbreeding to show that not only have no lethal factors or undesirable characteristics (for example, too light horses) appeared, but quite on the contrary, the resulting horses show an increased robustness in their entire conformation, elegance and beauty of movement as well as character, intelligence and sweet dispositions that make them particularly pleasant to handle. Gazlan-Gazal line, with its tendency to increase size and bone, forms the desired basis for breeding Arabians that answer to the modern requirements for riding horses as well in their size and conformation as in their intelligence, obedience, and will to perform. If a loss of type should occur along with the increased size, as occasionally happens, breeders should carefully use select purebred stallions whose conformation, size and particularly Arabian type make them suitable to bring back type without losing the characteristics of the Shagya breed.