Rosewood Arabians : GG Jabask, A Memorial Tribute

By Mary Jane Parkinson

"Probably the best and most lasting tribute to GG Jabask is his 1996 foal crop here at Echo Ranch and Rosewood Arabians," says Karla Wacker, who, with husband Paul, and her parents Don and Ardella Schmidt, owned the stallion at the time of his death last December. "Fifteen GGs were foaled this year, with one more due in October (so far we have five fillies). This is the best foal crop we've ever had, and our clients feel the same about theirs. Look at our fillies standing together and you know you're looking at GG daughters. We're delighted to have fillies of course; building up a top broodmare band was one of our objectives when we bought GG late in 1992."

The 1997 show rings will see the Wackers' three year olds compete for the first time, some of them in English pleasure. "The youngsters tend to be very growthy, so they're hard to show. Plus, I have concerns about showing yearlings. It's hard on them," Karla states. "For GG's first Rosewood-and Echo-bred foal crop, we bred mostly English-type mares, English pleasure being our forté here. We were pleased with the short backs - a major GG contribution - the long legs, the added size, the strong loins, and the general upgrading. For 1995 foals, we added some halter-type mares, including some that my parents and we had bred. Those foals turned out to be some of the most outstanding of the 1995 crop. Overall, of the three foal crops, our best results have been with *Bask-, Khemosabi-, and Barbary-related mares. Including one very special one - Giovanna ER - out of the Barbary daughter Dreams Delight ( x RR Windys Dream by Fire Wind). This filly has the longest neck I've ever seen, and is tall, graceful, and elegant, all in a beautiful chestnut coat with auburn highlights. She's our halter prospect for 1997."

Even though GG Jabask was a U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion, Paul and Karla think of him as an English pleasure horse as much as a halter horse. "With his nice short back, which he consistently passed on, his offspring are able to engage their rear ends and really move on," says Karla. "And the GGs have such long necks that they just set up beautifully in the bridle. We had mares with good front-end motion, so the combination is working for us. GG Jabask (*Bask x Jalana by *Serafix), bred by Carl Newton,

is a fine tribute to the merit of the *Bask/*Serafix cross - the excellent rear ends from *Serafix, the excellent front ends from *Bask, and the combination generally producing more size. To me, GG looked totally different from other *Bask sons, and I believe it was the *Serafix that made the difference."

From his very early years in the show ring, GG Jabask showed his aptitude for both halter and performance. He started out with halter as a youngster in his Texas years, then added English pleasure, pleasure driving, and informal combination wins, along with working cattle and some reining work. In the mid-1980s, he hit the top in halter competition: 1979 and 1983 Scottsdale Top Ten, 1984 Canadian Top Ten Stallion and U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion, and 1985 U.S. Top Ten Stallion.

In the siring stakes, GG Jabask has a lifetime total of 921 registered foals through September 24, 1996, putting him in the Arabian Horse World Legacy Sires category, and ranking him as the No. 1 *Bask son in number of foals sired. Through the 1996 Canadian Nationals, he's recognized as the sire of 27 National winners who have collected eight National Championships (two halter, six performance), eight Reserves (three halter, five performance), and 41 Top Tens (13 halter, 28 performance). Eleven GG Jabask daughters have produced 12 National winners, and five GG Jabask sons have sired

eight National winners. In Regional competition, GG Jabask is recognized as the sire of 76 winners. At the end of the 1994 show season, 58 percent of GG's 100-plus champions had won Regional titles.

At Rosewood Arabians, GG considered himself the king of all in sight and was treated as royalty should be - with deference, respect, and admiration. At a spring 1993 welcoming party and a celebration of his twentieth birthday, he showed guests the show stuff of which he was made - the grandstanding, the posing, the leaping into the air, the look-at-me, look-at-me message to spectators during his presentation. About 250 persons showed up for a 1995 open house at which he again starred. "He just loved showing off for those events," Karla recalls. "Always quiet around the barns, but he knew the special occasions called for the show horse look and he gave it his all. A few weeks before he was put down, we had him out with our son Geoffrey (then about one and one-half) and my nephew Chris (about one), Geoffrey hanging

on his legs and scratching him underneath. GG did not move a muscle. But put an experienced handler on the end of the lead line and you had a snort-and-blow stallion.

"In the breeding barn, he was the most savvy stallion I've known and he had a special presence with the mares. All he had to do was strut down the barn aisle and the mares would run up to their doors and show heat to him. Our other stallions have to talk to the mares for awhile."

In October 1995, GG appeared a bit off his feed, Karla felt. Preliminary examinations showed nothing amiss, but exploratory surgery revealed a fist-sized malignancy in the stomach. Veterinarians gave him two months to a year to live. For the first two months at home, he appeared the healthy happy horse, then took a sudden downhill turn. "We had mares artificially cycled ready to breed to him and could have made him last a few more days, but I just couldn't do that to him. We put him down that day - December 21, 1995," says Karla. "He's buried near my parents' Echo Ranch at Devore, California, in the San Bernardino foothills.

"I always thought GG would be here with us for many years, possibly not breeding, but still vital and gracing us with his presence. So losing him was a terrible blow to the whole family - my father was so devastated he was ready to get out of the horse business. Then the 1996 foals started arriving, - he's re-energized and enthusiastic again."

For the Wackers and the Schmidts, the 1997 challenge is deciding on suitable stallions for the GG daughters. They're thinking in terms of a top English pleasure horse to add even more motion, one that will keep the smooth bodies and the type already established there. A successor to GG Jabask? The Wackers and the Schmidts have high hopes for Hennessy ER, a chestnut yearling colt, bred by the Schmidts, out of the Traditio daughter Mandoleen Rain ER, who is out of a Barbary daughter. "Very, very pretty," says Karla. "Very hooky in the neck, a lot of hock, uses himself really well. Hennessy's dam was bred by my parents, so he represents several generations of our breeding efforts.

"We're so fortunate to have had GG in our lives," Karla comments. "From childhood, I dreamed of knowing such an animal, but never dreamed of a stallion like GG in my own barn. We valued him as a *Bask son, but even more for himself. We promised him when he arrived that he'd never want for anything, and I know he never did. We - and our clients - walk our pastures and paddocks each day and see the reflections of GG in his beautiful, athletic and personable offspringhis legacy to the breed."

GG Jazzy Jabask

"GG Jazzy Jabask takes after his sire in many ways, starting with his small shapely ears, long high-set neck, strong rear end, beautiful face, elegant motion, and quite an attitude," says Terri Derus (Deer Haven Arabians, Clintonville, Wisconsin) of her 1996 bay colt sired by GG Jabask.

"We spent months and months searching for just the right stallion for my mare Latifa El Masr (Focus Sable x Whisper of Bask by Super Stud). Through ads, we identified a number of potentials, contacted the farms to request videos, and reviewed them, but didn't find just the right one. However, a brochure from the Arabian Horse Trust Stallion Service Auction listed GG Jabask. As a *Bask son with a splendid show record, he caught my eye. Karla Wacker at Rosewood Arabians furnished a video and breeding information.

"The scenes of GG Jabask at liberty made the decision for us. We were totally captivated by the elegance and beauty, by the carriage, and by the look-at-me attitude. My mother and I said simultaneously, 'He's the one.' GG had everything we were looking for in a stallion - shapely ears, the long neck, strong hindquarters, excellent bloodlines, and a great show record to boot. We were sold and were so positive about him that we bid his entire stud fee in the Trust auction. Might as well, we figured, because if we didn't get the breeding through the Trust, we would have purchased it outright from Rosewood Arabians.

"The combination of GG and Latifa El Masr proved to be a great success. GG Jazzy Jabask ('Jazzy') brings us great joy; we would have liked to have been able to breed Latifa back. We hope that Jazzy will follow in his sire's footsteps in more ways than one."

Jalishah Bey

"I had many reasons for breeding my Bey Shah daughter CY Shahlina Bey (x FFA Kolamity by Kobalt) to GG Jabask," says Sherry Corey of Tapestry Arabians at Canyon Country, California. "Every time I saw a GG Jabask daughter in the show ring, I'd remind my husband Mike that someday I wanted to own a GG Jabask daughter because they have so much to offer to the Arabian breed. In 1994 at Scottsdale, I saw the beautiful filly RD Shahara Bey, a GG Jabask granddaughter sired by Bey Shah, and she confirmed my thoughts on GG Jabask as a breeding animal. My dream came true on April 7, 1995 when CY Shahlina Bey foaled a bay filly we named Jalishah Bey.

"We first visited GG Jabask at Rosewood Arabians in Norco, California, in 1994, and consider ourselves fortunate to have seen him then. A magnificent stallion - handsome and proud, with incredibly intelligent eyes. We miss you, GG."

Jabaskafire

"After a start showing my own and others' horses in 4-H and local Arabian shows, I went to Karho in Scottsdale in the early 1980s," says Kris Case, who with her husband Mike Schikora, owns Cynthiana Farm in Lafayette, Colorado. "This was the 'gilded age' of the Arabian horse business, and Scottsdale was very much the center of it all. Working at Karho encouraged stopping by at Lasma, just down the street, where I first saw the *Bask daughters, FF Summer Storm, Scarlet Lace, True Love, and Alove Note, to name just a few. The Scottsdale experience was invaluable in that it etched in my mind the type of horse I wanted to one day breed.

"About that same time, my mother and I attended the U.S. Nationals for the first time, and caught our first look at GG Jabask. We both stopped dead in our tracks and started paging through the program to identify this magnificent animal. A striking horse, so different from the rest, with his long elegant lines and upright carriage. His image remained in my mind until the day I got a chance to breed to him.

"Twelve years later that day came, and I chose the beautiful Barbary daughter Dreams Delight. I felt that Barbary and GG complemented each other both genotypically and phenotypically, and this breeding produced everything we had hoped for: our colt, Jabaskafire, foaled May 15, 1994.

His pedigree includes three lines to *Bask, four lines to Balalajka, and six Arabian Horse World 'Aristocrats' (mares that have produced four or more champions) in his first four generations. His tail female line goes to the great war mare *Wadduda. Jabaskafire shows many of the characteristics you would expect from this pedigree, including a long well-shaped neck set high, a lovely laid-back shoulder, great flexibility and balance, long legs, and fluid round motion.

"During his first year, Jabaskafire demonstrated his remarkable disposition. Because I was ill and rarely set foot in the barn, my husband Mike (a non-horse person who happened to marry into horses) cared for Jabaskafire. To my surprise and delight, Jabaskafire was a perfect gentleman and a great teacher for my husband, never once taking advantage of his inexperience, and the two are great friends.

"I respected and admired GG Jabask, both as a show horse and a sire. He offered unique qualities to breeders, and I'm thankful for the chance to be one of those breeders. Through the many sons and daughters GG left us, his impact will be felt for a long time, and I'm honored that Jabaskafire will be part of that picture."

JK Spartan

"We all seem to go through the same phases as we start out in the Arabian horse business," Sandy Markoff (Alexandra Arabians, Santa Rosa, California) reflects. "There's always someone ready to sell you a mare or a show horse, or just about anything your little heart desires. No different for us. We started out with a broodmare and bred her to a couple of different stallions and we had some cute foals, but for me, something was missing. I finally realized that I really wanted to be a breeder - to own my own stallion and to hand-pick my mares for him. Enter JK Spartan (GG Jabask x Euphoriaa by *Eukaliptus).

"Paul and I found him in Texas, a 'weedy' two-year-old in 1988. But he had qualities that caught my attention, among them a most incredible neck and front end. Not a stallion in our industry can compare with him. Even as a ten-year-old, he has not changed one bit. His length of neck, excellence of front end, tiny throatlatch, overall smoothness, and refinement remain intact. Best of all, he passes these qualities on to his get.

"As I became more familiar with Spartan's pedigree, and after seeing photos of GG Jabask, I began to see so many similarities. It was time to see Spartan's sire; I was fortunate that GG Jabask had moved to a farm nearby.

"My first look was unforgettable - one of the most impressive stallions I had ever seen. One glance told me Spartan was his sire's son. His size, body strength, length of neck, and extreme front end were like no other. GG Jabask gave JK Spartan the best of himself and Spartan passes on his sire's wonderful qualities to his foals. The legacy does truly live on.

"As the years go by, I see the Jabask influence, not only through Spartan, but through Jabask's wonderful daughters. As a breeder, I have grown to respect and admire GG Jabask for his consistent siring of champions in both halter and performance. Our world of Arabian horses can be proud to have the GG Jabask influence as part of the heritage."

SDA Lady Jabask

"The long journey of SDA Lady Jabask (GG Jabask x SDA Bey Elegance by Bay El Bey) from California to the December ice and snow of New England began with my reading an ad in the photo section in Arabian Horse World in 1992," says Eunice Raifstanger of Westwind Farm in Alford, Massachusetts. "I contacted Carl and Pat Hendershot of Trade Winds Farm in Tracy, California, where the filly was living, and they sent a video of her.

I saw what I was looking for. I'd been breeding horses for a number of years, but aside from my Half-Arabian mare, the filly promised to be my first venture into the world of purebred Arabian horses.

"Through a local farm and training barn, I had become aware of GG Jabask and his status as a sire, and from Arabian Horse World, I learned the value of the lines of *Bask and Bay El Bey, both represented in SDA Lady Jabask.

"So 'Abi' arrived here at six months of age, and from the time she stuck her long neck out of that huge trailer that cold and icy day, she has never disappointed. She is personality plus and has been a joy to own. She's been trained by Carolyn Churton of Pine Plains, New York, who rhapsodizes about her trainability - just one of her outstanding qualities. Their accomplishments in the show world - 1995 and 1996 Region 16 Reserve Champion Country English Pleasure Junior Horse - testify to the merit of this Arabian mare and her famous ancestors."

Leggacy

Dave and Mari Haus proudly own Leggacy, a 1996 filly by GG Jabask out of Khatee (by Kharibe), the dam of Khaffire, 1994 Canadian National Reserve Champion Stallion and U.S. Top Ten Stallion. After Khatee's five years out of production, GG Jabask was recommended to the Hauses by their son Mike, who was training at Rosewood. After the Hauses saw GG, they knew that he was just the right stallion and made another effort to breed her.

But after three months at Rosewood, she was returned "not in foal" and the Hauses were understandably disappointed. However, last March, Dave and Mari were ecstatic to find Kahtee looking very much in foal. In April 1996, she produced possibly her best filly. They named her Leggacy, as a tribute to her sire; she's currently preparing for her show career at Mike Haus Training Stable in Norco, California.

MC Slo Jabask

"We purchased MC Slo Jabask (GG Jabask x Slo Dansk by Gdansk) as a two-year-old in 1988," says owner Charlotte Pertz of Mellow Creek Arabians in Brooksville, Florida. "Even though he wasn't in the best of condition, we were attracted by his extremely long neck and his huge soft eye, his markings of four socks and a star, and his pretty and full black mane and tail.

"Once we got him home we nicknamed him 'Gilbert' for the hurricane that went through Florida at that time, and we began his basic training. We sent him to Jim Bowman at Lasma for a year of training, then brought him home and started showing him. We soon found his aptitude for country English pleasure. His first year out he went 1992 Region 12 Top Five and Region 14 Reserve Champion, and his career was under way."

In 1993 country English competition, Gilbert was Pro-Am Champion AOTR, Region 9 Champion AAOTR 18-39, Region 12 Reserve AAOTR 18-39, Region 14 Champion AOTR, and Buckeye Champion AOTR, all topped off by a U.S. Top Ten and all ridden by Charlotte's daughter Renee Pertz Croup. That same year, in halter, he brought in Top Five Gelding titles at Regions 9 and 14. In 1994, he repeated the Region 12 and U.S. Nationals performance titles; then in 1995 moved up to Region 12 Champion and U.S. National Reserve Champion. This year, he added more Regional performance titles.

"Gilbert is a special horse, and we are very fortunate to be able to own and show him," Charlotte comments. "His wins are special, too, because Renee has trained and showed him herself to these titles."