She worked with the Otts on the Blue Catalog, and Jane Llewellyn Ott gave her a lot of credit for the meticulous and dedicated research work she did on that project. She worked on the Al Khamsa Arabians, both volumes, with the same attention to detail and commitment to truth and faithful adherence to factual research. She became involved with the concepts that underlie the formation of IAHRONA, and she was a member of our Registry from 1972 to her untimely death. She served on the Board of Directors for two terms, was Vice President in 1987 and President in 1988. She was the Registry's Secretary from 1972 to 1978, and she was dedicated to the concept of continuing growth of IAHRONA. She carried on a continuing Question-and-Answer series with the readers of The ARABIAN HORSE FORUM, "the only UNCENSORED publication on earth", from its inception in July of 1976.

           In 1980, Diana married Frank Wiener, and they had a daughter, Robin. Allen Marston, her father, and her daughter are still members of IAHRONA. 1988 certainly had to be a terrible year for Allen. His wife, Signe, predeceased Diana by just a few months, and later that year, the love of Diana's life (aside from her husband, her parents and her daughter) HISANI NAFAL departed this life as well.

           He was a BLUE STAR horse, and he sure brought a lot of happiness into Diana's life. She showed him in halter and under Western saddle until she discovered that he really preferred the full bridle and English saddle. NAFAL also did very well in Native Costume classes. Aside from all that, he was the typical Arabian who will steal your heart at the blink of an eye.

           George comments, "The first time I met Diana and her mother Signe was in 1964 or early 1965 at Searles Arabian Farm in West Chicago. Her enthusiasm about desert-bred Arabians was overwhelming to me. For many years I would drop in at various farms that she recommended, and we'd follow it up with some very lengthy converstions on the phone. Of course, Diana was an employee of j"Ma Bell", and until the break-up of AT&T, she had nice fringe benefits as far as long-distance calls were concerned.

           "When Douglas Marshall imported IBN HAFIZA around 1970, I was one of the first people she called. She was just about as excited as I have ever seen her. She said, 'He has no Muniqi blood - if only Mrs. Ott will declare him a BLUE STAR" Well, that never happened, but Diana insisted on encouraging me to consider a breeding program along those lines. She was the driving forces that kept me involved in Blue Catalog horses. The breeding program that I have today - BLUE STAR with the *Ibn Hafiza blood - is the result of the friendship that I have today - BLUE STAR with the *Ibn Hafiza blood - is the result of the friendship and conversations of thirty years."

           A voice in the wilderness, Diana was a firm believer in, and a passionate advocate of, replacement breeding. From her research into the backgrounds of bedouin-source Arabians she was aware of the fact that the pool of this purest of all Arabians was shrinking, and in danger of becoming extinct. She published statistics that showed that of all Arabians registered, athe percentage of Al Khamsa horses dwindled from 81% in 1906 to 2% in 1974, while Davenport horses declined from 25% to .3% (one-third of one percent) during the same period. Her passionate plea was for owners of bedouin-source Arabians to practice replacement breeding before they were used for breeding in the general list environment. She urged the breeding of at least three replacement foals, breeding blood source to blood source, breeding within established breeding groups and matching family strains to family strains. Moreover, she felt that replacement breeding had to start as soon as a mare was capable of reproduction, that at least three replacement foals were necessary to guard against adversities, and that a number of different sires within the replacement group should be used. While it was not considered nearly as crucial with stallions, Diana cited a number of examples where mares had been put into the replacement program at an age where their reproductive capabilites had ceased. Susan Whitman, our registrar, became a follower of the principles advocated by Diana. She writes, "Diana advocated and recommended the preservation of the FADL-TURFA-SIRECHO horses some ten years before I got into BLUE STARS. At the time she recommended it, there were numerous horses in that group, all of which were in production, or able to be in production. Nobody listened to her. I came along and saw the need, bought IBN SIRECHO and tried to set it up. He died before it could get off the ground. Then I talked to the Searles about using DU FADL in IBN SIRECHO's place, and they agreed. But he was diagnosed with cancer before it could be implemented. I leased MARECHO and sent her to EL IAT, the last remaining F-T-S stallion. She had BINT MARECHO, and the repeat breeding produced a colt. BINT BINT TURFARA, also bred to EL IAT produced a stillborn colt by c-section. BINT IBN FADL produced an F-T-S colt by EL IAT, but he had difficulties and had to be gelded. My efforts cemented my friendship with Diana, because we just viewed preservation the same way. But it was too late to accomplish the goal, and the program died out. Today there are only 3 or 4 F-T-S horses, all but two out of production, just because nobody listened to Diana when it would have done some good and would really have been possible. She was an Oracle who was unappreciated in her own time."

           Diana published many articles on the subject of preservation and replacement breeding and on the BLUE STARS and the horses of the Babson Farm and the Maynesboro Stud in the BREEDERS SERVICE BULLITEN - the predecessor of today's Khamsat - and she participated in seminars and presentations on that subject with Al Khamsa. As a matter of fact, it was Diana and her mother Signe who coined the name "Al Khamsa".

           She had a very pleasant smile and was soft-spoken, but there was never any doubt about where she stood on an issue, especially when it came to her beloved BLUE STARS. It has been said that when you met her, you could not help but feel that she was born with the deep love for the Arabians that was such a big part of her life. Of course, she was very fortunate to have parents like Signe and Allen Marsten who supported her in her endeavors, as well as a devoted husband.

           She still has dedicated followers, a number of them in our own Registry, such as George Hooper and Susan Whitman, to name just a couple.

           If it is true that the good die young, it must be because they have not lived long enough to give in to the cruel dictates of the buying public and the show judges who demand a certain type and penalize any horse that does not conform to their ideas.

           But then, Diana would have had the courage of her convictions, and she would not have been swayed!

           We all miss you, Diana . . .

Internet Chat --

           It has come to our attention that somebody out there on the Internet is spreading the rumor that IAHRONA does not recognize horses of SKOWRONEK breeding. Heaven only knows where that rumor came from - and that's what it is, plain and simple.

           It would be extremely hard to find very many domestic-bred horses that do not have SKOWRONEK, or his son *RAFFLES, in their pedigrees. I certainly have mares that have that blood, so do most members of the Board of Directors. As a matter of fact, it appears that the only ones who do not have SOME Skowronek blood in their herds are our President George Hooper and our Registrar Susan Whitman, who are dedicated preservationist breeders of the bedouin-source horses. Interestingly enough, even Diana Marsten at one time encouraged the preservation of the Skowronek Sub-list among the Blue Stars because they had become so rare that they were threatened with extinction.

           Soooo, if you run into someone who tries to feed you that line about IAHRONA, just tell them it just isn't true. And if you run into that "chat" on the Internet, tell them, too. Thanks.

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