*Naborr

Hello! I'm Ruth, the Webmaster for the *Naborr Preservation Breeders site. I thought you might like to know a little about my involvement with *Naborr and *Naborr heritage horses and why I took on this project.

It is my deep regret that I never saw *Naborr himself. He passed away in November of 1977, only a few months before my involvement with Arabian horses began in February of 1978.

But more than any other horse, *Naborr has been my driving force over these many years. Every time I see a photograph of him or read something about him, it brings tears to my eyes and causes an emotion to stir deep within my soul that is hard to explain. It is a passion that I have felt for few other things in my entire lifetime.

Fads and fancies come and go in the Arabian horse industry. Many horses have created a big splash for a time, but a few years later are barely remembered because other horses have taken their place in the limelight.

Over enduring Arabian horse history--the history which lasts for hundreds of years--very few horses make the grade. The world will always remember the truly great ones such as *Bask++, *Serafix, Khemosabi+++, and for sure *Naborr belongs on the list of cream of the cream. What is important is not just a great horse, but one that breeds on true to the characteristics which made him or her famous.

Here is my opinion: Skowronek was the most important Arabian ever, and his line has been carried forward by a number of great Arabians. But his best son was Naseem, who sired important progeny in both England and Russia. Of the Russian/Polish descendents of Naseem, his son Negatiw was the most important, as he sired such greats as *Naborr, *Salon, *Bandos, *Etiw, and other great stallions as well as some of the world's finest broodmares.

I'll stick my neck out here: As the years pass, the Negatiw line will be carried into the future primarily via the descendents of his son *Naborr moreso than any other son or daughter.

TC Lorelei (*Naborr x Lorett by Natez). This is how she looked as a yearling in 1979 when I bought her at the *Naborr Generation Sale II at Tom Chauncey Arabians in Scottsdale.

My passion for *Naborr began in 1979, when I attended the *Naborr Generation Sale II at Tom Chauncey Arabians in Scottsdale, never dreaming that I would buy a horse! I was overwhelmed by the stunning elegance of these horses, and seeing so many *Naborr sons and daughters in one place at one time is a memory I will never forget.

I bought my first *Naborr daughter, TC Lorelei, at that auction, and 20 years later I can honestly say that she was my all-time favorite horse. Tragically, she died following colic surgery at the tender age of five in 1983, just ten weeks after giving birth to her only foal, a daughter by *Muslin whom I named Lora's Lyric and still own.

I was devastated, shattered beyond belief, not even sure I wanted to continue with Arabian horses.

TC Sunsprite (*Naborr x Lorett by Natez) is the only full sister to TC Lorelei. Sunny is now 22 years old and has had eleven foals, six of which are sired by Madryborr.

I had kept in touch with Marcia Winans of California, who had purchased Lora's only full sister, TC Sunsprite (one year older), at the same auction. I called her, broken down in tears, to tell her what had happened and asked if she would consider selling me Sunsprite. Since she had a professional career and not really enough time for her horses, she agreed, and I flew to California to see Sunny.

I stood there, speechless, with tears streaming down my face, as I looked at the mare who could never replace Lorelei, but could help to fill a huge void. I would have bought her if she had had two heads!

1983 was my year of disasters. The morning after I arrived in California to see Sunsprite, my other *Naborr daughter, Sa Belle, whom I had bought at the Tom Chauncey Sale III in 1982, was found dead in her stall at the farm where she was being boarded. She had just returned from South Carolina, where she had been bred to *Muslin, and I was planning to bring her home as soon as I returned from the trip. She died just six weeks after Lorelei, apparently from a ruptured artery, and she was also five years old. I was in a state of disbelief--shock. How could I possibly have lost both mares?

Eventually I wrote to Deedie Wrigley, then married to Tom Chauncey, to tell her my woeful tale. I still have the note of sympathy she wrote back. We became friends, and one day she called and told me about a very special *Naborr son that she had never wanted to sell, but that Tom had decided to put in an upcoming auction. She said she really wanted me to have him, so she pulled him out of the auction and sold me Madryborr over the phone! I have never regretted that decision.

Madryborr (*Naborr x Azlaf Pamalou by *Madrygal [by *Naborr]) is 62.5% *Naborr blood. Foaled in 1978, he is from *Naborr's last foal crop and is now 21.

Madryborr is now 21, Sunny is 22, and they have had six foals together, four fillies and two colts, four of which I still own. They are my concentrated *Naborr legacy for the future.

Looking back, Madryborr and Sunsprite have brought me so much joy. My only regret is that Lorelei had to be the sacrifice to make the rest of the story happen. She was my lifetime horse and the best friend I have ever known.

In the spring of 1998 I received the first *Naborr Preservation Breeders Newsletter and was delighted that someone had decided to get the ball rolling on a subject near and dear to my heart. Deb Apker did all the hard work of getting it started and the harder work of digging up names and addresses from Registry records to establish a mailing list of people most likely interested in receiving it. These were recorded owners of *Naborr sons and daughters.

At that time, I thought it was a great idea, and I fully intended to respond, but I just never got around to it.

A few months later, the second Newsletter arrived. This time it contained some very excited feedback from owners of *Naborr sons and daughters and, in some cases, grandget. They expressed their pride in owning these horses and their delight that someone had stepped forward to locate the long-lost sons and daughters of *Naborr and help like-minded owners and breeders of the *Naborr line find each other.

Suddenly I felt guilty that I had not responded, that my input wasn't included because I hadn't taken the time to reply. Me, of all people!

This time I picked up the phone and called Deb Apker, introduced myself and described my intense love for *Naborr horses and my involvement with them over the past 20 years.

Photo by Polly Knoll

I figured sooner or later the website idea would surface and that someone would grab the ship's wheel. What I didn't want was one of those boring, poorly done sites that exist by the zillions on the Internet. *Naborr was very special, and he deserves a very special tribute.

So I volunteered my services. It is my desire to put all the information that we can collectively glean into that vast sky called the World Wide Web. No horse deserves to be there more than *Naborr. And no one will work harder to make a worthy presentation than I will.

Please note: The buttons in this website were made by the Webmaster from actual photographs of *Naborr and are for use only within this site. They are not to be downloaded for use in any other website or in any collection of graphics.