The "Press Prevue" Arabian Horse Show: May 8, 1964

In 1964, Arabian horses were gaining in popularity in the United States. And if you'd been a member of the "press corps" working for a newspaper, magazine, TV or radio station in Southern California, you might have been treated to your own special preview horse show, put on by the Arabian Horse Association of the San Fernando Valley (AHASFV) in early May of that year.

It was common for Arabian horse ranches to invite the public to visit and meet real Arabian horses; sometimes they would host Open Houses. It's also common to invite news reporters and photographers to promote, attend, and report on the results of horse shows. 

But this brochure demonstrates that the AHASFV went out of its way to promote better public understanding of the Arabian horse's beauty, disposition, and versatility by putting on a separate horse show just for members of the local press.

A copy of the program for this Press Prevue* Arabian Horse Show turned up at a Southern California estate sale several months ago. The program gives us some insight into the way Arabian horses were promoted as a breed almost 60 years ago.

The cover showed one of the best-known Arabian stallions in Southern California at the time: the 20-year-old Ferneyn. The back cover showed Harvey Ellis on his Arabian mare Moneyna, who was Ferneyn's dam. (They were photographed at the old Kellogg Ranch stables in Pomona.) 

The two horses, mother and son, were good examples of Arabians to show to reporters who were probably not all that familiar with the breed.

In an article for The Crabbet Influence in Arabians Today, Carol Woodbridge Mulder described them this way:

"In 1944 came one of the most important sons Ferseyn ever got -- the classic and beautiful gray, Ferneyn 2865, bred by Harvey G. Ellis. A double grandson of *Raseyn, Ferneyn was out of Moneyna 1352 [herself a daughter of *Raseyn], a particularly sweet tempered and lovely mare renowned in her time for her bridleless appearances in parades, shows, and on trail rides. Ferneyn got 151 foals, the most famous of which was Ferzon 7723, a double grandson of Ferseyn and a triple grandson of *Raseyn."

The inside cover of the program also extolled their virtues. Then the inside pages of the program provided information about the upcoming Annual All Arabian Horse Show, May 29 through May 31 at the Carnation Ring of the Los Angeles County Fair Grounds in Pomona, California. More than 350 Arabians from eight states were entered.

Then there was a list of the judges, a schedule of classes, the officers of the AHASFV, and details of  the Press Prevue Horse Show. The Prevue was held at the Brierwood Arabian Farm Show Ring in Hidden Hills (Calabasas area, in the San Fernando Valley), owned by the Yale Freed family, the afternoon of May 8, 1964. At the time Yale Freed was president of the AHASFV.

The press prevue horse show on May 8 featured some of the best Arabians in the state, indeed the country, at the time. For example, the Arabian Costume class featured Neyseyn, Bolero, and Amir Dharan. 

Neyseyn, a son of Ferseyn and Moneyna, was a multi-champion show horse.

This photo came from an Arabian Horse Yearbook.

Bolero, a son of the immortal *Witez II, was the 1961 US National Reserve Champion Stallion.

This photo was found online.

The versatile and successful Amir Dharan, by Ferneyn, was ridden by his owner, Arabian horse costume designer Lois Ann Kroll. He showed in Costume, Park, and Hunter/Jumper classes. (I found this photo of Amir Dharan and Lois Ann in a local newspaper from later the same year.)

Every horse in the small show for the press had ancestors that came from the Crabbet Arabian Stud in England and/or the Kellogg Arabian Horse Institute in Pomona, California. Names like *Raseyn, Ferseyn, Antez, Abu Farwa, Farana, and others appear in their pedigrees, underscoring the impact of those breeding programs in the 1960s.

The brochure also gave a Brief History of the Arabian Horse. Ensuring the promotion of the accepted story of the history of the breed was important in dealing with the press.

 

The brochure assured members of the press that the Arabian was not just a high-spirited animal, but rather a "high-class using and pleasure saddle horse."  The text reads: "Disposition is far more important today than it ever has been, because so many with little experience are riding. Easy action and beauty are also of paramount importance."

The AHASFV brochure asserted: "Today Southern California is virtually the Arabian Horse Capital of the World..."

It was important to the AHASFV that the group's own history was also part of the press brochure. The text gives credit to the Kellogg Arabian Ranch in Pomona for helping establish Arabians in Southern California. The brochure also contains a couple of blank pages headed "NOTES" so reporters and photographers could add information by hand.

The final page of  the program showed the classic Gladys Brown Edwards illustration of the ideal Arabian's conformation.

During the mid-1960s, it was important that local and statewide breed groups, as well as the International Arabian Horse Association (based at the time in Burbank), promoted Arabians. This helped to ensure that information about the breed's distinctive differences was disseminated, and encouraged the general public to ride, own, and enjoy Arabian horses. This brochure gives us some insight into how those goals were achieved through local and regional media coverage of Arabian horse events. 

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The University Library at Cal Poly Pomona, through its Special Collections & Archives and W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, hold a lot more information on the topics in this blog post.

Here's a link to their online search engine, where you can find some of the materials they hold from the AHASFV: 

https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/c.php?g=753464&p=6517247

And a link to the Lois Ann Kroll papers: 

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8z03fjw/

And to the Cecil and Gladys Brown Edwards Papers: 

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8vd745z/

And an article on the Fairplex collection:  

https://polycentric.cpp.edu/2021/11/thummer-blue-ribbons-photos-galore-fairplex-donates-vast-archive-to-cal-poly-pomona/

The AHASFV's website is here:  https://ahasfv.org/ 

and their Facebook page is here: 

https://www.facebook.com/ahasfv/

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*If I recall correctly, midcentury American print media would sometimes use the alternative spelling "prevue" instead of "preview." I'm not sure why, except that "prevue" takes up less space in a headline than the longer "preview." Anyway.