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| Actress and Arabian horse "ambassadress" Sue Ane Langdon and her Arabian mare Suja, in 1973. |
I keep an ongoing search for estate sales in my area that feature horse-related items. The generations before us, who lived with horses as a big part of their daily lives, are passing away or moving to smaller places, where there really isn't room for all of the souvenirs of their life with horses and ponies.
(This is a conundrum that many families and historians who study contemporary equine history are having to grapple with.)
I go to these sales to see what kind of clues I can find, that demonstrate the relationship between the people who came before me and their horses. Then I can write their stories for this blog, and, when it's appropriate, try to find a public collection like a local history museum, library, or other civic location that can safely store the materials because they align with the organization's mission.
I do have some mixed feelings about these estate sales. I can't save every piece of horse memorabilia these good folks kept; I simply don't have room at home, and not all the photos, letters, trophies, ribbons, magazines, tack, and horse-related decorative items would be appropriate for a public collection. But there are usually a few things that simply do not belong at an antique mall, a flea market, or a swap meet, because in such settings they usually lose their context.
Back in 2023, I came across an ad for a "living estate sale" that featured items owned by Golden Globe Award-winning actress and horsewoman Sue Ane Langdon, who was born in 1936. (That's how she spelled her name, but you'll often see it spelled "Sue Ann.")
The sale was at a condominium in the city of Calabasas. Much of the sale focused on clothing, furniture, and household items, but I was able to obtain a few things that related to Sue Ane's life with Arabian horses. One significant item was this letter from Richard Newman, the president of the International Arabian Horse Association (as it was known back then).
Chipped and termite-nibbled, the letter is dated November 29, 1966:
Miss Sue Ann [sic] Langdon
Southern California Arabian Horse Club
Pomona, California
Dear Sue Ann:
After seeing the marvelous publicity you gained for the Arabian breed on your guest appearance with Johnny Carson [Tonight Show, November 24, 1966) on Thanksgiving night, may I offer you the honorary appointment as "International Ambassadress of Good Will for the Arabian Horse",
Please keep up your fine work in behalf of the breed for it is greatly appreciated by the Officers, Director and Members of International.
Cordially,
RICHARD E. NEWMAN, President
She saved the letter, for all those years. It's in an archival folder in my office now, and I will find a permanent place for it in an appropriate public collection.
Arabian Horse World magazine followed up on Sue Ane's story with a feature in its July 1973 issue. The article said that meeting the legendary Kellogg Arabian stallion Ferseyn at Frisco Mari's ranch led Sue Ane and Jack to fall in love with Arabian horses.
They called their ranch in Hidden Hills, on the west end of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Sujac Arabians.
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(Interestingly, the article says that Sue Ane became "ambassadress" in 1970, whereas the letter asking her to accept the title is dated four years earlier.)
One of Sue Ane and Jack Emrek's best-known Arabians was the mare SUJA++ 27946 (Farlowa x Tezala, by Alyf). Suja was foaled in 1964 at Cal Poly Pomona, located on the famous Kellogg Ranch property.
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| Suja++. Photo via Arabian Horse DataSource. |
Mary Jane Parkinson documented Suja's early story in her classic book Romance of the Kellogg Ranch.
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| Actress Terry Moore, Suja, Sue Ane Langdon, and legendary trick roper Montie Montana. |
Parkinson quotes Langdon:
"Cal Poly really was our main introduction to Arabians because we went to see a lot of them there. One year, we saw this cute little bay...[Jack] got her for me as an anniversary present."
And Emrek:
"She was the idea Arabian with the gorgeous head. She was a little thin, but she still had all the good points. I said to myself, 'I'm going to get this horse.'"
Parkinson continues:
The Emreks didn't take their prize home just then. A few months later, they picked her up, named her SUJA (a combining of syllables from their first names), and started her on a "show biz" career. By the late 1960s, SUJA was a seasoned entertainer, having appeared in the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Hollywood Lane Parade, and on a number of TV shows -- The Steve Allen Show, Pet Set [hosted by Betty White]. The Tonight Show, The Merv Griffin Show...and Miss Langdon's series Arnie.
In reminiscing about the sale of SUJA, [ranch manager Norman] Dunn said:
At the time we sold the filly, I thought she was pretty nice. But I think it was several months later when the Emreks picked her up that I new that we shouldn't have sold her. From one standpoint, that is. But from the standpoint of Sue Ane, she and the horse have done a lot for the Arabian breed and for Cal Poly. So when it's all said and done, there was more good done by Sue Ane having her. That filly just kept blossoming.
Indeed she did. Suja excelled in halter and performance classes, and was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1972. (She's the horse Sue Ane is riding in the cover photo at the top of this page.)
Another of their well-known horses was JACRADA+ 153708. He was a son of Suja and Gai Parada+++/, by Ferzon.
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| Jacrada+. Photo by Polly Knoll, via Arabian Horse DataSource. |
Suja and Jacrada are descendants of some of the most famous Arabian horses of the 20th century, including the greatest horse ever to have lived in Hidden Hills, *Witez II. He deserves a blog post of his own.
One other special item I saved from the living estate sale was this Monrovia-era Hagen-Renaker large "Zara" Arabian mare, sculpted by Maureen Love.
The ceramic figurine was in terrible condition when I found her in a box under a table, but I could not leave her there. Like so many other horse lovers, Sue Ane and Jack had kept horse figurines in their home. And my friend Sheryl was able to restore her to her former glory.
She's now in my collection, and she isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Sue Ane and Jack moved from their horse property in Hidden Hills in the early 2000s, and Jack passed away in 2010. Sue Ane reportedly lives in retirement in an undisclosed location. And that's fine.
When their original owners no longer need or have space for the artifacts and photographs of their horses, and their correspondence relating to the horses, we may not be able to save and conserve them all. But we do need to try to document the importance of those horses and the people who loved them, because they made up such an important part of American culture during their lifetimes.
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Here's Sue Ane's Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ane_Langdon
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