"The Horse with the Proud Tail": Chestnut Arabian by artist Rich Rudish

This is the story of The Horse With the Proud Tail.

Every so often a piece of a horse's history will find its way to me, demanding to be told, reminding us of just how important the horse was to the humans who loved him. That happened to me again today, when my Horse Radar went off as I drove towards an antique mall.

When I went inside, I quickly spotted a very special original painting. The first thing I noticed about it was the horse's brilliant chestnut color with white markings, sparkling eyes, and flying tail. He looked like an Arabian.

The second thing I noticed was the artist's signature:

 "RUDISH '65."  

The artist was Rich Rudish. Sold.

But I wondered: Was this a portrait of a real horse? And if so, how could I find out? There were no other identifying marks on the painting, front or back, so I looked for clues from other sources.

Rudish was born in 1941; the painting is dated 1965. So he was only 24 when he painted it.  A Kansas City newspaper article said that Rudish joined Hallmark Cards as an illustrator in 1964, so we know he was active as an artist as a young adult.

With those dates in mind, I started looking for connections between Rudish and Arabian horses. Newspaper articles told me that Rudish rode and trained Arabians in the Midwest in the 1960s. Later, he would serve as an officer in his area's Arabian horse club and as a judge of Arabian classes at horse shows.

After a few minutes' searching online I came up with the name of a horse ridden in a show by Rudish: the chestnut Arabian gelding Zartai, foaled in 1954.

The Clinton, Missouri Eye newspaper,
July 19, 1966.

My friend and fellow researcher Dee Adkins found this photo of Zartai ridden by Rich Rudish from 1966, in an old Arabian Horse World magazine. 

I kept looking, and found a photo of Zartai from 1967, again ridden by Rich Rudish. Zartai belonged to Triangle "C" Arabians (the Campbell family), and had won a Top Ten Award at the Arabian US Nationals. 

Belton, Missouri Star-Herald, August 24, 1967

The photos are not great quality, but we can see that Zartai had an oddly shaped blaze on his face...

So does the horse in the painting.

Zartai had two white stockings on his forelegs, and a white sock on his left rear leg...

So does the horse in the painting!

So I think it's highly probable that the horse in the painting is indeed Zartai.  

A search of the Arabian Horse DataSource shows that Zartai, foaled in 1954, was sired by Ibn Nusi; his dam was Zatai.

Here are his sire Ibn Nusi and his dam Zatai, from Dee Adkins' extensive collection of images from vintage horse magazines.

Zartai's pedigree reads like a Who's Who of Arabian horses in the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries; many of his ancestors were owned by the likes of the Crabbet Arabian Stud, Homer Davenport, W. R. Brown, Spencer Borden, and J. M. Dickinson. As a Top Ten stock horse at the US Nationals, Zartai did his ancestors proud.

It's difficult to single out a few of the important Arabian horses on Zartai's family tree, but here are some. It's interesting that some of these horses were the subjects of other artists' work.

Zartai's great-grandsire Gulastra, a chestnut stallion, was bred by W. R. Brown, and later owned by William Randolph Hearst, J. M. Dickinson, and Bazy Tankersly of Al-Marah Arabians.

And this signed print is labeled as Gulastra's portrait by artist Elizabeth Bell. You used to be able to buy prints of her work through the mail. (As one reader has pointed out, Gulastra's markings were different than the horse in Bell's drawing.)

Zartai's great-great-great-grandsire Mesaoud -- also chestnut -- was purchased in 1889 by Lady Anne Blunt and her husband Wilfrid. He had an enormous influence on the Arabian horse.

Mesaoud was immortalized in this portrait by Gladys Brown Edwards:

Another of Zartai's ancestors was the great and beautiful mare Mahroussa.  Here's a head study photo by Carl Raswan:

A print of a painting of Mahroussa by C. W. Anderson:

And another by Arizona artist Nancy Strowger, reproduced on a greeting card:

Another female ancestor of Zartai was the influential mare Bazrah, who lived out her days in California. W. R. Brown sold her to William Randolph Hearst; she later went to Roy L. Jackson of Orange, California, and died in 1948. (I couldn't find a painting of her, so equine artists, here's your chance.)

Rich Rudish had a varied career. He worked for many years at Hallmark Cards, creating several popular animal characters. My favorite of his greeting card images is a Christmas card with Arabian horses. 

Here are two more examples of Rudish's greeting card designs with horses:

A Hallmark card

An Ambassador card

Rudish served as Director, Art Director, and in the Animation Department on several films in the 1980s, including many of the "Rainbow Brite" animated movies.

Among horse lovers, he is well known as an illustrator of horse books such as Marguerite Henry's Our First Pony, and the 1975 edition of her book The Little Fellow.

Here are some horse stickers Rich Rudish designed for Hallmark.

Rudish's art appeared on coffee mugs and playing cards. He also illustrated a pop-up book called Dancer and a calendar for Hallmark, as well as a book on the Old West.

Rudish illustrated Arnold R. Rojas'  book These Were the Vaqueros.

He also designed model horses for Breyer, including "Sham" and "Lady Roxana," and also for Enesco.

Cincinnati Enquirer, May 10, 1987

Starting in the 1970s, it was common to see illustrations by Rich Rudish in Arabian horse magazines and horse show programs. You can see his style evolving over the years.

Rudish's sense of humor is obvious
in this illustration in an advertisement.

Rudish's stylized color ads depicting real Arabians are unmistakable.

*Tamarlane and Taktika

*Padron and Bint Padron

The chestnut Arabian gelding Zartai died in April 1972. Arabian Horse World ran an obituary under its "Green Pastures" heading, written by his owner. Jane Campbell.  She said his nickname was "Hoppi." His story underscores the importance of the horse in the life of a family and their friends. 

The article reads, in part:

"After sharing our home and a place in our hearts for nearly ten years, our 18-year-old gelding, ZARTAI met with a fatal accident in April of this year [1972]... Our liver chestnut friend was shown by our son...our daughter...and by friend and Hallmark Card artist Rich Rudish. At age 13, Hoppi, ridden by Rich Rudish, was among the Top Ten Stock Horses at the U. S. Nationals. At ages 15 and 16, he qualified for the Nationals again in stock horse, English pleasure, and halter. Last summer Hoppi, at age 17 and [her son] Jeff, at age 18, qualified for the Nationals in costume, but a conflicting college schedule did not permit participation. We were thrilled with his achievements.

"Whether in the ring or just in a paddock out for an afternoon romp, Hoppi's tail was always held high, his neck proudly arched.... [We will be] forever grateful and will not soon forget our horse with the proud tail."

Rich Rudish died in Glendale, California in 1989, which may partially explain how the painting of Zartai made its way from Missouri, where he lived for so long, to an antique mall in Ventura County, California. 

Where the painting was in the meantime, we may never know. Perhaps Rudish himself saved it, sold it, or gave it to someone else. 

Belton, MO Star-Herald, May 25, 1989

Because it lived for who-knows-how-long at an antique mall surrounded by thousands of other used decorative objects, the  painting of "Hoppi" could have ended up in the home of someone who had no idea of its story, or (God forbid) it could have been damaged or painted over.  Instead, I was drawn to it like a magnet -- which I can't explain. 

However this example of Rudish's early art came to me, I like to think that somehow its story needed to be told, if only to remind us again just how important horses, our love for them, and our memories of them, are to us. 

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Because I'm such a fan of the Kellogg Arabians, I want to mention that Zartai was related to the great chestnut Arabian stallion Abu Farwa, foaled at the Kellogg Ranch, through their mutual great-grandsire Gulastra. Here's Abu Farwa.

This previously unpublished black and white head study photo of Abu Farwa is owned by Melanie Teller:

* * *

Many thanks to equine history researchers Tobi Lopez Taylor and Dolores "Dee" Adkins, and to Arabian horse enthusiast Melanie Teller, for their assistance in preparing this blog post.

Albert W. Harris and The Arabian Horses of Kemah

 

Southern California used to be a very horsey place. This fact is underscored by a brochure that a fellow vintage paper enthusiast recently gave me, called The Arabian Horses of Kemah. 

Wealthy Chicago financier Albert W. Harris owned a horse ranch called Kemah in Wisconsin. In 1927, Harris bought 170 acres in Chino Hills, California, and built his second Arabian horse ranch on the property.  Harris, along with cereal magnate W. K. Kellogg (who owned his own Arabian horse ranch a few miles from Harris' property), became a fixture in the Los Angeles area's horse community. Harris also served as president of the Arabian Horse Club of America, and wrote several books about Arabians.

Before Harris owned his property in Southern California, he had a booklet printed about his Arabian horses. Almost all the copies of The Arabian Horses of Kemah were put in storage after they were printed in 1922. They were given to the Arabian Horse Trust in 1979; the Trust then presented numbered copies to various people. The one in my possession once belonged to Robert Detterman, who had been a Board member of the Arabian Horse Association of the San Fernando Valley.

The information on the inside of the old brochure said that it is number 138 out of only 450 copies. 

I scanned all of the pages, and made a separate copy of each of Harris' Arabian horses in the photographs.

El Bulad, gray stallion, foaled 1903. 

Ramla, a bay mare foaled in 1908 at the Crabbet Arabian Stud in England.

Nejdran, Jr. was a chestnut stallion foaled in 1906, bred by Homer Davenport.

Kemah Prince was a half-Arabian owned by Harris. 

Saaida was a bay Arabian mare foaled in 1908, bred by Homer Davenport.

Kyrat was foaled in 1918. 

Gamelia was also foaled in 1918. 

Paul Spitzzeri has written a good, concise summary of the story of Albert W. Harris in Southern California for his excellent Homestead Museum blog:

https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2019/09/09/sharing-equestrian-history-in-chino-hills-albert-w-harris-and-his-arabian-horse-farm/  Equine historian Tobi Lopez Taylor pointed out to me that the horse identified in this article as Khaled (foaled 1895, *Nimr x Naomi), actually appears to be Khalil (foaled 1927, *Nuri Pasha x Ophir).

A shorter article on Harris by Spitzerri appears on the Chino newspapers website:

https://www.championnewspapers.com/opinion_and_commentary/history_of_the_hills/article_75a43c1e-eebf-11ea-b369-6780072a87e3.html

Here's an article on Harris from the April 1960 edition of Arab Horse Journal:  

https://www.arabianarchives.org/images/publications/periodicals/2019-2c-00007.pdf

Palomino Horse History: Lyle V. Williams, Alla's Lei Lani, and The Silver Saddle Inn

Lyle V. Williams on his Palomino mare Lei Lani

When I go to estate sales, I am always on the lookout for items that show the small details of the rich history of horses in California. 

I went to such a sale in Simi Valley recently, where someone had saved a postcard that sheds light on one of those small details that might otherwise be forgotten. It shows two photos of Lyle V. Williams' Silver Saddle Inn, in the Southern California city of Downey.

In the years following World War II, much of America was in love with itself and also with cowboys and their horses. It was not uncommon during this time for the owners of restaurants, hotels, and motels to promote their properties using postcards. And for such a property to have an equestrian motif -- particularly a "cowboy" or "western" theme -- was not unusual in the Western US. 

But the Silver Saddle Inn had pretty unique exterior design elements that made it stand out: horseshoe-shaped door frames and a very large horse weathervane on the roof. 

The back of the postcard gives us the details:

Lyle V. Williams

Silver Saddle Inn

7339 East Florence Ave.

Downey, California

TOpaz 1-8246

Lyle V. Williams on his Champion Palomino, Lei Lani

Posed in front of his Famous Restaurant

Owner of SILVER SADDLE INN

One of California's finest & most interesting restaurants

Luncheons - Dinners - Banquets

Our Famous Sunday Las Vegas Brunch

"The Family Favorite"

And to the right of the Inn's exterior, are Williams and Lei Lani. She was registered as a half-Arabian mare, Alla's Lei Lani; more on that in a minute.

Apparently Lyle V. Williams (1914-1993) was involved with one or more car dealerships in Downey before he got into the restaurant business.  A newspaper article on the Palomino Exhibitors Association of California, from 1950, says the address 7339 E. Florence Ave. was his residence.

The first mention I see of the Silver Saddle Inn in local newspapers, is in 1956.  The inside of the building must have been as visually interesting as the outside.

Long Beach Independent, 7 June 1956

"One of the most unusual restaurants in California has been built by Lyle Williams in Downey... Named the Silver Saddle Inn, there is on exhibition the silver saddle used by Williams in rodeos and major parades, including President Eisenhower's inaugural parade. Williams is also a member of the Long Beach Mounted Patrol, and the Trophy Room in the restaurant holds the various trophies and awards he and his prize palomino mare, Leilani, have won. The interior is of glowing mahogany planks, with the walls covered half way up with hand-picked rocks from all over the world, collected by Williams."

The silver saddle on display was said to have been worth $7,000.

Another newspaper article said the Inn also featured a "celebrity walk" in which Williams' friends, including TV and film stars, had placed their footprints. It noted that the Inn was the culmination of a dream Williams had had in 1932 when he was working as a waiter in Minnesota.

On September 4, 1961, local TV station KTTV aired a feature program on the Silver Saddle Inn. 

Williams took out a full-page ad in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on 14 August 1962:

(I could editorialize about the non-Western/Cowboy-themed "entertainment" mentioned in this ad -- a "lingerie luncheon show?" -- but I don't want to digress too much from the horse aspects of the story.) 

I tried enhancing the picture of Williams on his Palomino, without much success.

On Sundays, the Inn offered free stagecoach rides (a photo of the stagecoach appears later in this article), free train rides, and "Indian singing and dancing." 

Lyle Williams was involved with Palomino horses in Southern California from the late 1940s. This ad in the 16 September 1948 Southwest Wave newspaper shows he had a mare for sale, in foal to the famous Arabian stallion Alla Amarward. The chestnut Alla was renowned as a sire of half-Arabian palominos. I'm not sure what happened to the foal the mare was carrying.

Alla Amarward, chestnut Arabian stallion, 1935 (Stambul x Makina, by Letan). 
He was owned by Herbert H. Reese. Photo from the Western Livestock Journal,
15 January 1942.

Alla Amarward was bred to a palomino mare called Williams' Golden Dolly, who produced the palomino filly Alla's Lei Lani in 1951. I think it's reasonable to assume that Williams' Golden Dolly was also owned by Lyle V. Williams. Here is a color closeup of Alla's Lei Lani, from the postcard:

Alla's Lei Lani (Alla Amarward x Williams' Golden Dolly)

When researching subjects like this, I often turn to other equine historians for help. Dee Adkins saved two photos of Alla's Lei Lani. This one is from an old Horse Lover's magazine from the mid- to late 1950s.

And this one from Arabian Horse News magazine in 1962:

And Pat Mefferd pulled this photo of Williams and his mare from an old issue of Western Horseman magazine.

Lyle V. Williams served as the head of the Palomino Exhibitors Association of California. In this photograph in the Wave from 3 August 1950, he is seen with other club members Jordon Dunaway and Cecile Turner, and horse trainer Mark Smith, who had worked for years at the Kellogg Ranch in Pomona.

A palomino mare owned by Williams, who may have been Lei Lani herself, appeared in the 4 November 1955 Los Angeles Times, with a young ventriloquist.

It appears that Williams put "my famous Pal [omino] parade mare" up for sale a few years later, based on this 10 August 1958 classified ad in the LA Times. I don't know if he actually sold her or not, nor what happened to the foal:

Williams also owned a stagecoach-and-four that participated in regional equestrian activities and may have been the one that appeared at the Silver Saddle Inn during the early 1960s. Here, the team is ready to perform in the mountain community of Wrightwood.

San Bernardino County Sun, 3 July 1960.

Williams is listed as participating in numerous parades and equestrian events in Southern California during the 1950s and early 1960s, including several Tournament of Roses Parades in Pasadena.

By April 1967, however, the Silver Saddle Inn's days were numbered. A classified ad in the LA Times shows that  the property was up for sale.

In 1968, Williams put the Silver Saddle Inn itself up for sale.

And a local newspaper reported on the closure of the "once-magnificent restaurant."

By Spring 1969, the Silver Saddle Inn had been purchased by Warren L. Ward, remodeled, and renamed The Raffles (after the legendary English highwayman).  It was said to have been built on the site of a "one-time Downey farmhouse" of 12,000 square feet, seating 500 people.  Ward got into the catering business in 1985, out of the same location.

By the 31 July 1988, The Raffles' days were over. The building was demolished, according to this ad in the Los Angeles Times.

It appears that Lyle V. Williams eventually ended up in Riverside County, California. According to Arabian Horse DataSource, Williams co-owned and bred several other horses, including Arabians and part-Arabians, between 1956 and 1980.  He died in 1993.

_______________________________________

Thanks to Dolores "Dee" Adkins and Pat Mefferd for the photos of Alla's Lei Lani.

And thanks to the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, part of Special Collections, Cal Poly Pomona University Library, for access to their back issues of Western Livestock Journal.

___________________________________________________________

Sidebar, since so many people took organ lessons during this time period: Williams employed the Philippines-born musician Porfirio "Pomping" Vila (1912-1995) to play the Silver Saddle Inn's Hammond organ.  

Vila entertained Southern California audiences on the keyboard in lounges, restaurants, music stores, benefit concerts at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, and on the Crown Theater in Pasadena's (okay, I'll say it) Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s.