By Ferman Ansel
Antonio Ignacio Vargas
Rejoneador (Bullfighter on Horseback)
'El Arenal' Bull ring-Seville, April 1986
Dave Stanley Photo
IMPORTATION NOTES
In 1976, prior to the purchase or
exportation of any Arabians from Spain, Molly (then Molly Stapleton) invested two years
and three research trips to Spain. Molly was fortunate to be accompanied by MariPaz Murga Igual de Heredia and/or
MariAngeles Bravo de Delclaux, two delightful and dedicated Arabian horse ladies, to see
all the Arabians in Spain. The horses were at a number of stud farms, private farms and
also the Yeguada Militar (Spanish State Stud). These stud farms are in the south and the
north, and in between as well. To view them all (in Spanish time) required three to four
weeks each trip. Molly took many photographs and film records of the horses seen, as well
as notes on each horse. Molly was drawn to the Spanish Arabian because of their hardy,
athletic abilities and elegant beauty. "They move with wonderful presence and jump
like deer", says Molly.
Iago (Tabal x Betonica) Champion jumper of Southern Spain against all breeds. Shown here going clean at 2 meters.
Back home, Molly studied the photographic and written documentation on each horse with the aid of a complete set of the Spanish Stud books, purchased from the Spanish government.
After the first trip, Molly carried notes along on particular family lines of interest. By the third trip, the list was refined down to particular horses of interest within the family lines. "After these trips to see virtually every Arabian horse in Spain, I was increasingly excited about what these wonderful horses have to offer," was Molly’s comment.
In May of 1978, Dave Stanley accompanied
Molly on an evaluation trip, when both (‘r’ judges at the time) carried their
notepads independently into each herd evaluation session.
Dave says that he was very
impressed with the quality of the horses at the breeding farms, and was most impressed
with the Military mare band, which he states
was the single finest mare band, both in quality and consistency, that he had ever seen.
Dave Stanley in Military Mare Pasture 1978
Back home, Dave and Molly compared evaluations with the thought of putting together a self sustaining breeding herd of Spanish Arabians to be imported to the USA.
In August, they returned to Spain with a ‘buy’ list of horses that would contribute the elements Dave and Molly felt would be important ones for their breeding group. As with all plans, everything did not fall into place that easily. Some of the horses were not available at any price, two had been sold to Alverda McDannald (USA) in June, and one stallion on the list had been sent to the UK for a show, and was sold there. Keeping the overall goal in mind, some changes were made, and forty two horses were purchased in a two and one half week period.
"Dave only had two and a half weeks of time available", Molly recalls. "That trip was definitely done in ‘American time’. We traveled the length and breadth of Spain, in cars without air conditioning (not usual in rental cars of the period) during the intense heat of August. We dealt with the fascinating and volatile temperament of a proud people, many of whom happily have become dear friends in the ensuing two decades. We selected horses at twelve breeding farms, and in most cases returned to each farm two or three times for negotiations during that two and a half weeks. On that trip the nucleus of our own herd was formed, with forty two Spanish Arabians that were prime examples of the genetic foundation we had envisioned.
When we returned home from that trip, one big hurdle was overcome. We now had the horses we had gone to find. But it was the tip of the iceberg. The real job was just beginning."
The horses had to be gathered together. We were lucky enough to find room for them (on the next trip) at a new riding club near Seville, which was managed by Antonio Ignacio Vargas, one of the leading ‘rejoneadores’ (bullfighter who rides wonderfully trained fast and agile horses throughout the fight) in Spain. Antonio Ignacio was himself an exceptional horseman, and had an excellent staff. So luck was with us there, and we knew the horses were being cared for as well as any horses owned by absentee owners. In addition, we had added Luis Millan Arana, a shipping agent and certified government translator, who lived in Seville, to our staff.
With the herd gathered together, we began the lengthy process of the paperwork required for exportation. There are seventeen documents and veterinary inspections necessary for exportation from Spain. Then a nearly equal amount required for importation to the USA. A double negative piroplasmosis test was one difficult hurdle. We hired Dr. Roberts, the man who developed the drug used in treating piroplasmosis, to fly to Spain and help with the first series of treatments, and we also (with Dr. Roberts) developed a new method, a safer one, of giving the piro treatments. Consequently, we were fortunate never to lose a horse to the treatments, (similar to a chemotherapy), but others have. However, there are a percentage of horses that will never attain a double negative test. So we decided to keep a farm in Spain for the important horses that could not be brought to the States, to breed from them there, and hope that the offspring could be imported.
In the years to come we purchased more bloodstock, when exceptional animals became available. The most significant purchase were the ten mares offered by the Yeguada Militar one year, when it was still possible to buy Military horses and export them. These mares became the dams of *DIAMANTE, sire of two multi-National winners, *JOYAMIA+/ AND *JEZABEL+//, and also their dams. National Champion *GALAXIA’s dam, double Regional Champion *EFIGIE’s dam, National Champion *IBERIA’s dam, and the dam of *ESPERANTO.
Our herd in Spain had two more homes over the years. After three mares were stolen one night from the riding club, which was on a main road (and the brood mares were outside in a large area we had fenced for them), we felt we needed a more private venue. Note -–those three mares (and the two fillies they were carrying, were recovered in the province of Alicante several years later, when our former stud groom Juan Valiente saw two of them - with the distinctive YM brands – in a parade there.) That was a wonderful recovery for us, and for Juan, who had felt so keenly that the mares disappeared while under his care.
One home was at a former cattle breeding
farm owned by our very wonderful and special veterinarian of those years, don Nicasio
Garcia Nieto. Don Nicasio developed a unique breeding record sheet that was 3’
square. It contained the names of each of the mares and the stallions, and had a symbol
(the international language) for each veterinarian procedure done. Teasing, breeding,
(with a symbol for each stallion),checking in foal, re-checking at 45, 60 and 90 days,
foaling, including whether the foal was a colt or filly, worming, immunizations, farrier
work, piro treatments and test results. 
At that farm, we built in eight stalls for the stallions. The very typical Spanish home of our stud groom was on the level above the mare barn. The large building was on a hillside, so both stories were entered on their own level. On another level was a large, lush pasture for the mares and foals that we fenced with safe horse fencing. This farm was near the village of Lora del Rio, 50 kms to the east of Seville.
Several years later, because of a necessary change of horse management, the horses were moved to the farm of a former Arabian breeder, Ignacio Rivero Ondevilla. His son traveled to the farm each day to look after the horses, and the stud groom who lived there was a wonderful horseman named Feliciano. There the horses had again good fencing we built, but were kept in large dry lots to keep away from the piroplasmosis tick, that lives in grass. At night they were put into a very large open building called a nave. The stallions were kept in stalls in another building. That was a very happy farm, 15 kms from the west side of Seville. There were a number of homes on the large farm, and a small ‘venta’ that served excellent food.
In 1987, because of the complications caused by Spain becoming an African Horse Sickness country, the majority of the herd was sold to a new Spanish breeder, don Manuel Espinosa Reales. We retained seven who were to be shipped to the USA. Because of the difficulties in exporting during those next few years, we were able to export four in 1988 and three in 1989. Our horses were vaccinated against the sickness, but it was difficult for most Spanish breeders, as a vaccinated horse would always test positive. It didn’t matter if the horses were destined for the USA, because the quarantine could only be done at the USDA facility in New York. They don’t bother with the blood test, because a horse will break out with the sickness in 21 days, if they have it, and the quarantine runs for 60 days. However, at that time Europe did not have a 60 day quarantine, so the horses would have to be bloodtyped.
Chartering aircraft to transport the horses from Spain was always difficult, and a great deal of preparation was necessary to equip these cargo planes to haul horses. For instance, special surfaces were laid preparatory to setting up the crates for the horses. The cargo plane people were small independent companies, and they did not own horse crates. Those had to be reserved from another type of company, and had to be flown to Spain for use with the charter plane. Getting the chartered plane, the stalls and the horses to the airport at the same time was always interesting.
One time Dave had to fly from Seville to Madrid to pay the parking fees on the plane we had chartered before they would release it to come to Seville and get the horses. On the flight from Madrid to Seville, the plane was leaking oil badly, lost three of the four radios and had a malfunction of the landing gear. That plane had to be refused, and we waited for nearly a week for another plane to be sent from the USA. The clock is always ticking, as the paperwork is good only for a certain time frame.
Loading horses from the truck to the plane
was another hurdle. This one was overcome in 1979 by a very kind offer from don Alvaro
Domecq. He at that time was a brilliant rejoneador in Spain and had given several
triumphant fighting tours of Mexico. Don Alvaro had built an aircraft horse loading crate
for his horses when he toured Mexico. This crate was placed on a scissors lift and opened
to the back to admit the horse from the truck, and then was lifted on the scissors lift to
the door of the plane, where it could be opened in front to let the horse on the plane.
It was kindly loaned to us, which solved a major problem. I am reminded that MariPaz Murga told us that the Steen horses were loaded onto the plane in 1965 by means of a large freestanding stairway obtained from a church! But planes were shorter then. By 1987 we had scheduled horses to come out of Madrid on an Iberia Airlines Combi 747 (half passengers, half cargo), as they said they had stalls and were ready to carry horses. The date was set for December 10, but had to be re-scheduled to January 16 when they realized they had no equipment to load horses into the 747.
Another plane was originating in Miami, to go to Seville and back again. We arrived in Miami and were told the plane had a hydraulic leak, and would be ready tomorrow. Tomorrow became tomorrow again, and on that morrow, the report was "Six more hours". So we (Dave, Molly, Molly’s daughter Lisa, and trainer Dick Landmesser) were ready each six hours through the next two days, but no go. Dave had a meeting with the charter plane owners, and came back to say they were ready to fly. We boarded the plane, and sat in the little jump seats provided for takeoff. Once in the air, I got up and wandered around the plane. The cargo hold was basically empty, except for a number of 55 gallon drums in the rear. I asked Dave what they contained, and he said grimly, "hydraulic fluid". Periodically, the co-pilot would come to the back and pour in one of the drums.
In the 1979 and 1980 importations, the
footing was made secure and the stalls (in pieces) were put on the plane, the horses were
lead in one at a time, the stall erected around them and lashed down with safety ties.
Then the horses were cross tied and also tied down in the middle with a neck strap. These
stalls were only wither high and open on top. 
This particular trip was full of extra and interesting problems in addition to the leaking hydraulic fluid. We had fourteen weanlings due to be shipped. Our first foal crop, the "A" babies, including the very special *AVILA. When we arrived in Spain, days late due to the hydraulic problem, we had to load all the horses on trucks bound for the airport in Seville, directly upon our arrival in Seville. We arrived at ten pm.
By eleven pm we were at the club with the trucks to load the horses. The ‘loading ramp’ for the trucks turned out to be a hill across the highway from the club. When we tried to lead the 14 weanlings across the fairly heavily traveled road in the middle of the night to load them, we found that our instructions to "halter break the weanlings" had not gone quite far enough. But it was possible to get a halter on them. So in due course they were all loaded into the trucks. Along with *Padre, *Al Cobre, *Espanol and *Kalat II, four mature horses. On to the airport, where it took 8 to 10 hours to load nineteen horses, as the stall was built around them one at a time.
That plane turned out to be a lucky one, actually. Dave and Dick were accompanying the horses, Molly and Lisa remained in Spain for two weeks to look after the horses and visit some farms. When the plane (flying the Polar Route from Seville to Miami) was above Ireland , a malfunctioning defroster caused one of the windows in the cockpit to begin to disintegrate at 30,000 feet. "It sounded like a rifle shot when that window began to go," Dave said. "Then the pilot and co-pilot began to get real busy getting that plane down to a lower altitude. Meantime I was looking for any extra oxygen masks that could be used with the horses. Fortunately we had come down to 5,000 feet by the time the rest of the window blew out and could breathe the air at that level. We then landed in good shape at the Shannon, Ireland, airport, to have a replacement window sent up from London, which took quite awhile.
In the meantime, the horses had to
remain on the plane, because of the then current metritis rule in the United Kingdom which
would have prevented us from re-loading any horse over the age of two. So we arrived in
the States way past schedule, but happy to be there."
One would assume from the above that those planes were a reasonable fee for charter. But such was not the case. None of the charter airlines were very excited about the prospect of carrying live cargo, and also the most reputable charter companies were solidly booked six months prior. Because of the inevitability of last minute changes in schedule, due to the necessity of having a very recent double negative on the piro test, we never had the luxury of being able to book six months in advance. So the planes that were available for this purpose were few, were expensive, and were not totally reliable.
Once landed on US soil, the tensions are far from over. Molly explained, "All documentation must be letter perfect as the USDA has very, very exact standards, and would not hesitate to refuse an entire planeload of horses if every detail did not meet their specifications".
On two different shipments, there were horses that gave a positive piro test after the stress of the trip, when the official blood draw was tested by the USDA. They were re-tested by the USDA, and when the second test was also positive, we were advised that we must get them out of the country within 48 hours, or shoot them. That is exactly what we were told. The plane that brought them was a charter, so there was no possibility of returning to Spain. We looked for a cargo plane that was going somewhere fairly near. There were two possibilities at that time. The Dominican Republic or Panama. There had just been a hurricane that leveled the airport in the Dominican Republic, so our only choice was Panama. Twice we shipped horses cargo to Panama, and arranged for a Panamanian born American woman who had a small training stable there to care for and exercise them.
Subsequently Dr. Roberts was able to go to Panama for us and treat those four horses for piro. The only one that ever was cleared to come back to the USA was *ALJUBAA, dam of RETADOR. The ones that never came back were FACHA, a MAQUILLO daughter who was dam of *ALJUBAA, also LAZADA, a TABAL daughter, dam of *AVENTURA, granddam of FANTASIA, and LAIKA, a SALUDO daughter, dam of *AZAIRA and *ASTORECA. There was also a stallion, FILIPO, sire of *BOUGANVILLEA. Filipo died in Panama after Panama City was bombed by the US in "Operation Just Cause".
After all the adventures enroute, we must give tribute to the kind, intelligent and sensible nature of the Spanish Arabian that every one of the ninety five imported by us from 1979 to 1994, did arrive safely.
The Arabian Horse
Legacy Inc. appreciates and thanks DAVE AND MOLLY STANLEY
for taking the time
and considerable effort and permissions required to take the photographs in Spain and
providing many others
included in this Spanish Section.
E-Mail stanleyranch@tele-net.net
