Memories of Poland from Another Time … and Now,

by Denise Hearst 

From an upper floor window of a Warsaw hotel, the clatter of horses’ hooves could be heard in the square below. The matched teams of Polska stallions looked as magnificently out of time as the antique carriages they pulled past the tomb of the unknown soldier and beyond to the Saxon Gardens. 

It was 1991 and our destination was the royal castle in Warsaw’s old town, once the home of the royal family and seat of the Polish parliament. The 17th-century castle was destroyed by German troops in the aftermath of the Warsaw uprising and painstakingly rebuilt in the 1970s. It is now a museum. Its gilded royal chambers and Grand Ballroom overlooking the Wistula river were opened to the international guests for the welcoming ceremony of the 1991 Polish Prestige Arabian Horse Show and Auction – champagne, caviar and a chamber music recital of Polish composers delighted us. It was an elegant and evocative beginning to a week of doing little else than enjoying beautiful horses, and of toasting them again and again, until we felt so deeply soft and sentimental about Poland and her Arabian horses. Following our hearts we took a walk around the Janow broodmare pasture the next morning just to visit with the mares. We strolled to the end of a well-worn path that leads to the Bug River, and gazed across its languid expanse to the eastern shore that is Belarus, close enough for a mare to swim to.  

In this setting, we reflected on Poland’s emerging democracy and the dramatic changes taking place all over eastern Europe at this time. We saw how fragile it all is, even here at Janow and Michalow studs, where time seemed to stand still for herds of legendary Arabian horses. Imagine how long it takes to breed a good horse. There, in the midst of 200 excellent mares, you wonder how the Poles did it, and why? But all such concerns dissolved as we simply felt gratitude to the creators of this herd as we walked among them on this early morning, surrounded by their peaceful beauty. But it was impossible not to recall the words spoken just that week by Polish Defense Minister Piotr Kolodzidsczyk in response to the reactionary coup in Russia as its people reversed 1000 years of autocracy, and 74 years of communist dictatorship in one of the epochal events of world history. “The army was prepared for all possible developments in the Soviet Union,” he said. "Not a single division would have entered Poland through our eastern border.“ 

When we arrived at Janow Podlaski Stud In 1991, we were welcomed beneath the great old oak tree. It was a bittersweet moment. Janow Director Krzysztalowicz was announcing his retirement after more than two decades as Director.

The 1991 Polish Nationals and Auction were being held at a time when Poland was in the midst of the transition from a totalitarian system and the protection of the state, to a democratic free market system. The changes were happening faster than anyone could have imagined. As the Poles said at the time, “the air is fresher now.”

At the show, I fell in love with the rose-grey filly Estarda (Gadir x Estancja by Palas), who went on to be named the Junior Champion Filly. I assumed that her handler was Polish because I heard him speaking Polish. Later, I heard that same handler speaking English with a Canadian accent. That’s how I met Scott Benjamin, who remains a dear friend. I found another friend and colleague through Poland – Jeffrey Wintersteen, who is as easily moved to tears by certain horses as I am. 

Thirty-three years later, many of us are compelled to make the journey to Poland as often as possible, most recently this summer 2024, after an eight-year-long government “take-over” of the Janow and Michalow studs ended, and the Directors of Janow and Michalow Studs, Marek Trela and Jerzy Bialobok, returned to lead the studs. The third stud, Bialka, is being run by the government. 

The “Pride of Poland 2024” was a joyous occasion, with a happy group of Arabian horse lovers, and many new friends as well. I think of the Polish National Championships as being a calmer show with an easy, natural atmosphere, where you can wander freely and discover, in the sweeping pastures and quiet loafing sheds, the sources of all the beauty and strength in the herds. In that way, the Polish National Championships are more a breeding parade than a horse show. The glory and respect owed to these horses belong to the generations that came before, and to the higher callings of wisdom and patience  –  in breeding horses and in all things.