KARHO FARMS, INC,The Arabian Horse

Within the master design of the Creator, there exists the ultimate concept of the Arabian horse, where in beauty and function fuse into the perfect essence of Arabian type.

The refinement, dryness and strength which we so admire in the Arabian horse are the result of its evolvement. Survival in the harsh conditions of its desert birthplace has molded and perfected the Arabian horse over the centuries.

This distillation of purest form and function has the tempered strength of the finest steel. Long revered among horsemen for its form and function, the Arabian has been used to improve other breeds throughout the world.

Today we find ourselves out of step with history. The Arabian horse, traditionally honored by horsemen and artist alike, is now being denigrated as merely a decoration rather that a complete and functional being.

The standards of the breed are derivative of function. Yet these standards carried to extreme will spell the destruction of the breed. The standard is for a small head…but the head cannot be so small the horse cannot breathe. The feet cannot be so fine and small that it cannot run. The croup so level, it cannot move its hind legs underneath it. In the desert, horses exhibiting theses characteristics did not survive. Nor would serious horsemen accept them.

We, as Arabian horse breeders, dishonor the Arabian if we declare a horse a champion, a model of the breed, yet a horseman could not affirm that this horse is excellent in its most functional applications.

The Arabian horse is first of all a horse. It must be, and deserves to be, a beautifully competent being in its own right. We must not condemn it to a future of a showring bauble or pasture decoration.

Survival in the most demanding of environments over thousands of years has tempered and produced this unique entity, the Arabian horse. Now this responsibility is placed I the mind, heart, and hands of its breeder.

The Arabian horse is to love, and deserves the respect of honesty and integrity.

• United States National Champion Stallion
• Canadian National Champion Stallion

THE PHILOSOPHY OF KALE’S ARABIAN HORSES (BREEDING PROGRAM)

Each breeder must define, evaluate and establish his own Breeding Goal. That breeding goal at Kale’s Arabian Horses is the Attainment of PERFECTION. Perfection in all aspects of correct, able and useful structure combined with the classic standards of beauty, proportion, quality, temperament and the extreme refinement of the Arabian breed. Creations of Fine Art, endowed with the willingness and capability of superior Physical Achievement.

In the attainment of his goal, each breeder has at his disposal the present Living individuals of the breed and, if one is so fortunate, a personal knowledge of those past individuals from which today’s generations were selected. It is each breeder’s unique evaluation and selection (in harmony with and directed by his breeding goal) of and among these present individuals, each composed of its specific set of virtues, superiorities, insufficiencies, genetic endowment and heritage, that determines the matings he directs. The matings thus selected, operating under the inherent function and constraint of the physical process of Genetic Inheritance, produce and determine the future generations and the attainments of the breeder.

In this framework, the procedure of evaluation and selection at Kale’s Arabian Horses first recognizes several fundamental and immutable factors of the Physical Process of inheritance.

Genetic Material (hence the heritable factors of resultant phenotype) is Not and Cannot be created by the breeder. It can only be selected from and recombined through generations of production.

1. Each mating operates as a random selection of one-half of the total genetic material of the sire and of the dam. All of the infinite number of possible selections and combinations are if equal probability. From one mating, all possibilities are equally likely to occur. The breeder has No power of influence or predetermination as to which specific sample of the genetic material of the sire and of the dam will be delivered for combination to conceive the foal.
2. The resultant new generation of each mating and its genetic material is limited by and to the genetic Potential of the sire and dam, severally, and upon conception, jointly.
3. The exact genetic constitution of each foal and therefore its individual potential is
1. Irrevocably determined at conception.
2. Fixed as only and exactly One of the infinite possibilities.
3. Limited by the potential of its parentage, and
4. IS the actual selection that created it, samples of the identical or closely related parentage.

It justly follows that the superior progeny (improved from its patents) is produced by a combination of desirable genetic selections from its sire and its dam. And its degree of excellence can only result in relation to the excellence of the genetic potential from which it was created. Therefore, the Exceptional Foal can only be produced from parentage of exceptional potential AND desirable selections therefrom. It also follows that less desirable combinations may occur. It is very unlikely that a parent will ever deliver the same contribution to even two of its offspring.

EACH MATING PRODUCES A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL

Therefore, the principal tool of evaluation and selection at Kale’s Arabian Horses is exanimation and appraisal of each individual. As An Individual, and based on the summation of the merits, excellence, and demerits it uniquely possesses.

Pedigree evaluation is useful in estimating the genetic potential of an individual. However, the pedigree provides no useful knowledge or analysis unless one has evaluated the individuals so recorded and can conclude the descendant to be a worthy selection from its noteworthy features and excellence potential of its lineage.

Progeny evaluation is also a useful tool in estimating genetic potential, and becomes increasingly informative with the sample size available for observation. However, precise deductions and conclusions must be limited, since progeny can inform only as to what selections have been delivered to that sample in the past and cannot foretell a specific selection in the future.

Thus the various factors and appraisals are considered and mating chosen for and with their accompanying expectations and hopes of result. The final necessary analysis is a critical evaluation of the actual foal produced. Only if it meets expectations is a desirable selection and combination, is a worthy representative, and - or is a useful result, does it Then qualify to contribute to future generations.

In the Pursuit Of Perfection, it is our firm belief that breeding stock must be evaluated, Judged and Selected Individually for their potential contribution of excellence to succeeding generations. Those individuals just ‘good’ may be successful if judged by a standard of lack of faults, but if combined do not possess the potential of perfection. Individuals possessing outstanding characters and merits, with minor deficiencies, have the potential in complementary matings to produce the superlative.

Our Dedication is to select and unite the Pieces Of Perfection, from whatever sources presently displayed in the breed, into the Superb Combination of All. It is only virtue combined with virtue that can, in the ultimate, Yield Perfection. At Kale’s Arabian Horses, We Seek to Preserve or Enhance Nothing, But THE SUPREME GOAL OF PERFECTION.

KARHO BREEDING PHILOSOPHY: A PARTNERSHIP WITH NATURE:

Horse breeding is a valid exercise of co-creatorship… To the extent we honor, understand and harmonize with the laws of genetic inheritance, we succeed… Our purest goal is to merge the spiritual ideal with the mortal concept in the attainment of perfection – perfection defined by correct useful structure combined with classic standards of beauty, proportionment, quality, temperament and the extreme refinement of the Arabian breed… “A perfect Arabian horse is a specific creation, not a vague generality. Its particular standards of conformation are derivative of what serves the horse best as a functional, living being. For perfection to be attained, a breeder must first define his vision in absolute and total detail. This detailed definition of perfection is a lifelong challenge of the serious breeder.”

The word of Howard kale, Jr., philosopher, are put to use by the practical Howard Kale, Jr., horse breeder. Kale’s extensive knowledge of genetics, his life-time experience as a horseman, are well represented and demonstrated in the KARHO principals of breeding: a distillation of nearly 60 years of breeding Arabian horses.

Kale gained his knowledge by assisting his father, Dr. Howard Kale, Sr., in the operation of their Seattle, Washington farm. Their ability to select excellent stock for incorporation into their herd is legend. *SILVER DRIFT, *DORNABA, *ESKADRA, TORNADO, selections based upon individual quality, not country of origin. Individuals who, phenotypically, displayed the genetic qualities inherent in their pedigrees. This is the expertise, these are the horses which for the foundation for Kale, for KARHO Farms, for the KARHO Arabians.

Since 1975, Kale and KARHO have solidly been linked with the horses of Tersk. The Russians are no more or less that the most recent addition to the breeding program based upon the best Arabian horses the world has to offer. In Kale’s words, “I am no more pro-Russian that I am Pro- Polish, pro-Crabbet, or whatever. Yes, I am pro-* MUSCAT, YES, I AM pro- *MUSLIN, yes, I am pro-*NAPITOK. I am pro-all the great horses.

“The Russian horses are the antitheses of the theory behind pure-Polish, straight-Egyptian, all-Spanish, pure-Crabbet, or anything pure Arabian horse. The Russian horses are a combination of the best of the world’s greatest Arabians. All the purebred Arabian horses of the world are all descended from horses exported from the Arabian desert. Horse breeders at Tersk have taken some of the best of all these programs to create what they view as the ideal Arabian.

“It doesn’t make any difference where a horse is bred. *BASK++ would be *BASK++ regardless of where he was born. He is a tribute to the bloodlines that produced him. It doesn’t make any difference that *SILVER DRIFT was bred in England or * MUSCAT in Russia. They are both great horses.”

The dedication to KARHO is to select and untie the pieces of perfection from the sources presently displayed on the breed into a superb combination of all. This philosophy of KARHO is constant and uncompromising. The horses will change; always improved upon in the pursuit of perfection. Additions to the mares and stallions of KARHO will be made when necessary for the ongoing improvement of the KARHO Arabian. Great stallions, difficult to find, sometimes nearly impossible to acquire… stallions such as *NARIADNI…* MUSCAT.