Raffles (horse)

Raffles

Raffles as an older stallion
Breed	Arabian
Sire	Skowronek
Grandsire	Ibrahim (PASB)
Dam	Rifala
Maternal grandsire	Skowronek
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1926
Country	United Kingdom
Color	Gray
Breeder	Lady Wentworth
Owner	Roger Selby Alice Payne
Honors
1933 Three-gaited champion National Horse Show
Last updated on: January 13, 2008.

Raffles was an Arabian stallion foaled in 1926 and imported to the United States by Roger Selby in 1932. Raffles was bred by Lady Wentworth of the Crabbet Arabian Stud.

Raffles was a son of the Crabbet foundation sire Skowronek, out of a Skowronek daughter, Rifala. Lady Wentworth deliberately chose an inbreeding cross in hopes of producing a suitable Arabian for crossing on Welsh ponies. She partially succeeded, as Raffles only matured to be 13.3 hands. However, Raffles never produced any offspring in England, and it is generally thought that his handlers at Crabbet believed he was sterile.

He came to America as a free gift included with a group of Arabians that Roger Selby purchased from Lady Wentworth, Selby had previously purchased Raffles' dam, Rifala in 1928. There is an alternative theory to why Raffles was given to Selby; in January 1932, Selby told Lady Wentworth that Rifala was infertile, thus, rather than being a sterile throwaway, a gift of a perfectly fertile Raffles was a replacement. However, at the time Rifala was in foal to a Saddlebred, and safely delivered the foal later in 1932.

Upon his arrival in America, Raffles did not sire any purebred foals until 1938. The popular explanation is that only after he was placed under a proper management regimen, did he turn out to be fertile. However, there are other theories. According to Selby's trainer, Jimmie Dean, after Raffles tested sterile at Ohio State University, Dean wondered if anxiety and tension was the source of the trouble. According to Dean, Raffles had endured poor handling, was distrustful of humans, and difficult to ride. With the assistance of Dean's wife, Thelma, a skilled horsewoman in her own right, they spent many months gentling Raffles and gaining his trust. Thelma in particular spent many months simply taking him on low-stress, relaxing rides around the farm and surrounding land. After this retraining, he was put to a couple of pony mares in 1936, settled both mares, and thus, proven to be fertile, was bred to purebred mares in the 1937 breeding season.