muscat

    Howard F. Kale, Jr. acquired the beautiful Arabian chestnut stallion, *Muscat (born April 15, 1971), through a swap with a group of Soviet men on January 8, 1978. They were given by him two American Standarbred breeding stallions, Centennial Way (out of Kerry Way, 1966 Hambletonian winner) and Speedy Scot (one of the best trotting sires of that time). This switch was not an easily made agreement. Kale had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, 13 trips to the Soviet Union, had begged and pleaded endlessly over infinite negotiations, and had suffered much heartache over his desire for this incomparible Arabian stallion (the best in the world at this time). In Margaret K. Carpenter's book Arabian Legends, Kale said " 'He inspired me. No was simply not an acceptable answer...He gave me a great gift; he made me work harder and go through more hell than I ever realized I was capable of doing...His promise was that strong.' "(86).
     And *Muscat fuflfilled that promise. At the 1980 Scottsdale All-Arabian horse show, he was named grand champion stallion. He then, in the same year, won the Canadian and U.S. National Champion Stallion titiles, an extraordinary accomplishment known as the Triple Crown of the Arabian horse show word. He was the first horse to win all three of these titles in the same year. He then went on to sire just over 1,000 foals, "171 of whom won championships in both halter and performance, including 47 who grabbed more than 90 national titles"(87). Of his best offspring are:
     Ford Prima Donna, Mmusket, Vaguely Noble, *SR Nadom, Mustasia, Muscap, Lady Muscata, Barodd, MHR Muscateal, Moudriey, Musknistsa, Amber Satin, and Amber Silk.
     Kale built Karho Farms at which *Muscat and *Nariadni "reigned as king and crown prince of Tersk Arabians throughout the glittering, high-dollar glory days of the 1980's horse industry"(88). *Muscat was even presented to "standing-ovation crowds at Karho auctions, during which his daughters often brought six-figure prices"(88). His daughter, Amber Silk, in 1985, topped all Scottsdale sales that year when she sold for $1.7 million.      In 1994, *Muscat went to live at Rick Taylor's farm, where his life-long companion, *Nariadni, lived also. " 'Muscat was so regal, so majestic. He didn't even look at *Nariadni, but *Nariadni zoomed in on him like only *Nariadni could do. *Muscat payed him absolutely no attention until he was within 10 feet or so of him, then he paused and looked his way as if to say Oh, so you're here, too?' "(89). The two horses were very different. *Nariadni was an alpha stallion and always made sure that his presence was known. *Muscat, on the other hand, was quiet and would "survey his kingdom", knowing that he was the king and expected that all others knew it as well. They were stabled at opposite ends of the barn, but still managed to play a game with eachother, over and over again all day long. " '*Nariadni would walk out of his stall and look for *Muscat. If *Muscat wasn't out, *Nariadni would go back inside. But if *Muscat was there and saw *Nariadni, *Muscat would calmly walk out to the fence, at which point *Nariadni would fiercely rush the fence, snorting and blowing. *Muscat would just look at him. Then, with a calm regal air, he would turn and walk quietly back into his stall, infuriating *Nariadni. This would go on all day, over and over' "(90). Imagine what a sight that would be!!
     "On *Muscat's last day, appearing happy and healthy, he bred a mare, walked back into his stall, and dropped dead of a heart attack. It was July 25, 1996. He was 25 years old"(91). This loss touched the hearts of every Arabian horse enthusiast in the world. But not only did they suffer, but as did *Nariadni.
     " 'When *Muscat died, *Nariadni was not the same horse. I noticed it the next day, ' said Taylor. 'He was still gorgeous, but the spark was gone. And it was that way until he died almost exactly a year after *Muscat's death. It was August 2, 1997. He was 24 ' "(91).