Portico: A Treasure in his own Light

There is an old grey gentleman stallion out in our paddock. By the time you read this, he'll be in his 28th year. He's not the horse that waits at the gate for attention. He's not the flashy horse that catches the visitor's eye. He's not the toughest acting horse in the stallion barn. His size is a good size, but it really doesn't stand out. His mane is thinning, and in this winter season his coat is long. There isn't a single medal, ribbon, or trophy in our house showing prestigious accomplishments. Yet he is a gem, a stallion that has only been with us a few years, but has had a tremendous impact on us in many ways. This fellow's name is Portico (Dharanad x Portia), bred by Craver Farms, born in 1979.

We first saw Portico in 2001 on a visit to Craver Farms, one of the many stallions who enjoyed a bit of turnout and the opportunity to entertain visitors. We had recently moved out of Atlanta and into rural southeast Georgia where we purchased a few acres. We were completely clueless about Al Khamsa Arabians at the time, but while searching the web for authentic Arabians found articles by Joyce Gregorian Hampshire, the Cravers and others, and arranged to visit Charles and Jeanne Craver. While there we certainly enjoyed seeing the variety of horses: different colors, different movements, and different attitudes. We picked out a couple of very nice mares as our venture into owning Arabians.

By the end of 2002 we decided to make the step into breeding our mares. Given our personalities, we went for the do-it-yourself approach. We took a course in equine reproduction and set up the necessary equipment and facilities. Certainly there were outside stallions available, but that didn't work out for us. We wanted a stallion to complement our mares. So, what to do for a stallion? Picking out a 'first' stallion is not necessarily an easy choice. Tail-female, strain and sub-strain, sire-lines - all confusing issues. Trying to sort all of this out was the major driver behind what eventually became the computer program that formats the Al Khamsa web pedigrees. Conformation, personality, fertility and training were other things we needed to learn about.

Armed with just enough knowledge of pedigrees to get ourselves in trouble, a return visit to Craver Farms on New Year's day in 2003 gave us the opportunity to look at several stallions. Portico was one of the stallions there that once again caught our eye. He had a nice looking trot, and a core-Haifi pedigree made a good breeding match for at least one of our mares. Further discussion revealed that he was trained to ride. Other than some bareback riding many years ago, Randy was new to horseback, so that was certainly a benefit, even if starting on a stallion sounded a bit adventurous.

Portico arrived at our farm in the spring of 2003 and stepped off the trailer like it was home. Within a few months of arrival he was being ridden. He was our first test case for breeding, using ground collection. Quite likely our first collection led to a pregnant mare and 11 months later in March of 2004 we had our first foal. A second foal sired by Portico (Veranda EAF) was born in August of that year. We also learned what not to do, after a few breeding mishaps. Fortunately, Portico's experience and good nature made then more humorous than hazardous.

Portico will act disdainful if he doesn't get regular attention. At feeding time he lets you know that dinner is days over due. Riding him puts him on cloud nine for two or three days. He rides very well, not too easy so as to make a rider sloppy, but not difficult, ornery or flighty. Last October he was the obvious pick to take to a work “picnic” to offer horsey rides to our co-workers' children.

After having him on our farm for a few years, we realized this guy was a true treasure and started wondering about his background. Was he a special breeding? What kind of training? How was he raised? Soon we started to pick up little bits of his past: A few pictures, a few email contacts, an occasional visitor, and a few more pictures. Eventually it started to coalesce into a story of this wonderful old fellow's life. Hopefully, the following collection of reminiscences gives you a glimpse into of that story.

We've learned quite a bit about Portico just in collecting information for this article. While we knew he had been ridden in eventing, we've had him four years and never knew he had been trained extensively to drive! Now, we wish we had a cart or carriage! Or better yet that we had started working on this article several years ago. It is interesting to note that he started out as a colt of little note, and continued to be the 'other' stallion for quite a bit of his life, yet has matured into such a gem.

We started on this article last November, and shortly after the turn of the year Portico started having some health problems. Given his advancing age, it is not surprising, but it does make us realize that perhaps he's not going to be with us for much longer. Our original intention was to use him as a good breeding stallion. Hopefully, we'll be able to make more progress in that direction this spring, as well as have him continue to grace our farm with his presence.

Charles Craver: A Slow Start

You wanted a few words about Portico, so I am sending some thoughts to you to be used as you wish. Mainly the subject I wish to address is Portico's life at Craver Farms before he went to live with Joyce (then) Gregorian. Going through his file, some additional stuff turned up, and that is also included for you.

Portico was born at Craver Farms in June of 1979. This was a second effort on his part to get out of his mom. A couple of months previously, Portia, his pregnant mother, took part in an exodusfrom Craver Farms made necessary by threat of flooding by the nearby Illinois River. The whole farm was evacuated, and Portia was sent to live in their vacant barn with Dean and Inez Neese in Pleasant Hill, Illinois. Portia got along fine there, but after a couple of days she began to show signs of early labor. She was treated, and the signs subsided. A few days later she was returned to her home at Craver Farms where she seemed to get along just fine until the morning of June 4 when it turned out that she had foaled all on her own. Along the back wall of her stall was a little shiny black colt, about the size of a big dog, very obviously dysmature, and, when he did get up, he was down on all four pasterns. Our notes on the event indicate there was no sign of milk from the mare and that there was a very large placenta, which fits in with a troubled foal. This is what every horse owner does not want: a worthless foal that is going to require a lot of expensive care.

Well, he got the care. He had a period of time when he was pretty sick, but he got over that. He straightened up on his legs, and grew up to be a handsome stallion with magnificent movement. His trot had a very long period of suspension, and he was easy to work with.

As a young stallion he was leased to Joyce Gregorian (later Hampshire). She had him started under saddle by Karen Randall, who became a fan of his and commented on how easy he was to train. After the tragedy of Joyce's death, the lease was extended to a series of young women who were very aware that Portico was a special horse. They used him as a companion animal, and he was shown under saddle rather extensively in the Boston area. Wherever he went, two guardian angels kept track of him for us. These were Paula O'Toole, who had been Joyce Hampshire's barn manager and Charlotte Newell, Joyce's veterinarian.

Among the young women who cared for Portico were Pam McArthur, who wrote: “I can't tell you how sad I am to have to give Port up. I had begun to imagine that I would have him until he grew old and died. He is a very special horse and I love him dearly.” Cindy Brown wrote: “...Portico at the A.H.A. of New England show... I showed him in training level and was very pleased with my scores: 66.666 & 62.350. Portico is a truly wonderful horse. We have been having such fun together. He adores trail rides and is so eager to please in the practice ring too. He has really taught me a lot. He is a real treasure, and I can't thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to lease him.” From Adrienne Iorio Borden: “...We have started going out novice on a very regular basis and are doing very well. Port loves the cross country phase and puts up with the rest of the day quite happily. We just started off our season this last weekend at UNH HT. We had a super weekend and I can't wait to get him out again.”

So that little dysmature foal grew up to be a fine stallion who was shown successfully, produced fine foals, gave great pleasure to appreciative horsewomen. I will add that as an older horse he returned to Craver Farms where we enjoyed having him and passed him on to you and Gail for your loving support. What a nice life this horse has had! How fortunate his human friends have been to have had such a noble equine companion.

Shirin Samiljan: Growing Up at Upland

My memories of my aunt, Joyce Gregorian, are often overlaid and entangled with memories of her horses. My whole life, Joyce had at least a few Welsh ponies in her backyard. Although the labels didn't exist then, through the 1970's she basically bred CMK Arabians. By the early 1980's she had begun dedicating her Arabian breeding program to Davenports. In the late 1980's she focused on Al Khamsa breeding, although her older programs never fell away. When she died at the age of 44 in 1991, she had over 70 horses at Upland Farm. Some, particularly the band of chestnut mares, tend to blur in my memory. But some were such unique characters that it is impossible to forget them. Portico is certainly one.

I first met Portico when he was a bouncy young stallion, sporting a iron grey coat with a few distinct dapples. Joyce often used the phrase “India Rubber Ball” when describing Portico, and I think that phrase desribes him best. He was both joyful, filled with joy and joyous, bringing laughter to those who cared for him. He came to the farm (I believe) as a four year old along with his friend Hellas, a bright “copper-penny” 1977 Davenport stallion. Hellas and Portico soon became known as “The Boys.” Both came in from Craver Farms to be trained as ambassadors for Upland farm to the larger show world. It was never Joyce's intent to focus their energies on breeding, as she needed to get more foals on the ground from her older Davenport stallion, Janan Abinoam, and his elderly siblings.

Directly upon his arrival, Portico entered into training with Karen Randall, who had traveled to the Cravers' with Joyce specifically to choose dressage prospects. Portico was gifted with a tremendously floaty trot. Some horses, on their extensions, you feel a grand power in their gaits - Janan Abinoam was like this. With Portico, there's a sense of open and free movement, a ground-eating stride that could carry you forever. I remember Karen saying that she had to remind herself frequently that this was not a trained horse, because he was so laid back about the entire prospect. Saddle on my back? OK. A bit? OK. Trail rides? OK. Portico was trained in dressage through Second Level, showed locally at both Hunter paces and in Dressage, and enjoyed being pampered by Karen's student Pam MacArthur after Prince Hal became too elderly to be competitive.

Portico always loved being ridden, opening his mouth so wide and driving his head to the ground so fast to get the bit in his mouth while being tacked up that it was usually a race to get everything arranged before his teeth scraped the floor. He was the first horse I ever felt at all comfortable jumping on - mostly because he just bounced along from jump to jump with such glee that it seemed wrong to get tense. Portico loved a good trail ride, and there was nothing better than a great gallop over the local causeway. Ears pinned to his neck, Portico would just take off, belly to the ground. And at the end, if you settled back in the saddle, light as you please, he'd come back to his elegant trot.

Entire evenings can be spent regaling a willing audience with Portico's antics, but I'll limit myself to a few stories. Portico was a true gourmand, Charlotte Newell, who lived at Upland while a vet student, once discovered Portico in his pipe stall next to Hellas with his front feet just barely off the ground, stretching over his partition and most of the way into Hellas' stall in order to eat his grain. Hellas, ever polite, was squeezed against the door to give his friend more room. (It certainly explained why Hellas had recently had trouble keeping weight on!)

Portico enjoyed an ice cream from time to time, and there's a famous story of the time we tried szechwan hot oil as a wood chewing preventative in lieu of the recently banned creosote. After licking the fence and thinking for a moment, Portico reached out for the bottle, trying to upend the fire brew directly into his mouth. After his stall was clean, if you opened the bag of shavings for him, Portico was quite glad to empty it himself, thank you very much. First, he'd knock it over, then he'd grab the bottom of the sack in his teeth and shake, shake, shake, shake, until it was empty. Sometimes he'd even toss the bag out into the aisle for you. I wouldn't say that Portico was particularly flighty.

The Boys were housed in adjoining paddocks up in the training barn. Almost daily, Portico broke through the brand new split rail fence to play with Hellas, so that finally Karen gave up and just turned them out together. The stallions genuinely enjoyed romping with each other without incident. Soon, Charlotte's lovely gelding, Araba Tigris, was turned out next to the rascals. Well, not for long actually, since Portico kept breaking the fence to invite “Tiger” over to play. The two stallions and one gelding lived together this way for quite some time.

After a few years, The Boys came down into the main barn to live on Stallion Row. Portico took up an abandoned wash stall at the top of the aisle. His job for a number of years was to babysit any nervous yearling studs who were housed next to him in the pony stall. That side of his stall was lower, and he often rested his head on the youngster's back for companionship. However, his favorite accouterment in the wash stall was its individual light switch. Every night, as you left the main barn, if you looked back over your shoulder, you'd see one light on in the aisle: Portico's light. I used to go back in, scritch his ears, turn it off, and leave the barn again, only to discover that he'd flipped it back on. After a while, I just gave up. Portico outwitted us all though, because eventually he figured out how to turn the light on in order to eat his hay, and then turn it off when he was done. Clever Pony.

Portico was a clever pony, always beloved, always giggled over. He was charming to the ladies, easy to breed, easy to trailer, easy to show, dependable around inexperienced riders, and unflappable. His only failing was really that he wasn't ever the one and only star of Upland Farm. For ten years, there was always at least one horse olderthan him who needed babies on the ground. He was so dependable, there wasn't really a strong push to get him out competing, because he would be around next year too. One reason perhaps why Portico has touched so many different people over his lifetime is because in some way or another he has never, until recently, quite been the star of his own barn, and he eventually moves on to someone else who falls under his joyous spell.

While at upland, Portico fathered three foals with great athletic potential on Joyce's CMK mares and one Davenport foal. All of his foals were personable, calm and athletic, but I only remember them as children, as I really only remember Portico with black knees and large dapples.

Last summer I gathered up my courage to go visit Portico at Randy Abler and Gail Well's farm in Georgia. Randy and I had started corresponding because I was interested in finding out where Portico had ended up after Joyce's death in 1991. I knew that he had been leased by Pam, but wasn't sure where he had been after that, or even if he were still alive. Portico was 27 last summer, and I figured that if I wanted to see him soon, I'd better go see him now.

I am pleased to report that Portico, although he's obviously older, is really the same gentleman he has always been. He is completely white, and perhaps age has made his head a touch more chiseled and hips more prominent. However, he still has a sense of horsey humor, he craves attention, and he's superbly patient. He is still babysitting youngsters, and he is still producing lovely foals. Randy invited me to ride him around the property, and Portico did not disappoint. He grabbed for the bridle as always, and after I managed to scramble aboard, we took off at a brisk walk. That spring in his step was instantly recognizable. His head bobbing, ears flopping, he gathered up the ground beneath him and purposefully strode down to the end of His Property. My daughter Annahid, who at eleven has never been around horses at all, enjoyed Portico too; she screeched with delight upon finding out that he enjoyed ice cream.

At the end of our weekend visit, I led Portico around with my daughter on his back; I really had to struggle to keep up with his brisk walk at times. That older man's got places to go! As I jogged along next to Portico I was only five years older than she is now. And I met him when I was only barely older than she is now. It's not quite a perfect circle, but Portico fills the center well. Soon his daughter, Veranda EAF, a bay Portico daughter out of the Davenport mare GF Kess, will find her way across country to come live with us in California. It has been 16 years since Joyce died and left Upland, and 16 years since I've ridden a horse. It seems appropriate that Portico, the joyful farm greeter, would be the one to bring me back into the joy of horses again. He is a hard one to forget.

Adrienne Iorio: Cross Country? No Problem!

Paula O'Toole helped me start breaking Port to drive while we were at Upland Farm. He caught on really quickly and I goofed around with him for hours at my new farm, Apple Knoll Farm, in Millis, MA. After a while I wanted to get him into competitive driving. He already had been eventing with me so he had a good background in dressage and had proven himself bold out on cross country. I figured I would need professional help to fine tune the driving aids. I sent him to browsville, VT to go into training with Robyn Culver Groves. When he returned he was very well broke and I bought him 2 new carriages to start showing. Sadly it was about the same time I moved up to Advanced Level Eventing with Red Mercury and was long listed for the US team. With all the traveling to show I didn't have time to show Port. Portico ended up driving at several of my friends' weddings and spent countless hours driving thru' the woods around the farm with my grandfather (then in his 80s). Port was also part of my wedding with Paula O'Toole driving and my grandfather upfront in his tophat and tails.

Portico and I also showed at the Arab shows in MA, CT, and NH. I put him in dressage and hunter classes. He was ranked as one of the top novice horses in area 1 for at least a couple of years.

At Apple Knoll Farm he was surrounded by very tall Thoroughbred event horses. He did work in the school and show with me but he most enjoyed being more of a pet and a mascot at the farm. He was turned out with several very large Irish geldings and enjoyed pushing them around from time to time.

I would never have let him go if I didn't believe that there needed to be more Ports in the world... so I kissed him and sent him off to breed.

Charlotte Newell

I met Joyce as a result of a “tenant wanted” note on the bulletin board at Dover Saddlery in Wellesley. When I called, and we got talking, she asked if I had breeding experience, yes, and I asked what type of breeding program she had. She said Davenports, I got excited, and she got excited that I had actually heard of them. We were on the phone for over an hour. When I got got off the phone, Bob asked who I'd been talking to. I told him I'd called about the DS note. He said, “Oh. It sounded like you were talking to someone you knew.” I said, “Well, you know what horse people are like.” When we got to Upland a few days later, the first horse I saw was Portico. After that, I really didn't care what the apartment was like -- it could have been the Black Hole of Calcutta. I was going to move there. Fortunately, Bob's piano fit through the door (his criteria for finding a living space).

The rest, as they say, is history.

Kim Bartolucci: The Perfect Wedding

Port is just one of those horses that really can do it all. Having rode Port for just over two years in dressage and jumping, I sum this horse up in two words... true and honest. I miss my beloved friend and was saddened when he had moved away while I was out to have my first baby six years ago. Now, I am looking forward to hopefully getting a baby of his over the next couple of years... You can't go wrong with this stallion!

One day the gentleman I was dating decided to propose. And like every little girl dreams of, I wanted a horse-drawn carriage somewhere in my wedding! So when I had my next lesson with Adrienne (my trainer), I shared the good news. Adrienne asked how I was getting to the church. So I told her I was going to look for a horse and carriage. A few weeks later, Adrienne informed me that Portico was trained to drive and that he had a wedding present for me... he wanted to take me to the church if I would let him. How could I say no... i was going to have my two most treasured guys on my wedding... my husband and Port!

He was so regal and elegant with his country cart laden with garlands of roses. Cars were pulling over along the street to watch the horse and carriage go by. He was picture perfect - balanced and unfaulted. Nothing bothered Portico as we drove down the street and in a “park-like” trot pulled up to the front of the church, if to say “We're here!” He stood proudly as people came up to pet his nose and praise the noble steed for a task well done. I could not go in and not thank Port for such a wonderful present. So in my dress of ivory silk, I gave him a big hug and left a lipstick kiss on his cheek. Things could not have been more perfect!