*Barich de Washoe's lush, grassy  paddock at Brumarba Arabians is fenced with weathered pine poles. From there he  can contemplate  the broodmares in the surrounding pastures throughout the  winter,  and cast a fatherly glance toward the foals in the spring. Late  in the  day, when the fragrant scene of pine hangs in the air,  *Barich often lowers his  head, indulging in a siesta, his rich chestnut  coat gleaming in the afternoon  sun. There he dozes, his eyes half-closed,  occasionally swishing his tail or  cocking an ear toward a distance  whinny. It is, admittedly, a life of well  deserved ease for this  21-year-old ambassador of Spanish breeding. 
     

When  bankruptcy forced a dispersal of the Steen horses  in 1967, a sale was held at  the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa  Barbara. Forty-five horses were sold, with  several (including  the majority of the Spanish lots) going to Mr. Jack Dunn of  San  Diego, CA. Among his purchases was *Barich De Washoe (Zurich x *Aldebaran  II), acquired for $1,200.  *Barich's dam, *Aldebaran II,  also went through the sale, going to Jay and  Dorothy Stream in foal to Imagin  (Image x Rafina). 

Tom Hoarth,  Dunn's son-in-law, recalls, "We were a new  farm, and what Jack  was trying to do was gather together good horses of each  major  strain. We had Polish, American, pure Crabbet, and then finally,  Spanish.  Jack liked the Spanish horses, and he just had a feeling  they would be popular  one day." 

"I worked with *Barich as a young horse, and  handled him at breeding," says Tom. "We stood 22 stallions at  one time, so to us  he was just another horse here. But what he  sired was outstanding. *Barich outdid himself." 
 

Meanwhile, Bruce Clark  and Gerry Alexander of BruMarBa Arabians, Mead, WA,  were becoming  increasingly curious about the Spanish horses. "At the early  Nationals  shows, many of the Champions were Draper-bred. They were Spanish  tail-female, and by Sureyn," remembers Bruce. "Everyone gave the  linebred  *Raseyn credit, but we couldn't help wondering why other  *Raseyn horses didn't  look like that. Then the half-Spanish stallion,  Pomona Ahmen (*Raseyn x *Nakkla  by Fondak) came to Washington  state and stood not far from us. He was an  incredible stallion  and crossed well with out Al-Marah Radames and Comar Bay  Beau  daughters." Another Spanish beauty who made an indelible impression  was  *Palabrita (Barquillo x Hacienda), who was shown by the Steens  at the Colfax,  WA, show. "She was bone skinny, but she was incredible,"  recalls Bruce. "Just  beautiful, and real snorty and fancy. Her  handler could barely hang on to her as  she pranced around the  arena." 

Bruce's interest in the Spanish  bloodlines was  further piqued at the 1972 National Sale, when the Spanish mare  *Dinorah III (Uah-Martin x Kirat), bred by Luis de Ybarra and  imported in 1965  by John Rogers, sold for $22,500."She had an  injured leg, which was heavily  bandaged, but still, she was beautiful,"  remembers Bruce. "Every big breeder in  the business was bidding  on her. She sold for what was then an unheard-price."  At the same  show, Bruce and Gerry learned that two pure Spanish mares and a  colt  were for sale at Jack Dunn's place. They also discovered  that a seven-year-old  stallion was available there as well, referring  to *Barich.  In am impulsive  move, Bruce phoned the Dunns and bought the mares  *Yokohama (Fabuloso x Nubia  II) and *Palabrita (Barquillo x Hacienda),  and the colt JDAR Bari Brita (*Barich De Washoe x *Palabrita), all  sight unseen. And Bruce's  partner, Gerry, adds, "He didn't dare tell me, because  those were  the days when we were stopping at restaurants and having crackers  and  catsup." The acquisition had put enough strain on their budget,  so they passed  on the stallion. 

Bruce had arranged to  have the three Spanish horses  shipped to BruMarBa, but when snow  forced them to take the southern route home  from the Nationals,  they decided to swing by and take a look at the Dunn horses.  "When  we got there no one was home, so we walked out to the pastures,  where we  saw about 40 foals, 11 of which really stood out. They  were from very different  mares, but they were like peas in a pod.  Just fantastic little babies. When the  Dunns arrived home, they  tooks us for a little tour. It turned out that all the  foals we  liked were by *Barich,  so I went out to the  stallion barns to have a look at him. I liked  him immediately because he had  gigantic eyes and he reminded me  of my first horse. Gerry couldn't stand him.  Later that evening  over dinner, Gerry started to negotiate for the two Spanish  mares  and the colt, still not knowing that I had already bought them.  Once the  secret was out, I asked about *Barich. They said if we took  the  whole package, they would let us have him for $5,000. So we got  the four of  them for $30,000. Of course, we needed a partner,  and called Dr. William Little  of Montana, who supplied the down  payment." 

"We liked the Spanish horses  we had seen," says  Dr. Little, "but what we were really thinking was how nicely  the  Spanish mares would cross with Comar Bay Beau. And of the two stallions,  JDAR Bari Brita was really the more impressive. When I eventually  sold my  interest back to Bruce and Gerry, I ended up with Bari  Brita. It wasn't until  after I'd seen *Barich's daughters that I changed  my mind about him." 

When *Barich arrived at BruMarBa,  no one was quite sure  what to do with him. "I was still breeding everything to  Comar  Bay Beau." says Bruce. "However, I decided to breed *Barich to the four mares who  traced in tail-female to the Crabbet mare, Jalila. She was a Skowronek  daughter  out of *Rasima by Daoud, imported to Spain in 1931 by  the Duke of Veragua. *Barich traces to Jalila  twice, and I reasoned that  if we were going to do anything with his pedigree, as  concentrated  as it was, that we should try and go in the tail-female with  something  similar." 

Those were just about the only mares *Barich got at first. "Nobody  else would breed to him," says Gerry. "We had always had real  pretty horses, and  *Barich was just the  opposite, and so fat. On the  other hand, there was a lot of interest in Bari  Brita, who did  very  well for himself, both in the show ring and in the breeding  shed. In our minds he was unquestionably  the star." 

*Barich's look  is one of  great usefulness and durability---a look that horsemen of  any  breed would  admire. He has a handsome, breedy  head, with  large well-placed expressive eyes,  a very masculine cheek and  jowl, wide forehead, and neat ears. He is a balanced  horse, sturdy  and strong, and very unlike anything the breeders in the  Washington  area were used to seeing. Yet despite any initial uncertainty, the  fact that *Barich is  Bruce Clark's third sire of significance speaks well for his  judgment and his  intuition (his stallions Al-Marah Radames [Indraff  x Gutne] and Comar Bay Beau  [Azraff x Rose of Mirage] were sires  of 286 and 349 foals respectively). 
   

*Barich stood  at the  McDannalds' for three years, breeding 15 outside mares  and three or four of the  McDannalds mares each year. His stud  fee was $1,000. "He sired some super  breeding mares here, and  many, many champions. I still have one daughter, Touch  of Spanish  (x Expectation by Victor Hugo)," says McDannald. "I showed her at  halter 12-15 times and she was either Champion or Reserve Champion  every time  out. The only horse that ever beat her was another Pure Spanish mare we had at  the time. 

"*Barich was a very  nice  horse,  with an outstanding disposition. He was a real handy to have around  and  pleasant to handle. My children, who help me in all aspects  of the business,  were quite young when *Barich was here, and I  trusted  him completely. But, of course, I trust all the stallions here,  because  if I can't, they're geldings," says McDannald. "All in  all, I think *Barich has done more to  promote the Spanish Arabian than any other horse  ever imported." 

Meanwhile, *Barich's first BruMarBa foal  crop  had arrived. "And then we realized what we had," says Bruce. From  that  first crop, came La Tres (x Bint Elibn Mirage by Ibn Mirage),  a Canadian Top Ten  Mare, and to this day  one of Bruce's favorites. 

For the next three  years, *Barich spent half  the breeding season at BruMarBa,  and the other half at Bill and Mary Ann Hughes'  Will Mar Arabians  in Chino, CA. "We thought he was absolutely beautiful over the  topline,"  says Mary Ann, "and all of his offspring were very strong there  too.  He was big and bold, and he had a great personality, but  I fell for his Spanish  eyes. My kids could lead him around with  just a lead rope---he was just a big  gentle guy, more of a family  pet than a breeding stallion. We'd hop on him  bareback and just  ride him around. " 
  

"Our pure Spanish *Barich daughters are being  bred back to Spanish sires such as *An Malik (Galero x Ispahan)  and *Aram (Bambu  x Corteza), while we are breeding *Barich's half Spanish  daughters  to Polish stallions. We have one in foal to Zodiac Matador, and  others  may be bred to our *Bask/*Aladdinn son." 

In 1979,  *Barich came home to  BruMarBa's Garden Valley, CA, facility for good,  and in the years that followed,  he found his niche at BruMarBa.  "His nick with the Comar Bay Beau daughters was  the answer," says  Bruce. "He shortened the coupling and added inches to the  legs,  especially with the little Skowronek mares. He gave them snort and  blow,  which is what we needed. Our horses all had good conformation  (to me, Beau was  the perfect horse), but *Barich put a certain  showiness  into his foals." 
  

After Bruce and Gerry saw the great consistency  and the  prettiness that *Barich was throwing, they went to Spain to research  his pedigree, finding that there  was nothing bred quite like him.  They returned 13 times, subsequently importing  several pure Spanish  horses, including the handsome *Vallehermoso (Procyn x  Betelgeuse  by Tabal), who is being used on BruMarBa's *Barich daughters. 

*Barich was bred  by Luis  De Ybarra's La Cascajera Stud, Seyville, Spain. He is the product  of  a  7/8ths brother-sister mating, with Zurich and *Aldebaran  II both being sired by  Malvito, and out of daughters of the mare  Uganda. *Barich's sire, Zurich, left  only  one foal crop before his accidental death.  "He was a very strong and  athletic grey  stallion, with a nice head  and good way of moving," remembers  Ybarra. "And Zurich's sire,  Malvito, was one of the most beautiful stallions in  Spain. Although  small, he was very strong as well, with a very beautiful head  and  neck. He was very Arabic, with an extremely  nice topline and wide  chest. *Barich's dam, *Aldebaran II,  was a big bay  mare, very strong with gigantic  eyes." 

Although *Barich never got a lot of  mares until relatively  late in life, as of February 1986, the registry lists 351  purebred  foals sired by *Barich,  ranking him among  the top 20 stallions on the World's all time  leading sires list. All together,  *Barich has appeared on  stud book research lists for  15 volumes, and has been joined on those lists at  different times  by his sons JDAR Bari Brita and El Bahia (x Brumarba Azadream).  *Barich's biggest foal  crop was in 1980 when he sired 52 purebred foals. 

*Barich Get include 17  National winners who have 30 National titles among  them, including 1981 Canadian  National Champion mare SB La Ina  (x Jamal Colleen by Sur-Lee). Sixteen *Barich get are Regional  winners,  and an additional 49 are class A winners. Among his winning offspring  are such super-achievers as: La Estrella Bahia (x Beaus Bay Love  by Comar Bay  Beau), 1983 Region 5 champion Mare, 1984 Whittier  Lions club Champion mare, 1984  Scottsdale Top Ten Mare and 1984  Canadian National Top Ten Mare; Example (x  *Makkora by *Makorr),  who, as a two-year-old, won two Junior Championships, two  Reserve  Junior Championships, one Reserve Senior Mare Championship, one  Senior  Mare Championship, and Region 3 Top Five Mare---all in  just six shows; and the  beautiful bay Lomolin (x Beau Fancy by  Comar Bay Beau), 1985 Region 8 Champion  stallion. *Barich is also  a leading  sire of Sweepstakes winners, with two sons on the winning sires  list  as well as three Sweepstakes champions, two Reserves, and  11 Top Tens for get  and grandget. 

This is *Barich's last year at public  stud (His fee is $10,000); his book will be closed to outside  mares in 1987. "We  are keeping our numbers way down so we can  help out customers with marketing,"  says Bruce. *Barich's BruMarBa foals,  about 15 each year, find ready markets, with their sale prices  averaging  $50,000 and up, with many selling in excess of $100,000. Prices  for  colts are higher than for fillies, because, as Bruce reasons,  "If a colt is not  worth more than a filly, it shouldn't be a stallion--a  stallion is half the  herd" 

"Not many *Barich get have sold at  auction,  because I'm not supportive of sales," says Bruce. "We'd much rather  sell our horses on a one-to-one basis. We like to know what's  going to happen to  them and where they're going." 

*Barich's successor  at  BruMarBa is likely to be his young son Destinado (x *Zlabiya  by Alhabac). A  stunning 16-hand chestnut foaled in 1982, Destinado  has been leased to the Tofts  of Bremervale Stud, Queensland, Australia,  for two years. The Tofts have  developed a highly  successful breeding  program based on the Crabbet/Spanish  cross. Destinado's full sister,  Bint Zlabiya, is another BruMarBa keeper. 

"The truly remarkable  thing about *Barich is that he has done  it on his own," concludes Gerry. "In the early  days, we were having trouble  feeding him, let alone advertising  him. When it came to showing, well, Comar Bay  Beau was the only  horse in Bruce's world, so he was the only promoted in the  ring.  We didn't have time to make a name for *Barich. Most of his early  champions  were owned and shown by small, backyard breeders. 

We are  striving to breed good Arab horses. We are not breeding Pyramids,  Stars, or  National Show horses--nothing but good strong horses  that look like Arabs and  can do something. Horses that families  can enjoy." And to that end, *Barich has not disappointed.  Juan Ortega, who has  cared for *Barich for the past four  years, says, "He's such a nice horse, he's so  quiet and gentle--muy  amable. He  knows me, and when I bring him  in at night, I call his name and he comes to me.  Even though I  take care of many other horses, *Barich is my favorite."  Despite *Barich's look of  tremendous  power, this restrained old fellow is not all dash and prance; he  asserts himself through subtler means. His sons and daughters  do his speaking  for him--in the most enduring ways. 
 

Copyright © 2006 by the Spanish Arabian Horse Society. 
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