Brought to you by Markel: this interview with Evie, Paul Husband shares what it was like to know Khemosabi, one of the all-time leading sires of Arabians and Half-Arabians. Paul shares a wealth of stories about "Khemo" as a young horse, his starring role in a comic strip, as a mature horse, and how he lives on, 21 years after he passed in 2001. This is a special episode to hear a story about one of the greats.
A little background on Khemosabi (Source: Wikipedia):
Khemosabi was bred by Dr. Bert and Ruth Husband, sired by the stallion Amerigo and out of the mare Jurneeka++. This pedigree was primarily a combination of bloodlines from the breeding programs of W.K. Kellogg and Henry Babson. Khemosabi's dam (female) line traced to *Wadduda, the celebrated "War Mare" imported from the desert by American political cartoonist, Homer Davenport. The closest imported horse in his pedigree was his maternal granddam, the Polish-bred mare *Szarza. As such, Khemosabi was a product of Arabian bloodlines that had been developed in the United States for several generations, and therefore was promoted as an "All-American" horse.
Khemosabi was foaled in Husband's back yard in Whittier, California. As a young horse, his career was popularized by a series of lighthearted cartoons written by Paul Husband, son of Bert and Ruth Husband, illustrated by Karen Haus Grandpre, which featured Khemosabi as a horse who wore a "Lone Ranger" mask, accompanied on his adventures by his "faithful red-haired companion, Ruth," a character modeled on Mrs. Husband. In the cartoon strip, Khemo and Ruth fought for "truth, justice and the Arabian Way." Khemosabi was noted for having a large and enthusiastic fan base, and a Breyer Horse model was created with his likeness in the 1990s.
In his show career, Khemosabi was the 1973 U. S. National Champion Halter Stallion, and the 1976 U.S. National Champion and Canadian National Champion in Western Pleasure. He was also the 1976 Canadian National Champion Halter Stallion. He was one of the only horses to ever win an Arabian National Championship in both halter and performance in the same year.
Khemosabi stood at stud in 1969, his first breeding season, on lease to Varian Arabians. After his national wins, he was syndicated in 1980 by the Husband's son, Paul, with Ruth Husband serving as Syndicate Manager from the inception of the Khemosabi Syndicate for the rest of the stallion's life. Khemosabi died in 2001 at the age of 34.
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