Against all odds, Naulana survived and went on to produce our senior stallion, Aurik
by Aurab.
Her story begins with us, in the spring of 1973. At the time, our ranch was located in Martinez, California. Through neighbors
and friends, I let it be known that I was searching for daughters of the grand old stallion, Aulani,
a Rifnas son. Aulani and his half-brother Ziyadi were the winners of the early-day Arabian horse races held in
Southern California, in connection with the early Arabian shows. Aulani was bred by H.H. Reese, Aulani's dam, Follyat,
was given to Mr. Reese by W.K Kellogg at the time Mr. Reese left the management of the Kellogg Ranch to start his
own Arabian establishment. Mr. Kellogg gave Mr. Reese his pick of any of the Kellogg mares and, from them, Mr. Reese selected
Follyat. Follyat, bred to Rifnas, then produces Aulani, a multi-champion show horse as well as being successful at racing.
Aulani, living most of his life in Carmel Valley, California, had very few purebred daughters. I later found two of these~
Naulana in Wyoming and Ralah in Montana. Naulana gave us one wonderful colt, but Ralah was to remain barren until her
death at 24 years.
Aulani was a magnificent copper chestnut stallion, nearly 16 hands tall. As a young girl, in the early 1950's, I spent
many of the my summers at the ranch where he lived. Aulani was kept in a large corral with an almost solid twelve foot
high wood fence. His regal bearing and extreme loneliness was more than I could bear at times. Fortunately, he was used
often on trail rides, after his racing and show career ended, so he did have other "horse" contact. Due to a sever injury
to his shoulder during one of these rides, his last years were to be spent in his 12' high fenced corral. On of my tasks
was his grooming and did he love this attention!
Years later, with loving thoughts of my years with this grand old man, I was to own a daughter of his and lease another.
Through the contacts that I had made in early 1973, Naulana was located in Wyoming, a "hares breath" away from being
destroyed. She and her foal, Naulani, were owned by an older couple and pastured with other mares and foals on their
several hundred acre prairie. The mares and foals were left to their own devices to seek and find food. Most of the mares and
foals were starving. With their aged mares, the older couple would wean the foals by shooting the mares, then herd the foals
back home. Contact was made with the owners and arrangements were made to ship Naulana and her colt just a week before Naulana
was due to be shot. (How many of our fine Arabians suffer this fate?)
The long journey for Naulana to California was to take place in November 1973. Several horses were being shipped with
her and her colt. Upon departure, they were all loaded into a stock trailer, with Naulana being loaded last, the thought being
that if she died en-route, as she surely would, it would be easier to unload her carcass! Thirty hours later, with badly swollen
legs and a battered body, the exhausted old mare arrived in Martinez alive, but barely! (The other horses in the trailer,
all loose, could care less about one old mare and her foal.)
Naulana and her colt arrived at the worst possible time. It was late at night, after 10 p.m., the power in the area was going
out and a fierce storm was raging with howling winds and freezing rain. Our dogs alerted us to their arrival. With flashlights
in hand, two very wet people leading two very sad looking horses were walking up our steep driveway. At closer glance,
I could scarcely believe my eyes! There stood Naulana! Her condition being so poor, I could put my fingers between her ribs.
She had no stomach, her underline seemed to be attached to her rib cage. You could count every bone in her body! Only the
regal look in her eyes showed any sign of life. My husband, Dick, was sure this wasn't the mare I'd bought. I had to admit
it was a bit hard to see her outstanding qualities at that particular point in time. I knew in my heart what she could
look like given lots of tender loving care and hoped that I could "restore" her to her original self.
The next day the vet assured me he'd done "all he could" but it didn't look very good. If she lived through the winter, he'd
be surprised. Naulani was 21 years old! Her six month old colt was suffering from rickets. His outlook wasn't much better.
Fortunately, time as to prove the vet wrong. Naulana thrived on a diet heavy in alfalfa meal and molasses (her teeth were poor),
Drive vitamins, B-Complex supplements (to stimulate eating), a corn, oat and barley grain and alfalfa hay. On nice days,
I'd take her out to eat fresh green grass (good for reproduction).
Before and after photos appear in this article. The photos were taken 5 months apart. The before photos were taken after we'd
fed Naulana for 2 weeks.
Naulana did so well, that five months later, in April of 1974, she was ready to be bred. We had one momentary setback when
four months into the feeding program, Naulana began to founder! Too much, too soon, and too fast! Four months seems like
forever when bringing an old mare along, but it's really a short time span for what I was trying to do. With some quick
diet adjustments, all went well.
Naulana's qualities are best described by Carol Mulder after visiting the mares at Aurab's court. "Naulana is absolutely
gorgeous! She has captured my fancy more than any mare I have seen for years! She is so beautiful she just takes your breath
away as she walks toward you. Then when you see the rest of her, the impression only grows. She just radiates class, quality,
style and Arabian breed character."
Naulana bred well and on the following April 3rd, 1975, produced the extremely good stud colt, Aurik. Aurik was a
bright chestnut with a blaze face, with four even white socks, that showed off his rare and prized natural action. He had
the style and carriage of a king. He was and is a fine specimen, the result of his strong heritage.
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All went well until he was 1 week old. At that time, Aurik developed uncontrolled severe diarrhea and had to be sent to U.
C. Davis in California for treatment. A twist of fate further complicated the situation.During an I.V. treatment, giving
fluids, a six-inch catheter tube was lost and floated into my grave colt's jugular vein. The colt was rushed up to the
Radiology Department and the staff watched this catheter tube pass though Aurik's heart and lodge in the pulmonary artery
of his lung! It's still there today, and Aurik is almost 9 years old. For this reason, his successful show career has been
limited as we were advised "not to unduly stress this horse, as we don't know what his prognosis is."
Naulana is now gone, but not forgotten! Her blood and spirit live on through Aurik and his sons and daughters. A great mare
lives on!
