Jennifer began her breeding of arabians in 1976. Like many others she started out with derivatives. It was at this same time that she discovered the pure crabbet arabian stallion Wellworth Magician by Risheem, who made a very long lasting impression . This led to the purchase years later of her first pure Crabbet stallion in 1983, of the then 2yr old Fenwick Panache [Sardonyx X Perfection], a grandson of Sindh [imp] and Greylight [iiu]. Panache matured into a very imposing stallion and was often perceived to be bigger than his 15h. He became the pivot of the stud, and consistently bred quality high percentage Crabbet Arabians and derivatives in the early 80’s, followed a few years later by pure Crabbet arabians. He carried many crosses to the famous Skowronek., and his pedigree carried such other greats as Silver Fire, Royal Diamond, Oran and Naseem. He was put down after an accident in 2002 at the end of a very celebrated career.
Some twenty odd years ago Jennifer began concentrating on breeding pure Crabbet arabians and became passionate about preserving this type of pure Arabian that descends in all lines of it’s pedigree to arabians owned or bred by the world famous Crabbet Stud. This includes the three eras of ownership of the stud. Firstly the founders Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt, followed by their daughter Lady Wentworth and lastly Cecil Covey who inherited Crabbet Stud on Lady Wentworth’s death in 1957. It also includes the arabians kept at the Blunt’s desert home, Sheykh Obeyd in Egypt.
The pure crabbet Sindh [imp] mare Sibella was the foundation mare for this stud. Her tail female line traces back to Carlina [Rissam X Shamnar] who was imported by Mrs Dora Maclean in 1947. Several of Shahwanpark’s mares carry this same tail female line to Carlina. Rafina , 1919 – 1944 [Rustem X Risala] the first mare to be imported to Australia from Lady Wentworth by Dora Maclean, also plays a very large part in this stud. Many of the studs mares descend in tail female line from this mare through Riffalani. Queen of Sheba, the desert-bred mare who arrived at Crabbet Park in 1879, foaled in 1875 and destroyed in 1901 aged 22yrs. This dark bay/brown mare was very celebrated in the Syrian desert and was described by Lady Anne Blunt as reminding her of a fawn. Queen of Sheba had an unlucky family and there are few representatives now left in the female line. However, she is alive and well in two females at Shahwanpark. These two females are believed to be two of only five pure Crabbet tail female line descendants left in the world at this time. Several other mares in the stud are direct descendants from one of the largest families being the “N’ line.
Arfaja Danyon [Silver Somerio X Wellworth Leilani] was introduced to the stud in the late 90’s. He carried many crosses to Naseem, and Raktha through Indian Magic and Electric Silver. His dam’s sire line traced to Risheem [imp] Although he bred very few foals in his short life he consistently added strength to hind-quarters and passed on his temperament. Only one daughter remains in the stud.
Shahwanpark believes that the arabian must be not just well conformed, and possess the action which is a hallmark of the breed, along with the arabian characteristics that are peculiar to the breed, but that they must be striking to the eye. Shahwanpark strives to continue to preserve pure Crabbet arabians of the highest quality with balance and refinement.
