If a "magic breeding formula" were to exist within the wonderful world of Arabian horse breeding, it would be that of crossing Ekstern with *Eukaliptus. In Dr. Hans Joachim Nagel's newest book, The Arabian Horse: Nature's Creation and The Art of Breeding, Dr. Nagel addresses the nickability that can exist between 2 stallions, "two sirelines could work perfectly together in one way or the other; they could work when both ways a nickability effect occurs when breeding sire and dam's sire together. This system is confirmed as working well when a good foal is the offspring of a certain stallion and mare which is the daughter of another specific stallion. When both stallions complement each other, then they nick perfectly together. It is an art which takes effort and careful testing to discover such a satisfactory combination of sires."
The beautiful mare, Palanga, as photographed by Karolina Misztal, is representative of the breeding "nick" between Ekstern and *Eukaliptus. A 2002 Ekstern daughter, she is out of Panika, a *Eukaliptus daughter out of Plisa (Probat x Pliszka). In tail female line, Palanga traces to the mare Gazella, an 1840 Kuhaylah Ajuz, purchased in Syria by Count Juliusz Dzieduskycki for Jarczowce Stud. Gazella founded one of the most influential families in Polish Arabian horse breeding. There is something to be said about Poland and the continuity of the Arabian horse breeding program, despite one invasion after another. For example, the mare, Taraszcza, was captured by the Russians in 1939, and for the next 2 generations: her Ofir daughter, Operetka and Porfira, her granddaughter by Priboj, were bred by the Tersk Stud in Russia. It is the Kord (Grand x Cosmosa) daughter, Pardwa, who returns the blood to Poland, as bred by the Michalow State Stud. This is where pedigrees become like history books, to remind us of the perseverance, the tenacity and the many sacrifices made by Poland, to protect her beloved Arabian horses and keep the program moving forward.
What does the name "Palanga" mean? Palanga is also the name of a busy seaside resort town, with miles of beautiful beaches, in Western Lithuania. Legend has it that a beautiful priestess named Birutė, tended to a shrine at the base of a hill in Palanga. Her beauty was so remarkable, that word soon reached the ears of Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who wanted to make her his wife. A wedding is soon planned, against Birutė's wishes and the Grand Duke is murdered and Birutė goes back to tending the ceremonial fires of the shrine she loved, for the rest of her life, remaining beautiful until the day she died.
The beauty of Palanga became a world-wide phenomenon in the decade of the 2000's. No matter where she was shown, she charmed her audience, who fell deeply in love with her. In 2004 and then, in 2005, she was judged a Junior Reserve Champion Mare (Pianissima was the Champion), at the Polish Nationals and, in Germany, at Ströhen. At the All Nations Cup in 2006, she earned the title of Senior Reserve Champion Mare. In Moorsele, she became the European Senior Reserve Champion Mare. And to close out the show year, she was World Senior Top Ten Mare at the Salon du Cheval. The following year, in 2007, she returned to the Polish Nationals, to claim the title of the Polish National Senior Reserve Champion Mare. The ultimate show mare, elegant, refined and despite a very pronounced Saqlawi phenotype, she is the strength of her strain, she is Kuhaylan.
Now 19 years old, Palanga has produced well and her progeny, are as competitive as their dam was in the show ring and have furthered her influence all over the world. Her progeny includes the most talked about mare, Parantella by Kahil Al Shaqab, Padrona by El Palacio VO (Al Lahab x El Dorada) which introduces more Eulkaliptus blood through Emigrantka, the dam of El Dorada plus the mare, Padova, sired by the stallion, Galba (Plakat x Gza Gza). It is interesting to note that Palanga was also bred to the Marwan Al Shaqab son, QR Marc not once but multiple times, resulting in stallion power like Pavorotto KA, Panthos, Pinco Arab and Profender KA. It is amazing that this one mare, has produced as she has and thereby, influenced the world of the Arabian horse, as her pedigree promised that she would.
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