The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

 

Monticello V (Jullyen El Jamaal x Mosquerade V) as photographed by Stuart Vesty

"What I think created the really amazing horses that she was breeding was her uniqueness. She put everything into those horses. Her sensitivity, her thoughtfulness, her sharing, everything that she reserved for mankind - she put into those horses. It was where she put her genius." - Kristin Reynolds on Sheila Varian, in Mary Kirkman's book, The Story of a Legendary Horsewoman, published by Arabian Horse Times

Monticello V is a 2006 stallion, bred by Varian Arabians and owned by Carolyn Lesley of Lesley Farms LLC, located in southern Oregon, almost at the California border. He represents five generations of Sheila Varian's breeding program, through his dam, the premier Varian broodmatron, Mosquerade V and her ancestors: Huckleberry Bey, Moska, Bay el Bey and Baychatka, top-crossed with Jullyen El Jamaal, who also carries a line to Bay el Bey. You know what I found interesting? His Egyptian heritage. Monticello carries approximately 20% Egyptian influence, primarily through Ruminaja Ali, who incidentally, competed with Huckleberry Bey in 1979, winning US National Champion Futurity Colt, while Huckleberry Bey went Reserve. It is interesting to find both horses, who share this unique history, in one pedigree. Monticello V also carries the blood of Nabiel, Shaker El Masri and *Fadl. 

Through *Bachantka, one of three Polish mares imported by Sheila Varian, Monticello V becomes part of the colorful history that is a very real part of these horses. In 1844, Count Juliusz Dzieduszycki traveled to Alexandria, Egypt and having obtained letters of recommendation that he could present to a Bedouin Sheykh; he journeyed into the desert to meet the various horse breeding tribes, in the hope of securing their very best horses. The Count purchased seven stallions and four mares and would export these horses to the breeding farm he had inherited from his father, Jarczowce. One of the four mares he purchased was Mlecha, who founded an enduring line in Polish Arabian horse breeding. Her descendants eventually moved to his brother's farm, Jezupol, and from there, to the Janow Podlaski Stud, where her bloodlines have remained relevant to the present day. In tail female line, Monticello V traces to Mlecha, a Kuhaylah Dajaniyah by strain. 

There is another interesting story involving Count Juliusz Dzieduskycki and the stallion, Bagdad, who is also found in the tail female line of Monticello V. Count Juliusz's father, Count Kajetan, had not been successful in purchasing the Arabian stallion, who was represented  by a popular bloodstock agent of the time, Nicholas Gliocco. Count Kajetan sent his son Juliusz, in the hope that he would have more success in purchasing the horse. Using all of the money his father had given him for the purchase, as well as his own, plus the carriage, harnesses and the horses he had brought with him, Count Juliusz was successful in purchasing the stallion, Bagdad. One would argue that Count Juliusz, in his impulsive eagerness to please his father, had been taken advantage of by the experienced agent, Nicholas Gliocco. However, Bagdad soon proved to be worth every penny paid, through the offspring he sired. Monticello V, so many years later, continues to prove the wisdom of Count Juliusz's decision to use everything he had at his disposal, in order to purchase Bagdad.

Monticello V is an amazing athlete, having earned multiple National Championships, in two countries, between the years 2009 and 2017, all in Western Pleasure, as a Junior horse, in the extremely  competive open classes and the Adult Amateur classes. In all of the social media and advertising dedicated to him, he is referred to as, "the Western Phenomenon". I remember seeing him at the Central Park show in New York and I was impressed with his charisma, that is, a larger-than-life presence that oozed from every pore of his body. How rare it is to find horses who possess extraordinary athletic ability, coupled with a willingness and generosity of character to endure the challenges that a horse will face in the showing environment, through changing sights, sounds and scents.  Yet, despite the sensory overload, Monticello V remains authentic to his Bedouin roots and one can easily imagine him living in a tent with his family in a far-away desert.  

As a breeding stallion, Monticello V is recognized for siring beautiful horses, who are correct and functional, with the beloved Varian temperament. He is what his pedigree says he is, a Varian-bred stallion who passes on the trademark qualities that are synonymous with the Varian brand. Monticello V has been bred to a wide variety of mares, i.e. daughters of *Kordelas, Magnum Psyche, Marwan Al Shaqab and Khadraj NA plus Varian-bred daughters of Major Mac V and Sundance Kid V. He has even sired extremely competitive Half-Arabian foals of color, i.e. Buckskin and Palomino, out of Quarter Horse mares. As a sire, he has impressive statistics behind him, in terms of siring get who consistently win at the regional and national levels in the Western discipline.  

Monticello V with his owner, Carolyn Lesley, as photographed by Stuart Vesty

"According to the sayings of our forebears, we should judge the horse more by his character [moral attributes] than by his appearance. By outward indication one can judge the breeding. From character alone, you will have confirmation of the extreme care which is taken in breeding and of the vigilance which has been exercised to adamantly prohibit misalliances." - Emir Abd el Kader, from the book: Horses of the Sahara by General Eugene Daumas & quoted in Orzel: Scottsdale's Legendary Arabian Stallion by Tobi Lopez Taylor

As important as his show ring wins and siring prowess are, it is the enormous capacity of Monticello's gigantic-sized heart, that perhaps, is his greatest story, the center of which focuses on the love that is truly possible between horse and man. On the day that Carolyn's mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, the beloved purebred gelding they owned together, tragically died. It was a very grim and challenging time for the family and love for each other is the only thing that held them together. However, there is an old saying about one door closing, while another door opens and it is through that open door that Monticello V entered, maybe looking for exactly the same thing that Carolyn and Mary were also looking for and instantly found in Monticello V. Carolyn would later recall,  "I think Monticello sensed his role immediately when my Mom walked into his stall.” The bond that Monticello V quickly established with Mary, Carolyn's mother, not only sustained her in this time, it carried her through to the end of her life, all for the love of a horse.

"They will carry you, never knowing the weight of your burdens and triumphs. If you let them, they will carry you through life, and life is hard, life is heavy. But a horse will make you feel weightless under it all." - from #cellosoul