I grew up with a smoothly muscled, free-moving, beautifully balanced little dynamo named *Raffles. His action was powerful yet easy. He never looked out of sync, standing or moving. I came to know firsthand the symmetry and correctness that expressed both beauty and strength, with a punch that carried through the generations. And oh so classic. He exuded Arabian. It seemed to shout, ‘here I am’.

Since my Dad (Roger Selby) imported various family lines from the Crabbet Park breeding program, representing a variety of other body types, with assorted ways of moving, I came to see what worked, and that is what stirred my passion to continue. It was a natural for me to continue what was the beginning, although it could not be known then, of a dynasty that permeates the entire Arabian community in America yet today.

*Raffles had the beauty, he had the build, he had the style and he had the potency.

I was fortunate. I started a step ahead, and was grateful for it. But with that gratitude also went the need and the responsibility to be more than just a production factory cranking out the numbers and taking credit for what had gone before.

Two very special horses influenced my vision and the direction this wellspring of *Raffles blood was to take in my life.

The first came while I was still a teenager at home. His name was Shereyn. Among the many visitors who came to the Selby Stud was Chico, California breeder Alice Payne. Her ranch was near the famed Pomona, California Kellogg ranch that had imported *Raseyn and she was thoroughly familiar with and appreciative of the Skowronek legacy. But when she saw *Raffles, that was it. When later my Dad dispersed the herd, she bought *Raffles and converted her entire program to the most intense inbreeding and concentration of *Raffles breeding possible. She not only proved the purity of the blood but provided an invaluable genetic resource pool of breeding stock.

While we were all ‘growing up’, Alice had this bay son of *Raseyn, Shereyn, that the Paynes used for pleasure, parades, cattle drives, endurance rides, anything. At the worthy age of 14, they put the finishing touches on his career, as a stock horse, winning the World Championship at the Cow Palace against a ring full of 75 top Quarter Horses, a feat almost beyond comprehension in those days. He was called out 14 times in the workoffs and performed perfectly. He had to in order to be recognized at all. Then Alice retired Shereyn and sent him to me in Ohio to enjoy. I learned what that type of build could do. He had a lean, smooth body, moderate in height (15.1), with a legginess. He had a stretch that flowed with energy from head to tail. His structure was so correct, no amount of work ever put a pimple on his legs. Clean, strong, but not heavy boned. His long neck balanced his moves in any direction with ease. That kind of athleticism grabbed me. He was my kind of horse.

The second special horse came along shortly after I was out of college. I had gone to Washington, D.C. to Al-Marah to help found the Arabian Horse Owners Foundation and travel the country promoting it. It was during those travels through Florida that I met Michael, who would confirm and settle the prevailing influence in my life. This amazing bay stallion by the double *Raffles son Raffey out of Abuseyna (Abu Farwa x Daameseyn by *Raseyn) was then in training with Monte Foreman, the foremost western trainer in the country. I rode Michael there and my vision was forever fused into place. It was like riding a cat. He could move and turn and spin with such ease and calm energy you hardly felt him touch the ground. He had that same legginess, a stretch that gave his lean body a sense of readiness for anything. He was so correctly coupled with strong, lean, refined legs and that long balancing neck always moving to keep him centered. Like a prizefighter he moved in any direction with ease. He was the supreme athlete.

Michael and Shereyn’s only questionable defect was a lack of dish in the nose bone on an otherwise clean fine head. This was the perfect match with heavily *Raffles bred stock whose gorgeous heads just wouldn’t quit.

When I returned to Al-Marah to help with the AHOF clinics and the Arabian racing agenda, Michael became available. I bought him, at that time to use as a racehorse. He had already retired the challenge trophy by winning the 100-mile endurance ride in Florida three times. This ride is one of the toughest in the country with very heavy deep sand and very hot muggy temperatures. The award for this challenging ride is now named the ‘Michael Trophy’.