SUREYN
Grey Stallion

A look back at a sire who lighted up the first U.S. Nationals classes in 1958. Sureyn won the first Nationals sire recognition through the first National Champion Mare, the first National Champion Stallion, and a Top Ten Stallion.

Two of three National winners belonged to the Draper family — Jim and Edna Draper and their children — of Jedel Arabian Horse Ranch at Richmond, California. Just seven years earlier, Edna had rescued Sureyn from a life of obscurity. She’d known of Sureyn through his photo in an all-breed magazine, recognized his value as a double grandson of Skowronek, and had coveted him for some years. But Sureyn was quite occupied at the time. He’d become a Remount stallion, was purchased by the breeder to whom he’d been posted, and spent years running in the wilds of the Nevada foothills with his harem of 40 grade mares which, each fall, brought in 40 Half-Arabian foals.

In 1951, Edna horse-traded a Jedel Arabian for Sureyn, still sight unseen. Edna recalled his arrival: “It was almost dark when Jim backed him out of the trailer. I’m standing behind him and here are these legs — just like drive wheels on a locomotive. Oh, how great!, I thought. But he was thin, his coat and mane were all matted, and he had thistles tangled in his mane and tail.” Within days, Edna had Sureyn cleaned and polished and trimmed and within months, she had him at the Cow Palace where he went Champion Stallion. With that, he retired to stud at Jedel where he was bred to the Draper mares, mostly of Spanish and Crabbet lines, and Edna bred some Arabians of 50 percent *Raseyn blood.

Although Sureyn got a late start at stud — his first purebreds were foaled when he was 12 — he sired a lifetime total of 132 foals, 20 of which have U.S. and Canadian titles. Of the 20, two brought in National titles in both halter and performance. One of the two, Sur-Neet, after going Top Ten Stallion in 1962 and 1963, brought in the first Nationals performance championships, going National Champion English Pleasure and National Champion Western Pleasure in 1963. Two more daughters (Surakala and Mi-Fanci) went Canadian and U.S. National Champion Mares respectively; a son (Saneyn), U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion; another son (Sur-Galant), U.S. National Champion Western Pleasure; and a daughter (Sura Joy), U.S. National Reserve Champion Formal Driving. All this along with Top Tens in cutting, pleasure driving, trail, formal combination, formal driving, and park, plus a number of Top Tens in halter.

The Sureyn influence — a combination of type and doing ability — endures. Odds are that we’ll find Sureyn prevalent in the pedigrees of 1999 U.S. National winners.