Articles

Notes on Eblis

Stella Manberg-Wise 3/31/2003

Eblis was a dark brown stallion, herd sire of Hacienda Chapoleta, a primarily cattle operation in Antiquoia, Col, and reputedly a son of Cometa (don't know dam, though! Wish I did).
Anyway, you may have read one of the articles by Dave Jones a couple years back in PFHW where he recollects his adventures selecting horses for Meridian Meadows (the que tal horses), where he talks about visiting a remote farm where he had to complete the trip by horseback, and the mount they brought for him, and his companion (maybe Colin Phipps, owner of MM) being Maria Bonita and Faroana, and remarking MB was the best trail horse he ever rode - well, both were Eblis daughters, and Maria Bonita was a double Eblis (father to daughter).

Well, in some private info obtained from Dave years ago-being I wanted to know if there was a good reason for MM to import 12 Eblis mares (a lot more than other lines), or was it just "a great deal," he wrote back that it was because of the traits he produced, consistency of repro, and that while Senora Chapoleta inbred him a lot, repeatedly, he could see there was no weakening in the line in those horses when done, and so got them (including numerous inbred ones, such as Maria Bonita and 2 full sisters) as a nucleus to outcross with stallions such as Hilachas, Mahoma, etc. The traits he most admired were the conformation, musculature and power-stamina, very very strong hocks and tendency to use them naturally, agility and quickness, long thread in gait, extreme intelligence, plenty brio with levelheadedness. Of course, Meridian Meadows imported horses with the intention of promoting PF here, as cattle working horses.

I have had many Eblis blooded horses (including one of the imported inbred daughters) and have linebred on Eblis many times myself, and after almost 3 decades in the breed(29 years), its still my favorite line by far!

I do have to say though, that because they are highly intelligent, don't miss a trick and are self-confident horses (true brio), so you must work with them on an "intellectual level," wont submit to physical punishment/intimidation, they are not for everyone - but for an experienced horseman (actually I think women do best w/ them! You have to have a lot of self-awareness in every move you make, and think it out) that is ready to "raise the bar," enjoys a more complicated, "brainwork" challenge - having dialogues with horses, communicate almost telepathically with just the lightest of barely perceptible touches - the reward is a horse (once you've convinced them you're worthy!) that works for you at 101%, even lay down and die for you devoted companion, that will and can do anything you ask of it WELL, VERY WELL....the kind of horse you dreamed about as a kid and saw in the movies, TV (Fury, The Black Stallion, etc - yeah, the do exist!)

In the outcross version, you get a milder version, w/the powerful hocks mainly (that's a big desirable mainly), smarts, good looks and broad musculature, responsiveness...but the basis is there for a very versatile, do-all horse.