Early on in the history of the Arabian horse's arrival to America, the newly formed Arabian Horse Registry wanted a way to promote the horse in the United States. The directors of the Arabian Registry determined the best way of doing this was to get the Army interested in using and breeding Arabian horses. This was a substantial investment by the Arabian Registry because it took a lot of time, money and energy to prove to the Army and their cavalry majors that Arabian horses made the best cavalry horses.In 1908, the Army had established the U.S. Remount Service, a horse cavalry unit. Its goal was to supply hundreds of thousands of horses for military use. To get the U.S Remount Service interested in Arabians, W.R. Brown, president of the Arabian Horse Registry at the time, organized the first Cavalry Endurance Ride in 1919. With a high regard for purebred Arabians overseas and their growing popularity in America, this was a perfect time to convince the government and the Army's Remount Service to breed them. Unfortunately, there were only 362 registered Arabians in the country in 1919. With so few Arabians, it was not an easy task to find enough of them to adequately represent the breed in the endurance ride. Even with this challenge, the Arabian horses made a superior showing, taking most of the prizes including first place in the endurance ride. W.R. Brown won first place on his purebred Arabian mare named Ramla #347. She carried 200 pounds during the ride.
The second Calvary Endurance Ride took place in 1920 and this time, the U.S. Remount Service was much more involved. The weight carried by the horses was increased from 200 pounds to 245 bounds. The horses traveled sixty miles a day for 5 days with a minimum time of 9 hours each day. The Arabian horses fared well again as they had the highest average points of any breed entered. This time, however, a grade Thoroughbred that was entered by the Army took first place.
Albert Harris, the Arabian Horse Registry Director from 1924 to 1949, believed that the Thoroughbred Jockey Club gave the Army $50,000 in 1921 so that they could purchase the best Thoroughbreds they could find in hopes of beating the purebred Arabians entered in the 1921 endurance ride. Mr. Harris wrote:
"With two endurance rides to the credit of Arabian horses in 1919 and 1920, the U.S. Remount, and incidentally the Jockey Club, felt something had to be done to beat these little horses in the next ride...".
The Army purchased several grade Thoroughbreds and planned to have Cavalry majors ride them. The Army also wanted the carried weight limit reduced back to 200 pounds. Since the Arabians had proven their mettle at 245 pounds, the Arabian Registry objected. Eventually, a the two sides compromised at 225 pounds.
In spite of the Army's efforts to have their grade Thoroughbreds beat out the Registry's Arabian horses, the first prize in the 1921 Cavalry Endurance Ride went to W.R. Brown's purebred Arabian gelding, Crabbet #309. W.R. Brown, with his Anglo-Arab gelding named Gouya, won the trophy for the third time in 1923.
W.R. Brown (and the Arabian Registry) had won the Calvary Endurance Ride three times with their Arabian horses. At that point, Mr. Brown gained permanent possession of the U.S. Mounted Service Cup. Albert Harris wrote in his history of the Arabian Horse Registry:
"... after 1923, the Arabian people decided not to enter their horses in the ride. This was done "so that the Army would have a chance of winning the cup the next time."
Actually, there was one exception. The Arabian people allowed the U.S. Remount Service to enter an Arabian stallion, El Sabok #276, in the 1925 endurance ride. The stallion ended up taking first place but he was not awarded the trophy because of a small welt raised under the cantle (projecting rear part) of his saddle. The U.S. Department of Animal Husbandry noted, though, that of all stallions of various breeds entered in all of the rides, El Sabok was the first and only one to finish a ride.
Fully convinced that Arabian horses had tremendous endurance, the Army planned to develop a supply of saddle horses that could be called to service if needed. Since Arabian horses were scarce at the time and difficult to obtain, the Army's breeding program didn't really get off the ground until 1941. This is when the Arabian Horse Registry directors decided to donate the nucleus of an Arabian stud to the U.S. Remount. Each director and Mr. W.K. Kellogg (of the Kellogg cereal company) personally donated one or more horses. A total of one stallion, seven broodmares (six in foal), one suckling filly, and three two-year-old fillies were placed at the Fort Robinson Remount Depot in Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
By 1943, the number of Arabian horses the Army owned was second only to the number of Thoroughbreds they owned. Later that same year, W.K. Kellogg (an Arabian Horse Registry Director from 1927 to 1940) and Albert Harris, helped the U.S. Remount Service gain possession of Mr. Kellogg's Arabian stud in Pomona California. The stud was originally given to the state of California, but with World War II heating up, the U.S. Remount Service felt they had a need for it. In October of 1943, Mr. Kellogg was successful in getting the California Board of Regents to turn over the Arabian Ranch (and 97 purebred Arabian horses) to the U.S. Army for use as a remount station. The ranch was owned by the War Department from 1943-1948 and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount).
Later in 1948, the Army decided to dispose of all its horse operations to the highest bidder. In June of 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill which transferred the ranch back to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. On July 2 of that same year, the California Legislature passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution No.100 which favored the transfer of the ranch from the Kellogg Foundation to the California Polytechnic College. To this day, the school continues to maintain a prestigious Arabian breeding program. As warfare has become more technological, the Arabian horse has made its transition from the Army to being used in various equine sport activities and an endeared equine to horse enthusiasts and families.
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