*Witez II was foaled at a time in history like no other. Europe had recovered from one World War and was sitting on the brink of another. Poland's Arabian horse breeding program, which had been decimated by World War I, was finally restored to pre-war capacity and quality. Surviving purebred Arabian breeding stock had been recovered. Arabians were imported from and traded with other European stud farms, mainly Hungary's Babolna, Austria's Radowce, and Germany's Weil Studs. Desert bred Arabians were sought out, purchased and imported to Poland.

One of the stallions imported from the desert was Kuhailan-Haifi, a beautiful blood-bay. Kuhailan-Haifi, through his son Ofir, was the progenitor of a family of Arabians which are still having a tremendous impact on Arabian breeding world wide.

Ofir was the sire of the world famous "3 W's": *Witez II, Witraz and Wielki Szlem. All three stallions were foaled at Janow Podlaski, Poland in 1938. Witraz and Wielki Szlem stayed in Europe but many of their progeny have been imported to the United States.

*Witez II was the "forward scout of the Polish Invasion". He was part of a small group of Arabians rescued form Europe at the close of World War II in 1945. These Arabians were the first Polish imports to the U.S.A. since the Dickenson/Babson imports in 1937. They were greeted with curiosity and skepticism by breeders.

Reactions to the Polish Arabians were mixed. Few People were impressed enough to bring their mares to the stallions. Earle E. Hurlbutt was an exception. He was especially interested in *Witez II and sent mares to breed to him. The "*Witez II Dynasty" was begun. It produced many champion *Witez II sons and daughters, whose influence is still very strong. Eventually, Mr. Hurlbutt was able to purchase *Witez II. He owned *Witez II until the horse died on June 9, 1965.   

The *Witez II son, Witezar, was 1965 AHSA Horse of the Year, accumulating 4,034 points, more than any other horse in the history of the award. In turn, Witezar produced Witezarif, who won the Tevis Cup four years in a row, plus three more times, becoming the most famous endurance horse of all time.

Another *Witez II son, Bolero was a three-time U.S. National Top Ten Stallion.  Bolero sired Zarabo, the 1967 U.S. Reserve National Champion Stallion. Following his halter career, Zarabo was a successful cutting horse. 

Bolero was also the sire of Xenophonn, the "Doc Bar" of Arabian cutting horses. Xenophonn retired from cutting competition in 1982 after winning three national championships and three reserve national championships. 

Xenophonn is the sire of more than 20 national champions and reserve national champions, most (but not all) are cutting and reining horses. He is the leading sire of performance Arabians and half-Arabians. Still siring foals, Xenophonn will continue to have champion sons and daughters in the show ring for many years to come.

*Witez II was himself, a wining show horse. In 1951, at the age of thirteen, *Witez II was taken to his first show, the Pomona Fall Show. This show was the site of the West Coast Championships, and is the forerunner of today's U.S. National Championship Show. *Witez II was a last minute post entry, he wasn't even on the program. *Witez II won his first class and returned to win the Champion Stallion class. His own son Nitez was Reserve Champion Stallion.

As Champion Stallion, *Witez II was required to compete against the Champion Mare for Grand Champion of Show. That mare was the lovely Fersara, later to become the dam of Ferzon. With his regal "Look at me!" presence, *Witez II won the coveted Champion of Show award over the beautiful mare. *Witez II was now eligible for the Pacific Coast Champion Stallion class. He was entered and, at the age of fifteen, *Witez II was named Pacific Coast Champion, the oldest stallion to ever hold that honor. Reserve Champion Stallion was another one of his sons, Zitez.  

While *Witez II daughters were most valuable as broodmares, many have also been tough competition in the show ring. The best known of these mares was Sheila Varian's Ronteza (x Ronna). Shown only in Reined Cow Horse Classes during a career which spanned six years, Ronteza was unbeaten in Arabian shows.

In 1961, Ronteza was the only Arabian ever to win the Reined Cow Horse Championship at the San Francisco Cow Palace. She did it in spite of falling during her work after she hit a slick spot in the second round of the lightweight class. She never hesitated as she got up, caught her cow and finished her work without any loss of form. The next day she won the Reined Cow Horse Championship. Not only was Ronteza the first Arabian to win the Cow Palace Championship, she was the first mare, and Sheila was the first woman, to "Win the World"!

Ronteza went on to produce many champion progeny of her own. including Bay-Event and Bay-Teza, both sired by Bay-Abi+. Bay-Event was U.S. National Champion Stock Horse twice! Bay-Teza was twice U.S. National Top Ten in both Halter and Western Pleasure.

All total, *Witez II was the sire of 225 foals, 215 foaled in the United States. Of the 10 European foals, Wiznu was the only *Witez II son surviving World War II to remain in Europe. Wiznu was a successful stud in Germany, credited with saving the Arabian breed in Germany.

*Witez II is well represented in the present day show ring. Gamaar, a great grandson of *Witez II, is the sire of Gaamara. the dam of Aladdin Echo (by *Aladdinn), Aladdin Echo is a six time National Top Ten Stallion and sire of the fabulous Echo Magnificoo, the Arabian Triple Crown Winner in 1992. First Echo, Canadian National Top Ten, and Ray Dor Echo, U.S. National Champion Futurity Colt are Aladdin Echo sons. Aladdin Echo was exported to Brazil, carrying the precious *Witez II blood to yet another continent! The great Fame VF (deceased) had one line to *Witez II through his dam, Raffoletta-Rose, also a Gamaar granddaughter. However small, the *Witez II blood comes through and has influence, especially when carried through the dam line.

When *Witez II was bred to mares descended from another Polish stallion, Skowronek, the results were phenomenal. Foaled in 1909, Skowronek was an excellent example of the quality of pre-WWI Polish breeding.

Mares sired by the Skowronek sons *Raffles and *Raseyn were extremely important to the success of *Witez II. Great beauty was produced by the *Witez II/*Raffles cross. Many halter champions descend from this cross. Champion cutting horses have consistently come from this cross, especially from breeding programs in Texas.

Considered a "Golden Cross", the *Witez II/*Raseyn cross consistently produces powerful working Arabians. They have wonderful dispositions, good minds, and tremendous athletic ability.

Western ranchers who use Arabians, prefer the *Witez II lines. They have a "lot of cow" and are very tough. The *Witez II bloodline is unsurpassed in Endurance and Competitive Trail riding.

*Witez II had an excellent disposition and mind. He was very intelligent and adaptable, which enabled him to survive the incredible turmoil of his life. The *Witez II disposition is passed on to his descendants for many generations.

*Witez II's conformation was perfection. He stood 15.0 HH, was an almost black, mahogany bay, with a star and four white pasterns. *Witez II had a level croup and his tail was always carried in an arch, even at rest. A very long shoulder, faultless withers, very long, high set neck and a beautiful head gave him the "Look of Eagles". He had large dark eyes and small finely shaped ears with curved tips. These characteristics are quite evident in *Witez II descendants.

*Witez II has been dead for 35 years. As we begin the next Millennium, *Witez II blood is still available, but very difficult to find in concentration. *Witez II was so successful as an outcross for domestic lines, very few breeders linebred to him. Only a handful of breeders were confident enough to inbreed the bloodline. These breeding programs were small. The largest of these were in Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa, Nevada and California.

For many years, Edwin and Anna Freeman have owned two mares tracing to *Witez II. Ofir Mistala and Azrahami Free (Count Niga x Bassandra) are full sisters that we raised.

After years of research and hard work, combined with a lot of luck, we found two concentrated *Witez II related mares. Sirref Witezza (Tryez x Serya Odessa) is 34.4% *Witez II. WitezaQuatraCroce (Prince Bolero x Bay Lu) a quadruple great granddaughter of *Witez II, is one of only four 50% *Witez II Arabian horses in the world.

Our blue-black stallion, LR Kailai Witez, has five lines to *Witez II. Two through Nitez, two through Lintha Witez and one through Wiwonka. Kailai (pronounced kay-lay) is a multi-champion Cutting Horse with championships in Arabian and All-Breed competition. He is the 1993 National Champion IAHA Snaffle-Bit Maturity cutting horse, Scottsdale Maturity Reserve Champion and Region 8 Open Reserve Champion. Kailai also has Top Five titles in Regions 6, 7, & 8. Kailai competed at the U.S. Nationals in 1993 and 1994. Although qualified, Kailai was unable to compete at the 1995 U.S. Nationals due to a hoof abscess discovered only four weeks before the show.

Kailai is a Rocky Mountain Cutting Horse Association (RMCHA) High-Point Champion in his classes, from 1992 through 1994. In 1993 Kailai was RMCHA High-Point Reserve Open Champion and in 1994 he was RMCHA High-Point Open Champion. RMCHA is for all breeds of horses. Cutting-bred Quarter Horses are the majority, along with Paints, Appaloosas, Morgans and a few grade horses. Kailai was also shown in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) shows. At every NCHA show he has attended he came home with a paycheck.

LR Kailai Witez and our *Witez linebred mares are the heart of our *Witez II Preservation program. The foundation of our broodmare band are our CMK mares. With one exception, each mare has at least one line to *Raseyn. The exception is Royal Roseate (Rifik x Bint Wyoma Rose). She is linebred to *Mirage and *Raffles. Her sire was a U.S. National Top Ten Cutting Horse in 1963.  

Due to his rigorous show schedule from 1992 through 1994, we chose not to breed Kailai. His first foals were born in 1993. He has sons and daughters in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Kailai has grandget sired by Niga Free in Utah and Wisconsin. Kailai has sired four black colts to date, three of those are blue-blacks.

Niga Free (LR Kailai Witez x Ofir Mistala) is now a gorgeous blue-black gelding, was our junior stallion for two years.  With an additional two lines to *Witez II from his dam, Niga Free has a total of seven lines to *Witez II.

All our breeding stock are chosen for these traits: (1) Disposition (2) Conformation (3) Athletic Ability (4) Bloodline (5) Type. Although type is 5th on our list, any horse we consider has to look like an Arabian.

Our first breeding goal is to produce Arabians which will become beloved members of a human family. These Arabians have to like people, especially children. Our horses are working Arabians of the Western type.

Good dispositions are an absolute in our horses. Other faults can be inconvenient but a bad disposition can kill or injure. Good conformation insures soundness (barring injuries). Athletic ability expands the use of each mare. With the exception of two of our aged broodmares and the young stock, all our horses are trained to be ridden Western, English and bareback, with either a bridle or halter. Mares not in foal are used for saddle horses.

Freeman Arabians have a strong *Witez II breeding program.  The *Witez II Dynasty is alive and well in the mountains of Northwest Colorado.