1805 black stallion. By Gniady out of Polka. The main source for this information is the Janow Podloski pedigree database which is based on Polish stud books. His sire Gniady is also referenced as a sire to the mare Polka, dam of Szumka II. Polka, the dam of Szumka II appears to be a full sister to the stallion Szumka I. Szumka I was not an Arabian horse. It appears Szumka I and II were closely related horses.
Lady Anne Blunt alludes to impure horses named Szumka aside from Szumka II in her journal entries during her visit to Antoniny in the fall of 1884: “Some pedigrees of the mares at Antonin. Unfortunately it seems that most of them are faulty having a flaw some generations back.” She comments again, “…by Shumka II out of Beyanka, Shumka II by Kheylan out of ‘Polka.’ Here the pedigree is lost to view, the previous part being in older book kept under lock and key by Coutess Potocka. Polka sounds like a Polish mare and Shumka II is a doubtful sire. The Shumkas, and the Kerukh Khan strain added to the Engl. Crosses of John Bull and Anna form a considerable stain in the pedigrees we have looked through.”
Szumka I’s sire and dam predate any Sanguszko importations from Arabia. As such Szumka I’s bloodlines are similar to the local mares at the heart of Skowronek’s pedigree.
