Bay mare. By an unknown local non Arabian sire out of Iliniecka. “Matka” in Polish and Russian simply means mare.
The 1903 Russian Arabian Stud Book mentions Matka or a mare that is the tail female descendant of Skowronek. The last sentence of Skowronek’s dam’s entry in the stud book references this mare: “Yaskulka (Яскулка) (Skowronek‘s Dam). Belongs to Count I. Potocki (граф И. Потоцки). Grey mare, born in 1891 at the own farm. Sire “Rymnik” (Рымник) of the Prince R.V. Sanguszko’s farm (завода князя Р.В. Сангусщко). Dam “Epopeya № 263” (Эпопея № 263) by “Dervish” (Дервиш) imported from Arabia in 1870, granddam “Lira № 198” (Лира № 198) from “Obeyan-Matsyuk” (Обейан-Мацюк) of the own farm, son of “Batran-aga” (Батран-Ага), imported from Arabia in 1842; great granddam “Kreolka № 103” (Креолка № 103) by “Iskander-Pasha” (Искандер-Паша) imported from Arabia in 1851, great great granddam “Zozulya № 70”[79] (Зозуля № 70) by “Krolik” (Кролик) of Prince Sanguszko’s farm; great great great granddam – mare (Matka) of Prince Sanguszko’s farm.”
We know by studying the pedigree of horses bred by the Sanguszko family that they were careful to highlight the Arab ancestry of their horses. Their family had spend a considerable amount of resources to import horses they thought were Arabian and they took great pride in this as iRoman Sanguszko Sr. writes in his history of the stud in 1876. If a horse was not listed as Arab in their records then the Sanguszko’s did not consider the horse Arab. The pedigree below is based on Polish sources that reviewed the original Sanguszko herd records prior to WWII. The sire of Matka comes from the same mixed non Arabian blood as her dam does.
A further discussion on the type of non Arabian horses like Matka, her sire and her dam Iliniecka can be found here: “The local mares at the heart of Skowronek’s pedigree.“
