The History of the Donoghue Bloodline
As Gerald Donoghue’s wife, Louise, wrote in the introduction to the 1993 Donoghue Arabian Directory:
“Jerry’s ambition was to raise and sell horses which could be treated as family pets but could also win ribbons in the show ring. He urged that these horses be trained in different types of riding to exhibit their versatility and athletic ability. His “Generations of Champions’ are widely noted for their friendly dispositions and classic Arabian looks. Nothing delighted him more than to receive a letter from the owner of one of his horses telling him how wonderful they were . . .”
The detailed story of the early years is best told in Gerald Donoghue’s own book, My Friend, The Arabian Horse. Below is a short synopsis of the story.
We begin when Gerald Donoghue was working as a reporter and assistant editor for the Houston Chronicle. In 1943 the city editor sent him to do a story on the Arabian horses of R. J. Geimer. Gerald had never seen Arabians before, but came away impressed by the disposition of Geimer’s stallion *Latif (Antez x *Lassa). After Mr. Geimer saw the story, he offered Gerald to breed his Palomino mare to *Latif. About this time the Donoghues left Houston and moved to a ranch in Goliad, and there in 1944 their first Half-Arabian was born, a filly named Taffy. As she grew and was ridden, Gerald admired her so much he decided to get more Arabian blood.
The first purebred was purchased in 1949, a two-year-old grandson of *Latif named Watez. In 1950 Mr. Donoghue brought a filly named Yaquta (*Czubuthan x *Lassa). In 1951 Yaquta was bred to Watez. Also that year three females were purchased from the Lodwick farm in Ohio. These included Rafisca (by Rafisco) and her dame, the pregnant Freiha. Jerry and Louise Donoghue now had a small herd. He still had not found the type of Arabian he was looking for.”
In 1952 Jerry discovered some of the Mowinclke mares were for sale in San Angelo. One bay mare and her bay colt had a look that set them above the others: His search had ended. The mare was Ronara (Roayas x Narlet) with her son Ibn Hanrah. Ronara was back in foal to Hanrah (Hanad x Rahzawi), and would produce Rohanna in two months. Donoghue bought the whole package, later writing: “Most of the Arabians I have owned since that time have been descendants of this one great mare.” Ronara, probably more than any other horse, appears to have set the type that distinguishes a Donoghue horse.
The next addition to the Donoghue herd was in 1953 from the Babson farm in Illinois. She was Fay Ufa (Fay-el-Dine x *Maaroufa), bred from Mr. Babson’s 1932 Egyptian importation.
In 1954 Mr. Donoghue visited the Al-Marah Arabians, then located in Washington, D.C. He met Bazy Tankersley, the farm’s owner and her foundation sire, Indraff (*Raffles x *Indaia). However, Gerald did not want to send Ronara that far from home. Instead he decided to bring Indraff daughters to Texas and bred them to Ibn Hanrah. Ronara’s Crabbet ancestry would be right in line with the Crabbet-Skowronek breeding of Indraff and Ibn Hanrah would bring the Davenport cross into the combination to pep things up. Gerald said: “horses with a strong percentage of Davenport blood seem to have an extra spark that some other Arabian horses lack.”
In 1956 Gerald Donoghue attended the first Al-Marah production sale looking for something from the Skowronek line. He bought Egypt (Ibn Hanad x Star of Egypt) (*Raffles x *Roda). Donoghue admired Egypt’s head, quality, and quiet disposition. Egypt was bred by Margaret Shuey of Sunny Acres in North Carolina. In 1960 came another Shuey-bred mare, Sunny Acres Serranita (Ibn Hanad x Joye (*Raffles x *Roda). In 1964 another Star of Egypt daughter came to Goliad, Sunny Acres Easter Star, who later became the dam of Beau Ibn Hanrah. Beau was successful in park, western, English, halter and most classic. Beau was a horse who would stand out among many others no matter where he was.
Following are the mares which Mr. Donoghue described as the background of his breeding program, although other mares were occasionally brought in from outside through the 60s and 70s.
| 5 Ronara Daughters | 2 Shuey Mares | 4 Indraff Daughters |
| Rohanna | Egypt | Tasliya |
| LaBahia | Sunny Acres Serranita | Al-Marah Indraffa |
| Bint Ronara | Sunny Acres Easter Star | Indianna |
| Rose of Ronara | Sunny Acres Genevieve | Al Marah Gazelle |
| Ronava |