Vintage Palominos
- Kathy Troxler
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
I’m always on the hunt for any bit of information I can find relating to the Wrigley family ranch, El Rancho Escondido, on Catalina Island. Because of their breeding program being of great historical significance, my main search word is, of course, “Arabian Horse”. However, before Philip and Helen Wrigley purchased their first Arabian stallion (Kaaba) it is said that they tried their luck breeding Palominos.
I got lucky and found a couple of articles on Palominos from 1933 and 1936/37. Both mention Mrs. Hazel Farman. Very specifically the article from 1937 mentions that she eventually, and after much reluctance, sold most of her breeding stock to William Wrigley Jr.
The article published in 1933 in the Pasadena Post that excited me the most. This article mentions several horses by name that eventually ended up being owned by the Wrigley family, and one is the mare, Reina Del Mundo.
If you'd like to see the articles as they originally appeared those are available as well.
The article from 1936/1937 (some newspapers published it in December 1936 and others in January 1937) with the intriguing headline “Sultan’s Palomino Horses Are Stabled In Luxury” is about Palomino horses in general and mentions William Wrigley, Jr. in two places. One which states a palomino stallion named El Rey owned by the Wrigley estate walked at a pace of seven miles per hour. The latter part of that article again features Hazel Farman and mentions Wm Wrigley buying most of her breeding stock.
I’d be thrilled if any of my fellow equestrian horse sleuths have additional information about Mrs. Hazel Farman and her stable of palominos. I know she must have been very well known as one of the articles I found mentions that news of her marriage to G.I. Farman was made note of because the name on her stables at the state fair had been changed!
Since the original clippings have teeny tiny type, I took the time to retype them retaining all the mis-spellings (Palamino versus Palomino and main instead of mane for example) and you can find them and download them here.
If you'd like to see the articles as they originally appeared those are available as well.