From our Arieana Notebook: One of the first daughters of Skowronek to be imported to the United States, *Rossana exemplified the excellent disposition for which Arabian horses are noted, in fact she was outstanding in this respect. She was so steady and dependable under saddle that Mr. Kellogg used no other horse in his later years of riding. Never shying or making a wrong move, *Rossana was as perfect in disposition as it is possible for a pleasure horse to be. *Rossana died at the Kellogg Ranch on March 24, 1946, at age 25 and a little over 20 years after her importation from Crabbet. 

Dam of 13 registered purebred Arabian foals (6 colts and 7 fillies) among which her son Rossdin and her two daughters Roaba and Tamma are significant in the pedigrees of Arieana's Arabians.

Today at Arieana we still treasure *Rossana's influence for her kindly, steady disposition and almost faultless conformation, for these very same traits have reliably descended throughout the intervening generations in our Hearst-derived bloodstock and our Old California/CMK Heritage breeding program.

Recommended reading for more information and further study on *Rossana and the other beautiful horses of the Crabbet Importation of 1926 by W.K. Kellogg to his ranch in Pomona, California:

Parkinson, Mary Jane. The Kellogg Ranch, The First Sixty Years. Cal Poly Kellogg United Foundation, Inc. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA. Third edition 1984.

Reese, Herbert H. in collaboration with Gladys Brown Edwards. The Kellogg Arabians ~ Their Background and Influence. Borden Publishing Company, Alhambra, CA. 1958. pp. 191-192.

From our Arieana Notebook: There was little to fault about this dappled grey stallion; his head, shape of neck, slope of shoulder, height of withers, body conformation, and legs were all anyone could ask. Rossdin was very well-muscled in loin and quarters, which probably made it possible for him to do one of his specialties in the Kellogg Sunday Show with no apparent discomfort or fatigue. This was to walk on his hind legs for about half the length of the arena, and he did it in "style" without the trainer having to keep cueing him or without dropping halfway to his forefeet ever so often, as so many "walking" horses do. Rossdin's other act was that of the "wounded rider", a not-too-believable fable which nevertheless pleased the audience, wherein the rider would be "wounded" as he rode Rossdin at a gallop around the ring, and then slow the horse down and fall off. Rossdin would then lie down so the fallen rider could slowly crawl across the horse, then Rossdin would get smoothly to his feet, with his limp rider across his back and walk carefully out of the ring. He was one of the best sons of his Kellogg sire *Ferdin as well as the leading progenitor of the *Ferdin line.

(Notes and photo derived from: Reese, Herbert H. in collaboration with Gladys Brown Edwards. The Kellogg Arabians ~ Their Background and Influence. Borden Publishing Company, Alhambra, CA. 1958. pp. 136, 192-194.)

Pedigree of Rossdin AHR #985