The History of Skowronek
For an account of Skowronek’s origins and an illustration of his extraordinary impact on Arabian horse breeding in Poland and elsewhere: The Arabian Horse Network

Skowronek, Polish for Skylark, was bred by Count Józef Potocki on his estate in Antoniny, in western Wolhynia (today Ukraine). Foaled in 1909 by the desert bred Ibrahim out of Jaskółka, this Arab stallion achieved legendary status and his bloodline can be found in many generations of thoroughbreds in Poland and around the world. Often forgotten in recollections about Skowronek is Józef Potocki’s extraordinary biography. His two sons, Roman and Józef Jr., continued the family’s horse breeding tradition with the remnants of the stud lost during the Bolshevik revolution, up until World War II. Today the famous Polish stud farms in Janów Podlaski owe much to this heritage.