The story of these horses begins back in Hungary in an era when horses were considered part of a country’s national treasure. In times of war, the breeding stock from the national Stud Farms was displaced in order to save them from destruction or capture. One link in the long saga was the rescuing of Hungarian horses, along with the Lippizaners, by General Patton from what was to be the Russian zone.

Once these horses arrived in Occupied Germany, a group of them was selected by Colonel Hamilton, Chief of the US Remount Service, to be sent to the United States to improve the breeding stock in the US Army Remount Breeding program. In 1949, the Remount Program was disbanded and again, if it wasn’t for some quick action on the part of Countess Margit Sigray-Bessenyey, the Cooksleys, and Jim Edwards, these horses might have been lost.

Through incredible effort, in a story that films are made of, Countess Judith Gyurky (who had been an international jumper/rider) fled her estate in Hungary with 64 horses, 17 carts of feed, and a cart for foals, just ahead of the invading Russian Army. In spite of great tragedy and loss, the iron-willed Countess Gyurky managed to bring a small breeding group of these horses to the United States. They provided an outcross for the group brought by the Army.

Another major contribution to the bloodlines occurred when Countess Margit Sigray-Bessenyey, in the early 1960s purchased a group of Hungarian horses which wealthy industrialist Temple Smith (famous for his importation of Lippizaner horses) had imported earlier from Hungary. There were other minor importations of horses. Some of these were included in the registry as well if their bloodlines could be verified.

Today these horses are international competitors in the dressage, jumping, eventing and driving arenas.