(Afghan Hound Database and Breed Information Exchange)
Page 1 by Steve Tillotson August 2013
1. CYANN KENNEL (Mr Mrs Rickel) (and the significance of Mrs J E Farrell's foundations on US breed history). Cyann is the name of the Afghan Hound kennel of Mr. Mrs Cyrus Rickel, originally located in Forth Worth, Texas, established in 1937. The Cyann kennel was well known in the early 1930's and was very successful with Terriers. The kennel is important because of their breeding, but also because of the time/era - ie; Cyann should be considered a foundation USA kennel because they started breeding Afghans as early as 1937 which is only a few year after the breed arrived on the East Coast at Prides Hill. There is a very interesting dimension to the origins of Cyann, thanks to a Mrs J E Farrell. Mrs J E Farrell?? Who is this lady??. Good question. Mrs J E Farrell imported the brindle dog Omar Of Fortworth , bred by Mrs Carlton in England in March 1935. Omar was a grandson of the brindle import from England - Badshah Of Ainsdart. Mrs J E Farrell also imported the cream bitch Sisi, bred by Mrs Ide (Jalalabad) in England in 1935. Sisi produced a litter for Mrs J E Farrell in November 1936 and then she appears to have become the property of the Rickels at Cyann kennels. Why these lines are particularly interesting is as follows - American foundation breeding largely revolves around Prides Hill who imported Ghazni lineage hounds (Azra Of Ghazni and Westmill Omar), and their Ghazni/Bell Murray blend - Badshah Of Ainsdart. Mrs Farrell's imports included Bell Murray and Ghazni bloodlines, but also included the blended Geufron (UK) lines which go back to Shazadah (of Razmak) and the import from Afghanistan to UK - Afroz. Thus, Mrs Farells imports included bloodlines not existant in the Prides Hill foundation stock. So whilst it is undoubtedly true to say that Prides Hill was the main source of stock for many early American breeders, Cyann is an exception because their foundations were not based on Prides Hill. 2 MRS J E FARRELL Mrs J E Farrell was located in Fort Worth, Texas, (same area as the Rickels of Cyann). As you will read, the Rickels started out by either leasing or taking ownership of Mrs Farrell's bitch Sisi. They then used Mrs Farells imported dog Omar Of Fortworth on Sisi to produce the first Cyann litter in June 1937. Mrs Farrell had previously mated Omar and Sisi. The litter which whelped in November 1936 included the bitch Sonya Of Westover who went to Amelia White's Kandahar kennels in new Mexico. So the apparently unknown Mrs Farrell not only gave a start to Cyann kennels but she also provided bloodstock for Kandahar. Mrs Farrell's imports offered something different and new (blended UK bloodlines) for Ameican breeders. As the Cyann story unfolds, readers will learn how this new mix of bloodlines contributed to the early American Afghan hound breed history Two other aspects of Mrs Farrells imports. 1) English breeders blended the Ghazni/Bell Murray/Shahzada/Afroz lines, and by the end of the 1930's there were no pure lines remaining in the UK as they had all been blended together. One result was a huge increase in coat in the UK breed compared to the (generally) lighter coat carried by Afghan hounds bred in America. 2) Another dimension to UK breeding was their avoidance of the colour pattern brindle. Typically brindle puppies were culled, or perhaps, sent to America.... It's noteworthy that Omar Of Fortworth (just like his Grandfather Badshah Of Ainsdart) was brindle. Further, these blended lines (Geufron back to Shazada and Afroz) inherent in Omar and Sisi's pedigrees were amongst the earliest such blends to arrive in the USA, predating the Pommelrock and Garrymhor imports. 3. FIRST CYANN LITTER 6/23/1937
On the next page we'll explore where this first litter leads to... Whats New Page |
