Cuddlebar Stud has been breeding pure Colonial Arabian horses in Australia since the stud’s founding by Mary and Jack Ellery and their son Les in 1930. The Ellerys had been the horse trainers for the McDonald stud since its inception in the World War I years. World Cup and remained so until McDonald’s dispersal in 1953. The two stallions enjoyed a close association.
McDonalds had founded his stud with five Arabians from Brown’s stud at his death, the stallions Harir (Berk x Hamasa de Mesaoud x Bint Helwa), Raisuli (Rief x Ayesha de Rafyk x Namusa), Prince Nejd (Shahzada x Nejdmieh) and all the sisters Rabi and Sekh (Rafyk x Namusa of Ahmar x Narghileh of Mesaoud). Mr. Brown was one of three men who had bought Arabians at the dispersal sale of Australia’s original stallion Quambi, the others being AE Morrow and the Hon. S. Winter Cooke. From the Quambi dispersal, Mr. Brown had purchased the stallion Faraoun (Mesaoud x Fulana) and full sisters Sekh, Rabi and Anyesa. The Quambi stud was Australia’s first Arabian stud, founded from imports of the Blunts’ Crabbet Park stud between 1891 and 1901. Lady Anne Blunt later gifted the Rief stud to Commander R. Brown. Rief (Sotamn x Ridaa de Merzuk x Rose of Sharon) became an important lineage for the Cuddlebar Stud.
The Cuddlebar Stud was born with the purchase from McDonalds of the stallion Kailhan (Raisuli x Zarif de Faraoun), followed later by the stallion Mameluke (Raisuli x Gadara by the son of Berk Harir x Zarif de Faraoun) and the lease of the Balkis mares (Shahzada x Nejdmieh ) and Esther (Shahzada x Miriam de Nadir x Ranya de Nasik).
In 1953, Harold McDonald classified Les and said that they were dispersing the stud. He told Les that he could buy the selection from the ponds. They chose three females,
the Midi mare who was in foal to Anouk (Rakib x Arabette by Raisuli x Sa-id), the yearling filly heavily bred by Shahzada Rumma (Aladdins Lamp x Jeddah by Prince Nejd) and the aged Esther, who never bred again . Les was especially struck by a chestnut mare he had never seen before. Harold told her that the mare was 13 years old, never ridden or bred. The mare was Yenbo II, a full sister to the famous sire Zadaran. He eventually won numerous awards for hacking with it. McDonalds had raised Kasr (b. 1951, Sala x Esther de Shahzada) and leased him to Les for two years in exchange for his saddle training. Les bred Yenbo II to him, and the resulting foal was Darik.
From Chamber of the Line Darik Australian National Heavyweight Endurance Horse, Cuddlebar Drifter (ex. UAE); Golden Saber, Line Honours, Sydney to Melbourne “Bite the Bullet” 500 Mile Ride, Cuddlebar Kasr, Stockmans Hall of Fame Heavyweight Winner, and Logie Brae Hassan, National Open Endurance Horse.
In 1979 and 1980, Les leased the college stallion Helicon from Hyksos Stud. Helicon (Sala x the Jelbart mare Mira by Kataf x Melika) was a 7/8 brother to the dam of Arcadian, well known as the sire of many endurance winners, including Quilty winner Robbie, and sire of BBP Electra Murdoch. Both Helicon’s mother Mira and Mira’s mother Melika were raised by Mr. Jelbart himself. Jelbart’s stud had been founded on the Quambi, Winter-Cooke, Leonard-Brown lines, with the addition of the stallion Kataf, imported by Mr Bonython from South Australia in 1935. Kataf’s sire was bred in the desert , and his mother was from Ali Pasha Sherif Lines. The NSW Department of Agriculture was founded with eighteen Jelbart mares.
Helicon was only two generations from the desert. From Helicon, Les produced heavyweight endurance-winning horses and 100-mile endurance race winners.
In the 1990s, Les used Christine Speers’ stallion Cairo*, whose sire was 100% Australian purebred colonial lines originally exported to New Zealand, and whose dam’s sires Manak and Nuhra were desert bred. Cairo’s best accomplished son is Cuddlebar Tarquin, 2006 NSW and National Lightweight points horse and NSW and National runner-up distance horse. Les likes desert-bred horses closely in a pedigree, as he says people haven’t had as long to interfere with the original type.
In late 2006, 83-year-old Les Ellery, after decades of drought, decided to relocate his entire stud to the far north of New Zealand. In 2008 Les returned to Australia, having left most of his horses in New Zealand.