Exactly fifty years ago, our Regiment moved to Jourian on the right bank of river Chenab. Jourian is usually not spoken of by itself; Chhamb-Jourian is a hallowed double-name in military parlance because it has seen intense warfare in 1965 and 1971 wars on the Western Front. Jourian is a field area, it is a sensitive sector but once a new unit has settled down, familiarised itself with the area and understood its battle responsibilities, things are relaxed a bit and both the Officers and men get a week-end off now and then. But you are still in a field area and there is not much that you can do. The adventurous ones went trekking towards the hilly area in the North; some went to Jammu while others went to Vaishno Devi; a few enjoyed a picnic on the banks of Chenab while the lazybones just hung a hammock, drank beer and read a book.

When my turn came to have a break, I opted to go on a pilgrimage to Nagbani. Nagbani was where the Maharajadhiraj Sir Hari Singhji of Jammu & Kashmir had his Stud Farm.  That is the northern most point at which Thoroughbreds have bred in undivided India. Maharaja Sir Harisinghji had passed away in April 1961. His priceless collection of Thoroughbreds was sold and the Jammu Stud had closed down. I was still curious to see the place where some of the legends of Indian breeding had thrived.

The crow-fly distance from Jourian to Nagbani is only about 35 kilometres. The crow, however, would have had to fly over the Chenab, traverse the Pakistan area of Chicken's Neck -- an odd-shaped, narrow salient jutting into the Indian territory -- before he could touch down at Nagbani. On the other hand, I had to back-track to the Akhnoor bridge to cross the river and drive towards Jammu. I did just that when the winter was passing but had yet not passed. The air was bracing and it was good to feel the sun on your back.

Nagbani is located about ten kilometres north-west from Jammu on the left of the Jammu-Akhnoor road. The Chicken's Neck is only a few kilometres to its west while the farmlands of Ranbir Singh Pura -- famous for their produce of basmati rice -- is to the south. It is a fertile area, criss-crossed by Jammu Tawi canals. At Nagbani, I made enquiries about the stud farm. I was told that one of the former employees of the stud farm had settled in one of the villages nearby and that he would be the right person to meet.

It was thus that I came to meet Krishan Kumar Dogra. He had seen action during the Second World War in the Libyan desert. Discharged after the war, he had come to Jammu and joined the Maharaja's Stud Farm. When the farm closed down, he was in charge of yearlings. Dogra was delighted to meet a 'fauji' who was also interested in horses. He was my guide for the next few hours.   

We started with the centre of the farm which had the stallion stables and paddocks, administrative offices and stores. The buildings were in a dilapidated state, some being used as classrooms for a primary school. The paddocks had lost their shape but Dogra proudly pointed out the areas over which Rock of Gibraltar, Flower Dust, Ocean Way and Fair Aid had grazed. He mentioned that each stallion paddock was of about two acres.

To the south of the central block were the mares' stables, two large weanling paddocks and several paddocks for the mares themselves. Two mares, whose foalings dates were close to each other, were usually allotted one paddock. It was not, he explained, a rigid rule; sometimes, two mares who got on well with each other, were given the same paddock.

Jammu has severe winters and very hot summers. Generally, the horses were allowed to spend as much time as possible in the paddocks and brought in only when the temperatures dropped or zoomed. The yearling paddocks were on the north side, each of three to four acres. The paddocks had the normal wooden uprights but the horizontals were made of bamboo. The logic was that if a boisterous yearling hit against the fencing, the bamboo broke but the yearling has only superficial injuries. There were two yearlings to a paddock -- usually foals of mares who had shared a paddock -- and their meals out in the open were always spread on the turf. It was customary for the yearlings to be given stud names.

The Maharaja never visited the farm but ensured that all the requirements were fully met. To the West of the breeding establishment was the farming section. Everything was available in plenty. Dogra started his day carrying a black satchel on his shoulder, accompanied by a syce. The moment he approached a paddock, the yearlings would come running to him. They knew that his black satchel carried goodies like apples. The yearlings would get their goodies and each yearling was held by the syce, turn by turn, while Dogra carried out his inspection. Dogra then "talked" to them. He insisted that they understood what he said and he considered those talks an important part of their upbringing. The formal part over, the yearlings were "whooshed" away and Dogra watched their movement as they cantered and galloped around.      

According to Dogra, Jammu Stud usually had around 30 yearlings every year and by the time he had seen them all, it was time for lunch. We, too, were close to lunch time and Dogra asked me if he could invite me to a simple fare of sarson da saag, makke di roti aur. I accepted gladly and hoped that he would share the beer I had brought along. "If you have enough," he laughed.  I had six bottles of Golden Eagle with me which were put in a sack tied to a rope and lowered into the canal which ran close to Dogra's house. Blankets were spread on the canal bank, delicious home food arrived and we had ice cold beer to wash it down. It remains one of the most memorable lunches of my life.

It was while having lunch that I asked Dogra if at any time the yearlings broke the bamboo fencing and broke away. He said that it did happen a  couple of times and once it was a bit scary. "I will tell you the story", he said.

" In one of the last crops born at Jammu, we had a filly. She was a chestnut with a flowing golden mane so we named her Reshmee. She was a bit short but powerfully built and very mischievous. Her paddock companion was a taller, leaner darkish filly who was called Ratna. Their paddock was on the Western side, close to the farm area. One day, they broke out of their paddock and wandered into the lucerne fields. That is when the farm workers noticed them and informed the Main Office. Immediately, four apprehending parties in Jeeps with syces and ropes were sent off.  Our worry was that if they galloped westwards, they would get into the Chicken's Neck. You know Chicken's Neck is Pakistan. So two Jeeps were told to go straight to the area between farm land and Chicken's Neck and turn the fillies back. Fortunately, Ratna and Reshmee were still having a whale of a time in the lucerne fields. They did take to a flight when they saw the apprehending party but were caught after only a small chase. I heard vaguely that both did well in racing."

I did ask Dogra if he knew their racing names. He mentioned that by the time the fillies started racing, the stud farm had closed down, the staff had dispersed and no one in this area was interested in racing. I then asked him if he remembered the names of their dams. That he did. "Ratna's dam was Nava Ratna", he said. "Reshmee's dam was an imported mare called Orly." (I figured that his 'Orly' was actually 'Aurelie').

PAST THE POST

Maharaja Harisinghji retained the Nava Ratna filly and named her Floral Charm. She was one of the two fillies that the Maharaja left in his will to his friend Maharaj Narpat Singh, the other being La Rose. Maharaj Narpat Singh raced with both the fillies he inherited but as a homage to his benefactor he changed the name of Floral Charm to Remembrance and La Rose to Parting Gift. Remembrance ran second to Nanda Deep in Indian 1000 Guineas, won the 1963 Indian Oaks and placed fourth in the Indian Derby after being left several lengths at the start.            

The chestnut Reshmee was sold at the RWITC Sale of 1961 and bought by trainer A.L.J. Talib for Mr. Russi Kanga and partners. She was given the name Rocklie and she was third in the Indian 1000 Guineas, second to Remembrance in the Indian Oaks, won the controversial Indian Derby of  1963 and was the runner-up to Mount Everest in the Indian St. Leger.

It must be rare for fillies who shared the same paddock from the time they were foals-at-foot to be on the board in every Indian Classic they participated in.