Ronteza

{{Infobox named horse

| horsename= Ronteza

| image=

| caption =

| discipline =

| breed= Arabian horse

| sire= Witez II

| grandsire= Ofir

| dam= Ronna

| damsire= Faronek

|sex= Mare

|foaled= 1954

|country= USA

|color= Bay

|breeder= Donald L. Jones

|owner= Sheila Varian

|trainer= Sheila Varian

|record=

|earnings=

|wins=

|awards=

|honors=Champion Reined Cow Horse

|updated=

}}

Ronteza (1954–1982) was a bay Arabian mare who was the first of her breed to win the Grand Champion Reined Cow Horse class. She was sired by Witez II, out of Ronna.

Ancestry

Ronteza was by Witez II, an accomplished sire, and out of Ronna, who had been a successful hackamore horse.{{cite press release | url=https://issuu.com/arabian-horse-times/docs/07_sheilav-dec09 | title=A Lifetime with Arabians | publisher=Arabian Horse Times | date=December 2009 | accessdate=26 April 2021}}

Witez II had been imported from Poland. When Nazi Germany invaded his country in 1939, he was only a yearling, living at the Janów Podlaski Stud Farm. He and Lotnik, amongst many other stallions, were rescued during World War II in a famous raid. Witez was by Ofir out of Federacja. Ofir was by Kuhalian-Haifi, a desert-bred stallion who had been imported from the Jauf region of the Arabian peninsula by Prince Roman Sanguszko of the Gumniska Stud. Federacja was a mare from Poland with bloodlines tracing back to that of the Balbona Stud in Hungary.{{cite web | url=http://athenaarabians.com/Artiklar_hingstar/kuhailan_haifi_oa_part1.htm | title=Kuhailan Haifi OA part I: Wielki Szlem, Wind and *Witez II | publisher=Athenaarabians.com | accessdate=4 November 2022}}

Ronteza was very distantly related to the famed Bask. Ofir's first foal crop was in 1938 and contained three colts who became sires of significance of the Arabian breed. They were: Witez II, Witraz (sire of Bask), and Wielki Szlem, a notable broodmare sire. Ofir and Federacja were also amongst those of the horses of Janow who were taken by the Russians during the Soviet invasion of Poland. Later in his life, Ofir was taken to the Tersk Stud at the USSR where he sired Mammona, a dam of significance in numerous Russian bloodlines.{{Cite web |url=http://www.horses.ru/arabian/fstock/poland1.htm |title="Poland", Troika, Your gateway to Russian horses |access-date=2022-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219090628/http://www.horses.ru/arabian/fstock/poland1.htm |archive-date=2007-12-19 |url-status=dead }}

Her grandsire, Faronek, was 50% Crabbet.{{cite web | url=https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/faronek | title=Faronek Arabian Ancestry | accessdate=16 February 2020}}

Life and career

At the age of 2, Ronteza was sold to Sheila Varian. At Varian's farm in Arroyo Grande, California,{{cite web |url=http://www.varianarabians.com/history/golden_jubilee.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803014902/http://www.varianarabians.com/history/golden_jubilee.asp |archive-date=2010-08-03 | title="DREAMS DO COME TRUE or A STATE OF EUFORIA" | publisher=WayBackMachine | accessdate=4 November 2022 | author=French, Judy}} she accompanied the mare Farlotta (Lotnik x Farza) who was a finished spade bit horse.{{cite web|url=http://www.varianarabians.com/history/brief.asp|title=Brief History|publisher=Varian Arabians|work=VarianArabians.com|access-date=September 2, 2022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812164545/http://www.varianarabians.com/history/brief.asp|archive-date=August 12, 2010}} Much like Farlotta, Ronteza was trained in the "old-fashioned", vaquero way and eventually ended up being a successful reining horse. By the time Ronteza was 4, she'd participated in her first hackamore competition coming out with third, and coming out undefeated in Arabian hackamore shows afterward. She went on to compete in shows offered by the California Reined Cow Horse Association, which were mainly dominated by the Quarter Horse breed.

Although being at a disadvantage due to her small size, in October 1961, Ronteza went on to compete at the Cow Palace competition in San Francisco, where she was up against 50 other horses.{{cite journal | title=AHW's heritage horse: Ronteza | author=Parkinson, Mary Jane | journal=Arabian Horse World | year=2013 | volume=53 | issue=12 | pages=45}} They placed first in the lightweight eliminations and went on to division finals. Towards the end of her final run, Ronteza slipped and fell while circling her cow, but because her rider, Varian, hadn't fallen off, they remained in the competition.{{cite journal | title=I'LL NEVER FORGET | author=Overton, Rebecca | journal=Horse & Rider | year=2006 | volume=45 | issue=12}} After finishing, Ronteza was announced the winner of the Cow Palace competition, making her the first Arabian horse to win that title, along with making Sheila the first female rider to have that honor.

When she was 10 years old in 1964, Ronteza retired as a broodmare, becoming the foundation of Varian's farm. During that time, she produced 11 foals, all but two of which were sired by Bay-Abi, who was of Crabbet descent, and a national halter champion.{{cite web | url=https://www.varianarabians.com/about/history/bay-abi.html | title=HISTORY OF BAY-ABI++ | publisher=Varian Arabians | accessdate=11 September 2022}} The others were by Bay-Abi's son, Bay El Bey.

Ronteza died at the age of 28.