Sardar (horse)

Jumping horse from Pakistan

Sardar

Khan presents Kennedy with a bay gelding, 22 March 1962

Sex| Male
Foaled| c. 1952
Died| Not known
Color| Chestnut
Owner| Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Sardar (Urdu: سردار, born around 1952) was an award-winning Pakistani Thoroughbred[1][Note 1] jumping horse belonging to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He was gifted to her in 1962 by Muhammad Ayub Khan, the then president of Pakistan, during her goodwill tour, when she was First Lady of the United States.[2]

Sardar arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in the US in April 1962, spent 34 days in quarantine and then took up residence at the Kennedy country home Glen Ora in Middleburg, Virginia.

In her memoirs, Onassis called Sardar her "favorite treasure".[3]

## Pakistan

[edit]

Sardar was born around 1952 at the Aga Khan Studs,[Note 1], then owned and promoted by the British-educated Aga Khan III,[Note 1] and became an award-winning jumping horse.[4] A bay gelding, he was chestnut in colour with a white diamond spot mid-forehead.[4] At the age of 10 years, on 22 March 1962, the then president of Pakistan, Muhammad Ayub Khan, gifted the horse to First Lady of the United States, then known as Jacqueline Kennedy.[4][5][a] Kennedy's goodwill tour of India and Pakistan had coincided with Pakistan's annual Horse and Cattle Show.[4][5] At the show, Khan had escorted Kennedy onto the grounds and upon presenting the horse said "My dear Mrs. Kennedy, on behalf of the people of Pakistan, I present to you 'Sardar'. It is my hope that every time you ride Sardar, you will remember with fondness the time you spent in Pakistan", to which she replied "He is magnificent".[4] According to Clint Hill, she "was stunned" and "it was love at first sight".[4] She told him that "Mr. Hill, Sardar is mine, all mine. No one is going to be allowed to ride him except me", and then postponed the next morning's schedule so that she could ride him.[4] In a telegram to her husband, John F. Kennedy, she tried to persuade him to arrange skipping the 30-day quarantine Sardar would have to complete upon arriving in the US.[4]

## United States

[edit]

Khan, Kennedy and Sardar at Glen Ora (September 1962)

In April 1962, a couple of weeks after Kennedy's return to the US, Sardar and his trainer travelled to the US by Military Air Transport Service, which was typically making regular flights to Pakistan.[6] They landed at Andrews Air Force Base,[6][7] Sardar was quarantined for 34 days at Fort McNair, just outside Washington.[8][9][10] In May he was taken to the Kennedy Glen Ora country home in Middleburg, Virginia.[8][9] Denied military air transport, the Republican congressman Walter L. McVey Jr., complained about the influence of Sardar in travelling on an Air Force plane, though shortly apologised to Sardar for his comments.[11][12][13]

In September 1962, Khan visited Kennedy at Glen Ora and rode alongside her and Sardar.[14][15] In her memoirs, she called Sardar her "favorite treasure".[3] Initially unkeen on spending time at the President's holiday retreat, Camp David, Kennedy had stables constructed there, which allowed her to keep and enjoy Sardar there.[16]

Following the death of John F. Kennedy, some newspapers reported Sardar was the prancing riderless horse behind the gun-carriage at his funeral.[3][17][18][19] Pamela Turnure, Kennedy's press secretary, shortly told reporters that she was incorrect in naming Sardar as that horse, and Pierre Salinger confirmed that it was actually the army horse Black Jack.[3][20]

It is assumed that Sardar spent the rest of his life with Kennedy, at the Kennedy's home, Glen Ora, Virginia,[11] and then moved with her when she left.[21]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c The website for Aga Khan Studs and the print source Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin indicate that Sardar was born and bred at the Aga Khan Studs, which began breeding imported British Thoroughbred racehorses as early as 1904. However, it is unclear what Sardar's pedigree is. It is also unclear if Sardar was foaled in Pakistan, or if he was born in France or Ireland, and imported to Pakistan by Aga Khan III and Aga Khan IV, both Pakistani associates of Ayub Khan, the latter of whom gifted Sardar to Jackie Kennedy Onassis in 1962.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The date is sometimes incorrectly given as 23 March.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Aga Khan Studs History: The Aga Khan and His Family". The Aga Khan Studs. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
2. ^ "Jackie In Khyber: How A First Lady Nurtured U.S.-Pakistan Relations". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
3. ^ a b c d e Glass, Andrew (23 March 2011). "Jackie Kennedy adopts Sardar, March 23, 1962". Politico. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Hill, pp. 135-149
5. ^ a b Blaine, Gerald; McCubbin, Lisa; Hill, Lisa McCubbin (2011). "6. The first lady's detail". The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 113\. ISBN 978-1-4391-9299-3.
6. ^ a b Hill, p.151
7. ^ "All but one to go". Civil & Military Gazette. Lahore. 29 March 1962. p. 15.
8. ^ a b "Ayub's gift reaches Mrs Kennedy". Civil & Military Gazette. 17 May 1962. p. 10.
9. ^ a b Hill, Clint; McCubbin, Lisa; Hill, Lisa McCubbin (2022). My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy. Simon and Schuster. p. 122\. ISBN 978-1-9821-8111-6.
10. ^ "First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (JBK) and Caroline Kennedy (CBK) receive "Sardar," a horse gifted by Pakistani president Ayub Khan, at Fort Myer Stables, Arlington, Virginia | JFK Library". www.jfklibrary.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
11. ^ a b "Jackie Kennedy's Horse, Sardar". Presidential Pet Museum. 19 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
12. ^ "McVey sorry to a horse". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Lawrence, Kansas. 6 April 1962. p. 5. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
13. ^ Salinger, Pierre (1966). "21. An independent lady". With Kennedy. University of California Press. pp. 314–315.
14. ^ "First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (JBK) rides with Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan at Glen Ora, Middleburg, Virginia | JFK Library". www.jfklibrary.org. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
15. ^ "Jackey returning home on 24th to meet Ayub". Civil & Military Gazette. Lahore. 14 September 1962. p. 8.
16. ^ Hill, pp. 155, 225
17. ^ "President's funeral". Birmingham Daily Post. 26 November 1963. p. 9.
18. ^ Hodgson, Godfrey (26 November 1963). "Final homage to Mr Kennedy". The Scotsman. No. 37, 597. Edinburgh. p. 1.
19. ^ "Nations grieve for a great leader". The Scotsman. 26 November 1963. p. 12.
20. ^ "Army owns high-strung Back Jack". The Day. New London. 26 November 1963. p. 6.
21. ^ "The Equestrian Life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis". An Equestrian Life. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Hill, Clint; McCubbin, Lisa (2012). Mrs. Kennedy and Me. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-4844-7.

## External links

[edit]

* "JFK Library: Sardar". www.jfklibrary.org. JFK Library. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
* Jacqueline Kennedy at the Horse and Cattle Show, Lahore, 22 March 1962 on YouTube

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