Countess Judith Gyurky - Why has there been no book or movie about this woman?

[Anyplace_Farm]

“Countess Judith Gyurky, who escaped from Hungary during World War II, on foot and with wagons, bringing 64 horses and villagers with her, and trading her jewelry for feed along the way till she reached territory controlled by the US army. She managed to make it to Virginia with 14 horses, and buy a small farm (in Charlottesville, VA) where she could raise a few Hungarian horses. For the rest of her life, she never had much money, but her horses, who had nearly starved on the march across Europe, never went hungry.”

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Seabiscuit movie and I’m sure the upcoming Secretariat movie will entertain us as well, but you can’t beat a story where a woman preserves a treasured Hungarian breed of horse all the way from Hungary to lil’ ol’ Charlottesville, VA during war time. Now THAT is amazing.

[goodhors]

Not sure if they are the same or related ladies, but I heard of titled Hungarian lady who took her horses out west to raise and breed. Seems like she came to the USA after WWII as well. Seems like she died in the late 1980’s, because they were talking about her at the carriage auction when all the Hungarian tack and vehicles came thru. I managed to get a pair of sallangs because they looked cool, didn’t cost much. I was very new to driving then, didn’t appreciate what I was looking at. I think her Hungarian bred horses were just sold off, went here and there so the breed lines were lost or crossed to other breeds.

[Anyplace_Farm]

Sounds like you are referring to this woman:

Countess (later Baroness) Margit Bessenyey, (pictured above, right, in Hungarian costume; and left, in the Tevis Cup) like Judith of mixed US and Hungarian ancestry, who also made it back to the US. She was an heir to the Marcus Daly (Montana copper king) fortune, and bought as many of the Hungarian mares as she could find when the remount disbanded. She took them to the Daly ranch in Montana, persuaded a Montana rancher (Jim Edwards) to loan her the Hungarian stallion he had acquired from the remount service, and set out to preserve as many of the bloodlines as possible. Her goal was to return breeding stock to Hungary after the communist government was replaced. Unfortunately, she died before the fall of the Soviet Union, and most of her horses were sold, without papers, by her New York lawyer.

According to this website, the breed owes its survival to four people, two of which are the two women you and I are talking about. I would just think it would be a fascinating story.

[Polydor]

Any idea if there are any books about these ladies? Would make for a fascinating read/watch.

P.

[MistyBlue]

Now that would make a book or movie worth watching/reading. :yes:

[prudence]

Sounds like you people need this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Heavenly-Horses-Virginia-Weisel-Johnson/dp/0878422080/ref=cm_aya_orig_subj:)

[Anyplace_Farm]

That’s my whole point - I just found out about the woman today and ran a search and there is nada. Nothing. Zip!

[Anyplace_Farm]

@prudence;4864424

Sounds like you people need this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Heavenly-Horses-Virginia-Weisel-Johnson/dp/0878422080/ref=cm_aya_orig_subj:)

Oh good job!

[prudence]

I remember having Christmas dinner with Countess Bessenyey, and riding several of her fantastic horses. Good memories for sure.

[Anyplace_Farm]

@prudence;4864453

I remember having Christmas dinner with Countess Bessenyey, and riding several of her fantastic horses. Good memories for sure.

Do share!! Share a tidbit or two!

[Kap]

I am Countess Gyurky’s great niece, and as a child lived on her farm here in VA. The farm is called Port-A-Ferry Farm and is in Batesville. Our family does own a book written about her, not really “published” per se, but there were about 100 copies made so some can still be found. It would be REALLY cool to see a movie about her, or at least to see the book on her officially published.

An amazing horsewoman. Here she is with the hounds:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30482604&l=7138206ecd&id=1564560004

[Anyplace_Farm]

What a phenomenal picture! Thank you so much for sharing!

You guys really need to hunt someone down to either do a movie or a documentary. It is just too good of story not to tell.

And are you working w/publishers to get the book published?

[Kap]

My father, who named me after her, is actually a movie producer, though these days he focuses on making documentaries for National Geographic. I don’t know if he has considered making a movie on her. I agree that it would be an interesting film!

A lot of us would like to see an officially published book on her, but life is so busy and that would take a lot of time to pursue. Perhaps now that I am about to graduate college it is a project I will take on.

Here is my dad on one of the Hungarian horses at the Port-A-Ferry farm back in the seventies. It’s a shame he’s dressed like a bum, because I love his equitation and I think the Hungarian horses are gorgeous jumpers:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30482600&l=931ff96cbd&id=1564560004

I need to scan some more pictures of Aunt Judith. I have a bunch.

[Whisper]

Since the book already exists, is there any chance you could scan it and offer it as an e-book (I understand that payment is fairly easy to set up)? Since it probably has a relatively limited market, that would most likely be easier than finding a traditional publisher.

[Kap]

A couple copies of her book are available for purchase. The book’s name is “Mark of the Clover,” which of course refers to that trademark marking her horses had. I Googled and saw some copies for sale online by used/rare book stores. I just checked and I see that UVA library has one autographed copy in special collections and another copy available for checkout.

The publisher is a local Charlottesville company. I may contact them and see if they’d print some more of it.

[Seal_Harbor]

Kap - A perfect use of your degree, don’t you think? Maybe a movie too that you could work on with your father.

[STA]

I bought a lovely horse from Port-A-Ferry farm some years ago. She had a beautiful jump and personality. I was told the same history about the escape from Europe. I always found the story very interesting.

[STA]

Is Port-A-Ferry still in existence?

[pintopiaffe]

Wow.

I had no idea. What an amazing story, an amazing woman. Yes, Kap, you do need to scan more photos.

The photo with the hounds is amazing.

I will order the one book already out. I’d be very interested in anything more.

Very cool.

[Anyplace_Farm]

The company that published GM’s book, “Because Every Round Counts” did them on demand. They might even be a good possibility. They are:

Trafford Publishing
Victoria, BC, Canada
250-383-6864
trafford.com

I cannot imagine this not being a worthy story to be told to a larger audience.