11 March, 2009

The Tahawy Futna

Do you know that there are two horses called Futna and both mares are Egyptian Arabian horses and both were foaled in 1943?

I was researching horses recently, using the web resource, All Breed Pedigree and found that the given pedigree for both mares was Ibn Barakat and Koheilah Halawiyah. What about the daughter of Shahloul and Farida? This Futna produced the mares Ansata Bint Sameh and El Dahma II (by Nazeer), plus the stallions Fagir (by Nazeer) and Fattan (by Sid Abouhom). This Futna appears in the pedigree of well-known horses like Ansata El Wazir, Hebet Allah, Bint Deenaa, Nariman and *Bint Dahma.

The other Futna was bred by Sheikh Abdul Hamid el Tahawy, of the Tahawy Bedouins of Egypt and is sired by the stallion, Ibn Barakat and out of the mare, Koheilah Halawiyah. Futna descended from horses bred by the Tahawy Bedouin tribe in the Hejaz area of Arabia, which bordered the Nejd, to the north, on the other side of Medina. I found the geographical location interesting, as Dr. Nagel in his book, Hanan: The Story of An Arabian Mare and of the Arabian Breed, explained that the Arabian Horse, as we know him today, exists in more than one form: the "horse of the north", found in the northern areas of the country from Aleppo to Mesopotamia and recognized as a taller and more athletic horse; while the "horse of the south", found in the area of the Nejd, was known as an extremely beautiful and highly refined horse. The Tahawy tribe eventually migrated to Egypt, crossing through Libya and Tunisia, arriving in the 19th century, in search of better grazing for their livestock. It is also very interesting to learn that the Tahawys carefully bred their horses, maintaining a closed breeding herd and selectively breeding to insure the hardiness of their horses, in order to survive traveling long distances in a harsh climate.

There is very scarce written information for the ancestry of Futna's sire and dam, as the Tahawy Bedouins, like most Bedouin people did not record pedigrees in a written format. Pedigrees were passed from one generation to another, by word of mouth. Because Futna was registered in the Hamdan Stables stud book, which was a supervised EAO breeding farm, she was accepted by WAHO and falls within the definition of a straight Egyptian Horse, as defined by The Pyramid Society. While the Tahawy carefully avoided adding any outside blood; Egyptian Arabian Horse breeders sought the Tahawys, to add these horses into their breeding programs. I believe that the Egyptian breeders, like Ahmed Hamza who utilized this blood, made a statement regarding these horses and for which their pedigrees are unquestionably authentic. Futna was bred to Hamdan, which resulted in the mare Bint Futna II. Bred to the *Morafic son, Shaarawi, Bint Futna II produced the mare Faten. Bred to the Ikhnatoon son, Adawy, Bint Futna II produced the mare, Khelawyah A. Futna was also bred to Mozaffar to produce Ali Baba and to Emam, to produce the mare Rhita. I don't believe either horse sired or produced any offspring.
Gelgelah Albadeia
Futna was one of three Tahawy bred horses who became the foundation for Hamdan Stables. The other two mares were her half sisters: Bint Barakat (Ibn Barakat x Bint Saklawiah) and Folla (Ibn Barakat x Shuwaymah Sabbah).
As a matter of fact, the mare Folla, is present in the pedigree of one of the most beautiful Egyptian mares of our modern era: Gelgelah Albadeia. Gelgelah's dam, Anhar Albadeia is a daughter of Bint Bint Yosreia, who was sired by Yakout, a son of Bint Folla, Folla's daughter by Hamdan. I have always regarded Gelgelah as a classic Bedouin mare and looking at her picture, I am reminded of a passage that I read in Dr. Nagel's book, describing the Nejd Arabian, as expressed by Lady Anne Blunt:
"..the Nejd horses have short necks, short bodies, good shoulders and a very good tail carriage. Their heads are better than the Anazeh's in every respect the Arabs admire: the heads are not too large, but neither too small, a great width between ears and eyes and between the eyes, but not between the ears; the profile concave below the eyes. The tails of the Nejd horses are thrown out in movement, like thier heads in a perfect arch."
Do we see the influence of the Tahawy horses in Gelgelah? Are the qualities that Lady Anne Blunt associated with the Nejdi horses, amplified in Gelgelah through the blood of Folla, combined with the southern influences already present in horses like Kayed, *Malekat El Gamal, Imperial Madheen, *Fawkia and *Orashan? I am not sure if I am able to answer these questions. I believe that a mare like Gelgelah, would not exist without the Tahawy influence and she is reason alone to celebrate the influence of the Tahawy horses and welcome the joy that these horses may bring into our community. If anything, a horse like Gelgelah pushes us out of our comfort zones, in order to develop a broad, complete and whole understanding, regarding all of the influences that have developed into what we know today, as the Egyptian Arabian Horse.

EnJoy your horses,
Ralph

02 March, 2009

Maar-Ree

Over 52 years ago, Nellie Jackson foaled a striking filly out of her beautiful *Maaroufa daughter, Maarou, bred by the Babson Farm. Nellie Jackson had looked forward to this filly, sired by Fasaab, a son of *Fadl and *Bint Bint Sabbah and her patience, was well rewarded, as Maar-Ree was every bit as beautiful as one would have hoped for.

Who do you think of, when you think of an influential mare? You know, mares who have established strong, enduring and vibrant families, which remain critically relevant to the present day?

I think of Maar-Ree.

I find it amazing, when studying Maar-Ree's pedigree, that the majority of the pedigree is mainly two horses: Ibn Rabdan and Mahroussa. As a matter of fact, 62.5% of the pedigree is these 2 horses, via their son and daughter: *Fadl and *Maaroufa. Is it really Maar-Ree's continuing influence or rather, the influence of the 1920 mare Mahroussa? Aside from producing *Fadl and *Maaroufa, this Mabrouk Manial daughter, out of the mare, Negma, also produced the stallion *Zarife (by Ibn Samhan) and the mares *Hamama (by Kawkab) and *Hamida (by *Nasr), all of which were influential in American Arabian breeding programs.

Maar-Ree produced 6 daughters, who are: Maar Jumana, a 1962 bay daughter sired by the Babson stallion, Disaan, Maar-Juahara, a 1972 grey daughter by *Ibn Moniet el Nefous, a 1974 daughter RDM Maar Halima, a 1974 bay daughter by El Hilal, MFA Maariia Isis, a 1977 grey daughter sired by The Egyptian Prince, MFA Maet, a 1978 grey daughter, again by The Egyptian Prince and MFA Bint Maarree, a 1981 grey daughter, again sired by El Hilal. Although more influential through her daughters than her sons, Maar-Ree produced 7 sons, among which are the bay stallion Maar-Khaliq in 1969 by *Ibn Moniet el Nefous and the 1980 bay stallion, MFA Bahahr by The Egyptian Prince.

So which is your favorite branch of the Maar-Ree family? This is a very difficult question to answer, as the above mares, although closely related, produced differently from each other, with stunning results.

In Maar Jumana, you can find the reason for which I questioned whose influence is really at work in this family: Maar-Ree or that of her great-granddam, Mahroussa? A daughter of Disaan, this straight Babson Egyptian stallion contributes 50% of Mahroussa blood, through her son, *Fadl. Disaan accomplishes 2 things with his daughter Maar Jumana that the other stallions bred to Maar-Ree could not do: the percentage of Mahroussa remains well over 50% in Maar Jumana and he preserves the influence of Maar-Ree, in straight Babson Egyptian form. Maar Jumana produced the full sisters by Maar-Rab: Maar-Malika and Maar-Kamala. However, it is her daughter by El Hilal, RDM Maar Hala, which makes this branch of the Maar-Ree family particularly exciting as RDM Maar Hala accomplishes something that Maar-Ree was not able to do. RDM Maar Hala was an incredible stallion producer, having produced the stallions: El Halimaar, ET Crown Prince, Prince Ibn Shaikh, Halim El Mansour, Maar Ibn ALi, Maar Ibn Amaal and Maar Ibn Shaikh.

WOW! WOW! WOW!

In a tribute article for this most wonderful mare, authored by Honi Roberts, Cynthia Culbertson who was present at the breeding which resulted in El Halimaar, fondly remembers,
"I remember thinking that something extraordinary was bound to come of the joining of two of the most beautiful Arabians in the world."
Had RDM Maar Hala only produced El Halimaar, her greatness would have been assured forever. However, in her later years, RDM Maar Hala was bred to her son, El Halimaar to produce the exciting contemporary breeding stallion, Haliluyah MH. She did produce nice daughters and her daughter (by the *Morafic son, Al Metrabbi) Maartrabbi, when bred to the Salaa El Dine son, Crusader, produced the excellent horse, Maarauder MH. So, RDM Maar Hala, as a grand-dam, continues her influence for producing horses of great influence, through the sire line.

It is a bittersweet wonder to me, after witnessing these accomplishments with new Egyptian stallions, that Maar Jumana was not preserved in straight Egyptian Babson form, at least once, to continue the legacy that has been handed-off through the generations, from Mahroussa to *Maaroufa, from *Maaroufa to Maarou and from Maarou to Maar-Ree.

It is also interesting to watch from the sidelines and reflect on how this family of horses will continue to prosper and in which form. This is the beauty of a powerful family and the treasures that are uncovered, as the years pass.

***you can read the story of Maar-Ree and other horses, published within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume I, Issue II. And, many thanks to Jane Karr***

01 March, 2009

Jurneeka: An Egyptian Queen

Khemosabi++++ is the most beloved of all Arabian Horses and the most widely recognized Arabian Stallion, by name, in our world community. What most people don't know is that Khemosabi had a high percentage of Egyptian Arabian blood flowing in his veins. Egyptian? Yes, that's right. The source of the Egyptian bloodlines? His dam, Jurneeka.

Jurneeka, foaled in 1958, was a daughter of Fadjur and out of the mare, Fadneeka. Both Fadjur and Fadneeka were sired by Fadheilan, a *Fadl son. This horse, Fadheilan is the source of the Egyptian blood present in Jurneeka's and in her son, Khemosabi's pedigree, as Fadheilan is half-Egyptian. Henry Babson imported the stallion, *Fadl, bred by Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik in Egypt. Six years after importing *Fadl, in 1938, Henry Babson also imported a group of Arabian Horses from Poland. In this importation was the mare, *Kasztelanka. Bred to *Fadl, she produced this stallion, Fadheilan.

Jurneeka was a versatile and talented mare. She was a great ambassador for the Arabian breed.
The photograph shows her in Dallas, Texas, 1964, winning the US National Reserve title in English Pleasure with Jeff Wonnell riding her. John Rogers, the owner of *Serafix, is standing next to Jurneeka. In addition to winning the English Pleasure reserve, Jurneeka was also the reserve Western Pleasure horse, in the same year. She was a beautiful mare, embodying the standard of a classic Arabian mare. Jurneeka was rewarded for her beauty, as she was also a US top ten mare in 1963, as well as a Canadian top ten mare, multiple times. At the Scottsdale show, in 1963, Jurneeka attracted the attention of the Husbands, who eventually purchased her from Jeff Wonnell, setting the stage for the superstar horse that was Khemosabi.

Jurneeka produced 8 foals, 5 of which were champions: Jurdino (by Regis), Per Se (by *Bask), El Paso Grande (by *El Paso), Conquest and Khemosabi (both by Amerigo). However, it was Khemosabi, with almost 1300 offspring sired, who spread the influence of this American Egyptian Queen, farther and wider than anyone could have ever imagined in the 1960's.

EnJoy,
Ralph

***Many thanks to Jane Karr, for reading this blog and asking about the great Khemosabi. This is dedicated to you. This article and others that I have written appear within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume I, Issue I******