30 May, 2010

Why I love M & M's

While John Travolta danced the night away in movie screens all over the world and everyone was infected with Saturday Night Fever; a beautiful and potentially significant mare named Madinah (Ibn Galal x Mona II) was born, bred by the Tauschkes of El Thayeba. Bred to the stallion Messaoud, Madinah produced the mare, Mesoudah M in 1985, a full sister to Imperial Madheen. Bred to Ansata Sinan, Mesoudah M produced *Mishaal HP in 1996. It always amazes me when I consider the length of time that it takes for a program to produce an extraordinary horse. In the case of *Mishaal, it was 18 years, which is a testament to the perseverance and dedication of the breeders behind all the horses who are part of the ancestry of this marvelous horse! Shown once, at the prestigious German stallion show, *Mishaal was rated platinum, which is the highest rating that a horse can earn.
"The judges characterized him as the stallion with the most exceptional head and Arabian type. "-Nancy C. Ryan, from her article, Mishaal HP: Shaping a New Generation, published in Arabian Horse World
Having loved and admired the German-born stallions, *Orashan and Imperial Madheen, I was excited over the presence of Messaoud in the pedigree of *Mishaal HP. A Madkour (*Morafic x Maisa) son, out of the Hadban Enzahi daughter, Maymoonah; in his tail female line, Messaoud traces to Halima, the dam of *Ansata Ibn Halima and a Farida grand-daughter. I loved Messaoud and I always believed he was phenotypically, a magnificent living representation of the classic Dahman Shawan stallion. When you look at the silhouette of Messaoud (and unfortunately, he is no longer alive, having died in 2007), it would be difficult to not notice the strength of his body, particularly the area of his hip, hindquarter and croup. He was powerfully smooth in this area, of rounded lines and I believe this is an attribute that comes from Farida. He is balanced, harmonious and while an elegant horse, he has much substance. So, in looking at these *Mishaal fillies at Thornewood farm and noticing the same qualities evident in Messaoud's physique, I wondered, "Is the Farida blood still so powerful, that she is making a very visible impact through *Mishaal? Farida appears in Mishaal HP's pedigree 3 times: through *Ansata Ibn Halima and twice through Malikah.

While *Mishaal's pedigree is predominantly a blend of the Saqlawi and Dahman lines (with more than a few Hadban sprinkles here and there), I am reminded of Walter Schimanski's philosophy in breeding elegant Dahman horses,
"incorporating the Saqlawi type brings length back to neck and leg, which can be lost with intense use of Dahman and Kuhaylan strain types. It also yields finer bone structure and produces flatter and less prominent muscling. Too much Saqlawi can produce a long back and ears. Dahman type brings back an overall balance and harmony, including more dished heads and larger eyes, and shorter backs, but also has the tendency to produce shorter necks and legs, heavier muscling, and more bone."-Walter Schimanski
One of the most celebrated and greatly admired mares of all time, Moniet el Nefous, appears 10 times, through her Sid Abouhom daughters Mabrouka and Mouna, and through her son by *Morafic, *Ibn Moniet el Nefous. Perhaps the elegance and refinement that we see in *Mishaal HP, this ethereal quality, comes from the influence of Moniet and underscores the importance of Walter's advice. On both sides of the pedigree, male and female, the presence of this mare is only overshadowed by the presence of Nazeer. I lost count of the number of times that Nazeer appears. more than 16 times!

Mishaal HP has sired a number of lovely horses and has crossed very well with Thee Desperado, as he was purchased by Arabians Ltd., to use specifically as an outcross stallion. One of my favorite *Mishaal-sired horses is the 2005 mare Saniyyah RCA, out of the Thee Desperado daughter, My Shooting Star. She is now owned by Ariela Arabians in Israel, who showed her to her win as the Israeli National Champion filly. This filly traces to Faarecho (Sirecho x Faara) in her tail female line. Saniyyah represents a very unique blend of Egyptian bloodlines, which when combined, emphasizes the benefits that I believe Thee Desperado offers straight Egyptian breeders. I am grateful that the Arabians Ltd. search for an outcross stallion, led them to Mr. Horst Preuss and the fabulous *Mishaal HP.

May the horse continue to inspire you,
Ralph

PS I really like the Stuart Vesty photo of *Mishaal HP, it is my favorite photo of this stallion.

21 May, 2010

Javera Thadrian

This is the late Kuhaylan Haifi Davenport Arabian stallion, Javera Thadrian. He was sired by the Lysander son, Thane and out of HB Dianora, an Ibn Alamein grand-daughter. Remember Alice Martin's famous Arabian Dressage horse, the alabaster white Sir? Lysander was his son.

He is not a straight Egyptian Arabian Horse.

Javera Thadrian is an Asil Arabian horse, which means that in every line of his pedigree, Javera Thadrian can be traced to horses bred by the Bedouin. Who are the Bedouin, you ask? Well, the Bedouins (Shammar, Anazeh, Ruala...) are to desert Arabia, what the native Americans (Sioux, Navajo, Lenape...) are to America.

Authentic.

Pure.

Genuine.

The Real Deal.

Javera Thadrian carries the designation "Davenport" which means that he descends from ancestors who trace back to the 20-something horses that were imported into America, in the early 1900's, by Homer Davenport.

I need to say it again, in case you missed it the first time.

Javera Thadrian is not a straight Egyptian Arabian Horse.

He is an Al Khamsa and Asil Club recognized horse but he is not a Pyramid Society designated straight Egyptian Arabian Horse.

I prefer horses who are comprised of rounder, curvey, circular lines. I prefer horses who are more substantial and who are harmonious in their build. That is very important for me. I prefer smoothness of body and search for it constantly. I like shorter-backed horses with strong top lines. I like horses who are deep through the heart girth with a well sprung rib cage. I like muscled hind quarters with elastic hocks. I like well muscled forearms, which are longer in length than the cannons. I like to see a little more length in the neck, with the neck set higher on the chest, connected by a noticeable wither. I like a powerful shoulder, at an angle which allows the horse to move with great freedom. I like to see a nice length of poll. I prefer a large sized jowl, on each side of a very short, very wide head. I like large, black eyes with no white in them, set lower on the head. I like elastic large nostrils and short, sharp tippy ears. And did I mention that I like a higher tail carriage?

I find all of this in this most wonderful horse and never tire of looking at his picture, even with the stains all over his body that he got from rolling in the dirt. He is my classic Arabian horse, made real, of flesh and bone.

In Davenport bloodlines, the horses belong to one of four families, through the tail-female line of the pedigree: Kuhaylan Haifi, Kuhaylan Kurush, Hadban and Schilla. Javera Thadrian is from the core Kuhaylan Haifi group, which means that in his ancestry, he traces only to the following mares: Dharebah, Dharanah, Dhanad, Dhalana blended with the stallion Tripoli (Hanad x Poka). Tripoli, incidentally, was the sire of Sir. It is very amazing to look at his pedigree and see 2 horses, Dhareb x Antarah, repeat over and over and over.

There will come a time, when it will become more important to breed for Asil, than it will be to breed for Egyptian. More people are becoming aware that our Egyptian gene pool is becoming smaller, with less choices. Abbas Pasha, Ali Pasha Sherif, Lady Anne Blunt, the RAS, Prince Kemal el Dine were all pioneer breeders of Egyptian horses who didn't even think twice about using Bedouin-bred horses in their early Egyptian programs. In the face of the genetic diseases that we are all aware of and how closely related our horses have become, maybe, we are closer to the day when COMBINED SOURCE breeding will not only become more accepted, it will become a necessity, in order for the horse to survive with sound mind, sound body and sound spirit. Unfortunately, it will come too late to use a horse as inspiring as Javera Thadrian but the reality of Davenport Arabian Horse breeding is that Javera Thadrian was not the exception....there are many more like him. Many more. Please visit the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy to learn more about these wonderful horses.

EnJoy your horses,
Ralph

PS Congratulations to Edouard Al-Dahdah on the birth of Wadha, one of Javera Thadrian's last born daughters, out of the Craver Farm mare, Wisteria.

12 May, 2010

PR Desert Rose+


The beautiful, correct and very modern straight Egyptian mare, PR Desert Rose+ is a daughter of Thee Desperado, out of the Moniet el Sharaf daughter, AK Nadara (out of Refkys Juhl).
“He favored the Zobeyni look, of strong powerful hindquarters, bodies of deep girth, good long hips, wide through the chest, coupled with fine, flat bone, beautiful swan-like necks, all in flowing lines of symmetry and heads of classic Egyptian type.”-Mari Silveus, from her article, The Hallany Mistanny Story
PR Desert Rose+ was recently purchased by Mr. Burhan Bakeer of the Safari Stud in Kuwait. At the Kuwait National Championships, this mare earned 4th place in the 11 year and older mare class. Her grand-dam, Refkys Juhl is a daughter of the *Morafic son, Refky and Julyana, a daughter of the stallion Julyan (Julep x Bint Maaroufa) out of the mare, Mist Aana (Hallany Mistanny x Fa Aana). The tail female of this beautiful mare, traces to a small family of horses, the only sources of Hallany Mistanny blood in straight Egyptian breeding today. Hallany Mistanny is only available to Egyptian breeders today in two forms: through Julyan (influenced by the Blunt's desert bred horses) bred to Mist Aana, as we see in PR Desert Rose+ and without Julyan, through the mare Masada Saafaana (Safaddan x Mist Aana).