all for the love of a horse...: April 2011

15 April, 2011

Adalat

"Adalat — how can I say why? She is just Adalat and that is my ideal."-Dr.Ibrahim Zaghloul, the former Director General of the EAO

In 1983, a Queen was born in Egypt. Not since the time of Moniet el Nefous, has Egypt been blessed with something so beautiful, so special, so extraordinary. Her name was Adalat. and like Moniet el Nefous, she would become deeply embedded into the heart and soul of her nation.

"You're my queen
I'll never let you go, go, go, go
I'll never leave your side
Baby you know, you are my world
You are everything I need, yeah
You make my days bright, brighter than the sun and the moon
You are all that I live for."-from the song, Queen, written by Christian and Lovy Longomba

Everyone loved Adalat. For many people, she was the highlight of their day. No one could walk past the paddock, without searching for beautiful, sweet Adalat. One glimpse of Adalat, that's all it took, to separate someone from having a good day or a bad day. Adalat had that ability to make someone smile, to forget about the harshness of their life for just a minute and indulge in something sweet and pleasurable. And Adalat was...she was so beautiful, she defied any rational human comprehension. The mind could not believe what the senses were feeling, overwhelmed with the beauty known as Adalat. She was breath-taking. She was gorgeous. Among a large group of classic-headed mares, where one mare looks just as beautiful as the other, Adalat stood out from the whole group, as her head was extreme and so full of expression. My friend, Yassmin Atieh said,

"...her eyes were full of expression, you can HEAR her eyes."

That's how this mare affected the soul of a nation...through the eyes. Through the eyes of the people who saw her and through her large, deep, black, lustrous eyes that conveyed the great kindness, the sweetness, the pure, sweet love that defined this mare. After all, she was a daughter of Adaweya, by the Moniet el Nefous son, Ameer. The late Dr. Zaghloul once considered Adaweya as one of five influential mares at the EAO and had said,

Adaweya has beautiful conformation, including a level topline, pretty head, and refined bone. From Abla, she inherited that unmistakably classic elegance and exquisite type associated with the Egyptian Arabian, as well as a deep shoulder and high set neck. Her foals are in turn the embodiment of these characteristics."

Adalat was a fabulous broodmare for the EAO. Bred to a variety of stallions, including her half brothers, Mohab and Adl, Adalat produced 13 foals, 9 mares and 4 stallions:

(1) Addolah, 1987 chestnut mare by Adl
(2) Adelah, 1990 grey mare by Mohab
(3) Agayeb, 1991 chestnut mare by El Helaly
(4) Mouwafaka, 1992 chestnut mare by Mourad
(5) Magdoleen, 1994 chestnut mare by Adl
(6) Anan, 1995 chestnut mare by Rashdan
(7) Olwy, 1997 grey stallion by Hoor
(8) Dalloua, 1998 grey mare by Harras (SOLD)
(9) Maazouzah, 1999 chestnut mare by Gad Allah
(10) Awad Allah, 2001 grey stallion by Gad Allah
(11) Aahel, 2003 Grey Stallion by Serag El Din ( SOLD)
(12) Anbar, 2005 Grey Stallion by Adl
( 13) Naierah, 2007 Grey Mare by Waked (SOLD)

Now, in the days after Adalat, Yassmin tells me that people walk by her paddock and her absence is felt strongly. People will look at her paddock and say,

"one day Adalat was standing here, one day a Queen was here."

Such is the way of a horse who has become very great and of human emotions, when a horse has successfully made a home in some one's heart. THAT was Adalat and now, she makes her home in heaven, together with the man who loved her the most, Dr. Zaghloul.

Peace to all,
Ralph

PS Many thanks to my wonderful friend, Yassmin!

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MY FAVORITE WEBSITE

If you want to understand the desert Arabian horse on a deeper level, then you will want to visit Daughters of the Wind, a blog maintained by Edouard al-Dahdah, since 2008. It's my favorite place to visit, on a regular basis. For me personally, the information that Edouard presents is at times so profound, that I find myself weeks, even months later, still thinking about what he has written. I consider him a treasured source of inspiration and for the times that I don't feel like writing anymore, a significant source of encouragement. In one place, you will be able to read of the horses, their heritage; as well as the culture, traditions and the geography of the land, from where they originated. I strongly encourage you to visit his blog to broaden your understanding and deepen your appreciation for the Bedouin-bred horse.

MY FAVORITE WEBSITE X 2

The Horse In Word and Picture is the blog of Rania el Sayed, a very talented photographer, whose equine photography is second-to-none. I still remember when I first learned of Rania, it was all because of the late Dr. Nasr Marei. At the time, Nasr published an article that featured Rania's photography. I was thrilled by the photography and later, "meeting" Rania was one of the highlights of my horse life. I loved her photo of Mangooma and Rania, in an act of kindness never to be forgotten, let me use her photo in my blog. Thanks Rania for all of your support. You'll love Rania's blog and all of the equine topics she covers, including the straight Egyptian Arabian Horse. She really pushes me to think deeply about things that I haven't thought in a while. And you don't have to join Facebook, to read her posts. .

MY FAVORITE BOOK

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Judith Forbis', The Classic Arabian Horse, published in 1976, is MY FAVORITE BOOK...EVER. Prior to the publication of this book, we really didn't have anything that compiled the history, the bloodlines & breeding practices and conformation (including breed type) of the straight Egyptian horse in one volume. You had to dig through multiple sources, sometimes in languages foreign to one's own, to try and develop an understanding of the Egyptian Arabian horse. So, this is my recommendation to you today, especially if you are just starting, this is the most important book you will ever own. You can find the book on Amazon, previously owned, at a very affordable price.

A NEW FAVORITE BOOK

Many times, I have heard other enthuiasts say, "if only I could get into the mind of this breeder and understand the Arabian horse as he or she does!" Dr. William Hudson, a long-time breeder, weaves together his lifetime of experiences including the latest developments in equine genetic science with the history, art and culture of the Arabian horse. This is not the type of book that you will read, cover-to-cover, in one sitting. You will find yourself turning to this massive 1,500 page, 2-volume set, over and over. If you love Arabian horses and want to understand the breed intimately, on a deeper level, this is the only book you will ever need to own. If you are breeding Egyptian Arabian horses, I urge you to purchase this 2-volume set before you breed one more horse!

MORE FAVORITE BOOKS...

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Previously, I mentioned Judith Forbis' THE CLASSIC ARABIAN HORSE which is a great introduction to the breed and to Egyptian Arabian horses specifically. But now, you have read that book and are ready to go deeper. So, this is the book that I recommend reading (VOLUME II ) without hesitation. It's fantastic. The depth of this book, within tail female lines, sire lines and strains found in Egyptian (EAO) breeding is not found anywhere else. If you are serious about the Egyptian Arabian horse, whether a breeder, student or enthusiast, you must read this book, at least once!

STILL MORE FAVORITE BOOKS

In the Preface, Dr. Nagel wrote, "Since it is claimed that the Arabian horse breed is one of the oldest on earth, one has to accept that it is also in the crossfire of many opinions which sometimes clash vigorously. There are obviously many doubts and errors, and the advocates of different concepts seem to be not ready to settle on a common stance. It should encourage the reader to think...The refreshing variety of thoughts surrounding this noble member of the great family of horses should not be lost." Whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Nagel, is not what is important but rather, the resulting thought that this book will inspire. I can't even tell you how many times I have read this wonderful book cover-to-cover. It's one of the more provocative books that I have ever read and each time I have read it, a part of the book that had not impacted me previously, will cause me to think deeply for days, weeks and even months at a time. So, dear reader, I recommend this book to you, in the hope that it will inspire you to think deeply about our breed and examine why, you feel the way you do.

"The ideal Arabian type is recognizable at sight to the experienced horseman and novice alike. It falls short of the ideal if it reminds one of another horse or breed. It falls short of the ideal if it is so plain and uncertain of type as to require a sign: 'This is an Arabian horse.' It falls short of the ideal if it is so coarse and masculine as to remind one of a small Percheron, at one extreme, or so highly animated and elf-like as to remind one of a gazelle at the other extreme. The ideal type stands out alone. You know it immediately when you see it."-Ben Hur, from his 1951 Western Horseman article, Type in the Arab

In the summer of 2006, when I discovered Blogger, the last thing on my mind was creating a blog. At the time, I had been participating in a popular Egyptian Arabian horse website and desired to find a website that would allow me to "cut-and-paste" the posts that I had written for future reference. From those humble beginnings, this blog was born. I'm not a professional writer and although I want to say that writing is a hobby; I think it is better to say that I write for the love of the breed. I've had the good fortune to meet a number of horses who are now considered legendary, as well as some really wonderful people, who are equally legendary. Over the years, people have suggested that I charge a subscription fee or pursue paid sponsorships but you know how money changes everything and this blog, after all, is a labor of love. So, there you have it, the story of the blog. Many thanks to the people who make this blog doable, for example, where would I be without any of the photographers, the "visual storytellers" of our breed, who allow me to post their pictures and to the authors of the many books and magazine articles that I have read over the course of 45 or so years, helping to educate a long ago kid, crazy in love with Arabian horses. And finally, an overwhelming amount of gratitude for you dear readers, for coming here to this place, to read, discover and celebrate this common ground we share, all for the love of an Arabian horse.