26 November, 2011

Masada Bellesabah

"She was in my opinion, one of the top horses on the place: a classic flea bitten gray with extraordinary type and presence even in the company of some of the top Egyptian show horses of the day. She made me gasp looking in her eyes!"-Jill Erisman
Masada Bellesabah, was bred by the late Walter Schimanski. She was by Walter's beloved *Fadl son, Lothar, and out of Belle Echo, a double Sirecho grand-daughter. She was also a double Habba (*Fadl x *Bint Bint Sabbah) as Lothar was out of Habba, as was Bel Gordas, the sire of Belle Echo. The "double-shot" of Habba, combined with the tail female line to Fa Saana, results in three lines to *Bint Bint Sabbah, however,  the influence of *Fadl is substantially more than that of *Bint Bint Sabbah, with seven lines, not to mention that there are two lines to *Nasr, which are essentially the same lines as *Fadl, except that the horses which are farther back in *Fadl's pedigree are closer up in *Nasr's pedigree. The impact that horses like *Fadl and *Nasr make on the pedigree, is to help boost the percentages of Egyptian blood and reduce the influence of the Blunt desert blood, which is really small, approximately 2% in Masada Bellesabah.

Her progeny by *Fakher El Din were outstanding.
"He passes on the humor and gaiety, boldness and independence, a deep sense of self, and always the excitement of being. Trust and loyalty are given to a disarming degree. There is a great delight in athleticism and in constantly testing that athleticism with the quick spins and dramatic stops of the ancient Bedouin war-horse. He passes on style, cadence, and balance - combined with physical beauty and one of the loveliest heads in our breed."-Sara Loken
Akira Zarif, her 1982 *Fakher El Din daughter was a snow white beauty, one of the most beautiful mares I have ever met. She was so harmonious, so smooth bodied, possessing an old world type, substantially built, with lots of curves but also, a lot of grace. She looked like she had been sculpted out of alabaster. As dazzling as her sparkling white body was, it was her eyes that cast a spell on me. Yes, I was spell bound. They were liquid pools of melted obsidian,  huge, round, dark and full. Looking into her eyes, stroking her neck, it was difficult to remain composed and not tear up. She was a gentle and quiet beauty, radiating warmth and kindness, gentleness and compassion. Bill & Edna Weeks of Hatchie Hill Farm, produced two full sisters and a brother: Sabbah Din in 1979, Dahmah Din in 1980 and Khalif El Din in 1981. I continue to catch myself while looking at *Fakher El Din's picture, while thinking of mares like Masada Bellesabbah and how well they blended with *Fakher El Din, producing horses who are beautiful and sound in mind, body and spirit. I find myself wishing that there were more of them.

1 comment:

  1. She was one of my favorite mares at Walters. I always thought she looked like she was bred by Prince Mohamed Aly. The *Nasr blood oozes from her pores.

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