Atum

Atum (Silver SK x Aleah Al Moutribah)

“The Black was looking out on the open sea; his ears pricked forward, his thin-skinned nostrils quivering, his black mane flowing like windswept flame. Alec could not turn his eyes away; he could not believe such a perfect creature existed.”  - Walter Farley, The Black Stallion

Atum is a 2015 black stallion, sired by Silver SK (Thee Desperado  x AK Shalina) and out of Aleah Al Moutribah (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x TheMinstrils Aria). He was bred by Robin Lee and Sharon Kettwich. He is Dahman by strain, as he traces in his tail female line through Aliah Halima (the dam of TheMinstrils Aria) and her dam, Charm of Halima, to the *Morafic daughter, Nama, who is part of the *Bint Nefisaa family of horses which include the stallions, El Hilal and Nefisaan plus the mares: Moynese (Nefisaan's full sister), Narjisa (*Moftakhar), Nourah and Negmaa (*Ansata Ibn Halima). *Bint Nefisaa was a great-great-granddaughter of Farida, a line which ultimately runs to El Dahma, the Ali Pasha Sherif-bred mare long considered to be the root mare of the strain. However, if you look at the overall pedigree, the percentage of Dahman strain influence, including the tail female line, is only 20%. And of this percentage, more than half of that influence comes from Shaikh al Badi, the son of *Bint Maisa El Saghira (Bint el Bahreyn), who appears in the pedigree four times! The rest of the Dahman influence is through *Bint Nefisaa, as previously noted, *Ansata Ibn Halima (combining the 2 *Ansata Ibn Halima lines with the *Bint Nefissa line, means that Atum, foaled 74 years after the death of Farida, carries almost 1.50% of her influence) and *Ansata Bint Bukra.

Atum (Silver SK x  Aleah Al Moutribah)

Atum is a very gloriously stretchy horse, with length in his neck, legs and body. He is really lovely, especially for mare owners looking to incorporate increased scope within their program. One look at Atum and you just know that he has to have some Saqlawi influence in his genetic make-up.

"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 

And that's exactly where we find a very interesting story, through one of the most beloved mares in Egyptian Arabian horse breeding. The presence of Moniet el Nefous is further back in Atum's pedigree, due to the fact that she was a 1946 mare who started producing foals in 1950, approximately 70 years ago. Therefore, while she appears seventeen times in the pedigree, the percentage of her influence is a little more than 13%. It is through AK Shalina, the dam of Atum's sire, that the influence of Moniet el Nefous is magnified, as a little more than half of the Moniet  influence is brought forward through her. AK Shalina was the product of two paternal siblings (sired by *Ibn Moniet el Nefous) out of mares who were great-granddaughters of Moniet el Nefous. It is interesting that approximately half of AK Shalina's pedigree is influenced by Moniet el Nefous primarily through individuals like *Ibn Moniet el Nefous, TheEgyptianPrince, *Bint Moniet el Nefous, *Hoyeda and Ansata Shah Zaman.

Atum (Silver SK x Aleah Al Moutribah)

While Atum carries a percentage of Saqlawi that is a fraction higher than that of the Dahman strain, he also carries equal percentages of the Kuhaylan, Hadban and Abeyyan strains. On paper, it would be challenging to say which strain had the most influence upon Atum. However, standing in the presence of Atum, you are immediately impressed by the overall level of elegance, scope and overall refinement that this young stallion possesses, underscoring the type of balanced horse that Walter Schimanski bred for, when he skillfully combined individuals of the Saklawi and Dahman strains, as he explained in the previous paragraph.

What does the future hold for this most wonderful horse, you might ask? Atum, whose natural, in-born brilliance keeps getting brighter and brighter, has been and continues in training with Rodolfo Guzzo of Scottsdale and while the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted horse shows all over the globe;  Robin Lee is hopeful that he will be showing later this year, possibly Region 7. Atum, now a five year old stallion, is also a proven sire, having sired a son named Aleah Dhahab Adwan, out of his paternal sibling, Shalpashas Silver SSK, who is currently with his breeder, Robin Lee of Aleah Arabians.

The Real Beauty of RN Farida

RN Farida, foaled in 1995, is a daughter of Salaa el Dine, an Ansata Halim Shah son out of Hanan. Her dam, Noha, was a Hadban Enzahi daughter, out of Nadja, a Nazeer daughter out of Nefisa (Balance x Helwa). From Nefisa, the tail female line runs through Farida to El Dahma, an Ali Pasha Sherif-bred mare, long considered to be the root mare of the Dahman Shahwan strain. In the case of RN Farida, this maternal line through Farida to El Dahma creates a very interesting phenomenon in the pedigree. The tail female line of Balance, the sire of Nefisa, also runs to El Dahma through Farida. Nefisa, the maternal great granddam of RN Farida is double El Dahma and a pure-in-the-strain Dahmah Shahwaniyah! However, Farida also "frames" the pedigree, top and bottom. How? Ansata Halim Shah is a son of *Ansata Ibn Halima, a son of Halima, a daughter of Ragia, a daughter of Farida.....all the way back to, yes, El Dahma. That's three lines to Farida, who was a 1921 mare and appears farther back in pedigrees, ususally as close-up as the 5th generation. In RN Farida, she is found in the 5th and 6th generations, exerting a 6.25% genetic influence.

The other interesting story in RN Farida's pedigree involves the stallion Nazeer. RN Farida's dam, Noha is the end result of breeding two Nazeer siblings together: Hadban Enzahi and Nadja. You will remember that Noha was also the dam of the stallion, Nasrodin, by Ansata Abbas Pasha. On the paternal side, the line breeding to Nazeer is intensified, through the use of two Nazeer sons: *Ansata Ibn Halima and Alaa el Din. The influence that Nazeer, a 1934 stallion, exerts in the genetics of RN Farida is 37.5%! However, this influence can be considered to be a little more than that, if we acknowledge Hadban Enzahi, who, in addition to being a paternal grandson of Bint Samiha,  has an additional line to her through his dam Kamla.  If we were to combine the influence of both, Farida and Nazeer, plus the added influence of Bint Samiha, that's almost half of the pedigree, concentrated among these two individuals!

"Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world. First a dawning; then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness." - Thomas Adams

Having owned two mares, who both lived deep into their mid-20's, I learned, through daily experience to cherish the changes that happen in horses as they mature and reach their senior years. It is a very special time to be in their company, to care for their special needs and experience the softness in their touch and within their eyes, always a noble presence and conveying a profound understanding of who they are and their place in this world, shaped by their life experiences as show horses, mothers, athletes and beloved companions. There's an elegance that gradually intensifies, like a flower that slowly unfolds her petals, to finally bloom in all of her majesty. The head of a senior age Arabian horse reaches a level of dryness that enhances the prominence of the bone and veins, as well as the skin quality or rather, the more noticeable black skin, due to possibly, the shedding or thinning of the coat hairs about the face. Despite the sunken hollows that appear above the eyes, the loss of the fat tissue in the face underscores the desert qualitities of the horse. It's a different kind of beauty, as this outward appearance also relies heavily on the extraordinary beauty of the inward spirit. That's why I love this photo of RN Farida, as I see many of these things in the picture but more importantly for me, she reminds me of the special time spent with my own horses in the last years of their lives.

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible. Things will happen. Don't be afraid." - Frederick Buechner

When RN Farida was young and her fame was increasing, there was much discussion about her on the internet. In those days, there was no social media in the form of Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to fuel discussions, however, it seemed that many people had an opinion of RN Farida's "exotic" or "extreme" look and wasted no time posting their feelings in forums and wherever horsepeople congregated in those days to trade opinions.

This particular photo, taken by beloved journalist and photographer (and fellow Arabian horse lover), Susanne Boesche, as part of a feature article presented on an extremely popular website of the time, caused a fire storm of controversy, as people referred to this beautiful mare as a "freak" and representative of what was really wrong with the Arabian breed and the direction that breeders were going in. Some, without meeting this horse in person, suggested breathing problems! How would they know that from a photo? It was very frustrating, as enthusiasts took this photo out of context, forgetting that photo angles may create a look that does not really exist in real life and more importantly, young horses evolve and change, as they mature and age. Without wasting any more words on this subject, the fact is that the real RN Farida did not really look like this!

RN Farida, despite the unfair criticism, became an important broodmare for Al Rayyan and for breeders around the globe. Bred to top stallions like Ansata Nile Echo, Alidaar, Ansata Hejazi, Al Adeed Al Shaqab and Ansata Nile Pasha, she produced sons and daughters who have matured into significant breeding horses for other programs. Think of sons like Alzeer Al Rayyan, Farhoud Al Shaqab and of daughters like Noof Al Rayyan (the dam of Fahad Al Rayyan), Furat Al Rayyan or Naifah Al Rayyan to name a few of her progeny. RN Farida's many achievements, as great as they may be, pale in comparison to the joy that she has brought to people she will never meet and yet, are humbled by her very real and noble beauty. Like a flower, she has bloomed, inspiring hope, in all who know her by name.

*Fawkia

*Fawkia (Sameh x Mamlouka)

*Fawkia was a 1965 EAO-bred mare, sired by Sameh and out of Mamlouka, a Nazeer daughter out of the super broodmare, Malaka (Kheir x Bint Bint Riyala). Malaka produced a large family of horses, including the stallion Azmi, who was later known in Russia as "Nil", as well as the stallion Waseem, who stayed in Egypt and became an important sire for the EAO plus the important mares: Samia, Nazeera and *Salomy. 

*Fawkia is Kuhaylah Rodaniyah by strain.  She was purchased and imported by Gleannloch Farm in 1966. A beautiful mare, *Fawkia was a United States National Champion mare, in 1968. Gleannloch bred her to *Morafic, producing Farahl in 1972, Najlah in 1973 and Ana Gayah in 1974, before being purchased by Barbara Griffith of Imperial Egyptian Stud in 1978. Bred to Moniet el Nafis, she produced Imperial BtFawkia in 1983, who in turn was bred to *Orashan, producing Imperial Orianah, the dam of Imperial Madori, the sire of the 2003 World Champion Mare, Gelgelah Albadeia.

Although I never met Sameh personally; I felt that I did know him, through his daughters, like *Fawkia, who like her sire, was an easy keeper, always in good flesh, smooth and powerfully built, radiant white and not only did she possess excellent movement, like her paternal sisters; she also trotted in the same manner, that is, her nostrils dilated and became enormous and she would snort from somewhere deep inside of her, like if she was pulling every last bit of air from the tips of her toes up, up, up through her lungs and out through her nose, tail curled over her back and that graceful, take-your-breath-away floating trot, elegant and yet, powerful, her hocks driving her forward. All these years later, it's the brilliant movement which made the greatest impression upon me and what I remember most about her.

Amir el Hejra

Amir el Hejra (Nader al Jamal x Kenya PG)

One of my favorite photographers is Bar Hajaj from Israel. I am grateful to my wonderful friends, Chen Kedar of Ariela Arabians and Tzviah Idan of Idan Atiq Stud because it is only through them that I learned of Bar Hajaj. And it is through Bar Hajaj, that I learn of horses that I really didn't know much of  before, like Amir el Hejra, owned by Al Daar Stud, Kuwait.

There is an interesting story behind this horse or rather, the interesting story belongs to his late sire, Nader Al Jamal, a son of Ansata Sinan and out of a Thee Desperado daughter, Savannah CC. Do you know he was bred in America? Yes, he was bred in Missouri by Joseph and Gail Mailloux at their Two Silos Farm, where the great Hadidi once lived. Do you know that Nader Al Jamal was originally named TS Atlanta? Chen Kedar saw the stallion at the 2006 Egyptian Event and immediately, fell in love with the horse but felt his name was not right. So, she leased the stallion under one condition, that TS Atlanta would be renamed Nader Al Jamal, which means "the rare beauty" in Arabic. Some of my favorite Ariela horses were sired by Nader Al Jamal like Shalimar AA, Labibah AA and Lutfina AA. I can now add Amir El Hejra to my growing list of Nader Al Jamal-sired horses.

Amir el Hejra's dam, Kenya PG, is a Botswana daughter out of Vivien PG, a daughter of Al Jahimm (Ansata Imperial x Alia Hasna). One of the things that I like most about the stallion Botswana is his maternal great great granddam, Nama. She was a *Morafic daughter out of *Bint Nefisaa, the foundress of a genetically vibrant female family within straight Egyptian breeding.

In tail female line (and through the Albadeia breeding program), Amir El Hejra traces to Zaafarana, a 1946 RAS-bred mare celebrated for her charisma, her outstanding movement and the dam of beloved horses like *Talal. Zaafarana traces to Ghazieh, a Saklawiyah Jedraniyah imported to Egypt for Abbas Pasha. Amir el Hejra is therefore, Saklawi in strain. I also noticed the common ground that connects the paternal side with the maternal side of the pedigree. Ansata Delilah is the great granddam of Ansata Sinan, however, she appears twice on the maternal side of the pedigree, both times through her son, Ansata Imperial (grandsire and great grandsire of Vivien PG). I appreciate the influence of this mare very much and I was really happy to discover the 8% influence that she exerts, as far back as she appears in the pedigree. The Ansata program reflects heavily on Amir el Hejra, approximately 36% of the pedigree. Gleannloch Farms exerts an equal percentage, possibly a little more than that, if we include some of the horses brought forward by the Imperial breeding program, which factors a little less than 20% influence. Albadeia, through the 1978 mare Hasnaa Albadeia, represents 6.25%, while the program of the late Hansi Heck-Melnyk of Serenity Farm is half the influence of Albadeia, at 3.125%. Even the Babson Farm has an equal amount of presence in the pedigree of Amir el Hejra, through the mare, Fada (Faddan x Aaroufa). When you look at the pedigree from this perspective, it really becomes a powerful and overwhelming story of the common ground that connects a diverse group of breeders, all for the love of a horse.

Bedouin Beauty: The Rosewater Horses

Ambition (*Bask x Bint Ambara)

"His withers rise to a neck far reaching upwards, below a breast blood-stained, like a stone on which saffron is ground." - Salaam ibn-Jandal, from The Classic Arabian Horse

In The Classic Arabian Horse,  Judith Forbis tells us that the Bedouins classified grey coloured horses (al ashab) into seven distinctive types, of which she wrote,  "the most favored was al ashab al marshoush, and he resembles the bird and is the strongest and tallest and he is called al thobabi (flea-bitten)." Dr. Hans Nagel, in his book, Hanan, says that the Bedouin considered the flea-bitten grey coat color to be the original wild color, which returns to the horse, as part of the aging process. And Lady Wentworth, in her famous literary work honoring the breed, her mother and the Crabbet Park breeding program, said that the color grey is indigenous to the Bedouin horse and proof that a grey colored Arabian horse is purebred, free of common blood.

In some horses who are born with a solid body color, the coat hairs, much like the hair of a human, "turns" grey, as the horse begins to mature. In Federico Tesio's book, Breeding Thoroughbred Horses, he explains it like this, "grey is not itself a coat, but a pathological discoloration of the only two basic coats which are the bay and the chestnut."  In some horses, the intensification of the white coat hair progresses to such a degree that the coat eventually loses all pigmentation and becomes a radiant, silvery white; while in other horses, a genetic phenomenon occurs affecting the chromosomes and the loss of the greying gene. The pigmentation of the coat hair is somewhat reestablished, resulting in the flecking (flea bites), which appear in a reddish tone or in some flea-bitten horses, a darker color altogether. In some horses, the flecking is so profuse, that the coat color appears to have a pale pinkish hue or better yet, a rosy color, i.e. rosewater horses. But why call it flea bites? Well, the flecking looks like bloody marks made by the bites of the insects, which always made me wonder why they couldn't come up with a better name than something so nasty as a flea bite?

The *Bask son, Ambition, out of the Comet daughter, Bint Ambara was profusely flea-bitten. When I think of flea-bitten horses, I think of him, as he was one of the horses of my youth who had a profound effect upon me and my developing appreciation for classic Arabian horse type. I adored this horse, in every photograph published of him. Bred by Lasma Arabians, Ambition was purchased by Mulawa Arabian Stud in 1975, where he remained as herd stallion until he died in 1985. The interesting thing about Ambition is that his sire (*Bask) was bay in color (his dam, Bint Ambara was grey) but *Bask's full sister, Bandola (the dam of *Bandos) was also flea-bitten and like Ambition, profusely so!

Bandola (Witraz x Balalajka)

At first glance, Ambition's pedigree appears to be influenced by grey horses (75%) but in studying his pedigree a little deeper, there's a bit of a pattern between horses of a bay color and grey. *Bask was sired by Witraz, a bay, who was sired by Ofir (also bay) out of Makata, a grey. While Bint Ambara is the result of two grey parents, her sire Comet, is the son of Abu Afas, a brown horse, out of Carmen, a grey. Her dam, Ambara, was sired by Wielki Szlem, a bay, out of Alhambra, a grey. The only horse who breaks the repeating pattern of top crossing  a colored horse onto a grey,  is the mare Balalajka, who is by a grey stallion, Amurath Sahib, out of a chestnut mare, Iwonka (although in the next generation, Alhambra is sired by a grey, Kaszmir, out of a bay mare Atfa). It is also interesting to note that Wielki Szlem, unlike his brother, Witraz, is the son of two bay-colored parents, infusing the maternal side of the pedigree with more of the bay color. Why does it matter if one ancestor has a bay body color and another is grey? Well, to me, it means that the flea-bitten color is not the end result of breeding homozygous grey horses but rather, it is a body color more commonly occurring in heterozygous grey horses.

Over the years, I have known flea-bitten horses of varying degrees of the color, however, it was the more intensely speckled horses, who caught my attention, as they were also distinctive (and unforgettable) in their presentation of breed type, as if they were a type unto themselves. Dr. Nagel, expressed a similar sentiment in Hanan. He said that the flea-bitten horses were more refined, typier horses with generally, no markings and possessing very dark skin pigmentation. Dr. Nagel feels that intensified Arabian type and the flea-bitten color were in some special way linked together. Dr. Nagel says,

"Bearing in mind that the colour chromosome is especially large and linked to many attributes, this indicates a valuable incentive for continuing to preserve an admired attribute from bygone times which appears to have become linked to a part of breeding history."

I also remember a Polish gelding whose flea-bitten coat felt so different when I touched him. The hair was very short in length, like the short coat that horses have during the hottest months of the summer, before they start to grow winter coats but this particular horse's coat possessed an extra-fine texture that really surprised me. I wasn't expecting it. The dark color of his skin intensified the reddish tint of his speckled coat, which at a distance, did really appear to be rose in color. All these years later, I still remember him, as I remember the rosewater horse of my youth, a horse who fueled my interest and my "Ambition" to understand these desert horses better, while celebrating their extraordinary and very unique characteristics.

***This blog post is lovingly dedicated to Dr. Hans Joachim Nagel, in gratitude for his most wonderful book, Hanan, in which he presents a most compelling school of thought on the origin of the Arabian horse.***  

The Visual Acuity of the Falcon

*Sakr +++(*Sultann x Enayat) with Tom McNair

Do you know what I find really interesting about *Sakr+++? In tail female line, he traces to Bint Rissala, one of two sources of the Rodania bloodline in Egypt. So, needless to say, he is Kuhaylan Rodan in strain:

*Sakr-->Enayat-->Ameena-->Yaman-->Yaquota-->Bint Rissala

However, if I go out to the third generation, that is, the generation populated by his eight great-grandparents, we get a completely different story about strain and influence. Five of the eight horses are Saklawi by strain, representing 62.5% of the pedigree and despite that *Sakr is Kuhaylan, by virtue of his tail female line; he is overwhelmingly influenced by the Saklawi strain. The Kuhaylan Rodan strain, on the other hand, only represents a fraction of influence, at 12.5%, which is as much as the Hadban and Dahman strains contribute. And, I think you will agree that *Sakr does not look Dahman or Hadban. Another point to consider is when you study the pedigree of Yaman, his great grand dam, you will immediately notice that she was sired by a Saklawi stallion, El Moez, so really, the Kuhaylan Rodan percentage that she brings forward in the pedigree is reduced in half, approximately 6.25%!

How to further explain the Saklawi influence? *Sakr's dam, Enayat, was a daughter of the most famous of all Saklawi stallions, *Morafic. Her dam, Ameena, was also sired by a Saklawi stallion, the Inshass-bred Hamdan. Yaman as we have said, was sired by El Moez, a Saklawi stallion. On the paternal side, the stallion *Sultann, is approximately 75% Saklawi, as sired by Sameh (El Moez x Samira) and out of Lubna (Sid Abouhom x Moniet el Nefous).

Despite the fact that *Sakr+++ was a grandson of Sameh, a stallion who was recognized for possessing Kuhaylan type (and passing it on), *Sakr was stretchy and elegant. One of the qualities of the Saklawi strain is length, i.e. longer back, longer neck, longer legs and longer head.  In the photo of *Sakr+++ published within The Pyramid Society's Reference Handbooks, we observe the added length in *Sakr's body; which is the direct opposite of Kuhaylan type, noted for horses embodying a compact, closer-coupled frame.  While *Sakr may not have inherited the Kuhaylan type from his grandsire, Sameh, he most certainly did inherit the freedom up front in his shoulders, combined with the elasticity and power in the hocks that Sameh was known for passing on to his very athletic get, i.e. *Serenity Sonbolah.

By the way, that's what "Sakr" means - "falcon". Do you know that falcons are recognized for having exceptional powers of vision? The visual acuity in some species of falcons was measured at 2.6 times that of a human!   Dr. William Hudson, a straight Egyptian breeder in Georgia, whose breeding program is prefixed with the name,  "Zandai,  recently concluded a mtDNA study, focused solely on the EAO matrilines. He published the results in an online science journal, PLOS ONE.  While the study (which included 126 horses, representing 14 matrilines), confirmed the reliability of the EAO Stud Book records; science does not concur with Bedouin breeding practices, that is, strain designations, inherited through the maternal line, i.e. dam to granddam to great-grandam, etc. The study shed light on a few individuals, from different families possessing the same haplotypes, suggesting a common ancestress from long ago. This is where I find myself now, thinking about falcons, improved vision and a new focus or understanding, in the face of tradition, culture and of course, the horse with an ancient heritage, as developed by the Bedouin, out of necessity, to suit his needs. 

Zaim

Zaim was an impressive 1971 chestnut stallion, bred by Gleannloch Farms. Like his full brother, Al Fattah, Zaim was sired by *Morafic and out of the Sameh daughter, *Safaa. In addition to Al Fattah and Zaim, *Safaa also produced two other full siblings: the grey mare, Muzahrafa in 1968 and the chestnut stallion Mishmish in 1974, suggesting that there was a genetic "nick" between *Morafic and *Safaa. Breeding these horses together worked and resulted in progeny so excellent, you wished that there were more of them. Her son, Zaim, was so strong-of-body, that at first glance, you might think he is of the Kuhaylan Rodan strain but he is not Kuhaylan, he is Saqlawi, born of a pure-in-the-strain Saqlawi mare.  Zaim's EAO-bred dam, *Safaa, was a Sameh daughter out of the Moniet el Nefous daughter, Lubna and a full sister to *Sultann, the sire of Nagsous. Lubna and Mabrouka (the dam of *Morafic) are full sisters, both mares were sired by Sid Abouhom and out of Moniet el Nefous, who represents 25% of Zaim's pedigree. So, the doubling of Layla (Sid Abouhom's dam) and Shahloul (Moniet el Nefous' sire), both sired by Ibn Rabdan, may be the reason why Zaim's phentotype favors Ibn Rabdan more, than any of the other horses present genetically. In both tail female lines (sire and dam) Zaim traces to the Ali Pasha Sherif mare, Roga el Beda, which may also explain the overall quality and refinement that we observe in Zaim. He is strong of body but he is still an elegant horse, with an abundance of breed type. While *Morafic and Sameh are grey in color; each stallion was bred to a chestnut-colored mare, who both happen to be full sisters.  The influence of Ibn Rabdan comes through primarily, the maternal lines of both the sire and dam (although the stallion Sameh is of the Gamil el Kebir sire line, with Ibn Rabdan as his paternal great grandsire too), which suggests that the maternal lines in this pedigree are the more influential ancestral source in the creation of Zaim. I remembered a passage from Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik's book, Breeding of Pure Bred Arab horses, in which he remarked on the prepotency of Ibn Rabdan. He wrote, "Some stallions always sire foals of their own colour and sex; let us take a dark chestnut like Ibn Rabdan, one of the Royal Agricultural Society's stallions, for an example. He always produces dark chestnuts, no matter what the colour of mares. This will go on until he covers a mare who produces the form and type of her own strain; if she is better bred she will dominate in the formation and colouring of the foal." It is interesting to contemplate the modern day influence of a long-ago chestnut colored horse like Ibn Rabdan. In my mind, he is every bit as relevant today, as he was in his time. How is Zaim represented today in straight Egyptian breeding? Zaim was bred to a Faleh++ sired daughter named Falaha (out of Bint Hanaa) resulting in the 1980 mare, Bint El Ghaba. When bred to the *Jamil son, Ansata Haji Jamil, Bint El Ghaba produced the stallion, Badr Bouznika in 1991 and the mare, Dourrah in 1992.