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