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.

2 comments:

  1. A beautiful story, Ralph, about the power of Mishaal to produce incredible daughters. Last winter we saw a Mishaal daughter out of a Bint Magidaa daughter, if I am not mistaken, that was sensational in every way.
    Saniyyah RCA is growing up at Ariela to be a real beauty and it will be really interesting to see her Laheeb foals.

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  2. I think this is a wonderful story. For my birthday a couple years back, I went to Arabians Ltd., an met all these wonderful horses with a tour. It was truly life changing, all those amazing horses. I think my favorite was Mishaal, the lovely stallion you talk of.

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