Close Connections

The theme of the forthcoming Al Khamsa Convention in September is all about Connections - "with one another, with our horses and with the global community." Thinking about connections, reminded me of something...something that I learned, thanks to George Hooper, who shared this photo of his foundation stallion, SAR Casure Star, who passed away in the fall of 2006. Although not straight Egyptian, he is a unique horse in Asil Arabian horse breeding, as he combines several Asil ancestral elements together:

FADL-TURFA-SIRECHO-MUHAIRA-IBN HAFIZA

I noticed that SAR Casure Star was intensely line bred to *Fadl, who  appears six times in the pedigree.  Since *Fadl came from the breeding program of Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik, as did *Nasr and both horses share the tail female line of Negma, right away I recognized that this tail female line is further magnified in SAR Casure Star. Excellent, as this is one of the most powerful and enduring female lines in straight Egyptian breeding. Remember this, as this fact will become incredibly interesting, as we consider these genetic influences, when blended together with those of *Ibn Hafiza, the sire of Zarif Katun (the dam of CAS Azure Star, SAR Casure Star's sire) as well as the sire of his dam, Halan Laili. *Ibn Hafiza was a son of Sameh, who in turn is a son of El Moez, a son of Ibn Fayda, by Ibn Rabdan. Hafiza, *Ibn Hafiza's dam, is a double Hamdan mare, as he is her sire and also, the sire of her dam, Mahfouza. Remember that, as Hamdan, like *Fadl, was an Ibn Rabdan son. Yup, that's true. And that's where all of these facts that I asked you to remember, come into play.

Ibn Rabdan is a son of the 1897 grey stallion named Rabdan el Azrak. So, for every line to Ibn Rabdan, it's also a line to Rabdan el Azrak. However, in *Ibn Hafiza's pedigree, we also find Rabdan el Azrak without Ibn Rabdan. El Moez was a son of the mare, Bint Zareefa, a Hadban daughter. Hadban was sired by Rabdan el Azrak. Rabdan el Azrak was a son of the 1890 stallion Dahman el Azrak. Remember this too.  In *Ibn Hafiza's pedigree, a mare named Tarfa appears three times, as the dam of Hadban and the dam of Mabrouk Manial. Do you know about the beautiful white mare Mahroussa, who was bred by Prince Mohamed Aly? Well, Mahroussa is the dam of *Fadl and she was a daughter of Mabrouk Manial, who was a son of a mare named Tarfa, a Dahman el Azrak daughter. Mahroussa is out of a mare named Negma, who is also a daughter of Dahman el Azrak. So, for every line to *Fadl, there is one line to Ibn Rabdan plus two lines to Dahman el Azrak. So, if *Fadl appears six times in the pedigree, then, so does Mahroussa and simple arithmetic tells me  6 x 3 = 18.... eighteen lines to Dahman el Azrak. Don't put your calculator away just yet...we need to add the non-Ibn Rabdan sources of Rabdan el Azrak and Dahman el Azrak found in *Ibn Hafiza's pedigree. Which brings us to *Nasr, who is a son of Rabdan el Azrak and offers one more line to Dahman el Azrak, muliplied twice, as *Nasr appears twice in the pedigree through Bint Turfara. That's right, thirty-four (34) lines to Dahman el Azrak (Jamil El Ahmar x Farida Dabbani) who bred by Prince Ahmad Pasha Kamal. How much more closely can these horses be connected?

Are you confused? Let's review it one more time:
*Fadl (Ibn Rabdan son out of Mahroussa, who carries 2 lines to Dahman el Azrak), so 1 + 2 = 3 and this horse appears 6 times, 3 x 6 = 18
*Ibn Hafiza (Sameh son out of Hafiza)  carries 3 lines to Ibn Rabdan + 1 line to Rabdan el Azrak + 3 lines to Dahman el Azrak = 7 but he appears 2 times, so, 7 x 2 = 14
Sirecho carries 1 line to Rabdan el Azrak but he appears 2 times, so, 1 x 2 = 2

18 + 14 + 2 = 34

I read a comment recently on one of the internet forums which discounted the influence of horses in a pedigree who appear way back, many generations removed from the present day. I disagree, as how can you discount the presence of a horse like Dahman el Azrak, who by virtue of the multiple lines found in the pedigree, is a very important part and really, a cornerstone of this modern horse's pedigree? While I am not presenting any new or breaking developments in straight Egyptian horse breeding; I am only pointing out the multiple sources to one individual horse in one horse's pedigree and yet,  I hope you recognize my voice, my perspective, an awareness for how closely related, how closely connected our horse's genetic makeup really is and why it is so crucial that we embrace ALL of the horses we have today...we really need them all, if we hope for any diversity. We need to remain vigilant and protect all of our horses, from others who misunderstand their history and attempt to manipulate misinformation (and the lack of it sometimes) to exclude horses, in favor of other horses and in the process, lose our only hope for any type of diversity in our community. Despite the genetic elements which sepatate the horses into distinct breeding groups, the horses are ALL precious, and...WE ARE ALL CONNECTED through them.
EnJOY,
Ralph