A Black Mare Study

The Vision HG (Thee Desperado x Belle Staar)

Alttafilbari Ezzain (NK Qaswarah x Ajmal Ibtihaj)

It's funny how one photo can inspire a series of disconnected thoughts, which actually, end up working together, pushing your mind into a higher level of understanding and an appreciation for close genetic connections, beyond what may at first appear as only a common coat color, in photographs of similarly-moving horses. The late Vision HG is sired by a Minstril son and out of a Minstril daughter...paternal half-siblings, right? Think again, as they are more closely related than that. Both Thee Desperado and Belle Staar are out of mares that are also paternal half-siblings; each mare sired by The Egyptian Prince (*Morafic x *Bint Mona). Think of these close connections in another manner and that is, in the generation of the great grandparents, the pedigree is made up of eight individuals. In The Vision's pedigree, three of these eight individuals appear twice (Ruminaja Ali, Bahila, TheEgyptianPrince), so in essence, eight individuals become five individuals, with three of the individuals having a higher percentage of influence (25% each) than the other two (12.5% each). The horses in this generation who are different from the others are the mares Asmarr (*Ibn Hafiza x Nagliah) and Hasnaa AlBadeia (Kayed x El Ameera). However, a closer look at these two mares reveal that the outcross blood comes through Asmarr, Kaydahom (Azmi x Om El Saad) and Zaafarana (Balance x Samira). When I saw this photo of The Vision at liberty, a feeling of deja vu swept over me. I had seen this type of horse before...but where? I thought and thought for a long time. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about a paradise I know and call Ezzain, where another black horse lives. Alttafilbari Ezzain (NK Qaswarah x Ajmal Ibtihag) at first glance, may not appear to have any connection with The Vision HG but wait, a second glance at her pedigree will reveal that her granddam Alijamila was a Ruminaja Ali daughter, which makes Alttafilbari a great-granddaughter of Ali, just like The Vision, who is not only a great granddaughter, she is a double great-granddaughter of Ruminaja Ali! However, dig a little deeper and follow the tail female line that runs from Ansata Justina to Ansata Bint Sameh, where you will find the stallion Sameh (El Moez x Sameera), who also appears in The Vision's pedigree, as the sire of *Ibn Hafiza. Sameh was a phenomenal broodmare sire, expressing his influence from the mare side of the pedigree. No surprise to find him here, represented in the strong bodies of two mares who channel their energy through the muscling of their backs and not through their joints, tails held high, nostrils fully dilated...very much a Sameh-line horse for sure! It's that inborn joy and confidence, combined with a look-at-me, I-am-really-pretty attitude that has charmed many breed enthusiasts with what is, a unique expression of that unmistakable Sameh-type.