Serrasab

Shortly after Floyd and Margaret Reid married, they visited a friend who happened to own purebred Arabian horses. There are many ways to contract Arabitis and Floyd found the most potent way...to meet the horses in person, to touch them, talk to them and engage with them.  So, no surprise that after meeting the couple's horses, Floyd got "it" really bad and so, two years later, after attending many Arabian horse shows, they purchased Rahym (Kahar x Faiza) who was named a National Top Ten Stallion in 1961, under Floyd's ownership.  Four years later, having moved from Colorado to Oklahoma, Floyd made a springtime visit to Ansata Arabian Stud, where he met horses like *Ansata Ibn Halima, who impressed Floyd significantly with his very classic Arabian type.  Floyd was inspired by the Ansata horses and decided to sell his horses, including Rahym, in order to purchase an Egyptian mare of his very own. Fast forward three years, to the summer of 1968 and what would hopefully be for Floyd, a shopping trip to the Babson Farm. Floyd saw many horses who impressed him, however, none of the mares he really liked were for sale and Floyd left the farm feeling frustrated, and really disappointed, as he felt that there was no hope of ever owning a straight Babson Egyptian mare. A year later, Homer Watson offered Floyd the opportunity to buy that much desired Babson mare. Her name was Serrasab, a Fa-Serr daughter out of Fay-Sabbah.

"Serrasab was probably 14.3 1/2 hh, solid build, muscular and well-rounded. She was very responsive and easily trained. She had a good head, with straight profile."

The sale was consummated and arrangements were made to trailer the mare to the US Nationals, in Oklahoma, where Floyd would pick her up. She was in foal to Ansata Abbas Pasha and eventually she foaled Serr Zeer, in 1970. Floyd was disappointed with Serr Zeer and decided to leave Serrasab open the following year, eventually breeding her in 1972 to *Ansata Ibn Halima.  However, it would be a foal that Floyd would not enjoy as his very own, as Robert Cowling (he owned her daughter, Sabrah, whom he bred to *Ansata Ibn Halima, to produce Fa Halima) was interested in purchasing Serrasab. For Floyd and his young family, the money from the sale of Serrasab was too much money to turn down. The following year, Serrrasab foaled the very lovely mare, Serr Halima, for Robert Cowling, who decided to breed her back to *Ansata Ibn Halima to produce a full brother, aptly named, Serr Halim.

The Babson Farm consistently experienced success by blending the blood of Fabah with that of Fa-Serr, which is exactly how four full siblings were produced by Serrasab, prior to her sale to Floyd Reid: the stallion Bah Sab in 1963 and the full sisters: Sabrah in 1964, Serasabba in 1965 and Serasaab in 1968. All four of these horses were extremely concentrated in the blood of *Bint Bint Sabbah, as they traced to this critical Babson foundation mare in both tail female lines; through the sire  and also, through the dam. As a matter of fact, when you look at the pedigree, you will soon realize that it is made up of only three horses: *Bint Bint Sabbah, *Fadl and *Bint Serra I. The prepotency of this blood, close as it was to the original source horses, influenced these mares and stallions to become the strong and prolific breeding horses that they turned out to be, producing equally outstanding sons and daughters, who have gone on to become influential in both straight Egyptian and straight Babson Egyptian breeding programs. Of the four full siblings, I feel that Sabrah was her most successful offspring. If Sabrah had only produced Fa Halima by *Ansata Ibn Halima, we would still celebrate this single accomplishment and rate her as an elite broodmare.  However, Sabrah also produced Ansata Sabiha, who became an important foundation mare for Mike and Kiki Case's Glorieta Ranch and the charismatic stallion, SAR Fadl Halim, both horses sired also by *Ansata Ibn Halima. When she was bred to the *Ansata Ibn Halima son, Ansata El Sherif, she produced the mare, SF Khala Zahra, an important broodmare for both Walter Schimanski of Masada Arabians and Marilyn Lang of Fantasia Arabians, who incidentally, has bred deeply within this family of horses, more so  than any other breeder, through her foundation mare, Fa Bukra, SF Khala Zahra's daughter by Fa Asar, whose dam by the way is Serasabba, a full sister to Sabrah.  However, to focus solely on the progeny of Sabrah, to the exclusion of the other horses who are part of the Serrasab family of horses would be a terrible injustice to what is, a dynamic and vibrant family of horses. Who are the other horses, you may ask? Well, think of horses like the previously mentioned (and prolific) straight Babson Egyptian stallion Fa Asar, the most successful of all the Babson-Sirecho cross stallions: KH Seral Sireff, the trio of breeding stallions sired by Ansata Abbas Pasha: Serr Fadl, Sab el Dine and Serr Pasha; in addition to producing daughters like Jusera, Tamie and the AK-prefixed mares of which there are many: AK Maalima, AK Rafah and AK Bint Serasaab to name only a few mares.

When Floyd Reid visited the Babson Farm in 1968, he still remembers what Homer Watson told him, "Mr. Reid, you can't buy the quality you are looking for. You have to buy one of these and produce what you are wanting." It is interesting, all these years later, to understand that this is exactly what Floyd Reid accomplished...he bred the quality of horse he desired but Homer always knew that given a chance, Floyd could do that.