The Story of Zareefa

The story of Zareefa very powerfully illustrates the rich and vibrant desert heritage of our foundation Egyptian horses. Cynthia Culbertson once said,

“What we can say about the Straight Egyptian Arabian, very reliably, is that they are so close to that desert source, the only way one could get closer is with a desert bred that stayed in the homeland.” 

 

Bint el Bahreyn

In 1910, Bint el Bahreyn foaled a Jamil filly, whom Lady Anne Blunt named Dalal Al Hamra. Lady Anne Blunt was delighted with this filly and had recorded that she had "a beautiful, gazelle-like head". Dalal Al Hamra was bred to a desert-bred Abeyyan stallion named Saadoun, whom Lady Anne Blunt had purchased from Shaikh Mishari Ibn Sa'dun of the Muntafiq in 1911. Like Jamil, she brought this stallion to Sheykh Obeyd Stud to use in her program. From the union of Saadoun with Dalal Al Hamra, was born Durra, a 1917 mare, who when bred to Kazmeen, gave the world of straight Egyptian breeding the mare Zareefa, the dam of El Sareei (by Shahloul). 

Zareefa (Kazmeen x Durra)

Almost half of Zareefa's ancestral elements are desert-bred horses, bred by different tribes of Bedouin people. We experience this wonder of the desert, as we stand in awe of the unique characteristics that nature, in all her wisdom, fashioned, to insure the survival of this horse in this arid and harsh environment.