Moniet, Rashad and the Mare that Once Was

Monisa Halima

"Monisa Halima was a good mare with nice type, athletic body but very refined, a lovely mother, easy to do with every time. "-Rosi Kolster

What if the exquisite EAO-bred mare, *Bint Moniet el Nefous, was bred to *Ansata Ibn Halima? Perhaps dear reader, you have thought of this question with different horses or maybe, you and I are like-minded souls and this particular pedigree holds special significance for you? 

*Bint Moniet el Nefous

*Bint Moniet el Nefous was the only living daughter of Moniet el Nefous, sired by the great Nazeer. The late Dr. Ibrahim Zaghloul, the Director General of the EAO from 1967 to 1984, once said of *Bint Moniet el Nefous, “She was, without a doubt, the most like her dam of all of Moniet’s daughters.” In a tribute article, written shortly after her death, Marshall Partlow wrote, “Her correctness, type, beauty, graceful action, elegance, loving disposition and extreme head, endeared her to all who saw her.”

*Ansata Ibn Halima

The legendary stallion, *Ansata Ibn Halima, also a Nazeer son, single-handedly redefined the meaning of the word “classic” with his timeless beauty and became a living standard of Arabian horse type, against which, all other horses would be judged. The outline or rather, the silhouette of *Ansata Ibn Halima’s body was comprised generously of circular lines, creating an equality of body that was harmonious. He was not a horse of “bits and pieces” but a living sum of all of his parts. Nothing was too short or too long on this horse; everything worked together to create an ultimate picture of balance. 

Genetically, *Bint Moniet el Nefous and *Ansata Ibn Halima were more closely related in blood than most people realize, sharing not only Nazeer as a sire but also, their dams were similarly bred, being a blend of Sheikh el Arab with the influence of Ibn Rabdan. Breeding both horses together presented an opportunity to intensify the influence of the three super sires of Egyptian breeding: Nazeer, Shahloul and Sheikh el Arab. Most people, when thinking of Moniet el Nefous, will immediately think of an elegant, dry, desert-type Saqlawi mare, however, you will be surprised to learn that in her pedigree, she carried the blood of El Dahma multiple times, as did *Ansata Ibn Halima, who traces through Farida to El Dahma in his tail female line. Why wouldn't you want to breed these two horses together? 

In the sixties and seventies, the state of reproductive technology was vastly different. Artificial insemination was not yet available to breeders and mares had to travel long distances to be bred by natural cover to the stallion. While the distance from New Mexico to Texas may not seem far on a map; there was risk involved in shipping a valuable mare like *Bint Moniet el Nefous anywhere. I can understand the hesitancy that Richard Pritzlaff may have experienced, when he considered the logistics of getting *Bint Moniet el Nefous to Ansata, then located in Lufkin, Texas. Still, when the success of *Ansata Ibn Halima as a breeding stallion became more apparent, across a wide variety of bloodlines, one really has to wonder why Richard Pritzlaff was not more motivated to assume the risk?  Especially when you consider breeders like Norton and Millie Grow of Rafter G Arabians in Prosser, Washington who experienced spectacular results with the *Ansata Ibn Halima son, Ansata El Salim (x Maarqada) crossed on the very same horses that Richard Pritzlaff bred at Rancho San Ignacio! I have searched through books, magazines, in all the published letters written by Pritzlaff and in just about everything else that I could find, to no avail, hoping for even the smallest mention of breeding *Bint Moniet el Nefous with *Ansata Ibn Halima. I have spoken with breeders who utilized the Pritzlaff bloodlines, hoping for more insight and while some Pritzlaff devotees acted as if I had spouted heresy at the mere suggestion of going outside the programme; there were a few breeders who knew that Richard Pritzlaff admired *Ansata Ibn Halima  and desired to incorporate his blood in the programme. And finally, I scaled the “Mount Everest of my research” with one person who knew the man well and explained that Richard Pritzlaff had indeed considered the breeding, on more than one occasion. Many times, I have read about the dangers of a life, lived in hindsight, however, I only wish that I could have been someone who could have encouraged Richard Pritzlaff with what would have been an historic decision; as I very strongly believe that this cross would have impacted the course of modern straight Egyptian breeding for all time. I know that Richard Pritzlaff was angry with the definition of a straight Egyptian Arabian horse and how the definition applied to his mare, Rabanna, which seemed to influence everything he did and who knows if this also discouraged him from breeding *Bint Moniet el Nefous to *Ansata Ibn Halima? Instead, Richard Pritzlaff chose to continue breeding *Bint Moniet el Nefous to *Rashad Ibn Nazeer. I must mention that Richard Pritzlaff used three other stallions in addition to *Rashad Ibn Nazeer; however, it is important to also point out that one of the three stallions was a *Rashad Ibn Nazeer son and the other stallion was a *Rashad Ibn Nazeer grandson. While there are still horses who trace in tail female to Bint, it is not possible to find a tail female *Bint Moniet el Nefous, in straight Egyptian form, without also finding *Rashad Ibn Nazeer in the pedigree.

*Rashad Ibn Nazeer

*Rashad Ibn Nazeer was out of the Kuhaylah Rodaniyah mare, Yashmak, a Sheikh el Arab daughter who traced in her tail female line through Bint Rissala to the war mare found in the Syrian desert by the Blunts, Rodania. Yashmak is one of the few Egyptian horses who spread the influence of Bint Rissala and that of Rodania into the Egyptian gene pool. The enormity of what Rodania actually means to the greater world of Arabian horse breeding is hugely significant, as this mare is relevant not only in Egyptian breeding but also, in Russian, Polish, Spanish and of course, Crabbet breeding. Her place in Arabian horse history is truly unique. Which brings us back to *Rashad Ibn Nazeer, who, despite having Nazeer and Sheikh el Arab in common, was more of an outcross for *Bint Moniet el Nefous because of Rodania. Even though in phenotype, *Rashad Ibn Nazeer does not resemble a Kuhaylan type horse; the Rodania family is enduring and remains powerfully vibrant, many generations later. They are extremely influential horses. Breeding a Saqlawi-type horse to a Kuhaylan type-horse will help to improve the overall strength and substance of the body, as well as the compactness of the back. In a Saqlawi type horse, the attributes of Kuhaylan type become important, counteracting the Saqlawi tendency to become longer than we would like: long legs, long neck, long back, long face. The Kuhaylan type horse, in my opinion, balances the Saqlawi type horse. The Rashad/Bint Moniet cross yielded many prized daughters, who in turn, have produced well. The 1969 mare, Monisa RSI, is one of these daughters. 

Monisa RSI

In 1973, she produced a daughter named AK Monisa Moniet by *Ibn Moniet el Nefous, who was a Moniet el Nefous son, sired by a Moniet el Nefous grandson. I needed to say it this way, as I wanted to drive home in your mind that there is a lot of Moniet el Nefous blood, packed into one mare, approximately 43.75% of her genetic make-up. While AK Monisa Moniet has a beautiful body, we can already see the tendency to become longer in the back, had she been bred to another Saqlawi-type horse. 

AK Monisa Moniet

One would say that in order to create the masterpiece that her genetics and phenotype conveyed, she needed a stallion like *Ansata Ibn Halima, to draw upon his Dahman influence, balance and strengths

Monisa Halima is not the end result of breeding *Bint Moniet el Nefous to *Ansata Ibn Halima and yet, Monisa Halima vividly reminds me that an extraordinary mare like her would not have existed, had the pattern of breeding that began with *Bint Moniet el Nefous and *Rashad Ibn Nazeer not occurred. Monisa Halima helps me to better understand the role that *Rashad Ibn Nazeer played in her creation and in fact, she helps me to dig deeper and appreciate the breeding stallion that *Rashad Ibn Nazeer was, which I think, I never really understood nor appreciated. *Ansata Ibn Halima, was an extremely close-coupled horse and as a sire, was recognized for siring horses who embodied this attribute, sometimes a little more than you would like, when bred closely within Dahman type.  Considering the amount of El Dahma blood in the pedigree of *Bint Moniet el Nefous, could the foal that would have been produced by these two horses been too thick, too short, too chunky? I turn to Walter Schimanski, who devoted his life to breeding within the Dahman Shahwan strain, utilizing the blood of *Ansata Ibn Halima, combined with Babson bloodlines. Walter recommended that the Dahman strain horse be outcrossed with the Saqlawi horse.  However, what I like most about Monisa Halima is what the Kuhaylan influence contributed to her physically, that is, she was a bigger mare, substantial, yet still Saqlawi elegant and refined. The focused intensity of the Moniet blood, the high percentage of Saqlawi blood, although somewhat diluted with the blood of the Kuhaylan Rodans, counteracts the natural tendency of the Dahman Shahwan blood to become short and thick. In Monisa Halima, you don't see an angular horse nor is she long and narrow in appearance; her physique, like her sire, is primarily made up of generously rounded lines. You see in her, a neck which is longer, higher set on the shoulders and chest, with a bit more length in the poll and a roomier throatlatch. I also like her longer forearms and well-muscled shoulder, allowing more freedom of movement in the front end. From *Ansata Ibn Halima, she has inherited smoothness and harmony. She has a lot of balance and yet, when you dig into the details, there is much to appreciate, like a larger, rounder, deeper black eye. 

Monisa Halima

So, what happened to Monisa Halima? How is she represented today? She was bred to *Jamil, producing a daughter named Bint Jamilla, who remained in the United States and was prolific, producing a wonderfully vibrant family of horses. Her daughter MB Shaleema, by Prince Ibn Shaikh, produced a bay mare named HMK Norah, sired by Alidaar, who was named a National Champion Filly in Jordan for Al Nakeeb Arabians in England.  Eventually, Monisa Halima was sold to Ursula and Willi Poth of Classic Egyptian Arabians in Germany and France. She produced two sons for the Poth's by Alidaar: Classic Mansour in 1994 (sold to Mrs. Meike Höpfner in Germany) and Classic Arif in 1995. The Poths sold Monisa Halima to Rosi Kolster of Authentic Arabians  in 1996, in foal to Alidaar. She produced a filly, which was named Miriyah Alida, who was a foundation broodmare for Christine Krumm in Germany. Monisa produced four other horses for Rosi Kolster. A son by the name of Authentic Mabrouk by El Ahhim Shah (Ansata Halim Shah x AK Athea), who was later gelded and three daughters, all sired by the Maysoun son, Nabeel II: Authentic Madaleenah (sold to Sicily), Authentic Mona Lizha purchased by the Poths (producing two sons, Classic Majeed by Authentic Dahman and  Classic Malak by Lohim) and Authentic Monisa, who was sold to Qatar, when Rosi Kolster reorganized her breeding programme, deciding  to primarily focus on her two foundation mares: AK Nawaal (The Egyptian Prince x Dahmah Shahwaniah) and Classic Dahra (Alidaar x AK Dareeba).

For me personally, Monisa Halima finally resolved in a very meaningful way, the long running “what if” question regarding the breeding of two horses who have colored my world so brightly and like me, have inspired other enthusiasts, for many years.

***This blog entry is lovingly dedicated to Rosemarie Kolster of Authentic Arabians. Not only is she a breeder whom I greatly admire; she is also a wonderful human being. Danke Rosi! You can read the complete article, in its entirety, within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume I, Issue III***