Nahaman

Nahaman (Salaa el Dine x Ameera)

A most intriguing horse, Nahaman was a 1989 grey stallion, bred by Dr. Hans Nagel of Katharinenhof, Germany. He was a son of Salaa el Dine and out of Ameera, a full sister to the beloved stallion, *Jamil. It was always Dr. Nagel's plan to use *Jamil, a Hanan son by Madkour I, on the Hanan daughters and he decided to initially test the cross with only a few of her daughters: Ghazala, Amal and Ashraff.  The results were excellent and convinced Dr. Nagel to move forward with a broader use of the cross within his program but tragically, *Jamil died and Dr. Nagel had to continue with another Hanan son, Salaa el Dine, by Ansata Halim Shah. However, I find myself wondering how different the Katharinenhof breeding program would be today, had the influence of *Jamil been more widespread as Dr. Nagel had originally planned, given *Jamil's consistency for siring daughters who became influential broodmares, all over the world. And yet, dear reader, as you will soon read, the ability to sire daughters of great influence was not unique to *Jamil.

Nahaman was impressive, standing approximately 15.1 hands (1.55 cm), his body inspired by longer lines: longer neck, longer back, longer legs. Nahaman also possessed dark pigmentation, one of the better grey-coloured horses, with no white markings of any kind, which I found interesting, as a quick glance at his pedigree reveals the blood of Hadban Enzahi,  whom Dr. Nagel wrote in his book, Hanan, "...a stallion troubled with pigment loss."  Obviously, Hadban Enzahi did not have much influence upon Nahaman, in this respect.

While Nahaman remained with Dr. Nagel for only a brief period of time, his daughter NK Nabeelah (out of Nashua) became a broodmare of great influence for Katharinenhof, insuring that Nahaman would remain relevant in the Katharinenhof breeding program.

NK Nakeebya (NK Hafid Jamil x NK Nabeelah)

The cross of Nahaman with Nashua, which produced NK Nabeelah is an interesting cross, as it intensifies the blood of Salaa el Dine, as Nashua is also a daughter but it also brings in the blood of an additional horse, Lotfeia, increasing the influence of Alaa el Din; while reinforcing the line of Kamla, already present through Madkour I, the sire of Ameera, the dam of Nahaman. Nashua also introduces some outcross blood through El Sareei (Shahloul x Zareefa), the sire of Lotfeia's dam, Bint Kamla. When bred to NK Hafid Jamil, NK Nabeelah produced NK Nakeebya, a mare who physically, appears to be profoundly influenced by Nahaman, as she is a stretchier mare, with a fabulous long neck, well set on a body possessing a strong and smooth topline. Her skin quality is excellent, with dark pigmentation.

Nakeebya has had great influence within the Ezzain breeding program, producing by Ansata AlMurtajiz, the national champion mare of Bahrain, Nabaweyah Ezzain, who is owned by Al Rashediah Stud. Her full sister, Safeyyah, when bred to NK Qaswarah, produced the bay mare, Naseemah AlWard, who when bred to Aneesilnefous, produced Ssafinaz Ezzain, a beautiful filly.

Albaheiah Ezzain (Nooreddine Ezzain x NK Nakeebya)

Albaheiah Ezzain is one of the most beautiful mares that I have ever met and a full sister of Aaliyah Ezzain, both mares sired by Nooreddine Ezzain (Ansata AlMurtajiz x NK Nada) and out of NK Nakeebya, a combination of blood which seems to produce very positively, suggesting what breeders often call a "nick". These two mares are so outrageous in their beauty, that it is only natural to want to repeat the breeding as many times as possible, in the hope of creating an army of beautiful mares that look just like them. In addition to the multiple lines to Ansata Halim Shah present in both horses' pedigrees, the dam of Nooreddine Ezzain, NK Nada, is a daughter of Nashua, who also happens to be the dam of NK Nabeelah, NK Nakeebya's dam.  There's common ground, on both sides of the pedigree. In Dr. Nagel's new book, The Arabian Horse: Nature's Creation and the Art of Breeding, he said, "Normally it works only when both sire and dam, on the female side, are already a good combination. Such situations are, in fact, a very lucky find and would mean that progress can be made very quickly for a breeding program." Although Albaheiah was sold to another breeder in Kuwait, she has produced a beautiful black stallion,  Thettwa Ezzain, who is a proven sire for Ezzain, as well as a gorgeous bay filly named Bahilla Ezzain, both sired by NK Qaswarah.

Aaliyah Ezzain (Nooreddine Ezzain x NK Nakeebya)

Aaliyah inherited the strong attributes of the Nahaman family and yet, for as powerfully built as this mare is, she is so refined and elegant. Her topline is strong and smooth and her longer, nicely shaped neck is well set. She presents a graceful picture of harmony, symmetry and beauty. She also has excellent skin quality, deeply pigmented and the prominence of bone and vein in her face is outstanding. Her muzzle is very fine and delicate and is accentuated with elastic nostrils that when fully dilated, heighten the dramatic features of a desert horse, ready  to overwhelm the senses.

It is mares like these, three generations removed from Nahaman and yet, through the reproductive consistency passed from generation-to-generation, illustrates why a stallion becomes noted as a broodmare sire, as his influence continues to be felt primarily from the mare side of the pedigree.

***this blog was originally published in July of 2019***