*Serag: A Noble Son of Egypt

*Serag (Anter x Bint Om el Saad)

"...if you are to choose a companion in the Arabian horse world, a horse to share a life with you or to fight for you, you can find no better friend than a good Anter of any branch." - Philippe Paraskevas, The Egyptian Alternative, Volume II

*Serag, a chestnut stallion, foaled in 1972, was a son of Anter and out of the Nazeer daughter, Bint Om el Saad. *Serag was bred by the EAO and as a six year old stallion, was purchased by Harry Rosen of New Mexico and imported to America. *Serag caught the eye of Jarrell McCracken of Bentwood Farm in Texas, as he purchased *Serag in 1979; however, *Serag would not remain long at Bentwood Farm, as in 1980 he was purchased by Nagib Audi and exported to Brazil, siring approximately 30 horses in that country. In 1991, *Serag returned to the United States, making his forever home with Al and Judi Parks of Abbasiyah International, then located  in Florida. Judi Parks still remembers the day that *Serag arrived from Brazil:  "When the truck ramp dropped and *Serag walked out, our mouths dropped open.  *Serag was the most refined and elegant stallion that we had ever seen.  His neck was a mile long and he held it up surveying his new home.  His color was so dark he was almost purple with a red hue to his mane.  He did not have an exotic head but you could just see the desert in his eyes."   

*Serag sired an additional twenty-five horses in this period of his life. As it is with all horses we love, they never live as long as we need and want them to and *Serag died in 1995 and was laid to rest in a grove of mighty oak trees and yellow roses, a powerful reminder that the most noble of all horses, a friend of man, was laid to rest among the most noble of all trees and flowers.

*Serag's dam, Bint Om el Saad was also the dam of the 1971 United States National Champion Mare, *Serenity Sonbolah, however, to say that *Serag and *Serenity Sonbolah were only maternal siblings is not correct, as the horses are more closely related than half-siblings. *Serenity Sonbolah was sired by Sameh, who like Anter, was bred at the Inshass Stud of Kings Fouad and Farouk. Sameh was sired by El Moez, an Ibn Rabdan grandson out of Bint Zareefa (Hadban x Zareefa) a mare bred by Prince Kemal al Dine; while Anter was sired by Hamdan, an Ibn Rabdan son and out of the mare, Obeya, a granddaughter of Bint Zareefa. When you calculate the percentages, *Serenity Sonbolah possessed approximately 70% of the same blood as *Serag. To further underscore their similarity, both horses are not only Kuhaylan Rodan in tail female line, they are also of the Jamil el Kebir sire line, one of four sire lines extant in straight Egyptian breeding.

Shortly after the second world war, General Tibor von Pettko-Szandtner, an experienced horseman and former Director of Babolna Stud in Hungary was hired as the Director of El Zahraa. With much discipline and employing very strict standards of selection, the General worked hard to improve the conformation of the horses that he inherited at El Zahraa. As a cavalryman, his focus was one of utility and purpose and not necessarily the maximization of breed type. I think of the stallion, Sid Abouhom, whom the General not only preferred but considered vital to the program; while Dr. Ameen Zaher, a man of many behind-the-scene roles at El Zahraa including veterinarian, was skeptical of Sid Abouhom, whom he felt lacked refinement. However, despite Dr. Zaher's strongest criticisms, the General never wavered in his resolve nor the job he felt he must do while employed as the stud director at El Zahraa. When the horses of the Inshass Stud were dispersed, it was also the General who personally selected the horses he wanted to incorporate into the EAO breeding program. He developed an elite group of mares and stallions which reflected his vision  and it wasn't long before the world started to knock on El Zahraa's doors. Although *Serag was born thirteen years after the tenure of the General had come to an end,  as an individual, *Serag, physically, was loyal to the objectives of General von Szandtner and represented the type of horse that the General desired to breed. *Serag was substantial in body, his large, wide, heavily-muscled hind end was balanced with an equally powerful front end, consisting of a broad chest, massive laid-back shoulders and a more masculine neck which was in proportion to the rest of his body, not heavy and well set, flowing out of the withers. And yet, for all of his powerful build, he was very much what most people expect an Arabian horse to be, with wonderful tail carriage, excellent pigmentation and a clean, dry head, accentuated by the prominence of bones and veins. He was a masculine version of his sister, *Serenity Sonbolah, albeit with a bit more length in his back. In his brilliant literary tribute to the EAO horse, The Egyptian Alternative, Volume II, Philippe Paraskevas states, "Typical Rabdan males always tend to be colorful characters and powerful looking animals; they often boast wide chests and can be strikingly broad across the back and hindquarters, deep of girth and sometimes massive overall." How impressive was *Serag's phenotype? When *Serag was owned by Najib Audi, the Polish State Studs were interested in purchasing him and had conveyed an offer but at the time, Najib did not want to sell him. In these modern times, it's not an unusual occurrence to learn that the Polish State Studs have added Egyptian bloodlines like Laheeb, Al Maraam or Shams Sharav AA to their breeding program but in *Serag's time, this consideration would have been unique, noteworthy and out-of-the-ordinary,  which speaks of *Serag's quality and physical attributes.

While *Serag's lifetime foal count is fifty-five, only a small number of those foals qualify as straight Egyptian and of those horses, only a few have bred forward, a powerful reminder of the fragility of bloodlines and how easily we can lose them. *Serag's son, Mahtar (out of Fakhara Medallela) sired two daughters (out of RG Desert Delilah). One was named Dohayah, who was exported to France and her full sister named Domia, who remained in America. Both mares have produced foals for their owners. Mahtar's full sister, Manar, was exported to France and produced a number of horses. Mayaada, a full sister to Manar and Mahtar, was exported to Belgium and has left progeny in two countries: Belgium and France. The *Serag daughter, Rowaah (out of *Bint Rakia) produced a son and a daughter by a straight Egyptian son of Sahlih (out of Asmaar, the maternal grand dam of Thee Desperado). The beautiful mare, Nenaa, a powerfully moving *Serag daughter out of Nilequest Lady (Shaikh Al Badi x Glorieta Shahlana) has produced colts for two  different breeders in Florida and Kansas. Illa Bint Serag, a daughter out of the Pritzlaff mare, Black Solataire, produced a colt, Kamal Ibn Serag, a successful sire with thirteen get sired. The most successful of all the *Serag get, as well as the one who resembles him closely, is Ahsen el Serag (out of AK Ahliyeh), having sired foals in a number of countries: Saudi Arabia, Europe and America. Ahsen el Serag, a 1995 chestnut stallion, remains with Al and Judi Parks, now located in Arizona.

The name "Serag" is an Egyptian name more commonly used as a surname instead of a first name. The meaning of "Serag" is "destiny" or "luck" but what I found interesting is that the name "Serag"  suggests a clever mind, one that is quick thinking and ready to defend the underdog, suffering from a social injustice.  What impressed me most about the life of *Serag is how little we know about him, as an individual. Aside from a small article published in a breed magazine, it is challenging to find information on this particular horse. It's as if this grand horse, a son of King Farouk's beloved chestnut stallion, Anter and brother of a beloved, courageous and record-setting Egyptian mare, *Serenity Sonbolah, never existed. For example, he left Egypt as a six year old stallion. Was he used at stud? Did he sire any foals for the EAO? Unfortunately, I found no record of any get sired by him, while he was in Egypt. It is my hope that *Serag's life will inspire others to remember him, to seek his influence, to cherish the unique horse that he was and to bestow upon him the reverence that a horse of his quality deserves, so that he continues to remain relevant  in our community, before it is too late to make any difference. We don't have many sources of his bloodline left, they remain rich sources of outcross blood, in a gene pool dominated by too few horses. In closing, *Serag was greater than anyone who owned him or the circumstances that narrowed the legacy that he would leave us. He was an authentic son of the desert, reminding us of the historic Bedouin-bred horse, a horse who prospered despite an environment that was harsh and unforgiving, to serve as the favored mount of Pashas, Princes, Warriors and Kings. His heritage is as compelling as watching a theatrical classic like Lawrence of Arabia. Judi Parks sums up the goosebump-producing significance of living with a horse like *Serag as,

"A horse that has been on three continents and from one of the oldest breeding programs, the program of Kings and is there, standing right in front of you... it was quite a thrill to say the least."

***this blog is lovingly dedicated to the memory of General Tibor Pettko von Szandtner, Dr. Ameen Zaher and Judi Parks, in whose care the great *Serag was entrusted. She remains a champion of *Serag and with gratitude, I thank her for all of her input on this special horse's life. Also, a huge thank you to Johnny Johnston and the wonderful photo of *Serag, taken at Bentwood Farm, Waco, Texas.