Who's On First - Ibn Fa-Serr

Ibn Fa-Serr (Fa-Serr x Fa Deene)

Ibn Fa-Serr, a significant sire for the Babson Farm, was the product of breeding two full siblings together: Fa-Serr and Fa Deene, both horses sired by *Fadl (Ibn Rabdan x Mahroussa) and both out of *Bint Serra I (Sotamm x Serra). What I find so amazing about this breeding is that Ibn Fa-Serr was born 28 years after *Fadl and *Bint Serra I were purchased and imported from Egypt!  While *Fadl and *Bint Serra I are as close-up in the pedigree as the generation of the grandparents; a percentage of 50% *Fadl and 50% *Bint Serra I is more like having these two horses as sire and dam, like Fay-el-Dine, a much beloved stallion of Henry Babson, but unlike Ibn Fa-Serr, was never bred to a full sibling. Do you know how close Fay-el-Dine was bred? Khedena, his full sister's (Fa Deene) 1948 daughter by Khebir (by human standards, Khedena was like Fay-el-Dine's niece). Does this convey the magnitude of significance that Ibn Fa-Serr holds in the Babson Egyptian breeding group?

In The Classic Arabian Horse, author Judith Forbis tells us, "Mr. Babson was the first American Egyptian breeder to experiment with breeding a full brother to full sister, which he did in mating FaSerr to FaDeene. The result was the striking, very prepotent grey stallion Ibn Fa-Serr, a real credit to the breed as an individual and sire, and a testimony to Mr. Babson's foresight."

Ibn Fa-Serr & Homer Watson at the Babson Farm

Whether used in combination with another  sire for the Babson Farm, like the *Bint Bint Sabbah son, Fabah (a successful cross for the Babson Farm) or on his own, Ibn Fa-Serr, a 1960 grey stallion, sired 85 foals over his lifetime, 20 of which were straight Babson Egyptian daughters and 22 straight Babson Egyptian sons. In an article for Desert Heritage Magazine, Joe Ferriss said of Ibn Fa-Serr's influence, "A Saqlawi inbred to Bint Serra, was a sire of superior movement, giving powerful shoulders and higher neck set. His greys tended to show more refinement in the head, like his dam Fa Deene while some of his blacks were more masculine like his sire, Fa-Serr. Generally Ibn Fa-Serr added a bit more height..."

Ibn Fa-Serr & Homer Watson

Homer Watson once remarked of Ibn Fa-Serr's impact within the Babson Farm breeding program, "He's been so great on Fabah daughters.” Ibn Fa-Serr was so prolific within the straight Babson community, that Babson breeders singled out horses without his genetic presence, in order to maintain diversity in the SBE gene pool!