25 August, 2019

*Ecaho

*Ecaho (*Proton x Etruria)
On Wednesday of this past week (8/21), *Ecaho (*Pepton x Etruria) died. This particular photo, taken by Anette Mattson is one of my favorites, because of his large, expressive eyes.  Carl Raswan once wrote, "the indwelling gentle spirit of Arabian horses finds expression in their intelligent, sympathetic features, the glory of their beautiful countenance and in their soulful eyes."

Bred by Janow Podlaski and foaled in 1990, *Ecaho was 29 years old. There are so many interesting things to say about this great horse and because this blog focuses on horses of Egyptian bloodlines, do you know that *Ecaho was approximately 20% Egyptian in blood? His dam, Etruria, was a daughter of Palas, who was 75% Egyptian, being a son of Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia) out of the Nil (Sid Abouhom x Malaka) daughter, Panel. You will remember that Nil was known in Egypt as Azmi, before he was exported to Russia.

*Ecaho was also of the celebrated Ibrahim sire line:
*Ecaho-*Pepton-Bandos-Negatiw-Naseem-Skowronek-Ibrahim
and in phenotype, was representative of the type we associate with horses of the Saklawi strain. However, it is very interesting that *Ecaho traces in his tail female line back to Woloszka, an 1810 mare foaled at Slawuta Stud and foundress of the Polish female family #10. Dr. Edward Skorkowski only classified Woloszka as Saklawi, because she embodied the characteristics of the strain to the highest degree. Why is this important? Authentic Saklawi horses are all about length, that is, longer heads, longer necks, longer legs, longer back and *Ecaho, like Woloszka, was loyal to the strain, as this horse was blessed with an amazing amount of scope. Visually, *Ecaho was a celebration for the eyes, as correct conformation and classic Arabian horse type formed a harmonious union.

A Polish National Champion stallion, *Ecaho is also the son of national champions, as his sire *Pepton was a Polish National Champion stallion and his dam, Etruria, was a Polish National Champion mare. Americans love this Polish legacy of champion blood, as *Ecaho, his sire and grandsire, all called America their home, whether temporarily, as it was for *Pepton or permanently, as it was for *Bandos and *Ecaho. But all of these interesting "facts" pale in comparison to the most interesting fact about *Ecaho. He was an important and consistent sire...of daughters. He sired handsome sons like Skoroneek IA but it is through his daughters that *Ecaho has and continues to exercise an impact. Think of his beautiful daughter, Emanda (out of the *Eukaliptus daughter, Emanacja). She in turn, when bred to Gazal Al Shaqab, produced the beloved mare, Emandoria. Some of my favorite crosses using *Ecaho, were with the *Eukaliptus daughters like for example,  Esklawa, who produced Esturia. And with strong Kuhaylan type horses, *Ecaho sired mares like Palmetta and Alhambra (out of *Fawor sired mares).

*Ecaho, for me, is one of those horses, very few in number, whose appeal builds bridges and propels them into the consciousness of a diverse group of enthusiasts, regardless of program.  When an extraordinary horse like *Ecaho dies, you can't help but wish that there were more horses like him. There is a Polish saying that I dearly love, "A man without a horse, is like a body without a soul." It is horses like *Ecaho whose life gives truth to this statement. Without him, our souls would have been so much poorer. With him, our souls were enriched and deeply blessed.

21 August, 2019

The Legacy of Abla

The 1953 grey EAO mare, Abla, was "a very classic, pretty-headed and strong-bodied Nazeer daughter" wrote Judith Forbis. Long before Abla was born, Lady Anne Blunt had written in her journal, "...the Nejd horses have short necks, short bodies, good shoulders and a very good tail carriage." One would think after reading this quotation, that the Lady was writing about Abla, as she is all that she described. Considering all we know about the Nejdi horses, as presented in the historical works published by desert travelers like the Blunts; we can say with confidence that Abla, fits within the descriptions of the Nejdi horse, a horse desired by many and obtained by few. However, with Abla, it is more than just possessing "Nejdi-type", as Abla traces to the celebrated Abbas Pasha mare, El Dahma, the source mare of the Dahman strain. Her great grand dam, Farida  was bred by Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik. With this kind of heritage, Abla was a mare that one expected big things from. She was the living embodiment of many hopes and dreams. Through personal experience, I have noticed that Farida carries forward to the present day in the form of prolific and dependable broodmares who possess the conformation that makes them easier to settle, foal out and become good mothers who nurture their babies well. Abla was also kind, with an amazing amount of warmth, radiating from her beautiful black eyes. This sweet expression, conveyed that Abla was as beautiful on the inside, as she was on the outside and she remains one of my favorite Egyptian mares of all time. I hope through this blog, she will become one of your favorites too.

Abla's pedigree is very interesting, for a couple reasons, the first being that she is double Mansour-bred (Gamil Manial x Nafaa el Saghira), as her sire, Nazeer, is a Mansour son, while her maternal grand dam, Bint Farida, is a Mansour daughter. The percentage of Mansour influence is a major genetic component in Abla's pedigree at approximately 37.5%! I suspect this is the reason for Abla's strong and compact body, given that Mansour was Kuhaylan Mimreh by strain and in phenotype, was true to his strain, presenting a masculine, powerful and correct appearance.

Abla was not only strong in body, she was also beautiful, as was her dam, Helwa. In Authentic Arabian Bloodstock Volume II, we learn that General Pettko Von Szandtner wrote of Helwa, "very noble head with beautiful expressive eyes." Helwa was sired by an RAS stallion named Hamran II, a son of a Crabbet-bred stallion, Hamran, exported to Egypt in 1920. And that's the second reason as to what is really interesting about Abla's pedigree! In 1910, Bint el Bahreyn, a bright bay Bahraini-bred mare, foaled a filly, whom Lady Anne Blunt named Dalal Al Hamra. Lady Anne Blunt was delighted with this filly and wrote in her journal 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. From the union of Saadoun with Dalal Al Hamra, was born Durra, the dam of Hamran. Durra is the granddam of *Bint Bint Durra (1932 Babson import) and the dam of Zareefa, an extremely important mare in Egyptian breeding (think of horses like the breeding stallion El Sareei and mares like *Cleopatraa, *Soheir II, *Ansata Bint Elwya and *Bint Maisa el Saghira). One of the things that I enjoy most about the study of pedigrees is the discovery of similar bloodlines, expressed through alternative sources. Just think of the opportunities that this presents to a breeder.

So, what about Nazeer? How did he influence Abla? One of the more interesting observations came by way of Judith Forbis' Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, Volume II and specifically, the notes written within the herd books kept by General Von Szandtner and others at the EAO. So, my eyes went directly to the notes written by Dr. Ameen Zaher, which said, "Szandtner wanted to work on correcting legs and searched for a stallion from which he could acquire the heritage of good legs. When stallions came back from the depots, Szandtner went to Bahteem and Szandtner picked Nazeer." We know that Abla, owing to a higher percentage of Mansour blood, was a much stronger mare than her mother. Not only did she have a stronger body, but thanks to the influence of Nazeer, she was more correct in her conformation, with legs that were functional and sound, allowing her to move with powerful ground-covering gaits. 

In his wonderful book, The Egyptian Alternative, Volume II, Philippe Paraskevas says, "...it makes every sense to outcross Dahman Faridas with Anter for his non-Dalal Saklawi tail female blood, and to reintroduce the best of the Ibn Rabdan male line."
Anter, bred by the Inshass Stud, was sired by Hamdan, an Ibn Rabdan son and a maternal grandson of Radia. His dam Obeya, by Mekdam, was a maternal great-great-granddaughter of Radia, who contributes approximately 16% of her genetic influence to Anter. In his latest book, The Arabian Horse – Nature’s Creation and the Art of Breeding, Dr. Hans Nagel says of nickability, "This occurs when a certain sire and a certain mare always produce perfectly nice foals. This is called “good nickability." Over time, we have learned that Anter and Abla, nicked well together but one must look under the surface of the two horses to discover why. Each horse is individually impacted by the genetic influence of a distant ancestor, brought forward through time, by the practice of line breeding. Abla carries a high percentage of Mansour blood, while Anter carries a larger percentage of Radia, which really makes me wonder that maybe, the so called "nick" of Anter and Abla had more to do with the genetic impact of combining higher percentages of Mansour and Radia together.
Abla produced 11 foals in her breeding career, before her death at the age of 20 in 1973. The majority of those foals were sired by Anter:
(1960) *Nagat: imported by Jay Stream in 1965
(1962) *Rashika: imported by Don Ford in 1973
(1963) *Eman: imported by Douglas Marshall in 1966
(1965) *Somaia: imported by Douglas Marshall in 1966
(1969) Looza: retained by the EAO
(1970) Adaweya: retained by the EAO
(1971) *Ein: imported by Rick Heber in 1972
The late Dr. Ibrahim Zaghloul, a former director of the EAO, said about the Abla influence, "from Abla, her daughters inherited that classic elegance and exquisite type associated with the Egyptian Arabian, as well as a deep shoulder and high set neck." 
Abla (Nazeer x Helwa)
If you search the archives (located within the sidebar, on the right hand side of the blog landing page), you will find many blogs that I have written of Adaweya (and her progeny), a mare whose impact upon the EAO breeding program has been profound, as well as the progeny of a few other Abla daughters exported to America like *Nagat (Al Nahr Serroya) or even, the *Tuhotmos son,  El Mon Moniet (his dam, Amira Moniet was a daughter of *Ein). In trying to keep these blogs interesting, readable and concise, it would be formidable to list the many horses who descend from Abla (not to mention that it would be very dry and boring for you to read a list of horse names). Abla established a distinct branch of horses, within the greater family of Farida. With that said, I wanted to highlight the progeny of a few Abla daughters, for whom I have not yet written a blog. For example, mention must be made of the Abla daughter, *Somaia, who was bred to *Morafic several times, resulting in the mares: Il Mara (when bred to *Ansata Ibn Halima, produced Song of Halima, an important broodmare for Nayla Hayek) and Bint Somaia. When Bint Somaia was bred to the *Morafic son, Shah Nishan, a trio of beloved broodmares emerged for Dorian Farm: Dorian Star of Egypt, Dorian Sheherazade and Dorian Shahramana. The Abla daughter Looza was bred to the EAO stallion Karoon, which resulted in *Lamees, who was imported by the Lowes. This Abla granddaughter was bred to *Farazdac, producing the lovely mare, Bint Farazdac, who in turn was bred to the stallion, MFA Saygah (TheEgyptianPrince x RDM Maar Halima), producing the full sisters, SH Alleya in 1986 and SH Anna in 1988, both of whom were purchased by Ansata and incorporated within the breeding program, producing foals sired by Ansata Hejazi, Ansata Manasseh and Arabest Kalid. Gleannloch also bred the Abla daughter *Eman, to *Morafic, producing the stallion, Al Nishan, who eventually, was also purchased by the Weil's of Dorian Farm. The list of horses that descend from Abla and her daughters grows longer with each foaling season, insuring that Abla's legacy remains remarkably vibrant and relevant, within our gene pool. She was, without a doubt, one of the greatest mares bred in Egypt.

10 August, 2019

Labibah AA


Asal Sirabba, a 1958 grey mare sired by Sirecho and out of the straight Babson Egyptian mare Habba (*Fadl x *Bint Bint Sabbah), produced 3 daughters sired by *Ansata Ibn Halima:
  • Silima (1966)
  • Raalima (1967)
  • Siralima (1971)
And of the three, it was Siralima, who I feel, was the best-producing mare. Siralima was bred primarily to *Ibn Moniet El Nefous and one of the daughters she produced from this cross was AK Latifa, who was sold with her Imperial Al Kamar filly (Imperial Kalatifa) to Ariela Arabians in Israel.  Labibah AA, who showed in Chantilly last weekend, continues to keep the bloodline of Siralima relevant in today's straight Egyptian community. A very competitive and showy young mare, she was the 2013 Silver Champion Yearling Filly at the Israeli Egyptian Event, as well as the Gold Champion Yearling Filly at the Israeli Nationals. The following year, in 2014, she was the Silver Champion Filly at the Israeli Nationals. In 2016, she expanded her previous show wins to include Bronze Champion Filly at the Israeli Egyptian Event. In 2016, She was named the Bronze Champion Mare at both the Israeli Egyptian Event and the Israeli Nationals. No surprise over her many wins, she's beautiful and representative of the consistency of the Ariela breeding program.
Siralima (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Asal Sirabba)
Her maternal granddam, Imperial Kalatifa (the Kamar filly mentioned above) when bred to the wonderful bay stallion, Al Maraam (Imperial Imdal x The Vision HG), produced Labibah's dam, the gorgeous mare, Latifah AA, a most wonderful and  prolific broodmare for Ariela Arabians. She was bred to Nader Al Jamal, an Ansata Sinan son, who sadly passed away in 2014. Originally named TS Atlanta, Nader Al Jamal is an interesting horse. His dam is Savannah CC, a Thee Desperado daughter out of Miss Maggie Mae (The Minstril x Bint Magidaa). Normally, with horses of these bloodlines (representing the program of Arabians Ltd and its affiliates) the blood of Ansata Sinan comes indirectly through his son, *Mishaal HP. So, it is interesting to access Ansata Sinan directly, without the influence of Mesoudah M in the mix. Again, as I have said before, I appreciate horses like Nader Al Jamal, who present an opportunity to utilize an alternative combination of similar bloodlines, however, expressed a little differently, which in this case, resulted in the ultra-lovely mare we know as Labibah AA.

07 August, 2019

Chantilly



The AHO World Cup was held just this past weekend, in Chantilly, France. I was preoccupied, as I focused on a variety of tasks, including my previous blog on the Muluq. Thanks again to Arabian Essence TV, for posting videos of the show to their You Tube page, as it makes it so easy to watch the show and focus on the horses you really like. As I navigated through the video thumbnails, I stumbled upon the video for Maisa Al Nasser. Remember Maisa? A month ago, Maisa Al Nasser was the Bronze Champion Mare in Menton.  A smooth-bodied and harmoniously proportioned mare, her performance in Chantilly, was so much better than in Menton. Confident, supple and forward, she moved boldly and elegantly, with her tail held high. Her handler was kind and generous, keeping the lead line, long, loose and soft. For this particular mare, that was a great decision and I wanted to make sure that Glenn got a shout-out for that. He's a good trainer.

Maisa Al Nasser is close-coupled with a strong, smooth topline and great tail carriage. Her face is short and wide, accentuated by extraordinary fine, black skin and beautiful black eyes. She is a gorgeous mare and  the judges seem to agree with that consensus, as she won the 8-year old mare class and then, in the Championships on Sunday, was named the Gold Senior Mare Champion!
*Amalaa (Mowaffac x Aminaa)
Maisa Al Nasser is a daughter of Zenubia Al Nasser, by Imperial Mahzeer (Imperial Madheen x Maar Bilahhh) and out of Imperial Sanama (*Ibn Safinaz x Imperial Imalana), through whom, we find a  very interesting Saklawi tail female line.  Imperial Imalana is a daughter of a strong-bodied 1974 bay mare named *Amalaa, herself a daughter of an AlBadeia-bred mare named Aminaa, by Ibn Maisa (Nazeer x Maisa) and out of  Rabiaa (Beshier x Rateeba), a 1951 chestnut Inshass-bred mare. *Amalaa's sire, Mowaffac was a *Ramses Fayek son out of a mare named Ayda, a Nazeer daughter out of Lateefa (Gamil III x Salwa). As a point of comparison, when bred to Ansata Imperial, *Amalaa produced the 1982 bay stallion, Imperial Im Jasim. He, in turn was bred to the *Faleh daughter, Imperial Fanniya, who foaled a beautiful gray filly in 1995 named Imperial Karmah. Bred to Imperial Baarez, Imperial Karmah produced imperial Baareg, a 2002 bay stallion who stands at El Farida Stud, owned by Tarek and Ahmed Hamdy Soliman, located in Cairo, Egypt.

Why so much focus on the dam side of the pedigree, instead of discussing the immensely popular and widely used Sinan Al Rayyan? Outcross blood and the impact that strong-bodied mares like *Amalaa have made upon Maisa Al Nasser's phenotype. The maternal side of Maisa Al Nasser's pedigree and specifically, *Amalaa (Mowaffac x Aminaa), are bloodlines that are not generously represented in our gene pool, especially now, so many years after the dispersal and closure of Imperial Egyptian Stud. We are slowly losing the diversity of choices we once had at our disposal and moving towards a community dominated by highly promoted bloodlines. If there is one takeaway, it would be to point out the opportunity that still exists for today's straight Egyptian breeder, in choosing more unique or select bloodlines like *Amalaa, over horses whose influence is more widely available.

04 August, 2019

Bedouin Beauty: The Muluq Horses

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels."-Hebrews 13:2 

In the 1942 November/December issue of Western Horseman magazine, Carl Raswan first wrote of the Muluq horse, within an article he titled, "The Arabian Horse As Your Friend and Companion". He felt so strongly about these horses, that he wrote of them again, a year later, within the 1943 May/June issue, as part of an article he titled, "The Head of the Arabian".

So dear reader, you may be asking, exactly what is a Muluq horse? I'll tell you.

As Raswan explained in both articles, the Muluq horses are "enlightened" or "celestial" horses who belong to a spiritual group of animals known as "wisal" meaning, those creatures who know God and know Him personally. Not only are the Muluq horses beautiful and charming; they possess a contemplative expression, conveying a rational ability to not only think and  reason but to also, meditate on all that is unseen. Raswan states that the Bedouin called this, Yuminuna B'il Ghayb, "it is within them, the psychic power of an angel." Their touch is magnetic and even the scent of their body is fragrant, similar to sandalwood, which is pleasing to the angels who guard them.

A month ago, I was exchanging emails with a dear friend. I had found a photo of the black Babson stallion, Fa-Serr, that I had never seen before. We were discussing the presence and charisma of this stallion and also, of his grandson, Char Echo (Negem x Sirhabba). Something my friend said caught my attention, "Char Echo would just look at you, slowly turning his head and you knew he was very, very special." I know of this expression that my friend saw in Char Echo. The hair on my head stood on edge, as my memories took me to another place and time. I told my friend of my experience with my horse and he replied with a photo of his mare, who also possessed the same look that he saw in Char Echo, "Sirbana, a Sirecho daughter and she certainly had it in spades. She was totally noble in a quiet way (note expression in eyes of pic attached)..." When I opened Sirbana's photo that was attached to the email, I felt faint, for THAT was the look that I remembered seeing, for the first time, when my mare was sick and I kneeled next to her and placed my hand on her back for reassurance. Slowly, she turned her head, to look at me, just as Sirbana and Char Echo had done for my friend. Our relationship, from that point on, was very different...it would be the closest I have ever felt to a horse.
Sirbana (Sirecho x Habbana)
Last weekend,  I decided to re-read Raswan's Collection of Articles, a 1967 book published by Alice Payne and her son, Robert, of Carl Raswan's Western Horseman magazine articles, including the two articles I previously mentioned. Mind you, I didn't choose to read this book because of the emails I exchanged with my friend. For a few years now, I tend to move towards Carl Raswan in the quiet of the summer. If you have read his book, Drinkers of the Wind, you will know that Raswan had a couple of experiences that made a forever impact on his life. One experience involved a beautiful Shagya Arabian horse that he saw being ridden by Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony. Raswan watched the horse play with his reflection in the water and  Raswan was impressed with the intelligence shown by the horse. It was an image that he would never forget. Secondly, Raswan received a classical education and was fascinated with the Greek horses in ancient works of art, like the Parthenon frieze. At some point in his life, the Greek horses and the Arab horses merged into one and his quest to find the perfect horse of his youth, led him to the Arabian horse. Raswan remains a complex and somewhat controversial figure in the world of the Arabian horse. However, for me, it's Raswan's searching that I identify with and perhaps, somewhere in all of this,  I might just find the way to heal the brokenness that I feel within me. As I made my way into the book, I stumbled upon Raswan's articles and when I read about the contemplative look that is unique to the Muluq, I froze. I immediately thought of all that my friend had said about Char Echo and Sirbana! I opened up Sirbana's photo and studied it. I sat and thought about my wonderful mare, whom I deeply miss. As I thought about all of them, slowly the realization came, like a tidal wave...Angels!

In a follow-up to his book, Kinship With All Life,  J. Allen Boone writes, "We would also come to find that the Bedouin chief was treating his horse as a rational and cooperating fellow being - as a state of being, or consciousness, rather than as a limited biological item on four legs and conventionally tagged as "a horse"...But what would probably elevate your eyebrows to hit a peak would be the discovery that the Bedouin chief, with deep humility and reverence, treated his horse as "a muluq" - as an angel!"

When it comes to life in the desert, living amongst the Bedouin, Raswan personally experienced much of what he wrote about, including  a communion or rather, a mental connection with the mare he rode in the desert. When he was feeling sad or tired, his mare was quiet. However, if he was laughing and joking with his Bedouin brothers, his mare would neigh along, adding her humor to the conversation. His Bedouin brothers, understanding the puzzlement that Raswan was experiencing, explained, "the mare that lives under divine orders, as a mute and obedient companion of man, has an insight into the mind of her master whom she may even prefer to her own kind."
When I initially thought about blogging this story, I hesitated. Everyone will think I'm nuts! There's a danger in writing about supernatural topics that a majority of people dismiss as "fable".  I am not a person who subscribes to conspiracy theories or have an interest in UFOs or Bigfoot sightings. In both of the articles, Raswan discusses many other topics of a divine nature, including the creation story of Ishmael's mare and that of the Arabian breed. Some people may be turned off by this. I may lose followers. With all that said, I encourage you to read the articles, which are available on line (GeoCities), without cost to you.  They are interesting to read and offer the reader a cultural perspective that is not only part of our breed history but is refreshingly different and at the same time, is also kind to the horse, who is above all, a trusted, beloved and respected companion.