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) |
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment