Ansata Delilah...Part 1

Ansata Delilah (Ansata Shah Zaman x *Ansata Bint Misr)

*Ansata Bint Misr produced the important broodmare, Ansata Delilah, in 1972, sired by the super Saqlawi stallion, Ansata Shah Zaman. Judith Forbis said of Delilah, "A regal attitude, a proud demeanor and an independent soul marked Delilah from the day she was born."

In phenotype, Ansata Delilah's body was influenced by Ansata Shah Zaman (who added more length to her strong Misr body) and while different from her mother's body, she remained a curvey, circular horse, whose body, if divided into thirds, was of equal proportions. She had a strong topline,  which as you can see in the above photo, remained even into her old age.  Ansata Delilah’s enchanting expression was magnified through her large, black eyes which had the power to captivate anyone who met her face-to-face. Carl Raswan wrote that Ishmael had said, "Through thy eyes I see reflected the love of God and in their orbit I behold thy soul meditating upon the unseen." Thousands of years later, Ishmael could have said these same words to Delilah. She also had fantastic tail carriage, whether at rest or in movement, a quality that her grandson, Ansata Sokar (by Imperial Madheen) would inherit. An excellent broodmare with a stellar production record (5 daughters, 7 sons), including Ansata Sudarra, who, in turn, was bred to Ansata Halim Shah (also a tail female Bukra horse), producing Ansata Hejazi in 1992.  In my opinion, Ansata Hejazi celebrated the ancestral elements that have made the Ansata breeding program famous throughout the world. To me, he will always be remembered as an “old school” or “foundational” Ansata horse. Ansata Sudarra also produced the mare Ansata Nefara by Ansata Halim Shah, who when bred to Prince Fa Moniet (TheEgyptianPrince x Fa Moniet), produced an important stallion, maybe one of the most important to emerge from Ansata in the modern era: Ansata Sinan, who became a "cross-over" horse, that is, a horse sought after by breeders outside of straight Egyptian breeding, who appreciated his exquisite type and his ability to sire this classic look consistently, across a wide variety of bloodlines.

***Don't miss a wonderful article about the Bukra horses within The Arabian Breeders Magazine, Volume II, Issue II is The Dawning of a New Tomorrow: The Bukra Story***this blog is lovingly dedicated to Judith Forbis with gratitude, for the significant impact she has made upon my life, through the Egyptian Arabian horse.