Bred by DeShazer Arabians and now owned by Christine Emmert, this is the 2014 grey mare, DeSha Effendi, sired by a Laheeb Al Nasser son (out of an Adnan daughter) and out of a mare that combines the blood of Ruminaja Ali with Anchor Hill, Glorieta and the straight Egyptian bloodlines of Martin Loeber's Plum Grove Farm. If you follow the tail female line, through the three Ramses-prefixed horses: Effendi, Safina and Sadaka and continue past the four generations of EAO, Inshass and RAS breeding (Yomna, Ameena, Yaman & Yaquota), eventually, you will arrive at Rodania, who is present in Egyptian breeding through her daughter, Rose of Sharon (sired by the desert-bred stallion, Hadban). She, in turn, was bred to the Ali Pasha Sherif stallion, Merzuk and produced the mare Ridaa. When Ridaa was bred to the Ali Pasha Sherif stallion named Mesaoud, she produced the mare Risala. Risala's daughter by Ibn Yashmak, Bint Risala (a great-great grand-daughter of Rodania) is one of the two Rodania descendants incorporated into the RAS breeding program and the Rodania descendant we find in the tail female line of DeSha Effendi, not only through her dam but also through her sire, DeSha Wahiid (through different sources like Om el Saad & Yashmak), making DeSha Effendi a pure-in-the-strain Kuhaylah Rodaniyah. If this mare were chestnut, the Rodania line would be especially impactful in her phenotype but she is grey and I have found that the grey-colored horses from this family are physically different in type from the chestnut-colored Rodanias. But do not be fooled! While not physically evident in this particular individual, genetically, this is a continually powerful mare line, not only in Egyptian breeding but across all bloodlines in the Arabian horse world! At one time, my friend, Gari Dill-Marlow, was studying the maternal lines of the United States National halter winners and the Rodania line horses were consistently victorious in earning top national honors. Despite the 150 years that separate us today from the birth of Rodania, this mare remains relevant and genetically vibrant in today's gene pool and still exerts her influence through many generations of her progeny. This fact is made even more amazing within Egyptian breeding, when you stop for a moment to consider that Rodania entered the Egyptian gene pool through only two mares!
Hi Ralph
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time. As highlighted, DeSha Effendi is a beautful mare and a wonderful result of her bloodlines - genotype expressed as the grey phenotype. Magnificent. Her strain, regardless of her phenotype, will always be that of her tail female line, Rodania (BLT). To point, I think your article title is a little misleading considering that the content relates to genotype and phenotype, rather than the simple naming system given to the asil horse of the desert by the nomadic Bedouin.
No matter the colour or the type (phenotype) Desha Effendi and her progeny will always be of the same strain - Kehilet-Ajuz (Rodania).
Thank you, Ralph, it's been way too long since I referred to reference books for detail validation.
Thank you for your most wonderful comment Diane. I am delighted. If, through my words, I have encouraged like-minded people to think deeply about the Arabian horse, in the hope of understanding him better, then I will have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. A million thanks.
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