In the first few seconds of the video, my heart soared, as this confident mare marched her way into the arena, head held high, regally surveying the environment that she was entering. Her trot is bold, powerful and purposeful. She covers alot of ground, considering that she is held back by a lead, in the hands of a human who can only run so fast. But, it is more than the gait, it's more of Nawaal's self-expression through her attitude and self-carriage, which conveys her fearlessness and proud bearing. The first few seconds of the video reminded me of the email blast that I had received from Arabhorse.com several weeks prior to the Menton show. The way in which Nawaal stood in the photo that was embedded in the email, with her puffed up chest, head held high and that "I'm going to rule the world" look of self-confidence, she looked more like a King and less like a Queen! This is the attitude that she entered the ring with but something happened because in her stand-up in front of the judges, she transformed into a edgy, fractious mare, ready to jump out of her skin. What happened to my warrior princess? I'm dumbfounded as this is a mare with a lifetime of experience, having traveled to America to show as a three year old in the American Egyptian Event. Nawaal is not a stranger to the show ring. The video doesn't capture a 360-degree view of the show arena, so not sure what non-horse friendly stimuli may have been occurring, just outside of the camera's view.
Despite what I just wrote, at 1:35 into the video until about 1:44 (and again at 2:05 to 2:20), Nawaal stands long enough so that we can see that she is strong of body and very correct, with no compromise in breed type. She is amazing, taller than I remember, with an equal distribution of her body mass, meaning, she has a powerful front end and an equally powerful hind end. She is smooth and her neck is beautiful, well set, flowing out of the wither and when it meets her head, it forms a very nice mitbah. She is just beautiful, not exotic or extreme, just clean and dry, a horse born of the desert. In an Arabian Horse World article (written by Denise Hearst), Sheikh Hamad said of Nawaal, "she is a complete mare."
In looking at Nawaal's tail female line, you will find Ansata Nefertiti by Ansata Halim Shah and out of Ansata Sudarra. She is not only Nawaal's great granddam; she is also Ansata Hejazi's full sister. She was bred to Prince Fa Moniet to produce the beloved mare, Ansata Nefer Isis, who in turn was bred to Ashhal Al Rayyan (Safir x Ansata Majesta) which resulted in Nawaal's dam, Nadrah Al Rayyan. Sheikh Hamad said, "The Ashhal Al Rayyan daughters inherit his classic aura and have proven to be excellent producers." Again, Nawaal, by her very existence, proves how right Sheikh Hamad is. What is also interesting about this tail female line (which goes back to *Ansata Bint Bukra through her Sameh daughter, *Ansata Bint Misr) is that it is doubled, however, in a slightly different form: that is, via the *Ansata Ibn Halima daughter, Ansata Samantha. Ansata Sudarra and Ansata Samantha were half siblings, both mares are daughters of Ansata Delilah (Ansata Shah Zaman x Ansata Bint Misr).
Another sibling surprise is Imperial Madheen, the sire of Ansata Sokar, who is a son of the German-bred stallion, Messaoud, while Ashhal Al Rayyan is a maternal great grandson of JKB Masouda, a full sister of Messaoud! This Madkour x Maymoonah cross represents 30% of the pedigree! Sheikh Hamad says that Nawaal is a very nice horse to be around and Messaoud was also known to be pleasant in character, seeking and enjoying the company of human beings. Having known both *Orashan and *Imperial Madheen, I agree. It's a very clever pedigree, primarily drawing on the strength and the consistency of the Ansata breeding program, approximately 65% of the pedigree.
At the end of the day, the judges agreed and Nawaal Al Rayyan earned first place in the 7-year old and Older mare class and from there, competed against the winners from the other senior mare classes and was named the Gold Champion Senior Mare of the Straight Egyptian World Championships.
***Just a reminder that this blog is not a forum. Comments addressing shows, showing practises, judges, ring stewards, handlers etc. will be moderated. This blog is exclusively focused on the straight Egyptian mare, Nawaal Al Rayyan. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.***
No comments:
Post a Comment