So much has been written about Thee Desperado; he really was a giant in the world of Arabian horses. So great was his popularity, that his image was cast in tenite plastic, as a Breyer horse model. Several years later, his daughter, Rhapsody in Black, would also enjoy the same honor!
I don't remember how I found this photo of a very young Thee Desperado. I think Shawn Crews took the photo, which shows the horse as more of a colt, than a stallion and you can compare/contrast against all the other photos that show him as a mature horse, to gain insight into his phenotype and better understand him, as a specimen of the Arabian horse breed. Until I found it, I had never seen this photo before and I thought dear reader that perhaps, it is the same for you.
In the old days, as the marketing machine behind Thee Desperado grew in strength and Thee Desperado started to sire a record number of horses; preservation advocates voiced their concern over the "homogenization" and thereby, the loss of key (and rare) ancestral elements, in their original form, as breeders incorporated more and more of his blood within their programs. Prior to the emergence of Thee Desperado, there really wasn't a horse EVER like him and his meteoric success frightened people. I really believe that most people, including myself, could not deal with the magnetic star quality of this beloved horse. It really wasn't until his son True Colours started to become popular and I began to think differently about the use of Thee Desperado as a sire. You see dear reader, I used to be one of those people who expressed concern over the dilution of our older bloodlines, as I watched breeders begin to "paint themselves into a corner" and place our small gene pool into a precarious state, losing the diversity needed, in the form of healthy outcross opportunities. Somewhere in this time, a friend named Bianca, who breeds Egyptian Arabian horses in Europe, pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to think differently about Thee Desperado, especially when strategically utilized in unique combinations of bloodlines. I couldn't think of a more unique cross than combining Desperado with a Dalul daughter who possessed a maternal line going back to some of the most revered horses in German straight Egyptian breeding. When German dressage rider and straight Egyptian breeder, Hansi Heck-Melnyk, who trained with the classical riding master, Egon Von Neindorff, spoke glowingly of True Colours, that was it for me and happily, I jumped into "the deep end of the pool" without hesitation, fear or worry that I may not remain afloat and sink to the bottom of the pool.
Judith Forbis has been an extremely important and influential figure in my educational development and understanding of the Egyptian Arabian horse. Through her many books, magazine articles and photos, I gained an appreciation for the horses of the past, who would prove to be vibrantly strong and consistent, as expressed within the genetic fiber of present day horses and the horses yet-to-be-born. As I read The Classic Arabian Horse, I became fascinated with El Araby, one of the most beautiful stallions ever bred in Egypt and tragically, killed in his youth. Thanks to Judith Forbis, I understood that Gleannloch Farms purchased *Ibn Hafiza to cross onto their *Morafic daughters, in the hope of producing another horse like El Araby. Many wonderful horses resulted from this cross but never, a horse like El Araby or so we thought.
Bianca's insightful and wise words concerning a more select and unique use of Thee Desperado propelled me on a soul-searching journey. Like the photo of Thee Desperado as a colt, I was more of a child and less of a man when I discovered El Araby for the first time and held onto a long-time expectation that a breeder, somewhere in the world, would breed a horse just like him. After all, we did have the bloodlines to accomplish this reproductive miracle. I don't remember exactly when I started to look at the pedigree of Thee Desperado a little more differently but the more I studied his pedigree, the more I started to connect horses and the role they were playing in Desperado's pedigree. All of a sudden, like a lightning strike, I realized that Thee Desperado himself was the unique genetic expression and the "Holy Grail", right before my eyes. It made sense to outcross the *Ibn Hafiza granddaughter, Asmarr (*Zaghloul x Nagliah) with a very concentrated source of Moniet el Nefous and Nazeer blood, as found in the stallion, TheEgyptianPrince. The result from this cross was the grey mare, AK Amiri Asmarr, who in turn, was bred to The Minstril, infusing still more *Morafic blood into the cross. The result was Thee Desperado. After all these years, the most desired horse of all horses had been born and lived an amazing life, while I had failed to recognize him, trapped in thoughts and feelings that today, seem ridiculous. I felt like Linus, sitting in a pumpkin patch, waiting for the great pumpkin to appear with one difference: the great pumpkin appeared in my pumpkin patch but I wasn't there to greet him. It remains one of the most powerful and truly humbling moments of my life. Thee Desperado...there just wasn't enough time to let him know how truly special he was.
***I wrote this blog in October, 2019 to reconcile the many conflicting feelings that I felt about this most incredible horse, Thee Desperado. I want to be honest and transparent, as I have a deep reverence for our older Egyptian blood and yet, adore the results when these old bloodlines are combined with newer Egyptian blood, like Thee Desperado.***
***This blog is lovingly dedicated to Shawn Crews, whom I deeply respect and also, admire. I wish I were more like you Shawn and less like me! I am still grateful to you, for taking the time to meet Princeton Maarena. I wish that I could have bred her to Thee Desperado, as we had discussed****
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