The Importance of Fidl Fadl

Fidl Fadl (Ibn Fadl x Fay Khedena)

Fidl Fadl was a 1958 chestnut stallion, bred by the Babson Farm. He was a son of Ibn Fadl (*Fadl x *Turfa) and out of the straight Babson Egyptian mare, Fay Khedena (Fay-el-Dine x Khedena). In phenotype, he does not look any different from the straight Egyptian horses bred by the Babson Farm. It would be really difficult, without a pedigree, to say that he is not straight Egyptian with any degree of finality, because he looks convincingly Egyptian in phenotype. Homer Watson, the long-time manager of the Babson Farm, through his hands-on experience of working with these horses, felt that the *Turfa horses were exceptional.  Of all the horses that the Babson Farm had purchased, outside of the Egyptian bloodlines, only *Turfa produced similarly and consistently, on par with the Egyptian horses. Despite her compatibility with the Babson Egyptian horses; *Turfa was not Egyptian, she was a Saudi-bred mare, so Fidl Fadl, as her paternal grandson is a high percentage Egyptian horse (75%) but he was NOT straight Egyptian.

Fidl Fadl had an interesting pedigree, the majority of which is populated by three of the six horses Henry Babson imported from Egypt: 50% of *Fadl, 18.75% of *Bint Serra I  and 6.25% of *Bint Bint Sabbah. Of these three horses, *Fadl (Ibn Rabdan x Mahroussa) appears four times: as both a paternal and maternal grandsire, in addition to being a maternal great great grandsire twice. And this is where the 25% *Turfa influence fits so nicely, as this mare ushers in fresh outcross blood, to balance the concentrated line breeding to *Fadl and also, *Bint Serra I, who appears twice, in the tail female line of both, the maternal sire (Fay-el-Dine) and dam (Khedena).

Ibn Rabdan, as painted by Mrs. Colmore

When I first saw the photo of Fidl Fadl, I experienced a strong feeling of deja vu and then, I remembered a portrait of Ibn Rabdan, painted by Mrs. Colmore, which appears in the first half of a book that is my personal favorite, Prince Mohammed Aly Tewfik's Breeding of Pure Bred Arab Horses.  The resemblance to Ibn Rabdan is so strong, so striking, that Fidl Fadl could be the horse in the painting. Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik greatly admired the prepotency of Ibn Rabdan, who was said to pass his dark chestnut color consistently.  Fidl Fadl is a dark chestnut, just like Ibn Rabdan was and looking beyond his coat color, conformationally, he embodies many of the qualities that I have learned over the years to associate with Ibn Rabdan, that is, the curves, the circles and the longer length in the neck. Not only is Fidl Fadl powerfully conformed, he's pretty too.

Fidl Fadl (Ibn Fadl x Fay Khedena)

Twenty nine years after the death of Fidl Fadl, at age 32, we live in a time when the preservation of key Arabian horses has become as rare, as the bloodlines preservationists are trying to protect. The Babson-Turfa breeding group is smaller than it ever was, reduced to a few breeding individuals. The tail female line to *Bint Serra I, no longer exists, in straight Babson lines. Outside of the straight Babson breeding program, in the wider population of straight Egyptian horses, the *Bint Serra I tail female line is getting harder to find.

The Pyramid Society resulted from a very real concern felt for Egyptian bloodlines, which if left unprotected, through outcrossing, could be lost forever, never to be enjoyed in their original form, as imported from Egypt. Unfortunately, for authentic Bedouin-bred horses like Fidl Fadl, who fell outside of the Pyramid Society definition, the marketability of their genetic heritage never approached the level that the straight Egyptian horses enjoyed, once the Pyramid Society was established. Remember, I said "marketability" and not "appreciation". Horses like Fidl Fadl didn't have a similar fraternal marketing organization behind them to provide the financial encouragement (incentive) to insure the perpetuation of the bloodlines, as the Egyptian horses had. Economically, breeding outside the straight Egyptian label did not offer a similar level of return. Had the situation been different and the financial rewards greater, then perhaps, Fidl Fadl would have bred some of the top Egyptian mares of his time, especially when you consider  the genetic wealth he offered. Remember, that today, we don't have a tail female line to *Bint Serra I in straight Babson Egyptian breeding and we face a scarcity of this line within straight Egyptian breeding. What makes an Arabian horse great? Is it the physical presentation of overwhelming breed type, athletic ability or consistency in siring/producing influential progeny? Fidl Fadl remains an important lesson, concerning the sources of authentic Arabian breeding  and the prepotency the blood has for producing superior results consistently, no matter how this blood is combined with other ancestral elements, whether in straight Egyptian form or blended with desert breeding.  I don't know if out of necessity, there will come a day when conforming to being straight Egyptian will mean less, than breeding within specific family groups and restoring lines that are critically endangered, regardless of how they may be combined, before they are lost forever. These are the things that I think about, when I think of an excellent horse like Fidl Fadl, whose appeal touches all enthusiasts, regardless of their bloodline interest. It just does not make any sense to me, that a horse that looked like he did, possessing the bloodlines he had, was not as widely used as he should have been, insuring the survival of key bloodlines like the already mentioned *Bint Serra I, expressed in what is a unique offering which included an authentic Nejdi-bred mare like *Turfa!

So, how did life turn out for Fidl Fadl anyway? Fidl Fadl was enjoyed by Glenn and Geneva Cantwell of Washington, both as a show horse and sire. His son, Twin Fir Elegance+, was a Canadian National Champion in Pleasure Driving, while in the USA, he was a two time US Top Ten in the discipline. His daughter, Live On Morjhaana was a US Top Ten in Dressage, Third Level. Late in Fidl Fadl's life (age 20), he was obtained by Sara and David Jones of Grove Creek Arabians in Illinois. The Joneses were Al Khamsa breeders who also owned similarly influenced Babson-bred mares (at one time, they stood Fadl Starr at their farm). For the Jones, Fidl Fadl sired Al Khamsa recognized horses, like the chestnut mare, Fidl Fadl's Finale. Prior to being with the Jones, Fidl Fadl had sired approximately sixty purebreds and derivatives. The Al Khamsa roster recognizes 23 get, born between the years 1961 and 1990. Through 8 generations, 23 Al Khamsa horses have produced 202 descendants. It is interesting that of these descendants, 141 were born from 1980-1999, with 56% of that number, born before the end of 1989, a record decade in Arabian horse breeding.  His most famous son, Ibn Fidl Fadl +/, a legion of honor winner and a truly versatile horse, competed in Dressage, Ladies Side Saddle and trail, as well as Western Pleasure, Native Costume, English Pleasure, Hunter and Show Hack. There really wasn't much that this Fidl Fadl son couldn't do or at the very least, was willing to try for his people, a characteristic that has made our breed so highly regarded, all over the world.

**It is important to state that if it wasn't for The Pyramid Society, how many of the key Egyptian horses we treasure, would have been lost to breeders? This blog post is lovingly dedicated to The Pyramid Society, in gratitude for all they have done to insure the survival of the straight Egyptian horse, in our modern world.