2 Mares in Paris

I am grateful to Arabian Essence TV for making the videos from the World Championships available on their You Tube Channel. Do you know that there were 22 senior mares in Paris? There were 12 mares shown in Class 3A, while Class 3B had 10. The Marwan Al Shaqab daughter, Baviera HVP placed first in Class 3A with 93.36 points, followed by the Shanghai EA daughter, Wildona and in third place, the Mameluk daughter, Malikat Al Moluk. In Class 3B, the Ajman Moniscione daughter, Noft Al Nayfat was the first place mare, followed by Maisa Al Nasser and in third place, the WH Justice daughter, FM Gloriaa. The quality in both classes was very deep, any of these mares could have been pinned as a winner and everyone would be happy with the decision. That is how competitive these classes were and reflective of the consistency and quality of the mares exhibited. It definitely was one of the better senior mare classes than I can ever remember.

In the magazine, Tutto Arabi, Monika Luft had interviewed Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani. It's a great interview, you can find it here. One of the questions that Monika asked Sheikh Hamad was about shows. I found Sheikh Hamad's answer very interesting and relevant, as he said:

"We went to many shows but we never stayed until the championships. We did not care about the champions because we already picked the horse we liked. I remember Sheikh Abdulaziz or Sheikh Nawaf, all the old friends, we talked later in the car about the horses that looked nice and that could fit our breeding and could be maybe fifth in class, not necessary be the winners. OK, we loved the horse who won, but did not care. It was important for the owner but not for us."

Most times, the horses that I have preferred, are not the horses who place in the first three spots. This year, my favorite horse of the show, Maisa Al Nasser, was named the Bronze Champion Senior Mare but it doesn't always work out like this. As Sheikh Hamad indicates above, it is important to study and to determine the bloodlines which produce more consistently, the type of horse you prefer, so that when you spectate at shows or attend sales, you are clear over the horses that interest you, which has everything to do with the individual horse (and how close that horse will allow you to get to your ideal) and less or nothing to do with the place the horse earns at the show. You have to remember that it is YOU breeding the horses you like and not the judge. While it is great to receive an acknowledgement or affirmation that your breeding program is producing horses that meet with the approval of others (outside of your circle), you need to breed horses that satisfy you, as this will sustain you as a breeder through those times which are dry and lonely. We all face those times, at one point or another. With all that said, as I made my way through all the video thumbnails on Arabian Essence TV's page, I stumbled upon the videos of 2 mares that I really liked, maybe not as much as I prefer Maisa Al Nasser but these mares were really lovely.

Haifa Al Khalediah, a straight Egyptian mare, is a daughter of F Shamaal (Maysoun x Sarameena) and out of Ansata Nile Pearl (Ansata Hejazi x Ansata White Nile). Haifa Al Khalediah's pedigree is full of rich stories connected through the dreams of many breeders. So, it is no surprise that visually, she would be a living confirmation or embodiment of all the genetic influences that over time, I have grown to love and appreciate.

Looking at her maternal line and specifically, the mare, Ansata White Nile (her maternal grand dam), I am reminded that a long time ago, Bart Van Buggenhout, while manager of Al Rayyan had written an article for Arabian Horse World, sharing his impression of the breeding programs established in Kuwait. One of the things that Bart mentioned was a breeding nick between the stallion, Ansata Hejazi (Ansata Halim Shah x Ansata Sudarra) and the mare, Ansata White Nile (Prince Fa Moniet x Ansata Nile Gift). The union of these two horses produced Ansata Nile Echo, in addition to Ansata Nile Pearl, the dam of Haifa Al Khalediah. You know what I remember? When Ansata Nile Echo was a young horse and competing in shows, his movement was so powerful, so brilliant, that he was nicknamed "Mr. Trot" by many people. His movement was electrifying, eating up the ground in front of him. For all the critics of Egyptian Arabian horse movement, here was a straight Egyptian stallion, who possessed the type of movement that was stereotyped to only the Russian-bred Arabian horses!

Haifa Al Khalediah's sire, F Shamaal, is a son of Maysoun (Ansata Halim Shah x Maysouna), a stallion whom I really like, noted for his fabulous temperament, as he was a horse who loved to be among people, easy to handle, willing and full of kindness.  The dam of Maysoun, Maysouna, was a grandaughter of Mahiba, an EAO-bred daughter of Mouna, a full sister to the mares Lubna and Mabrouka (the dam of *Morafic). Mahiba was a mare known by many names, as she was registered in Egypt as "Maheeba" and "6 Mahiba" in Hungary, at the Babolna Stud.

The dam of F Shamaal is a mare named Sarameena (FA Ibn Sar x Flabys Joffa). At first glance, you will notice that both sire and dam are paternal siblings, both sired by SAR Ibn Moniet, an *Ibn Moniet el Nefous son out of  the Richard Pritzlaff-bred, Sariella (Alcibiades x Bint El Sarie). SAR Ibn Moniet carried a 37.5% influence to the mare, Moniet el Nefous. However, it is the dams of Sarameena, who offer a contrasting balance (outcross blood) to the double dose of SAR Ibn Moniet. Bint Kattar (Ramses El Din x Kattar) was bred by Bill Larsen of El Dorado Arabians. Ramses El Din was a big chestnut stallion who was initially imported from Egypt by Martin Loeber of Plum Grove Farm. He was of the Hadban strain and his dam Ghada was a maternal sister to Shaker el Masri of Om el Arab, who sired El Shaklan. The mare Kattar, a pure-in-the-strain Kuhaylah Rodaniyah, was sired by an *Ansata Ibn Halima son named Samim and out of the *Morafic daughter, Il Durra, both of whom the Larsens had purchased from Gleannloch Farms, when they started to breed Arabian horses in 1968.  Flaby's Joffa, the dam of Sarameena, is out of a mare named Daniya, an Ameer Al Badeia daughter bred by Sayed Marei of Albadeia. In tail female, Daniya traces to Zaafarana, the dam of horses like *Talal, Amrulla, El Ameera and *Ansata Bint Zaafarana,  It is amazing to fully consider the rich genetic fiber from which Haifa Al Khaledia comes from, without getting overwhelmed by all the horses and the relevancy they hold within the gene pool of straight Egyptian breeding.

Dahmah Shahwaniyah by strain (she looks Kuhaylah), Haifa Al Khalediah tied for 7th place in Class 3B with the MCA Magnum Gold daughter, Tahani Al Khaled, with a score of 91.50 points. Eventually, her type score broke the tie and Haifa Al Khalediah was named the 7th place mare. A 12-year old mare, what I liked most about her is her substance, while remaining elegant. She carries alot of body mass and thankfully, is not a narrow mare but very broad of chest with powerfully muscled shoulders, a wide barrel and an equally muscled (and wide) hind end. She is strong-of-body, which is the quality that I find most appealing about her. An added plus is that she is a rosewater horse.

SA Minerva, like Haifa Al Khalediah and Maisa Al Nasser was a part of Class 3B, placing 4th, with a score of 92.14 points.

A 2007 Royal Colours daughter out of Cicilla, SA Minerva is 60% Egyptian in blood, as her sire is 100% Egyptian, sired by the straight Egyptian stallion, True Colours (Thee Desperado x Daheda) and out of the straight Egyptian mare, Xtreme Wonder (The Elixir x Lenore Moniet).

At first glance, you may not realize that her dam, Cicilla carries any Egyptian blood but looking a little further will reveal that Cicilla contributes approximately 10% Egyptian blood through multiple crosses of Ruminaja Ali, as well as the stallions, Ansata el Tareef and *Fadl.

I found it interesting to fully consider the influence of Thee Desperado in the pedigree, who represents about 20% of SA Minerva's  Egyptian influence  but you really have to peek under the surface, more than half of the 20% comes from Ruminaja Ali (Shaikh Al Badi x Bint Magidaa) and looking even deeper than that, since Shaikh Al Badi is a son of *Morafic (Nazeer x Mabrouka), the influence of Moniet el Nefous in Ruminaja Ali combines with the other Moniet influences for example, the Moniet influence through horses like TheEgyptianPrince. The influence of a mare like Moniet el Nefous upon a non straight Egyptian mare, in this case, SA Minerva, is really amazing.

In tail female, SA Minerva traces to the mare, Dajania, an 1876 mare also known as "Lady Hester" and "Jasmine" by the Blunts of Crabbet Stud, who purchased the mare in Aleppo, on Christmas day, 1877, from a member of the Bedouin tribe who had stolen the mare from Muhammad Pasha, a Turkmen Chief. However, Carl Raswan wrote in his Index that Muhammad Pasha had not bred the mare but had purchased her, after the mare had been stolen from her breeder, who in actuality was a man named Ibn Dajan. Regardless of who actually bred Dajania, through virtue of her colorful history and through whom she traces to in tail female line, SA Minerva is Kuhaylat Ajuz by strain. In a world dominated by Saqlawi and Dahman strain horses, this makes SA Minerva very special indeed. What I like most about this mare is her smoothness and overall harmony. She is closer-coupled, compact even, with a stronger topline, while remaining an elegant and classy mare, presenting well the unique characteristics of the breed. She is also very charismatic in her movement, with ground-covering strides, her hind legs stepping farther ahead of the hoofprints made by her front legs (tracking up). I am sure that in the days ahead, I will find more to love about the mares in Paris but in the meantime, maybe what I have written here about these 2 mares will resonate with you.