Fayad Al Shaqab

Fayad Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Exotic Tremor)

Fayad Al Shaqab is a 2016 son of Al Adeed Al Shaqab out of Exotic Tremor, a Richter MH daughter, whom  Dr. Joseph "Jody" Cruz had bred and previously sold to Al Shaqab. While this cross has much significance for Jody (the stallion, Richter MH being the first horse Jody bred, after inheriting the program from his father), he was retaining Exotic Tremor's full sister, Binte Aziza MH for his program and felt he could part with Exotic Tremor. So, fast forward a couple years later and it was for her blood alone, that purchasing Fayad as a yearling made sense to Jody, as he moves forward with his breeding program into the future. While *Lebinon Al Shaqab introduces a couple of lines to Ansata Halim Shah through the maternal side of his pedigree, Jody says of Fayad Al Shaqab, "he will be a source of MH blood that is completely different for us."

Do you know what the name Fayad means? Arabic in origin, Fayad is a male, who is loving, friendly and kind, with compassion for all whom he meets.  The kindness that emanates from Fayad Al Shaqab's large, black and expressive eyes, confirms the accuracy of a horse well-named.

In "human terminology", Fayad is like a "nephew" to Rancho Bulakenyo's beloved and noteworthy Binte Aziza MH, a full sister to Exotic Tremor but he is also a "nephew" to Hadban Al Shaqab, as both Al Adeed Al Shaqab and Hadban Al Shaqab were out of the same mare, Sundar Alisayyah (Ruminaja Ali x Imperial Sayyah). So, in many ways, this beautiful young colt returns the influence of these horses back to Rancho Bulakenyo.

Al Adeed Al Shaqab (Ansata Halim Shah x Sundar Alisayyah)

Do you remember seeing this photo in the mid-to-late 90's? 20 years later, I still remember when I first saw this Erwin Escher photo for the first time and experienced indescribable feelings of joy, wonder and awe. It remains as my favorite photo. Where does one go from here, having reached this level of perfection? At the time, my mind frantically tried to make sense of what my eyes saw. It would be the first and really, the only time that the horse I imagined, would intersect with a real horse, made of flesh and bone.  An Ansata Halim Shah son, Al Adeed Al Shaqab, was just beginning his electrifying show career, winning the Champion Stallion title at the Middle East International Championships. Never did a photo speak so loudly of hope and promise, all the while, never uttering a single sound.

Last weekend, the World Championships were held in Paris, France. I was watching the video of the stallion, Shanghai EA, who was eventually named the Silver World Champion and I experienced deja vu. Salymah EA is a daughter of the Ansata Sinan son, Khidar. That's when it hit me. Khidar. The feeling of deja vu that I was experiencing connected a long ago photo of Khidar, with what I feel is a very similar photo of Al Adeed Al Shaqab.

Khidar (Ansata Sinan x Elizja)

Ansata Sinan (Prince Fa Moniet x Ansata Nefara) was a maternal grandson of Ansata Halim Shah, himself a Nazeer grandson and sire of Al Adeed Al Shaqab. How can horses of different bloodlines bear so much similarity to one another? In a blog post a few months ago, I mentioned that after studying the pedigree of Shanghai EA and finding multiple crosses to Nazeer, it underscores the  continuing influence of Nazeer, through many generations. Nazeer is the "common ground" in all of these horses.

Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha)

Nazeer remains a most vibrant and relevant horse, across a wide variety of blood, despite the 70 or more years that separate us from when he was alive. It is especially interesting to consider the possibilities, as Fayad Al Shaqab's sire line leads to Nazeer: Al Adeed Al Shaqab-Ansata Halim Shah-*Ansata Ibn Halima-Nazeer. Also,  Nazeer appears within 5 generations (great-great grandsire), which is amazing in this day. Fayad, through his genetic fiber, will now further intensify this powerful Nazeer legacy, already a part of the Rancho Bulakenyo gene pool. And of course, Fayad's quality is complementary to the program at Rancho Bulakenyo.  A correct horse, balanced and smooth with impressive breed type, Jody says of him, "he's pretty, bold and has lots of tail and presence." Also, through his tail female line, Fayad is of the Kuhaylan Kurush strain, highly prized for their athletic ability, boldness, fearlessness, heightened sensitivity and perceptive ability. At a point in their history, horses of the Kuhaylan Kurush strain were not available to anyone outside of the Bedouin tribe who bred them, not for any price. Even Abbas Pasha, who had assembled a phenomenal collection of horses, found it difficult, if not impossible to secure horses of this particular strain.

Fayad Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Exotic Tremor)

Rancho Bulakenyo, while long-time admirers of Al Adeed Al Shaqab, have not had the opportunity to incorporate his blood into the program, until now, through his young son, Fayad Al Shaqab. Having retained four sons of Binte Aziza MH, sired by Imperial Al Kamar (El Hilal x Imperial Sonbesjul), Hadban Al Shaqab (Ashhal Al Rayyan x Sundar Alisayyah)  and Lebinon Al Shaqab (Alidaar x Lamia Al Shaqab), it made sense for Jody to add a son of Binte Aziza's full sister but with a different sire line. Jody plans on using Fayad specifically on the daughters sired by the sons of Binte Aziza MH, like Nour Al Kamar MH and Bashar Al Kamar MH. It has been the focus  of the Rancho Bulakenyo breeding program to concentrate on their proven mare families, while adding diversity through the sire line. Fayad allows Jody to continue this focus. The connection to Hadban Al Shaqab is an interesting one, as Jody says that he is finding the Hadban daughters to be excellent broodmares. Through Fayad, he can double up on the sources of AlBadeia breeding, an 80-year program founded on select EAO lines. What an awesome opportunity to introduce such powerful outcross blood!

Oliver Herford, an American poet once wrote in his poem, I Heard a Bird Sing, “We’re nearer to spring than we were in September, I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.” And at Rancho Bulakenyo, spring promises to be a most exciting time, as Fayad's first foals are due at the beginning of the season. We are that much closer to witnessing the great Nazeer legacy, as it unfolds within the proven foundation of Rancho Bulakenyo and maybe, in 2020's crop of world champion horses.

***Hard to believe that here we are, the 300th blog post and it's a real honor to have a horse like Fayad Al Shaqab be the subject of what is a big, hairy, audacious goal for me...thank you everyone, for coming here to read the stories of great horses like Fayad Al Shaqab. I hope that my words, through the colorful and rich stories of these horses, continue to encourage and inspire you.***