all for the love of a horse...: Farid HP

05 April, 2020

Farid HP

Farid HP (Farres x The Princess of Egypt)

Farid HP is a 2005 straight Egyptian stallion, bred by Horst Preuss. He is a son of Farres (Anaza el Farid x Shameerah) and out of a mare named The Princess of Egypt (Orayan x Shahneekha). He is Hadban Enzahi by strain, as he traces in his tail female line to the 1925 mare, Bint Samiha (the dam of Nazeer), the great-great granddaughter of the 1890 chestnut mare, Venus, considered to be the root mare of the strain in Egypt. Until I looked at his pedigree, Hadban was not the strain that I initially believed him to be.

I found his pedigree really interesting. Do you know that a little more than half of Farid's pedigree reflects the breeding program of Les and Lois St Clair of the St Clair Egyptian Arabian Stud?

Anaza El Farid (Ruminaja Ali x Bint Deena), Shahneeka (Anaza Bay Shahh x Anaza Dineekha), Ibn El Mareekh (*El Mareekh x Bint Deena) and *El Mareekh (Aseel x Rawayeh) are all horses that were either bred (or purchased, like *El Mareekh) by this most amazing, loving, knowledgeable and breed-dedicated couple, who not only impacted straight Egyptian breeding in America but through horses like Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid's son), who in turn, sired Marwan Al Shaqab, the St Clair breeding program remains relevant and part of the genetic fiber of today's global Arabian horse.

Bint Deena (*Ansata Ibn Halima x *Deena) is another individual bred by the St Clairs. A 1979 bay mare, she represents almost a quarter of Farid's pedigree, through her sons: Anaza El Farid, Anaza Bay Shahh and Ibn El Mareekh. She is found on both sides of the pedigree, once through the sire side and twice through the dam side. However if you look at Narimaan, the dam of AK Fanniya, you will notice that she is also out of *Deena (Sameh x Dahmah II) by *Morafic. If you haven't figured it out dear reader, Narimaan and Bint Deena are maternal sisters.

OK, so let's get back to the Dahman strain, if you look no farther than the 3rd generation, you will find that the Dahman percentage comes through 4 horses (Bint Deena, AK Shahniya, Oraya and Anaza Bay Shah), while in the 4th generation there are 9 Dahman strain horses, their combined influence, a little greater than 50%: *Ansata Ibn Halima, *Deena, AK Shah Moniet, AK Fanniya, Ansata Halim Shah, Messaoud, Ora, Bint Deena and Ibn El Mareekh. However, in the 5th generation, that is, the generation of the great-great-great grandparents, the sources of the Dahman strain are brought forward by 17 horses (out of 32 horses), for a combined percentage of 53.125%. Compare/contrast with the percentage of the Hadban strain horses (12.5%) in the 5th generation: (*Khofo, Nazeer, Ibn Galal and Manal). Despite our breed traditions, regarding the assignment of the strain through the tail female line; when you look to the rest of the pedigree, Farid HP carries a much higher-percentage of the Dahman strain, than he does of the Hadban strain. No surprise that in phenotype, Farid HP resembles the phenotype that we have learned to associate with the Dahman strain.

***You can find more photos of Farid HP at the Facebook page for Al Qusar Arabians in Germany, the training and breeding farm of Robert Schlereth and Volker Wettengl. You don't have to have Facebook installed to view the page, as Facebook makes business pages visible to all. I am not sure who the photographer is, in order to give credit for this beautiful photo***

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MY FAVORITE WEBSITE

If you want to understand the desert Arabian horse on a deeper level, then you will want to visit Daughters of the Wind, a blog maintained by Edouard al-Dahdah, since 2008. It's my favorite place to visit, on a regular basis. For me personally, the information that Edouard presents is at times so profound, that I find myself weeks, even months later, still thinking about what he has written. I consider him a treasured source of inspiration and for the times that I don't feel like writing anymore, a significant source of encouragement. In one place, you will be able to read of the horses, their heritage; as well as the culture, traditions and the geography of the land, from where they originated. I strongly encourage you to visit his blog to broaden your understanding and deepen your appreciation for the Bedouin-bred horse.

MY FAVORITE WEBSITE X 2

The Horse In Word and Picture is the blog of Rania el Sayed, a very talented photographer, whose equine photography is second-to-none. I still remember when I first learned of Rania, it was all because of the late Dr. Nasr Marei. At the time, Nasr published an article that featured Rania's photography. I was thrilled by the photography and later, "meeting" Rania was one of the highlights of my horse life. I loved her photo of Mangooma and Rania, in an act of kindness never to be forgotten, let me use her photo in my blog. Thanks Rania for all of your support. You'll love Rania's blog and all of the equine topics she covers, including the straight Egyptian Arabian Horse. She really pushes me to think deeply about things that I haven't thought in a while. And you don't have to join Facebook, to read her posts. .

MY FAVORITE BOOK

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Judith Forbis', The Classic Arabian Horse, published in 1976, is MY FAVORITE BOOK...EVER. Prior to the publication of this book, we really didn't have anything that compiled the history, the bloodlines & breeding practices and conformation (including breed type) of the straight Egyptian horse in one volume. You had to dig through multiple sources, sometimes in languages foreign to one's own, to try and develop an understanding of the Egyptian Arabian horse. So, this is my recommendation to you today, especially if you are just starting, this is the most important book you will ever own. You can find the book on Amazon, previously owned, at a very affordable price.

A NEW FAVORITE BOOK

Many times, I have heard other enthuiasts say, "if only I could get into the mind of this breeder and understand the Arabian horse as he or she does!" Dr. William Hudson, a long-time breeder, weaves together his lifetime of experiences including the latest developments in equine genetic science with the history, art and culture of the Arabian horse. This is not the type of book that you will read, cover-to-cover, in one sitting. You will find yourself turning to this massive 1,500 page, 2-volume set, over and over. If you love Arabian horses and want to understand the breed intimately, on a deeper level, this is the only book you will ever need to own. If you are breeding Egyptian Arabian horses, I urge you to purchase this 2-volume set before you breed one more horse!

MORE FAVORITE BOOKS...

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently is which book(s) do I recommend? Previously, I mentioned Judith Forbis' THE CLASSIC ARABIAN HORSE which is a great introduction to the breed and to Egyptian Arabian horses specifically. But now, you have read that book and are ready to go deeper. So, this is the book that I recommend reading (VOLUME II ) without hesitation. It's fantastic. The depth of this book, within tail female lines, sire lines and strains found in Egyptian (EAO) breeding is not found anywhere else. If you are serious about the Egyptian Arabian horse, whether a breeder, student or enthusiast, you must read this book, at least once!

STILL MORE FAVORITE BOOKS

In the Preface, Dr. Nagel wrote, "Since it is claimed that the Arabian horse breed is one of the oldest on earth, one has to accept that it is also in the crossfire of many opinions which sometimes clash vigorously. There are obviously many doubts and errors, and the advocates of different concepts seem to be not ready to settle on a common stance. It should encourage the reader to think...The refreshing variety of thoughts surrounding this noble member of the great family of horses should not be lost." Whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Nagel, is not what is important but rather, the resulting thought that this book will inspire. I can't even tell you how many times I have read this wonderful book cover-to-cover. It's one of the more provocative books that I have ever read and each time I have read it, a part of the book that had not impacted me previously, will cause me to think deeply for days, weeks and even months at a time. So, dear reader, I recommend this book to you, in the hope that it will inspire you to think deeply about our breed and examine why, you feel the way you do.

"The ideal Arabian type is recognizable at sight to the experienced horseman and novice alike. It falls short of the ideal if it reminds one of another horse or breed. It falls short of the ideal if it is so plain and uncertain of type as to require a sign: 'This is an Arabian horse.' It falls short of the ideal if it is so coarse and masculine as to remind one of a small Percheron, at one extreme, or so highly animated and elf-like as to remind one of a gazelle at the other extreme. The ideal type stands out alone. You know it immediately when you see it."-Ben Hur, from his 1951 Western Horseman article, Type in the Arab

In the summer of 2006, when I discovered Blogger, the last thing on my mind was creating a blog. At the time, I had been participating in a popular Egyptian Arabian horse website and desired to find a website that would allow me to "cut-and-paste" the posts that I had written for future reference. From those humble beginnings, this blog was born. I'm not a professional writer and although I want to say that writing is a hobby; I think it is better to say that I write for the love of the breed. I've had the good fortune to meet a number of horses who are now considered legendary, as well as some really wonderful people, who are equally legendary. Over the years, people have suggested that I charge a subscription fee or pursue paid sponsorships but you know how money changes everything and this blog, after all, is a labor of love. So, there you have it, the story of the blog. Many thanks to the people who make this blog doable, for example, where would I be without any of the photographers, the "visual storytellers" of our breed, who allow me to post their pictures and to the authors of the many books and magazine articles that I have read over the course of 45 or so years, helping to educate a long ago kid, crazy in love with Arabian horses. And finally, an overwhelming amount of gratitude for you dear readers, for coming here to this place, to read, discover and celebrate this common ground we share, all for the love of an Arabian horse.

05 April, 2020

Farid HP

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