Mustafa: The Chosen One

Mustafa is a popular Arabic name, used both as a given name and surname, meaning "the chosen one". The name "Mustafa" is widely used in Turkey, in honor of Mustafa Kamal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. "Mustafa" was also the name of four Sultans of the Ottoman empire:

• Mustafa 1 (1617-1618 &1622- 1623)
• Mustafa II (1695-1703)
• Mustafa III (1757-1774) 
• Mustafa IV (1807-1808)  

In the world of Arabian horses, "Mustafa" is equally popular, as I found several other horses similarly named, one of which we discussed on Saturday.

This particular Mustafa was a 1941 chestnut stallion, a purebred Arabian horse of authentic origin, bred in America by Albert S. Harvey, of Tucson, Arizona. He is a son of the stallion, Mustakim (Oriental x Moliah) and out of the mare, Amla (Nasik x Arak). The majority of his pedigree, approximately 75%, traces to the desert-bred horses imported by Homer Davenport in 1906. The remaining 25% of his pedigree is split evenly between the desert horses imported by the Blunts (i.e. the mares Rodania, Dajania and the stallion, Hadban) and the Ali Pasha Sherif and Abbas Pasha horses (i.e. Mesaoud, Mahruss, Aziz, Bint Nura and Yemameh) the Blunts also acquired. What's interesting about Mustafa's pedigree is *Hamrah, a 1904 bay stallion, sired by an un-named Hamdani Simri strain stallion and out of the mare *Urfah, an 1898 bay mare, Saqlawi al-Abd by strain and also imported by Homer Davenport in 1906. *Hamrah appears three times in the pedigree, twice as a maternal grandsire, that of Mustakim, in addition to already being the maternal grandsire of Amla. On the paternal side, *Hamrah is an additional generation removed from Mustakim, as he is a maternal great great grandsire. Also, I found it really interesting that two of the most famous desert war mares, who bore the evidence of cuts and gashes from spears and swords on their bodies, were combined in the same pedigree, *Wadduda on the sire side and Rodania on the dam side. In Mustafa's veins flowed the blood of these loyal and courageous mares.

When Homer Davenport traveled to the desert to purchase authentic Arabian horses, his expedition was largely financed by Peter Bradley, a wealthy American entrepreneur with significant self-made businesses in fertilizer, lumber and heavy machinery. He was also interested in breeding fine horses and maintained a large breeding farm named Hingham Stock Farm in Massachusetts. In addition to the Arabian horses that Davenport imported from Arabia, he had also collected the Arabian horses brought to the World's Fair by the Hamidie Society, circa 1893. Peter Bradley also possessed a diversity of interests in his horses, equal to the interests he had for his different businesses, as he also bred Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and Hackney horses at his farm.

A man by the name of F.E. Lewis, originally from Tarrytown, New York and like Peter Bradley,  also possessing a wide variety of interests, which included auto racing, had purchased a 7,800 acre ranch in Spadra, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, California. He purchased his Arabian horses from Peter Bradley, the initial purchase to establish a breeding foundation consisted approximately of 8 mares, two of whom were in foal and 2 stallions, which he had shipped to his new ranch in California. In this group were the mares Adouba, Moliah and the stallion, Letan. Mr. Lewis' wife enjoyed gaited horses, which Mr. Lewis did not enjoy. He preferred western stock horses and I imagine, using the horses he had purchased from Hingham, bred towards that ideal. In the hands of other breeders, like Mr. Harvey, his preference for a particular phenotype also carried forward.

"Change is not progress but progress requires change." - H.L.Mencken

Although Mustafa is from a time period that existed prior to my birth, his phenotype, as presented in the above photo was still representative of the Arabian horse type that existed in my youth, before the "invasion" of bloodlines from other nations, introduced a body type that was different, from the more widely accepted type of American-bred Arabian horses. I think of several American breeders whose ads I remember reading within the pages of Arabian Horse World, while still a child in the mid-to-late 70's, producing horses who were closer to Mustafa's type,  as pictured, for example, Robert Bevans, Lloyd Silva, Harlan Moehlman, Howards Marks, Jack and Marjorie Tone, Frisco Mari, Earl Hurlbutt, etc. In an article written by Pat Payne, son of Alice Payne, he wrote of Mustafa, "I remember MUSTAFA at the 1947 show, when he came over from Arizona and showed us Californians a thing or two about show horses. Not only was he a beautiful horse, but when in the ring he showed like an artist's model."

Kimfa (Mustafa x *Iorana)

Bred across a wide variety of blood, for instance, Davenport, Crabbet and Polish mares; of particular interest is his son, Kimfa (out of the mare, *Iorana, a high percentage Crabbet mare bred by Lady Gladys M. Yule of the Hanstead Stud in England). Kimfa was a beloved stallion in America, one of the top sires of the 1960's, siring more foals in 1968 than any other stallion standing at stud, in America, in that year. One of the mares that he nicked especially well with was Kareyn, sired by a Mirage grandson named Karage and out of Tezeyna, a granddaughter of both Raseyn and Antez. She produced several wonderful daughters by Kimfa, like Kimeyn, a top show mare, who won twenty two show championships, including two American National Top Tens. As a broodmare, bred to the *Serafix son, Serym, she produced the beloved mare, BA Symphonette. When bred to *Bask, she produced the stallion, Baskim. Bred to Fortel, Kimeyn produced  Forteyna.

Magnum Forty Four (Magnum Psyche x WH Nashahna) a maternal great-great-great grandson of Mustafa

Kimfa remains relevant in today's world of Arabian horses, most notably through the stallion, Magnum Forty Four, a son of Magnum Psyche and out of WH Nashahna (Bey Shah x Forteynette), a great grand daughter of Kimfa --> Kimfeyn --> Forteynette. Bred by North Arabians and imported to Australia in 2003, he is a sire of great significance for Mulawa. Of the nine stallions who currently stand at Mulawa, six stallions carry the blood of Magnum Forty Four: his son (Allegiance MI) and grandsons (MI Klassique, Kommand MI, Monarque MI who are all out of the Magnum Forty Four-sired daughter, Mustang's Magnum, plus Kavalier MI who is out of the Magnum Forty Four-sired daughter Karess, as well as the Allegiance MI-sired son, Advise MI) incorporating the almost eighty-year legacy of Mustafa and his son, Kimfa, as combined with the blood of horses who have revolutionized the world of Arabian horse breeding, through the introduction of a new standard of excellence, while remaining steadfast to its noble heritage.