Zaim

Zaim was an impressive 1971 chestnut stallion, bred by Gleannloch Farms. Like his full brother, Al Fattah, Zaim was sired by *Morafic and out of the Sameh daughter, *Safaa. In addition to Al Fattah and Zaim, *Safaa also produced two other full siblings: the grey mare, Muzahrafa in 1968 and the chestnut stallion Mishmish in 1974, suggesting that there was a genetic "nick" between *Morafic and *Safaa. Breeding these horses together worked and resulted in progeny so excellent, you wished that there were more of them. Her son, Zaim, was so strong-of-body, that at first glance, you might think he is of the Kuhaylan Rodan strain but he is not Kuhaylan, he is Saqlawi, born of a pure-in-the-strain Saqlawi mare.  Zaim's EAO-bred dam, *Safaa, was a Sameh daughter out of the Moniet el Nefous daughter, Lubna and a full sister to *Sultann, the sire of Nagsous. Lubna and Mabrouka (the dam of *Morafic) are full sisters, both mares were sired by Sid Abouhom and out of Moniet el Nefous, who represents 25% of Zaim's pedigree. So, the doubling of Layla (Sid Abouhom's dam) and Shahloul (Moniet el Nefous' sire), both sired by Ibn Rabdan, may be the reason why Zaim's phentotype favors Ibn Rabdan more, than any of the other horses present genetically. In both tail female lines (sire and dam) Zaim traces to the Ali Pasha Sherif mare, Roga el Beda, which may also explain the overall quality and refinement that we observe in Zaim. He is strong of body but he is still an elegant horse, with an abundance of breed type. While *Morafic and Sameh are grey in color; each stallion was bred to a chestnut-colored mare, who both happen to be full sisters.  The influence of Ibn Rabdan comes through primarily, the maternal lines of both the sire and dam (although the stallion Sameh is of the Gamil el Kebir sire line, with Ibn Rabdan as his paternal great grandsire too), which suggests that the maternal lines in this pedigree are the more influential ancestral source in the creation of Zaim. I remembered a passage from Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik's book, Breeding of Pure Bred Arab horses, in which he remarked on the prepotency of Ibn Rabdan. He wrote, "Some stallions always sire foals of their own colour and sex; let us take a dark chestnut like Ibn Rabdan, one of the Royal Agricultural Society's stallions, for an example. He always produces dark chestnuts, no matter what the colour of mares. This will go on until he covers a mare who produces the form and type of her own strain; if she is better bred she will dominate in the formation and colouring of the foal." It is interesting to contemplate the modern day influence of a long-ago chestnut colored horse like Ibn Rabdan. In my mind, he is every bit as relevant today, as he was in his time. How is Zaim represented today in straight Egyptian breeding? Zaim was bred to a Faleh++ sired daughter named Falaha (out of Bint Hanaa) resulting in the 1980 mare, Bint El Ghaba. When bred to the *Jamil son, Ansata Haji Jamil, Bint El Ghaba produced the stallion, Badr Bouznika in 1991 and the mare, Dourrah in 1992.

A Tale of Two Omnias

Did you ever throw coins into a fountain and make a wish? Perhaps you saw a star shooting across the nighttime sky, closed your eyes and then, made a wish? Maybe, you bought a lottery ticket? Think of the worst Monday ever and did you wish for Friday instead?  I think everyone has made some kind of wish at one point or another in their lifetime, even the EAO is no stranger to wishes...they made two of them! Do you know that the name "Omnia" means "wish"?

*Omnia (Alaa el Din x Ameena)

The first *Omnia was foaled in 1966. Bred by the EAO, she was a beautiful, grey Alaa el Din daughter out of Ameena. She was a pure-in-strain Kuhaylah Rodaniyah, as she traced to Bint Rissala through the tail female line of her dam (Ameena->Yaman->Yaquota->Bint Rissala) and sire (Alaa el Din -> Kateefa->Bint Rissala). Approximately 18.75% is the amount of genetic influence that Bint Rissala has in *Omnia's pedigree. Bint Rissala (a great-great granddaughter of Rodania) is one of two Rodania descendants incorporated into the RAS breeding program and the source of both Rodania lines in Omnia's pedigree. In addition to the double Rodania tail female line, *Omnia, through her sire, is of  the Saklawi I sire ine (Alaa el Din -> Nazeer -> Mansour -> Gamil Manial -> Saklawi II -> Saklawi I). What interests me most about this mare is her dam, an Inshass-bred mare. Sired by Hamdan and out of Yaman, there are a few reasons why I get excited about this side of the pedigree. A super broodmare, in addition to producing Omnia, Ameena also produced Enayat (by *Morafic), the dam of *Sakr. Secondly, Ameena's sire is Hamdan, an Ibn Rabdan son and full brother of Shahloul, who is the sire of Kateefa, the dam of Alaa el Din. Combined with the other sources of Ibn Rabdan in the pedigree (including the Shahloul lines), the percentage of influence is almost 22%! Another reason for my interest in Ameena is the stallion, El Moez (Ibn Fayda x Bint Zareefa), the sire of Yaman, Ameena's dam. El Moez, a Saklawi strain stallion and an Ibn Rabdan  grandson, was also, the sire of the stallion, Sameh. His dam, Bint Zareefa (Hadban x Zareefa) was also known as Azza and was bred by Prince Kemal El Dine. His program was celebrated for the high level of quality that was consistently apparent in his horses. Bint Zareefa was a granddaughter of Radia (Feysul x Ghazala).

Purchased and imported by Gleannloch Farms, *Omnia's greatest legacy would be established in America and not in Egypt, as she became an important broodmare for Gleannloch Farms. Bred to *Morafic four times, she produced the mare, *Bint Omnia in 1971, Zedann in 1972, Maalik in in 1973 and Mageed in 1974. She was bred to *Ibn Hafiza for the next 2 breeding seasons, producing Kisra in 1975 and Abenhetep in 1976. The following year, she was bred to the *Morafic son out of Kahramana, Ibn Morafic, producing the mare Tamarah, who was incorporated back into the Gleannloch breeding program. *Omnia was bred to *Ibn Moniet el Nefous, producing AK Khattara (the dam of Al Kidir by TheEgyptianPrince).

I received a very nice comment recently from Jennifer Simpson, who mentioned a couple of Bentwood-bred horses that she owned, one of the horses, as coincidental as it is to hear from her while working on this blog, was part of the *Omnia family, as his dam, Bint Omnia was one of the *Morafic sired get that *Omnia produced. Jennifer said, "I also owned Al Ameen (Fadl Dan x Bint Omnia). I loved both of them dearly. They were both incredible endurance athletes." What intrigued me the most about this combination of blood is the intensification of Ibn Rabdan, which is almost 20%, considering that Ibn Rabdan was foaled in 1917 and Al Ameen was foaled more than 60  years later, in 1980! If I had to name one reason why I loved the Bentwood Farm program, it would be for the genetic possibilities that existed, combining the blood that left Egypt in 1932 with the newer Egyptian blood that started to arrive in this country in the 1960's. While the cross of Babson bloodlines with *Ansata Ibn Halima and *Ibn Moniet el Nefous were popular crosses of this time; Bentwood also crossed Babson horses with bloodlines like those of *Omnia and the Anter daughter, *Nagat, providing unique outcross opportunities in our gene pool.

Omnia (Akhtal x Bint el Nil

In 1977, the EAO would make their second wish, that is, another Omnia, in the form of a stunning chestnut with a neck so long, that it "stretched for miles and miles".  This Omnia was an Akhtal daughter out of Bint el Nil (Anter x Shahrzada).

Can you guess why I am excited about this mare? There can only be one answer:

GAD ALLAH

Omnia produced one of the most important stallions ever bred by the EAO and the sire of a horse that I dearly loved, the beloved stallion, Tagweed (out of Tee, an Adl daughter out of Bint Ibtisam), who also matured into an important sire for the EAO breeding program.

Tagweed (Gad Allah x Tee)

In one of the critically more important literary works focused solely on the EAO bloodlines, noted author, Philippe Paraskevas said, "...but first and foremost Gad Allah breeds like a Nazeer; he is a smooth Hadban Enzahi, more Saklawi-leaning than Nazeer however, and perhaps the best Hadban of the entire Nazeer sire line ever bred by the E.A.O."

Omnia is Hadbah Enzahiyah by strain, as she traces in her tail female line to the root mare of the strain in Egypt, Venus, an 1890 chestnut mare purchased in Turkey for the stud of Khedive Abbas II. Omnia's granddam is Shahrzada, who was a pure-in-the-strain Hadbah Enzahiyah, as she is sired by Nazeer out of Yosreia, both horses tracing to the strain in their tail female line. In my opinion, Anter nicked well with Shahrzada (as he also did with Abla and Kamar) not only producing Bint el Nil, she  also produced the following progeny sired by Anter:

(1)IBN SHARZADA Colt 1960
(2)DAWLAT chestnut Mare 1961
(3)BINT EL NIL/BINT EL NILE chestnut Mare 1963
(4)IBN SHAHRZADA chestnut colt 1964
(5)SERENITY SHAHRA/SERENITY SHAHARA grey Mare 1966

In addition to producing Omnia, Bint El Nil, when bred to *Tuhotmos, produced a memorable chestnut daughter named *Masarra in 1972 and a bay full brother named Kasr El  Nile in 1971, maternal siblings to Omnia. The brother went to Germany, where he sired a living legacy of beloved sons and daughters, while *Masarra went to America. *Masarra's daughter by *Tuhotmos, Bint Masarra, spent time with John Fippen at his farm in Illinois. John told me that she made a very interesting sound, like the roaring of a lion, an ancient and somewhat authentic characteristic treasured by the Bedouins of days old, as it would scare would be intruders from the Bedouin camp, believing a lion to be in the area. *Masarra was bred to *Farazdac, producing Fasarra. Bred to El Halimaar, she produced the wonderful stallion, Richter MH, one of the first horses bred by Jody Cruz, when he took over Rancho Bulakenyo from his father, Dr. Felino Cruz.

In contrast to the Alaa el Din-sired *Omnia, this Omnia, as sired by Akhtal is of the El Deree sire line (Akhtal -> Amrulla -> Sid Abouhom -> El Deree), one of a small handful of surving sire lines within the EAO breeding program and thereby, offering outcross potential, as compared to the more popular Saklawi I sire line and also, the Gamil el Kebir sire line. Akhtal, a very elegant grey stallion, was an important sire for the EAO, siring 55 foals, most of which were retained in Egypt. Akhtal was also a proven race horse in Egypt, running in five races, winning two of those races and placing second in two other races and third in another. Akhtal's maternal granddam, Kamar (Nazeer x Komeira) was the dam of *Kahramana (by Anter), who produced the full siblings: Ibn Morafic, Fehris and Shah Nishan, all sired by *Morafic.

As we found in the Alaa el Din Omnia, the influence of Ibn Rabdan is similar, over 20%, brought forward by horses like the full siblings Shahloul and Hamdan, as well as Hind, Layla, Bint Bint Dalal and Samira. Personally, the presence of Ibn Rabdan is important to me and I look for his influence in the pedigree every horse that interests me. It's one of the first things that I do, when studying a pedigree. I believe the continuing influence of Ibn Rabdan, as far back in the pedigree as he appears,  is still relevant in the present day. Ibn Rabdan's phenotype, which was comprised of circular or rather, flowing, rounded lines was reminiscent of an old world type embodied by the horses that appeared in the paintings of another time. I find this harmonious body type, which was smooth as it was strong, so evident in real live horses like Gad Allah and his son, Tagweed. Maybe this is the reason why I appreciate both stallions so much. It is only through these mares, both of whom are named Omnia, that the greatest wishes can be made by people like you or me, and harbor the hope within ourselves that one day, we may find ourselves enjoying the company of a wish that materializes into a horse, just like one of the Omnias.

La Movida, Batistah & Corona Virus

Living within the shadow of New York City, it got to a point where I didn't want to turn the news on anymore, in fear of what I may hear or even worse, what I might see. What new images would replace the ones that were already haunting me in the very dark hours of sleepless nights, when people should be sleeping soundly without a care in the world? The very real dangers of Corona Virus seemed to lurk around every corner, ready to inflict respiratory distress and send me to the hospital, never to return. As the anxiety grew and grew, it seemed that all that I loved most in this world, no longer interested me, instead, the Corona Virus dominated every waking and sleeping thought. I recognized that in order to survive the pandemic, I had to find ways to cope that offer escape from what troubles the heart, mind and soul. My local fire department has already discouraged me from engaging in any cooking or baking activities and the truth is that I can't sit still for longer than a few seconds, so scratch meditation and yoga off the list too. Jigsaw puzzles? C'mon, you must be kidding now. So, out of necessity and seemingly out of nowhere, I discovered  a new video series on You Tube from who else, Arabian Essence TV.  In each episode of Stay at the Farm, Marco Vignato, his daughter, Elena Vignato and Elvis Guighera, over the course of two hours  interviewed a variety of guests representing a diversity of interests, bloodlines and levels of participation within the Arabian horse community. It's both interesting and extremely enjoyable.

In this particular episode (#3), originally broadcast on Friday, April 10th, Ferdinand Huemer of La Movida Arabians in Austria presented four of his horses, the mare Bali el Marwan by Marwan Al Shaqab and three of her progeny: Binta el Jyar, Bari el Jyar and Basilea el Justice. What all four horses have in common is the pure Spanish mare, Batistah, owned for many years by Ferdinand Huemer of La Movida and now owned by Elvis Guighera of Le Soleil Stud. Batistah is a daughter of El Perfecto (Vallehermoso x Example) and out of  Baraquessa (Aram x ABHA Batista).

Batistah (El Perfecto x Baraquessa)

My anxious mind was already wandering when I heard Ferdinand Huemer say, "she's huge, huge..." and those words grabbed my attention from wherever my mind was in that moment and I saw an unbelievably stretchy, strong-bodied and ultra-typey chestnut mare brilliantly trotting all over my television screen. So, I hit the back button, to 24:49, so I can watch Binta el Jyar all over again, while paying close attention to what Ferdinand was saying about his horse: "she is very, very close to my ideal. She's huge, huge, super body, fantastic neck, incredible movement." Immediately after Binta, came her full brother, also by Jyar Mei Lua, the bay stallion, Bari el Jyar, followed by their dappled grey maternal sibling, Basilea el Justice, a WH Justice daughter.  I marveled over the consistency of this family of horses, as each horse was outstanding in their breed type, conformation and presence. It would be very difficult to choose only one and say with any certainty that the horse you picked was your favorite, when really, you would be more successful in selecting your favorite by closing your eyes and letting the luck of the draw choose the favorite for you. The horses are so fantastic, that you would be thrilled with any of them.

At one time, La Movida Arabians was primarily focused on breeding within pure Spanish bloodlines. While Spanish blood is still an important part of Ferdinand's breeding program, through Batistah and also, the Galero-sired daughter, Porlamar (out of the Jacio-sired daughter, Hamida), Ferdinand has added the blood of Ali Jamaal (through Lenita Perroy's program and Doug Dahmen's Dakar el Jamal), as well as modern stallions like Pystadel, El Shaklan, Gazal al Shaqab and Al Ayal AA, to name only a few of the influences that Ferdinand has skillfully brought together to further develop and refine the La Movida program, as we know it today.  What impresses me most about the program at La Movida is what  Ferdinand Huemer has been able to accomplish and that is, to very selectively, working within a wide diversity of blood, form a cohesive program, that comes closest to producing the horse that he envisions as his ideal: a horse possessing charisma through his good movement and beauty which includes a well-set, longer neck with length in the poll and fine  throatlatch, excellent tail carriage and larger, deeply black eyes. Also, Ferdinand, when speaking of the special attributes and qualities that El Perfecto brought to his program, said, "they have been very human minded." This intangible quality is every bit a part of breed type, as are the tangibles that we can see with our eyes. It is at the very fiber of a horse breed known for having an "in-your-tent" disposition and also, an attribute that is part of the La Movida breeding program.

In another place, another time, when a word like "Corona" reminded people of a beer and not a deadly sickness; I don't know if I would have had the endurance to watch a show like Stay at the Farm or to have been suitably impressed by how much common ground we share with others. That would be the silver lining of a strange time like we are living within today. We are learning to appreciate, all that we may have taken for granted. Truly, in our world of Arabian horses, we are more similar, than we are different because we are all bound by the love we feel for the same horse...the Arabian horse. While I don't know Ferdinand Huemer personally; however, I have been involved in Arabian horses for a long while, I know of him and his farm named La Movida but if anyone were to have asked me about his program, I don't think I would have been able to speak intelligently about it and that's where Arabian Essence TV and people like Marco, Elena and Elvis, figure prominently in our lives, utilizing modern day technology to connect us with each other and to breeders like Ferdinand Huemer, who inspire us. Arabian Essence TV has brought the world of Arabian horses into each of our living rooms and made it, so that globally, the world does not seem so big or even, overwhelming. We can understand each other better now, that is, we all share similar dreams, hopes and fears and we are all impacted by the same conditions, as you will see and hear in Stay at the Farm. It's a great gift from Arabian Essence TV and in closing, the only thing that can be said further is THANK YOU to all at Arabian Essence who made Stay at the Farm possible.