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.