Waheed Al Azhaar RZ

Waheed al Azhaar RZ (Amer Azhaar x Desired Millicent) as photographed by Jennifer MacNeill

Three years ago, when the privacy issues of Facebook started to become better known, I decided to delete my Facebook account. It took a few months and in the beginning, it wasn't easy to live through social media withdrawal and the overwhelming urge to put an emoji on something. In the very beginning, I did miss all the sources of equine information that Facebook provided but I soon figured out that I could still read the posts made within my favorite Facebook page,  Al Khamsa Arabian Horse Breeders with limitations; I am not able to click on the "like" button or even, comment in the discussions. The last few weeks have been extremely busy and I haven't had the opportunity to keep up with the new material posted to the Al Khamsa facebook group,  until yesterday, when I unexpectedly stumbled upon a photo posted by Angela White of Roze Arabians in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The photo, taken by Jennifer MacNeill, is of Angela White's 2015 stallion, Waheed Al Azhaar RZ. He is sired by the late Yorklyn Arabians stallion, Amer Azhaar, a Laheeb al Nasser (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Bint Saida al Nasser) son out of the Dorian Weil-bred mare, Dorian BintHadidi (Hadidi x Dorian Fa Halima). His dam, Desired Millicent, was bred by Kendra Wells and is by her late stallion, Desperados Getaway (Thee Desperado x ImperialBtKalilah) and out of Menouthis, a mare bred by Melissa Huprich, who traces through Bint Moftakhar to Ansata Fatima and from there, to *Ansata Bint Zaafarana.

I have always felt odd and just out of step, in this world of Arabian horses, which is so dominated by the influence of the show ring and the artificiality employed, to show horses in that all defining, singular fairy-tale moment, which makes all of our hair stand on edge and jaws drop in awe and wonder. It wouldn't be so bad, if we could just show horses in a relaxed manner, confident, happy and not well, frightened, stiff and hollow-backed, who at any moment will have their eyes explode like balloons, as they jump out of their skin. How did we ever let anyone convince us that a horse is more beautiful when in this heightened sense of fear and panic?

So, here's this refreshing photo of this beautifully moving and very attractive horse, using his back, showing freedom in the shoulders and elasticity and driving power in his hocks! His muscular development tells a great story, which is best explained through a quotation made by Alois Podhajsky in My Horses, My Teachers,

"Correct work had made him more beautiful, his muscles had developed, and he moved cheerfully and powerfully in balance and harmony. He was convincing proof that systematic and methodical work will result in the increasing beauty of the horse."

In 2017, Waheed Al Azhaar RZ was named a Reserve Champion Sport Horse in Hand, both at Region 15 and at the East Coast Championships. The following year, he returned to the East Coast Championships and was named Champion Sport Horse in Hand. A proven sire, his 2019 daughter, Jassirah RZ, out of the MB Mistaz daughter, Mistazah, went to the world famous show, Dressage at Devon, where she was named Champion in the individual breed class, as well as reserves in the pony championship classes.

A closer look at function, form and beauty by Jennifer MacNeill Photography

Genetically, what I found interesting about Waheed Al Azhaar RZ is his tail female line, which runs back to one of my favorite horses of all time, the 1946 mare, Zaafarana (Balance x Samira), bred by the RAS. Zaafarana was celebrated in her time for her brilliant action and presence. She must have been electrifying, when moving. She captivated all who watched her, including Judith Forbis who said, "she was a mare of exceptional quality and brilliant action." Zaafarana was an excellent producer, passing on her athleticism to her sons *Talal (by Nazeer) and Amrulla (by Sid Abouhom), who became champions and much loved racehorses in Egypt.

On the flip side, the sire line of Waheed Al Azhaar RZ is one of the most popular, that of Saklawi I:

Waheed Al Azhaar >Amer Azhaar >Laheeb al Nasser >Al Adeed al Shaqab >Ansata Halim Shah >*Ansata Ibn Halima >Nazeer >Mansour >Gamil Manial >Saklawi II >Saklawi I

In straight Egyptian breeding, this sire line dominates our gene pool, as widespread as the sire line is today, primarily through the stallion, Nazeer.

It's always interesting to determine the strain of influence and Waheed Al Azhaar's pedigree is very interesting in this regard. By virtue of his tail female line, he is Saqlawi, in strain. However, do you know that through horses like Laheeb Al Nasser (pure-in-strain Hadban), Thee Desperado (pure-in-strain Hadban) and Hadidi's sire, Norus (through Souhair and Hadban Enzahi), Waheed Al Azhaar RZ is almost 70% Hadban? Originally, the horses of the Hadban strain were called "Hadban", because they descended from a mare who had a long, bushy and thick mane, so profuse, that it covered her withers, her shoulders and ran down to her forearms. Hadban strain horses are a substrain of the Kuhaylan strain and physically, these horses show their Kuhaylan influence as they are strong and balanced horses, not extreme in their characteristics and combine well with horses of other strains.  As interesting as it is, to learn of the influence of the Hadban strain in Waheed Al Azhaar's pedigree, what I also found interesting is the presence of two other pure-in-strain horses: the Dahman BKA Imeer (Ansata Imperial x Imperial Mistic) and the Saklawi, Reg Madaha (TheEgyptianPrince x AK Nasula). Along with the Kuhaylan Rodan strain (Imperial Sonbesjul and Dorian Shahwaniyah), these 3 strains represent the 30% of his pedigree, after the Hadban strain.

Historically, summer has been the time of year where I try to experience personal growth, finding ways to push myself out of my comfort zone, in the hope that when autumn returns, I will be that much closer to living the best version of myself. Most summers, I have chased after Carl Raswan,  trying to recapture something that I lost along the way. Here we are, almost at the end of yet another summer and I still haven't caught Raswan and somewhere in the process, I am older and wiser in the ways that I wish that I wasn't, trying to find my way in a world that feels so strange. Yet, it is largely because of horses like Waheed Al Azhaar RZ that I continue to harbor hope that maybe one of these summers, I will find that place I am searching for, where I will finally put all the broken pieces back together and the questions that remain unanswered, will no longer remain as questions but answers, bringing clarity and direction.