The Real Beauty of RN Farida

RN Farida, foaled in 1995, is a daughter of Salaa el Dine, an Ansata Halim Shah son out of Hanan. Her dam, Noha, was a Hadban Enzahi daughter, out of Nadja, a Nazeer daughter out of Nefisa (Balance x Helwa). From Nefisa, the tail female line runs through Farida to El Dahma, an Ali Pasha Sherif-bred mare, long considered to be the root mare of the Dahman Shahwan strain. In the case of RN Farida, this maternal line through Farida to El Dahma creates a very interesting phenomenon in the pedigree. The tail female line of Balance, the sire of Nefisa, also runs to El Dahma through Farida. Nefisa, the maternal great granddam of RN Farida is double El Dahma and a pure-in-the-strain Dahmah Shahwaniyah! However, Farida also "frames" the pedigree, top and bottom. How? Ansata Halim Shah is a son of *Ansata Ibn Halima, a son of Halima, a daughter of Ragia, a daughter of Farida.....all the way back to, yes, El Dahma. That's three lines to Farida, who was a 1921 mare and appears farther back in pedigrees, ususally as close-up as the 5th generation. In RN Farida, she is found in the 5th and 6th generations, exerting a 6.25% genetic influence.

The other interesting story in RN Farida's pedigree involves the stallion Nazeer. RN Farida's dam, Noha is the end result of breeding two Nazeer siblings together: Hadban Enzahi and Nadja. You will remember that Noha was also the dam of the stallion, Nasrodin, by Ansata Abbas Pasha. On the paternal side, the line breeding to Nazeer is intensified, through the use of two Nazeer sons: *Ansata Ibn Halima and Alaa el Din. The influence that Nazeer, a 1934 stallion, exerts in the genetics of RN Farida is 37.5%! However, this influence can be considered to be a little more than that, if we acknowledge Hadban Enzahi, who, in addition to being a paternal grandson of Bint Samiha,  has an additional line to her through his dam Kamla.  If we were to combine the influence of both, Farida and Nazeer, plus the added influence of Bint Samiha, that's almost half of the pedigree, concentrated among these two individuals!

"Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world. First a dawning; then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness." - Thomas Adams

Having owned two mares, who both lived deep into their mid-20's, I learned, through daily experience to cherish the changes that happen in horses as they mature and reach their senior years. It is a very special time to be in their company, to care for their special needs and experience the softness in their touch and within their eyes, always a noble presence and conveying a profound understanding of who they are and their place in this world, shaped by their life experiences as show horses, mothers, athletes and beloved companions. There's an elegance that gradually intensifies, like a flower that slowly unfolds her petals, to finally bloom in all of her majesty. The head of a senior age Arabian horse reaches a level of dryness that enhances the prominence of the bone and veins, as well as the skin quality or rather, the more noticeable black skin, due to possibly, the shedding or thinning of the coat hairs about the face. Despite the sunken hollows that appear above the eyes, the loss of the fat tissue in the face underscores the desert qualities of the horse. It's a different kind of beauty, as this outward appearance also relies heavily on the extraordinary beauty of the inward spirit. That's why I love this photo of RN Farida, as I see many of these things in the picture but more importantly for me, she reminds me of the special time spent with my own horses in the last years of their lives.

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible. Things will happen. Don't be afraid." - Frederick Buechner

When RN Farida was young and her fame was increasing, there was much discussion about her on the internet. In those days, there was no social media in the form of Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to fuel discussions, however, it seemed that many people had an opinion of RN Farida's "exotic" or "extreme" look and wasted no time posting their feelings in forums and wherever horsepeople congregated in those days to trade opinions.

This particular photo, taken by beloved journalist and photographer (and fellow Arabian horse lover), Susanne Boesche, as part of a feature article presented on an extremely popular website of the time, caused a fire storm of controversy, as people referred to this beautiful mare as a "freak" and representative of what was really wrong with the Arabian breed and the direction that breeders were going in. Some, without meeting this horse in person, suggested breathing problems! How would they know that from a photo? It was very frustrating, as enthusiasts took this photo out of context, forgetting that photo angles may create a look that does not really exist in real life and more importantly, young horses evolve and change, as they mature and age. Without wasting any more words on this subject, the fact is that the real RN Farida did not really look like this!

RN Farida, despite the unfair criticism, became an important broodmare for Al Rayyan and for breeders around the globe. Bred to top stallions like Ansata Nile Echo, Alidaar, Ansata Hejazi, Al Adeed Al Shaqab and Ansata Nile Pasha, she produced sons and daughters who have matured into significant breeding horses for other programs. Think of sons like Alzeer Al Rayyan, Farhoud Al Shaqab and of daughters like Noof Al Rayyan (the dam of Fahad Al Rayyan), Furat Al Rayyan or Naifah Al Rayyan to name a few of her progeny. RN Farida's many achievements, as great as they may be, pale in comparison to the joy that she has brought to people she will never meet and yet, are humbled by her very real and noble beauty. Like a flower, she has bloomed, inspiring hope, in all who know her by name.