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| "...by then (1962) I knew *Sulejman, then 27 years old, who was at C.A. West's in Pennsylvania. I went to see him. The old horse was sterile and Mr. West kindly told me that I was welcome to take him and see if we could do anything for him. Dr. Stephen Lange was with us then and in a few short months, he had *Sulejman breeding again but of course, in a limited way. He produced 4 sons for us. I had gambled big and bred him to the best of our mares." - Bazy Tankersley |
In tail female line, he traces to Ferida, an 1886 mare purchased from the Shammar Bedouin tribe by the Blunts and imported to Crabbet Park in 1891. She was tiny and may have fooled many people with her dimunitive size but in a horse race, she was a genuine firecracker, as she possessed great speed. However, her lightning speed aside, she was a significant broodmare, also highly regarded for passing remarkable beauty onto her offspring, as well as a sweet character. In strain, Ferida was Manaqiyah Sbailiyah.
Do you know what makes Fasila even more interesting? Her Egyptian blood. Yes, that's right...EGYPTIAN. Fasila is 62.5% Egyptian! Her ancestry includes the Ali Pasha Sherif horses: Feysul, Mesaoud and Mahruss II.
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| People who were fortunate to see *Sulejman in person, never forgot his beauty and often, what they remembered most about him were his large, black, expressive eyes. |
In all the recorded literature concerning *Sulejman, he is considered "Polish" and while I will agree that *Sulejman was Polish-bred, as Baron Bicker bred *Sulejman and he also owned his dam Fasila, as well as Fasila's sire, Rasim (he purchased those horses from Crabbet Stud); *Sulejman was technically only 25% Polish in blood, 25% Austrian (his paternal granddam, Siglavi Bagdady was bred by the Radowce Stud in Austria), 50% Crabbet and of that Crabbet percentage, 31.25% is actually Egyptian! It is also very interesting that here I am, in 2020, writing these words, when the Polish State Studs have incorporated many bloodlines, including Egyptian breeding, into their state sponsored breeding programs. And specifically, I am thinking of very current mares like the gorgeous mare, Pilarosa (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Pilar), as well as my personal favorite, Parmana, the Al Maraam daughter out Palmira (Monogramm x Palestra) who sold for $180,000 euros at the Pride of Poland sale a couple of years ago. What's that old saying? Everything old is new again.
*Sulejman, along with the pregnant mares:*Kasztelanka and *Kostrzewa, as well as *Azja IV and *Rybitwa, were purchased and imported by Henry Babson in 1938. As with all the horses that fell outside of the 1932 straight Egyptian group, the Babson Farm eventually dispersed all of the non-Egyptian horses, including the Polish horses. *Sulejman went to Walter Ross in the early 1950's and from there, to Bazy Tankersley in the 1960's. However, prior to leaving the Babson Farm, *Sulejman was offered to the late Dr. Thomas Martin DVM of Missouri. Prior to attending college and veterinary school, Dr. Martin worked at the Babson Farm, under Homer Watson. When the Babson Farm decided to disperse the Polish horses, Homer offered *Sulejman to Dr. Martin, who had been riding the horse and loved him.
Dr. Martin felt that *Sulejman possessed all of the conformational qualities he valued most, that is, pronounced withers, a broad and deep chest, mild slope of croup, a short and strong back and good natural action. However, as a young man, having decided to attend veterinary school, Dr. Martin did not feel that he could offer *Sulejman all that he deserved, in terms of promotion and breeding opportunities. Eventually, Dr. Martin would choose the *Sulejman son, Shasul (out of the Crabbet-bred mare, Shayba) and *Sulejman daughter, Sulejma (out of the *Sulejman daughter, Sulayba). From these two horses, Dr. Martin, over his lifetime, created and nurtured a long term breeding program that is solely based on the blood of *Sulejman, without adding any outside blood.
*Sulejman sired somewhere around 45 horses over his lifetime, with 12 of those horses born during his tenure at the Babson Farm and the balance were sired after leaving the Babson Farm. It's interesting that the legendary breeder, Alice Payne of Asil Arabians in Chino, California, who owned the important Skowronek sons,*Raffles and *Raseyn, also had Maarlejman, a *Sulejman son out of Fa El Maar (Fay-El-Dine x *Maaroufa), in addition to one of the Babson Polish mares, *Rybitwa and her *Fadl daughter, Bitwa. Another important son was Tobruk, out of Fazala (*Fadl x *Bint Serra I), who became a chief sire for Milton and Virginia Thompson, who also owned the straight Babson Egyptian mare, Rose of Egypt.
I think the most important lesson we can learn from the life of *Sulejman is the global impact that his pedigree presents. He is not the result of one country's bloodlines or one breeder's vision. He is the end result of many different horses, bred by people who are as diverse, as the horse is diverse. If anything, the greater lesson to be learned is that of celebration, for all of the connections we share, as admirers of the Arabian horse breed. The breeding of straight this and pure that, is somewhat divisive and isolates us from each other and the truly wonderful horses we are breeding. However, when we come together, look at what is possible. We celebrate the sacrifice, that is, the blood, sweat and tears of all the breeders, past and present, who are committed to keeping *Sulejman relevant in today's Arabian horse genepool.
***This post is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Dr. Thomas W. Martin DVM, who engineered a breeding program founded on the blood of *Sulejman, through his son, Shasul and daughter, Sulejma. Dr. Martin, in the early days of his college career discovered a love for genetics, while working in a lab. He believed that with selective inbreeding, you can super concentrate desireable traits that become prepotent, no matter how the blood is used. He believed in his horses and spent his life creating a program that delivered consistency of genotype and phenotype.***
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