A Revolutionary Way of Thinking

Thee Revolution (Thee Desperado x Bint Zaarina) as photographed by Carol Maginn, Bear Creek Ranch, Lockhart, Texas

OK, so you are probably rolling your eyes right now, as you think, "really Ralph, another Thee Desperado son? The blood of Thee Desperado is so widespread already. What's so special about this particular son and why do we need another?" I get it and well, those are great questions and if you will allow me to explain dear reader, let me tell you a story of Thee Revolution, a Thee Desperado son out of a very special and uniquely bred mare named Bint Zaarina, a Glorieta Zaarina daughter out of Anchor Hill Hamla. Bint Zaarina, with Shawn Crews at the lead, created excitement for lovers of the straight Egyptian horse in the nineties. A tall, stretchy and charismatic mare, Bint Zaarina was both, a US and Canadian National Top Ten Mare. It's hard to believe that this mare, with such a commanding presence, has been dead seven years. To all who saw her in the show ring, she was like the title of a popular country music song, "Ten feet tall and bulletproof". She was really that and more. In a tribute to Bint Zaarina, written by Marilyn Thomas and published on the Pyramid Society website, I smiled when I read, "When we first saw Zaarina, we thought she was a charismatic, young stallion." A powerfully-built mare, with an equally powerful personality, you were fooled into thinking that this larger-than-life mare would live forever. 

Bint Zaarina (Ruminaja Ali x Glorieta Zaarina)

Her damline remains an incredibly vibrant, powerful and influential mare line in straight Egyptian breeding. In the late forties, the American breeder, Daniel Gainey, impressed with Henry Babson’s Egyptian horses, wanted to incorporate Egyptian blood into his program and so, he purchased the mare *Mamdouha, a maternal granddaughter of Bint Samiha (the dam of Nazeer) who was in foal to the stallion Enzahi (Nabras x Fardous), producing *Gamila. Twelve years later, *Gamila was sold to the Atkinson’s of Anchor Hill Ranch. Bred to Anchor Hill’s straight Babson Egyptian stallion, Hadbah, she produced the extraordinary foundation mare, Anchor Hill Hamla, who would prove her influence through her progeny. Thee Revolution is a maternal great-grandson of Anchor Hill Hamla, tracing to her through  his maternal granddam Glorieta Zaarina, Anchor Hill Hamla's daughter by Ansata Abu Nazeer. Bint Zaarina was bred by Judy Sirbasku and owned for most of her life by Marilyn Thomas, Falconwood Legacy Bloodstock. She was bred primarily to Falconwood's chief stallion, Thee Gambler (Thee Desperado x Aliadaara), producing the full siblings: FW Vanity, FW Queen of Hearts, FW Zaariya, FW Zaanya, FW Al Gazi and FW Ali El Saban. Interestingly, Bint Zaarina travelled to the Canadian Nationals and the United States Nationals with Thee Desperado, who was also campaigned at the same shows. Thee Revolution, foaled in 1996, was her only foal, sired by Desperado.  

At the 2004 Egyptian Event, Thee Revolution was the unanimous winner of Most Classic Head. He was also a Reserve Champion in the 6 - 9 year old stallion class. His elegance, underscored by his fully black, large eye, will captivate you, as he did for so many people in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, Thee Revolution (Thee Desperado x Bint Zaarina) returned to the Egyptian Event and was unanimously named the winner of Most Classic Head. He had won the same title, unanimously, in 2004. He was also shown in the World Class Stallions 10 & over class, winning Reserve Champion, while Laheeb IASB was named the Champion. Thee Revolution, like many aged horses do, has matured into a very dry,  classically beautiful, desert horse. He's really like his dam, in a masculine form.

Although he has not enjoyed the full extent of opportunities that other Desperado sons have enjoyed (through no fault of his own), Thee Revolution is a proven sire and his owners, Bill & Kristy Whipperman of Infinity Egyptian Stud in Freeland, Maryland, have collected and analyzed his semen for shipping. A 24-year old stallion, Thee Revolution, at collection, has 85% motility, while 24 - 48 hours later, maintains a motility percentage ranging from 65 - 75%. Bill and Kristy have opened his book to a limited number of outside breedings and remain committed to furthering the influence of their very special stallion. What Bill and Kristy are doing, in the hope of perpetuating the influence of their stallion, will also be remembered as a significant opportunity for the straight Egyptian breeder to incorporate the influence of Thee Revolution within their programs, while he remains active and available for breeding.

As I wrote in the blog for *Hadban Al Shaqab last week, no horse lives forever and the same reality that exists for Hadban, also exists for Thee Revolution, who actually, is 3 years older than Hadban and not getting any younger, as he is well within his senior years. In this community, I have seen too many really good stallions die, underused at stud, only to read breeders quickly express their "if only I had...". Well, here's a "heads-up" from me to you dear breeder...NOW IS THE TIME. Nothing lasts forever. Will you be ready when forever gets here? 

.