THE MIGHTY EIGHT

The 2020 Straight Egyptian World Championships were held over a weekend in mid-October. This wonderful show, which is more of a showcase and celebration of the straight Egyptian Arabian horse, was held in Milan, Italy and attracted a diverse group of 4+ year old stallions. In a year dominated by a global pandemic which limited the opportunities to show horses, fourteen stallions were expected to compete; however, when the day of the show arrived, only the eight stallions listed below, the MIGHTY EIGHT, the sons of ancient desert warriors, were ready to do battle for their right to be named Champion, among champions:

Class 7A:

Naseem Al Rashediah 

(Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Nabaweyah Ezzain) 

1st Place & Gold Senior Stallion Champion

Hanine Al Shahania 

(Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Shomos Al Nasser) 

2nd Place

Saeid Al Farida 

(Madeen Al Nakeeb x Imeila)

Bronze Senior Stallion Champion

Aaron De Pigall 

(Fa Nile Safir x Mas Magidaa)

H Geyser 

(H Glamours x Gazelle)

Class 7B:

Bebars Al Farida  

( Imperial Baarez x Salma)

1st Place & Silver Senior Stallion Champion

Class 7C:

Aziim Al Maar 

(Amar Al Rayyan x Imperial Maysama) 

1st Place

MH Maarbiel 

(Mahmoud Shah x Maralisa)

2nd Place

Again, Arabian Essence TV makes the show a wonderful experience for those of us who are not able to be physically present, through the videos uploaded to both their website and You Tube channel.  If you haven't yet discovered this wonderful resource, then I encourage you dear reader to do so. You can click on the hyperlink that I embedded, which will take you to the results page for the show on the Arabian Essence TV website. 

I had been looking forward to the show and the opportunity to see Naseem Al Rashediah, an exciting Al Adeed Al Shaqab son out of the beloved mare (and Bahraini National Champion), Nabaweyah Ezzain, an Ansata AlMurtajiz daughter. I was happy to see the continuing influence of the late Al Adeed Al Shaqab, not only as the sire of Naseem Al Rashediah but also the sire of Hanine Al Shahania (out of Shomos Al Nasser) and the maternal grandsire of Aaron De Pigall (his dam, Mas Magidaa, is a daughter). 

Outside of Naseem Al Rashediah, whom I greatly favored, my eyes drifted to the one horse whom I felt was representive of what has become, especially in the last 15-to-20 years, a global community of straight Egyptian breeders. This particular horse is named Saeid Al Farida, who earned a Bronze Senior Stallion Champion title. 

Bred by El Farida Stud and co-owned with Salayel Stud, Saeid Al Farida is a son of Madeen Al Nakeeb, a NK Hafid Jamil son out of Madoorah, an Imperial Madheen daughter; while his dam, Imeila, is sired by Imtaarif and out of Nimeelah, a Nigmh daughter. This pedigree represents the global impact of straight Egyptian breeding as it unites so many breeding programs together: EAO blood blended with Ansata, Gleannloch, Imperial Egyptian Stud, Katharinenhof, the St. Clairs, Darla Bryant, Downing Arabian Stud, Dr. Siegfred Paufler, Bob Thorndike, Russ & Mildred Jameson, Al Nakeeb and Yorklyn Arabians (the home of the late black stallion, Justynn). 

By the time I got to class 7C, I was already overwhelmed by the quality and depth of the stallion class. It would not be easy for Naseem Al Rashediah as he embarked on his quest for the World Champion title! This was really an amazing group of horses. I did not envy the job that the judges had before them, in selecting the champion. And that's where it all came undone for me. For that is where, the world turned upside down, when I discovered the biggest surprise of them all, MH Maarbiel, whose sparkling white body with deeply pigmented dark skin, stretched over a compact and balanced body, encased in flowing, circular lines. His large, fully black eyes directed attention to a clean, dry head, a reminder of his unique desert heritage. He was familiar in both name and phenotype. Although I knew nothing of this horse, I felt like I had seen him before. 

If you have been a long time lover of straight Egyptian Arabian horses, then you will understand what I am about to say. The use of the initials "MH" together with the name of "Maar", in my understanding, signifies the presence of the mare, RDM Maar Hala, an El Hilal daughter out of Maar Jumana and one of the most beloved Egyptian broodmares of all time. She remains the cornerstone of Rancho Bulakenyo's breeding program, still relevant in many breeding programs, after all these years, as I am about to explain. So, you can imagine dear reader, how curious I was to learn of the genetic sources that created this lovely stallion, MH Maarbiel. Foaled in 2007, MH Maarbiel is sired by Mahmoud Shah (Kerim Shah x Mahalia Bint Maartrabbi) and out of Maaralisa (Crusader x Maartrabbi).  At first glance, you will notice that the dam of Mahmoud Shah, Mahalia Bint Maartrabbi and the dam of MH Maarbiel, Maaralisa, are maternal sisters. Both mares are out of Maartrabbi, sired by different stallions.

Maartrabbi, an American-born mare, was bred by the late Dr. Felino Cruz of Rancho Bulakenyo in California and sold to Dame Josephine Barstow Anderson of Malthouse Arabians in 1989, where she became an important broodmare for her program. A daughter of the *Morafic son (out of a *Morafic daughter), Al Metrabbi++, she was out of RDM Maar Hala (El Hilal x Maar Jumana), whom most breeders consider to be a source for "the big, dark El Hilal eyes". However, what is really interesting is how her blood is used in combination with the bloodlines of other Rancho Bulakenyo horses that really piqued my interest. For example, Mahmoud Shah is a son of Kerim Shah, a Prince Ibn Shaikh son. Prince Ibn Shaikh was a son of Shaikh Al Badi out of RDM Maar Hala, also bred by Dr. Felino Cruz. Although Maartrabbi was sold as a yearling, before she could contribute to the Rancho Bulakenyo program, it is also very interesting that her influence would return to the farm in the form of her son, Maarauder MH, by Crusader (Salaa el Dine x AK Kastana) and a full sibling to Maaralisa, the dam of MH Maarbiel! RDM Maar Hala is a hugely important component of MH Maarbiel's pedigree, approximately 25% or one quarter of the pedigree (the percentage of influence ascribed to a grandparent). 

While most of my attention was dominated by the presence of RDM Maar Hala, I did notice that the dam of the Bentwood-bred Kerim Shah is Siralima, an *Ansata Ibn Halima daughter out of Asal Sirabba, a 1958 grey mare sired by Sirecho and out of the Babson mare, Habba.  This is one of my favorite lines in straight Egyptian breeding, now found in some of the most esteemed breeding programs in the world, for example, the beloved and globally influential stallion, Laheeb, bred by Ariela Arabians in Israel. 

On a smaller note, it is interesting to point out that the double dose of Maartrabbi, also means a double dose of her sire, Al Metrabbi++, which in turn, also means a double dose of Al Metrabbi's dam, *Sammara (*Morafic x Sameera). But if you look a little deeper, you will discover that AK Kastana's dam, Nadafi, is also a *Sammara daughter, introducing a third line into the pedigree for this 1960 EAO-bred mare, bumping up her percentage of influence to a little more than 10%! 

The stallion Nabiel, with Bill Trapp holding the lead 

The "biel" in MH Maarbiel's name also points to the presence of Nabiel (*Sakr & *Magidaa), the sire of Naazim, who in turn sired Mahalia Bint Maartrabi, tha dam of Mahmoud Shah. The presence of Nabiel reminds me that the late Bill and Pat Trapp of Arabest Stud Farm, used El Halimaar (El Hilal x RDM Maar Hala) on the Nabiel daughters, discovering a wonderful nick between both stallions, in their breeding program. 

El Halimaar with Bill Trapp and Dr. Felino Cruz

Such is the rich heritage that is expressed through the genetic fiber of a horse like MH Maarbiel. It makes me wonder over how this horse will be used in the future. Hopefully, those will include foals born out of daughters of Laheeb and the grand-get of El Halimaar.