Thoughts on Aswan

Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia)

"The mare band at Tersk State Stud in Stavropol, Russia, was based mainly on Polish, French, and Crabbet lines and they had good basic structure, but many were considered plain. With his beautiful dark eyes, dry facial features, dished head, large nostrils, tail carriage, fine bone, height, and charisma, Aswan had characteristics the Soviets desired." - Kristin Berkery, from her article, Aswan: The Stallion Who Helped The Communists Become Capitalists

Do you know what I find most interesting about the the EAO-bred stallion, Aswan? Genetically, in pedigree, he was very similar to Hadban Enzahi. Yes, both horses were sired by Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha) and yes, both horses were out of Sheikh el Arab (Mansour x Bint Sabah) daughters.  However, their dams, Yosreia and Kamla share more common ground than just claiming Sheikh el Arab as their sire. You need to "dig a little deeper" and look to the maternal granddam of each horse, to understand what I mean. 

Aswan's maternal granddam is the mare Hind (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Rustem); while Samha (Baiyad x Bint Sabah) is the maternal granddam of Hadban Enzahi. Ibn Rabdan and Baiyad are sons of the mare Bint Gamila (Ibn Nadra x Gamila) and are maternal siblings. Ibn Rabdan was sired by  Rabdan el Azrak, who in turn, was sired by Dahman el Azrak. Tarfa, the granddam of Baiyad, was a daughter of Dahman el Azrak! With Nazeer as the sire of of both Aswan and Hadban Enzahi, he contributes additional lines to the stallion, Rabdan el Azrak and one of these lines is through the stallion, Samhan, which is important in Hadban Enzahi, as he is double Samiha.With the exception of the 1880 mare, Rabda, the difference between Aswan and Hadban Enzahi in the maternal grandsire line is approx. 3.125%!  

How does the maternal granddam or tail female line remain similar/differ in both horses you ask? Bint Rustem, the granddam of Yosreia (the dam of Hind), is sired by Rustem (Astraled x Ridaa) and was out of Bint Hadba el Saghira (El Halabi x Hadba); while Bint Samiha (the dam of Samha and the granddam of Kamla) is a daughter of Kazmeen (Sotamm x Kasima) and out of Samiha (Samhan x Bint Hadba el Saghira). Bint Rustem and Samiha were maternal siblings, both mares sired by Crabbet-bred stallions. Also, it's the same tail female line, the major difference between Aswan and Hadban Enzahi is the position of Bint Hadba el Sagihira in the pedigree (closer up by one generation in Aswan). So, in this line of the pedigree, the difference between Aswan and Hadban Enzahi are the following individuals: Rustem, Samhan and Kazmeen. And yet, we continue to find similarities in the parts where we believed there were differences. Consider that the stallion Rustem, is an Astraled (Mesaoud x Queen of Sheba) son; while Kazmeen is an Astraled grandson (his sire Sotamm is an Astraled son)! Another interesting fact is that Rustem, Sotamm and Kazmeen were part of the Crabbet importation made by Dr. Branch in 1920. Rustem and Sotamm went to Prince Kemal el Dine, while Kazmeen went to the RAS. 

In my opinion, it is the mare Ridaa (of the powerful Kuhaylan Rodan family) which makes the strongest difference in Aswan's maternal line, while in Hadban Enzahi, it's Kasima (of the now extinct Kuhaylan Jellabi strain in SE breeding). And yet, one can say that even in the "differences", there is commonality, with the Kuhaylan strain serving as common ground between what are 2 Hadban Enzahi-strain stallions. I haven't worked out the math but I feel it is a very small number, less than 10% and possibly, around 6% that separates both stallions, by blood. In our breed, it is tradition to focus primarily on the influence of the mare. It is interesting to point out that it is on the mare side of the pedigree, where we find the differences between both horses. While they appear small on paper, in reality, it is just enough of a difference to identify one individual as "Aswan", the other as "Hadban Enzahi". And that is what I really find amazing, as both horses, used in two different national breeding programmes of countries who were opposed to each other, became consistently strong sires, surpassing all expectations held for them, siring excellence equally in both genders, who in turn, established legacies that remain vibrant and relevant today. And that, is our greatest lesson, which connects people, of different cultures, who through the horse, realize that they have far more in common, all for the love of an Arabian horse.