Simeon Sebedee

 

On the very first day of February, what can I possibly offer to lighten your heart, mind and soul dear reader, in what has truly been so far, a winter of discontent? 

"When a condition or a problem becomes too great, humans have the protection of not thinking about it. But it goes inward and minces up with a lot of other things already there and what comes out is discontent and uneasiness, guilt and a compulsion to get something--anything--before it is all gone." - John Steinbeck, The Winter of our Discontent

Now that January is behind us, do you realize that in less than two months (more like 48 days but who is counting), spring will return and so will the leaves on the trees, the green grass, warm breezes, the flowers and the songbirds? Do these words lift your spirit? If not, then think of the foals who will be born, the mares who will soon be bred, the new show season and more and more people will be vaccinated against the Corona Virus and life, hopefully, will slowly start to be good again! There is so much to look forward to, even if it appears not to be so at the current moment. I know, I know. I struggle like you to make sense of what really doesn't make any sense at all.  I am grateful for the horse, even in challenging times, he lifts the soul to a higher place than it was before but still, it's not easy and sometimes, we need to work at it, even with the horse's help. I promise you, if you allow me to continue, this particular blog will lift your spirit, if only for the few minutes that you spend reading the story of a fascinating horse.

 

Simeon Sebedee is a 2006 stallion, a son of Imperial Madaar (Imperial Madheen x Ansata Nile Mist) and out of the extraordinary chestnut mare, Simeon Sehavi (Asfour x Simeon Sheba). He was bred by Marion Richmond of Simeon Stud in Australia. I haven't checked Arabian Essence TV in a little while and the channel has uploaded new videos from very recent shows like the Bahrain Straight Egyptian show, the Bahrain Breeders show and the Qatar National Arabian show, which is where the video of Simeon Sebedee was taken. He was shown in the 11 year old and older stallion class, where he placed 2nd to Gazwan Al Nasser, a Gazal Al Shaqab son. The scores between the 2 horses varied by only one point and Mr. Rombauer gave Simeon Sebedee a perfect score for movement too!

Now, for some much needed housekeeping before we continue with our story. This blog, all for the love of a horse... is not sponsored by ArabianEssenceTV, despite mentioning them as frequently as I do. I am extremely grateful to ArabianEssenceTV for making the videos of the individual horses available. If you enjoy watching Arabian horses of all bloodlines and you have the ability to connect with You Tube, ArabianEssenceTV makes it so easy to experience each show.  You can pause on a frame, rewind, play in slow motion, everything you need to help you arrive at your assessment of any horse that catches your eye. It's a really huge gift that ArabianEssenceTV gives to Arabian horse enthusiasts all over the world, bringing horses to our consciousness that perhaps, without ArabianEssenceTV, we would otherwise, not know the horse even existed, like Simeon Sebedee. 

I was scrolling through the new video uploads, part of me not sure that it was what I wanted to do, when the name "Simeon" grabbed my attention. I am not sure what impressed me first: the willingness or rather, the earnestness that this horse possesses in trying to do what is being asked of him or his outrageously beautiful body. He is so close coupled! If a horse can be divided equally into thirds, as Carl Raswan once suggested, then it's that interior circle that just throws me into another sphere of delight. His barrel, well-sprung rib cage, the depth of his heart girth, the width of his back and the overall muscling are all splendid. I can't think of another horse more perfect in this area than Simeon Sebedee is. 

Simeon Sebedee is overwhelmingly Hadban Enzahi-influenced (that is his strain by the way, as through his damline he traces to Venus, the root mare of the strain), approximately 40% of his pedigree is influenced by Hadban Enzahi-strain horses, however, on a secondary basis, he is also influenced equally by the Saqlawi and Dahman strains, approximately 25% of each strain, which explains the refinement I see within an overall, masculine, substantial body. Through my friend and mentor, Marilyn Lang, I have learned to appreciate the presence of *Bint Serra I (Sotamm x Serra) in a straight Egyptian pedigree and this particular Saqlawi mare exists in the pedigree of Simeon Sebedee.  As a matter of fact, she is part of an intensified Saqlawi strain cross that  finds *Bint Serra I, combined with the Saqlawi line of *Tuhotmos, through Om Khamsa, a 1974 mare bred by Jean Jennings of Ra'adin Arabians. Do you know that she was named "Om Khamsa", in honor of "Khamsa", a straight Babson Egyptian mare sired by Fay-El-Dine (Tail female *Bint Serra I) and out of Khedena (also tail female *Bint Serra I)? Khamsa is the maternal great-grandam of Om Khamsa, by the way.

In the video, did you notice how Simeon Sebedee lifts his left hind hoof during the hard stance? That is eerily similar to  *Tuhotmos, who also lifted his left hind hoof, when  he asked to stand up!

Om Khamsa is the paternal granddam of Simeon Sheba, as she foaled Ra'adin Royal Star, the sire of Simeon Sheba. Personally, I am also fond of  Om Khamsa's other progeny, like the mares, Masada Fa Khedena by Fabo and Ra'adin Madonna by Ibn Morafic. One of the reasons that I love this cross so much is the concentration of the Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfk breeding program primarily through the  horses  that were imported to America like *Fadl, *Maaroufa and *Nasr.

To underscore the significance of Simeon Sebedee's tail female line, which through Simeon Sheba, includes the world famous Simeon Stud broodmare, 27 Ibn Galal V; in an interview with Samantha Mattocks of The Arabian Breeders Magazine, Marion Richmond explained how in 1975, with her parent's permission, she sold all of her horses (with the exception of Simeon Shirli) to focus instead on breeding horses closer to her ideal. Traveling all over the world in search of the perfect horse led her to to straight Egyptian horses and shortly thereafter, Marion purchased 27 Ibn Galal V. In Marion's own words, she states, 

"I was with Dr. Hans Nagel at the time and he both helped me and encouraged me with her purchase."

Asked within the same interview for key successes, Marion did not hesitate in naming Simeon Sehavi as one. In Dr. Hans Nagel's newest book, The Arabian Horse: Nature's Creation and the Art of Breeding, one finds the synergy that exists between these two breeders. Speaking about 27 Ibn Galal V, Dr. Nagel states,

"Also, the Simeon Stud in Australia was fortunate to buy a first class mare from Babolna, 27 Ibn Galal V. Her sire was the imported Ibn Galal, bred to the Egyptian mare 'Hosna'. This liver chestnut mare was of outstanding quality, and without doubt, she was largely responsible for the world-wide success enjoyed by Simeon Stud particularly when she was mated to the Katharinenhof-sired Asfour (Malik x Hanan). This mare was the first Australian National Champion mare and at a special 25 year celebration of the Australian Championships her granddaughter Simeon Sehavi (Asfour x Simeon Sheba) was also awarded the title of National Champion Australian Mare."

Simeon Sebedee has a full brother, the chestnut stallion, *Simeon Ibn Sehavi, a full year younger than Simeon Sebedee, which is good news for American straight Egyptian breeders. Although *Simeon Ibn Sehavi differs greatly in phenotype from Simeon Sebedee, it's a chance to incorporate the same genetic crosses, that were it not for DeShazer Arabians who imported him, may not exist in America. I think, but am not sure, that there may be another full brother, the 2008 stallion named D Fares, who appears to  have been an in utero foal, when the Dubai Stud purchased Simeon Sehavi from her breeder.

Simeon Sebedee is now owned by Al Aqeed Stud. Simeon Sebedee is a proven breeding stallion. His son, Wazeer Al Aqeed, out of Mabrouka Al Faya (sired by an Alidaar x RN Farida son, crossed upon EAO bloodlines), was shown in the yearling colt class of the Qatar National show. Interesting that the movement of this colt, earned the colt a higher place in the standings. It is exciting to see Simeon Sebedee's legacy (and that of his beautiful dam) carried forward into the future, so that other breeders can enjoy the promise offered by his genetic heritage and also, the work of dedicated breeders whose broad vision for the Arabian breed, made these horses possible.

I know that for some people who may read this blog, they may not understand the attention that I am paying to Simeon Sebedee because he placed second to another horse in a small class or maybe, because he didn't place in the overall Senior Stallion Championships. For these people, the show ring wins, not knowledge born of study, are more significant and an affirmation of quality. In a way, I can understand that, as everyone has a desire to be recognized as a "winner". However, what may appear initially as "winning" may not actually be that at all, five, ten, fifteen years from the big show ring win.  In an interview with Monika Luft, published by Tutto Arabi and available on the website, Polskie Araby, Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani, offers a different perspective to shows, points, first place/second place, championships and such; that is, how will any horse, show ring winner or not, if incorporated into your breeding program, produce the type of horse that you desire? 

"We went to many shows but we never stayed until the championships. We did not care about the champions because we already picked the horse we liked. I remember Sheikh Abdulaziz or Sheikh Nawaf, all the old friends, we talked later in the car about the horses that looked nice and that could fit our breeding and could be maybe fifth in class, not necessary be the winners. OK, we loved the horse who won, but did not care. It was important for the owner but not for us."- Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani

As I wrote in the blogs for *Hadban Al Shaqab, Thee Revolution, Fa Ali Bey and *Nebras Al Rayyan, no horse lives forever and the same reality that exists for these horses, also exists for Simeon Sebedee, who is now, 15 years old. 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, not even Simeon Sebedee. Will you be ready when forever gets here?