Historic Marbach Importation

Over the past couple of months, we have been reading of the long-awaited exportation of nine horses from the multi-generational breeding program of The Egyptian Alternative author, Philippe Paraskevas, located in Dahshur, Egypt, to The Marbach Stud in Germany. I have been enjoying the coverage of this historic event, as the last time that Egyptian horses were imported into Marbach, well, it was a little before my time and like many Arabian horse lovers of my generation; I learned of horses like Hadban Enzahi through second-hand sources, written long after Hadban Enzahi had exerted his impact upon German straight Egyptian breeding. I wasn't really planning on blogging about the Paraskevas importation, as the published information, across many platforms, had covered the event well. One of my favorite articles was written by Betty Finke of Germany and published by Arabian Horse World Magazine. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to read her article. So what else can be said about it? An email exchange with Andrew K. Steen resulted in an opportunity to purchase a copy of Concerning Oriental Horses written by Count Waclaw Rzewuski and suddenly, I started to connect-the-dots with an appreciation for old things, made new.  

Do you know that in 1817, when Count Rzewuski arrived in Constantinople, he received a message from Kataryna Pawlowna, the Queen of Württemberg, requesting that he purchase horses for her? Tragically, the Queen died shortly after the horses arrived in Stuttgart, August 1819. It would be Queen Kataryna's husband, King Wilhelm I, who took possession of her horses and it is these horses who became the foundation of the Royal Württemberg Stud. The Paraskevas importation renews the long ago desire of Queen Kataryna, as she expressed in her note for Count Rzewuski,

"I learned from a letter of Court Counsellor Butienyev, that you are in Istanbul and that you still recall our meeting at Radziwillow. Butienyev writes, among other things, that you might not find it too great an effort to obtain for me a few Arab horses. Thereby you would be doing me the greatest favor. I love horses passionately and although I have quite alot of them, I strive to the best of my ability, to improve their qualities and strains. Butienyev will tell you specifically what I need. Discuss with him what you should buy and where they should be delivered. Only don't forget that I want to have three stallions and three mares of the very best strains and without any defects. I beg you to rest assured that your kind offer will be kept in mind even if our plan should not be realized. I treaure our friendship with great respect and devotion." - Concerning Oriental Horses and Those Originating From Oriental Strains, translated by James E. Luck and Annotated by Andrew K. Steen

I think we can all identify with the heart and soul of the Queen's message. As a horse lover, it is very touching and builds common ground between people who could not be any more different from each other.  The esteem that Queen Kataryna feels for the desert Arabian horse only underscores the significance of today's importation, that is, a revitalization of the program as it exists today; while remaining steadfast to the Queen's original purpose of breeding better horses than she started with. The more that I thought about it in these terms, the more compelled I felt to write this blog. In an age that finds declining interest in an equine lifestyle, this importation is a positive, profoundly significant thing that has happened within our community and I am not sure if the many horse lovers around the world have grasped the significance of it.

There were nine horses in the Paraskevas importation, five stallions and four mares:

STALLIONS:

• NASHEED EL AMAL HOOR-->11 year old by Hafez el Ahd Hoor x Aneedah, Saklawi Jedran strain, Jamil El Kebir sire line
• TAG EL OLA HOOR --> 5 year old by Shaer el Nile Hoor x Kawkab el Shark Hoor, Saklawi Jedran strain, Jamil El Kebir sire line
• DAY EL KAMAR HOOR--> 5 year old by Zay el Hawa Hoor x Gebreen el Kamar Hoor, Kuhaylan Krush strain, El Deree sire line
• KAF EL KADAR HOOR--> 4 year old by Ashham x Robaeyat el Khayaam Hoor, Kuhaylan Rodan strain, Saklawi I sire line
• LESA FAKER HOOR--> 4 year old by Agad x Leilet el Eid Hoor, Abeyyan Om Jurays strain, Saklawi I sire line

MARES

• SET EL KOL HOOR-->  4 year old by Agad x El Sit Hoor, Saklawi Jedran strain, Saklawi I sire line
• SHAHD EL RADAB HOOR--> 3 year old by Agad x Naghamet el Karawan Hoor, Kuhaylan Krush strain, Saklawi I sire line
• SAHERAT ALEHWERAR HOOR--> 2 year old by Ashham x Robaeyat el Khayaam Hoor, Kuhaylan Rodan strain, Saklawi I sire line
• ZAHRET EL EID HOOR--> 3 year old by Agad x Leilet el Eid Hoor, Abeyyan Om Jurays strain, Saklawi I sire line

Lesa Faker Hoor and Zahret el Eid Hoor are full siblings, as both horses are sired by Agad (Tagweed x Fekrah) and out of Leilet el Eid Hoor (Ghallab el Ateyah x Tasaheel Hoor).  Also, Kaf el Kadar Hoor and Saherat Alehwerar Hoor are another pair of full siblings, both horses are sired by Ashham (Halim El Zahraa x Shahabiyah) and out of Robaeyat el Khayaam Hoor (Khafeef x Tabasheer). Set El Kol Hoor and and Shahd el Radab Hoor are paternal siblings of Lesa Faker Hoor and Zahret el Eid Hoor, as all 4 horses are sired by the Tagweed son, Agad. 

The oldest horse of the importation is the 11-year old stallion, Nasheed el Amal Hoor, whose name means "poem of hope". A distinctively proud horse, he's a son of a stallion named Hafez el Ahd Hoor (Ghallab El Ateyah x Shams Kareem), whose name means "the keeper of the tradition"  and is out of the EAO-bred mare, Aneedah (Rashdan x Enad). Philippe says that he is very consistently siring shorter backs with longer legs and a beautiful neck, just like his sire is doing.  In his maternal tail female line, Nasheed el Amal is Saklawi, as he traces to Moniet El Nefous through Farfoura (*Morafic x Bint Mona), a full sister to TheEgyptianPrince, however, the tail female line of his sire, Hafez el Ahd Hoor, a son of Shams Kareem (Shamsan x Mabrouka) runs to El Kahila, the Saudi mare gifted to the Inshass stud and the foundress of the Kuhaylan Krush strain in Egyptian Arabian horse breeding. In his book, The Egyptian Alternative, Volume II, Philippe Paraskevas states, 

"With the most refined specimens of today's Saklaweyat, and certainly with the most inbred, Kohailan is perhaps the place to start looking again."

Within the context of this very real horse named Nasheed el Amal Hoor, we see the words written by Philippe Paraskevas within The Egyptian Alternative come alive. There is no better visual to define the passion that Philippe Paraskevas has cultivated through seven generations of his program. It is also interesting to consider that two other horses from this importation, the stallion Day el Kamar Hoor and the filly, Shahd el Radab Hoor trace to El Kahila through the matriline, therefore, they are Kuhaylan Krush by strain, one of the most precious of all the strains in Arabian horse breeding. In an Arabian Horse World Magazine article from 2011, Philippe stated, 

"The horses of this strain still carry the dryness and desert look of their originating dam and sire." 

Day el Kamar Hoor is the reverse of Nasheed el Amal's pedigree, that is, a Saklawi Jedran sire top-crossed on a Kuhaylan Krush mare, however, Shahd el Radab is sired by Agad, who traces to Bukra, in his tail female line, for a little different "flavor" to the program. On the other hand, the stallion Tag el Ola (Shaer el Nile Hoor x Kawkab el Shark Hoor) and the mare, Set el Kol Hoor (Agad x El Set Hoor) are Saklawi by strain, as they also trace through Aneedah, the dam of Nasheed el Amal Hoor. However, while Shaer el Nile aka "the poet of the Nile" (the sire of Tag el Ola) is Abeyyan by strain, Agad, as we mentioned previously is Dahman, tracing to Bukra. However,  between these five horses, I am amazed at the extent of common ground that exists between them, whether it is the Kuhaylan Krush or Saklawi Jedran ancestral elements and strains. 

There are two Kuhaylan Rodan horses in the importation, a full brother and sister, Kaf el Kadar Hoor and Saherat Alehwerat Hoor. What I found interesting is the EAO mare, Reem, who is in the tail female line of Ashham, their sire. While Reem traces to Moniet El Nefous and is Saklawi by strain, Reem is sired by Alaa El Din, who is Kuhaylan Rodan. So, it's clever that within this side of the pedigree (matriline of the sire), we find this line running parallel to that of Rahma (Mashhour x Yashmak), in the matriline of the dam. While these two siblings are not pure-in-the-strain Kuhaylan Rodan because of their Saklawi tail female line, they are pretty darn close.

Finally, there are two horses of the Abeyyan strain in the importation, the stallion, Lesa Faker Hoor and the young mare, Zahret el Eid Hoor, as both horses trace through Maysa to Mahfouza (Hamdan X El Mahrousa) in their tail female line. Philippe, in an interview with Anita Enander for Arabian Horse World Magazine, said of the Abeyyan horses, 

"These are balanced horses, with superb tail carriage, wide and expressive eyes and abundant desert Arabian spirit." 

It is interesting that this line, in America, is largely represented by the chestnut EAO import, *Magidaa and now, at The Marbach Stud, here is the same bloodline, albeit in a different form than it has been bred, all over the world, given the success and broad impact of the Ruminaja prefixed horses.

When King Wilhelm died in 1864, the Weil Stud was recognized as the finest Arabian horse breeding program in all of Western Europe. Forty years later, the Weil Stud was barely recognizable, as it had fallen onto hard times and with war looming on the horizon and the supply of money shrinking, the fate of Weil Stud was set. In 1932, it became apparent to Princess Pauline zu Wied of Württemberg that there was only one option for the stud farm and she transferred ownership of the Weil Stud to The Marbach Stud.  The number of horses had dwindled to 17 or so horses and the program was in desperate need of outcross blood. Eventually, Polish Arabian bloodlines were infused into the program, however, it wasn't until the mid-1950's when The Marbach Stud would experience the former glory of Weil, through the purchase of the important stallion (and Nazeer son), Hadban Enzahi, who was imported from the EAO. Philippe's breeding program is unique, in the world of Egyptian Arabian breeding, as he has focused away from the Nazeer influence and towards the El Deree sire line using Akhtal and the Jamil el Kebir sire line through Anter on a mare base heavily influenced by the Inshass Stud breeding program. In another Arabian Horse World article, this time, written by Denise Hearst, Philippe shared, 

"My number one priority is, try to keep every horse as close as possible to the original profile of strain (mares) and sire line (stallions), hopefully intensifying the positive traits, rather than seeking the ever elusive ideal Arabian."

When I read Philippe's words in the Arabian Horse World feature, he reminded me of the words that Queen Kataryna had  passionately written to Count Rzewuski so long ago,  "I love horses passionately and although I have quite alot of them, I strive to the best of my ability, to improve their qualities and strains."  Somewhere in between Queen Kataryna and Philippe Paraskevas is where The Marbach Stud will find find their greatest and most exciting story, all for the love of a horse.