Ansata El Wazir

*Ansata El Wazir (*Tuhotmos x *Ansata Bint Sameh)

Within Robert Vavra's book, All Those Girls In Love with Horses, published by William Morrow in 1981, the reader will discover the straight Egyptian Arabian stallion, *Ansata El Wazir, an important horse in the equine centric life story of Debi Jensen, then the Head Trainer and Manager of Raintree Egyptian Stud. 

"Never before have I worked with a stallion that can be communicated with so easily and trusted so much. Wazir possesses an almost human personality, and a very likable one at that! It is easy to see why he draws people to him. People who never particularly liked horses stop and want to touch Wazir. Artists come to paint and photograph him." - Debi Jensen, in her own words, as published within All Those Girls In Love with Horses by Robert Vavra

I recently stumbled upon this photo of *Ansata El Wazir and while I deeply admired him, it has been forty years since I first saw him in Robert Vavra's book. So many horses have come and gone since then! Who was *Ansata El Wazir, you might ask? He was a son of the EAO-bred stallion, *Tuhotmos (El Sareei x Moniet el Nefous) and out of the EAO-bred *Ansata Bint Sameh (Sameh x Futna). Foaled in 1971, he was imported in utero by Ansata Arabian Stud.

• via his tail female line, *Ansata El Wazir was Dahman by strain: Ansata Bint Sameh->Futna->Farida->Nadra el Saghira->Nadra el Kebira->El Dahma  
• via his sire line, he traces to Gamil el Kebir: Tuhotmos->El Sareei->Shahloul->Ibn Radan->Rabdan el Azrak->Dahman el Azrak->Jamil el Ahmar->Gamil el Kebir

Having seen Futna in Egypt, Judith Forbis shared in her remarkable Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, Volume II, that Futna was a tall mare, with a strong and correct body. No surprise that Judith Forbis' description of her daughter, Amal (renamed *Ansata Bint Sameh) would also be like that of her dam, 

"a tall, very well-balanced, good bodied, basically correct mare, but plain headed, as one would have expected from this combination." - Judith Forbis, Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, Volume II 

Noted breed historian, Joe Ferriss, in his article published by Desert Heritage magazine, El Sareei - A Gift from the Island of Pearls, said, 

"Tuhotmos, was an artist's inspiration for his dry, refined beauty." - Joe Ferriss, El Sareei - A Gift from the Island of Pearls 

Having known *Tuhotmos, when he was alive, I agree with Joe and believe that  it made great sense to breed *Ansata Bint Sameh to a stallion who was known for his dry, expressively-chiseled head. 

However, the most fascinating aspect of *Ansata El Wazir's pedigree is NO NAZEER blood. In a time period when the world of straight Egyptian breeding heavily favored horses who were line bred to Nazeer, *Ansata El Wazir offered something a little different to breeders: outcross potential. Additionally, he possessed 3 lines to Shahloul, as his sire *Tuhotmos was a double grandson of Shahloul and his dam, *Ansata Bint Sameh, was a maternal granddaughter. Almost 40% of *Ansata El Wazir's pedigree is represented by Shahloul. In the fourth generation, which is the generation of the great-grandparents, Shahloul presents a unique genetic force, as he occupies three primary places. What should be 8 horses in this generation are actually 6 horses: Shahloul plus Zareefa (Kazmeen x Durra), Wanisa (Sheikh el Arab x Medallela), El Moez (Ibn Fayda x Bint Zareefa), Samira (El Deree x El Samraa) and Farida (Saklawi II x Nadra el Saghira). While Shahloul is remembered for siring daughters like Moniet el Nefous, Om el Saad, Maisa, Kateefa, Futna and Bukra; we must also remember that Shahloul also sired sons who had an impact upon the EAO breeding program like El Sareei (*Tuhotmos' sire) and Mashhour. Within the first volume of Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, Judith Forbis included a description of Shahloul, made by Dr. Ameen Zaher, as 

"having the best eyes, head and neck, which was very arched and lovely thin skin." - Dr. Ameen Zaher, as quoted in Authentic Arabian Bloodstock by Judith Forbis

I can't think of a better example that unites in importance, the role that ancestors play in breeding decisions, that is, choosing horses whose ancestors are complementary to each other. In this case, understanding the role that Futna through *Ansata Bint Sameh will play genetically, when crossed with a stallion like *Tuhotmos, who is line-bred to an ancestor (Shahloul) known for producing an expressive, typey head. 

Early in his breeding career, *Ansata El Wazir was used within the Ansata breeding program, siring Ansata Nile Ruler ( sold to Sabbath Arabians) and daughters like Ansata Regina (retained by Ansata), Ansata Rhozira (sold to Downing Arabian Stud), Ansata Nile Gem (sold to Jarrell McCracken) and Ansata Nile Joy (sold to the Arheims in Australia).  In 1977, *Ansata El Wazir was purchased by Bill and Betty Nottley of Raintree Egyptian Stud, located in Newberg, Oregon, where he became a champion show horse, winning a Canadian Top Ten title in Native Costume, as well as the head sire of their breeding program. *Ansata El Wazir sired approximately 142 horses over his lifetime. What I wouldn't have given to have bred *Ansata El Wazir to the Sameh daughters like *Serenity Sonbolah and *Deena or their daughters, Imperial Sonbesjul and Bint Deena.