22 November, 2021

Déjà vu


Simeon Sebedee, a 2006 stallion, sired by Imperial Madaar (Imperial Madheen x Ansata Nile Mist) and out of Simeon Sehavi (Asfour x Simeon Sheba) was shown over the weekend at the 24th Qatar National Arabian Championship. You will remember that I blogged about him in February. He was shown Friday night, in Class 14, Stallions 11 years and older. I stumbled upon his video, while writing yesterday's blog about Invictus. Last year at the 23rd Qatar National Arabian Championship (actually held in January, 2021 because of Covid), Simeon Sebedee had placed 2nd to Gazwan Al Nasser (Gazal Al Shaqab x Ftoon Al Shaqab) who also won the same class this year (24th Qatar National Championship). It's interesting to learn that 10 months later, even with 2 of the same judges (Tamas Rombauer & Tomasz Tarczynski), the results are similar and I still feel, despite showing signs of advancing age, that Simeon Sebedee, as he powerfully marches into the show ring, is the kind of horse who captures my attention and makes my hair stand on edge.

***with many thanks to Arabian Essence, for making these videos available on YouTube. You can't imagine what it does for people like me, in love with the Arabian Horse, as he exists, all over the world.*** 

21 November, 2021

UNCONQUERABLE

"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." - Invictus, by William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903)

It was this particular thumbnail that came up in my YouTube subscription feed. The expression and position of the horse's body speaks volumes without saying a word. Invictus has moved left, placing the outside of his body closer to his handler. In a situation where he is bombarded with new sights, scents and sounds, his comfort is with the person on the other end of the lead. It is within these moments, if you are paying attention, that one catches a glimpse of the unique intangible characteristics that define the Arab horse breed. So, I clicked and proceeded to watch Invictus, a 2014 stallion by Cavalli (DA Valentino x Aspyn) and out of Althea (Ajman Moniscione x Naama Della Vigna). 

The YouTube video is from Class 14, 7 - 9 year old stallions at the European Championships in Verona, Italy. A later email blast from Tutto Arabi would confirm that Invictus not only won his class; he was also named the 2021 European Champion Stallion. One can say that Invictus fulfilled the prophecy held within his name!

As I watched the video, I couldn't shake the feeling that Invictus has Egyptian blood coursing through his veins. A quick check of his pedigree confirmed my suspicion. He has almost 30% Egyptian blood. He has multiple crosses to Aswan (Nazeer x Yosreia) and Shaker El Masri (*Morafic x Zebeda) but he also carries lines to Egyptian horses like *Soufian, Dalul, Mohssen, Ruminaja Ali, Salaa El Dine, Mohafez, Halim Raquim, *Ibn Moniet el Nefous,  *Fadl and *Maaroufa, two of the horses that Henry Babson imported from Egypt in 1932. As I dug around looking for the sources of Egyptian blood, I slowly realized that Invictus also carries pockets of Spanish breeding, on both sides of his pedigree. As a matter of fact, his tail female line, through Amiranda (Algebi x Lagunita) runs through to Yeguada Militar breeding, ultimately reaching Farja I, a Hamdanieh Simrieh mare imported from the desert by the Yeguada Militar in 1908. She went on to found an important family in Spanish breeding. Combined with the multiple sources of *Estopa, A Fancy Miracle (the dam of Magnum Psyche) and the stallion AN Malik (Galero x Ispahan), Invictus carries almost 15% Spanish blood. In this day and age, when Spanish blood seems to be scarcely represented, I choose to celebrate every drop. 

I also found it interesting that he is linebred to the stallion, *Padron (Patron x Odessa) through his son, Padron's Psyche (out of Kilika), grandson Magnum Psyche (out of A Fancy Miracle) and daughter, Padron's Ghibli (out of Santana's Dalight). Invictus carries as much influence to *Padron, as he does in Spanish blood. You can see the *Padron influence expressed in his phenotype, although he bears a stronger resemblance to Padrons Psyche than *Padron himself, even down to his red chestnut coat color.

I learned that Luca Oberti, who showed Invictus, is also his breeder and owner and that, explains the connection between horse and man that I noticed throughout the video.  Naturally, a relationship is established with the horse, as a result of consistent training and handling. However, in this case, that relationship already existed between man and horse, as Invictus has known Luca Oberti all his life. One can say that the consistency of training and handling further deepened the relationship that was already in place. In the old days, the show ring included many owners who showed their own horses and very successfully too. I'm thinking of people like Stanley White, Bill Trapp, Paul Polk, Don Forbis and Sheila Varian, to name a few people off the top of my head. Watching Luca Oberti show his beautiful horse, as well as observing the trust and affection that Invictus has for Luca Oberti, remains a wonderful reminder of the way things used to be and how it can be again, if more owners got a little more hands on with their horses.

In the Al Adeed blog, I included a quotation that I read in Rania Elsayed's blog, which I feel is also applicable to Invictus, as it was the beauty that he holds inside which attracted and motivated me to click on his YouTube video:

"The most beautiful of horses which a horseman owns is a horse that embodies excellence in behavior and physical qualities, as our predecessors wrote."

 This quote remains like a compass for me, within a world that sometimes can be overwhelming and a bit confusing, by reminding me what is really important and in this case, it is a preference for those horses who possess the tangible and intangible characteristics unique to the Arabian horse breed. Many  congratulations to Luca Oberti and his team, for presenting such a wonderful horse to the world.

***with many thanks to Arabian Essence, for making these videos available on YouTube. You can't imagine what it does for people like me, in love with the Arabian Horse, as he exists, all over the world.*** 

20 November, 2021

Apple Hill Angel

Apple Hill Angel (Ansata El Nisr x Rose Halima) as photographed by Judith Wich

Apple Hill Angel was a 1981 grey mare, not straight Egyptian, as she traced through her maternal great granddam, Kadorzah (Kahar x Dorzah) to non-Egyptian but Al Khamsa recognized horses bred by Paula Fatjo, Albert Harris, WR Brown, the Van Vleet Arabian Stud, Hernan Ayerza and the Hamidie Society, among others. The majority of Egyptian influence in Apple Hill Angel's genetic fiber came by way of her sire, Ansata El Nisr, an *Ansata Ibn Halima son out of *Ansata Bint Zaafarana. Her dam, Rose Halima was a paternal sibling to Ansata El Nisr, as she was also sired by *Ansata Ibn Halima. The influence that *Ansata Ibn Halima exerts upon Apple Hill Angel is 50%, a percentage usually attributable to a sire and not a grand sire. I feel that his influence is unmistakable, as you study the phenotype of this beautiful mare.

The stallion, Hallany Mistanny (*Zarife x *Roda), although bred by General Dickinson of Travelers Rest, was by and out of, horses bred by Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik. Hallany Mistanny is the sire of San Luis Rose of Zarife, the dam of Rose Halima. Hallany Mistanny's sire, *Zarife, appears again in the pedigree as the sire of Dorzah, the dam of Kadorzah (the dam of San Luis Rose of Zarife). However, if you look at the pedigree of Croisedore, the dam of Dorzah, she is sired by the stallion *Nasr, another stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik. The interesting relationship between *Zarife and *Nasr is the mare, Bint Yamama. She is *Nasr's dam and she is the maternal great-granddam of *Zarife! This is the same dam line that we find in the pedigree of *Fadl and *Maaroufa, both imported by Henry Babson from Egypt in 1932. I think it is clever to intensify this wonderful damline, through multiple sources of the same blood: *Zarife, *Roda and *Nasr.

Kahar (Katar x Niht) brings in more Egyptian blood through Gulastra (*Astraled x Gulnare), the sire of Katar. The mare Niht, the dam of Katar is the great grandaughter of a mare named Nonliker, a daughter of the Dahman Shahwan stallion bred by Ali Pasha Sherif and sold to the Blunts.

In 1983, Apple Hill Angel went to the Egyptian Event and was shown in the 2-year old Filly Futurity class which she easily won. I guess the success she achieved in Kentucky inspired her owners to show the mare in the more competitive world of main ring halter, despite that the venue was dominated at that time by the Polish and Russian horses. The photo above, taken by Judith Wich, appeared in the leading breed magazines of the day. Whenever I hear Apple Hill Angel's name, this is the image that immediately  pops in my head. I was so happy to find the photo on line, as it is one of my favorites.

Unfortunately, Apple Hill Angel did not produce any offspring, as she died while she was still a young horse. Her dam was bred to Ansata El Nisr and produced the full siblings: Apple Hill Ahkita in 1976, Apple Hill Atari in 1978, Apple Hill Aclsic in 1980 and AppleHillAzourrak in 1982. Apple Hill Aclsic produced a filly in 1990 by RG Joshua (Alcibiades x Faaraa), while AppleHillAzourrak has sired a number of horses, furthering the influence of this family  farther in the world.

14 November, 2021

Al Adeed Al Shaqab in 1-2-3

Al Adeed Al Shaqab with Michael Byatt, as photographed by the late Erwin Escher
I have wanted to write about Al Adeed Al Shaqab for a long time but the challenge in writing about superstar horses like Al Adeed is the extensive amount of information which already exists about him. What more can be said without being redundant? And that's when I thought, an Al Adeed story, as told within the context of 3 favorite photos.

One of my all-time favorite photos, is the photo that appears above, taken by the late Erwin Escher, who captured Al Adeed with his camera, circa 1999, at the beginning of what would be his meteoric rise to the top, when he was named Middle East Champion Stallion. You can see so many of the outstanding qualities of this horse, for example, a lovely, arched neck, including a beautiful underline, a strong and smooth topline, well-laid back shoulders, a longer forearm vs. a shorter cannon and beautiful tail carriage. He is smooth-bodied, so harmonious and for me, a living standard, more powerful than any illustration and the image that frequently comes to mind, when horse lovers hear the words "Arabian horse". In those early days, it was exciting to follow him, win-after-win, all the way to his first showing at the World Championships in 2002. I can still feel the shock and disappointment, when he was stripped of his 2002 World Championship win. The following year, Al Adeed returned to Paris and was named the 2003 World Champion Stallion. 

Al Adeed Al Shaqab was a son of Ansata Halim Shah and out of Sundar Alisayyah, a Ruminaja Ali daughter out of Imperial Sayyah, an Albadeia-bred mare, imported in utero by Imperial Egyptian Stud. Al Adeed Al Shaqab was Hadban Enzahi by strain, as he traced over the course of 11 generations to the chestnut mare, Venus, an 1890 mare purchased for Khedive Abbas II and considered by many historians as the root mare of the strain. However, if you study all the horses within his sixth generation (great-great-great grandparents), you get a much different impression over the strains of influence, as Al Adeed is 37.5% Hadban but he is also 25% Kuhaylan (he is impacted by 3 Kuhaylan strains: Mimrah, Jellabi & Rodan), 21.875% Saqlawi, 12.5% Dahman and just a little touch of Abeyyan at 3.125%.  I am reminded of a passage that I read within The Blue Arabian Horse Catalog, created by Miss Jane Llewellyn Ott, "A breeding-prospect should always be judged on its bloodlines first and its own merit afterwards. The reason for this is that an animal can transmit from any or all of its immediate progenitors, not just from those it happens to resemble itself." 

Al Adeed Al Shaqab with Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al Thani, as photographed by Nicole Sachs
If you dear reader, have followed Al Adeed over his lifetime, you are aware of the relationship that Sheikh Hamad enjoyed with Al Adeed Al Shaqab.  In an interview for Arabian Horse Times Abroad, Jeff Wallace had asked Sheikh Hamad one final question, "What characteristic stamps a Sheikh Hamad-bred Arabian Horse?" and before Sheikh Hamad could answer, Jeff further refined his question as, "what is the one characteristic that most have, that you keep and carry forward?" Without any hesitation, Sheikh Hamad answered, "Al Adeed." A few seconds later, Sheikh Hamad further adds, "He's my boy. I don't know why I love this boy. I ride him. I ride him every morning." You can hear the surprise in Jeff's voice over learning that Al Adeed is ridden by Sheikh Hamad every day. Sheikh Hamad reminds us of the unique relationship that develops between man and horse, as a result of consistent training and handling. Recently, I was reading Rania Elsayed's blog, The Horse in Word and Picture and specifically, her newest post which examines the qualities of the Arabian horse, as found in vintage Arabic manuscripts. The following passage, so profound in its simplicity, really impressed me: "The most beautiful of horses which a horseman owns is a horse that embodies excellence in behavior and physical qualities, as our predecessors wrote." The more I thought about it, the more I believed that Al Adeed Al Shaqab, in his earthly life, balanced his physical beauty, with that of his inner beauty. He was a complete horse, a horse who was sound of mind, body and spirit.  Photos such as this particular photo taken by Nicole Sachs, another favorite, helps us to observe and better understand the intangible qualities of the Arabian horse breed, that otherwise, would be invisible to us. 
Al Adeed Al Shaqab, as photographed by Nancy Pierce
When Al Adeed Al Shaqab arrived in America, I was overjoyed to learn the news, as I hoped for the opportunity to see him in person. I don't exactly remember why but unfortunately, I didn't get to see him in real life but I did stumble upon photos taken by Nancy Pierce at Michael Byatt's 2007 Open House, when Al Adeed was officially presented to the American public. Al Adeed would have been 12 years old at the time. I love all the photos that Nancy shot of him in Texas but this particular photo eclipses all the others, as it highlights Al Adeed's extraordinary beauty. It's difficult to narrow the appreciation that I feel for Al Adeed to a specific part of his anatomy, as he is the sum of all parts. And yet, it's the shape of his skull with a pronounced jibbah, together with the broad forehead and defined jowls. The fine quality of his heavily pigmented skin accentuates the prominence of his bones and veins, intensifying the clean and dry elegance of a desert horse. The shape of his well-set ears, the delicately shaped nostrils which are wider at the base than they are on the top and his dark, large eyes, set lower in the head, all work together with his grey coat color, to create a dramatic expression of the proverbial fairy-tale horse come to life. 

A sire of excellence, with many lovely sons and daughters to his credit, I want to highlight Naseem Al Rashediah (out of the Ezzain-bred mare, Nabaweyah) and  Fayad Al Shaqab (out of the Richter MH daughter, Exotic Tremor), as well as the Janow Podlaski-bred, Pilarosa (out of the Fawor daughter, Pilar). Al Adeed is also the grandsire of a noteworthy young stallion, the jet black Atum (out of the Al Adeed daughter Aleah Al Moutribah). While the many articles and videos published about Al Adeed help to memorialize the once-in-a-lifetime-horse that he was; it is through his get and their progeny that Al Adeed Al Shaqab's name will forever live on our lips. He may be gone from this earth physically but he will never be forgotten.
From Perry Poems: A Collection, Bethany A Perry

***Did you enjoy this blog? Don't miss the expanded version of Al Adeed's story, published within the next issue of The Arabian Breeders Magazine***

06 November, 2021

Bel Gordas

Bel Gordas (Sirecho x Habba)

Bel Gordas was a 1956 grey stallion, bred by Mrs. John Ekern Ott, who had purchased his dam, Habba (*Fadl x *Bint Bint Sabbah), from the Babson Farm in 1954. Bel Gordas' sire, Sirecho, foaled in 1939, was also purchased by Mrs. Ott, from Clifford Lodwick, in the same time period of the Babson Farm purchase. Bel Gordas was the first foal that Sirecho sired for Mrs. Ott and eventually, he became a herd sire for her program. The interesting thing about Habba is that a maternal line, in straight Babson Egyptian form, no longer exists. Horses like Bel Gordas and his descendants, remain the ways in which we can incorporate the influence of Habba within a breeding program. 

In the Spanish language, the name, "Bel Gordas" translates to "beautiful fat ladies" however "beautiful" in this sense, does not refer to an outwardly physical beauty but rather, an in-born beauty, like a spiritual beauty. For most people who have been involved with Asil or Egyptian horses, they are familiar with Mrs. Ott and her daughter, as both ladies are largely responsible for developing awareness and appreciation in America for the preservation of the Bedouin-bred Arabian horse, as catalogued within their famous publication, The Blue Arabian Catalog. The Otts were passionate about the horses and their communication style, reflected the passion they felt. I have always wondered if the name of Bel Gordas was like an "inside joke" for Mrs. Ott and her daughter. Needless to say, whenever I see Bel Gordas' name, I always chuckle, thanks to the Otts. 

One of the stories that I heard about Bel Gordas involved Richard Pritzlaff, who owned the mare, Rabanna (Rasik x Banna). Richard loved the mare and because of her dam, Banna, Richard was also enamored of the stallion, *Nasr (Rabdan el Azrak x Bint Yamama). He desired to incorporate more *Nasr blood within his program, so he contacted the Otts, in the hope that he could lease Sirecho for breeding. However, Sirecho was an aged stallion by that time and it wasn't in the horse's best interest to ship him all the way to New Mexico. So, instead of sending Sirecho to Richard, Mrs. Ott sent Bel Gordas to Jackson Hensley instead. Bred to *Bint el Bataa, Bel Gordas sired the mare, Naszala for Richard but he also sired RA Leila, out of the *Bint Moniet el Nefous daughter, RSI Rara Del Sol, for Jackson, among other horses.

Bel Gordas sired a little less than 20 horses and of those horses, 3 were out of the Sirecho daughter, Faarecho (out of Faara by Faddan x Fa Aana), 3 were out of Jasmyn (Fa-Rousse x Dahlya), who incidentally, was a granddaughter of Dahma Al-Zarka, who also was bred to Bel Gordas in 1965, producing the daughter, Belle Dahma, who was later exported to Germany. Bel Gordas was also bred to the mare Zahlya twice. Zahlya was by Zarlan and out of Dahlya, the dam of Jasmyn! The Sirecho daughter, Sirulla (out of Drissula) was also bred to Bel Gordas, as was her daughter, Zarrulla.  For a smaller number of get sired, the Bel Gordas family has prospered over the years and Bel Gordas has 963 descendants through the present day, with approximately a third of those descendants born in the years 1990 through 1999. 

I was born in the sixties, so Bel Gordas, as a living individual in the physical world, was a bit before my time. It would be through his daughter, Belle Echo (out of Faarecho, also by Sirecho) and her daughters: Masada Bellesabah (Lothar), Masada Saabellah (Saafaddan) and Masada Bellisima (Fabo) that I learned of Bel Gordas. These were very pretty and really sweet mares, who produced equally sweet horses. Sirecho, a curiously intelligent horse, was remarked to have a wonderful, easy going personality that he passed onto his sons and daughters as well as a voluptuous phenotype, like an "old world" type, their bodies comprised of flowing, circular lines, just as if they had stepped out of a museum painting. Many, many years later, to illustrate how small the world can be, I would have the opportunity to own Princeton Maarena, a great-granddaughter of Sirhabba, who just happens to be a full sister to Bel Gordas! It would be this experience which has left me a forever fan of this particular bloodline.

***I published this blog earlier this year, on March 13th. Bel Gordas is one of my favorite horses, one of my favorite lines in straight Egyptian breeding. If you missed his story the first time, here's another opportunity to read his blog.***