Mare Power

Emira (Laheeb x Embra)

An email blast sent by Arabian Essence for the beautiful show mare, Belladonna AT (Wadee Al Shaqab x Om El Bellatrix), led me to Al Thumama's extraordinary website, which is where I found the above photo of the Laheeb daughter, Emira, out of the Monogramm daughter Embra. The power that is radiating from this mare's body is impressive and out of all the beautiful mares pictured on the mare page, it was this one photo that captured my attention. The elasticity in Emira's hocks, the generously muscled hindquarter and the ability to drive herself forward must be why someone was inspired to coin the phrase, "poetry-in-motion." The way in which Emira is using the muscling in her back and abdomen, allows her to move with a powerful and yet, a supple and free stride that many Arabian enthusiasts recognize as "floating." That moment of suspension, when the horse strikes off the ground and for a fraction of a second is airborne, remains fascinating to me, no matter how many times I see it. She's a beautiful mare, bred by Michalow Stud in Poland, who has won many prizes over a long halter career, beginning in 2001 when she was named the Polish National Junior Champion filly but for me, it's a single action photo, captured within one stride in a free-moving liberty session that makes her unforgettable.  I can't make out the photographer's signature in the photo, so I "googled" to see if I could learn the name of the photographer. 

Złota Nić (Emigrant x Zlota Orda)

And that's how I found the photo of the pure Polish Emigrant daughter, Zlota Nić, also bred by Michalow. If I thought that the elasticity of Emira's hocks is amazing, is there an English word to describe the feeling I experience when I see Zlota Nić? A 2005 mare, owned by Polia Arabians and sold to Morocco, she is a maternal granddaughter of Zagrobla, also a Monogramm daughter like Embra. Zlota Nić also uses her back well, as she drives herself powerfully forward like Emira. 

Taghira B (El Thay Mameluk x 211 Zohair-2)

And as it always happens for me, that is, one horse will remind me of yet another horse and in this case it is none other than the straight Egyptian Taghira B , a 1995 mare sired by El Thay Mameluk and out of the Zohair daughter, 211 Zohair-2, bred by The Babolna Stud. She is photographed by Gigi Grasso, who owned her together with Paolo Damilano of Alfabia Stud. We see the same type of movement in Taghira B, as we see in Emira and Złota Nić.

The late classical riding master, Egon von Neindorff, in his literary masterpiece, The Art of Classical Horsemanship, speaks of another book written by Lieutenant Colonel Otto de la Croix, published in 1902 and specifically a particular section which emphasizes the importance of the back, in helping a horse to move powerfully but in a supple manner. He wrote, "it is the hindquarter activity and primarily the back which resembles a feathering spring that builds an elastic bridge between the horse's forehand and hindquarters."  All three mares share common ground in their excellent use of the back muscles, naturally. The challenge, as it is with any horse, is to replicate the same movement, while balancing the added weight of a rider on her back. With the World Championships a week away, it is reason to  celebrate purebred Arabian horses who move like these mares do. It is poetry-in-motion.

***with many thanks to Arabian Essence.  You can't imagine what an email can do for people like me, in love with the Arabian Horse, as he exists, all over the world.***