Jusera

Jusera (Julyan x Serasabba) as photographed by Dan Ulm

Jusera, a 1978 straight Egyptian mare, was bred by the Babson Farm and owned for most of her life by Cheryl and Pat O'Donnell, having purchased the mare in 1989 from Dan Ulm. Her pedigree, as compared to the majority of straight Egyptian horses is unique. Her sire Julyan, was a son of the stallion Julep (Gulastra x *Aziza) and out of the straight Babson Egyptian mare, Bint Maaroufa (Fay-El-Dine x *Maaroufa). What I find so interesting now, in 2022, is that Julyan was a pure-in-strain Saqlawi stallion, as both his sire and dam trace to the Saqlawi mare, Ghazieh. At the time that he was alive, horses like *Aziza and *Maaroufa were considered Kuhaylan, as was Julyan. Now through mtDNA, coupled with the meticulous research of material that had been previously unavailable, we understand the ancestry of these horses a little better.

Jusera's dam on the other hand, is the straight Babson Egyptian mare, Serasabba, a Fabah (*Fadl x *Bint Bint Sabbah) daughter out of Serrasab, a Fa-Serr daughter out of Fay Sabbah (*Fay-El-Dine x * Bint Bint Sabbah). No matter how many years pass, this pedigree is still fascinating! Despite the 7 different individuals populating the first 3 or 4 generations of Serasabba's pedigree, it  basically is a 3-horse pedigree: * Fadl (43.75%), *Bint Bint Sabbah (37.5 %) and *Bint Serra I (18.75%). When bred to Julyan, a couple really interesting things happen. A third cross of *Fadl x Bint Serra I is added, the addition of*Fadl's full sister further intensifies the cross of Ibn Rabdan x Mahroussa to almost match the genetic percentage of *Fadl within Serasabba's pedigree; as well as the concentration to the mare, Negma (Dahman El Azrak x Bint Yamama), who appears in the pedigree 6 times (4 of those lines via *Fadl) and an overall influence of almost 18%!

Jusera was a prolific broodmare, having produced 7 foals that are part of the Babson/Brown/Sirecho group:

• DU Echos Jewel, 1981 Grey Mare by Char Echo
• DU Juleps Echo, 1986 Grey Stallion by Serr Echo
• Sir Gemuserr, 1987 Bay Stallion by DU Sir Gem
• Masrih Al Jabbar, 1988 Grey Stallion by DU Sir Gem
• HR Maariners Gem, 1989 Bay Stallion by DU Sir Gem
• HR Tadafa, 1990 Chestnut Stallion by DU Sir Gem
• HR Tali Tiflah, 1992 Bay Mare by DU Sir Gem

 and 9 foals for the Babson/Brown group:

• DU Sheena, 1984 Grey Mare by Princeton Faaris
• DU Serr Julep, 1985 Grey Stallion by Princeton Faaris
• HR Ibn Fadaan, 1993 Bay Stallion by Fadaan
• HR Judaan, 1994 Grey Stallion by Fadaan
• HR Bint Jusera, 1996 Grey Mare by Fadaan
• HR Dafiinah, 1998 Bay Mare by ASF Wadi
• HR Basiir Shariif, 1999 Bay Stallion by ASF Wadi
• HR Wajur, 2001 Grey Stallion by ASF Wadi
• HR Juseras Jusenia, 2002 Grey Mare by Amir Char Serr

From these 16 horses, the legacy of Jusera has grown to include well over 100 descendants.  What is important to remember about any breeding group is that the combination of horses which form the core or foundation of the group, represents many breeders' efforts in maintaining diversity, even if limited in the number of extant horses. It is not so much that these horses exist to justify the existence of the breeding group but rather, as I have said in other blogs, it is all about the development of outcross bloodlines to help safeguard the genetic health of our breed community, by offering choices to incorporate bloodlines that may not have been previously considered.