Gulastra, Mesaoud & Egypt

"...but man’s insatiable curiosity often overwhelms him and he destroys forever the original.” - Carl Raswan

Gulastra was sired by a son of the Ali Pasha Sherif-bred, Mesaoud, out of a daughter of the Ali Pasha Sherif-bred, *Ghazala. By virtue of his pedigree, he represents 62.5%  of Ali Pasha Sherif's breeding program. The only horses in his pedigree who were not part of Ali Pasha Sherif's breeding program are the mares Queen of Sheba, the dam of *Astraled (25%) and *Rose of Sharon, the dam of *Rodan, the sire of Gulastra's dam, Gulnare (12.5%).

Gulastra, a 1924 chestnut stallion, appears way back in the genetic histories of uniquely bred modern horses and therefore, our understanding of them and even, our appreciation for them, is not on the same level as the present day Arabian we may be more interested in and, who possibly led us to Gulastra. These long ago horses somehow, through no fault of their own, have become "just-a-name" within the pedigree and we miss knowing the colorful history that an ancestral horse like him may possess.  In 1924, the state of reproductive technology was nothing like it is today. The mare traveled to the stallion, for breeding. It is significant that Gulastra, over his lifetime, sired 117 horses for breeders like W.R. Hearst, General J.M. Dickinson, Howard Marks and Bazy Tankersley. As a matter of fact, Gulastra was the stallion that Bazy Tankersley received, when she sent Indraff to Howard Marks. Gulastra was 29 years old, when he traveled by airplane, from California, to Bazy Tankersely's farm outside of Washington D.C. Gulastra produced 11 foals for Al-Marah, before his death, the following year.

In the information and photographic history that has been published about Gulastra, we know him to have been an athletic horse, who was trained under saddle in all 5 gaits (walk, trot, canter, running walk and the rack). Gulastra's son,  Kolastra (out of *Kola), was accepted into the appendix section of the Tennessee Walking Horse Studbook. 

In the late 30s, General J.M. Dickinson, purchased Gulastra from W.R. Hearst. He bred Gulastra to *Aziza, one of the Egyptian mares that W. R. Brown had imported in 1932. She produced the stallion, Julep in 1939. It is through Julep, that the sire line of Mesaoud exists in straight Egyptian breeding, through his son, Julyan (out of the straight Babson Egyptian mare, Bint Maaroufa). In turn, Julyan sired 4  straight Egyptian sons but only 2 of the 4 sons would further the Mesaoud sire line in straight Egyptian breeding:

• the 1968 stallion, El Reata Juan (out of Mist-Aana)
• the 1971 stallion, Fadaan (out of Mist-Aana)

I found it really interesting that it is through the Hallany Mistanny daughter, Mist-Aana, that the sire line of Mesaoud survives in straight Egyptian breeding; as it is through Mist-Aana's daughters, Masada Saafaana, Julyana, Julyanne and Bint Mist Aana, that Hallany Mistanny himself, survives in straight Egyptian breeding (as part of the Babson/Brown breeding group). Is Mist-Aana the "unsung heroine" of this story, in terms of preservation?

Through El Reata Juan's approximately 28  Al Khamsa recognized descendants, the majority of which were foaled prior to the new millenium; I found 6 stallions who were foaled in the year 2000 or later. I don't know if any of these horses have remained as stallions and what their siring records may be, in order to determine the real opportunities to further the sire line in SE breeding, through the branch of El Reata Juan. 

Through Fadaan, the opportunities, as compared to El Reata Juan, are significantly less. Out of 10 descendants (all, with the exception of 2 stallions were foaled in the 1990s) there is only 1 stallion born in the 2000s. Again, not sure if this horse remained a stallion and what his siring record may be. We may learn that saving the Mesaoud sire line through Fadaan may already be too late.

In any case, whether 1, 2 or even 3 horses, the Mesaoud sire line, within straight Egyptian breeding, is in seriously grave danger of completely disappearing from what already is, our small gene pool of Egyptian Arabian horse breeding.

 

In the old days, the Mesaoud sire line was recognized as the Zobeyni sire line but a recent book published by Edouard Al-Dahdah, together with Kate McLachlan and Moira Walker, has established, through the translation of the 1860 Abbas Pasha sales list (and Mesaoud's correct pedigree), that the sire line is not Zobeyni as previously believed, it is that of Ghadir, the chief breeding stallion of Abbas Pasha, who was purchased at the 1860 auction by the Studmaster of the Weil Stud, for King Wurttemburg. Many of the qualities that were celebrated in Ghadir like the length of neck, the fineness of the throatlatch (mitbah), the strong and smooth topline, the deeper sloped shoulders, the quality of the mane and tail hairs and the noble head are also, the qualities that we see in Gulastra. That's why I love this particular photo of him, as we see these characteristics visually expressed in Gulastra. It then makes more sense to me, that is, the switch from Zobeyni to Ghadir.

Whether Gulastra traces to Zobeyni or Ghadir, doesn't change the grim reality for the sire line, within straight Egyptian form. I hope that I am wrong and that in the days to come, I will learn that there are more stallions available possessing this sire line, dramatically increasing the opportunities to rescue the sire line from the extinction it is now facing.

***If it wasn't for Laszlo Kiraly, I am not sure that I would be thinking of the Mesaoud sire line in straight Egyptian form. It is his passion for this bloodline that initiated the curiosity and fired the enthusiasm within me. Thank you Laszlo and this blog is dedicated to you.***