A Labor of Love: Bint Skyy TF

Bint Skyy TF (The Sequel RCA x Skyy) as photographed by Suzanne Sturgill

Bint Skyy TF, a 2010 bay mare, is sired by The Sequel RCA (Thee Desperado x LA Marsala) and out of Skyy (Thee Desperado x Ansata Justina). A very people-oriented mare, both sweet and kind; she is one of my favorite Arabian horses. No horse is ever really perfect but Bint Skyy TF comes really close to being just that for me. It is because of her that I have so much esteem for The Sequel RCA. Bred by Lisa Cifrese of Thornewood Farm Arabians; she is co-owned with Arabian Skyy, LLC. 

Her pedigree is one of the more interesting pedigrees that I have encountered. Thee Desperado, as an individual, accounts for 50% of the genetic influence in the pedigree, however, Thee Desperado is a son of The Minstril and AK Amiri Asmarr and it is this combination of horses which is repeated 3 times in the 4th generation (great grandparents). Let me say it another way: in the 4th generation, there should be eight horses populating the pedigree, each horse contributing 12.5% genetic influence. In Bint Skyy's pedigree, there are half that number, with 2 of those 4 horses representing three quarters of the pedigree! While nothing is ever guaranteed in the science of breeding horses, the concentration of the genetic fiber that produced Thee Desperado and his full sister, LA Marsala, is concentrated in Bint Skyy, offering the straight Egyptian breeder a little more predictability in breeding for  a new generation of straight Egyptian horses. It's exciting.

More than a few years ago, I was able to tour the exhibit, A Gift from the Desert, at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was there that I discovered the 1821 lithograph, An Arabian Horse, by the French artist, Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault. At the time, I was the owner of a mare who shockingly, resembled the horse in the lithograph. Little did I realize that five or so years later, when I met Bint Skyy in person, I would once again experience similar feelings of awe and wonder, as I realized that Bint Skyy also resembled the horse in the Géricault lithograph. 

Dr. Hans Nagel, in his book, Hanan: The Story of an Arabian Mare and of the Arabian Breed refers to the Nejdi horse as "the horse of the south". Up until the 19th century, the Bedouin tribes in Central Arabia lived in isolation, geographically cut off from the rest of the Middle East. The long-term effects on the breeding population of horses was significant, as the qualities that enabled a horse to survive in this challenging environment, as well as the traits selected by man, over thousands of years, also became the unique characteristics for which the Nedji horse would be recognized. When Mohamed Ali the Great invaded the Nejd, the horse became a prize of war, which he took back with him to Egypt, spreading the influence of the Nejdi horse farther and wider in the world. Bred with other Nejdis and with the "the horse of the north", the blood became diluted and helped to create the diversity of type we find in our breed. Dr. Nagel speaks of the Nejdi type as, 

"their characteristics are fine skin, hard sinews, compact and light bones of great structural density, dry muscles, tough and long, no excess weight of any kind. A physical size located at the lower end of the scale of the species, and typical characteristics that allow survival in a dry, hot climate: strong pigmentation as protection from the sun, few or no white markings, a short coat for better transpiration and a deposit of fat in the back or tail area for times of hunger. No fat within or among the muscles, but rather directly beneath the skin. Hard hooves that could stand up to the most rocky ground, and a calm temperament to preserve energy."

Bint Skyy TF is a proven broodmare, having been bred to the exquisite stallion, Al Ayal AA (Al Ayad x The Vision HG) and producing a filly, Aahliyah TF in 2017. Aaliyah TF represents a tremendous opportunity for the SE breeder, as she remains concentrated in the blood of Thee Desperado through The Minstril, AK Amiri Asmarr and TheEgyptianPrince. Almost 60% of her genetic influence comes from these 4 horses and yet, through her paternal grandsire, there is outcross blood introduced into the mix through the German SE stallion, Al Ayad, who also complements the blood of *Jamil, her maternal great-great grandsire. The matriline of Moheeb, the sire of Al Ayad and Madkour I, the sire of *Jamil, trace back to the 1951 EAO mare, Moheba (Sid Abouhom x Halima). Also, the line of Moheba is duplicated on the paternal side of Moheeb's pedigree, as his sire, El Shahwan is a son of Saemah, who is sired by Madkour I. This bloodline of Moheba also complements the Ansata blood that is found through Ansata Judea, the dam of Ansata Justina and Ansata Halim Shah, the sire of Maysoun.

Aaliyah TF (Al Ayal AA x Bint Skyy TF) as photographed by Suzanne Sturgill

Over the years, I have come to appreciate the Nejdi type, as an original representative for the traits that the Bedouin admired and selectively bred for, thousands of years ago, insuring the horse's survival in the harsh desert climate. This is the horse who captured the attention of our early breeders like Abbas Pasha, Ali Pasha Sherif and Lady Anne Blunt. This is the horse who has been admired on painted canvases all over the world. And today, we have horses like Bint Skyy TF and her daughter, Aaliyah TF, who help us to understand better the significance of the Nejdi horse, in the hope that these particular horses will also exert their impact in the perpetuation of the Nejdi type. 

***a year ago, September 2021, I published my 400th blog about an impressive colt, Hadiya Al Kamar RB. Today, here I am, releasing #450. It had to be about a really special horse to mark what is, a very special milestone for me, as I get closer to reaching my big, hairy and audacious goal of 500 blogs. Hope you enjoy reading about this very special and uniquely bred mare, Bint Skyy TF, who is co-owned by equally special people, Howard and Carol. To them, I lovingly dedicate this blog.***