Ameer El Koloob

Ameer El Koloob pictured with his new owner Diane Wilson, at her farm, Agecroft, photographed by Christine Emmert

A uniquely-bred horse, Ameer El Koloob is a 2016 straight Egyptian son of Nour Al Kamar MH (Imperial Al Kamar x Binte Aziza MH), out of DHS Tarah (Lohim x Teebah). He was bred by Christine Emmert of California, USA and now, makes his home in  Australia with Diane Wilson, at her farm,  Agecroft, located in Queensland.

Half of Ameer El Koloob's pedigree represents the contemporary breeding program of Dr. Joseph Cruz's Rancho Bulakenyo, that of Imperial Al Kamar top-crossed with the Inshass blood brought forward by BintAzizaPrincess. The other half of the pedigree is populated by unique combinations of horses who are not as commonly found in straight Egyptian breeding, outside of Egypt. 

Ameer's dam traces through the Rabab Stud's Teebah (SEA Maddah x Kout El Koloob), all the way back to Roga el Beda, the root mare of the Saqlawi strain, as recognized within straight Egyptian breeding. However, if you look beyond the matriline to study all of the other horses, particularly those individuals who populate the 6th generation, you will discover that over 30% of the pedigree is influenced by the Hadban strain! The Saqlawi strain and Dahman strain fall to secondary importance, in terms of percentages, as each strain is equally represented at  22%. In a previous blog, I explained the complementary relationship between horses of the Hadban and Saqlawi strains. Judith Forbis in her classic work, Authentic Arabian Bloodstock (the blue book) wrote that despite being a substrain of the Kuhaylan strain, the contemporary Hadban strain horses physically resemble the type we associate with Saqlawi horses while Philippe Paraskevas, the author of The Egyptian Alternative, Volume II, reminded the reader of the important role that the Saqlawi strain had upon the early development of the Hadban strain.

 "The way Venus was bred is noteworthy, as this line was immediately infused with original Saklawi Gidran blood: her daughter Hadba was by Saklawi I himself. Hadba's daughter Bint Hadba El Saghira was by a Saklawi I son, El Halabi. What we have here is a very high concentration of added-on SGIS blood at a very early stage of Hadban Enzahi development in Egypt."

Dr. William Hudson, within his important mtDNA study of the EAO matrilines, revealed that the 1882 mare, Roga El Beda and the 1880 mare, El Dahma, share the same haplotype, suggesting that both mares descend from a long ago ancestress. They are more related than we ever believed them to be. If we think along these lines, that of common ancestry, then the matrilineal strain becomes the dominating strain, as 44% of the genetic influence is driven by the combined influence of the Roga el Beda/El Dahma horses. In light of the common ancestry between the Saqlawi and Dahman strains, I also found it interesting that a single individual,  *Ansata Ibn Halima, exerts a larger percentage of influence, as compared to the other horses within the 6 generations of Ameer's pedigree.  I really believe that this is the "common ground" that unifies both sides of Ameer's pedigree. On the sire side we have *Ansata Ibn Halima mainly through his sons, El Hilal, Nazim Pasha, Hossny and El Halimaar; while on the dam side, you'll find another son, Ansata Halim Shah, the sire of the Rocaille Ranch-bred sire, Lohim. One of my all time favorite mares, ever, was Maar Bilahh, an El Halimaar daughter out of Bint Nabilahh. Lohim, offers similar genetic building blocks that we also find in Maar Bilahh. It is especially sweet for me, to discover another version of these lines coexisting within the same pedigree that also includes the Rancho Bulakenyo horses like El Halimaar. In addition, we also find several key individuals whose influence, like that of *Ansata Ibn Halima, is intensified through multiple lines: *Morafic, *Farazdac, Sameh, Bilal I and Bint Om el Saad. 

Ameer El Koloob, as photographed by Christine Emmert in May, 2022

What impressed me most about Nour Al Kamar MH is the scope and strength of his body, while not forsaking the unique hallmarks that make one horse obviously Arabian, while another, not so much. A pure-in-strain Kuhaylan stallion, Nour's muscling conveys great power, wrapped in the beauty of classic Arabian type. When I was learning about Nour, I wondered how Nour would uniquely influence his get and so, I asked Jody that question.  Jody answered, "he sires lots of front end, necks, super bodies, tail and trot." Ameer is obviously his father's son and is a living testament to what Jody has said. As robust as his sire, Ameer has great depth through his shoulders, heart girth and hip, a well set neck, with length in the poll, a fine throatlatch and a beautiful underline. His wide back is strong, smooth and level. The prominence of the bone in his face is unbelievable, the fine quality of his skin accentuates the look of a desert horse. 

Diane Wilson's straight Egyptian breeding program began with the purchase of the straight Egyptian mare, Talika Neshinah (Neshan x Talika Fazarah), whom she bred to Talika Sirdahn Halima, an AK Sirhalima son out of an Al Nahr Janie daughter. The resulting filly, Talika Sirina Bint Sirdahn, now age 24, is the dam of Agecroft Sidra & Agecroft Layla (full siblings sired by Talika Farad), plus Agecroft Ghayl (sired by Greenmantle Ghashahn). Diane  plans on breeding her mares to Ameer El Koloob.  As Nour Al Kamar MH complemented DHS Tarah via *Ansata Ibn Halima, it is exciting to also contemplate the common ground that exists between Diane's 4 home-bred mares and Ameer El Koloob, through the *Ansata Ibn Halima sons, AK Sirhalima and Ansata Halim Shah. Plus, Diane will further intensify the lines to *Farazdac and *Morafic, whose genetic presence also exists in her mares. This summer, Diane also imported a 2-year old straight Egyptian filly, also from America, Khe Amiin Tabou SSR (Al Reyhan Marou x Anisa Gamal), who combines Babson elements with *Ansata Ibn Halima, Pritzlaff and Gleannloch breeding. Eventually, when she is mature, she will also be bred to Ameer El Koloob.

However, it's important to point out the unique lines within Ameer El Koloob's pedigree, especially the double dose of the Shams El Asil stallion, Bilal I, who was treasured by his long time owner Dani El Barbary. Bilal I is out of the Inshass mare, Mona, a Badr daughter out of Mahdia, just like the mare, Hanan, whose blood is found all over the world. Hanan and Bilal I are maternal siblings, both sired by a Nazeer son. It's a significant opportunity for straight Egyptian breeders in Australia, especially those breeders who have horses with multiple crosses to Hanan, to now have an alternative source of the same blood to utilize within their programs.