#499

Ansata Imperial (Ansata Ibn Sudan x Ansata Delilah) as photographed by Scott Trees. This is my favorite photo of Ansata Imperial because it comes closest to how I remember him.

Judith Forbis said of Ansata Delilah, 

"A regal attitude, a proud demeanor and an independent soul marked Delilah from the day she was born." 

So, it would make sense that her colt by the National Champion stallion, Ansata Ibn Sudan, would be called "Imperial", derived from the Latin, "Imperium", a Roman word meaning sovereign authority, like that possessed by an Emperor, over his ruling empire. So from birth, the expectation for this "little prince" of a colt  was that he would one day mature into a "king" among Arabian Horses. Having sired elite horses of both genders consistently, for example the national winning Imperial Phanilah (out of the *Ibn Moniet el Nefous x *Pharrah daughter, Imperial Phanadah) and Imperial Imdal (out of the *Morafic x Romanaa II daughter, Dalia), one would say that in hindsight, the "Imperial" in his name was like a harbinger of his siring success.

The interesting thing about Ansata Imperial's pedigree is that the majority of the pedigree, almost 70%, represents the cross of Nazeer with Mabrouka (Sid Abouhom x Moniet el Nefous). The mares Halima (12.5%), Bukra (6.25%) and the stallion, Sameh (12.5%) are the "outcross" horses in the pedigree, in the sense that they neither carry Nazeer or Mabrouka in their blood. However, Shahloul is the sire of both Bukra and Moniet El Nefous, while El Deree is a grandsire in both the pedigrees of Sameh and Sid Abouhom and so, these horses still share ancestral elements, meaning, they are less of an outcross, than you may believe them to be.

I was looking at several of the conformational photos of Ansata Imperial, which suggest that the horse, as you would expect, was genetically influenced by the Saqlawi horses in his pedigree, i.e. the full brother and sister: *Morafic and *Ansata Bint Mabrouka. 

 as photograped by the late Johnny Johnston

However, I saw Ansata Imperial in person several times, going back all the way to when he was 7-years old and what caught my attention at the time was his unique body shape (as compared to the other Imperial horses like Moniet el Nafis). He was not as tall in stature as his photos led me to believe, and the shape of his body was more compact and circular, his body mass filling 3-circles equally, to create a horse who was "rubinesque" in physique, more like the horses who were painted upon the canvases of the artwork that hangs in most museums. You know, an "old world" type of horse. He was one of two horses who were crucial within this stage of my breed development, in terms of establishing a standard for the phenotype I preferred. The other horse was the mare, Negmaa (*Ansata Ibn Halima x *Bint Nefisaa). In my eyes, she was very much like Ansata Imperial in phenotype and on the 3-hour drive back home, I was convinced that I would breed horses like these two horses someday.  If anything, this is an indirect lesson of how important it is to see horses in person, as the living, breathing, moving horse in front of you can be very different from the horse you admired in photos. You may like the horse more or you may like him less, causing the word "ugh" to rise up in your throat.

When Judith Forbis published the book, Born to Reign, it came at a time in my life when I was more open to the writings of Carl Raswan concerning the Muluq horses. It was something that Judith Forbis wrote about Ansata Delilah that caught my attention and then held it, long enough for me to connect a dotted line between what she wrote and what Carl Raswan included in two articles published by Western Horseman magazine.

In everything that I learned from the women who cared for "Imp", as he was called, and in all that I read in the various forums, articles and emails, Ansata Imperial did not appear to be the seriously contemplative horse that his mother was. If anything, Ansata Imperial possessed a sense of humor, bordering on the mischievous and he took great pleasure in "playing" his caretakers for his amusement. Ansata Imperial, if he were a human, would be referred to as a "bro", you know, that happy-go-lucky, never-could-get-serious, college buddy who could make you laugh when he would put his arm around you, as he yelled into your ear, "Wassup, bro?"  

In one of the articles that he published in Western Horseman magazine, Raswan wrote, 

"AN ARABIAN sire communicates physical qualities and nervous energies, but never the elements of the mind and soul which are outside of the domain of physical laws and which were a spiritual gift to the first mare." 

However, there was something special about Ansata Imperial's expression, which is unique to a select few of the Bukra horses. It's like an  inborn knowing look of wisdom, coupled with equal parts of self-awareness and self-confidence. It's a look that is conveyed through the depths of their liquidy black eyes, convincing the onlooker that these horses understand far more than we ever give them credit for, possibly even more than many human beings will ever understand. Maybe the "joke" is on all of us and this was the greatest "prank" that Ansata Imperial played on the humans who adored him. What if the "Imp" that everyone knew, had made a decision, to look for joy wherever and however he found it, in order to brighten the lives of the humans who cared for him, sensing perhaps their anxiety, worry and fear. A little tutti-frutti perhaps? Please forgive me for that. Maybe anthropomorphic on my part, well, yes, but what if it is true? One day, we will know the answer, possibly, when ChatGPT discovers the DNA marker and creates a home test kit for us to use.