*Ramses Fayek

I wasn't planning to blog about *Ramses Fayek. There is an expansive article about him, written by Mary Jane Parkinson and published in Arabian Horse World magazine. What can I possibly add that Mary Jane Parkinson, whom I respect and admire, hasn't already covered in her work? I'm not a professional writer; I write for the love of the breed, so the blog is sort of a surprise for me too, as my feelings and thoughts for the horse all came together when I stumbled upon this Paul Loeber photo.  Its one of my favorites of the 1958 stallion, *Ramses Fayek (Nazeer x Fayza II). Bred by the EAO, he was imported to America in 1970 by the Loebers of Plum Grove Farm, located at the time in the Chicago suburb of Palatine. 

In Egypt, he was known only as "Fayek", a Muslim name, of Urdu origin, meaning "extraordinary". When you add the prefix, "Ramses", the name changes to "king of the extraordinary", a very fitting name for a horse, whose success as a sire was equally extraordinary.

*Ramses Fayek was one of the many Nazeer get imported to America in the sixties and seventies, however, for me, its not so much Nazeer that holds my attention, its the maternal side of the pedigree that captivates me, as his maternal grandam, Nefisa, is sired by a Farida son (Balance) and out of a Farida granddaughter (Helwa). Double Farida, all on the maternal side of the pedigree, a mare who is one of the most important foundation mares ever produced by the RAS. Additionally, there are three generations, one right after the other, of pure-in-the-strain Dahmah breeding: Helwa (Hamran II x Bint Farida)-to-Nefisa (Balance x Helwa)-to-Fayza II (Sid Abouhom x Nefisa). 

Like *Ramses Fayek, *Ansata Ibn Halima also traced to Farida in his matriline: Halima->Ragia->Farida 

The biggest difference between the two matrilines is one generation. That's how close up Farida was in *Ansata Ibn Halima's pedigree (3 generations) as compared to *Ramses Fayek's pedigree (4 generations). Now, forty years since the death of both horses, what I wouldn't have given for the opportunity to have focused on combining the blood of both horses exclusively, in a select program, meaning daughters of *Ramses Fayek bred to *Ansata Ibn Halima and vice versa, moving to the 2nd generation and following the same pattern with the best sons of each stallion, bred to daughters of the opposite sire of the sons. The closest that we came to this breeding was the 1970 mare, Ansata Nile Jewel,  a *Morafic daughter out of the *Ansata Ibn Halima daughter, Falima, who in turn,  produced the 1977 mare, Hadaya Nnefertiti by *Ramses Fayek, who in turn, was bred to the *Ansata Ibn Halima son, Ansata Halim Bey, to produce Hadaya Nmerytaten in 1981. This line is still extant, as it continues through the present day, having been further crossed with horses like the Imperial Imdal son, Hadaya el Tareef. Also, I offer the *Ansata Ibn Halima son, El Hilal, as another example of how well I think this cross would have worked, as El Hilal was out of Bint Nefisaa, a maternal sister of Fayza II. Also, dare I mention that crossing these 2 horses together is also the opportunity to triple the Farida bloodline? In my opinion, the risks would have been worthwhile, in order to reap the rewards that I really believe this experiment would have delivered, to borrow from Dr. Hans Nagel and his great Hanan experiment.

Long time straight Egyptian breeder, Pat Platzek, had posted the above newspaper clipping to her Facebook page several years ago. I had never seen the photo before and loved it, the first time I saw it. I have been waiting for the opportunity to post the photo again and well, now appears to be a good time, as we all marvel over this extraordinary horse, a true king of the Egyptian Arabian horses. Thanks Pat.