A Matter of an "H"

The grey stallion, Kafifan, foaled in 1916, is also known as "Khafifan" and "Hafifan". The above photo is widely published, available on many social media websites. It is interesting to note that the breeder of the horse, Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik, spells the horse's name with an "h" in his book, Breeding of Pure Bred Arab Horses. So, I'm thinking that the correct spelling of "Kafifan" is "Khafifan".

Khafifan, sired by Mabrouk Manial (Saklawi II X Tarfa) and out of Negma (Dahman Al Azrak x Bint Yamama), is a full brother to Weil-Marbach's Jasir. Sometimes, I wonder over the purpose of writing a blog concerning a long ago horse like Khafifan or Jasir. Why are they important in 2024? Horses like Khafifan and Jasir are part of our breed history, understanding them as individuals, helps you to understand your Arabian horse better. While I am not a genetic scientist, either horse, as an ancestor in a pedigree, is still viable gentically and thusly, remains relevant for the horse of today. 

One thing struck me about Khafifan, as I read about him. He was a unique horse, as compared to the horses of his time. He was a horse who scored several "firsts", for example, he was the first Egyptian horse imported into Poland in 1924. He was also the first Saklawi I sire line horse imported into Poland. It is interesting to note that in the decade of the 1920's, when financially, money was tight and people held onto the belief that the quality of the desert horse had declined, a horse bred and raised in Egypt, was purchased, imported and used at stud. Not only does this show the willingness of a breeder to recognize a good horse regardless of where in the world the horse comes from; I also believe this speaks loudly of this particular horse's quality, given how challenging it was to import a horse in this time period, in addition to the other concerns.

Khafifan was purchased and imported by Count  Antoni Alfred Potocki, the nephew of Jozef Potocki, the man who bred Skowronek. Count Potocki, in 1924, was on safari in the Sudan and upon his return to Poland, took a detour to Manial Palace, in order to visit Price Mohamed Aly Tewfik. It was there that he saw Khafifan for the first time and the horse impressed him so much, he purchased the horse for 400 English pounds. In Poland, Khafifan stood at stud in more than one place: Albigowa and Gumniska.  At the time, Albigowa, despite starting with Arabian horses, was focused on breeding Thoroughbred horses. Khafifan was the first purebred Arabian import for Albigowa.

Kazimierz Krzyształowicz was employed as the governor of Count Potocki's estates. His son, Andrzej, took an interest in horses and through Bolesław Orłoś, the stud farm manager of Albigowa, was introduced to Khafifan. Later, Andrzej Krzyształowicz would later recall,  "Khafifan was the pride of Alfred Potocki, shown to all guests who very often visited Łańcut. I also visited Albigowa whenever I could. Every day I had better and better contact with this Khafifan. He charmed me with his beauty, as I remember today, with a beautiful head, a wonderful mane, and an even more wonderful tail. And the ointment is silvery-white, shining like alabaster.” Khafifan was the first Arabian horse that Andrzej had ever seen. One can say that Khafifan helped to determine the course of Andrzej Krzyształowicz's life!

Count Alfred Potocki took possession of Łańcut in 1915, upon the death of his father. Today, the Museum at Łańcut Castle, has two commissioned paintings of Khafifan in their collection. The first by the Polish artist, Wojciech Kossak, who successfully captured  in 1925 the silvery sheen Khafifan was rumoured to have:

and the 2nd painting, which is a favorite of mine, done in 1927 by the English painter, Wright Baker:

While the line of Kafifan was lost to Poland as a result of World War II, his daughter, *Mattaria (out of Koncha by Souror) was purchased by General J.M. Dickinson of Travelers Rest, Franklin, Tennessee. 

Miss Cognac (Cognac x Serbaya) a 1976 bay mare bred by Bernard Ulrich and photographed by Scott Trees

It is through *Mattaria that the line of Khafifan exists today, in America. Think of the powerfully-moving mare, Miss Cognac, the 1982 US National Champion Park Horse, who traces to *Mattaria. It is important to point out that Khafifan, although 8-years old by the time Count Potocki had purchased him, did not sire any get in Egypt (or if he did, we don't know about it). However, in Poland, he sired 16 horses, including *Mattaria.

It is horses like Khafifan who push me to marvel over the consistency and strength of Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik's breeding program.  The Prince was an exceptional breeder, producing not only horses like Khafifan but also, Mahroussa, who inspired so many with her beauty and type.  Imagine a program which weaved exclusively  together the blood of stallions *Zarife, *Nasr, Hallany Mistanny and *Fadl with the mares, *Maaroufa, *Bint Saada, *Hamida, *Hamama, *Roda and *Aziza and then out-crossed with the RAS/EAO horses who incorporated higher percentages of the Prince's breeding. Given the number of outstanding horses produced by the Prince, it would have made sense to preserve his program, even if it was done on a small scale. I believe that Count Potocki recognized the importance of the Prince's breeding program, as he personally witnessed via Khafifan. The Count was quoted as saying, "Khafifan was perhaps the finest stallion I ever owned." 

***There are so many different people to thank, because without them, I would not have been able to write this blog about Khafifan. Thank you to Araby magazine for their Facebook post from March 2014,  Joe Ferriss and his article, A Tale of Two Princes, PolishEquestrianlegends.com for their article on Andrzej Krzyształowicz, the Castle Museum in Łańcut and a May 2019 Facebook post made by Mulawa Arabian Stud.  I so appreciate the opportunities you provided to learn more about Khafifan***