Most Noble

Yani Ashiraf (Amir Ashiraf x Doris Noir), Soheil Gholami photo

Hot on the heels of the Lion, comes Yani Ashiraf, in other words, the most noble one. No kidding, that's what the name of this snowy white stallion means in Arabic. The portion of his name that begins with "Yani" can translate to mean "in other words," "that is to say" or even, "therefore," while "Ashiraf" means "most noble" or "very honorable." A 2015 grey stallion, Yani Ashiraf was bred by Mr. Amir Akbari and is  owned by Mr. Hadi Esfandiyari of Iran.  

Yani Ashiraf, although not straight Egyptian, possesses a significant amount of Egyptian breeding, approximately 35%. A large portion of his Egyptian influence comes via his maternal grandsire, Al Maraam (Imperial Imdal x The Vision HG), with additional lines to the stallions, Aswan, Nil, Shaker El Masri, Hadban Enzahi, El Hilal and Mohssen. 

His sire, Amir Ashiraf is a WH Justice son, out of an Italian-bred mare of Russian lines, Guendalina (Valentyno x Beauty Odessa). His dam, Doris Noir, is an Al Maraam daughter, out of a Ganges daughter, her dam a Probat daughter. And this is where it gets really interesting, as the matriline travels back through several breeding programs like Michalów, Klemensów and the Babona State Stud, before landing in Syria with the desert-bred 216 Semrie, the 1896 mare purchased by General Michael Fadlallah el-Hedad for Babolna. She is the foundress of the 216 Semrie family at Babolna, then Poland, having foaled 5 foals: Koheilan IV-11, 112 Koheilan Rashid, 29 Mersuch, 6 Koheilan IV and Siglavy Bagdady II. Sired by a Kuhaylan  and out of a Kuhaylan Um Urkub mare, 216 Semrie is Kuhaylan, by strain.

Yani Ashiraf is a proven breeding stallion, having sired get out of the daughters of stallions like Marajj, ZT Marwetyn, Nesj El Jarash and Muranas Hacin, the majority of which have been fillies. 

Physically, Yani Ashiraf is a lovely specimen of the Arabian breed, his impressive appearance is well-suited to the use of the word noble as an adjective. His image is one that I was delighted to find and my eyes were immediately drawn to his generously-muscled hindquarters, a well-sprung rib cage, and deeper heart girth. He is amazingly close-coupled, the curvey lines not only soften the rounded silhouette more, it also enhances the tremendous balance throughout his body. He is visually representative of the term used by Carl Raswan often: a 3-circle horse. His skin quality is fine, pigmented, enhancing an elegantly sculpted look, as if he were cast from the finest marble. His head is short, wide, with large, luminous black eyes, intensifying the dramatic look of a desert horse. No one will mistake him for anything else!