Catalyst

Julie Koch recently posted the above ad in her popular Facebook group, Reliving Arabian Horse History. The ad was originally published in the May 1975 issue of the Arabian Horse Breed Journal. What grabbed my attention was not so much the photo of *Lewisfield Magic; he's beautiful, I agree, but it is the mention of a stallion named Moniets Echo, just under the photo of *Lewisfield Magic (I circled it in red for you) who is offered for sale. 

Who could predict that Julie's post would be the catalyst in revisiting a long ago beloved horse, whose memory still inspires my being with an amazing sense of wonder?

Moniets Echo (*Ibn Moniet El Nefous  x Sirbana)

Sired by *Ibn Moniet El Nefous, Moniets Echo was out of a combined source mare (combined source because her pedigree blends the sources of Babson breeding with *Turfa and Sirecho) whose name was Sirbana, a 1959 Sirecho daughter out of Habbana (Ibn Fadl x Bint Habba), bred by Mrs. John E. Ott. As much as I love the IMEN/Babson crosses, Sirbana is the reason why this particular horse, Moniets Echo, stood out, as her name also appears in the ad, as the dam of Moniets Echo. I know of this mare, Sirbana, as she was owned by Joe and Sharon Ferriss. You will remember that she was "the totally noble in a quiet way" mare featured in the blog about the Muluq horses Her expression in the photo that Joe shared with me, still haunts me, as it is the same "look" that I remember Princeton Maarena giving me. Gosh, how I wish to go back, if there was a way to go back in time, for only a second, to just touch Mimi.

I've never forgotten how Joe described Sirbana within a discussion about Bedouin preferences in Edouard Al-Dahdah's blog, Daughter of the Wind:  

"our first Al Khamsa mare, Sirbana, born 1959, did not have a dished face at all, yet with her large eyes, broad forehead, balanced head proportions and graceful mitbah many who saw her thought she was beautiful. "

Sirbana was a hugely prolific mare, having foaled 14 foals over her lifetime. The first 5 foals were bred by Dr. Keith Krausnick, of Shar-Char Farm, the same breeder of the mare, Sirhabba:

• 1963: Shar Negana by Negem
• 1964: Shar Dougana by Negem
• 1965: Char Bagem by Negem
• 1966: Char Faban by Fa-Turf
• 1969: Shar Ebeya by Fa-Serrab
• 1971: Farah Mirbana by Mahrouss

By 1970, Dr. Krausnick had sold the mare to someone else (Al Khamsa records the breeder of Farah Sirbana as the Krausnicks but this may be that the registration was still in the Krausnicks name at the time of the filly's birth), who were the actual breeders of her Mahrouss foal, as well as the breeders of her 1972 Char Iswid filly, Farah Sirbana (the breeder of Farah Sirbana is recorded by Al Khamsa as Bar JF Ranch). In 1973, she was shipped to Bentwood Farm, to be bred to *Ibn Moniet El Nefous, producing the English Pleasure champion, Moniets Echo in 1974. The following year, she was bred to *Lewisfield Magic, eventually producing a colt by him, retained by Conquistadores Arabians. By 1976, Joe Ferriss had already been following Sirbana closely and learned that Conquistadores Arabians in New Mexico was offering Sirbana for sale. Joe loved the mare; she would be his first Al Khamsa mare at the time. Joe had already arranged with Walter Schimanski to breed Sirbana to Lothar, which he tried soon after the purchase but unfortunately, she didn't settle.  Joe tried again in 1977 and this time, the attempt was successful, producing a colt in 1978 whom Joe named Fa Manial, an elegant stallion who was taller than both his sire and dam, at maturity. Joe eventually sold tge colt to Vernon and Alice Bean of Illinois. They kept the stallion his whole life, breeding a number of foals sired by him. In these days, there was no AI, mares were bred by live cover, which meant that the mares were shipped to where the stallion was located. Joe and Sharon Ferriss were concerned over the stress to Sirbana and  began, as an alternative, to lease stallions, specifically selected to complement Sirbana. Their strategy worked, as they bred her next 4 foals, each one a catalyst or touchstone to the beauty that Sirbana's bloodlines foretold that she could produce, when carefully bred to a stallion perfectly suited for her:

• 1980: Nasrab by DU Fadl
• 1981: Fa El Echo by Char Echo
• 1982: Fa Nasr by Char Echo
• 1985: Bint Sirbana by Char Echo

How prolific as a broodmare was Sirbana? It is interesting to note that Sirbana's bay filly by Char Echo, Bint Sirbana  was born when Sirbana was 26 years old! Joe shared that Bint Sirbana was a bay version of her dam, a beautiful mare, regal, her body shaped by long, flowing curvey lines. By the time that Bint Sirbana was born, Joe had made the conscious decision to no longer breed horses and Bint Sirbana was sold to the Poe family in North Carolina who loved and cared for the mare, all her life.

Bint Sirbana (Char Echo x Sirbana), photo by Joe Ferriss

In the Muluq blog I wrote that the Muluq horses are not only beautiful and charming; the horses possess a contemplative expression, conveying a deeper level of emotional intelligence than we ever realized. Raswan states that the Bedouin called this, Yuminuna B'il Ghayb, which translated, means "it is within them, the psychic power of an angel." It is extremely interesting that not only did her sire possess this unique expression but her dam did as well and in this Joe Ferriss photo, we see that the daughter had a very similar expression as well. Visually, this makes Raswan's words, written way back in the forties,come alive all over again. In these days that are fueled by anger, intolerance and lack of respect, these horses are like a salve to heal these emotional wounds and remind us of the responsibility we all have to treat each other with dignity and kindness.