A Princess Story

Aziza Princess as photographed by Jeff Little

In 2019 and then again in 2020, my end of year countdowns had everything to do with celebrating beloved photos and not so much the most popular blog posts that year. Photos of horses like Serr Maariner and El Thay Mameluk are timeless, and now that these horses are no longer alive, have become engraved upon my heart. These are the images that I see in my mind when I'm thinking "Arabian." One day, not so long ago, Jody Cruz sent the above photo of Aziza Princess and, well, I now have another favorite photo to add to the collection. 

I wrote a blog post on the esteemed Bedouin quality called asalah, which is the prominence of the facial crest bone. The Bedouins believed that the more prominent the bone is, the more authentic the horse. The degree of the flare or protrusion of the facial crest bone, in this particular mare, is really amazing. I am also mesmerized by her larger, deeply black eyes,  placed lower in her head, towards the middle of the skull. Her nostrils are larger in size, deeply pigmented and visually explain why these horses are called "drinkers of the wind." 

Last week, in the blog about Bint Maaroufa, I included a Carl Raswan quote, which explains a few of the attributes that are unique to the Kuhaylan strain horses, which Aziza Princess is. She is Kuhaylah Krushiyah tracing in her matriline to El Kahila, the desert bred mare gifted to King Farouk of Egypt by King Ibn Sa'ud.

"Among the Arabians the KUHAYLAN (masculine type) has the shortest and widest (broadest) head with the most details (fine tracery of veins, wrinkles, 'bumps', bulges, 'tear-bones', etc.) 'engraved' upon its intelligent features." - Carl Raswan, from his article, The Head of the Arabian, published by Western Horseman magazine

And perhaps, that's what I find so intriguing with her photo, the intelligent expression of an all-knowing, intellectually-curious and mentally engaged-with-the-world rosewater mare. 

So who is Aziza Princess anyway, you ask?  Aziza Princess, foaled in 1982, was bred by Bentwood Farm, Waco, Texas and purchased as a yearling by Bill and Georgene Raisner of Temecula, California. The sire of Aziza Princess is the legendary TheEgyptianPrince, a 1967 stallion bred by Douglas Marshall of Gleannloch Farm. TheEgyptianPrince was recognized as an extraordinary sire of broodmares who matured into dams of distinction, creating vibrant families which remain relevant in today’s breeding population. TheEgyptianPrince's genetic influence was concentrated in only a few individuals. Both his sire and dam were sired by Nazeer, while Mabrouka (the dam of *Morafic) and Mouna (the dam of *Bint Mona) were full sisters, by Sid Abouhom and out of Moniet el Nefous. Therefore, *Morafic & *Bint Mona were full-brother and full-sister in blood (not full siblings, there's a difference). In the 4th generation of TheEgyptianPrince's pedigree, the generation of the great-grandparents, normally, the pedigree is populated by eight horses, each horse representing 12.5%. In TheEgyptianPrince's pedigree, one doesn’t find eight horses; there are only four horses, who appear twice, doubling  the percentage to 25% each. It’s that dominating genetic influence and the possibilities that come from working with it, which makes the blood of this specific stallion still so exciting to work with. 

*Bint Shahbaa I (Gassir x Shahbaa)

On the maternal side of Aziza Princess’ pedigree appears the mare, Aziza Samira, bred by Trucilla Enz. Aziza Samira’s dam was the 1960 Shahbaa daughter by Gassir, *Bint Shahbaa I,  a mare who was initially purchased by Ahmed Hamza for his Hamdan Stables. In 1969, she was purchased and exported to America by Trucilla. 

Shahbaa (Hamdan x Shahd)

When the socialist revolution led by Gamel Abdel Nasser occurred in 1952 and King Fouad’s Inshass Stud became part of the newly-named Egyptian Agricultural Organization (EAO) at El Zahraa, General Pettko Von Szandtner personally selected the 1951 mare Shahbaa, a Hamdan daughter out of Shahd (El Moez x Shams), along with her daughter Shaheera by Ghazi, who Judith Forbis had called one of the “loveliest Inshass mares”. For many people who have studied the EAO breeding program deeply and are intimately familiar with the EAO horses, it is Shahd, who is regarded as the matriarch of this family, for she possessed an inner beauty and dignity that was indescribable.

Aziza Princess

Therefore, to connect the lines with the Aziza Princess family of horses, it is in fact, this mare Shahd, who is the maternal great-grand dam of Aziza Samira, the dam of Aziza Princess. It is only through the study of these key horses and for their significance within the greater community of straight Egyptian breeding, that one can better understand their critical importance within the Rancho Bulakenyo program, on their own and blended together with the already-established lines of horses like RDM Maar Hala. The fact that the Inshass mares are a rich source of Ibn Rabdan blood through the use of Hamdan, Gassir and El Moez, offers common ground with the Rancho Bulakenyo horses who also carry a concentration of Ibn Rabdan blood, particularly through the combination of the full brother and sister: *Fadl and *Maaroufa, both of whom are sired by Ibn Rabdan and out of Mahroussa. 

Aziza Princess

Impressed by the quality of the offspring that her daughter, BintAzizaPrincess (whom Jody had purchased in 2008 from the Raisners) was producing for him, Jody also wanted to incorporate Aziza Princess into his program. By this time in her life, she had produced 7 foals for the Raisners, including BintAzizaPrincess, now with Dr. Cruz:

• 1987: Pasha Netta, grey mare by AK Radwan Pasha
• 1988: Princess Pashionet, grey mare by AK Radwan Pasha
• 1989: A-Flair, bay stallion by AK El Zahra Moniet
• 1990: AZ Exotica, bay mare by Abenhetep
• 1991: BintAzizaPrincess, grey mare by Abenhetep 
• 1994: A Z Angelique, chestnut mare by Abenhetep
• 1995: Kai-Ann, chestnut mare by Rofann

Unfortunately for Rancho Bulakenyo, Aziza Princess did not produce the foal that Dr. Jody Cruz had desired for his program. Undaunted, Jody sought Aziza Princess’ 1994 & 1995 daughters, namely BintAzizaPrincess’ full sister, A Z Angelique, whom he bred to the El Halimaar son, Jabbaar El Halimaar MH and produced the mare, Azali Princess MH, who was owned by Rosehaven Ranch. Kai-Ann, the 1995 daughter by *Rofann (*Soufian x Bint Romanaa) was also incorporated into the program and bred to El Halimaar, she produced Romanaa Maara MH. Bred to *Hadban Al Shaqab, she foaled Binte Romanaa MH, the dam of Amira Kahila MH who is now part of Jamie Zissis’ breeding program at Rosehaven Arabian Farm.  

It is interesting to note that in straight Egyptian breeding, 2 strains have dominated the attention and focus of straight Egyptian breeders for a long time: Dahman and Saqlawi. Choosing to breed in a different direction, that is, within the Kuhaylan strain is unique. Jody Cruz made a bold choice to not only incorporate but to also make the Kuhaylan Kurush strain a cornerstone of his program. Little did he realize how his decision would influence not only the Rancho Bulakenyo program, but straight Egyptian breeding all over the world.

***Many thanks to Dr. Joseph Cruz of Rancho Bulakenyo fot sharing your knowledge, experiences and understanding with me. You make these stories possible! Also, I wanted to thank Brittany N Thompson for the 2 additional photos of Aziza Princess and for posting the link to the original blog post.***