AK El Sennari

AK El Sennari (*Ibn Moniet el Nefous x Il Bint Khedena)

In a couple of weeks, on October 17th,  we will remember Nasr Marei, on the 8th anniversary of his death. Even after all this time, I still have difficulty seeing Nasr's name together in the same sentence with "death." So many questions remain unasked, so many answers are left without a voice to express them, so many things I wish I had told him, will forever remain unsaid. Now, in these days, we are left with only memories, which inspire and encourage us to see the world as beautifully as he saw it. Recently, I stumbled upon a photo of AK El Sennari, who entered Nasr's breeding program, in the twilight of his life. 

Little did Mrs. George Fox understand how her efforts would impact AlBadeia in Egypt almost 40 years later, when she purchased Fa Dena, a Fa-Serr daughter out of Khedena (a Fa Deene daughter) from the Babson Farm. Mrs. Fox bred Fa Dena to  *Ansata Ibn Halima, to produce the full sisters: Bint Fa Dena in 1966 and Il Bint Khedena in 1968, both of whom were purchased by Robert Cowling of Houston, Texas. When Jarrell McCracken purchased Robert Cowling's horses, he intensified the Saqlawi strain even further, by breeding Il Bint Khedena to *Ibn Moniet el Nefous, to produce the stallion, AK El Sennari on February 21, 1980. Through Il Bint Khedena, AK El Sennari traces in his matriline to the 1932 Babson Egyptian import, *Bint Serra I, a Saqlawi strain mare bred by Prince Kemal el Dine. However, *Ibn Moniet el Nefous is also Saqlawi-in-strain, because he traces through Moniet el Nefous to Roga al Beida through his tail female line, making AK El Sennari pure-in-the-strain Saqlawi (both tail female lines, the sire and dam, need to be Saqlawi to claim pure-in-strain status). More on this later.

He was exported to England, owned at the time by Ronald and Anne Hutchings. While in Europe, he was a competitive show stallion at the international level, winning the Belgium Senior Stallion championship. In 2000, Nasr was looking to expand the genetic mix of blood within his program. 5 years earlier, he had successfully added the bloodlines of the American Egyptian breeding program, Imperial Egyptian Stud, through the use of the stallion, Imperial Madori, which yielded the World Champion Mare, Gelgelah Albadeia. It was the first time that Nasr had used a foreign born straight Egyptian stallion in his program. Little did he know at the time that Madori was paving a new path for other non Egyptian born horses to join the Albadeia program like the *Ansata Ibn Halima son, Bar Sama Halim bred by Rick Heber and the Australian Simeon Sharav, an Asfour son out of Simeon Shuala, in the hope that he would add a more upright neck and shoulder to his herd. Also in the same year, Nasr, together with Dr. Aly Abdel Bahim purchased AK El Sennari, as he wanted to improve the croup in his horses, as well as adding more movement. He was 20 years old at the time of his purchase. 

The core of the foundation of the AlBadeia breeding program was the stallion, Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha) through the strategic use of his sons, daughters and grand-get over the years. I think of the extraordinary Nazeer get like *Morafic, *Bint Mona and *Ansata Bint Mabrouka, aĺl out of Saqlawi mares and I can  understand Nasr's application of the Albadeia formula in reverse, that is, covering Nazeer-bred mares with a strong Saqlawi stallion, like AK El Sennari. I am not sure of the fertility that a 20-year old stallion would possess, however, AK El Sennari was a proven breeding stallion and he did sire a small amount of get for Albadeia:

• 2000 - Attalah Albadeia - stallion out of Anhar Albadeia
• 2000 - Bondok Albadeia - stallion out of Walaa Albadeia
• 2000 - Hanoomat Albadeia - mare out of Hawanem Albadeia
• 2000 - Simeon Safra - mare out of Ibtehag Albadeia
• 2002 - Shakraa Albadeia - mare out of Sabriat Albadeia

Nasr Marei in response to a question asked by Samantha Mattocks, of how his breeding goals may have changed over the years, gives the reader a better understanding over the use of horses like AK El Sennari in the Albadeia breeding program,  "My goals have been the same since the beginning. It is always to breed a better horse. My approach to doing this has evolved over the years, I continuously challenge myself as a breeder by trying to apply what I have learned. My eye as an artist contributes to this process. I am always critical of my own horses, I look at them, and judge their strengths and weaknesses. Then I try to determine how I can correct whatever I feel needs adjusting. Expanding my gene pool was a major decision but I believed it was necessary and I have been gratified by the results." -  The Breeder's Interview, The Arabian Breeders Magazine, Volume I, Issue 1, 2016