Many of the early imports to the U.S. from Egypt (Babson, Borden and Brown) were lost to Straight Egyptian breeding today. It seems that the idea of preservation breeding had not yet taken hold since the Arabian horse itself was in its infancy as far as North America was concerned, and the importance of maintaining a gene pool similar to what was had in Egypt at that time was not yet apparent. Neither had breeders applied the term “Straight Egyptian” to the horses being imported to America at that time. The need for that would become more urgent and clear with the founding of The Pyramid Society, forerunner of The Pyramid Society Foundation. Unfortunately, many mare lines, and even some sire lines, fell victim to the unintentional consequences of the times: a mare dies before establishing a family, most or all of a mare’s production ends up being males, a mare is sold leaving only a few and the few that remain don’t breed forward, and so it goes.
Even with the arrival of the “new” Egyptians in the 50s, 60s and 70s, some of this happened. And it was one of the primary reason behind the formation of The Pyramid Society, so that the horses as well as their histories could be preserved for future use, to protect, perpetuate and promote the value of the Straight Egyptian Arabian as a source of highly desirable traits that can be used to enhance breed type, character, disposition, etc. in the general Arabian horse population.
So it was that some were not used heavily with on non-Straight Egyptian mares. For example, of Morafic’s registered progeny in the U.S. only 24% were from mares that were not Straight Egyptian. With Rashad Ibn Nazeer it was also about 25%, but when it came to Ansata Ibn Halima it was a little over 46%, and among them were many great ones: Rose of Cameo & Cameo’s Jewel (x Cedardell Cameo); Mizan Taj Halim (x HH April Love); U.S. Top Ten Park Horse, and Legion of Merit winner, Rahalima (x Bint Rahma); Legion of Merit winner Kamim (x Kamocli) and full sister, Kalima; U.S. Top Ten Stallion, Halin (x Bel Lindah)
Join us next time as we move into the 70s with yet another generation of Egyptian Arabian influence in the show ring and the breeding barn.
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