In the early years of The Egyptian Event there was not a full slate of classes. In fact, the idea for the Event was more about gathering, exhibiting horses that were representative of one’s breeding program, educational forums and very little focus on showing or competition. The yearling Futurity Classes were designed primarily as a showcase for the non-straight get of Straight Egyptian and Egyptian Sired Stallions. It wasn’t until years later that other classes were added. We thought it might be beneficial to highlight some of the winners who were not Straight Egyptian and some of their non-Egyptian heritage.
The first year that full classes were held (1986), the Egyptian Event Supreme Champion Mare was Kamim’s Batik. Both her sire, Kamim, and her dam, Bint Bint Khususi) were by Ansata Ibn Halima. Kamim’s dam descended in tail female through the mare, Nejdme, the first Arabian to be registerd in the United States of America. Bint Bint Khususi descended in tail female from the Davenport import Urfah. She was named Champion Mare many times at Class A Shows and was also named Region 17 Champion Mare, Region 15 Reserve Champion Mare and was later named 1983 Canadian National Top Ten Mare. Bred by Pam Blanton of Blanton Arabians, she was later sold to Barbara Mikkelsen who owned her at the time of her win at The Event.
The Reserve Supreme Champion Mare that same year was Egypt’s Love Song (Shamruk x Zeynah Aneesah [Soufian x Mora Bene]) and descending in tail female through the Ga’Zi daughter, Zi Bene, and on to the root mare, the desert bred Nejdme. The Mantei Family had attended the Gleannloch Sale of Champions where they purchased Bint Zi Bene (x Surf). She, in turn was bred to Morafic for a filly by the name of Mora Bene. Bred to Soufian (Alaa El Din x Moniet El Nefous), she produced Zeynah Aneesah, and bred to Shamruk (Ibn Hafiza x Bint Maisa El Saghira) she produced Maisa El Bene, who in turn produced Maisa El Mars a future Egyptian Event Supreme Champion Mare and U.S. Reserve National Champion Mare that same year (1988). ZiBene, herself, crossed well with Morafic as did her daughter, Bint ZiBene.
In all of breeding, patterns begin to emerge. Successful niches appear. See something you like? Follow “the source of their pretty” as Willis Flick, founding member of The Pyramid Society, used to say. Look for patterns. Sometimes it happens with individuals only, but it can also happen within families. Some just work better with some than others. During a recent Breeder’s Forum in Morocco, Judi Forbis of Ansata Arabian Stud, shared with breeders there some of the discoveries she made with respect to lines that crossed exceptionally well with hers and others that did not. That kind of knowledge is so important to understand when making decisions about how to breed these horses, Straight Egyptian or otherwise.
Why become a student of the breed? There’s no need to reinvent what works. When you see a horse that you particularly like, follow up on it…look at the bloodlines involved. Was it a one hit wonder or did this cross continually produce exceptional horses that look alike? It can be very instructional, not only about what works, but what doesn’t. And that doesn’t mean that if it didn’t work that the horses or families involved were no good. It just suggests that they didn’t blend well together. Something that doesn’t work for one breeder, might work for another. The late Barbara Griffiths, owner of Imperial Egyptian Stud, said that she gave each mare 3 chances to produce her likeness or better with the stallions Barbara had selected. If it wasn’t working she would sell her. That didn’t mean the mare was inferior. It simply meant that she wasn’t working with the stallions Barbara had selected, but in someone else’s hands they could do wonderfully well. We can learn important lessons if we study not only what’s working for others, but of equal importance, what is not.
When it comes to the colts, GA Prince Andrew was named Egyptian Event Champion in 1987 (Imperial Imperor x Assisi Susana), descending in tail female to the bay mare, Nefisa, who was bred by Lady Anne Blunt.
Then came Halim Witez (Egyptian Event Supreme Champion Stallion in 1988) He was by Ansata El Nisr (Ansata Ibn Halima x Ansata Bint Zaafarana), and full brother to Ansata Abu Nazeer and Ansata Aziza. His dam was a mare named Rosebud, by Tante Witez (Witez II x Tanezah [x Witez II]) and out of the straight Egyptian mare, Rose of Egypt (Fa Serr x Fa-Abba, Fa Abba being a full sister to Fa-Habba, ancestress of Ansata’s Nile Family through her daughter, Falima).
The Egyptian Event Reserve Champion Mare in 1988 was JML Galatea (MFA Mareekh Amir x Tulachord Bishara (The Egyptian Prince x Hileyn [El Hilal x Grandilita).
We already mentioned EE Supreme Champion Mare in 1989, Maisa El Mars, in a previous post (see April 12, 2024), and again briefly in this post, but the Reserve Supreme Champion Mare in 1989 was Desert Vienna (Ramses Rasul x Desert Twilight). Those who’ve been around a while will remember the breeding program of Carl & Dorothy-Helen Huprich of Huprich Arabians, and which has carried forward to the present day through their daughter, Melissa Huprich. Horses bred by the Huprichs had the prefix “Desert.” So, in preparing for this week’s installment we reached out to Melissa and asked her to provide some history as it related to this beautiful mare, Desert Vienna. These are Melissa’s words:
“My parents bought Ramses Rasul from Martin Loeber/Plum Grove. He was their second stallion by Ramses Fayek but the first one was resold. They preferred a non-grey stallion at the time since most of their mares were grey, but color was really low on their list of needs. They wanted some more size without losing motion or quality. They loved his dam (Ramses Sadaka [Seef x Yomna] and same tail female as the great park horse, Sakr) as much as, if not more, than Fayek himself. Vienna was one of several full siblings. She and a colt were probably the 2 best out of the cross. But they were not all great. My parents said if you think a cross SHOULD work, don't stop at the first foal if it's not what you want. They used to say about 25% of the foals would get the worst from both parents, 50% would get a mix of good and bad from both parents, and hopefully 25% would get the best from both parents. And that's about what happened with the various full sisters and brothers from this cross.
Vienna was shown at halter in the days when you had to have also shown in performance. Her performance qualification was at the racetrack. A paternal half-sister by Rasul, named Desert Garnet, was a stakes placed mare and a Darley nominee.
Vienna was one of my mother's 2 favorite mares. She got a bug bite on her ear that turned into a white spot. Their vet used to tease my mother by asking her how her spotted mare was doing...LOL.
She lived to be 27. I bought her from them after she was through showing, so I was her last owner. Jimmy [long time manager at Selby Stud – think Raffles, Rageyma, Geym, Rapture, Mirage] and Thelma Dean and my family were good friends. I still wear jewelry that they gave me for Christmas. Jimmy and Thelma were not fond of the inclusion of Egyptian lines. However, when they saw Vienna in person, they said they were wrong and it was a fabulous cross.
Vienna had a great memory - if she knew you and liked you, she'd remember you even if years went by before you saw her again. And if she didn't like you - well, she'd remember that too.
She had great courage and a will to live. She had 2 colic surgeries (within days of each other) at Rood and Riddle. The vets there commented on her strong will to live and thrive. She lived for several years after her double surgery.”
Vienna’s dam line represented 4 generations of Huprich breeding and many of the great horses bred during the early days of the Arabian horse in America: Raffles and his half brother, Image; Indraff; Rageyma, dam of Galimar, Fa El Gemar, Gajala & Geym; the great Bask; and the elegant Ferzon. The horse in the picture of Melissa’s father, Carl, and his stallion is Desert King, the sire of Vienna’s maternal granddam, Desert Stardust, who was bred to Gai Marquis, a stallion the Huprich’s acquired from Dan Gainey (Ferzon x Gali-croix [x Bask]) to produce Desert Twilight, Vienna’s dam.
Seeing and examining the results of crossing the Straight Egyptian Arabian on other Arabians of different bloodlines is a testament of their prepotency for true Arabian type. The following excerpt from Volume I of the Reference Handbook of Straight Egyptian Horses is as true today as it was back in 1973 when that volume was published: “The Pyramid Society does not infer that Arabian horses of Egyptian bloodlines are better than horses of other bloodlines. [Breeders of Egyptian Arabians] feel, however, that Egyptian blood is a proven source of highly desirable characteristics. Other bloodlines are value for certain attributes and each has its own merits.” Some years ago, Dr. Matthew Binns, a founding member of The Equine Genome Project, spoke at one of our Breeder’s Conferences. His presentation was fascinating. His closing statement and essence of his message: “cherish diversity.” It is as true with Arabian horses as it is with human beings. We need one another and must value the contributions each individual can make.
Join us next time as we move into the 1990s and the continual unfolding of the story of the global influence of the Straight Egyptian Arabian horse.
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