This is the 8 th installment of this series which began June 7, 2024, wherein we
continue to highlight the stories of Straight Egyptian Arabians that were originally
featured in the Legacy Section of Volume XII of the Reference Handbook of
Straight Egyptian Horses. This special section featured the horses themselves
along with endearing stories of the special relationship they shared with the
humans in their lives. It has been fun hearing from not only the owners of these
horses, but also from others who had the opportunity to interact with them as well.
We trust you’ll enjoy them, too, and look forward to hearing from you about the
impact these horses may have had in your own lives, either individually, up close
and personal, or through their descendants.
The original tribute to Bint Nefisaa was written by Keri Wright, whose family had
acquired Bint Nefisaa because of the generosity of Douglas Marshall of
Gleannloch Farms. Sometimes it’s not just the horses themselves, but the people
who come into our lives because of them, that make the whole experience so
wonderful. For this installment, Keri reflected further on the impact this good man
had in his life:
“I don’t know why, but Mr. Marshall was always very generous with my father.
He was kind and seemed anxious to help my father get a leg up on establishing a
meaningful breeding program. My father was not born to wealth and privilege.
He was a self-made man and was, at that time, in a position to devote some of his
assets to the acquisition of Arabian horses. When he was considering racing and
cutting in the Quarter Horse world, my mother urged and encouraged him to
consider the nobility and beauty of the Arabian. She also felt strongly that it was
something we could do as a family. He saw a 1/8 page ad in Western Horseman
for Gleannloch Farms, got in touch with them and was later able to purchase
several purebred mares at the Gleannloch Sale of Champions in May of 1968. As
a token of appreciation Mr. Marshall presented the young 2 year old colt, Mohssen,
as a gift to my father along with a Straight Egyptian filly, Moradil (Morafic x Il
Mandil), who figures into Gail Mailloux’s program at Two Silos through her
daughter, Antaja (x Mohssen). Several of the mares he purchased had Morafic
foals at side and had been bred back to him. Many of our first show horses and
future broodmares were the result of those breedings. And Mohssen crossed
exceptionally well with the Morafic daughters. Perhaps it was the combination of
Morafic and his full blood sister, Bint Mona (Mohssen’s dam) or the wonderful influence of Ansata Ibn Halima (his sire), but it was a nick that seemed to be a hit
each and every time on a wide variety of mare families, among them: Taj Jauhar
(Royal Diamond x Jubilema to the Spanish mare, Zulima; ZiBene (Ga’Zi x Nejd
Benaya to the first registered Arabian in the U.S.A., Nejdme; and Kahla (Moneyn
x FaGazal), granddam of VP Kahlua through her daughter Kahlette [x El Hilal],
and from the Polish import, Kostrzewa. As wonderful as these mares were, there
was something essential that was still missing. So it was that in 1970 my father
returned to Gleannloch to secure some straight Egyptian mares who might do well
with Mohssen. And once again, Mr. Marshall was very generous. Among them
was the lovely Nazeer daughter, Bint Nefisaa, then in foal to Ansata Ibn Halima for
a 1971 baby (Nourah); her yearling filly, Nama (x Morafic), tail female ancestress
of Allison Mehta’s stallion, Botswana; Sammara (x Morafic) and dam of U.S.
National Champion Futurity Stallion, Al Metrabbi (x Morafic), Bint Shamah (x
Morafic, Sittana (Morafic x Bint Binte El Bataa), Omayma, Hekmat and her
daughter Hamamaa (x Ibn Antar) and Salomy. Mr. Marshall’s kindness and
generosity was not lost on me. As a young boy I thought it very nice of him, but as
I’ve grown and reflected on it I’ve come to greatly admire that attribute in him. It
was a light to me and a reminder to live with an abundance mentality, that sharing
from that abundance is a privilege and if we can make the lives of others a little
better we ought to do it. He didn’t need to sell those mares, especially mares of
such quality. Indeed, he certainly didn’t have to sell them, but he did it. So many
good things came to pass because of his kindness at that time. When I think upon
it now, I am often quite overcome by an appreciation for him and wished I had
been able to express it to him at the time. I was just a kid from the country and
perhaps felt a bit intimidated by the grandeur of Gleannloch, but to this day I
cannot think of Mohssen, Bint Nefisaa, or any of those early horses without
thinking of Mr. Marshall. Back in 2018 we held a celebration at our place
observing the 50 years that we have been involved with Straight Egyptian
Arabians. A map of the world was affixed to foam backing with push pins and
thread marking every place where horses from our bloodlines had gone. They had
been scattered amongst the nations of the earth and are found on every continent
except Antarctica. None of this would have been possible were it not for Mr.
Marshall. It was within his power to be kind, and to be generous, and he chose to
be both. I shall never forget his kindness to my father and the far-reaching impact
it has had in my life. More than anything I hope he knows it now.
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