Crossing my fingers

[cypressfarms]

I've been around horses and cattle since I was 11. I've always loved Arabians as far back as I can remember. I'm not a great rider by any means, but when I moved to my current location I decided to get my first Arabian. I met a "mentor" who's bred, shown, and judged Arabians at just about every level in the U.S. We've been friends for over 7 years; he has many friends in the Arabian world, and he's helped me tremendously learning about these horses. I've been "breeding" a select few for 6 years. I have one particular chestnut mare that was born here in 2004 that I admire greatly. She's got really good bloodlines, Egyptian with some Spanish blood.

My buddy acquired ownership of a stallion last year, Moniet Al Sherif. Sherif was 23 years old, and has one of the best looking heads I've ever personally seen. He's been through the show circuit, won many titles, and was in semi-retirement. He was valued at an obscenely large amount. He's also the grandfather of my chestnut mare. This past spring one thing led to another and I was offered to chance to breed my chestnut to Sherif. I jumped at the chance. Horses like him are few and far between. She was bred spring 2010 and would be due March 2011. Here's the weird thing - Sherif has no living male sons. He had one, but he died at 9 years old, I believe. He has sired somewhere around 70 foals. Two weeks ago Sherif was hit really hard with colic, and was put down. That horse looked beautiful until the day he died. So now I have a mare who is quite possibly in foal to a piece of Arabian history. I get excited thinking about the possibility. Could she have a stud colt, his one and only live son? My chestnut, Amani, is not showing yet, but shes 16hh, pretty big for an Arabian. This would be her 2nd foal. This is definitely one time that I want her to have a live foal. There is no 2nd chance for a breeding with Sherif.

I'm way to excited about this foal; not because of the value that the foal would have - I wouldn't consider selling, but because of the rarity factor. So now my fingers and toes are crossed!

 

[MistyMorning]

Way exciting! Keep us posted on the developments and if you get a chance post a pic of that mare please.

 

[jedstivers]

Sure hope it works out for you.
What's the difference in what Arabians do or handle different than other horses or what are there uses. Can't exactly phrase my question the way I want to but I hope you understand what I'm asking. PM if you would rather. Thanks

 

[cypressfarms]

Sure hope it works out for you.
What's the difference in what Arabians do or handle different than other horses or what are there uses. Can't exactly phrase my question the way I want to but I hope you understand what I'm asking. PM if you would rather. Thanks

Jed, I'm guessing your asking what are the advantages of an Arabian..

Almost every light breed of horse today has some Arabian blood in their ancestry. Everyone knows Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses are direct descendent from Arabians, but even other horses like the mighty Percheron have Arabian blood.

I guess an Arabain would be the jack of all trades and the master of one. All trades because Arabians are raced, shown, used for jumping, dressage, working western (cattle) - just about anything. They are very loyal horses, but they cannot be forced to do things like some other horses. I laugh when I hear about people "breaking" horses. Arabians aren't broke. They are trained. Hard to explain; I've had and still do (I have one paint) other horses, but Arabians intelligence and character show through. They will do anything asked of them if they trust the rider, even things that would spook most horses.

There is one aspect in which no other horse can compare: endurance racing. There has never been, and probably never will be any other horse that can outrun an Arabian over long distances. The movie Hidalgo might have been a cool movie to watch an American paint beat Arabians, but it won't happen in real life.

For hundreds of years Arabians were bred by the Bedouins in the deserts of Egypt and the Arabian pennisula. They were meticulous how they bred their horses. Funny aspect but the Bedouins prized their mares the most. They didn't care as much for stallions, but mares were fought with and over. The Bedouins believed that the female line was the most important to keep intact. Even to this day Arabian types are known by the female tail line. (There are different strains of Arabians, they have slightly different traits, but their strain name is traced back through the female line) They kept exhaustive records. I can actually trace the mare that this thread is about (her name is Amani) back to a desertbred Arabian in 1832 (his name was Barq).

I was attracted to Arabians by their beauty and conformation; they hold their tail and head very proud. I've stayed with them because of their "usefulness".

 

[jedstivers]

Thanks Cypress, thats exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[cypressfarms]

Thanks Cypress, thats exactly what I wanted to know.

Good; sorry about being so long-winded.

 

[cypressfarms]

if you get a chance post a pic of that mare please.

Misty here are a couple of pics of Amani:

This is her, with me holding, as a yearling:

This is her as a three year old showing off. I really like this picture of her:

This is her and her filly born early 2010:

 

[MistyMorning]

Thanks for sharing those cypress, she is magnificent, her daughter isn't anything to sneeze at either!

 

[hayray]

Arabians, often called drinkers of the wind for the endurance. They also typically have better feet then more of the thoroughbred types. If it is a stud colt are ya gonna stand at stud and or do the futurity?

 

[chippie]

Your mare is lovely. I have never owned an Arabian, but have always appreciated the breed and admired them.
Best wishes for a successful foaling

I may have missed it, what color was the stallion?

 

[cypressfarms]

Arabians, often called drinkers of the wind for the endurance. They also typically have better feet then more of the thoroughbred types. If it is a stud colt are ya gonna stand at stud and or do the futurity?

Dead on Ray. I could talk for hours about Arabians, but it would bore most. It all depends on what the foal looks like. The sire, Sherif, almost always won "most classic head" in every show entered; I'm hoping that with the substance/mass of my mare it will throw something really nice. My "mentor" always says wish for a filly not a stallion, but in this case I'll respectfully disagree. It all depends on what he/she looks like. This is all assuming that she's successfully in foal to Sherif.

Thanks Chippie. Sherif was gray - black skin with white hair. Gray is the most prominent color for Arabians - roughly 40% are gray, but it's not a simple dominant/recessive color deal like cattle. If you ever want an Arabian let me know Chippie. I've been known to make some "give away" deals (according to my friends) to let horses go to good homes. I've always thought that Arabians are under-appreciated; so I will go to lengths to get Arabians into the hands of "new" people to the Arabian. For several years I did a $750 program. I'd sell a foal at 6 months for $750, even with terms if needed, to a good home that was new to Arabians. The thought was to get Arabians in with famalies and others who may not otherwise have them. I've even boarded (read pasture) some of the $750's for people until they had a place of their own. On more than one occasion I've given a $750 deal to a family for their daughter or son, and then they fall in love with Arabians. I'm trying to promote the breed for the long term. The horses deserve that.

 

[cypressfarms]

Update:

The mare that I bred to Sherif must have slipped the foal early on, and now she's bred to my egyptian stallion about to foal any day. I really wished I could have had a Sherif son or daughter, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Still have his grandaughter and a grandson gelding of his that will be my riding horse.

Crossing my fingers didn't help! Oh well....

 

[hayray]

Sorry to hear about that, keep us posted on the foal.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

tough break for sure