The boy of the summer

The summer is slowly winding down...the days are growing shorter, leaves will soon be falling and warm, sunny days will be a memory.

"Nobody on the road
nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
the summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets,
the sun goes down alone..."-from The Boys of Summer, lyrics by Don Henley and music by Mike Campbell

At the very beginning of this beautiful summer month, we met Hermas, a new colt sired by NK Qaswarah and out of the mare, Alamirah Ezzain. Remember him? He is our boy of the summer, as we admired his HUGE nostrils.  I even went as far as calling him a future king. As the month of August comes to a close, I thought it would be very nice to see Hermas one more time and celebrate an extraordinary colt, as we make a transition from summer to autumn.

Happy Labor Day,
Ralph

THE IDEAL EYE

"A large, dark, almost round eye is typical for the Arabian horse. Longish or oval eyes are not acceptable. One necessary condition for a perfect eye is a particular shape of the upper head tending to broadness. In other words, a relatively wide forehead with eye sockets clearly directed outwards. These prominent eye sockets allow the basically round eyes to emerge clearly from the socket. All this together makes for a broad appearance of the upper skull with the eyes clearly visible from the front and even from behind."-Dr. Hans Nagel

And then, Usamah sent me a picture of his new colt, Qazalle, sired by NK Qaswarah and out of Anwaar Ezzain to further underscore all that we have learned from Dr. Nagel. I am amazed over the consistency of Usamah Alkazemi's breeding program for producing straight Egyptian Arabian horses with ideal eyes.

EnJOY,
Ralph

ROYALTY: A Horse for Kings

"Let those eyes sparkle and shine,
Never a tear,
Baby of mine."-from the song, Baby Mine, written by Frank Churchill & Ned Washington

Hermas is a very new baby and yet, I am stunned over the level of refinement, present in such a new, little life! I like his round and full hindquarter, anchoring a very nice, level top line. He looks strong! His shoulder angle looks nice and I already see a very generous wither. Look at his lovely neck, more upright and I noticed the length of his poll where the neck and the head meet, to form the mitbah. I will be honest and tell you that it is challenging for me to evaluate a baby's body, because there is still so much change to happen! Hermas needs to stretch and grow and grow and grow! Still, his large, black eyes (and the placement of the eyes, on his head, as Tzviah Idan pointed out yesterday) have me transfixed, as well as those KING-SIZE nostrils. I think everyone will agree that Hermas is a very nice colt, one of the most promising colts bred at Ezzain and time will tell if he grows into the new king of Ezzain.

EnJoy,
Ralph

NOSTRILS

While I focused yesterday on the eye, I hope everyone is amazed over this little colt's nostrils! They are large, elastic and well, I love the shape of them. It makes me want to jump in the picture and grab a little nostril, as I smother him with kisses. What a gorgeous colt! Maybe tomorrow, God willing, I will treat you to a body shot, as his little baby body is equally incredible.

EnJoy,
Ralph

Hooreyah's Baby

Do you remember Hooreyah Ezzain? Her dam, Alamirah Ezzain (Ansata Almurtajiz x NK Alamirah) foaled a stunning colt on July 21st. Hermas Ezzain, as he was named,  is a full brother to Hooreyah. When I saw this picture, my attention went directly to this colt's face. I am captivated. He's a real, live beauty. What do I like most about this colt? I love his full, large black eye....with no white in the eye at all!!!!

WOW!
Ralph

Her name is Jureiah

When Usamah Alkazemi purchased the young mare, NK Jurie from Katharinenhof, little did he know at the time, how this purchase would impact the future of Ezzain Arabians. NK Jurie was the first foal sired by NK Hafid Jamil, out of the Salaa el Dine daughter, NK Nariman, who is a daughter of the *Jamil-sired mare, Amarilla. The more he saw NK Jurie, the more Usamah felt that crossing NK Hafid Jamil with NK Nariman produced a horse that is closest to his ideal. He made it a priority to purchase all of the offspring produced by NK Hafid Jamil and NK Nariman. So, that is how Jurie's full sisters: NK Alamirah and NK Lolowah plus Jurie's full brother, NK Qaswarah, the chief sire at Ezzain Arabians, became part of Usamah's life and for the roles these horses are playing in the future of this very bright breeding farm. NK Qaswarah is the sire of this precious filly, whom Usamah has named, Jooreiah.

"I was hoping that I would get fillies from Jurie, Alamirah and Lolowah to breed back to Qaswarah and God destined Alamirah and Jurie to be bred to him and the result, thanks be to God,was Hooreyah and Jureiah, two of the best of NK Qaswarah's fillies."

The pedigree for both NK Qaswarah and NK Jurie is fascinating, concentrated as they are in the bloodlines of two of the most important foundation mares in Egyptian Arabian Horse breeding: Farida and Bukra. Already at a very young age, Jooreiah is extraordinary!

FARIDA AND BUKRA BLOOD ALERT!

In NK Jurie's pedigree, Farida appears six times, while Bukra appears seven times. When bred to her full brother, NK Qaswarah, the lines to Farida and Bukra are doubled, twelve and fourteen lines respectively, in this filly's pedigree! I don't believe that there are horses who have as much or more concentration of either mare in their pedigree. It will be interesting to watch Jureiah grow and mature into an elegant and dazzling Dahmah Shahwaniyah, as her bloodlines predict that she will.

EnJoy your horses,
Ralph

PS I must give credit to Jennifer Ogden, who somehow managed to capture the beauty of this exquisite filly on film. Many thanks to Usamah and to Jenni for this picture.

His name is Nooreddine

This beautiful stallion is Nooreddine Ezzain. He was bred by Usamah Alkazemi of Ezzain Arabians. With so many beautiful horses calling Ezzain "home", it is difficult to choose one horse as "favorite", when what I really want to say is that all the Ezzain horses are my favorites.  In July of 2006, Nooreddine Ezzain was my favorite Ezzain-bred horse. He still is.

Living so far from Kuwait, I have missed seeing this colt mature and blossom into the most pleasing stallion that he is today. Why should I be so surprised? As a son of Ansata Almurtajiz and NK Nada, beauty is written in his genes. Nooreddine Ezzain is now owned by Alward Arabians. Prior to leaving Ezzain, he sired 6 foals: Mayyas Ezzain out of Dhuha Al Nakeeb (NK Hafid Jamil x Sabha Bint Ibn Halima), Nasseirah Ezzain and Omneyah Ezzain out of Moniet Ezzain (Salaa el Dine x NK Momtaza), Moneerah Ezzain out of Ajmal Ibtihaj (Adnan x Alijamila) and Aaleiah Ezzain and Albaheiah Ezzain out of NK Nakeebya (NK Hafid Jamil x Nabilah), who are pictured, right and left, respectively.

When Usamah shared the pictures of Nooreddine's progeny, I was stunned. The beautiful stallion, my favorite stallion, is an excellent and highly favored sire. His progeny are elegant, refined and consistent in their correctness and classic type. Of the six Nooreddine-sired horses, my personal favorites are the full sisters out of NK Nakeebya, who is a NK Hafid Jamil daughter out of Nabilah (by Nahaman, and out of Nashua).

STOP....NASHUA????

Nooreddine is out of a daughter of Nashua, NK Nada!  NK Nada is sired by Adnan, while Nabilah is a Nahaman daughter.  To further underscore how closely related these mares are, both Nahaman and Adnan are Salaa El Dine sons.

What's the difference?

Nahaman is out of Ameera, a Madkour I daughter out of Hanan, while Adnan is out of Ghazala, a Ghazal daughter out of Hanan. So, the difference in pedigree between NK Nakeebya and NK Nada are two horses: Madkour I and Ghazal.

BUKRA BLOOD ALERT!

While Nooreddine is of the Hadban Enzahi strain, physically, he resembles the type of horse that we have come to associate with the Dahman strain. Why? Well, he is harmonious and a balanced blend of Kuhaylan and Saqlawi type, as you would expect in Dahman type.

(ELEGANCE + SUBSTANCE)x SMOOTHNESS = NOOREDDINE EZZAIN

However, the main reason, I believe, is the continuing influence of just one horse. Nooreddine Ezzain is sired by Ansata Almurtajiz, who traces to Bukra, in both of his tail female lines. In Nooreddine Ezzain's pedigree, there are six lines to Bukra. His daughters, Aaleiah and Albaheiah have thirteen lines to Bukra, as their dam NK Nakeebya brings in seven additional lines. WOW! NK Nakeebya is sired by NK Hafid Jamil, who offers additional lines to Bukra, through Salaa El Dine, Ansata Gloriana and Ghazal.

Almost 70 years from her date of foaling, the influence of the RAS grey mare, Bukra, can still be seen and felt in today's Egyptian Arabian Horses. She remains extremely relevant in our gene pool and one of our most precious and critical foundation horses, as she is a primary source of classic Egyptian Arabian Horse type.