BRILLIANT

One of the treasures at Ezzain Arabians is Moneerah, a filly sired by Nooreddine Ezzain and out of Ajmal Ibtihaj, the dam of Altaafibari Ezzain. Moneerah is a half-sister to Zweena! our July black beauty. Actually, Moneerah and Altaafibari are more than half-sisters, as Nooreddine's dam, NK Nada, is an Adnan daughter, as is Ajmal Ibtihaj. I like her pedigree a lot, as it is full of all my favorite horses, especially the Ansata horses, who are present throughout  the pedigree but especially so on both sides, the sire line (Ansata Almurtajiz) and the tail female line (Ansata Justina). Together, these horses make a strong impact on Moneerah's phenotype, as this filly has a little more substance, which you can see in her wider chest and in the muscling of her shoulder, her forearms and her neck. I like her...alot. She is a most balanced horse, with much harmony flowing in her classic body.

Moneerah is a little more compact in her body; strong and smooth over her croup. I like her well-sprung rib cage, a bit deeper in the chest than behind, which speaks loudly of a horse who is just waiting for you to jump on her back and GO! Her tail carriage is excellent, matched by her equally expressive and very beautiful head, which is shorter and wider with a deep black (no white at all!) eye, placed lower on her head, accentuating the prominence of her jibbah. Her neck, which is set higher on her chest, could be a bit longer, as you will find in the NK Qaswarah-sired horses but I like how her neck connects with her wither, flowing into a powerful shoulder and then, a nicer forearm.You can use your imagination to place your hand behind her forearm, to discover enough room in this area, to suggest that this filly has the freedom to fly! I can  imagine the feel of the wind in my face and the tremendous joy in my heart, as I sail across the desert, astride on the finest Bedouin mare named Moneerah. She really is BRILLIANT!

EnJoy,
Ralph

EYE on a Desert Princess

"And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious
And she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush..."-lyrics from Bette Davis Eyes, written by Donna Weiss and Jacki DeShannon

Azhaar Ezzain, a full sister of the handsome stallion Suror Ezzain, foaled a filly approximately one year ago. Her name is Badrilbadoor and she is a full sister to the mare whose name reminds one of the sun, Shamsilshmous Ezzain, my favorite horse of all the Ezzain horses. Sired by the NK Hafid Jamil son, NK Qaswarah, this filly is already so elegant, so refined at nine months old. Look at her...she is a desert princess! The translucent quality of her skin accentuates the bones and veins in her head. At a young age, there is a "dryness" in her head, which highlights every detail made by God's hammer and chisel. She is still so young, this "dryness" we already see in her face, will only get more dramatic as time passes and she matures...from a princess to a queen. Like her full sister (and the majority of the NK Qaswarah-sired horses) her eyes are amazing. This is one quality which I have noticed in Usamah's breeding program. The consistency of an ideal eye. They are large, round and fully black (with no trace of white in them). That's what captivated me most about this filly...her beautiful eyes. In Dr. Nagel's book, Hanan: The Story of An Arabian Mare and of the Arabian Breed, he explains the ideal eye of an Arabian horse as

"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."

In the last ten-to- fifteen years, I have noticed more and more horses with white in their eyes. I don't know what shocked me more, the degree of white in the eye of popular breeding horses or the fact that breeders have become more accepting over what I believe to be a serious flaw. What has happened within our community to make white in the eye acceptable? Maybe, as Dr. Nagel explains in Hanan, the ideal eye has become so rare,  that breeders don't understand what an ideal eye looks like anymore. What will it take to turn this trend around? How do you feel about white in the eye?

Happy Labor Day,
Ralph

PS I must give credit to Jennifer Ogden for the beautiful pictures of Badrilbadoor Ezzain

EXTRAORDINARY

This is one of my favorite pictures EVER and I wanted to share it with you dear reader. This is the one month old colt, Hermas, whom you will remember as our Boy of the Summer, our Royal Colt, Got Nostrils and A Brand New Baby. I love the energy that oozes out of every pixel. It's calm, it's supple, it's forward and it makes me so happy.

BUT

I love his topline and how the line goes uphill from back to front, with his hindquarter curled under, towards the front end, pushing his body...ZOOM...across the ground. This is a future powerhouse in the making. I like the elasticity in his hocks, I like the reach of his front end...I like, I like, I love this colt.

HE IS ONLY 1 MONTH OLD!!!

What will he be like 2 years....5 years...7 years from now?

Already, I am dreaming of a refined, elegant, Ezzain-bred super athlete and stallion extraordinaire.

EnJOY,
Ralph