Wednesday, December 28, 2011

NK Nadeyrah

"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave."-A.A. Milne
I have sad news to share with you today. The very beautiful straight Egyptian mare, NK Nadeyrah has died. She was one of Usamah Alkazemi's most treasured broodmares and a NK Hafid Jamil daughter out of NK Nadirah (a full sister to the perennial Queen of Ezzain, NK Nada). She had a very interesting pedigree, having four lines to the Ansata Halim Shah son, Salaa el Dine. However, what I liked most, was the fact that at the very top of the pedigree appears the Alaa el Din daughter, Lotfeia, as well as the very bottom. Yes, in tail female, she traced to this mare who was purchased by Dr. Nagel from Babolna and became an important broodmare at Katharinenhof, giving birth to Nashua, a crucially important mare for the program.  In tail female, through  the Sheikh el Arab daughter, Kamla, Nadeyrah traced to the celebrated Hadbah Enzahiyah mare, Venus. So in one horse, you have the influences of the Abbayyah-El Obeya Om Grees, the Hadbah-Venus and the Dahmah-El Dahma. Which one would have the most influence on Nadeyrah? 

I was captivated by NK Nadeyrah.There was just something about her that I couldn't explain. I emailed her picture to my friends, as I didn't want them to miss seeing such a beauty. "Why do you like her so much?" they asked and I had difficulty expressing with words what I felt. My eye kept going back to her pictures and video for an answer. I was fascinated by the power that her body conveyed. The connection of her chest and her shoulders was strong and smooth. Her neck came out of her chest a bit higher, which helped to give her more reach in the front. Her chest was wider, balancing the strength of her hind end. She was a picture of harmony..
I just love how she used her back, almost as if she is trying to curl her hindquarter under her, driving into the ground, to P-U-S-H her body forward and sail across the ground.

Her head was dry and the prominence of the bone in her face was amazing. Her muzzle was tapered, with large, flaring nostrils, delicately curved upward and her eyes were round, large and black, with no trace of white in them. NK Nadeyrah was refined and elegant and yet, has the substance that reminded me of a long ago horse, racing across the desert sand, tail held high proclaiming the truth of what she was...a true daughter of the desert.

Goodbye Nadeyrah, goodbye.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Albaheiah Ezzain

There is a reason why the stallion Nooreddine Ezzain is one of my favorite horses bred by Usamah Alkazemi of Ezzain Arabian Stud in Kuwait. The reason is Albaheiah Ezzain and she is the oldest daughter of Nooreddine Ezzain and NK Nakeebya, a NK Hafid Jamil daughter out of Nabilah (Nahaman x Nashua). Through both her sire and dam, Albaheiah traces to the mare, Nashua, a Salaa el Dine daughter out of the Alaa El Din daughter, Lotfeia, a Babolna broodmare who also became an important broodmare for Katharinenhof, producing the stallion Nejdy, as well as Nashua. Both NK Nakeebya and Nooreddine are grand progeny of Nashua, as each horse is out of a Nashua daughter. NK Nakeebya is out of Nabilah, while Nooreddine is out of Nada. 
"The remarkable fact about Nashua is that she produced daughters, not sons: four mares by Adnan and three mares by another son of Salaa El Dine, Nahaman. NK Nada has three full sisters: NK Nasrin, NK Nadirah and NK Nadeerah."
To further underscore how closely related Nooreddine and NK Nakeebya are; both Nahaman and Adnan are Salaa El Dine sons. 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. 

I love many things about this mare, Albaheiah. She is a taller mare with a nice, wide chest conveying substance but still, very refined and elegant. She has  fine skin quality with excellent  pigmentation. I like the prominence of the bone in her face. Her muzzle with the larger sized nostril is not heavy or meaty and accentuates the shape of the head, which is shorter and wider with the loveliest black eyes, deep, round and placed lower in the head with much width between them. She is close-coupled and her back is strong and smooth. Her tail carriage is extreme; even while standing, her tail is like a flag, proudly carried.


I admire the courage and the vision of Usamah Alkazemi. The horse that he is producing, is an ultra-refined, elegant Arabian, the horse of Kings. Every time that I feel that he has reached the pinnacle and can go no farther, along comes yet another horse to prove how wrong I was in my thoughts. He has bred Albaheiah to Yaasoob Ezzain, who is also closely related to Nooreddine, as he is also out of NK Nada.