The Bábolna Egyptian Program at Idan Atiq

Transcription

1 The Bábolna Egyptian Program at Idan Atiq By Tzviah Idan all rights reserved Lutfia (EAO) Between 1968 and 1971 the Hungarian State Stud at Bábolna imported three stallions and 14 mares from the Egyptian Agricultural Organization (EAO) and Al Badeia Stud in Egypt, under the direction of Bábolna General Director Dr. Robert Burgert and in cooperation with Dr. J. Hans Nagel of Germany. Bábolna's earlier purebred program, established in 1816, had been nearly devastated by WWII and financial pressures from the new communist government of Hungary after The horses were selected under Nagel's careful eye and would bring a fresh start to purebred Arabian breeding at the Bábolna Stud. Dr. Nagel remained the guiding hand behind the scenes until Dr. Burgert's retirement, and the two designed a program that recognized the special and rare qualities of these Egyptian bloodlines while remaining true to the historic breeding ideals of Bábolna. This program remained intact for nearly 25 years, until political changes removed Dr. Burgert from his post. From the start of their collaboration, several of the imports were slated to go to Germany to establish a program for Dr. Nagel, including the mares Hanan, Mahiba and Marah. Nagel has written of these extensively in his book Hanan: An Arabian Mare. Additional horses left Bábolna that were used both in Nagel's and other German programs. Many had lasting influence in modern German straight Egyptian breeding, and in the case of Hanan, achieved astounding international success. Of particular prominence was the stallion Ibn Galal/Magdi (Galal x Mohga), used to great advantage both at Bábolna and in Germany. His son Ibn Galal I, out of Hanan (Alaa El Din x Mona), replaced him as Bábolna's Chief Sire. Ibn Galal I eventually sired over 100 foals at Bábolna, and left exquisite daughters that greatly consolidated the look of the Bábolna herd. Atiq Sofha Dereh (Nader al Jamal x Atiq Sofsof), tailfemale to Tamria, photo: Menashe Cohen I. Original Egyptian Imports to Bábolna Name Sire & Dam Breeder Tail-female imported in 1968 Mahiba 1 Alaa el Din x Mouna El Zahraa Moniet el Nefous to Roga El Beda Marah 1 Galal x Maysa El Zahraa El Mahrousa to El Obeya Om Geres Lutfia Alaa el Din x Bint Kamla El Zahraa Bint Samiha to Venus IBN GALAL/MAGDI Galal x Mohga El Zahraa (double) Yosreia through Hind to Venus imported in 1969 Tamria Tuhotmos x Kamar El Zahraa Bint Sabah to El Dahma Momtaza Sameh x Mamlouka El Zahraa Bint Riyala to Rodania Hanan 1 Alaa el Din x Mona El Zahraa El Mahrousa to El Obeya Om Geres Hanadi 3 Alaa el Din x Rahma El Zahraa Bint Rissala to Rodania Bint Azza I *Tuhotmos x Azza I El Zahraa Zareefa to Bint el Bahreyn Bint Nazeera 3 Anter x Nazeera El Zahraa Bint Riyala to Rodania Bint Inas Gassir x Inas El Zahraa Farida to El Dahma FARAG *Morafic x Bint Kateefa El Zahraa Bint Rissala to Rodania imported in 1971 El Aziza Gassir x Zabeia Al Badeia El Zahraa to Bint Yamama El Tayba/Thayeba 2 *Ramses Fayek x Mahdia El Zahraa El Mahrousa to El Obeya Om Geres Hosna Ibn Maisa x Rida Al Badeia Hind to Venus Hawa 2 Ibn Galila x Naglaa I Al Badeia El Samraa *GHALION *Morafic x Lubna El Zahraa (double) Moniet el Nefous to Ghazieh 1 to Nagel - no tail-female family at Bábolna 2 no mare family at Bábolna or in Europe 3 mare family lost to Bábolna in tail-female Note: As of 1997, the mare families still represented at Bábolna in tail-female included: Lutfia, Momtaza, Tamria, Hosna, Bint Inas, Bint Nazeera and Bint Azza. However, not all are represented in straight Egyptian or asil form but have been crossed with non-al Khamsa horses. Table I lists the original horses imported from Egypt, indicating which remained at Bábolna and which went to Germany. It also indicates those females which did not establish viable families at Bábolna. The Nagel/Burgert collaboration eventually created a recognizable Bábolna Egyptian prototype that displayed a different look than that of the popular Egyptian breeding of the same era in the West. They had long fine necks with refined throatlatches, perfect tail carriage at all gaits, superlative movement and tremendous nobility and elegance. Other traits selected for were correct legs and hooves, athletic ability, temperament, full pigment and fertility. Even at its peak, the program remained relatively unknown, because political realities meant that few people were aware of the Stud's activities. Hungary was part of the Soviet bloc, and in those days few Western horse lovers found reason to visit Bábolna. Rare photos of the original mares that established families at Bábolna, or their early progeny when other photos are not available, are presented in a collection on pp A worldwide search for photos of Hosna and Bint Nazeera and a conformation shot of El Aziza have proven, so far, unfruitful. 16

2 A careful study of the pedigrees of horses used early in the Bábolna program reveals many close-up lines to El Sareei, *Morafic, *Tuhotmos, Farasha, Mohga and Yosreia. The heavy use of Ibn Galal/Magdi (Galal x Mohga) and his son Ibn Galal I strengthened these elements many times over. To my knowledge, no other breeding program duplicated this same combination of bloodlines to this degree; perhaps the programs that are the closest genetically are the Al Badeia program in Egypt and the Simeon Stud in Australia. Ibn Galal/Magdi sired 25 foals before leaving Bábolna, stamping his chesnut color, excellent conformation and athleticism almost uniformly on his get, while the *Morafic sons *Ghalion and Farag added quality, dryness and type. Later on, the very elegant and refined daughters of Ibn Galal I, (Ibn Galal/Magdi x Hanan) would consolidate the look of the herd even further. Under both Nagel's and new Stud Director Tamas Rombauer's direction, some of Bábolna's best mares were shipped within Europe to be bred to internationally acclaimed stallions such as Ansata Halim Shah, Ansata Abbas Pasha, Ansata Nile Pasha and Salaa el Dine. Additional Egyptian stallions that sired at Bábolna appear in Table II. A few mares from this program that left II. Straight Egyptian Stallions at stud at Bábolna Hungary for the West were noteworthy Name Sire/Dam Seasons Total Foals and influential. The best-known include the celebrated 27 Ibn Galal 5 (Ibn Galal/ FARAG *Morafic x Bint Kateefa to Rodania Magdi x Hosna) who went to Simeon Stud *GHALION *Morafic x Lubna to Roga El Beda in Australia, and the exquisite 21 Farag or IBN GALAL/MAGDI Galal (EAO) x Mohga to Venus *Pharrah (Farag x Tamria), who was used IBN GALAL I Ibn Galal/Magdi x Hanan at the Imperial Egyptian Stud in America. In the early 1980s Ibn Galal I-7 or Gala ZOHAIR Alaa el Din x Zebeda to Rouda (Ibn Galal I x Lutfia) was leased by Ansata Arabians, where she attracted much MOHAFEZ *Ibn Moniet el Nefous x Ahroufa to Negma JAMIL (*JAMILLL) Madkour I x Hanan interest by winning a US Top Ten Champion Mare award. 218 Elf Layla Walayla B ZOHAIR I Zohair x 15 Ghalion to Bint Nazeera (Assad x 223 Ibn Galal I) won the title of AMER Mohafez x Arussa to Hanan Reserve World Champion Mare, Paris, and RAJAN Bilal I x Katr el Nada to Yosreia is the dam of the renowned international ABBAS PASHA I Ansata Abbas Pasha x 2 Ghalion to Bint Inas sire Nabila B by Kubinec.* IBN GALAL II Ibn Galal I x 2 Ghalion to Bint Inas ASSAD Ansata Halim Shah x Arussa to Hanan HALIM SHAH I Ansata Halim Shah x 214 Ibn Galal I to Tamria NASIR Gharib x Nabya to Helwa (El Dahma) EL THAY MAMELUK Ibn Nazeema x El Thay Mansoura to Momtaza MOATAZ Idrees x Moetazza to Rouda All information in this table is based on material published in the Arabian Horse Stud Book of Hungary Halim Shah I remained Chief Sire at Bábolna and sired several addtional foals at Bábolna after the publication of 1997 Stud Book. Note that stallions which trace back in the tail-female to original mares imported to Bábolna are indicated with an underscore. Note also the many horses from Dr. Nagel s program in Germany that were also used at Bábolna. These mares piqued my own curiosity, stimulating years of private research on the history of the Bábolna Stud and its Egyptian and asil breeding programs. Gala became my own personal vision of the ideal straight Egyptian mare, and when we finally acquired horses from Bábolna, her photo was one of the measurements against which we evaluated our stock. In 1990, when the Russians finally left Hungary, the country began the radical shift to a market economy. State-owned farms such as Bábolna found themselves without the large budgets of the past and new ways had to be found to become self-sufficient. This new political era also brought a changing of the Old Guard and Dr. Burgert was retired. Most of the Stud Directors that followed him were political appointees, with little or no background in horse breeding. During these turbulent times, many of Bábolna's best straight Egyptian horses were sold as the Stud struggled to support itself. When professional horseman Tamas Rombauer was installed as Stud Director in the mid 90s, the situation and management at the Stud was greatly improved, but Rombauer's vision for Bábolna was radically different than Burgert's. He envisioned re-introducing traditional purebred sire lines that had been utilized at Bábolna prior to WWII and breeding Arabians that could compete at halter on the international level. The Straight Egyptian program shrunk as a result, with many Egyptian mares crossed with non-al Khamsa horses, and dozens of other horses sold because they measured below a certain height. In June of 2000, my businesss partner Kuti Aharon and I were finally able to schedule a visit to Bábolna; as luck would have it Kuti speaks fluent Hungarian. This was my first visit to Bábolna Kuti had visited there before, more than once, but was not as familiar with the breeding program. Although this was intended as a purely educational trip, events on the ground rapidly took over, and forced us to re-evaluate what we were doing there our choice became either to step in and preserve what remained of Bábolna's Egyptian program or to simply bear witness to its disappearance. It became painfully obvious that we were more familiar with the bloodlines represented and the various mare families than the people running the program. At the time of our visit Rombauer was no longer the Stud Director and there was no one in authority to whom we could convey our concerns. Kuti and I spent the next few days evaluating all the Egyptian bloodstock both as individuals and according to families and gradually developed a wish list from which we could build a program. After much discussion we convinced the new Stud Director to sell us horses previously unavailable for * Horse names in italics are non-al Khamsa horses. 17

3 Atiq Hadas (MD El Sperado x Hopa B), tail-female to Hosna, photo: Menashe Cohen sale he was agreeable as long as we would purchase a large package. Afterwards, during a very formal meeting held in a 200-year-old Baroque-style room complete with French chandelier and huge antique table, Kuti brilliantly negotiated the purchase of five mares and one stallion, with the understanding that we would be back for more. We made several more trips to Bábolna and chose three additional fillies for our program. Politics within Hungary were such that by the time we imported our second group, a different Stud Director was in place; when we exported the third group, still another. Tamas Rombauer, still involved with Arabian breeding from his position with the Arab Horse Registry in Budapest, learned about and vigorously protested these sales but there was little he could do to stop them. When Kuti travelled to Budapest to finalize export documents, Rombauer shook his hand and dubbed him the robber baron of Bábolna. However, when he eventually visited our stud in the spring of 2008, Rombauer expressed his admiration for the program we had developed. III. Imports from Bábolna to Idan Atiq Name Sire and Dam Family Represented Al Hambra B Salaa el Dine x 228 Ibn Galal I Bint Azza I 230 Ibn Galal I 1 Ibn Galal I x 211 Zohair Tamria 216 Haszuna B 2 Ansata Nile Pasha x 227 Ibn Galal I Hosna 247 Rajan B 3 Rajan [Bilal x Katr el Nada] x 227 Ibn Galal I Hosna Harajana B Halim Shah I x 247 Rajan B Hosna Hora B Halim Shah I x 216 Haszuna B Hosna Hila B Efendi B [Ansata Nile Pasha x 223 Ibn Galal I] x Haniya B Hosna Hopa B El Aziz B x Hayila B Hosna EL AZIZ B Salaa el Dine x 20 Abbas Pasha I El Aziza 1 imported in foal to Halim Shah I and subsequently foaled filly Atiq Tamaara in Israel 2 imported in foal to Halim Shah I and subsequently foaled colt Atiq Madheem in Israel 3 imported in foal to El Aziz B and subsequently foaled filly Leila Atiq in Israel Atiq Ayla (Laheeb x Al Hambra B), tail-female to Bint Azza I, photo: Menashe Cohen To see photos of our original imports and get a better feel for the look of our program, please use these links: =c b9d11d Our program is based on the three mare families from among those still represented at Bábolna in June 2000, from which we were able to purchase straight Egyptian progeny. These included the families of Hosna, Tamria and Bint Azza I. The most heavily represented family in our program is that of Hosna, through the celebrated 227 Ibn Galal I, out of 202 Ibn Galal, a Hosna daughter and full sister to Simeon Stud's foundation mare 27 Ibn Galal 5. We chose 227 Ibn Galal I for our program but she died at Bábolna before export; eventually we imported two daughters and four granddaughters. We also chose for our program the elegant and athletic stallion El Aziz B (Salaa el Dine x 20 Abbas Pasha), one of the most correctly conformed straight Egyptians that we had ever seen. He traces in tailfemale to El Aziza, who established a very important family at Bábolna, but from which we were unable to buy female representatives. We also incorporated three daughters of Bábolna's proven broodmare sire Halim Shah I (Ansata Halim Shah x 214 Ibn Galal I) into our program with great success. Future plans include acquiring females tracing in tail-female to El Aziza, Bint Inas, Hanadi and Lutfia from others fortunate enough to have these lines. We are in contact with breeders who own excellent stallions from these families and hope to use their semen on key mares already in our program. We have linebred back to Bábolna-source horses and use our own homebred stallions to strengthen the herd's original characteristics. We also selectively use the finest unrelated straight Egyptian stallions available on certain of our mares, following the practice at Bábolna. These include Laheeb (Imperial Imdal x AK Latifa), Al Maraam (Imperial Imdal x The Vision HG), MD Elsperado (Thee Desperado x Izara Blue CA), Wazir el Kheil (Bariq Al Amal x FA Mahfina) and Nader al Jamal (Ansata Sinan x Savannah CC), among others. This year, for the first time, we bred three of our original imports which trace tail-female to Hosna to our homebred stallion Atiq Hilal (Laheeb x Hila B), also of this line. The proven producers Hila B and Hora B, also tail-female to Hosna, were bred to Simeon Sharav (Asfour x Simeon Shuala by Simeon Shai), in order to introduce rare outcross blood and to add lines to 27 Ibn Galal 5, full sister to 202 Ibn Galal I. Over nearly a decade. we have been both having a great deal of fun and enjoying a great deal of success with these horses. Although a lot has been accomplished, we still find ourselves planning the next ten years in advance. We hope through our efforts to gain recognition for and to help preserve the Bábolna Egyptian as first envisioned by Drs. Burgert and Nagel, and we warmly welcome others who would join us in these efforts. 18

4 A Gallery of Rare Photos of Babolna Egyptians From the Idan Atiq Colltion Left: Lutfia (EAO) Center: Hanan (EAO) at Bábolna Right: Hanadi (EAO) 1963 bay mare, Alaa El Din (EAO) x Rahma (RAS), great granddam of The Minstril Photo: Dr. Nagel, Hanan Left: Farag (EAO) at Bábolna Right: *Pharrah in the US Below: Ghalion EAO at Bábolna Photo: Johnny Johnston Left: El Aziza (ABS) Right: Momtaza (EAO) Below left: Tamria (EAO), incorrectly listed as chestnut in Al Khamsa Arabians III, photo courtesy of the Karen Kasper collection. Left: Bint Inas (EAO), photo courtesy of Susanne Schreibvogel from her internet published article, Portrait Abbas Pasha I 19

5 28 Farag (BAB) 1973 chestnut mare (incorrectly grey in Al Khamsa Arabians III) Farag (EAO) x Tamria (EAO), full sister to *Pharrah, photo: Susan Werth-Hofbaeur 27 Ibn Galal (BAB), 1973 chestnut mare, Ibn Galal (EAO) x Hosna (ABS), Simeon Stud foundation mare and granddam of *Simeon Shai. Photo courtesy of The Arabian Horse in Australia and New Zealand, published by the Arab Horse Society of Australia, Ltd. 23 Ghalion (BAB) Ghalion (EAO) x El Aziza (ABS), photo courtesy of Susanne Schreibvogel from her internet published article, Portrait Abbas Pasha I Bint Azza (EAO), aged, photo: Susan Werth- Hofbaeur 26 Ibn Galal (BAB) Ibn Galal (EAO) x Momtaza (EAO), photo courtesy of Susanne Schreibvogel from her internet published article, Portrait Abbas Pasha I 202 Ibn Galal (BAB), full sister to 27 Ibn Galal, above, center, photo: Susan Werth-Hofbaeur Right: Ibn Galal I (BAB) 1972 chestnut stallion, Ibn Galal (EAO) x Hanan (EAO) Photo: Dr. Nagel, Hanan 15 Ghalion (BAB), aged, Ghalion (EAO x Bint Nazeera (EAO) by Anter (INS) x Nazeera (EAO), photo: Susan Werth-Hofbaeur 20