A Line in the Sand Political - Egyptian Horses
Uploaded by SchoolStinks! on Jul 07, 2004
If you are interested in Arabian Horses, and especially in Straight Egyptian bloodlines, a journey to Egypt is a “must“ in your life. It also should include a date in the Egyptian state stud farm, El Zah-raa. You will also find interesting horses in the private stud farms. The interest of private breeders in Egyptian horses has increased greatly in the past ten years. There were just a handful breeders in the seventies, but today there are more than a hundred private stud farms. These farms are members of “The Egyptian Arabian Breeders Association,” an organization set apart from the government controlled breeding programs.
With the increasing interest, new people became interested in breeding and brought new ideas. The Egyptian breeders became more open for foreign influence. Arabian horses from foreign countries, especially from the USA, were imported. Omar Sakr was the first breeder in Egypt to import foreign bred, Egyptian Arabians, in the nineties. His beautiful mare AK Nouasha (Ansata Abbas Pasha x AK Nouara) – Supreme Champion at the Egyptian National Show in 1993 - is unforgotten. On one side, her win caused a discussion about a mare winning against a stallion, on the other side, this mare came from a foreign country. This was just the start of a nearly endless discussion about the pro’s and con’s of Re-Imports.
Although born on foreign soil, the Egyptian breeders imported only horses of Straight Egyptian bloodlines. There ancestries came directly from Egypt. This is a difference to many other eastern countries like Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia, U.A.E. It seems that the breeders in these countries are seeking show-horses regardless of pedigree.
Private Breeding Farms Dot the Deserts Edge.
In Egypt the people set great store by keeping a cultural heritage and they understand their Straight Egyptian horses as a part of their cultural heritage. But it is not only necessary to keep this heritage but to improve it, too. And if imported horses contribute to this aim, why not? The breeders who import Straight Egyptians of excellent quality from abroad are working in the best tradition of the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS). The RAS bought several horses from the English Lady Wentworth in 1920. Among them were horses who traced back to the well known Egyptian stud farms of Abbas Pasha and Ali Pasha Sherif. But within this group were horses with...