Sheykh Obeyd Foundation International Home

Foundation Horses - Farida

FARIDA
By Don Austin 1993

Farida 1921

As Dahman enthusiasts delight in ~ quoting, Ali Pasha Sherif stated, "If I had only one strain to choose from in maintaining my stud, I would choose Al Dahmah." Within Sheykh Obeyd, we have Dahmans descending in tail female from only one mare, Ali Pasha Sherif's foundation mare, El Dahma. This article is concerned with Farida, great-granddaughter of El Dahma.

Farida 1921

Saklawi II

El Dahma had two daughters, Obeya and Nadra El Kebira. Obeya is best known as the grandam of Bint Sabbah. Nadra produced Nadra El Saghira, who in turn was the dam of Farida. Farida offers a strong concentration of Abbas Pasha and Ali Pasha Sherif blood, with a combined total of nearly 85%. The balance of the pedigree came from desert importations by contemporary princes. Farida's sire was Saqlawi II. Also known as Farhan, Saqlawi II was of pure All Pasha Sherif blood.

Saklawi II

His sire was Saqlawi I. His dam was El Dahma herself, giving Farida a total of 37.5% of her blood through one cross in the second generation and one in the third as tail female ancestress. Farida's maternal grandsire was Samhan, also grand sire of Babson's *Bint Saada, Balance, *Zarife, Bint Samiha, and Khafifa, the great grandmother of Moniet El Nefous.

Balance

Farida was foaled at Prince Mohammed Ali's Manial stud April 11, 1921 and died August 18,1944. She is listed as the dam of nine foals, all Sheykh Obeyd except one by Registan. First came the Ibn Samhan son Balance, well known racehorse and sire. Repeating a common pattern, Balance was 37.5% Samhan with one cross in the second generation and another in the third.

Balance 1928

Among his get are Nefisa (x Farida granddaughter, Helwa) and Zaafarana. Farida's second foal was the daughter Abla (by Sader). Nothing more is recorded of her.

Farida's third foal was more fortunate Bint Farida by Mansour. Bint Farida had two Sheykh Obeyd daughters. The younger of these was a mare that exemplified the best of "New Egyptian" for many enthusiasts. This was the beautiful *Ghazalahh, by Mashhour. Unfortunately she is no longer available within Sheykh Obeyd as she produced only two daughters, both in Egypt, neither of whom were by Sheykh Obeyd sires.

Bint Farida 1931

Bint Farida's other daughter, Helwa, by Hamran II, produced two Sheykh Obeyd daughters-Nefisa by the aforementioned Farida son Balance, giving Nefisa 37.5% Farida blood, and Abla by Nazeer. Nefisa gave three Sheykh Obeyd daughters, all of whom were exported.

First was Richard Pritzlaff's E1 Sareei daughter, *Bint Nefisa. All her produce were Sheykh Obeyd, including three daughters, all of whom have replaced themselves. Second of Nefisa's daughters was the Nazeer daughter Nadia, exported to Germany. Nadia became an important brood mare in the Marbach Stud, producing 15 foals from 1960 to 1978. Six of these foals were Sheykh Obeyd. All were by Nazeer sons, one by Ghazal and five by Hadban Enzahi.

*Bint Nafisaa 1959

Four were mares; none of whom I believe have been replaced within Sheykh Obeyd.

Nefisa's last daughter was the Gleannloch import *Bint Nefisaa, also by Nazeer. Four of her foals were Sheykh Obeyd, a *Moftakhar daughter Narjisa, and three foals by *Ansata Ibn Halima. Narjisa has had two Sheykh Obeyd foals, a colt and a filly by *Soufian. According to Eva Dano's The Sheykh Obeyd Arabian in the United States, *Soufian had only seven Sheykh Obeyd foals, a surprisingly meager number for a son of Alaa El Din and Moniet El Nefous.

*Ghazalahh 1951

*Bint Nefisaa's foals by *Ansata Ibn Halima carry three crosses to Farida. While preparing for this article I was struck by how often Farida blood was compounded, especially in Egypt itself. We accept as the norm the repetition of stallions' names, e.g. Nazeer or Ibn Rabdan. Doubling and tripling of a mare in a pedigree is much less common and indicates how highly regarded Farida must have been. *Bint Nefisaa's first, *Ansata Ibn Halima foal was the well-known sire El Hilal.

El Hilal 1966

Later came the sisters Negmaa and Nourah. Negmaa has no Sheykh Obeyd offspring while Nourah has had three, two colts and a filly. Only her daughter Sidra remains, an incest bred bay by Nourah's brother, El Hilal. The colts were truly unfortunate losses ...*Talal's only Sheykh Obeyd son, Adjulon, and the incest- bred E1 Hilal son, Le Baroque. Helwa's other Sheykh Obeyd foal from whom we have descendent's was the Nazeer daughter Abla, born in 1943.

Nourah 1971

Abla produced eleven listed foals, all Sheykh Obeyd except two. The Egyptians were so satisfied with her crossing with Antar that they repeated the mating eight times, until Antar died. Following his death, for Abla's last foal an Antar son was chosen, Ibn Shahrzada, also Sheykh Obeyd. With Abla's eight daughters one would assume Abla is well represented within Sheykh Obeyd.

Abla 1953

One should know better. Most of Abla's daughters have died without Sheykh Obeyd replacements. Although the line is still present, it could easily be lost. After producing two Sheykh Obeyd foals that did not breed on, in 1938 Farida produced Ragia by Ibn Rabdan.

Halima

Ragia's only Sheykh Obeyd foal to produce was Halima by Sheikh E1 Arab. Halima produced ten foals of which seven were Sheykh Obeyd. Unquestionably her most influential foal was the Nazeer son, *Ansata Ibn Halima, long a popular Sheykh Obeyd sire and a predominant force in the Arab population worldwide. Halima had two other Nazeer foals, neither of which produced.

Halima 1944

In 1943 Farida's last recorded foal was born, a Shahloul daughter named Futna. Futna produced seven foals, of which five were Sheykh Obeyd, two fillies and three colts, all by Nazeer. Only one of the daughters is found within Sheykh Obeyd.

This was Dahma II through her El Sareei daughter *Bint Dahma, another Pritzlaff import. *Bint Dahma produced eleven foals, all Sheykh Obeyd, five fillies. All have had replacements, by a variety of sires. Mention has been made of the Egyptians' repeated use of Farida. Until the present, the multiple crosses were from foals of Farida's by different stallions. By using more than one stallion, a good mare's influence is able to achieve greater affect.

*Bint Dahma 1956

Dahma II produced other, non Sheykh Obeyd foals, among them the Sameh daughter *Deenaa. Although not Sheykh Obeyd, *Deenaa remains among my all- time favorites. She was a truly lovely, rich bay mare with wonderful type and refinement. Much as I prefer Sheykh Obeyd Arabians, I hope I never become unaware of the value and strengths of the various other groups.

Fortunately, we do not have to restrict ourselves to " only one strain to choose from in maintaining my stud". However, Farida's family provides an enlightening example of how a good mare, when selectively bred, can provide a solid foundation for generations.

SOFI Footnote:
SOFI has taken the liberty of adding photos to the original article. These were not included in the published text. In 1993 The Sheykh Obeyd Foundation was in full swing, with many members that could afford to buy these horses and breed them. Many of these mares was older and no longer producing. The outcome of this line is a slim one, and only available in a few mares today. The El Hilal - Nourah daughter Sidra died without leaving any Sheykh Obeyd foals. The Pritzlaff *Bint Dahma is still al viable source with a few mares left to SO breeders.

The Anter and Abla cross was a prolific one! Three full sisters were imported to the USA. *Ein was bred to *Tuhotmos producing Amira Moniet, who in turn was bred to her sire, producing the beautiful stallion El Mon Moniet, long time heard sire for Windkist Manor. Her only other Sheykh Obeyd foal is Bint Amira Moniet.

El Mon Moniet