“The Anters, we believe, provide superior rear-motor skills, and they are ideally suited to harmonize with the Sid Abouhom/Akhtal mares that are lighter in the hindquarters, and frequently more angular, as racehorses often are. Anters certainly also improve on character and disposition of the Akhtals, not the easiest horses to raise. Our breeding program (on the male side) consists of breeding Anters to Akhtals and vice versa. Occasionally, we double the blood of Anter, and that of Akhtal as well, with pleasing results. That is not to say that our herd does not carry Nazeer influence; it does, since we own many EAO mares that were sired by some Morafic or Alaa el Dine descendants. Still, these mares are bred to one or the other of our wide variety of Anter or Akhtal stallions, depending on the direction we want to take any given mare. The ill effects of inbreeding are avoided by the use of a wide variety of mares, from most, if not all, EAO strains.
Facing page, top: “The first Ghallab male progeny, Rafik El Oumr is a Krushan stallion tracing back to Rowaida EAO through Rassayel EAO. He is large and imposing … a handful. He was given the name Rafik El Oumr, ‘Companion of a Lifetime,’ just to make extra sure that he would never be sold. His biomechanics are very good, and we turn to him for that. In the head he resembles Ghallab. We expect him to come into his own late in life, perhaps at age eight.” Facing page, bottom: “Badr El Doga is double Inshass, of one of our favorite combinations of strains: Krushan and Obayan. As such, we see him as a good outcross. We are waiting to see whether he carries more the imprimatur of the sire (the Kohailan Krush stallion Rafik El Oumr) or the dam Wedd (an Obayan Om Greiss mare). So far, the sire is prevailing, but this may change.” Left: “Misk el Leil, meaning ‘The Nightime Musk Fragrance,’ out of a Gabbar daughter, our Quareat el Fingale, ‘The Fortune Teller,’ a Saklawi Gidran tracing back to Moniet el Nefous. We hope for him to become a prime example of what Anter, Akhtal, Sameh, and Gassir can do together.” 15 ▪ PARASKEVAS ▪ WORLD