Al Shaqab

Preserving the Arabian Horse at the Highest Level

T

he achievement of Al Shaqab is unparalleled in our time.

by Betty Finke

Within just 15 years, five Al Shaqab-bred stallions have been named World Champion, four of them representing three successive generations of Al Shaqab breeding: Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid x Kajora), Marwan Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x Little Liza Fame), Kahil Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x OFW Mishaahl) and Hariry Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x White Silkk). Not only that, but many other Gazal and Marwan get and grandget have won World Champion titles. Asked to what he attributes this unparalleled success, breeding manager Mohammed Al Sulaiti replies: “In my opinion, success, the generally accepted definition of the word, is a personal matter. At Al Shaqab, achieving ‘success,’ is not a goal. We set defined goals and work toward achieving them. In the case of breeding three generations of World Champions, our goal is and continues to be: to breed successive generations — both of the sire lines and the tail-female/ mare families. Marwan Al Shaqab is Gazal Al Shaqab’s primary successor. At this time, Kahil Al Shaqab and Hariry Al Shaqab are Marwan Al Shaqab’s primary successors. Many components contribute 192 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016

Facing page, top: Al Shaqab Breeding Manager Mohammed Al Sulaiti with the 2013 filly Al Farida Al Shaqab (Fadi Al Shaqab x Aleysha Al Nasser

by Gazal Al Shaqab), 2014 Silver Champion Yearling Filly at Menton.

Facing page, bottom: The 2000 stallion Marwan Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x Little Liza Fame), with trainer Giacomo Capacci in Italy.

This page, top: The 1995 stallion Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid x Kajora by Kaborr), pictured here at 20 years of age.

Left: The 1995 straight Egyptian stallion Al Adeed Al Shaqab (Ansata Halim Shah x Sundar Alisayyah), also pictured at 20 years of age.

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Preserving the Arabian Horse at the Highest Level

T

he achievement of Al Shaqab is unparalleled in our time.

Within just 15 years, five Al Shaqab-bred stallions have been named World Champion, four of them representing three successive generations of Al Shaqab breeding: Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid x Kajora), Marwan Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x Little Liza Fame), Kahil Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x OFW Mishaahl) and Hariry Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x White Silkk). Not only that, but many other Gazal and Marwan get and grandget have won World Champion titles. Asked to what he attributes this unparalleled success, breeding manager Mohammed Al Sulaiti replies: “In my opinion, success, the generally accepted definition of the word, is a personal matter. At Al Shaqab, achieving ‘success,’ is not a goal. We set defined goals and work toward achieving them. In the case of breeding three generations of World Champions, our goal is and continues to be: to breed successive generations — both of the sire lines and the tail-female/ mare families. Marwan Al Shaqab is Gazal Al Shaqab’s primary successor. At this time, Kahil Al Shaqab and Hariry Al Shaqab are Marwan Al Shaqab’s primary successors. Many components contribute 192 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016

by Betty Finke

Facing page, top: Al Shaqab Breeding Manager Mohammed Al Sulaiti with the 2013 filly Al Farida Al Shaqab (Fadi Al Shaqab x Aleysha Al Nasser

by Gazal Al Shaqab), 2014 Silver Champion Yearling Filly at Menton.

Facing page, bottom: The 2000 stallion Marwan Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x Little Liza Fame), with trainer Giacomo Capacci in Italy.

This page, top: The 1995 stallion Gazal Al Shaqab (Anaza El Farid x Kajora by Kaborr), pictured here at 20 years of age.

Left: The 1995 straight Egyptian stallion Al Adeed Al Shaqab (Ansata Halim Shah x Sundar Alisayyah), also pictured at 20 years of age.

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Above: The 2008 stallion Kahil Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x OFW Mishaahl).

Right: Hariry Al Shaqab (Marwan Al Shaqab x White Silkk), 2010 stallion, and his 2015 filly Um Graiba Al Shaqab (x Amina Al Shaqab by Al Adeed Al Shaqab), below.

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to winning and even not winning a championship; therefore, I would attribute the showring accomplishments of Hariry Al Shaqab, Kahil Al Shaqab, and others, to our wholehearted commitment to our breeding strategy.”

Purebred show horses of international breeding are only one part of the story, however, as Al Shaqab also maintains a straight Egyptian breeding program. Significantly, this program has also produced a World Champion in Al Adeed Al Shaqab. Although these two programs are distinct from each other, they are not always entirely separate. When asked if he would use straight Egyptian stallions on show horse mares, or even World Champion purebred stallions, like Marwan, on straight Egyptian mares, the reply comes instantly: “In short, the answer is yes and yes!” Mohammed Al Sulailti continues in greater detail: “We have achieved consistently pleasing results when breeding the straight Egyptian stallions Al Adeed Al Shaqab, Farhoud Al Shaqab, and Jadaan Al Shaqab to non-Egyptian Al Shaqab mares.

And, of course, Gazal Al Shaqab, born in 1995, is a result of breeding an Egyptian stallion over a non-Egyptian mare.

“The straight Egyptian population is much smaller and therefore we prioritize breeding the straight Egyptian mares to straight Egyptian stallions. However, on occasion, we will breed a straight Egyptian mare to a non-straight stallion. For quite 195 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016

Top: The 2011 stallion Hadidy Al Shaqab (Gazal Al Shaqab x White Silkk) and his 2015 colt, pictured above with his dam Rasha Al Shaqab (Alzeer Al Rayyan x Shahirat Al Shaqab by Al Adeed Al Shaqab).

Right: The 2008 straight Egyptian stallion Farhoud Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Johara Al Shaqab).

Below: Farhoud’s dam Johara Al Shaqab (Imperial Mahzeer x Sahaba), 1998 straight Egyptian mare.

Below: The 2010 stallion Ghasham Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Gazala Al Shaqab by Gazal Al Shaqab).

some time we’ve been dreaming about breeding a non-straight Egyptian branch of the family of 1998 straight Egyptian mare Johara Al Shaqab (Imperial Mahzeer x Sahaba). Ultimately we bred Johara’s granddaughter Amina Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Amwaj Al Shaqab), the 2014 Egyptian Event Champion Mare, to Hariry Al Shaqab and the resulting filly, Um Graiba Al Shaqab, was among the best of all the foals born in her season.”

It is noticeable that only one of Al Shaqab’s five World Champion Stallions is straight Egyptian, but Mohammed Al Sulaiti believes that the comparative rarity of straight Egyptian champions at top level is less a matter of straight Egyptian horses being less compatible, but of personality. “In our experience the most accomplished show horses are the 196 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016

Left: Hathfa Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x Kajora by Kaborr) and her 2015 colt by Hariry Al Shaqab.

Middle left: The 2013 filly Farah Al Shaqab (Al Adeed Al Shaqab x SWF Valencia by Psytanium).

Middle right: The 2013 filly Aswar Al Shaqab (Kahil Al Shaqab x Hathfa Al Shaqab by Al Adeed Al Shaqab).

Bottom: A 2016 filly (Gazal Al Shaqab x Sharifa Al Shaqab [WN Star Of Antigua x Shahirat Al Shaqab by Al Adeed Al Shaqab])

ones who enjoy the showing process,” he explains. “We have a great many horses here that possess the conformation and type to be measured against the breed standard at the highest level. However, for the most part, these horses do not enjoy the training, conditioning, and/or showing process and considering our highest priority is the horses’ welfare, we don’t force them into a show career. Therefore, when you consider our significantly smaller straight Egyptian population it seems inevitable that fewer will be presented at the shows.” He does not, however, rule out participation in special straight Egyptian shows, adding: “We are happy to do whatever we can to support the straight Egyptian breeding community.”

While show wins and champion titles may be impressive, they are not 197 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ MAY 2016

the prime consideration when making breeding decisions.

In fact, according to Mohammed Al Sulaiti, they are no consideration at all. “A show record offers no proof that a horse can reproduce their ideal conformational characteristics and quality; therefore, at Al Shaqab, show titles bear zero influence on breeding and purchasing decisions.”

Straight Egyptian breeding is always to some extent preservation breeding, but at Al Shaqab, this label is applied to the breed as a whole. “As we are working with the goal to preserve the Arabian horse breed at the highest level of conformation, type, and quality, every mating, regardless of bloodline, is made with preservation in mind.”

Asked which mare families at Al Shaqab he considers the best, Mohammed Al Sulaiti remains firmly impartial. “No one family is better than the other,” he states. “The established families at Al Shaqab have proven that they are capable of consistently reproducing their most ideal conformational characteristics and quality.”

Arabian horses are famous for their beauty, and there is no denying that the horses of Al Shaqab are supremely beautiful.

Top: The 2014 colt Medan Al Shaqab (Farhoud Al Shaqab x Abha Myra by Marwan Al Shaqab), 2016 Qatar Gold Champion Colt.

Bottom: The 2013 Colt Fayyad Al Shaqab (Farhoud Al Shaqab x Ghalia Al Shaqab by Marwan Al Shaqab), 2014 Gold Champion Yearling Colt at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Arabian Horse Festival.

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Below: The Scottsdale 2016 Gold Champion Egyptian Heritage Senior Mare Hadeel Al Shaqab (Ashhal Al Rayyan x Enshoda Al Shaqab by Gazal Al Shaqab), and her son, the 2014 colt Moaid Al Shaqab (by Fadi Al Shaqab), left.

However, by tradition the Arabian horse was equally celebrated for its stamina, disposition, and riding qualities. How important, then, are these qualities within the Al Shaqab breeding program, and do they have any influence on the breeding decisions?

“Gazal Al Shaqab has sired race winners in Poland and Al Shaqab-bred offspring of Gazal Al Shaqab, Al Adeed Al Shaqab, and WN Star of Antigua have achieved admirable results in marathon competitions in Qatar, the U.A.E., and in Europe,” Mohammed Al Sulaiti points out and continues: “But this statement is in no way extraordinary. Although we present our horses in halter competitions only, there are many breeders, who, like us, compete only in halter but have also bred horses with notable accomplishments in multiple disciplines.

“At Al Shaqab, every mating is made with the standard of excellence in mind and I believe a focus on breeding a well-conformed horse will enable athletic ability and trainability — albeit to varying degrees.”

So what it all comes down to in the end is that a beautiful and correct horse should also be able to perform. And that’s as close to summing up the perfect Arabian horse in a nutshell as you can get.

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