Senior Champion at the Israeli Egyptian Event in 2006 during his several years’ lease to Ariela Arabians, where he began his breeding career. After returning to Germany in 2008, he celebrated his greatest victory by being named Champion Stallion at the Asil Cup International. Tragically, barely a year later, he fell victim to a horrific accident at the age of only 10 years. His death was a major loss and heartbreak not only for his owner, but also for the breed, because, in addition to being a superb individual, he had also proven himself as a great sire whose get include not just *Baha AA, but also *Al Ayal AA and Nashwah AA. Nearly all of them were bred in Israel; he only sired five foals in Germany after his return. Al Ayad’s sire Moheeb was a typical product of the breeding program of Peter Gross, who concentrated on linebreeding to the Dahman Shahwan family through Moheba II. Moheeb had three lines to Moheba II, including tail female, plus another two lines to her full sister Malikah. He also had five crosses to the famous Nazeer son Hadban Enzahi. The horses from this breeding program were (and still are) characterized by exquisite type and refinement, and almost invariably white grey. Moheeb represented the 4th generation of this breeding program. His sire, the aptly-named El Shahwan, was a chief sire at Peter Gross’s stud farm and the offspring of two of the best horses. His sire Machmut (Ibrahim x Molesta) was a very beautiful stallion, who unfortunately “lost” his back as a young horse due to an illness. As a result, he had an extremely low back throughout his life, but since this was acquired, he never passed it on, and he sired several significant stallions and mares in straight Egyptian breeding. El
Shahwan’s dam Saemah (Madkour I x El Samraa) was in many ways the crowning achievement of Peter Gross’s breeding p r o g r a m . O n e o f M a d k o u r I ’s b e s t daughters, she was virtually unbeatable in the show ring and became an Elite mare of the German registry. Her sire Madkour I (Hadban Enzahi x Moheba II) ranks as possibly the most significant straight Egyptian stallion ever bred in Germany. That’s quite something, if you consider that Rolf Ismer, when he purchased the weanling Madkour I from his breeder Prince Knyphausen, was ridiculed by some for buying such a “puny little animal.” Having seen him just after he arrived at the Ismer Stud, I have to admit that he did not appear very impressive at the time and looked quite small and delicate compared to the other yearlings. But the little white colt grew up to become a magnificent white stallion, an Elite stallion and German National Champion, and a sire second to none. Like Al Ayad, he was a better horse than either of his parents, and a strongly dominant sire. Moheeb’s dam Mahameh (Ibrahim x Mona III) was a full sister in blood to Machmut, out of a mare who was a full sister to Madkour I. She was a key mare in Peter Gross’s breeding program, another Elite mare of the German registry, and famous as a producer of stallions. Her son El Thay Ibn Halim Shah was one of the finest Ansata Halim Shah sons. She produced several full siblings by Madkour I, including the stallion Mahadin who was exported to Austria, where he became a show champion, and a sire of note. Al Ayad’s dam Al Mamunah was a daughter of Maysoun (Ansata Halim Shah x Maysouna), who brings in the bloodlines of Dr. Nagel’s Katharinenhof
SAHARA > 8 < WORLD