Straight Babson Egyptian Arabian Horses In Europe by Andrea Kaiser and Annalisa Monticelli
The famous poet Al Mutanabbi must have been talking about the Straight Babson Egyptian Arabian horses!
Fine steeds, like true friends, are few, even if to the eye of the inexperienced they are many; If you have seen nothing but the beauty of their markings and limbs, their true beauty is hidden from you. – Al Mutanabbi
Babson Horses are one of the longest running, closed-herd breeding groups in the entire Arabian Community. A Straight Babson Egyptian Arabian horse (SBE) would be a horse that traces, in all of its bloodlines, to a combination of the six horses imported from Egypt by Henry Babson in 1932:
is concentrating on specific rare bloodlines within the SBE population. They are both from The Netherlands and moved to Ireland in 2001.
“In 1993, we were reading the issue of Arabian Horse World dedicated to Babson breeding. At that time we couldn't find in Europe what we would consider as the original bedouin Horse. Seeing the pictures of the SBEs in this magazine opened a whole new World to us. In 1994 we went to visit the Babson Farm, Nelson Ruiz and Walter Schimanski 's Masada Farm. We immediately saw the significance of Walter's breeding philosophy: finding and preserving the bloodlines of those SBEs that would carry the blood of the original SBEs that were less frequently used. This would not only provide much needed genetic diversity, but also result in another SBE type that would more resemble the original import SBEs than the then more common and more popular SBEs with many lines to Maaroufa. Walter's horses stood out to us. In the following years Walter entrusted us with several of his best horses, believing we could breed them on in his way.”
1) *Maaroufa (Ibn Rabdan (RAS) x Mahroussa (MNL)) — produced 15 Egyptian foals 2) *Bint Bint Sabbah (Baiyad (RAS) x Bint Sabah (RAS)) — produced 13 Egyptian foals 3) *Bint Serra I (Sotamm (BLT) x Serra (BLT)) — produced 10 Egyptian foals 4) *Bint Saada (Ibn Samhan (RAS) x Saada )MNL)) — produced three Egyptian foals 5) *Bint Bint Durra (Ibn Rabdan (RAS) x Bint Durra (RAS)) — produced five Egyptian foals
For the Stams, it's the overall appealing impression at first sight that they like about the SBE, but most appealing to them is the horses’ dispositions, their loving nature and that they love humans.
6) *Fadl (Ibn Rabdan (RAS) x Mahroussa (MNL)) — sired 34 straight Egyptian foals
At MANARA, the Stams work with what they call 'building blocks,' meaning: those horses that contributed most, at least in their perception, to what they have now. The building blocks are all original Babson imports; the *Bint Bint Sabbah tail female line; Ibn Saafaddan, his parents and his grandparents, in particular Daal Aba and Faddan; Daaldan; Fay El Aba; Masada Saafa; Masada El Aba; Lothar; Zahara Sabiya; SSH Serahsaafa and other horses, contributing to wider genetic diversity, like Shar Sabbah.
Different horses were added to the Babson breeding program and then, were dispersed, as Henry Babson kept returning to the bloodlines of the Egyptian horses he imported in 1932. There was no incentive at the time to do this. There was no straight Egyptian breeding concept, there was no Al Khamsa, there was no Pyramid Society. What was it about the horses he imported from Egypt in 1932, that captivated him, to the exclusion of everything else from his program? And what it is about these SBE horses that caused some farsighted breeders in Europe to import pure Babson blood, not just horses with some Babson blood? To answer this question we contacted the owners of SBE in Europe and we want to express our thanks to them for sharing their experiences and knowledge with us:
The breeding stock of MANARA CLASSIC ARABIAN STUD includes: • Manara Samhan (Masada Faddan x Manara Sabbah) 2010 stallion • Manara Faddana (Masada Faddan x Manara Aana) 2010 mare • Vlacq Amurrah (Princeton Mariner x Nadara Bint Sabiya) 2014 mare
Personality – Trainability – Personality – Athleticism – Personality – Versatility – Personality – Beauty and Balance – Did we mention Personality?
• Manara Negma ( Princeton Mariner x Manara Faddana) 2014 mare • Manara Maarena (Princeton Mariner x Manara Fa Habba) 2013 mare
Ireland
• Manara Saafa ( Masada Mamnon x Manara Faddana) 2019 mare
Gert and Elisabeth Stam were the first breeders to import SBE to Europe. Their MANARA CLASSIC ARABIAN STUD in Ireland
• Sharif Lother (Serr Mashkour x Khebirs Akelah) 2020 grey stallion • Manara Sabiya (Masada Samhan x Vlacq Amurrah) 2021 mare 40
