by Andrea Kaiser

Straight Babson Egyptian Arabian Horses In Europe

by Andrea Kaiser and Annalisa Monticelli

Fine steeds, like true friends, are few, even if to the eye of the inexperienced they are many;

The famous poet Al Mutanabbi must have been talking about the If you have seen nothing but the beauty of Straight Babson Egyptian Arabian their markings and limbs, their true beauty is horses! 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: 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 6) *Fadl (Ibn Rabdan (RAS) x Mahroussa (MNL)) — sired 34 straight Egyptian foals

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: Personality – Trainability – Personality –

Athleticism – Personality – Versatility – Personality – Beauty and Balance – Did we mention Personality? Ireland

Gert and Elisabeth Stam were the first breeders to import SBE to Europe. Their MANARA CLASSIC ARABIAN STUD in Ireland 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.”

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.

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.

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 • Manara Negma ( Princeton Mariner x Manara Faddana) 2014 mare • Manara Maarena (Princeton Mariner x Manara Fa Habba) 2013 mare • Manara Saafa ( Masada Mamnon x Manara Faddana) 2019 mare • Sharif Lother (Serr Mashkour x Khebirs Akelah) 2020 grey stallion • Manara Sabiya (Masada Samhan x Vlacq Amurrah) 2021 mare

Manara Samhan, above. Manara Negma, below.

The newest addition to the Stams’ breeding group is Sharif Lother: “For us it was important to add the Lothar top sire line to our group, as this was unfortunately lost in Walter's horses when we got our foundation stock from him. By re-introducing this blood we were able to restore what Walter achieved five decades ago.” That was only possible because there is a group of cooperating SBE breeders covering two continents.

For 27 years the Stams have preserved and continued Walter Schimanski 's legacy: SBE horses with a wide genetic diversity, mostly outcrosses to the wider SBE population. They plan to continue this as long as they can, with the hope someone else will take over the torch when their time is over.

Austria

Hannes Krammer learned about Arabian horses at all from a Babson Arabian horse article in 1980. The most important aspects for the preservation for him is the original breeding goal of Henry B. Babson: character, willingness to perform and the willingness to be there for the human being. Hannes Krammer also followed up this breeding goal in practice, although he didn't know anything about Henry B. Babson at that time. This breeding goal has always fascinated him, so he completely concentrated on these horses.

Elisabeth Stam with Manara horses.

He wanted to own such a horse, but there was no opportunity to purchase at that time. It wasn't until 2006 that he was able to acquire such a wonderful horse. At Jody Dvorak‘s stud he found the stallion Rouhas (SAH Hasim Khabar x Rou Habba), who came to Hannes when he was four years old. Since his arrival Rouhas has brilliantly mastered his services as a stallion, riding horse and school horse. All of his offsprings are ridden and 80 percent of them are used in endurance sports: the breeding goal of character and performance is being confirmed again and again. Like most of the breeders of SBE in Europe, Hannes Krammer is connected with the breeding program of the Stams, as he bought his broodmare for his AL NAFEESAH STUD from them: the bay Manara Fa Habba (Manara Faddan x Manara Sabbah) 2008.

Hannes Krammer is convinced that in our time it is important to win young people’s interest in the breed and to inspire them to carry on. This is the reason he gave two of his SBE horses to Conny Haider and Arnold Schwarz; they will continue his SBE breeding program under his guidance for the future. The two are Mahr Riana (Amerias Jarwad x Mah Roufa) a 2009 bay, and her daughter El Nafeesah Adhamah a 2020 bay, by Nejds Ahmarfaasad. Conny and Arnold also imported from the USA this year, in utero, the bay colt

El Nafeesah Hibah.

Alraahal el Nafeesah by Mah Ridian, 2021 and acquired the three year old dark bay El Nafeesah Hibah, the first daughter of Manara Fa Habba by Rouhas.

Hannes hopes that his role is in helping to expand the SBE group in Europe and maintain the gene pool. The number of these horses is small. USA were the 2006 bay mare Josh Tali Barakah (ASR Bah Rous x Du Sierra Sunrise) and her 2010 daughter Aasma Fa Bar (Ahmed Fabo x Josh Tali Barakah).

France

The beautiful 1995 grey mare Bint Fay Amy (Mahrouf x Fay Amy) was the first foal bred at the Babson Arabian Horse Farm to go to Belgium. Clothilde Nollet was so captivated by her tremendous personal magnetism that in 2007 she imported the first group of SBE horses from the USA: Fa Daahlina, Medinna Ibn Faaris, BW Ebon Faydin, Roubih, and later BL Maaroufas Image.

Now the 2006 chestnut Medinna Ibn Faaris (Sunnyru Faaris x Fa Asaria) is owned by Alexandra Butruille and the 2012 black Maarena Satins Image (Medinna Ibn Farris x BL Maaroufas Image) is with Marie Sanchez, NEVERLAND ARABIANS.

Aline Bandela’s best friend and companion is the handsome 2011 chestnut stallion Maarena Battal (Medinna Ibn Farris x Fa Daahlina), pictured below.

Mahr Riana with Alraahal El Nafeesah. See also page 36.

Belgium

Two of the Stams’ horses came to Belgium and are now owned by Bo De Cort, DRIELINDEN ARABIANS: the 1995 black stallion Masada Bahir (Fa Asar x Masada Fa Hannah) [shown below] and the 2012 grey mare Manara Saafana (Masada Faddan x Manara Aana). Masada Bahir symbolizes their Babson breeding program. Bo is perpetuating, preserving, and promoting the valuable Babson qualities for the future. Added to the group and imported from the

England

The most influential SBE outside America was without doubt the 1966 bay stallion The Shah (Fabah x Bint Fada), bred by Henry B. Babson. The Shah was exported to England as a two-year-old and remained one of the most popular sires in England until his untimely death in 1979. He topped his career by being named Supreme Male Champion of England in 1978. He was not only a Halter champion; he sired many performance champions and winning racehorses around the world. But his blood is lost in the SBE group. The VLACQ STUD’s interest in the SBE group began with the one-year lease of the 1986 chestnut Princeton Mariner (Serr Maariner x Black Satin) as a then 14-year-old stallion. He came to add to their existing Crabbet and Polish blood in Wales, specifically to complement the daughters of their premium sire Shah Shadow, a grandson of The Shah. It all worked out great, and Prince stayed until his passing aged 30. Later Nadara Bint Sabiya and Dunkeld

The Shah.

Mairi were added to breed SBE and Sheykh Obeyd stock of their own. A great project to see out, raising three SBE progeny, now all in new homes, and Sheykh Obeyd progeny sold to Germany to ride and breed onwards. Sue Pyke writes about the Babson lines, type and history: “All very interesting, a great community of people devoted to them today, and we spotted the traits we like and breed for were consistent in the Babson program too. Workable minds, natural easy paces, dryness of type. Of the ones I've met, they are light on their feet, zealous in all things, stronger than their stature suggests, and have quite a pony mind. Playful, bold, always eager to do new things. This is perhaps why they train well for dressage, trail etc. These are all great traits and our part was to blend them into blood we know can perform in the modern market. Preservation breeding is important, yes, as long as there are plans to showcase the resulting stock.”

The ‘jewel in the crown’ for Keren Gilfoyle-McGroarty is her young SBE stallion Vlacq Naseeb (Princeton Mariner x Nadara Bint Sabiya), who arrived with her as a yearling at Christmas 2018, the culmination of her Arabian dreams. It all began 40 years ago when she saw the breathtaking The Shah daughter Latifah. She was greatly intrigued by what she saw and read in the book of Judith Forbis and Walter Schimanski about Henry Babson and his horses, but she had to wait until the AHS National Show in 1978 to see her first 100% SBE: The Shah himself! She still remembers: “The Shah — he was dry, svelt, petite and a gleaming, dark bronze in colour, with just the tiniest white star. He was everything I had heard the Arab horse was supposed to look like, and a complete contrast to everything else on the showground — I couldn’t take my eyes off him! All these years later, I still have the image of him dancing round the ring at Ascot, gently playing with his bit, barely seeming to touch the ground, burnt ineradicably into my memory!”

Keren Gilfoyle-McGroarty is convinced that Babsons produce very predictable results when bred within their own group, not just phenotypically but also in terms of intelligence, sweet nature and performance ability. When crossed on to Crabbet and Old English mares, as The Shah was, the result was a structurally correct and athletic horse with more refinement, dryness and charisma than the English lines generally displayed. Top crossing Babson stallions on to other Arab lines brings the benefit of the ORIGINAL Arab head (a wedge-shape, with straight or slightly dished profile, not the ‘Barbie horse’ head beloved of not-riding owners), the glorious big Arab eyes, that smooth, sweeping curve of outline, dryness, and those equally essential characteristics of Arab type — sanity, toughness and athletic ability — which so many today forget because they cannot be seen, and because they have forgotten that Arabs are first and foremost HORSES. These qualities are essential for anyone wanting to return the Arab horse to what nature and the Bedouin designed it to be. But to sum up: The SBE are everything that the Arabian horse originally was — a true tent horse, not just a pretty face but a superb athlete. Therefore her breeding goal is to ensure Vlacq Naseeb carries on the very important Serr Maariner sire line of performance Arabians, including SBEs, with as wide an influence as possible. And to breed top quality Arabians that can not only excel under saddle, but which will carry the flag of authentic Arabian type onwards into the future, so that as many people as possible can see the GENUINE Arabian horse, and understand how very different ‘the real thing’ is from over-hyped travesties of the modern halter show ring!

Italy

Annalisa Monticelli, HALYPA STABLES EGYPTIAN ARABIAN HORSES, is the obstinate pioneer and enthusiastic ambassador for the SBE in Italy. She remembers: “ I started to learn more about this group of horses when by chance, or I can say “ fortune,” in 1996 I met the son of an Italian politician, who lived in Egypt, and who was attending the stables and the Royal House of King Farouk. I met him because he was able to import in Europe the first group of Dahman Shahwan Arabian horses bred by Ansata and with [the] Babson *Bint Bint Sabbah dam line. I was always been obsessed by the strain of Dahman Shahwan. I remember there were continuous and long conversations, on phone and during my days to visit him and his horses we were continuously talking of pedigrees and studying historical and personal photos, of course, never published, which introduced me even more deeply into the history of this wonderful horse. In those days I had the chance to see in person a daughter of Al Karim Sirhalima, or a daughter of Ansata Nile Pasha ... the daughters of Ansata Halim Shah, a daughter of

Shaikh Al Badi by Siralima, or having touched Ansata Nile Pasha and remember their wonderful eyes, a special beauty, impossible to take in a photograph. This breeder has taught me to read and recognize pedigrees, using them as road maps ... as he used to say me, an expression that some time later I found, very similar, in the book Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, by Judith Forbis. I remained fascinated by those bloodlines .... He gave me the book The Royal Arabians of Egypt and the Stud of Henry B. Babson by Judith Forbis and Walter Schimanski and recommended me to take special care of it .... I began a laborious search, since nobody in Italy knew anything at all of what I was blathering. And as I said before, in those years there was no Internet!”

The whole last 22 years were studded by the aura of these horses. It was in 1999 that the great Ansata Halisha (Ansata Iemhotep x Sundar Alisha, from the Glorieta Sabdana family) stepped into her life, a small filly, rejected from her mom, descending directly from her favorite *Bint Bint Sabbah. This filly is a girl’s dream and that of an avid horsewoman; its pedigree contained the best that you could want. So the legendary names like SerraSab, Fay Sabbah, Sabrah, Faddan, Aaroufa ... Ansata Sabiha, entered powerfully into her life. “As a horse's woman as I am, my personal desire was to be surrounded by Arabian horses with souls able to forge an intimate relationship with the owner, horses with a refined intelligence, without the too hot bloodlines, or nervous and unstable temperament. In short I was searching for SBEs horses alongside Ansata Sabiha’s descendants. But SBE Arabians with the pedigree I was searching for were not available in Europe at that time.

“If you love Arabians, true Asayel Arabians, you must necessarily go in the realm of SBEs… if you need pigment, if you need real long arched neck, not artificially created by the handler’s skills, if you need the perfect legs, if you need hooves, if you need to shorten the heads, if you need to put curves up on the bodies, if you need to put balance in the proportions of your horses, if you need to shorten the rear legs, if you need to improve the quality of canter, if you need a calm behaviour, if you need a horse able to pass on a plastic sack without the need of training him, if you need to take a long walk in the wood while chatting with your own daughter, without having to prevent imaginary monsters behind the trees. — That’s why Babson in Europe.”

At the end of 2014, Annalisa Monticelli discovered the MANARA stud of the Stams with the legendary horses of MASADA on Facebook. Photos and desires and thoughts were exchanged, Elisabeth and Gert Stam routed her even more deeply into the study of these rare lines — and on the 13th of April a beautiful filly was born with the famous spots on the forehead and between the nostrils of *Bint Bint Sabbah.

Annalisa Monticelli now owns this filly: Manara Sabrina, bred by MANARA stud of Elisabeth and Gert Stam in Ireland, and she is by Manara Samhan (Masada Faddan x Manara Sabbah by Fa Asar) x Manara Faddana ( Masada Faddan x Manara Aana, by Masada Bahir). So she is a pure in the strain Dahmah Shahwaniyah, six horse pedigree, double AK Bint Serasaab and she has some of the most sought after horses in the SBE realm, as Fa Asar, Ibn Saafaddan, Masada Faadana and Masada Fa Hannah, Roufas, Fabo, Khebir.

“I hope to be able to breed Manara Sabrina in accurate ways to produce foals with defined and refined types. Manara Sabrina has a larger spectrum of breeding projects, since she has a six horse pedigree, so I will have more space of manoeuvre, so to speak. The obstacle is that in Europe, the interest in breeding SBEs is still in embryonal stage, and for now the choice of stallions is still not varied. But some young boys are in the air to come! Anyway, in the other side, for now, I don’t have rush to breed: I’m here to ponder the different stallions available and continue to study and comparing pedigrees and phenotypes. I have a lot to learn — but by character I am obstinate and I love studying.”

Manara Sabrina.

Germany

There is no SBE stallion in Germany — but not for a long time!

In 1969 Dr. Walter Georg Olms imported the mares Faziza and Shar Zarqa from the Shar-Char Farms. They were the first Egyptian-bred mares imported to Germany with Babson blood. He was so pleased with them that in 1973 he bought two more — Shar Gemara and Shar Duda, both by Negem.

Also in 1969 the well-known writer and expert Erika Schiele imported from America the 75 percent Babson mare Belle Dahma and the 50 percent Babson colt El Beshir, who made his public debut in 1973 at the First International Arabian Show in Germany at Verden, where he won a race against Polish racing Arabians.

Anchor Hill Halim, a son of Hadbah and tracing to *Bint Bint Sabbah, was the first Straight Egyptian stallion ever imported from the USA to Germany and he was carrying a very high percentage of Babson blood. He was the most popular Babson-bred Arabian in Germany. He made a name for himself both as an outstanding performance horse, mainly by winning long-distance rides, and as a sire. But it seemed that the source of his success was his close relationship, a kind of love affair, with his owner Petra Horsch which made a lasting impression on everyone who saw that impressive pair.

In 1976 another half-Babson colt was imported to Germany, the dark bay Mohafez (Ibn Moniet El Nefous x Ahroufa). He had three crosses to *Fadl on his dam’s side, and in 1980 he managed to place fifth of all breeds in the performance test at the State Stud Marbach, which no Arabian had done so far. He was the epitome of a true dressage horse!

The Babson blood had shown its potential in such an impressive way, but it took a long time until Stephan Eberhardt, RAFIK EL AMEN FARM, brought the grey SBE mare Manara Fay Dalla (Masada Mamnon x AK Bint Serasaab) 2000, bred by the Stams, together with the Sheykh Obeyd mare Manara Khedena to Germany. Through the Anchor Hill Halim daughter Rahmouna and through magazines, books and articles, he had got into the history of the Babson lines in her pedigree. For him these lines distinguish themselves through their character qualities. It's the well-balanced temperament, strong nerves and a very human-related being of the Babson horses which makes them very reliable partners. Furthermore, there are their good muscles, good feed conversion and a harmonious overall appearance.

It all began when Andrea Kaiser was a young girl: She loved horses and admired Arabian horses. Together with her father she read the books of Carl Raswan. There she saw the pictures of Mahroussa. Mahroussa became — and still is — to her the embodiement of a true Arabian mare with her breathtaking head, finely chiseled, perfectly wedge-shaped and very wide between prominent eyes, expressive eyes that were so soulful. In profile, her face exhibited pronounced jibbah and graceful dish, descending to fine muzzle with large, delicate, flaring nostrils and firm lips. Her ears were quite long but fine, alert, and delicately molded, tapering to sharply-pronounced, in turned tips. Overall, she presented the pleasing picture of a fine desert mare — alert, strong, supple, naturally collected, and able at a moment’s notice to carry her rider swiftly and surely across the desert sands. Through Mahroussa, “My Quest of the Arabian Horse” had begun.

Andrea Kaiser still remembers: “My first Arabian mare was a daughter of Shar Gemara bred by the Krausnicks, a grand daughter of Negem, tracing to Prince Mohammed Ali's Aziza, the half-sister of Mahroussa. My parents bought her in 1979 when she was five months old and I was 15 years old. This mare was really a true desert horse — a companion, a part of our family and a true friend. Through my Hamasa Wazira I became more and more aware of the value of the SBEs. My dream was born: to own a Straight Babson Egyptian one day — although that was out of reach at that time.

“But when I was 16 years old I bought the book of Walter Schimanski and Judith Forbis about the Babson Arabians; I read it, studied and compared the pictures and pedigrees. I also read the Arabian Horse World and, more importantly, the Khamsat since the first issue. I am convinced that it is important to never stop expanding the knowledge about the horse of the desert in order to be able to preserve this unique noble creature, this living treasure.”

“We need the SBE because of — just to cite Mrs. Elizabeth Babson Tieken — disposition, intelligence, stamina and looks. And the Babson pedigrees are the cleanest, they are the purest Arabians you can want.

“Along with beauty and hardiness, the gentleness of the Arab has been legendary. This sweetness of temper I found in the Babson Egyptian in full measure. They are so people-oriented, they are as sweet as the Bedouin horses were reported to have been. They draw you to them. It’s almost a spiritual thing how they calm and touch the soul. While we may improve on the looks of the Babson horses, we can never improve on their temperaments. Confirmation is the one thing that really turns me on to these SBE — every day. They don’t have any leg faults and they are pretty well balanced. Conformationally they almost always have more substance than the New Egyptians. They are three-circle horses with perfect shoulders and strong hindquarters. They carry their tails like palm fronds, their neck pops right up out of their withers. And they have movements coming from behind from these strong hindquarters — groundcovering, elastic movements, swinging through the whole body, movements which have become so seldom nowadays.

“A small pamphlet put out by the Babson Farm gives Mr. Babson’s comments on the horses he selected and has bred: ‘By studying the breeding and individuality of the pedigrees of these foundation animals he found that skillful line-breeding and inbreeding had developed a remarkable degree of prepotency. It showed strongly in the stallion, *Fadl, and his full sister, *Maaroufa. The excellent qualities of the mare *Bint Serra I are concentrated in her son, Fay-El-Dine (by *Fadl). He, when mated to *Fadl’s daughters, continued to hold in the herd the clean-cut refinement, flintiness of bone, disposition and stamina of the original importation.’

“I believe in pedigrees and that the names of old-time horses are not only names. Therefore the horses of the past who impressed me and with whom I build my breeding program are:

“*Maaroufa — the incomparably beautiful daughter of Ibn Rabdan and Mahroussa, the embodiment of a broodmare. Ibn Rabdan could be counted on for overall good body quality and conformation but the true head quality came from her dam, the lovely Mahroussa, a granddaughter of Bint Yamama.

“*Bint Serra I — ‘She is all Arab.’ An impressive dark bay mare of high quality. She had long powerful shoulders, prominent withers and fine carriage of neck and was said to be an excellent mover. She

gave a superior topline, outstanding movements and that special overall sparkling. She tended to add height, more withers and longer forearms if line-bred. She was that kind of broodmare that all breeders hope for.

“Fay-El-Dine — Fadl’s first born Egyptian son, and a great broodmare sire. He was the epitome of a Saklawi stallion who seemed to have stepped out of one of the paintings of the 19th century. In him the precious heritage of the Abbas Pasha blood shined!

“Fa-Serr — He was the epitome of the antique-type Arabian typically illustrated in old engravings. Huge black eyes protruding from his head, his tail held in a high arch, elegant, typey, charismatic, a floating trot to die for. An extraordinary sire whose blood is represented in the disciplines of racing, endurance, halter, and performance horses, highlighting the versatility of his descendent. Often Fa-Serr would be bred to daughters of Fay-El-Dine thereby doubling the influence of *Bint Serra I. To further intensify this blood within the Babson program, Fa-Serr was bred to his full sister Fa-Deene producing the popular stallion Ibn Fa-Serr. He was not only a prolific stallion but he sired numerous major show winners. His get were often superior movers with long powerful shoulders and good size.

“Fabah — He was a great horse, a really good horse from one end to the other. A good performing horse, a good disposition, and a sire who put on a good, smooth topline, strong hindquarters and a beautiful head.

“Trying to continue the Babson tradition is a feeling like a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants. – Nevertheless:

“Here in Germany I have two SBE mares both tracing in the dam line to Mahroussa. Both I had chosen very carefully: All of my SBEs are tracing in the dam line to *Maaroufa and in the sire line to Fabah – and both carry the rare blood of Mah Deluque, a extremely typey Dahman Shahwan stallion who was like a willowy horse. They are descending only from *Fadl, *Maaroufa, *Bint Serra I and *Bint Bint Sabbah and they are very close to horses bred by the Babson Farm, no other SBEs are so close to the origin: the BABSON ARABIAN HORSE FARM! This is not sentimentality or an end in itself. For over decades at the Babson Farm, Henry B. Babson, Homer Watson and John Vogel, all true connoisseurs and riders, had bred horses a rider can only dream about, to ride such a noble mount one day.

“Maah Zaafinah is a dark bay with a beautiful head and breathtaking trot — and the sweetest personality you can dream of. She is by BW Ibn Faydin and Maahroufa who was a broodmare of the Babson Farm till its end. And she is one of the rare SBEs who carries the foundation horses already in the forth and fifth generation. She traces in the dam line to Aaroufa through the Fabah daughter Bahrou, the dam of the famous Serr Rou.

“R Bint Ser Mahrouf is a grey mare, bred by Ralph and Rose Tebbe, Rosewood Arabians, both her sire Ser Mahrouf and her dam Mah Bint Roulena were bred by the Babson Farm and she, too, carries the foundation horses in the forth and fifth generation. She traces in the dam line to Aaroufa through the unforgettable black Roufina by Fa-Serr. She resembles Ibn Fa-Serr so much in conformation and behavior that I call her my true desert war mare with a sharp mind and afraid of nothing. And every time she is dancing in her pasture you can see Mahroussa how she was prancing in the garden of the Manial Palace of Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik.

Maah Zaafinah.

“The colt R Ser Mowarda and the young mare R Ser Mahry are still in the USA. I am so grateful that Ralph and Rose Tebbe, ROSEWOOD ARABIANS, have so much trust in me that they will send these precious youngsters to Germany to help me to build up my unique breeding program which is so different to the others in Europe. Both are by SS Kahrys and R Ser Mahria and so they trace to Serroufa, the only daughter of Fa-Serr and *Maaroufa. SS Kahrys is the only representative of the sire line of Bah Dan and so he brings diversity within the four-horse-group. This breeding was only possible because of the wise foresight and great cooperation of Jacquie Peregoy and Ralph and Rose Tebbe. Now R Ser Mowarda, whose name means ‘roses and water’, will be the first SBE stallion in Germany!”

“Homer Watson said once, in answer to a question about what was down the road for him: ‘I’ll try to raise some good Babson horses. We’ve outcrossed some and we’ve raised some really good outcrossing horses. These

Babson horses will cross with just about any stuff. . But I think down the road that people are gonna need these Babson horses.’”