9 minute read
by the PTF
Al Khamsa’s Vanishing Lines
PTF News — September 2021 Update
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by the Al Khamsa Preservation Task Force
Changes!
The PTF is working on new classification rules for reporting on scarcity of Foundation Horse line representation. The first rules were prepared 10 years ago (TEN YEARS!), and they no longer fit the situation on the ground.
We now know that the new rules must take into account not just new DNA data and new research on the number of Al Khamsa foals born each year, but also Tail Male and Tail Female lines, in order to preserve the DNA that is only passed down directly from sire or dam. Once we have lost a dam line, or a sire line, presence in the center of the pedigree does not guarantee genetic persistence.
We now know that while it may be risky but logical to try to breed mares in their early 20s, it is extremely difficult to try breed mares in their late 20s. Stallions might be fertile in their late 20s, but it may take hard work and money to preserve them.
We now know just because 50 horses containing a Foundation Horse in their pedigree may be not reported dead, it is a long way from that point to having 10 of those horses with a known owner, and still possibly available for reproduction.
If you have something to share with the PTF, either an opinion or piece of data to share on new classifications, or a foal or breeding to report, or a line lost, please contact preservation@alkhamsa.org. Thank you! New Foals! 2021: Maya CC (aged 21) has an August bay filly by Tammens Kismet. å
This filly is in the Code Red group tracing to the Tahawi mare Folla (TAH) in tail female. There are 14 breeding age mares left. Tammens
Kismet himself is 25. 2021: RC Miss Burgundy (aged 23) had a chestnut filly by Tammens Kismet. This is the first female born since 2010 in the Code Red group tracing to the Tahawi mare Bint Barakat (TAH). Seven mares left. This filly is also by Tammens Kismet.
Both fillies reported by Lisa Craig, Maine. å 2021: DB Taamara Shahat has a 3.5 month old filly,
AAS Tinnineh (Arabic for Dragon, so you know this is a future war mare!) by AAS Al Sakb+/.
Edie Booth, Texas. See photo, page 68. Foals as Plans for the Future! 2022: GTS Al Mas Hura is in foal to Treff-Haven
Sabeel — another potential tail-female *Haidee in the making. Crystal Robertson and Kate
Rhodes are working on this, Arkansas. 2022: Bint Zahra Al Hadba is in foal to Porte CF for a potential Davenport Core Hadban foal. Carrie
Slayton, California.
Because there are many thousands of Egyptian horses, it is common to believe that there is no reason to worry about those lines.
However, Egyptian horses trace their lineage to a fairly small number of Foundation Horses, repeated over and over in their pedigrees. This means that their diversity is also in danger, as covered in Minnich and Bowling. “Genetic Diversity & Complex Ancestry in the Arabian Horse”. Khamsat, May 2021.
While the Preservation Task Force cannot control the world of Al Khamsa horse breeding, it can at least point out some problem areas that need attention. For instance, there are many lines on the inside of pedigrees, or branches of tail male and tail female lines, that are becoming scarce. There are breeding groups established by breeders or groups of breeders that fall within the endangered classifications. Those are beyond our grasp at this time, but we are starting to work on the Tail Male and Tail Female lines within Egyptian breeding that are fading away, losing out to the most popular lines.
This report just gives basic numbers or estimates, not detailed information on individual horses. That kind of information is being gathered from the Al Khamsa online roster and the AHA Datasource, to serve as a resource for those Al Khamsa supporters who wish to make a difference by taking on an endangered line. Tail Male Lines in Egyptian Breeding
There are very few. There is a marked tendency in all populations for sire lines (Y chromosomes) to be lost. In human genetics this is reflected by the loss of surnames over generations. In Egyptian breeding, it is the line tracing to Saklawi I that has become the “one” (and therefore in Al Khamsa as a whole) So every line other than Saklawi I (Nazeer) needs to be kept active, and some need more help than others. There are active breeders working with nonNazeer programs, and even those with Nazeer in their pedigrees could think about adding a different sire line. Saklawi I (APS) is the predominant sire line in Egyptian pedigrees, with thousands of representatives. The primary line is through his grandson Gamil Manial to Mansour to Nazeer. Jamil El Kebir (APK) is plentiful in Al Khamsa pedigreess, but the sire lines through his great-grandson Rabdan El Azrak and on to Ibn Rabdan and Samhan make him relevant in Babson related breeding especially. Lines through *Tuhotmos by El
Sareei, and *Ibn Safinaz, by Seef. Code Green. Be watching. Gadir (AP) is now considered the sire line of Mesaoud. There are thousands of lines through Mesaoud in Al Khamsa breeding, but very few in Tail Male. There are lines through *Astraled to
Julep and lines from Seyal through Doyle breeding. Code Red. El Deree (INS), as written up in the Khamsat last issue, is critically rare in Tail Mail. Code Red, with less than ten stallions available, mostly through the Akhtal line. Zobeyni (AP) is lost to Al Khamsa as a sire line.
No other Egyptian Foundation Stallion has an established sire line.
Tail Female Lines in Egyptian Breeding
It is obviously easier for a Foundation Mare to establish a female line that comes forward to her daughters and their daughters, carrying mtDNA only by the female line. Still, the same process occurs with dam lines as with sire lines. There is a process whereby rarer lines drop out and dominant lines become more dominant. In Egyptian breeding, and therefore Al Khamsa as a whole, El Dahma (APS) is the dominant dam line. El Dahma (APS) is the predominant dam line in Egyptian pedigrees, with thousands of representatives. As with the Saklawi
I sire line, breeders with these horses might do well to look at the various branches through which the dam line comes forward in pedigrees, and make an effort to keep the lesser used afloat in the gene pool. Code Green, safe. Rodania (BLT) is perhaps the most dominant dam line in all Arabian breeding globally. In Egyptian breeding, she is represented by two sub-branches of the *Rose of Sharon branch (one of three
Rodania daughters) — Bint Rissala and Bint Riyala, who were sold from Crabbet to the RAS in Egypt. Code Green. Roga El Beda (APS) was proven through mtDNA research to not be from the Ghazieh (AP) line, as had been conjectured. Her most famous line is through Moniet El Nefous (RAS). Code Green. Venus (KDV) is the Hadban line in Egyptian breeding, with multiple branches. Code Green. Ghazieh (AP) was represented by the Bint Helwa/*Ghazala branch only until the mtDNA research that proved the Mesaoud’s dam Yemameh (APS) was also the dam of Bint Yamama (KDV). Now this line is represented by descendants of
Bint Yamama through her descendants from the Manial Stud of Prince Mohamed Ali. Code Yellow. Watch. Bint El Bahreyn (KDV) is a Dahmah line with branches of *Bint
Bint Durra in Babson breeding and Bint Zareefa (RAS) in
Egypt. Code Yellow. El Shahbaa (INS) is probably the safest of the Inshass mare lines, with nearly 200 hundred mares in her list since 2000. Her line is popular, especially in Europe, which helps. Code Yellow. Hind (INS) boasts over 150 mares registered to her in tail female since 2000. Most of these have not produced a foal. Her line could be in much more distress than seen by that number.
However, it is fortunate that a number of the mares are in the hands of active Egyptian breeders. Code Orange. Rare. El Samraa (INS) has perhaps 100 mares registered to her in tail female since 2000. Many are no doubt lost to us through a variety of issues. Code Red, if we knew each mare’s story. Mabrouka (INS) is in a similar situation to El Samraa (INS), with perhaps 100 mares representing her in tail female, but many of these are likely to have died, been lost, been exported, or out of production. Probably Code Red if we knew each mare’s story. El Kahila (INS) is well represented in Egyptian breeding in the center of the pedigree, but in tail female, she has perhaps 50 representative mares at most. Code Red. Endangered.
Futna (TAH) is the best off of the Tahawi mare lines from the
Hamdan Stud, with 25 representative mares. Still, very much
Code Red. Folla (TAH) (see the newest member, opposite) has 14 representatives on her list. Six fillies born in the last 11 years. Code Red. Bint Barakat (TAH) (see the only female born since 2010, opposite) is the rarest of the Hamdan Tahawi mares. Code Red.
Lisa Craig has taken on the task of keeping these three mare lines going, but she can use some extra hands. Nafaa (INS) was covered in a lovely article by Samantha Winborn in the Khamsat, V25N2 Summer 2009. Since then, more mares have been lost, and this is Code Red, hanging by a thread. Selma (AP) is Code Red, down to a scarce handful of mares, perhaps even just one. About as rare as you can get without being gone. Jellabiet Feysul (AP) is lost to Al Khamsa as a dam line. See under Ghazieh (AP), above. As with Zobeyni (AP), there is presence in the center of pedigrees.
No other Egyptian Foundation Mare has an established dam line.
The classifications, as noted at the beginning of this report, are in a state of flux between the system set up over 10 years ago, and the situation we find outselves in currently.
Takeaway #1 is: Green appears to be safe, Yellow is of concern, Orange is rare, and Red is distinctly endangered.
Takeaway #2 is: Egyptians may be the overwhelmingly dominant set of bloodlines in Al Khamsa breeding, but they are more lacking in genetic diversity than would seem logical, from their numbers in the thousands. Care should be taken to make sure that as much genetic diversity as possible, both in the middle of pedigrees and in tail male and tail female, is preserved for the future. Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy
Ask us about the Davenport Arabian Horse as Homer Davenport knew it in the desert, and as we still know it..
Secretary Jeanne Craver 709 Brackett Lane. Winchester IL 62694, mowarda@gmail.com www.DavenportHorses.org
Have you visited our website?
The straight Sa’ud mare DB Taamara Shahat, by Hafiid Taamri out of Desert Dhelalliah, with her day old filly AAS Tinnineh by AAS Al Sakb+/. A welcome addition to the *Sindidah tail female line.
