Prince Mohammed Aly Herdbook

Khamsat Reprint

The H.R.H. Prince Mohammed Aly Scrapbook

By Judith Forbis Reprinted from Authentic Arabian Bloodstock, 1990, pp117–121

A collection of Prince Mohammed Aly’s mares at Manial on the Isle of Roda.

All photos courtesy of Judith Forbis

Introduction from 2006: Al Khamsa, Inc. values research into the background of the horses it tracks. Such research is most prominently recognized in the major publications in the Al Khamsa Arabians series. Al Khamsa Arabians III is currently in production, and the publication team contacted Judith Forbis to see if she would make the herd book mentioned in the following article available. She very generously sent photocopies of her notes on this valuable document, and in so doing, contributed to our knowledge of the Egyptian horses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Furthermore, she has allowed us to use many of her historic photos. Al Khamsa, Inc. thanks Mrs. Forbis for her generosity. This article was previously published in Khamsat Vol. 23 No. 1.

While living in Egypt during the late 60s, it was difficult to maneuver about due to the military restrictions placed throughout the country by Gamel Abdel Nasser after the Israeli conflict and the six day war. Many of the fine museums and old palaces were in disrepair, their windows having been taped to prevent glass splintering from Israeli bomb raids. Litter and dust from broken sandbags were everywhere.

During this period of time I was in quest of whatever information I could find about early breeders, especially the princes. I visited the palace of H.R.H. Prince Mohammed Aly to see if I could locate any treasures there. The caretaker did not want to let me in, but after chatting and talking about my mission, he agreed I could enter the palace “for a price.” His wife wanted a wig. Could I get one for him? I wrote to Hansi Heck, who was then living in Canada, and asked if she could somehow secure one. She did, and this became my passport to the attic of the palace and the library.

The attic was strewn with horse pictures and lithographs by Adam, Vernet, Gros, Delacroix, etc., which had been stored there for protection in case of war. Many of the frames and glass had been broken, but I methodically photographed every horse picture no matter its condition. Some of these pictures appear in this book [Authentic Arabian Bloodstock], and others in the Classic Arabian Horse. Today, if one visits the palace, one finds it in fine order with all the treasures and priceless paintings beautifully displayed in the halls and museum.

The library, which was used so frequently by Dr. Branch and Carl Raswan during Prince Mohammed Aly’s time, now contained little of interest. All books comprising the horse library had been given to the Egyptian Agricultural Organization as a bequest, but there was nothing among them about the Prince’s specific horses, although the collection was a priceless one for all equine lovers. I looked through all the bookcases, and much to my surprise I found one lone scrapbook and a handwritten herd book. I asked to borrow them and took them home. After I photographed all the pages, I returned them to the palace.

Some of the horses in the photos were identified; others were not. I suspected many of the photos were by Carl Raswan and had been sent to the Prince as a gift. The herd book, written in French in what appeared to be the Prince’s own handwriting, yielded some interesting information about the horses the Prince had bred, some lines of which were continued at the R.A.S./E.A.O., and others which were not.

It is always educational to review photos of early horses who appear in today’s pedigrees, and for that reason the Prince Mohammed Aly Scrapbook is a valuable piece of history worth reproducing. What has since happened to the original scrapbook or the herd book remains a mystery.

The picture captions on the following pages are essentially as they appeared in the scrapbook [with Al Khamsa standardized identification and information in brackets] and dates have been listed as month/day/year.

Stallions

KAUKAB [Kawkab (MNL), 1910 chestnut Saqlawi Jidran stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1927. Died 1932. By Saklawi II (KDV) out of Om Dalal (APK). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Ghazala (MNL).] MABROUK 3 yrs. 7 mos. Saklawi x Tarfa [Mabrouk Manial (MNL), 1912 grey Kuhaylan Mimrih stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1927. Died 1933. By Saklawi II (KDV) out of Tarfa (APK). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Awad (RAS), Baiyad (RAS), Bint Radia (RAS), Mahroussa (MNL), Sabah (RAS), Jasir (MNL) and Saada (MNL).]

HADBAN 11/27/14 Rabdan x Tarfa [Hadban (MNL), 1914 chestnut Kuhaylan Mimrih stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1924. Died 1935. By Rabdan El Azrak (APK) out of Tarfa (APK). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Bint Dalal (KAD) and Bint Zareefa (KAD).]

BARK 10-21-13 Machkour x Fereiha [Bark (MNL), 1913 bay Dahman Shahwan stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1927. Died 1932. By Mashkour (APK) out of Freiha (KDV). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Mahbouba (MNL).] DJEMIL 3 yrs. 7 mos. Saklawi x Dalal [Gamil Manial (MNL), 1912 grey Saqlawi Jidran stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1923. Died 1928. Also spelled Jamil. By Saklawi II (KDV) out of Dalal Al Zarka (APK). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Mansour (RAS), Radia (MNL), Zahra (MNL), Bint Bint Riyala (RAS), Gamil III (RAS) and *Aziza.]

[The first five stallions shown (Bark, Gamil Manial, Hadban Manial, Kaukab and Mabrouk Manial) all play a role in Egyptian foundation breeding. The following two stallions do not, but they offer another way of seeing the foundation stock contained in their pedigrees. Following these stallion photos, there is a page of photos from the Mimrihiyah and Dahmah families, followed by two pages of photos from the Bint Yamama family.]

NADRA, at right [Nadra El Saghira (MNL) c1910 chestnut Dahmah Shahwaniyah mare by Samhan (APK) out of Nadra El Kebira (KDV), bred by Prince Mohamed Aly, Egypt. Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through her daughter, Farida (MNL).]

FEREIHA 18 years. Father of foal: Rabdan. Freiha - chestnut Mimrehia foaled 1902. Sire: Dahman, comme le precedent, Dam: Bint el Chakra bint el Hamra. From haras of Prince Ahmed. [This caption is confusing. The information does not correspond exactly with mares known to Al Khamsa, Inc. or listed in the Manial herd book. However, the herd book reference for Tarfa (APK) also uses the name Fereiha for her. It is possible that this is another photo of Tarfa, or another mare of the line not shown in the herd book. Another possibility, considering the specific foaling date of 1902, is that the parentage given is incorrect, and that this is a photo of Freiha (KDV), by El Sennari (KDV) x Gazza (KDV), the dam of Bark.] GHAZAL 1-17-18 by [El] Halabi with TARFA [Tarfa (APK), c1900 chestnut Kuhaylah Mimrihiyah mare by Dahman El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Freiha (APK), bred by Prince Ahmad Pasha Kamal, Egypt. Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through her sons Mashkour (APK), Mabrouk Manial (MNL) and Hadban (MNL). The latter two are pictured in this article.]

SAEDA 7-27-15 Rabdan [El Azrak] x Fereiha [There are two mares named Fereiha (or Freiha) represented in the Manial herd book. One is a 1902 Dahmah Shahwaniyah mare received from Khedive Abbas II in 1912, daughter of El Sennari (KDV) x Gazza (KDV) and dam of Bark (MNL). Another is a second name for Tarfa, a c1900 Kuhaylah Mimrihiyah mare received from Prince Ahmad Pasha Kamal in 1907, by Dahman El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Freiha (APK). Whether this lovely filly is out of the Dahmah or the Mimrihiyah, she is a loss to Egyptian breeding.] DJEMILA Lady Blunt’s Jamil x Khatra [It is a great loss to Arabian breeding that the Kuhaylah Mimrihiyah line has been lost*. It is shown here in Gamila Manial (MNL) by Jamil (APS) out of Khatra, by Sabbah (APK) out of Doga, by Rabdan El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Freiha (APK)] * While it was believed lost at the time of this article, in 2006, and it is not present in North America, some asil lines have been located in South Africa through the mare Barakah (RAS).

Bint Yamama Family

HILAL 12-23-17 & [Bint] YAMAMA. Hilal by Faris.

NAAMA 4-7-15 Samhan x (Bint) Yamama

NASR (weanling) Rabdan (El Azrak) x (Bint) Yamama [*Nasr #889, 1918 grey stallion bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Imported from his breeder to the USA in 1932 (through Jack Humphrey) by W.R. Brown. By Rabdan El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Yamama (KDV). Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Ibn Manial (RAS), *H.H. Mohamed Ali’s Hamida, Banna, Croisedore, Rodasr and Sirecho.] NEGMA [with dam] Dahman [El Azrak] x [Bint] Yamama [Bint Yamama (KDV), c1895 grey mare by Saklawi I (APS) out of Yemameh (APS), bred by Khedive Abbas II, Egypt. Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Negma (KDV), Aroussa (MNL) and *Nasr.]

RAHMA Rabdan (El Azrak) x (Bint) Yamama A full sister to *Nasr.

AROUSSA Dahman x Yamama [Aroussa (MNL), 1911 grey mare bred by Prince Mohamed Aly at Manial Stud, Egypt. Purchased by the RAS in 1922. Died 1931. By Dahman El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Yamama (KDV). A full sister to Negma, Aroussa is represented in Al Khamsa breeding through Radia (MNL) and Gamil III (RAS).]

NEGMA and GARBOE at 5 mos. by Saklawi (II) [Negma (KDV) c1909 grey mare by Dahman El Azrak (APK) out of Bint Yamama (KDV), bred by either Khedive Abbas II or Prince Mohamed Aly, Egypt. Represented in Al Khamsa breeding by Mahroussa (MNL), Zahra (MNL), Jasir (MNL), *Aziza and *Roda.]

MAHROUSSA Mabrouk x Negma [Mahroussa (MNL), c1920 grey mare by Mabrouk Manial (MNL) out of Negma (KDV), bred by Prince Mohamed Aly, Egypt. Represented in Al Khamsa breeding through *Zarife, *H.H. Mohamed Ali’s Hamida, *Fadl and *Maaroufa.]

CHAFIK [foal] 10-2-17 by Faris with NEGMA

GARBOE 6-18-15 Saklawi (II) x Negma

KAFIFAN 11-8-16 Mabrouk x Negma [Kafifan (MNL) was exported to Europe, where he was used at stud.]

SBE

The Next Generation

To continue the existence of the straight Babson Egyptian horses a next generation of SBEs is always necessary. As important as that is, consideration must also be given to developing the next generation of SBE enthusiasts. Here are some possibilities.

For more information go to

Babson Egyptian Arabian Enthusiasts on Facebook or contact Jody Dvorak at backatyousoon@gmail.com

Photographs Supplied by SBE Owners and Admirers.