A new Ma’naqi Sbayli colt

This morning Lyman Doyle told me that young Pippa had delivered her first foal, a large, strong colt by Tamaam DE. Pippa foaled on her own, at dusk. The colt, chestnut of course, was quickly up and nursing. I am so grateful to Terry and Rosemary Doyle for boarding her at their farm (and for the photo), and to DeWayne for leasing her (and her dam) to me.

This is my first Ma’naqi Sbayli foal, and I certainly hope not the last. How I love this strain. I was talking to Hazaim the other day, and he was telling me how much he loved it too.

Just the evocation of his strain reminds me of the stories of my childhood about the horses and horsemen of the Sba’ah leaders from the house of Ibn Mirshid. One day, if this young fellow lives and grows, he will become a stallion, and see his name — which I still need to choose — added to the long and prestigious list of asil Ma’naqi stallions from the Sba’ah Bedouins, where his maternal line hails from: Funaytil, who made it back to the Sba’ah encampment along with 34 of his daughters and grand-daughters, out of a total of 37 returning horses, after a botched raid in the 1940s; Ghawj al-Rasaalin, who made Zudghum, his owner, rich and famous; the Ma’naqi of ‘Awdah al-Mis’ir, sire of Shaykh al-Arab of Rakan Ibn Mirshid; the Ma’naqi of Ibn Qufayfah, the sire of Queen of Sheba of Butayyin Ibn Mirshid; the Ma’naqi of the Makathirah; Ma’naqi Halba, the great Karawane, and of course *Haleb, another stallion of the Sba’ah.

The little colt’s maternal line goes to Haidee, a chestnut Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah bred by the Sba’ah Bedouins in 1869. Haidee was imported to the United Kingdom in 1874 by Major Roger D. Upton for Albert G. Sandeman, a British Member of Parliament, with the help of James H. Skene, HM’s Consul at Aleppo. Here’s an excerpt from two notes Major Upton wrote about his importation, where I have bolded the passages that refer to Haidee (horse No 4 in the letter) and her strain:

‘I have tried to get a Managhi Hedrudj of the family of Ibn Sbeyel of the Gomussa tribe of Sebaa Anezeh which I hold to be the best breed in the Desert. I have succeeded and one of them is now in my stable. I had enquired at the same time about the mares; and two have come of the same family. The four are as follows: No. 1. Chestnut stallion, 4 yrs. old. 14.2. His dam a Keheilet Jeabeh taken from the Heissa Anezeh, and his sire the famous Keheilan Hellawi of the Shammar tribe. No. 2. Pearl Grey stallion with black mane and black tail, tipped with white, 4 years old 14.2 His dam “Managhi Hedrudj” of Ibn Sbeyel family of Gomussa anezeh, and his sire of the same breed, now in the stud of the King of Italy. No. 3. Bay mare 5 years old 14.1 1/2. Same breed as No. 2, but dam and sire not the same. No. 4. Chestnut mare 4 years old 14.3. Same breed as No. 2 and 3, but dam and sire not the same. Noted for speed and bottom’.”

‘The Keheilan Hellawi, sire of the chestnut colt, is preferred to any Seglawi Jedraan stallion for covering mares, on account of the constant success of his progeny — colts got by him are always sought after. All horses bear the name of the breed of the dams and this Keheilan jeeban is therefore considered first class, as that is on of the best varieties of the Keheilan Adjooz breed. The Hellawi strain is also a branch of the Keheilan Adjooz — but not in general so much thought of as the sire of this chestnut colt is in particular. The Managhi Hedruj is highly esteemed as a breed — and those of the family of Ibn Sbeyel of the Gomussa tribe are known as the best strain of that blood though not always so handsome as some other breeds.’

These two notes have a long history: Major Upton wrote them to Reverend Francis Furse Vidal, who bought Haidee’s daughter Naomi from Sandeman, and sold Naomi to the USA to Randolph Huntington; the notes were quoted by Vidal in a letter to Huntington; Vidal’s letter was found among Huntington’s paper by Thornton Chard, who published it, along its photo, in an article in the May-June 1943 of the magazine “The Horse”.

Wilfrid Blunt tried to aquire Haidee’s daughter Naomi from Vidal. In a letter from February 2, 1885, Blunt wrote that:

 “I think the idea of changing a mare is a good one and I should like to send someone down to see Naomi. I have two mares that I shall be willing to part with this year, and perhaps a third…. I hope if you are coming this way you will pay us another visit at Crabbet this summer and in the meantime if we can come to an arrangement for exchanging I shall be very glad as I know the breeding of your mare must be correct.”

The little colt has 99.8% of old Egyptian bloodlines. A unique blend of Doyle (Ghadaf, Gulida), Babson (*Fadl), and W.R. Brown (Julep, Hallany Mistanny) bloodlines. He is very heavy in Doyle/Crabbet blood on the top of the pedigree, and very heavy in Babson/Brown lines in the bottom, which creates hybrid vigor. His sire line is to Mesaoud, which does not hurt either.