This cross is very exciting to me, and one that I have wanted to experiment with for awhile. Now that Dahlilah is 24, I decided it’s now or never! And truth be told, I have been enjoying my mare Masriyah DHA aka Suzy so much that I was interested in somewhat replicating the cross. Suzy is sired by Thee Domino and out of Bint Matala, Dahlilah’s “niece” put in human terms. She has also been doing well in her start with endurance racing, so I am hoping this foal will turn out very similarly. As you can see from her pedigree, there are no real common ancestors between her two parents except for Asmarr, who really brought a splash of outcrossing in Thee Desperado’s pedigree (which is unusual to consider, since he is heavily used, sometimes multiple times, within New Egyptian pedigrees).

So interestingly, even though Dahlilah has more crosses to Nazeer in her pedigree than Bint Matala, the resulting foal by Thee Domino will be even more of an outcross than Suzy in some respects.

While Dahlilah is considered a low Nazeer New Egyptian mare (having less than 10 crosses to Nazeer – a definition that will have to be revisited to incorporate new blood into the group – more on that later), I was expecting more ancestors in common between her and Domino. He has a higher concentration of Nazeer in his pedigree and a fair amount of crosses to Moniet El Nefous while Dahlilah has 7 crosses to Nazeer and 3 to MEN. And not only is this an outcross, but it also marries some breathtaking ancestors together in one package.

Starting with Domino, some of my favorite sires in his pedigree are Haziz Halim, Raisuli El Pharo, Moniet El Sharaf, Khofo, and Refky. Of course, he has some legends in his pedigree including The Minstril, Thee Desperado, Ansata Ibn Halima, and Ansata Ibn Sudan, but I prefer to focus on the less prevalent sires in his pedigree for this blog post. Haziz Halim and Raisuli El Pharo are impressive Ansata Ibn Halima sons, with Haziz Halim unexpectedly being born black and performing well in Western Pleasure classes. He is also known for passing on a gentle disposition to his foals, a trait that Domino sires as well. Moniet El Sharaf, bred by Bentwood Farms, is perhaps one of the most syndicated Egyptian stallions at $10,000,000 in 1986 and sired show ring champions. Moniet El Sharaf’s pedigree was a blend of Bentwood breeding as well as Pritzlaff, known for their proclivity for endurance racing. Khofo comines into play in Domino’s pedigree through his Serenity Farms breeding; imported by Gleannloch Farms and purchased by Hansi Heck-Melnyk, he was the foundation sire of that breeding program and sired champions in Canadian halter and performance classes. He earned his Legion of Merit with the Arabian Horse Association. He won championships in halter, Western Pleasure, English Pleasure, Native Costume, and most classic. Lastly, Refky was a Top Ten US Winner in the US, but also has a racing record in Egypt, the stats of which, I don’t know unfortunately.

The dam lines in Domino’s pedigree include heavy influence from Halima and Moniet El Nefous through his various crosses to Ansata Ibn Halima, Ansata Ibn Sudan, The Egyptian Prince, Morafic as well as Ibn Moniet El Nefous. While the closer elements of his breeding come from the close relationships of the sires, his pedigree breathes in some genetic diversity through his dam lines. Some of other maternal influences come from Babson, Pritzlaff, Serenity mares, and the German bred mare such Bahila. Some of these mares have earned their respective places in history through their progeny and any do not have show records themselves recorded in with AHA Datasource, as many broodmares aren’t shown but are prized as producers. However, two mares stand out in Domino’s pedigree with their show records: AK Amiri Asmarr, besides siring the legendary Thee Desperado, won 2nd and 3rd place in Arabian Mare Breeding classes out of 9. Serenity Shahra also competed and won championship titles.

She was prized for her “extreme” type back in her day. I can see her influence in Domino and Masriyah DHA’s refined dishy heads, although MEN isn’t the only source of this in Egyptian breeding as horses without as many crosses to MEN can display beautiful dish and refinement.

As a contrast to Thee Domino’s breeding, Dahlilah brings in some old blood up close in this cross, reaffirming the potency of desert blood without quite as much linebreeding influence that was popularized in the west. The sires in her pedigree are more obscure but still pack a genetic punch as well as hold their own in terms of performance and quality of progeny. Some of my favorites include Ibn Hafiza, his sons Sahlih and Shamruk, Sameh, Sid Abouhom, Alaa El Din, Soufian, El Shalyar, Shaloul, Ibn Alaa ElDin, and El Sareei.

Sahlih was campaigned by Cherry Hill Arabians in Alabama, competed and placed high in English Pleasure, English Show Hack, and Hunter Pleasure classes. Similarly, his half brother Shamruk was a champion in halter and performance, was undefeated in the 1983 Sire of Get class at Scottsdale, won Top Ten in Halter and Native Costume. He earned Top Five Honors in Region 17 competing in Halter, English Pleasure, and Native Costume. Shamruk is the most prolific son of Ibn Hafiza and earned his Legion of Honors with AHA. Sahlih and Shamruk’s sire, Ibn Hafiza, one of my all-time favorites, was imported by Gleannloch at age 11. He was intended to be used as an outcross to daughters of Morafic, but instead, Gleannloch decided to focus on their Morafic sons. Ibn Hafiza went on to sire halter and performance champions. It is exciting to think that Domino and Dahlilah are going to fulfill Gleannloch’s original intent (and what they thought would be a “Golden Cross”) in a sense, with Domino’s 16% Morafic influence and Dahlilah’s high 28% Ibn Hafiza influence. Ibn Hafiza was sired by Sameh, a stallion considered to bring balance, symmetry, strength, and correct movement in his progeny. Another legendary old blood stallion close up in Dahlilah’s pedigree is Sid Abouhom, known for his stellar racing career and for being an exceptional broodmare sire. It is very unusual to find him in the 3rd generation back in a Straight Egyptian pedigree today like in Dahlilah’s. Alaa El Din is another classic stallion in her pedigree, also boasting an impressive racing record. He was a Nazeer son by Kateefa, who was sired by Shaloul, an Ibn Rabdan son who gave ample substance to his get. Alaa El Din sired Soufian, who appears in Dahlilah’s pedigree twice and was imported to the USA by Gleannloch Farms. He was shown in Western Pleasure. Soufian sired El Shalyar who was shown in Arabian Stallion Breeding, winning twice and finishing in the top 5. Another Alaa El Din son in Dahlilah’s pedigree, Ibn Alaa ElDin was also imported to the USA but does not have a reported show record, and in fact, it’s hard to find much information about him at all (if anyone has any, please contact me).

Similarly to the sires of Dahlilah’s pedigree, the dams are also some heavy hitters and have produced significant horses, some of which founded entire breeding programs through their progeny’s influence. One such example is Yashmak, the dam of Rashad Ibn Nazeer who was the herd sire for Richard Pritzlaff’s legendary breeding program, notably proven in endurance racing. From Yashmak, we also get Sanaa by Sid Abouhom who produced Sahlih when bred to Ibn Hafiza, who is out of Hafiza, another prominent “close up” mare in Dahlilah’s pedigree. Yashmak’s dam is Bint Rissala, the more common of the two branches of Rodania, a very influential tail female line, from which various champions and Tevis winners descend. Layla, the granddam of Sanaa, has stamped her influence of all New Egyptian breeding through her son Sid Abouhom, a prolific sire in the breed, prized for his athleticism and quality daughters. Another notable mare is Bint BintElSamraa, imported by Gleannloch farms and who produced a champion Western Pleasure and racing winner Ibn Al Hassan. Interestingly, before her importation at 11, she was a Cairo police horse. Bint BintElSamraa is also the dam of Wafa, who went on to produce El Shalyar when crossed with Soufian. And perhaps one of the most influential dam lines in Dahlilah’s pedigree is Bint Maisa El Saghira who was a champion mare in Halter and Performance, winning Top Ten in Halter, Park, and English Pleasure remaining the only mare to do so. She earned her Legion of Merit and went on to produce multiple legendary offspring, both stallions (including Shamruk) and mares, in their own right, some of which perforate almost all New Egyptian pedigrees such as Shaikh Al Badi. Some lesser known dams in Dahlilah’s pedigree are those of her tail female line, and of which, I cannot find pictures (if anyone has any, please contact me!) until all the way back to Abla who is out of Helwa. Dr. Ibrahim Zaghloul, a former director of the EAO, said about Abla, “from Abla, her daughters inherited that classic elegance and exquisite type associated with the Egyptian Arabian, as well as a deep shoulder and high set neck,” which I like to think still rings true in my beautiful mare Dahlilah even from all those generations ago.