By Bart Van Buggenhout
By Bart Van Buggenhout
Close
your eyes and imagine a magic carpet ride
to a secret land of thousand-and-one nights.
Explore this country, explore the
four-legged treasures of Kuwait...
Photo: Gigi
Grasso
Click
the images to enlarge!
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Here he comes, a snow white horse, mane tossed, nostrils flaring. He stops right in front of me, tail flagged, his hoofs stamp the ground. He looks me straight in the eyes as if to say, "Here I am. I know you are here to adore me!" Well, that is perfectly true. I am here in Kuwait at the Ajmal Stud, just so see him. This stallion is almost as famous in the Arab world as his sire was before him. His name? Well, of course I am talking about no other than Ansata Hejazi (Ansata Halim Shah x Ansata Sudarra)! A vision in white, he now runs loose in the paddock and seems to fly across the sand. An amazingly beautiful horse, he prances around, his neck arched. Then he stops and calls his mares. Who could ever cope with his charms?
As a regular visitor to the Forum of this website I followed all the discussions since the last three years. Many of the topics are dealing with the top stallions of our breed. People from all over the world are talking about their show records and their get and discuss their good and not-so-good points. But I miss the discussion about this particular stallion. We have an old saying in Belgium: "Uit het oog is uit het heart!" Translated it means, "out of sight, out of the heart!" Could this be very same with Ansata Hejazi?
When he was shown to me together with his full-sister Ansata Nefertiti I had goose bumps all over. It was a sight to behold. I even can't describe every detail of him, the best way is to say that he is the very essence of an Arabian stallion. The show season in Europe and North America is in full swing and guesses for the next World Champions are made, but here in front of me stood a true champion stallion of any show at any time. I have no doubt about it.
In 1999 Ansata Hejazi was exported to Kuwait by Mohammed Al Marzouk. He had chosen the perfect time to buy him but still there was a considerable risk in my opinion! The timing was right because Hejazi stood at the edge to become a world-renown horse and at Ansata they already had their eyes on Ansata Iemhotep, who eventually would become this year's Supreme Champion Stallion of the Egyptian Event. Besides the money involved and the fact that a considerable amount of Hejazi's frozen semen was stored at Ansata, it was good for Don and Judith Forbis to send another prime stallion to the Middle East. Ansata Halim Shah had passed away the year before Hejazi's exportation and obviously there was a gap to fill. However, the risk Mohammed Al Marzouk took was not a small one. Here he made a huge investment and bought this stallion to bring him to Kuwait where at that point were no veterinary facilities and the stables not entirely finished but most of all, he had not really a breeding program to use him! But this was four years ago. Now I am here at his stud farm to discover his breeding program and to see with my own eyes what has been achieved.
Obviously Kuwaitis are not people to start something and left an unfinished business. In a short period of time several farms stamped large facilities out of the swift desert sand. There are many stud farms in Kuwait today: Ajmal Stud of Mohammed Al Marzouk, Usamah Zaid Al Kazemi's Ezzain Stud and Khaled Bin Sokar's Al Safinat Stud are prime examples. Besides there are several other private breeders with stud farms in the making and a magnificent project called "The Arabian Horse Center". This is a government sponsored project for the restoration of the breed in its native land. A few hundred Arabian horses were imported from different countries to build a new base for the breeders in Kuwait. Ansata Hejazi is not only the head sire for Mohammed Al Marzouk's farm but also acts as the main sire of the country. Work enough for this young stallion. How about the results?
In general, time seems to play a minor role in the Middle East but in regard to Hejazi, Mohammed Al Marzouk couldn't wait for his first foal crop! So along with him a few excellent daughters were imported: Ansata Samari (x Ansata Samarra), Ansata Sharara (x Ansata Shalimar), and Ansata Selma (x G Shafaria)... to name but a few.
This group of young mares leaves you with little doubt that this stallion has the ability to sire top quality get. But what I was about to see was far beyond my expectations. Ajmal Obeyyah out of Nagel's bred NK Aischa (Salaa El Dine x Amarilla) is an absolute world-class filly. Her brother from this year shows the same class and style. Rana Al Safinat out of RN Rayana (Prince Fa Moniet x Ansata Sharifa) and Nefisa Al Safinat out of Aliikat (by Ruminaja Ali) are great show prospects and future broodmares for Al Safinat Stud. At Talal Al Mahri's farm - Al Jazira Stud - I saw Mehe Al Jazira out of RN Marwa (by Ansata Halim Shah), a charming filly with excellent type and movements. But the "Golden Cross" for Ansata Hejazi seems to be with Ansata White Nile, owned by the Arabian Horse Center. From this combination most of you already know Ansata Nile Echo, a young sire in his own right, owned by Al Naif Stud in Qatar. Besides there is a beautiful full-sister, called Ansata Nile Pearl, owned by HH Prince Sultan of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But perhaps my favourite from this cross is owned by the Arabian Horse Center: Wafaa Al Kuwait, a four-year-old grey filly who topped them all - a real treasure. Wafaa has another young sister and a baby brother but due to their youth and maybe condition I had not the expected hype for them. Let's wait and see, they are still young.
Another mare in the Center that crossed well with Hejazi is Latifah (Hamasa Khazzan x Hamasa Tarifa). From this cross they have two gracious and stretchy fillies. Last but by no means least to mention is the filly Noor Al Jazira (x Ghalia Al Rayyan), recently bought by Hamad Al Atiqi. This filly is truly stunning. She has it all: type, head and neck, body, movement - it is all there.
Ansata Al Murtajiz (Ansata Hejazi x Ansata Samsara) is the head sire for Ezzain Stud. This young, pleasant stallion impressed me much with a little colt he sired, namely Nooreddin Ezzain out of NK Nada (Adnan x Nashua), a mare to dream about.
Al Murtajiz seems to cross especially well with the mare Zahra (KP Nameed x Assal). The two-year-old colt Suror Ezzain and a little filly of impressive quality prove that statement.
But I am sure that you all are asking for the "next step" in the breeding programs of Kuwait. I did the same. Which stallions are standing next in line to be bred to the daughters of Hejazi?
To fill that position Mohammed Al Marzouk first thought about the former Swedish National Reserve Champion Stallion Shahin (Salaa El Dine x Ameera), imported from Europe. But so far I only saw two nice fillies by him. Both were out of the same dam, Ansata Meryta (Ansata Halim Shah x JKB Masoudah). Mezna Al Kuwait, the older one of the two, was my taste through her better body structure but the younger one, Manar Al Kuwait, has a better type and head.
His get at Dr. Nagel's stud were impressive, especially the combination with the ultra-refined Nashua resulted in fabulous foals. Maybe that is exactly what he needs, very refined mares. The Adnan babies in Kuwait are young, some just weaned and not all of them were in prime condition. But it was easy to see they have beautiful heads, well-shaped necks and clean throat-latches. Let's give them the chance to develop and mature a bit more, before making a final judgement.
Another
young stallion that was given a chance in Kuwait is Ansata Osiron
(by Ansata Iemhotep) who is out of the famous Ansata Selket. To test
the waters, this large eyed, great moving stallion with his well-shaped
neck was bred to his first five mares this year. I admit I am eager
to see his first foal crop.
Osiron's stable mate at Ansata was his blood-brother Sirius. He is out of Ansata Selket's full-sister Ansata Sekhmet, another prized mare of this line. The Arabian Horse Center made a very good choice with the recent purchase of Ansata Sirius. Now the "brothers beautiful" are united again, this time in the country where their ancestors once were ridden into battle by their Bedouin masters. Perhaps Ansata Sirius is a little bit unknown to most of you but I think this stallion will be a magnificent sire. As a young colt he severely injured his left frontleg pastern and was hospitalised for several months but he overcame all obstacles and fully recovered. He possesses a beautiful head with a nicely shaped and arched neck of good length, a superb topline and following the circumstances this horse has excellent athletic ability. Above all his charm is bewitching. The only negative aspect is that I have to wait at least another year to see his first foals!
With Ansata Hejazi who does such an excellent job as a sire, it will be hard for any stallion to follow in his footsteps. Well, sometimes you need to go a step backwards to make a progress. I am sure with their ambition, knowledge and passion the breeders in Kuwait will find that perfect nick. And like all they do, it will not take them too much time either...
The trip to Kuwait was a wonderful experience for me. Make plans to visit this country, too. You will be treated with overwhelming hospitality and you get the chance to see some of the most beautiful Arabian horses in the world today. Kuwait is accessible with a visa that will be gladly extended to you by any of the breeders. Enjoy your trip!
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