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Part One: Rashad Ibn Nazeer Nazeer! The "magical" name in every pedigee of Egyptian horses. In our new series, we want to present his most influential "American" sons. It is the continuation of our popular features of the three "German" Nazeer sons, which seem to be the favourites of many of our readers. Countless mails arrived us asking if we could make such a series about other countries. No problem folks, here we are! Let's start with North America...
Rashad Ibn Nazeer Without any doubt, Rashad Ibn Nazeer wasn't the most famous of the Nazeer sons in America. But he was the first who arrived in that country in 1958, along with the first Nazeer daughters, Bint Moniet El Nefous and Bint El Bataa (and two El Sareei daughters). It was the first shipment of Egyptian Arabians to come to the USA since the Babson and W.R. Brown importations in 1932. This shipment encouraged many American breeders to go to Egypt and bring back Arabians - it rekindled the interest in Egyptian Arabians.
Rashad's sire, Nazeer (Mansour x Bint Samiha) Rashad Ibn Nazeer (Nazeer x Yashmak by Sheikh El Arab) was foaled in Egypt in 1955. He was chosen for the late Richard Pritzlaff (owner of Rancho San Ignacio in Sapello/New Mexico) by General Tibor von Pettkoe-Szandtner (the head of El Zahraa at that time), because Nazeer was his favourite stallion. A preference which was shared by Richard Pritzlaff. "When I saw Nazeer in Egypt in 1956 he was led quietly out of his stall, in a halter, walked quietly around, stood in all positions, trotted slowly, then faster, a short hand gallop, stood quietly," he said. "Then the groom rode him out quietly to wait to test the mares for breeding. This scene has stayed forever in my mind."
Rashad Ibn Nazeer at Rancho San Ignacio
His son Rashad was 15 hands and 2½ inches in height, fine-boned with elegant action and a dry head. He wasn't a typical representative of the Nazeer blood simply because he wasn't a "pretty" horse. Those who knew him described Rashad's beauty as an "austere" one. His face wasn't comparable to that of an Ansata Ibn Halima but the breeders who saw Rashad in the flesh were impressed by his cat-like movements and his overall elegance. He was indeed a "beautiful athlete", one of those horses who deserved a second look. No eyecatcher at all, but a well-built stallion who excelled under saddle. Richard Pritzlaff, a skilful rider, praised Rashad's ability to sire foals with "excellent withers, sloping shoulder, good legs and a particularly fine neck and throatlatch." For Pritzlaff, Rashad was an efficient and dependable breeding animal - a stallion that could be depended upon to pass on his performance ability, his action, and -most of all - his friendly disposition. But Rashad was more than that, more than a priceless Nazeer son that was too precious to be ridden. He was Pritzlaff's friend and personal mount.
Colonel Handler and Richard Pritzlaff with Rashad Ibn Nazeer
"Colonel Handler (the head of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna) spent several summer vacations at my ranch and trained Rashad and me," he said. "Unfortunately, there was little interest in dressage at the time when Rashad and his son, Tibor the General (named in honour of General von Szandtner) performed nicely. But the dressage seat, in balance and rhythm with the horse, is the most comfortable and safest way to ride - for horse and rider!" "Colonel Handler was astonished how quickly Rashad learned the dressage movements and how elegantly and willingly he performed, and he was impressed on later visits to see how Rashad remembered what he had been taught and how he enjoyed performing. Rashad learned a creditable Piaffe in about ten lessons. Some horses require almost a year to accomplish the same degree in performance."That speaks well for Rashad's intelligence, a trait he passed on to his foals as well.
Rashad's most international son was Rasmoniet, who sired foals in four different countries
But Rashad wasn't very busy in the breeding barn at all. He sired a lifetime total of 35 foals. Compared to the number of foals sired by other Nazeer sons in the United States that sounds awfully little. But Rashad never stood at public stud, never entered a show ring, and his harem only contained of the mares of Rancho San Ignacio.
Bint Moniet El Nefous (Nazeer x Moniet El Nefous) produced ten foals by Rashad
Bred to Moniet El Nefous' most look-alike daughter, the exotic Bint Moniet El Nefous (Nazeer x Moniet El Nefous), he sired five sons and five daughters. The 1971 son Rasmoniet was the most famous of them all and had the distinction of siring foals in four different countries - United States, Canada, England, and Australia.
Pritzlaff's ideal: Dymoniet (Rashad Ibn Nazeer x Bint Moniet El Nefous)
His full brother Dymoniet RSI was one of Pritzlaff's favourite horses. "He is the finest, most correct of my stallions," he said in 1987. "Physically he combines the finest qualities for which I'm breeding."
Richard Pritzlaff and his true companion, Dymoniet
Rasmoniet's and Dymoniet's full sisters Bint Bint Moniet, Raya del Sol and Monisa RSI were acquired by Jarrell McCracken (owner of the former Bentwood Farm in Texas) for his large herd of straight Egyptian horses. They won several class A halter championships and Bint Bint Moniet reached the Top Ten at the 1975 U.S. Nationals. All three mares were destined to be bred to McCracken's new herd sire Ibn Moniet El Nefous (Morafic by Nazeer x Moniet El Nefous).
Photo:
Filsinger
In 1973, the first Bentwood-bred Ibn Moniet El Nefous foal was born. She was AK Monisa Moniet, a bay filly out of Monisa RSI who, in turn, gave birth to the beautiful stallion AK Khattar-Moniet (by Amaal). This small, snow white stallion with black eyes as big as apples came to Europe and left some interesting foals before his untimely death in 1989. AK Monisa-Moniet's full sister AK Radia became a dominant broodmare of their own; her most influential son to date is the tall and handsome BKA Rashiiq (by Ruminaja Ali).
Photo:
Berg
But some breeders were and are convinced that Rashad had destroyed the distinctive type of Bint Moniet El Nefous, because the Rashad foals were by far not as extreme as her dam. However, in the "golden eighties" Bentwood Farm's leading mare Bint Bint Moniet rocked the breed with her son Moniet El Sharaf's syndication for $ 10,000,000 (read it again - $10 million!).
Photo:
Johnston
No Arabian horse in the world ever was worth that amount of money, but at that time the Arabian horse industry was at its peak and Moniet El Sharaf sired more than 400 foals. His beauty and presence (inherited from his sire) was something to behold, with every move he made he demonstrated his noble heritage. He loved to show off for visitors, incorporating a majestic entrance, his beautiful suspended trot, the halt during which he surveyed his audience, his tail gradually rising up over his back, and a series of snorts. He was a star, and very few stars can wow an audience the way he could.
Photo:
Johnston
Moniet El Sharaf never left a son equal or better to him but some of his daughters became reliable broodmares. In Europe, his main influence is felt through the extremely beautiful mares AK Shariha (x AK Tashiha by Farazdac) and Maarshafa (x Bint Bint Maarena), who was recently exported to Qatar.
Photo:
van Lent
After the Bentwood dispersal, Moniet El Sharaf sank into oblivion. He passed away at the end of 1999. His full sister, the grey AK Ghazala traveled to France and delivered several very good foals (especially by Imperial Imdal).
Photo:
Trees
Bint Bint Moniets final legacy to the breed was born in 1990 - the black stallion Moniets Legacy (by The Minstril). From the start he impressed all those who saw him with his unusual power. Very leggy, with a long, well-shaped neck, Moniets Legacy stole the heart of Lee and Suzy Foss, the owners of Gold Greek Arabians in Montana. Like his grandsire Rashad, he is a natural athlete and is ridden daily - as a working cow horse. Lee and Suzy Foss are several generation cattle ranchers who grew up riding horses that worked for a living. "Legacy consistently produces Bint Bint Moniet's fabulous legs - working legs," says Suzy Foss. "The cattlemen around here really love his foals. They are very smart, very trainable, but extremely well mannered and manageable. These are working horses, descended from working horses that made difference in history," she reminds us. Richard Pritzlaff would be proud of that stallion!
Photo:
Johnston
Another stallion Richard Pritzlaff was proud of was Bint Bint Moniet's full-brother Alcibiades, a very influential sire born in 1965. He sired some of Rancho San Ignacio's best broodmares and then helped to put Norton and Millie Grow's Rafter G. Arabians on the map. Many of his sons and daughters went on to become shining stars in the show ring and in the breeding shed. "Alcibiades was probably one of the nicest horses that ever came off Richard's ranch," said Millie Norton. "Very proper and a very beautiful animal. We saw a number of his foals there and they had the level croups and extreme type in the head - the jibbah, good dish, that sort of thing - that their sire had. And always good legs. Good legs are a priority with us. We knew we couldn't take a horse with bad legs into the mountains, and we won't sacrifice good legs for type, or the other way around either." Alcibiades inherited his sire's brilliant action and his athletic body (with the added bonus of Bint Moniet's refinement). Many considered him as Rashad's true son. The only other Rashad son who gained some influence was Shiko Ibn Sheikh (x Bint El Bataa by Nazeer), whose foals frequently showed the desirable black colour.
Photo:
Johnston
All Arabian horses at Rancho San Ignacio enjoyed a healthy outdoor life with plenty of exercise. They never saw a show ring because the practice of clipping all the hair from the nostrils was frowned upon by Pritzlaff. He felt it was cruel to the horses. This absence from the show ring along with lack of advertisement could have been the major reasons why Rashad Ibn Nazeer failed to make the same contribution to the breed like Morafic or Ansata Ibn Halima. But he found a loyal group of admirers who sought for more than just another pretty face. For those who searched for the hard desert horses, the true companions of the Bedouins, the athletic riding horses, Rashad Ibn Nazeer and his get were the first choice! Linda Thol |
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