There are moments you'll remember all your life. There are moments you'll wait for and dream of all your life. This was one of those moments. I will always remember the day I saw The Egyptian Prince (Morafic x Bint Mona) for the first time. A sunny afternoon and there he stood in the dry Texas grass. Very alert and beautiful, he looked me straight in the eyes as if to say: "Well boy, of course you know me but I don't know who you are!" He was a small horse with a chiselled face and exquisite type but nevertheless well built and born to perform - what he did (he excelled in western pleasure). Expectations fulfilled.

Photo: Johnny Johnston
AK Nawaal's sire - The Egyptian Prince (Morafic x Bint Mona)

At this time the Prince was King. He ruled as Bentwood Farm's head stallion (together with his three-quarter brother Ibn Moniet El Nefous) and I met several of his get. His sons looked not that impressive but his daughters were his fortune - they looked great. I noticed one special mare standing in one of the paddocks - not groomed and not in show condition - who was special, a rare "10" to me. Delicate and refined like a rose, this mare personified the term "type". Her name was AK Nawaal.

 
Photo (and in the title): Kerstin Anders
AK Nawaal at her best

Years went by and the Bentwood Farm empire began to fall apart. In 1988 most of the horses were auctioned off and shattered around the world. It was no surprise to those who knew her that AK Nawaal commanded the highest prize of all the horses in the auction.

Photo: van Lent jr.
The new owner: Count Zichy-Thyssen

The buyer was no other than Count Zichy-Thyssen who purchased AK Nawaal together with her dam, Dahmah Shahwaniah, her half-brother Ibn Dahman (Ibn Hafiza x Dahmah Shahwaniah) and AK Nawaal's daughter AK Desert Rose (by Shaikh Al Badi) among others. They were shipped to his farm in Argentina to enhance his straight Egyptian breeding program. AK Nawaal began her travelling.

Photo: Johnny Johnston
AK Nawaal's dam - Dahmah Shahwaniah
(Ansata Ibn Halima x Bint Maisa El Saghira)

The bay Dahmah Shahwaniah (by Ansata Ibn Halima) was one of the few daughters of the Egyptian import, Bint Maisa El Saghira. This charismatic daughter of Nazeer and Maisa was born in 1948 and imported by Douglas B. Marshall in 1962. She was a US Top Ten Halter Mare and won countless performance championships. Those who saw Bint Maisa El Saghira describe her as an athlete with superb movement and a brilliant tail carriage - "she walked like on air!" Her tail never came down. "In the ring or in the pasture, the mare had her tail up," Hansi Heck-Melnyk remembers. "She was one of the finest, one of the greatest!"

Photo: Dressler
Amaal, the most beautiful son of Bint Maisa El Saghira

She produced National Winners like Shaikh Al Badi (by Morafic) and Shamruk (by Ibn Hafiza) - and the extremely beautiful stallion Amaal (by Morafic). Her most prolific daughter was Dahmah Shahwaniah. "Without any doubt, Dahmah Shahwaniah was the most beautiful Ibn Halima daughter I ever laid eyes on," says German breeder Peter Gross. "She had it all - the type, the head, the tail carriage and the charisma. She was one of a kind." Stockier than her dam but more refined in the head, most of Dahmah Shahwaniah's get inherited the stretchy look of their grandam, Bint Maisa El Saghira.

Photo: Johnny Johnston
Shamruk (Ibn Hafiza x Bint Maisa El Saghira) inherited
the performance ability of his parents

Of AK Nawaal's American bred get her best known is AK Nawadi (by Shaikh Al Badi), a stallion who sired some very lovely foals. Though never promoted to the maximum level, he was able to build up a reputation due to the quality of his get.

Photo: van Lent jr
AK Nawaal's home in Argentina

But back to Argentina. On Count Zichy-Thyssen's hazienda, AK Nawaal gave birth to her first South American foal - AK El Nawaal was born in November 1988. Sired by the brilliant stallion AK El Zahra Moniet (by Ibn Moniet El Nefous), this colt grew up to acclaim as a sire.

In the course of her Argentine life AK Nawaal produced several daughters playing a leading role in the breeding program of Count Zich-Thyssen. ZT Bint Nawaal (by Ruminaja Bahjat) ranked as her most significant daughter and as one of the loveliest entries in the Zichy-Thyssen broodmare band.

Photo: van Lent jr.
El Shaklan

One of AK Nawaal's most prominent partners in Argentina was the glorious El Shaklan. However, the resulting colt (born in 1994) could not fulfil the Count's expectations.

Photo: Sachs
AK Nawaal in Germany

In 1995 AK Nawaal packed her bags again and travelled to Europe. The German breeder Rosemarie Kolster - Authentic Egyptian Arabians - was able to purchase her - sight unseen. "I watched a video of a mare who was for sale. Indeed, a very nice mare. But then - by chance - I saw a glimpse of a flea-bitten grey mare: it was AK Nawaal. I was spellbound. I watched the whole video tape again and again. And again. I don't know if I saw it thirty times or even a hundred times. I simply fell in love with that mare and tried everything to get her on my farm." She smiles, "I needed my whole powers of persuasion." Finally the Argentine rose arrived. She was in foal to Count Zichy-Thyssen's stallion ZT Sahjat (by Ruminaja Bahjat) and to Rosemarie Kolster's delight delivered an exotic filly.

Photo: Susanne Boesche
AK Nawaal with her first "German" baby

This filly is Nadeemah, the first born European offspring of AK Nawaal. Nadeemah is a grey with a beautiful head and the typical Nawaal eyes - deep and soulful. She now is living a peaceful life as a broodmare at the studfarm of Peter Trost.

Photo: Krumm
Nadeemah (ZT Sahjat x AK Nawaal)

"I don't own AK Nawaal," muses Rosemarie Kolster. "Instead she owns me!" A perfect mother, intelligent and smart, she has her own way to communicate with the people responsible for her. "Last summer she tragically lost her six-week-old foal. For several days she 'insulted' me to bring back her baby. Perhaps she thought I weaned it too early!"

Photo: Krumm
Ni'ma Abadi (Maysoun x AK Nawaal)

Nawaal's next daughter was Ni'ma Abadi (by Maysoun), an extremely nice filly who was sold to German breeder Christina Krumm. Even as a young filly she had a special presence seldom seen in such an immature horse. Long-legged and delightful, she has tremendous confidence and walks like a cat. Today she reigns as a supreme broodmare and gave birth to several outstanding foals. The Sheikhs in Qatar are ready to take Ni'ma Abadi "back to the desert" but her owner can't part with her...

Photo: Sachs

In 1997 AK Nawaal was bred to El Ahhim Shah (Ansata Halim Shah x AK Athea by Ibn Moniet El Nefous), and the charming result was Nadirah El Shah. She is the most successful daughter of AK Nawaal to date. In 2000 alone she won Reserve Junior Champion Filly at the German Nationals, was Junior Champion Filly at the Egyptian Classic Show in Tilburg/The Netherlands and finally won Junior Champion honours at the European Egyptian Event against tough international competition. "She is the fulfilment of a dream", Rosemarie Kolster says. A real eye-catcher and even at her young age she has a grace, that make you feel she is wise. Again, those magical Nawaal eyes...

Photo: Anders
Authentic Ibn Nawaal passes his stallion performance test in 2003

Her next two foals were sired by Maysoun - a son and a daughter. First came Authentic Ibn Nawaal who won show honors as Reserve Junior Champion Colt at the "Inter Cup" in St. Poelten/Austria in 2000. He matured beautifully and won the Junior Championship at the German Nationals in 2002. In the same year he was awarded a gold medal at the annual Stallion Show. His full sister Authentic Nawaali died when she was still a foal. "We lost her in an accident," reports Rosemarie Kolster. "It was really sad. Fortunately in the year 2001 AK Nawaal gave birth to another filly by our home-bred stallion, Nabeel II." Nabeel II is a son of Maysoun and has several show wins to his credit (he was last year's German Reserve National Champion Stallion).

Photo: Sachs
Authentic Nabeelah

Rosemarie Kolster christened the filly Authentic Nabeelah and in 2002 she appeared in hwe showring for the very first time. Her titles so far? She was made Junior Reserve Champion Filly at the Egyptian Classic Show in Holland and was second in her class (behind the eventual Reserve Junior Champion Filly) of the European Egyptian Event in the same year. I'm sure, this were not her last titles...

AK Nawaal passed away in April 2005

Photo: Sachs
Happy Birthday!

Phillip Hollerbusch & Oliver Wibihal