Windt
im Wald Farm
Geauga County, Northeast Ohio
since 1995
LINE-BREEDING
AND
IN-BREEDING
By BEN HUR
(Western Horseman May/Jun'45)
[Ed. Note: Today Ibrahim
is accepted as a
Desert-Bred stallion. See footnote (1) below]
Aarah No. 1184, chestnut
Arabian mare owned by Ben Hur Farms, and her filly foal, Aarafa
No. 2870, by Champion Raffles. She and all in her pedigree,
including the fourth generation, have the blood of the tap-root
stallion, Zobeyni -- a striking example of line-breeding.
WHAT KIND
OF a stallion would you select to mate to your
mares to improve the quality of the foal? Would your first consideration
be that the stallion and mares be unrelated? Or would you select the
best stallion available, with the best breeding (pedigree) regardless
of his relationship to the mares?
Do you study the pedigrees of prospective
sires? Do you know their breeding, and do you have the pedigree of your
mares? Marked improvement in your foals can be made regardless of the
kind of mares you have. You may have Pintos, Palominos, Quarter Horses,
Morgans, Albinos, Arabians or American Saddle horses or just plain Stock
Horses. By selecting the right kind of stallion you can make improvements
each generation. The better the breeding of your mares, the more nearly
pure in blood, the greater improvement in the foals.
Line-breeding and in-breeding are the
old and time-proven methods by which breed improvement has been made
in the past. This is true in cattle, horses, sheep, poultry, dogs. All
our present day breeds are the result of close line-breeding and often,
intense in-breeding. There is no mystery where our finest horse, cattle,
sheep and dogs came from. A study of their pedigrees will reveal the
facts. Owners of pedigreed animals are well aware of the importance
of line-breeding and in-breeding. However, you, too, with grade mares
may, by a definite breeding program and the proper selection of a stallion,
employ the same methods of improvement in the foals.
Let us study the breeding of Arabians.
They are pure in blood and their pedigrees extend back many generations.
Pedigrees of Thoroughbreds, Morgans, American Saddle horses, as well
as Arabians, all reveal the same fact, i.e., that there have been certain
outstanding males ever so often that have dominated and influenced all
succeeding generations. The male exerts a far greater influence in breed
improvement than the female, due solely to the numerical supremacy of
off-spring. A mare may have twenty foals in a lifetime, but a stallion
may get fifty or one hundred foals a year for ten to twenty years.
Zobeyni, famous Arabian stallion more
than 100 years ago, furnishes an interesting study. Pedigrees of Arabians
back five or six generations seldom show his name. But his blood is
the greatest influence today among Arabians in England, the United States,
Egypt, Australia, South America or whenever there are pure Arabians.
It is more difficult to find Arabians without his blood, than with it.
Zobeyni was a grey Seglawi Jedran stallion of the strain of Ibn Sbeyni
of the Mehed tribe of the Fedaan Anazeh Bedouins, bred in Arabia and
imported to Egypt early in the 19th century where he became enormously
important in the world-famous stud of Abbas Pacha I. He is the founder
of the male line that has been most successful throughout the world
the past century. His great grandson, Mesaoud, and great, great grandson,
Skowronek(1), are each in turn contributing
as much or more than their illustrious ancestors to the success of Arabians
in the 20th century.
Skowronek,
bred in Poland, was later used as leading stallion at Lady
Wentworth's Crabbet Stud in England, from where his blood
has gone to all parts of the world where Arabians are bred.
Mesaoud,
grandson of the tap-root stallion, Zobeyni. Bred in Egypt,
he was taken to England, then to Russia.
Arab tribes in the desert followed
the custom of giving the strain and family name of the mare to the
foal, rather than the name of the sire. The custom, followed in
this country for a number of years, led to confusion and misunderstanding.
The foal, given the strain name of its dam, might be, and in nearly
every instance was, from a number of other strains and with many
more related bloodlines on the male side than the female. As a result
of this confusion, The Arabian Horse Club of America several years
ago discontinued the practice of giving strain names to Arabians
registered with them.
A study of the
pedigrees with this article illustrates the fallacy of blindly
following and giving breeding value to the strain name of
the dam. Champion Raffles, for example, has been referred
to as Kehilan for four generations back. Had the custom
been followed of giving the strain name of the sire to the
foal it will be readily seen that Raffles would be a Seglawi
Jedran, from his illustrious male line -- Skowronek, Ibrahim,
Heijer, Mahruss, Wazir and Zobeyni.
Champion
Raffles, owned by Roger Selby, Portsmouth, Ohio, bred by
Lady Wentworth in England. As son and grandson of Skowronek,
he is an example of successful in-breeding and line-breeding
from the Zobeyni line.
Aaraf,
foaled in 1943, sired by Raffles, out of Aarah. Note
resemblance to Mesaoud, who appears nine times in pedigree.
To the student of pedigrees and breeding
it will be apparent that there is vastly more involved than
a custom in this instance. These pedigrees aptly illustrate
the vastly greater importance and influence of the male
line in most pedigrees. Raffles goes back to Zobeyni not
once but twelve times, out of thirty-two ancestors in the
sixth generation. Rose of Sharon, the great grand-dam of
Raffles in the sixth generation, whose strain or family
name of Kehilan has been arbitrarily given by those who
still follow this custom, appears in his pedigree but once.
We leave it to the reader to decide whether the male Zobeyni
(Seglawi) line or the female Rose of Sharon (Kehilan) blood
and influence is the stronger.
The questionable
value placed on strain and family names of the dam is shown
in the pedigree of Raffles in that there are seven different
strain names out of thirty-two names in the sixth generation
and nine names of unknown strain names.
Abu Zeyd,
son of Mesaoud, was foaled in England, imported to United
States in 1904 by Homer Davenport.
The pedigree
of the Arabian mare, Aarah, pictured with this article,
shows that she is bred along the same lines as Raffles,
in fact, they are very much in line. Aarah, like Raffles,
would be Kehilan from her dam's side, but take time to count
-- 18 of her 32 ancestors in the sixth generation are sons
and daughters of grandsons and daughters of the famous Zobeyni,
a Seglawi. Mesaoud, illustrious great grandson of Zobeyni,
and also a Seglawi through his dam, appears eight times
in the pedigree of Aarah. Is there reason then for similarity
of appearance of Aarah and Mesaoud?
Aaraf and Aarafa,
out of Aarah and by Raffles, follow to a marked degree the
type and markings of Mesaoud. The pedigree of Raffles shows
Mesaoud twice which added to that of Aarah makes Mesaoud
appear ten times in the pedigrees of Aaraf and Aarafa and
numerical superiority is the answer. We must not assume
that success in breeding is a mathematical problem of addition
and multiplication. Breeders have universally found it safe
to follow the rule of eliminating from the pedigree the
undesirable and animals of doubtful value and to multiply
as often as possible the highly desirable animals. The blood
of Zobeyni, for example, appears in 12 out of 16 ancestors
of Aarah in the fifth generation and Zobeyni is a common
ancestor in eight out of eight ancestors of Aarah in the
fifth generation and Zobeyni is a common ancestor in eight
out of eight ancestors in the fourth generation, yet without
direct, close-up in-breeding.
What is in-breeding?
The commonly accepted definition is that of mating dam to
son, as in the case of Rifala, daughter of Skowronek, back
to Skowronek, or sire bred to daughter, the two most commonly
practiced. There may be several other close variations of
in-breeding, brother and sister, half-brother and sister,
dam to grandson, sire to granddaughter.
In-breeding has
been found to be most successful where there has been a
previous successful outcross. Ibrahim, sire of Skowronek,
it will be noted, is an example of the closest kind of line-breeding
in that in the fourth generation Wazir, sired by Zobeyni,
appears three times and his full sister Horra, once, mated
to a grandson of Zobeyni. Eleven of 14 of Ibrahim's ancestors
in the first four generations are close up in the blood
of Zobeyni. Ibrahim, taken to Poland from Egypt, and out-crossed
on the Polish Arabian mare, Yaskoulka, not directly related,
produced Skowronek, whose blood is found in Arabians around
the world today. The blood of Skowronek was intensified
in his get, Raffles, when he was bred to his daughter, Rifala,
thus giving Raffles three-fourths of the blood of Skowronek,
combined with the blood of Mesaoud of the same line of breeding.
The predominate
blood of a female line is harder to find among pedigrees
of horses of live stock, not because there are not highly
desirable females but in the case of horses, because of
the limit placed on re reproduction in the mare as compared
to the stallion.
*RAFFLES No 952
Grey Arabian Stallion --
Wazir * s
Mahruss*
BF Saouda w
Heijer*
Wazir
B Jamila*
Ghazieh s
Ibrahim*
Aziz * d
a Seg-Jed*
Horra * s
La Fitte*
Wazir *
Makbula*
M Kebira k
SIRE
Skowronek*
Cercle
Kortez
Gonta
Rymnik
Kohejlan
Hama
Caramba
Yaskoulka
-----
Derwisz
-----
Epopeja
O Maciuk
Lira
Kreolka k
Mahruss * w
Heijer *
B Jamila s
Ibrahim
a Seg-Jed
La Fitte*
Makbula * k
Skowronek*
Kortez
Rymnik
Gonta
Yaskoulka
Derwisz
Epopea
Lira
DAM
Rifala*
Mesaoud * s
Seyal*
Sobha * h
Berk*
Ahmar a
Bukra
Bozra s
Rissla*
Aziz * d
Mesaoud*
Yemameh s
Risala
Merzuk * k
Ridaa*
R Sharon k
* Asterisk after the name denotes those with the ancient,
tap-root, desert-bred stallion, Zobeyni, as an ancestor,
founder of the male line that has been most successful in
England and the U.S. the past century. The small letters after the names
in the sixth generation denote the family strain names,
k -- Kehilan; s -- Seglawi; a -- Abeyan; b -- Sh. Sba; d--D.
Shahwan; h -- Hamdani; w -- W. Hursan. The capital letters before certain
names are, R -- Rose; M -- Makbula; O -- Obejan; B -- Bint;
F -- Faras. ......
AARAH No. 1184
Chestnut Arabian Mare --
Mesaoud * s
Seyal*
Sobha * h
Berk*
Ahmar
Bukra
Bozra
Ribal*
I Mahruss * s
Rijm*
R Sharon k
Rijma*
Mesaoud * s
Risala*
Ridaa * k
SIRE
Ghadaf*
Mesaoud * s
Harb*
B Helwa * s
Rodan*
Hadban h
R Sharon
Rodania k
Gulnare*
Sottam n
I Sherara
Sheara k
Ghazala*
Aziz * d
B Helwa*
Helwa * s
Ibn Nura * d
Feysul*
El Argaa k
I Yashmak*
Shahwan * d
Yashmak*
Yemama k
Rizvan*
I Mahruss * s
Rijm*
R Sharon k
Rijma*
Mesaoud * s
Risala*
Ridaa * k
DAM
Nadirat*
Aziz * d
Mesaoud*
Yemameh s
Abu Zeyd*
Azrek s
R Diamond
R Jericho k
Nusara*
I Mahruss * s
Rijm*
R Sharon k
Noam*
Rejeb * k
Narda II *
Narghileh * k
* Asterisk after the name denotes those with the ancient,
tap-root, desert-bred stallion, Zobeyni, as an ancestor,
founder of the male line that has been most successful in
England and the U.S. the past century.
The small letters after the names in the sixth generation denote
the family strain names: k -- Kehilan; s -- Seglawi; d --
D Shahwan; h -- Hamdani; a -- Abeyan; n -- D Nejib; h --
H Enzeki.
Capital letters before names denote R - Rose; I -- Ibn; B --
Bint.
The Arabian mare Rodania, celebrated
mare of the desert, captured by the Gomussa tribe, sold to the Blunts,
and taken to their Crabbet stud, England, in 1881, is the most striking
example of the female influence. Note her daughters in these pedigrees
and the number of times they appear -- Rose of Sharon, Rose of Jericho,
and her granddaughters Rose Diamond and Ridaa, and grandsons, Rijm,
Rodan and Rejeb. The pedigrees of Raffles and Aarah in connection
with this articles illustrate the concentration of blood of a male
and female line of successful line-breeding and the more controversial
in-breeding. You may apply the practical application of these results
in breeding to your own horses, no matter what breed or type.
(1) Today Ibrahim is accepted
as a desert-bred stallion. For more information see:
Lady Wentworth's THE AUTHENTIC
ARABIAN HORSE
Schile, Erika THE ARAB HORSE
IN EUROPE
Potocki, Count Joseph (son of
Skowronek's breeder) "Skowronek's Pedigree and the Antoniny Stud"
The Arabian Horse News, Feb. '58.
Blunt, Lady Anne JOURNALS AND
CORRESPONDENCE 1878-1917
Guttmann, Ursula: THE LINEAGE
OF THE POLISH ARABIAN HORSES
Dickenson, J.M. A CATALOG OF
TRAVELERS REST ARABIAN HORSES
