2009 Year in Review

Samantha Winburn

It was a hard year for us in one respect because this spring my beautiful Marisa collicked and died. My neighbors congregated on their deck and watched her writhing in pain, but in spite of being a nurse and fully aware that the mare was in great distress,  they did nothing to alert me. Another neighbor driving by noticed her and immediately turned around to let me know, but by the time I got to her she had died. Marisa was my first straight Egyptian and because of her great way of moving, gave BPE its motto “The way of a horse’s going is the truth of him.”  I didn’t have a long time to grieve for her before I had to have the mare Shahloura euthanized. The saying “lose the foot – lose the horse” was painfully proven to me when, after nearly a year of trying to save her, my vet and I agreed that her constant, growing pain made our efforts to save her no longer justifiable.

But in many other ways, the year has been more positive. I still have a job, which is a real accomplishment, and Bounce (Bint Kameesha Amira) has grown into a beautiful, correct yearling. I worry some times that she is too tall too soon, but watching her move, I am confident that she will grow into her frame gracefully and with good balance and conformity. So far so good. It is a real test of my patience to wait for her and for my stud colt JF Amir Ibn Kameerah (x JF Kameesha), who is only two years old, to grow up so that they can be bred.

bpe Shah Nafa'a

The best news is that bpe Shah Hilala (x Shahloura) had a filly on September 22nd for our first double CT foal. She is bpe Shah Nafa'a but I call her Shahna. She has a beautiful body and exceptional legs. Badella (x BSA Nadiaa to Cedardell Tiffany) was added to the Nafa’a Conservancy in partnership with Barbara Bowden of BPE Oklahoma. Badella came in foal to Dream Manor Baalero, but she will be sent to El Norus (x Keraima) shortly after that foal is born to be bred for a double CT foal.

Badella (photo by Candi Weeks)

The other side of the Nafa’a bloodline that traces through the mare Serenity Kamila (SK), will be increased next spring when San Baazinah (x Bint Kameesha) has her El Norus foal.  And after years of trying, the mare San Aakefaa (x Bint Kameesha), maiden at 21 years, is in foal to Himself for a 2010 baby. This is the sweetest topping for me because she is, in my opinion, my most classic, desert-type mare. Barbara keeps up the mantra “think pink, think pink,” but as long as we have healthy foals and healthy, sound mares we will be both grateful and very happy.

 

San Aakefaa

Bint Kameesha Amira (photo by Christine Emmert)

 

JF Amir Ibn Kameerah (photo by Christine Emmert)

There is enough diversity in the dams represented in our mares to line breed without too much saturation. The sire lines are even more diverse so we have room to cross just about any which way we can imagine. In Amir we have a double SK stallion. I am hoping, in spite of “think pink” that we will soon add a double CT stallion. They will form the base for doubling each side of the Nafa’a bloodline then provide crosses of both sides (CT x SK). I know it sounds confusing, but there is a logic behind this madness.  First concentrate each side, then mix it up by crossing the Cedardell Tiffany stallion on Serenity Kamila mares and the Serenity Kamila stallion on the Cedardell Tiffany Mares.

The summer was made good when I attended the Al Khamsa symposium in my beloved Oregon. It was literally, the best week of my life. The people that I met and the horses that I got to see have reinvigorated me and renewed my passion for research. I have focused for so long on finding and preserving the Nafa’a horses and the straight Egyptians, that I have missed out on some fantastic bloodlines representing the Al Khamsa horses. One of the highlights of the trip was the great privilege of meeting Terry and Rosemary Doyle at their 60^th Anniversary celebration and seeing who was behind a group of horses so unique and so outstanding that they are named after their breeder. I heard the comment that Rosemary is the only one who can actually tell the mares apart when they are running in a herd, which we got to see after the presentation and I can believe it; they are all so uniform and correct, and oh so beautiful.

The one day I didn’t go on barn tours I met a real estate agent and we spent the day looking at properties that I had picked out over the last year in hopes of one day making Oregon my home. The good news is, I found my dream home. The bad news is, I found my dream home but can’t sell my place in Utah (big sigh). Someday.

It has been the worst of years and the best of years (to paraphrase a line from A Tale of Two Cities). But the memorable people that I have met, the friendships that have been forged, and the success of increasing the Nafa’a bloodline has made it by far the best of years.  

[NOTE:  The Nafa’a Conservancy is about the mares. I am preserving a mare bloodline so I only list stallions if they have a line to Nafa’a.]