Father and Son Kings and the Inshass Stud

For most of us the most fascinating part of any Middle Eastern Kingdom is its private stud of Arabian horses. There are colorful accounts of a number of private and royal Middle Eastern studs of Arabian horses. Kings, Viceroys, Khedives, Pashas, Princes or Royal family members have bred and enjoyed Arabian horses just as we do in this country yet many of them also had the advantage of being close to the Arab cultural influence. Some were directly related to the Bedouin tribes that created the breed and some royal studs still exist. One stud, which unfortunately no longer exists, has become influential worldwide in Arabian horse breeding. It is the famous Inshass stud of Egypt.

The Inshass stud was established in the middle 1920s by King Fouad of Egypt. Like other of his royal predecessors, the King was very fond of Arabian horses. The stable was originally called the Royal Khassa and its location was Inshass just northeast of Cairo.[Footnote 2] King Fouad began his stud at a time when his contemporaries, Prince Mohammed AlyTewfik, and Prince Kamal EI Dine Hussein were already established breeders in Egypt. Prince Mohammed Aly Tewfik is remembered for his famed Jellabi family of horses such as Mahroussa, Negma, *Fadl, *Maaroufa, *Nasr, *Aziza, *Zarife, and *Roda all of whom have made an important contribution to AI Khamsa breeding in this country. Prince Kamal EI Dine is remembered for *Bint Serra I out of his prized mare Serra, and also for extensively using the Crabbet bred stallions Rustem (*Astraled x Ridaa) and Sotamm (*Astraled x Selma II) which imported into Egypt from Crabbet in England.

In his early acquisitions King Fouad showed a marked preference for stallions from Prince Kamal EI Dine and mares from Prince Mohammed Aly. From Prince Kamal EI Dine he got the stallions, Rasheed (Tamil [Blunt] x Zareefa [Blunt]), Ibn Fayda (Ibn Rabdan x Fayda [Blunt]), EI Zafer (Awad x Bint Dalal), Ibn Sara (*Nasr x Sara [Serra]) and Mekdam (Rustem x Bint Bint Dalal) and the mares Bint Zareefa (Hadban x Zareefa) and Bint Bint Dalal (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Dalal). From Prince Mohammed Aly he got the mares Zahra (Gamil Manial x Negma), Radia [Manial] (Gamil Manial x Aroussa), and Ghazalah [Manial] (Kawkab Manial x Dalal al Zarka).[Footnote 3] Zahra and Radia were full sisters in blood to the beautiful *Aziza imported to the U.S. by W. R. Brown in 1932. 

Hence, much of the early foundation of the Inshass stud was generally similar to that which founded the Royal Agricultural Society's government stud (R.A.S.). A unique point about the Inshass stud relative to AI Khamsa breeders is that the stud relied heavily on the blood of Prince Kamal EI Dine. One need only peruse the English translation of The Inshass Studbook of Arabian Horse Breeding to notice the role that stock bred by Prince Kamal EI Dine plays in the year to year breeding at Inshass. Thus while AI Khamsa breeders have in the past had the Babson import *Bint Serra I as a primary source of Prince Kamal EI Dine's breeding, when the blood of the lnshass breeding program arrived in this country in combination with other EAO lines, the level of Prince Kamal EI Dine's breeding was broadened by these additional pedigrees. This is interesting when one considers that Prince Kamal EI Dine was said to have a special passion for the Ali Pasha Sherif blood, hence is interest in the Blunt horses and thus the Inshass Stud became a primary beneficiary of the Prince's breeding program. Sometimes in the broader analysis of a breeding source we realize that there are more elements to it than first meets the eye and this is why I find the Inshass Stud as a significant contributor of the breeding of Prince Kamal EI Dine.

Another uniqueness of the Inshass Stud is expressed in King Fouad's selections of several desert bred stallions and mares. Among the first of his desertbred acquisitions were the Saqlawi Shaifi stallion EI Deree said to be from the EI Tibur tribe [Footnote 4] and the Kuhaylah Krush mare EI Kahila which was a gift from King Ibn Saud in 1927. [Footnote 5] EI Deree was noted as a horse of excellent conformation. He proved to be very athletic and was raced under the King's colors winning 14 races while in the King's ownership.

The King was probably proud of these two desert breds as the first recorded foal by EI Deree in the Inshass herdbook is Zareef [Inshass] out of EI Kahila. Zareef was followed by a full sister, EI Zabia who founded a significant family through her daughter Shams [Inshass] who is listed in the herdbook as being of the Kroush strain. This family includes the U.S. imported stallions *AK Shahm (Gassir x Shahbaa), *Ibn Safinaz (Seef x Safinaz) and *Ibn Alaa EI Din (Alaa EI Din x Ramza) and the mare *Bint Shahbaa (Gassir x Shahbaa). EI Kahila's other daughter, Aziza [Inshass] by Ibn Fayda produced the stallion Ezzat (x EI Belbesi) who was also used as a sire at Inshass. 

Two additional desertbred acquisitions soon followed. From EI Hag Mohamed Ibrahim the King purchased, in 1931, the mare, EI Shahbaa of the Abayyah Om Turays strain. From EI Sheikh Omar Abd EI Hafiz the King got EI Samraa that same year. [Footnote 6]These two mares have founded very notable families in Egyptian bloodlines.

EI Shahbaa's line is represented by the imported mares *Magidaa (Alaa EI Din x Maysa), dam of Nabiel and Bint Magidaa; *Serenity Montaha (Galal x Mona [Inshass]) and the stallions *Ibn Hafiza (Sameh x Hafiza) and *Hedarr (Amrulla x Mahmouda). In Europe, EI Shahbaa's female line is quite influential through the mare Hanan (Alaa EI Din x Mona [Inshass]) who is known through horses such as *Jamilll, Aroussa [Germany], Ghazala [Germany], and Amal as well as Ibn Galal I in Hungary and Asfour in Australia. *Ibn Hafiza and his half brothers EI Araby (*Morafic x Hafiza) and Hamid (Alaa EI Din x Hafiza) were used as sires in Egypt as well as Bilal I (*Morafic x Mona [Inshass]) and Maher (Galal x Mona [Inshass]), a full brother to *Serenity Montaha.

*Ibn Hafiza was a horse I personally admired. He was an intriguing horse and a classic representative of the Inshass breeding program. He was foaled in 1959, used as a sire in Egypt for a number of years, and then exported to the U.S. in 1970. A handsome rich mahogany bay, he was one of the last remaining horses in this country of 100% Inshass breeding and somewhat of an outcross to most current E.A.O. bloodlines. He was a horse very reminiscent of the old R.A.S. sire Ibn Rabdan with 3 close crosses to him. He also combined the Inshass female lines of EI Shahbaa and EI Samraa.

The other desert bred mare, EI Samraa has also founded a strong family. She is most noted as the female line of the well known sire Sameh (EI Moez x Samira), and the imported mares *Sammara (*Morafic x Sameera) darn of AI Metrabbi and EI Hadiyi; *Lebleba (Gassir x Sameera) and *Bint Bint EI Samraa (Sid Abouhom x Bint EI Samraa) dam of Almileegy by *Ibn Hafiza and *Ibn AI Hassan by Hassan. EI Deree continued to be one of the main sires for Inshass in its early years up until 1934. His contribution to the stud lie primarily in his daughters, Thouraya (x Radia Manial) dam of Beshier; Ghandoura (x EI Samraa) female line of the imports *Zaghloul and *Anwarr; Samira (x EI Samraa) dam of Sameh; and Saada, (x Ghazalah [Inshass]) who founded a large family represented by the imports *Subhaya (*Tuhotmos x Ilham), *Aminaa (Ibn Maisa x Rabia), *Fagra (Galal x Rasmia), *Shook (EI Sareei x Rayana), *Sooma (Fattan x Thouraya I), *Maheera (Antar x Thouraya I), *Shwikar (Seef x Wahida), *Bint Baheera (Emad x Baheera) and GAF Mossad (Ibn Hamama x Rasmia).

The R.A.S. had expanded its stud farm and renamed it Kafr Farouk after King Fouad's son, Farouk. Subsequently in 1934, the King gave EI Deree to the R.A.S. as a gift. [Footnote 7] Two years later King Fouad died unexpectedly and his son, Farouk, just a teenager was installed to the throne. While at the R.A.S., EI Deree made his most notable contribution through his son Sid Abouhom (x Layla). He became an exceptional broodmare sire producing many great mares such as Mabrouka, Mona, Lubna, Farasha, Bint Kateefa, and Fayza II. In fact, much of EI Deree's contribution in Egyptian breeding comes through the extensive use of Sid Abouhom's daughters whose blood is found in most countries where these Arabians are bred. In return for the gift of EI Deree the R.A.S., in 1939, gave King Farouk several mares and stallions to Inshass which included the magnificent stallion Hamdan (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Radia) and the mare Yaquota (Balance x Bint Rissala), female line of *Sakr and *Omnia.

Reviewing The lnshass studbook of Arabian Horse Breeding one can see that initially, the newly crowned Farouk continued the breeding program much like his father's, though now using some of the other notable sires such as Hamdan, Ibn Fayda, EI Moez (Ibn Fayda x Bint Zareefa), EI Belbesi (EI Zafer x Bint Bint Dalal) and Mekdam (Rustem x Bint Bint Dalal). Under various circumstances, the King would receive, from time to time, gift horses for the stud. Not all gift horses were bred from or incorporated into the stud but some were. Noted author and consultant to the R.A.S. and E.A.O., Dr. Ameen Zaher was very familiar with the Inshass stud as his brother was the private secretary to King Farouk. He noted that only those gift horses whose breeding was considered “asil” were incorporated into the Inshass Stud.

As a result of these new gifts, the stud began to take on a more unique and independent composition than the R.A.S. government stud. The largest contributor of new bloodlines to the Inshass stud was the Sa'ud Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. Among the more notable of these gifts were the mares, Hind, (granddam of *Bint Hanaa) Mabrouka [Inshass] (female line of *Bint Rakia), and Nafaa [Inshass] (granddam of *Serenity Bint Nadia). Each of these has existing families, though Nafaa's tail female line is quite rare. There were several other mares and stallions in this group from the Sa'ud Royal Family however that did not breed on of record in the Inshass herdbook.

Other families retained by Farouk include the line from Bint Kareema (Rasheed x Kareema) purchased from the Kafr Ibrash Farm. This dam line is NOT presently recognized in AI Khamsa's roster. Three desert bred horses were given to King Farouk by Shibly Bisharat Bey, a respected Palestinian businessman who was fluent in 4 languages and a good liaison for the English in the Middle East. They were chosen from among 8 of his personal group of Arabians acquired from the Transjordanian Frontier Forces, which consisted of Bedouin riders, and English military personnel. [Footnote 8] The three gift horses were the stallion Besheir EI Ashkar, and the mares Badria and Ward. All three were incorporated into the Inshass stud. The blood of Ward is believed to have died out and is not recognized in AI Khamsa's roster. However, Besheir EI Ashkar and Badria are recently now AI Khamsa foundation horses.[Footnote 9]Together they produced a son, Badr who was used as a sire at Inshass. Badria also later produced as on at the E.A.O., Bandong (x Antar) who was used as a sire. Badria also had a daughter, Bedour, who had a number of sons, but the blood of Bedour may also have died out by now.

Alas the world is a constantly changing place. Most private studs of the past have come and gone for various reasons political, economic or otherwise. And the Inshass stud was likewise vulnerable to the ravages of time. After WWII, a desire in Egypt for independence from foreigners combined with hard economic times, resulted in a politically changing climate in Egypt. In 1952 with Egyptian nationalism running high Gamel Abdel Nasser had arisen as the new leader/hero to many of the country's working people and thus a Monarchy was no longer practical in these times. King Farouk abdicated his throne and likewise, for all practical purposes, the stud was at its end. Fortunately its remnants were carefully scrutinized by General Tibor Pettko Vonszandnter, the newly appointed director of the Egyptian Agricultural Organization (E.A.O.) (formerly the R.A.S.). He selected from what remained, incorporating a significant amount of the Inshass Stud into the E.A.O. breeding program. Had this not occurred it is doubtful we would have anything left to appreciate of the personal breeding program of the father son Kings.

In reflecting on the Inshass stud's contribution to Egyptian and AI Khamsa bloodlines, it is enlightening to realize that were it not for the Inshass stud we would no longer have tail female lines to the Abayyan families in Egyptian breeding. Likewise the Kroush strain as well as other important branches of the Saqlawi families of Radia, and Om Dalal were preserved at Inshass. Ironically, Prince Mohammed Aly's prized Kuhaylan Jellabi strain, descending from the mare Bint Yamama, which had been so highly regarded, died out in Egypt everywhere except through the Inshass stud which is responsible for the sole remaining line to that strain in Egypt, through Ghazalah I (EI Moez x EI Zahraa). In addition the Inshass Stud brought forward a rich heritage of the breeding of Prince Kamal EI Dine as mentioned previously. This combined with the healthy genetic diversity offered by the added desert bloodlines unrelated to the stock of the Princes', resulted in the Inshass Stud becoming a useful regenerator of Egyptian diversity. The resurgence of importing horses here from Egypt began in the late 50's at a time when it was still possible to obtain animals of 100% Inshass breeding. If such animals of that breeding were obtained back then it might still be possible to have 100% Inshass breeding today, which unfortunately is no longer the case as the last two 100% Inshass imports were *Ibn Hafiza and *Serenity Bint Nadia both imported in 1970 and never bred together. Nonetheless, readers of this article who own straight new Egyptian (E.A.O) and AI Khamsa crosses to these horses need only to extend their pedigrees and mark some of the names mentioned herein to see the contribution that the Inshass stud has made to AI Khamsa Arabian breeding.

Truly the Inshass breeding program did open up new options for Egyptian breeders. Here is an interesting speculation on the subject of Prince Kamal EI Dine's breeding. It would have been interesting if some American breeders would have used *Ibn Hafiza more on old Egyptian mares with high percentage *Bint Serra I blood (it was only rare done) or if mares like *Bint Bint EI Samraa or *Serenity Bint Nadia would have been bred to Babson stallions with high percentages of *Bint Serra I blood. However, in reality those particular choices have faded and breeders who would like to concentrate on the blood of Prince Kamal EI Dine from all its sources win have to study pedigrees carefully and look for other options.

Because lnshass was a private stud, not much has been publicly available in print to learn about it. However, the Kings kept a private herd book called the Inshass Original Herd Book (I.O.H.B.). Eventually this herd book was utilized for information incorporated into the Egyptian studbooks. An English version became available in 1973, The Inshass Studbook of Arabian horse Breeding, published by the Terra Publishing Company of Holland. I don't know if this book is still available but it is very helpful in understanding something of the breeding program established at Inshass. One of the best pictorial and informative references on Egyptian breeding which includes a great deal of information on the Arabian horse families of the Inshass Stud is the book Authentic Arabian Bloodstock by Judith Forbis. Another good book which includes information about lnshass is Egypt's Arab Horses, History, Cultural Heritage by Dr. Erwin A. Piduch.

The father/son Kings have come and gone but their love of Arabian horses has left a significant contribution to AI Khamsa Arabian breeding in the many countries that cherish the noble desert steed.