How many of us these days bother to think back to where our bloodlines stem from?

Fortunately for us it is a tad easier than for some, since both the ‘foundation’ mares in the stud come from the same dam-line. When I finally went looking for a purebred mare to base a stud on I was lucky to find the Torryburn Stud of Frank and Elizabeth Staunton. There amidst the combined bloodlines of BOSTOCKS and SCIMITAR studs I found the type of Arabian I was looking for. Amongst the mares was an older matriarch who I thought exemplified what I was wanting. Her name was NEFERTITI and even in her early twenties she was a wonderfully correct, big-bodied mare with both quality and a terrific temperament.

        NEFERTITI as a young mare.

At that time I managed to buy a granddaughter of Nefertiti – Torryburn Handama. Handama was sired by the imported Egyptian stallion IBN ANTAR (E.A.O.) and was out of Nefertiti’s bay daughter – NOFRET - sired by the pure Crabbet horse ABIRAM imp Holland. So while she was 50% modern Egyptian breeding – she still exemplified the strengths of her dam line in her good body and legs, lovely action and innate quality. Although she only bred a few daughters in her lifetime one of these in the mare SG BINT JASEEM has proved our premier producer and the lynchpin of the stud through her quality sons and daughters.

Several years later I was lucky to be able to buy a great granddaughter of Nefertiti as well. A tall brown/bay mare sired by the Egyptian stallion A.K. Jabal Ibn Moniet, Torryburn Halama is a daughter of another ABIRAM mare – the memorable grey – SADAF. Sadaf in turn was out of the Nefertiti daughter FAYDA who was sired by Sirocco (Crystal Fire x Scherzade). Halama has produced a couple of lovely daughters over the years - but her premier daughter and the one slated as her replacement within the stud is her most recent filly HAMAASA-SGA who is sired by the Bint Jaseem son ABU JAASK and so possesses a double up on the tail female line to Nefertiti. A big, bold. extremely good moving filly who represents her heritage beautifully.

In recent years the stud has been fortunate to also acquire two additional mares descended from Nefertiti as well to compound and build on this successful bloodline.

The first of these mares TORRYBURN DESERT SPRITE (since deceased) was sired by the ‘old/new’ Egyptian bred sire Fall Farm Desert Asahm imp USA and out of the Nefertiti granddaughter JALISA. A full sister to the noted sire Torryburn Jaseem – Jalisa was sired by AK Jabal Ibn Moniet imp USA – ex the Crystal Fire x Nefertiti daughter KASTANA. Although only with us for a few seasons we were lucky that Sprite produced for the stud a lovely daughter by our own Bostocks line stallion Abu Jaask - himself descended via Torryburn Handama from the Nefertiti tail line. This filly SALINAS-SGA is very reminiscent of the stock produced by the Bostocks stud in it’s heyday.

The second mare brought into the stud from this successful line is a beautiful brown/black daughter of the noted Torryburn show and broodmare TORRYBURN RASHAQA (Baskeer ex Sadaf.) MERIMINDI BASKABELLE  (Hamil ex T. Rashaqa) - like our older mare Halama - is descended from the lovely Abiram daughter Sadaf. A lovely mare with beautiful type and a delight under saddle - Baskabelle will also be bred selectively within the stud to compound these lines for the future. As a daughter of the National Champion stallion HAMIL ( AK SIR HALIMA imp/exp USA from the Sirocco daughter Nasula - who is herself a daughter of NOFRET (Abiram x Nefertiti) Baskabelle traces to Nefertiti on the tail female line of both her sire and dam and so fits beautifully into our breeding program.

So in my stud the mare line of NEFERTITI is virtually THE mare line!

Nefertiti was one of the premier daughters of the renowned import COUNT MANILLA who was bred by Hanstead Stud.  He brought to Australia the strengths of the acclaimed sire RISSALIX, and a double cross to the mare RAZINA. An excellent producing mare, Razina was of course the dam of both RIFFAL and RAKTHA. Count Manilla - through Razina was of the tail female line of RODANIA. A prominent and successful Crabbet bloodline that is very predominant in the Crabbet imports into Australia. ‘NILLA’ as he was known proved a fountainhead for breeder’s right across Australia looking for a strong correct Arabian with good true movement and an air of quality.

The addition of ABIRAM imp to the blood of Nefertiti compounds the influence of the RODANIA line in the Nefertiti daughter NOFRET (dam of T. Handama) – bringing over a dozen lines to that influential Crabbet mare. The mare SADAF (dam of T. Halama) – due to her grandsire SIROCCO a son of the imported CRYSTAL FIRE possessing an additional number of lines to RODANIA as well as these. A line renowned for its excellent action!

The dam of Nefertiti was the mare TOU FAIL. She was a daughter of the Fenwick bred sire IBN FAYRIAL and the mare MATOUFA.  This combination brought together several crosses of both the Crabbet ‘super sires’ – Mesaoud and Skowronek.  The two most famous source stallions in Crabbet history. Matoufa was a daughter of the Crabbet import - INDIAN LIGHT himself a grandson of SKOWRONEK through Naseem. Indian Light only appears to have sired 15 registered progeny – a pity since he was a double grandson of a great producing mare in NASRA. Nasra was famous as the dam of NASEEM and NAZIRI but is also prominent due to her great breeding daughters such as Nisreen (dam of both Indian Light and NASIRIEH) and Nashisha and Nasifa. Matoufa's daughter TOU FAIL was the result of breeding an Indian Light daughter to an Indian Light grandson so TOU FAIL was strong in the blood of Indian Light and his own double granddam NASRA. A highly significant mare in Crabbet breeding worldwide.

DERYABAR was the dam of Matoufa (as well as the full sisters Meymooneh and Meliha) and founded a family that has spread far and wide throughout Australia and proved prolific and successful at stud. Also bred too the imported Crabbet bred son of RAFINA – RASEEL – Deryabar produced the successful broodmare DAHANA. Dahana in turn produced an Indian Light daughter named SENABRA - who -  when bred to the Crabbet bred import FAYRIAL produced the stallion IBN FAYRIAL – who would become the sire of Tou Fail.

So Nefertiti’s dam TOUFAIL descends in both the tail female lines of sire AND dam from the mare DERYABAR. Which in turn means that the double up on Sherifa and therefore DAHNA found in Deryabar's breeding is again doubled in that of Deryaber and her descendents.

PEDIGREE OF THE MARE DERYABAR:

Deryabar traces through her dam KHADIJAD (by FAROUN imp Crabbet) and thence to LABADAH (by MAHBOUB imp India) and thence to SHERIFA - the lovely Rafyk* daughter of the imported Crabbet bred mare DAHNA, who was imported in 1891 by Sir James Penn Boucaut. DAHNA was of course the first mare to leave a purebred family line, which is still evident and strong today in this country even though descending through a single daughter of hers in Sherifa.  Imported as an eight year old mare – after producing two daughters for Crabbet Dahna was only one generation from the desert on both sides of her pedigree – both her sire KARS and dam DAHMA being desert bred. DAHMA was of the strain DAHMIEH OM AAMAR.

      DAHNA imported from CRABBET PARK

So the mare-line in my stock is that of DAHNA imp. The oldest we Australians possess – and certainly one that is rich in the ‘history’ of Australian breeding.

David Wesley-Wall . SGA ARABIANS . "MURRUMVELDE" . 1521 DOG TRAP ROAD . MURRUMBATEMAN . NEW SOUTH WALES . AUSTRALIA. 2582 .
Phone +61 2 62 268862. All material herein © '2004