SBE: Straight Babson Egyptian

The black straight Babson Egyptian stallion, BW Ibn Faydin, was foaled in 2000. I find this young stallion to be exciting and I wanted to tell you more about him, as I think he is a well-kept American secret.  BW Ibn Faydin is owned by Jennifer Ligon of Avalon Mist Arabians, Shipman, Virginia.

Not only is he well-bred and visually, a typey horse but he is also a sane, willing and athletic riding partner. Jennifer has shown her horse successfully in both the Sport Horse In Hand classes, as well as under saddle, in Dressage. BW Ibn Faydin is also a proven sire, having sired four colts: Avalon Anubis, Avalon Rashiiq Najm, Avalon Riih, Avalon Shaadin and a filly: Avalon Yasminah Asiil.

BW Ibn Faydin's sire is the 1979 black stallion, Faydin, who has an interesting pedigree. His sire and dam are siblings, as both horses are out of the Babson mare, Aaroufa (Fay-El-Dine x *Maaroufa). This is the same mare who also produced the mares Fada, Bahrou, Aarouser and the stallion, Roufas. Mahrouf, Faydin's sire is by the stallion Fabah (*Fadl x *Bint Bint Sabbah) while  Roufina, Faydin's dam is by Fa-Serr (*Fadl x *Bint Serra I). Predominantly Saqlawi, by strain, the only horse who is not of this strain in Faydin's pedigree is the Dahmah mare, *Bint Bint Sabbah.  On a secondary note, the number of horses makimg up Faydin's pedigree is small: the majority of his pedigree is *Fadl, *Maaroufa and *Bint Serra I. I find this not only interesting, it is amazing. 

Faydin was bred by the Babson Farm and was owned for most of his life by Ms. Carolyn Coletts of Asala Arabians, Hillsboro, Ohio. In his later years, he was owned by Gordon Yuellig of Bridgewood Farm, also in Hillsboro (Carolyn and Gordon were neighbors)  and then by Lesley Detweiler of Mountain Spring Farm in Pennsylvania. He was a strong, substantially-built stallion, well-muscled with a broad chest, a noticeable wither, powerful shoulders and yet, he had a surprising level of refinement that could be found in the luxurious quality of his mane, tail and coat hairs. They were especially fine and silky. His neck, while heaver in the crest, was a bit longer and gracefully joined the head to form a finer mitbah than most of his Babson contemporaries, who tended to be a bit thicker in this area. His head was not exotic but clean, elegant, with nice, black eyes and a good amount of bone definition, as well as larger, elastic nostrils. He was what you would call "dry" or "deserty". As a black-colored horse, he had excellent skin pigmentation. In phenotype, most people felt that he possessed the qualities most associated with the Kuhaylan strain. I think he embodied the look of his ancestors, i.e., the black stallion Fa-Serr.

I remember hearing the excitement in Carolyn Colett's voice, when she told me that she had purchased a beautiful, black, Dahmah Shahwaniyah from the Babson Farm. I was surprised by the news, because at the time, Carolyn was concentrating on pure-in-the-strain breeding of the *Maaroufa horses and in addition to owning Fadl Starr and Faydin, she had leased the Serr Maariner daughter out of Black Satin, Princeton Maaroufa and purchased her Serr Maariner daughter, Princeton Negma. I have to admit that I was a bit jealous, as Fay Abba is a not only a beautiful mare but a daughter of one of my favorite Babson stallions, Mah Deluque. Suddenly, I found myself dreaming of the variety of horses that could be produced with this most wonderful mare.
Fay Abba is out of the Babson mare, Bint Serr Abba. As her name suggests, Bint Serr Abba, a daughter of the mare, Serr Abba. Serr Abba, a Fa-Serr daughter out of Fa-Abba, who in turn is a *Fadl daughter out of *Bint Bint Sabbah. Fa-Abba and Fabah, the sire of Mahrouf, were full brother and sister.

In blending the blood of Faydin with that of Fay Abba, the influence of Mahrouf is really intensified, as this stallion is also the sire of Mah Deluque and Bint Serr Abba. Remember that Mahrouf is Faydin's sire. To me, again, this is interesting, as the influence of *Bint Bint Sabbah is minimally represented in Faydin's pedigree and quite the opposite is true in Fay Abba's pedigree, as *Bint Bint Sabbah appears five times in Fay Abba's pedigree, three of those times, through the stallion Fabah. Faydin and Fay Abba complemented each other, in combining the common ground they share through *Fadl, *Maaroufa and *Bint Serra I, yet, intensifying the influence of *Bint Bint Sabbah.  Ansata enjoyed success in blending *Bint Bint Sabbah with Bukra, her sister. However, this bloodline is also represented in tail female, for the stallions, Sid Abouhom, Sheikh el Arab and the mare, Komeira. Just something to consider, the next time you are thinking "outside the box".

EnJoy,
Ralph

PS Thanks & credits: The first 2 photos of BW Ibn Faydin are from Jennifer Ligon. The first photo of Faydin is from Diana Johnson and the full body shot of Faydin was taken by Carolyn Coletts. The photo of Fay Abba is from Gale Rowe and I don't know who took the photo of Fa-Abba, which is the last photo.