From
our Arieana Notebook: We value Mesaoud's influence as one of
the most significant of individuals in the pedigrees of
Arieana's bloodstock. With the electrifying gelding Ashan Adar
poised and posed as our
ideal and model of everything the ideal Arabian Horse should
and could be, we would often gaze with awe and pride and compare
line for line,
bone for bone, muscle for muscle, and conclude that yes, we could indeed enter "Shan" in a Mesaoud look-alike
contest and win first prize ~ from physical likenesses in size
and measurements, bone
structure and conformation, to both of them having tails set
on very high and carried magnificently, to both being noted
as fine movers, fast walkers and trotters.
Thusly inspired we
began our program at Arieana Arabians of line-breeding on the incomparable
Mesaoud and his full sister in blood Bint
Helwa. Mesaoud's influence as a Sire
permeates throughout our pedigrees through
his sons *Abu Zeyd, *Astraled (see Gulastra
and Riyala),
Daoud, Harb,
Rejeb, and Seyal,
along with his daughters Ajramieh (see *Aldebar),
Feluka,
Narghileh
and Risala.
The culmination
of this journey is just over the horizon for us now as we watch the
unfolding of the rising star and future herd sire Haat Pursuit (Blitzen of Pico x Gleeful Pico by RS Ibn Haatshaat).
Join us for the excitement ~ dreams do come true!
Wilfrid Blunt had among his other interests a
love of horseracing. He was inspired by what the infusion of
Oriental blood on England's native bloodstock had done in
creating the fast-racing Thoroughbreds of his day and realized there
was a need for fresh blood in the gene
pool. Thus began his and Lady Anne Blunt's quest for Arabian horses to bring back to
England, and Mesaoud was one
of the first horses they chose, purchasing him at the sale of
the Ali Pasha Sherif horses in 1889.
We could write volumes on this page about Mesaoud's life in both
Egypt and England and his lasting world-wide influence as a sire, but rather than repeating the best of what
has already gone ahead of us, we suggest you try this link for more
detailed information on this superlative stallion:
The Influence of Mesaoud by Chris
Littrell
Several other articles of interest on the founding of
the Crabbet Park Stud with specific mention of Mesaoud can be found
at:
The Founding of the Crabbet Tradition by Michael Bowling
What is
Crabbet? by Coralie Gordon
Crabbet
Arabians (Arabian Horse Association)
In hard copy, we have enjoyed this insight on Mesaoud's
life and times from "Looking Back" and wish in conclusion to share with you
these excerpts and highlights: "Before he
was exported to England, Mesaoud spent two years at
Sheykh Obeyd, the Blunt's stud in Egypt. He was taken there after
his purchase by the Blunts' Bedouin assistant, Zeyd. Zeyd
protected the horse from the "evil eye" on the journey
by avoiding all popular routes and bringing him through the
desert. Upon their arrival at Sheykh Obeyd, Zeyd sacrificed a
lamb in the garden and sprinkled its blood on Mesaoud's
forehead, thereby further insuring protection against the "evil
eye". Mesaoud became Lady Wentworth's favorite riding
mount while in Egypt. When he was taken to England in 1891, he
won first prize at the Crystal Palace show three years in a
row." (Arabians
September 1984, p. 152)
Mesaoud was sold to the Kleniewski Stud in Russia in 1903. He later stood at Count
Stroganoff's Stud, which later became the Soviet-run Tersk Stud. After that he
quite disappears from public record, and none of his
Russian-born get seem to have survived the Russian Revolution. Yes, Mesaoud's
name appears in
many modern Russian Arabian pedigrees, but none of his direct get bred in Russia
appear in the Russian studbooks, only those descendants bred
elsewhere and imported into Russia at a later date.
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