01/12/2026
Needing something beautiful to look at and trying to make this a teachable moment as well, I’m putting out this photo of the elegant mare *AK Nawaal (The Egyptian Prince x Dahmah Shahwaniah by *Ansata Ibn Halima++). No grease, no shaving, no hard stand up just everything I personally feel is perfect Arabian type. Large, dark low set eyes with plenty of width between them tapering down to a small, elegant muzzle. Well shaped and proportionately sized ears. And, she even has some whiskers, necessary hair in her ears and eye lashes to boot. Our breed standard, from AHA, reads: Head—when compared to other breeds, the Arabian’s head appears small and refined. Characteristics include: large and wide-set eyes, bulging forehead, dished face, flaring nostrils, small and refined muzzle, rounded jaw wide between the branches, small and close-set ears.
Just something to consider when breeding………...
A very quick summary of AK Nawaal’s breeding and life. Her pedigree is not only Egyptian but Arabian horse royalty. Sired by The Egyptian Prince (*Morafic x *Bint Mona by Nazeer, a full blood sister to *Morafic) and out of Dahmah Shahwaniah (*Ansata Ibn Halima++ x *Bint Maisa El Saghira++ by Nazeer), two of the most spectacular, and spectacularly siring/producing, of the new Straight Egyptians in the 1960’s. Of all Gleannloch breeding, she was bred by Jarrell McCracken of Bentwood Farms and was not just sold in their bankruptcy auction of several hundred horses in 1988, AK Nawaal was the high selling horse of the sale to the Picasso of Arabian horse breeders, Count Federico Zichy-Thyssen of Argentina. I say Picasso, because the Count, through his vision, was able to blend Gainey breeding, straight Egyptian bloodlines, Bey Shah+ and *El Shaklan into a magical program that produced some of the most stunning and prolific show and breeding horses world-wide. Think ZT Sharuby (*ZT Sharello x ZT Bint Ruby by *Ansata El Mabrouk), *ZT Shakfantasy (*El Shaklan x *RH Light Fantasy by Bey Shah+) and ZT Maggasfa (*AB Magnum x ZT Gasfahan by Gaffizon++) as just three examples.
Back to AK Nawaal, not only did the Count acquire her at the auction, he purchased her daughter AK Desert Rose (by Shaikh Al Badi), her son AK El Nawaal (by AK El Zahra Moniet), her dam Dahmah Shahwaniah at age 22 and AK Nawaal’s maternal brother, Ibn Dahmahn (*Ibn Hafiza x Dahmah Shahwaniah). AK Nawaal bred on at the counts for many years, then was sold to Rosemarie Kolster of Authentic Arabians in Germany, where she continued to produce and lived out her life under her ownership. She produced 3 daughters, that all bred on I believe, as well as the stunning son *Authentic Ibn Nawaal (by Maysoun), who came to the US as an older stallion.
Her four grand sires were Nazeer, her mare-lines are impeccable, and she (to me) was one of the greatest mares ever foals, Egyptian or otherwise. I hope you all enjoyed this look at what I feel a classic mare is. Have a great rest of your Sunday and thanks for following us!
Jim Robbins for We Love Arabian Horses.
Stop by our website at https://welovearabianhorses.com/ to learn more about our programs promoting the Arabian horse!
