Here is Mara's full sister's pedigree, so you can see the weirdness on the father side. Who breeds those types of horses together. And what kind of horse is "warmblood"? Is that from a time when they didn't categorize warmbloods by type (region)?
I only have one photo of Mara's mother, and I kind of wonder if that is Mara herself as a baby in the photo, but the photo is not clear enough for me to make out markings. Then again, if this is Mara as a baby, it disproves my theory that the reason she's such a freak is because they never took her anywhere. Her mother, Sheraza, is at least a proper Arabian, and Egyptian, so that makes me happy (Baasha was mostly Egyptian).
Below are two photos of Mara's full sister, Shadia, who works for a Pinto Arabian farm making more partbreds.
Below is Mara's sire Asterix (should have some sort of stars after his name for 4 times Elite, whatever that means). Now I can see where Mara gets her wispy tail and straight profile. I do like the black tail, if you must have that much white on a horse, it's easier to keep clean/ignore when dirty.
You all know I'm not so fond of white on animals and we're holding out hope that Mara stays chestnut. : ) On the other hand I understand you who disdain Arabians, especially the red-colored female ones.
I just don't like these farms that advertise and breed Arabs for color, when we all know pure Arabians cannot have this color, so they're not breeding Arabians, they're breeding partbreds and hoping for spots.
It's nice to know who he is though. Put some sunscreen on that nose, OK?
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9 comments:
That black and white forelock, white mane and black tail are pretty unique.
Both parents are quite lovely! Do you think her sire is crossed with saddlebred to get that coloring?
NM, my husband said he looks like the Milka cow. : )
CG, I just looked and it seems there is an American Saddlebred club in Europe. Wow. American breeds are kind of exotic here. I've seen Quarter Horses here and a couple TWH but no Morgans yet. Their line of Standardbreds is an entirely different line, although they share phsyical similarities and trot/pace.
That last photo LOOKS LIKE THE TOAD!!!! The shape of the head, the expression in the eyes.
Makes me smile.
Aarene, omy you're right! I thought it looked the most like Mara too.
I went and looked at that pedigree because I was curious about the origin of the spots on Asterix, since Mara is supposed to be Arab/Trakehner. Trakehners aren't generally known for being spotted, though a friend owned a spotted one that was very successful at eventing. The famous dressage horse, Moorlands Totilas, was sired by a Trakehner stallion, Gribaldi. I won't deny my eyebrows shot up when you mentioned Asterix is 4 times Elite. Here is what it means by Trakehner breeding standards, though I have no idea if this is the same across the board when it comes to horse breeding in Europe in general. I do believe they are much stricter about breeding programs over there than here in the US? In theory, though, an Elite mare or stallion is generally considered the best of the best in terms of their own performance and producing offspring capable of that level of performance. In the dressage and jumper worlds in the US, it is a Big Deal if you can get your hands on a horse from Elite bloodlines:
http://www.trakehner-verband.de/en/pferde/zuchtprogramm/elite/
Are there show records for Asterix? What does he do other than make babies? I can't find anything about him online, but it might be because I'm searching in English. :)
It seems like his spots come from both Trakehner and TB bloodlines. Very interesting. It's just different from what you'd expect in the US. One of the many reasons I enjoy reading your blog is because of all of the differences in culture and horse keeping between the States and Germany.
I wish I could look up my mare's bloodlines but her trace disappears in Ocala, FL...I often wonder if she is just a full TB that was never registered. I question the supposed Andalusian breeding that she has, and often think there might be more Arab in her. I guess I'll never find out. It's wonderful that you know where Mara comes from and have been able to find photos of her parents!
Her sire is quite striking though. Better than a lot of Arabian pinto crossbreds I've seen here.
Whoa, I don't guess I knew that her sire was pinto! I'm with you on the less white, the better, so I'm not fond of pinto coloring, but he is kind of pretty. The completely white mane and completely black tail is unique. :) I also agree with you on the way people try to advertise them as colored Arabians when Arabs don't come in pinto. It's misleading and wrong, but what can we do? I'm glad you found out some about her parentage though. It's fun knowing.
Love that coloring, very flashy (and hard to keep clean) says she who has white gray spotted horses :/
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