*Mameluck, was a grey stallion born at the Marbach Stud in West Germany in 1969. That is more or less a physical description, but it requires many more words than that to give you a good picture of this very special horse.
*Mameluck sired a few foals in Germany before he was purchased by Dr. Alex Tubel and exported to the United States. He sired many foals in the United States and Canada before being exported back to Europe late in life. He died last August, 1995 at the age of twenty six.
His mother was Moheba 11, a mare described as being of great beauty and type. *Mameluck was the third foal of Moheba 11, the first two being fillies. To compare a picture of Moheba 11 and *Mameluck one amazes at how look alike they were. Same small well shaped ear, identical eye, very similar head, and even the same marking on the nose Both were flea bitten greys and pictures typically show both mother and son with their tail flipped over their back. Moheba 11's mother was Malacha, a bay mare conceived in Egypt and imported in utero. In 1955, Prince Knyphausen imported the mare Moheba who was in foal to El Sareei, as well as the two year old Nazeer son, Ghazal from Egypt to become the foundation of his Luetesburg stud. Malacha was Mohebas only straight Egyptian offspring and considered her most significant. She was in turn bred to Ghazal and produced Moheba 11. Ten years after the importation, in 1965, mother and daughter Malacha and Moheba 11 were leased to the Marback State Stud. At Marback, Moheba 11 was consistently bred to the Nazeer son Hadban Enzahi to produce an outstanding series of full siblings. *Mameluck was the second foal to be born of this auspicious cross.
*Mameluck's father Hadban Enzahi was born in 1952 at El Zahraa in Egypt a direct result of the breeding philosophies of the great General Pettko Szandtner. His father was Nazeer, his mother was Kamla and in Egypt he was known as Kamel. When he was imported to Germany, his name was changed to Hadban Enzahi which was appropriate as that was the strain of his sire and his dam. Hadban Enzahi was a very correct horse and his offspring became noted for a great persistence of type, but most especially their hardiness and energy. *Mameluck combined the best of his mother and father. Pretty like his mother, strong, correct and hardy from his father.
But the most outstanding thing about *Mameluck was his personality, and that is where my story really begins. We had been breeding straights since we acquired our first stallion in 1976. He was a Talal son from Mr. Kline in Californian and he is still with us. Our foundation mare was a *Soufian daughter purchased from Mr. & Mrs Mantei in Estevan, Saskatewan. In the times before transported semen, finding outcross blood for breeding had many more implications that it does today. In a small program such as ours a stallion lives much longer than he can usefully contribute to the program. Emotionally we could not part with him, but neither did we want to make another lifetime commitment. We solved the problem by leasing stallions for a couple of breeding seasons. We felt that not only did it eliminate the dilemma about what we would do for our mares, it created a new interest in our farm within the local market. Through the '83 and '84 breeding season we stood a straight Nabiel son, Ansata King Tut, who we had acquired with the assistance of his breeder, Mrs. Judy Forbis. Now we were looking for the next step in the program. In the fall of 1984 my husband, Eric decided to take a detour on the way home from US Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. German by birth, he had studied the breeding and breeders of straight Egyptian horses in that country as carefully as he had studied the Egyptian stud books. He was curious to see a stallion owned by a lady somewhere in Wisconsin. Doubling the length of our trip home, we stopped to visit with Mrs. Lisa Tubel and see her stallion *Mameluck. I remember being as impressed with the lady , as with the horses. Not that the horses weren't impressive, but this lady was not young, Wisconsin winters not kind and she was virtually all on her own with a large herd of horses including several breeding stallions. Not something I would want to do for any length of time, and I seriously wondered how she managed! Eric however remembered the business at hand and formed the beginning of a relationship that allowed *Mameluck to become part of our household for the next four and a half years. Within a very short time, a very informal contract had been agreed upon, insurance secured and *Mameluck arrived. In an even shorter period of time, I knew I had a special horse.
The natural role in the life of a stallion requires them to have a higher energy level, more attuned intelligence and nervous system. In a modern stabling situation it also necessitate they be isolated from the rest of the horses. This and the fact that all visitors to the farm want to see "the stallion" ensures that we have a policy of always working and grooming stallions on a regular routine. This is usually my job. With *Mameluck it became my pleasure, relaxation, and therapy. As *Mameluck adjusted to the unswerving routine of our barn he became less nervous in his stall and began to gain weight. With the daily grooming his flea bitten snow white coat became satin and his large dark eye deepened with tranquility. *Mameluck was an easy horse to handle. One of his more outstanding traits was the total lack of wanting to communicate with his mouth open, as most stallions are wont to do. If his muzzle came near, it was always mouth closed for a snuggle. He was not loud, even with his mares. At time of breeding he was always a perfect gentleman. The only time I saw him turn on a mare was with one who was being totally unco-operative. His handler was completely used to him being good, and was taken somewhat unawares when he wheeled around and lifted a hoof to her. It was laid on her quarter really quite gently as a reprimand not a punishment, and by goodness she then stood like an angel!
*Mameluck came to us later in his life with a confident "been there, seen that, done it" type of attitude. He was a pleasure to ride and I heard that he was fun to drive as well. Very quiet and gentle to handle, he never failed to "turn on" when turned loose for the many visitors who came to see him. In 1986 I gave him a bath, packed him in the trailer and we took him to be in the Hall of Stallions at the Egyptian Event in the Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky. My biggest concern was that he would be too docile to be appreciated for the stallion he was. Well. My little lamb became a tiger, determined to convince every other stallion there, and the crowds as, well that he was the only real stallion in the place. It was during our stay in the Hall of Stallions that a lady came up to me with tears in her eyes as she introduced herself. Kathy Teitrich from Greenland Farms in Lakeland Florida had also leased *Mameluck for a year. She said the sight of him had brought back all the memories of their wonderful times together, how much she missed him, and she had been behind the Big Barn having a good cry. This started a friendship with Kathy and her husband, David, which was renewed annually at each Egyptian Event. It also resulted in us being part of the very successful syndication of the straight Egyptian stallion, Anaza El Farid. This same Kathy put together the syndication at the Egyptian Event in 1993, and acted as syndicate manager until Farid's sale to Argentina in the late summer of 1995.
In late 1985 Eric travelled for the first time to Egypt and managed to acquire a very unique filly from the EAO. In the fall of 1987 we both travelled to Cairo for what has became their annual show. At that time we fell in love with and imported another horse, a colt, Ben Ben Bilal (Misk X Mashallah by Bilal 1). With the importations and the legacy *Mameluck was producing with his offspring we were feeling very good about our horses and our breeding program. *Mameluck at this time was not a young horse and we expected he would stay with us, but it was not to be.
Mrs. Tubel's son, Dr. Alex Tubel decided that *Mameluck was missed in their program and he had to return home. In early 1989 he left us, and it was my turn to shed many tears as the trailer pulled out of the driveway. However, many of our mares were in foal to him ,and later that spring our lovely *Farazdac daughter dropped a bay colt. The *Farazdac mare, was our breeding, her mother Jamila Shamahl was by Shamahl , out of our Soufian daughter.
It was clear from the very beginning that the colt was special, but in my sadness I didn't realize until much later, that *Mameluck really had left me a replacement. We called the colt "The Cairo Bey", and as he grew up, he exhibited all the personality and temperament traits that made his father so much a part of my heart. He was shown from the time he was a yearling, and he always grew in perfect proportion, never troubling us with the ups and downs that colthood can bring. Every time shown he garnered ribbons and championships, locally and at the prestigious Egyptian Event. I did all the conditioning and grooming ,and when the time came I broke him and rode on his back.
A couple of years ago I nursed him through surgery at the University of Guelph, and the next year he began his performance career with a championship at the Egyptian Event . What a thrilling start! He then went on to a Regional Top Five championship in Open Western Pleasure. He loves and trusts me, and I do him. He seems to get better ever year, so now we are experimenting with Stallion Halter, Amateur to Handle. Top Five at Region XV111 this year, with a first on one of the cards! Egyptian Event, here we come! Yet our favourite times will always be in the vast pine forest that surrounds our farm with miles of sand riding trails.
*Mameluck has left many sons, and perhaps even better than his sons, are his daughters. His most noted offspring is probably Melchior (by Mansahi) born before *Mameluck left Germany as a young horse. Melchior was imported to England, and he and his offspring have exerted a very strong influence on British Arabian horse breeding. Melchior won the Get-of-Sire class at Ascot in 1980, 1981, and 1983. In 1984 he placed second but was overall Leading Sire of the Year, a title which he won again in 1985. Several daughters of *Melchior are treasured members of the broodmare band of the famous Halston Stud owned by Shirley and Charley Watts (drummer for the Rolling Stones).
We feel extremely fortunate to have several straight Egyptian *Mameluck daughters in our broodmare band. One of the most outstanding is Bikri Nafila a daughter out of our EAO mare *Ashwak (Ibn Shahzada X Bassima). This spring she surprised us (negative on the preg check!) with a gorgeous filly by *Ben Ben Bilal, who is definitely headed for next years show string!
Meanwhile The Cairo Bey is now proving himself in the breeding shed, and if the trailer goes out the driveway with Cairo in it, I am in it with him!
