Asala Arabians has existed in the foothills of Southern Ohio for nearly twenty years - but it's true birth probably occurred in 1978 after my first visit to the Babson Farm. I don't mean that 1978 was my first year of Arabian horse ownership or even the first association with the same, since various Arabian horses had already called Asala home - for the most part the frequently used mixture of a lttle bit of Polish, a touch of Egyptian, a hint of Davenport and a lot of *Raffles. Even before Arabians there had been horses of some description, but since that trip in 1978 Asala has bred straight Babson horses.

I'll never forget the impression made by the long, gently curving, shaded driveway at the Babson Farm which led to my first viewing of IBN FASERR, SERABETH, ROUFINA, and IDAA to name but a few. So now my stallions, three of them, were bred and soaled on the Babson Farm. I can't help but be proud of them as they are all beautiful examples of the straight Babson Egyptian horse, each in a slightly different way but still the same. The mares are bred like the stallions plus having one cross to the desert bred mare *TURFA. *Turfa was also a Babson import. All stock is extremely close to the source blood and was chosen for that feature among others. The addition of *Turfa blood on the female side adds the same Saudi Desert lines that the Egyptians constantly used in their own breeding program, so I would like to think that Abbas Pasha and Mohammed Ali would approve of my own breeding aims.

All Asala horses are Blue List, Al Khamsa, and Asil and are being bred primarily by strain. The one being preserved and extended here is that of the Kuhaylan Jellabi - prized by Mohammed Ali but nearly lost in Egypt. Two of Asala's stallions are Kuhaylans and the third is Dahman. The Dahman stallion has no *Maaroufa blood, which makes him somewhat of an outcross for most of the other heavily bred *Maaroufa stock. Foals third generation pure in the strain are now being produced. The two-year-old black filly, MAARIDA, by FAYDIN and out of MS MAAROUFA, is the embodiment of all I am striving to attain. Of course we all know that no horse is perfect but she is as close to my idea as I ever expect to come. I only hope that the full brother or sister due ths summer will be a duplication of her.

IMAARA, Asala's undisputed 20-year-old matriarch, is queenly in both appearance and behavior and will be having her 12th foal in July. She is one of the last FASERR daughters, perhaps the last producing one. Her dam was IMAAR by IBN FADL. Imaar was out of MAARDINA who was by FAY EL DINE and out of *MAAROUFA. Imaara was always bred to new Egyptians before I managed to buy her (Many thanks to the Hacklanders of Wisconsin for letting her come to me). While with them she had foals by *RAMES FAYEK, *HATEF, ANSATA IBN SUDAN, ANSATA HALIM BEY, and *TUHOTMOS. Since arriving six years ago she has been bred only to straight Babson stallions, having both fillies and colts by FADL STARR and FAYDIN. In 1985 she had a long awaited filly by Fadl Starr. The foal expected this season will be by SERABAAR.

MS MAARAOUFA, my second foundation mare, is by FAARIS and out of RT BLUEBIRD, a FAMAAR daughter. She is one of only two straight Babson Egyptian *Turfa FAARIS daughters and the only Kuhaylan Jellabi one. Her color is best described as being brown. She has had four foals so far, one filly and one colt being black. I do not purposely breed the black color but it is still a nice surprise when it turns up within ones breeding group.

I should now mention the breeding of the stallions. FADL STARR is by IBN FASERR by FASERR and is out of BAHROUFA by FABAH and out of SERROUFA, a Faserr and *Maaroufa daughter. He is about 15.1 hands, is 16 years old and is a black/bay in color. He has extreme action and tail carriage, a fabulaous disposition and his foals have been a credit to him. What more can one ask for? The Babson Farm is the first to state that it was an unplanned-for combination of circumstances that permitted him to ever leave the farm (as a yearling), and he has been back there on lease for breeding since I have owned him. Some think Fadl Starr is the best Babson horse ever bred. He has a full sister producing on the Babson Farm and another, ROUFAH, owned by Bentwood Farms, is a National Top Ten Mare now producing Champions.

The second stallion, the black FAYDIN, is by the Babson Farm's Regional Park Champion MAHROUF and is out of ROUFINA, full sister of ROUFAS, a National Multiple Top Ten Stallion. Roufina is by Faserr and out of Aaroufa. Aaroufa is the dam of both Faydin's sire and dam and she is by Fay El Dine and out of *Maaroufa. He therefore has a rather unique pedigree. I bought him before he was foaled subject to my liking him after he "was on the ground", if he was a he of course. Needless to say I did and he is now seven years old. He has one full sister in the broodmare band on the Babson Farm.

These two Kuhaylan stallions and Asala's two foundation Kuhaylan mares provide another noteworthy facet on this breeding program for those who find pedigree analysis interesting. Although both these stallions and mares carry *Maaroufa and *Bint Serra I blood, the stallion's lines include *Bint Bint Sabbah while the mares do not, and the one mare includes *Bint Saada while the stallions do not. Again this provides a small degree of outcrossing within this tightly bred group yet still stays within the confines of that group.

The third stallion, the near black SERABAAR, is also by Ibn Faserr as is Fadl Starr, and out of a Fabah daughter, SERABAH. But Serabah traces in tail female to *Bint Bint Sabbah, a Dahman mare, where the others trace to *Maaroufa. *Maaroufa was *Fadl's full sister which makes this group of horses very inbred. There is only one root stallion in the pedigrees, *Fadl, and only three source mares. With that statement I have to refer again to the Babson Farm. For more than fifty years, fifty-four to be exact, they have been breeding from these original Egyptian imports. Mr. Babson occasionally tried adding some other lines but always came back to the straight old Egyptians, usually in a relatively short length of time. Because of Mr. Babson we have this most classic horse of great purity of blood exactly as it was at the beginning of the century in Egypt. The Babson importation consisted of one stallion and one colt, the latter dying shortly after arriving here, and five mares. Two of these five mares, though contributing to the Babson program in earlier years, are not found in the Babson Farm horses today.

A visit to the Babson Farm, with it's stately old trees, the picturesque, weathering Cypress barns, and lush pastures with the lovely mares and foals grazing is contentment at it's fullest. One looks at the horses objectively and still sees improvement with each generation without taking away any of the attributes that made most of us fall in love with the Arabian horse in the first place. Breeding so close, with so few progenitors, can produce a multitude of often surprising faults with any kind of living thing (not only horses) unless the choice of foundation stock is a very wise one, the breeding decisions are given much non-prejudiced thought, and perhaps there needs to be a lucky star up there someplace at least part of the time. Without a doubt Mr. Babson encompassed all these things. It shows plainly in the horses he bred then, the ones the Babson Farm is breeding now, and I am sure it will still show in the future. Regardless of what kind of Arabian horse you personally like or what "fad" is in dominance today, if you really think about it you must admire such dedication and such success in preserving a priceless piece of history, one that continues to inspire high regard in the Arabian horse world.

I make the "pilgrimage" to the Babson Farm every year, as hard as it is to get away when you have horses who depend on you. But to me it is extremely important to view the larger picture of what I am doing in my own small but similar way. I think most of us feel the desire to create something of our own that is worthwhile. Painters can paint, writers can write, and singers can sing. Those without inherent talents often choose other ways - a flower garden perhaps, or even culinary achievements. Then there are tose of us who choose to create, or help in the creation of, a living thing that looks as it does because of our choice of it's combination of gene pools. To observe the horses you've bred, find pride in them, and confidence that they can contribute in a positive way to generations as yet undorn is it's own reward. It even makes the endless task of stalls to be cleaned, muddy coats to be curried, hurts to be tended, and cold nights spent in a drafty barn waiting for a new life to unfold most worthwhile and experiences not to be missed. It seems to me that all the people who have never had a "hands on " relationship with some kind of animal in their life have missed an intrinsic part of life itself.

Just one more thought for now - John Vogel of the Babson Farm called a short time ago to tell me that Ibn Faserr had passed on. As our conversation ended he added the words, as he usually does, "Give Fadl Starr a pat for me". More than ever I then realized how fortunate I am to have not only one but two Ibn Faserr sons out of a relatively small number of straight old Babson Egyptian stallions sired by him. Only twenty-two and some of those are quite old. I mentally thanked Mr. Babson again for his foresight in continuing this breeding, his daughter, Elizabeth Tieken, for carrying on what her father began, Homer Watson (long time Babson Farm manager and, I hope, a long time friend) who for so many years has protected and guided those aims, and John Vogel, who has added his expertise to this "pilgrimage of Allah's steeds through time". Their efforts have added much to the future of the Arabian horse as an ever-constant entity in an ever-changing world.

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