Babson Arabians - A Breeding Program Dedicated to Type

by Kim Biorgo

Henry Babson undoubtedly had more influence on American Arabian breeding than few others. Mr. Babson recognized that at the time there were few horses in America of the quality he desired. He made several trips to Egypt and the famous Arabian studs there to acquire the high-quality horses he wanted for his breeding program. American Arab breeders are deeply indebted to the Babson Egyptians, the breeding program which has ultimately produced the champion mares Tasliya, Bint Aaarofa, Serr Ra, and Farr Ra as well as stallion champions Fadjur, Ibn Fadjurm Synbad, Khemosabi, Ibn Esperanzo, Serr Bruk and Rajag. Coincidentally, all of these horses carry the blood of Babson's original import stallion, *Fadl. Type tells all!

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Mr. Babson acquired his original import of seven horses in 1932 from the stud of Prince Kemel al Dine and the Royal Agricultural Society of Prince Mohammed Ali. The horses in these studs were descendants of the impeccable collection of Abbas Pasha and his son Ali Pasha in the 1800's. As a comparison, the Blunts (Crabbet) had several horses from the studs of the Pashas in their program; horses like Rustem who were famous throughout Arabian breeding circles. Babson's breeding program was founded with

following straight Egyptian imports. (I will denote horses of the original importation and their progeny with all caps. The letter h designates a male offspring, and m a female offspring.)

 

*BINT BINT DURRA 892: f. 1930 chestnut mare by Ibn Rabdan (Rabdan [El Azrak] by Dahman [El Azrak] x Bint Gamila by Ibn Nadra.) Out of Bint Durra (Eid [desert bred] out of Durra by Saadoun). Dahman/Kuhaylan strains.

 

*BINT BINT SABBAH 894: f. 1930 bay mare by Bayyad (aka Baiyad) (Mabrouk Manial x Saklawi II [Farhan] x Bint Gamila by Ibn Nadra). Out of Bint Sabbah (Kazmeen by Sotamm II x Sabah by Mabrouk​ Manial). Dahman/Saklawi strains. Actually a replacement mare for a mare that for some reason was not able to be shipped from Egypt. She ended up being an intregal part of the breeding program. (Lesli Kathman: *Bint Bint Sabbah is the source of rabicano, or 'Arab roan' pattern found in some Babson Arabians.)

 

*BINT SERRA 897: f. 1923 bay mare by Sotamm II (*Astraled by Mesaoud x Selam II by El Amhar). Out of Serra (Sahab by Kawkab x Jemla (aka Jamilla) by Aziz II). Dahman/Saklawi strains. Aziz II is also the sire of Mesaoud.

 

*BINT SAADA 893: f. 1930 chestnut mare by Ibn Samham (Samham II by Rabdan [El Azrak] x Om Dal by Sabbah). Out of Saada (Mabrouka Manial (see above) x Mahbouba by Bark). Saklawi/Kuhaylan strains.

 

*MAAROUFA 895: f. 1931 grey mare by Ibn Rabdan (see above) and out of Mahroussa (Mabrouk Manial (above) x Negma by Dahman [El Azrak]). Saklwai/Kuhaylan strains.

 

*FADL 896: f. 1930 grey stallion, full brother to *MAAROUFA (see above).

 

*METSUR (Rustem x *Bint Serra), a chestnut colt imported with his dam; died shortly after his arrival and was never used at the stud.

 

You might wonder what the impact of these six horses on the American Arabian might be. The following is a by no means complete listing of their accomplishments:

 

*BINT BINT DURRA: 5 Egyptian foals. Sired by *FADL: FARRAB (h, 1934), FADURRA (m, 1935), FA RABBAN (h, 1937), FA RABDAN (h, 1936). She also produced FAY DARKA (1939 m) by *FAY EL DINE and FAD ZARKA (1940 h) by FADDAN.

 

*BINT BINT SABBAH: 13 Egyptian foals. Sired by *FADL: FADAHMA (1936 m), FA SANNA (1937 m), KHEBIR (1942 h), FAD SABBAH (1946 h), FA HABBA (1945 m), FA SAAB (1948 h), FAABA (1949 m), FABAH (1950 m), and FA ABBA (1951 m). *FAY EL DINE sired three of her foals, FAY SABBAH (1938), FAY NEFOUS (1940), and FAY SELMA (1941).

 

*BINT SERRA: 10 Egyptian foals (all sired by *FADL except ALI PACHA by the *FADL son FADDAN (1941). FAY EL DINE (1934 h), FAZALA (1936 m), FA DEENE (1937 m), FA GHAGAHA (1939 m), FA SHEBAS (140 m), SERRAFA (1943 m), SELMA (1944 m), and FA SERR (1947 h.)

 

*BINT SAADA: 3 Egyptian foals (all by *FADL): FADDAN (1935 h), FARRIDA (1936 m), and FA AZARIK (1939 h).

 

*MARROUFA: 15 Egyptian foals. All by the *FADL sons FAY EL DINE and FA SERR. FAY EL DINE: FA EL MAR (1937 m), FAY NEGMA (1938 m), FAY ROUFA (1939 m), AZRAK (1942 h), KAMAMA (1944 m), FAY AAROUD (1945 h), AFMAAR (1946 h), MAARDINA (1947 m),

MAAROU (1948 m), EL MAAR (1949 m), FAY UFA (1950 m), AAROUFA (1952 m), BINT MAAROUFA (1953 m). By *FA SERR: FAARIS (1954 h) and SERROUFA (1957 m).

 

*FADL sired 34 straight Egyptian foals. Most of these are out of the mares from the original importation. These foals are listed above. The following is a list of foals by mares descended from the original import mares. The dams are not capitalized because I thought it might be a little hard to read. FA HAGAH (145 h x Fa Ghagaha), GAMMOUSA (1946 m x Fay Sabbah), FADBAAR (148 h x Fadba), FA ANNA (1949 m x Aana), FA HAB (1951 h x Fay Sabbah), FA RAB (1941 h x Aana), AFIRAH (1953 m x Aana), SABL (1953 m x Fay Sabbah(), SAANA (1954 m x Aana), and LOTHAR (1955 h x Habba).

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As you can well note, Mr. Babson practiced a lot of inbreeding. While the purists say this is improper and it leads to faults, careful research will show that inbreeding can consolidate type and strength in the offspring. The trick of successful inbreeding is that only the best quality individuals are bred together, and inferior progeny are then removed from the program. It is undeniable that the Babson Stud produced some of the best straight Egyptian stock in America and continued this through the 1970"s. Today the vision Henry Babson had is still alive in the blood of the SBE horses nearly 90 years later- all tracing back directly to his original 6 imported horses.