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Ralph Suarez
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Enchantment
Looking through the bars of his stall, I could not believe that I was looking at Ansata Abbas Pasha.
Me.
At the world famous Bentwood Farm.
THE BENTWOOD FARM.
Inside the stallion barn where the great *Ibn Moniet El Nefous had once lived and where, his empty stall, like a perpetual shrine, reminded everyone that once, a king lived here.
In Waco.
In Texas.
Of all people, me.
I had seen his pictures in
books and magazines; I was
familiar with his accomplishments
and the horses he sired. And
here we were, Ansata Abbas
Pasha looking at me, as intently
as I, was looking at him.
And my mind wandered, to words
that had been forgotten but
somehow, were still present
in my heart, bubbled to the
surface of recollection, contributing
to this magic moment, which
now is forever cast in a dreamy
haze. This was a moment in
time, the seconds frozen and
saved for those dark moments
in life when I would need
to remember. A moment so unforgettable,
proof that I shared a mental
communion with another living
being: Ansata Abbas Pasha,
whose home was my pilgrimage
and the catalyst for my own
journey of transformation,
my renaissance moment of understanding...my
own private Paradise. My Beautiful!
My Beautiful! That standest
meekly by, With thy proudly
arched and glossy neck, And
dark and fiery eye...
Those words echoed through
my head, as my fingers slowly
traced his outline, his silhouette.
He was different from the
other *Ibn Halimas. His face
a bit longer, a bit more narrow
and yet, the lines flowed,
harmoniously from one to another.
The head, meeting the elegant
neck, set at an angle to form
the mitbah, clean, roomy and
graceful.. flowing, flowing,
flowing...the line of his
proudly arched neck flowing
like a gentle river, reminding
me of a refrain: "somewhere
the river of happiness flows",
where it was met with the
pronounced bump of his wither,
drawing attention to his laid-back
shoulder and his deep and
powerful chest and finally
to the place of magic on his
back, the place where a saddle
would sit, a throne for one
worthy to sit upon his back.
He studied my every move,
with great interest. Was he
studying me? Was I worthy
of his intense focus? What
was he thinking? He was, after
all a stallion, no surprise
that he might be alarmed at
the stranger that had invaded
his territory. Was he thinking
of places he visited, friends
he made and then had to say
goodbye, was he thinking of
Illinois, was he thinking
of Paris or Germany...all
the places that he had traveled
to and known?
Yes, thou must go!
The wild free breeze,
The brilliant sun and sky,
Thy master's home...
In 1966, the Babson Farm purchased
this horse, an outcross for
their Egyptian breeding program,
made up entirely of the horses
that were imported in 1932.
For 10 years, Ansata Abbas
Pasha lived the life of a
breeding stallion, in the
charmed, almost magical, serene
setting that was the Babson
Farm. Jarrell McCracken, who
had purchased a number of
Babson Horses, started to
inquire about Ansata Abbas
Pasha and for 5 years, he
persevered, until 1970, when
the farm, returning to the
lines of the horses imported
in 1932, sold Ansata Abbas
Pasha to Bentwood Farm. In
1976 Dr. Nagel of Katharinenhof,
accompanied by Dr. Nagy of
Babolna, went to Bentwood
Farm to purchase Mohafez (*Ibn
Moniet El Nefous x Ahroufa),
a nine month old colt for
Dr. Nagel's breeding program.
While they were at Bentwood,
they saw Ansata Abbas Pasha
and immediately loved the
horse. However, Ansata Abbas
Pasha was a highly valued
source of Saqlawi Jedran blood
for the Bentwood breeding
program. Shortly thereafter,
Ansata Abbas Pasha was invited
to compete at the Salon Du
Cheval, and in 1979, Bentwood
sent Ansata Abbas Pasha to
Paris, where he was named
the Reserve International
Champion of the show. Recognizing
the European interest in the
horse, Dr. Nagel, together
with Marbach and Babolna,
leased Ansata Abbas Pasha
for a period of 6 months.
In 1981, Ansata Abbas Pasha
went to Germany, to Katharinenhof
to breed a limited number
of mares for Dr. Nagel, Marbach
and Babolna.
Farewell!
Those free untired limbs
For many a mile must roam.
To reach the chill and wintry sky
Which clouds the stranger's
home.
And so, here I was, in front
of this majestic horse, a
living, breathing poem of
the Saqlawi horse, a full
brother to the nationally
acclaimed Ansata Ibn Sudan.
A piece of living Egyptian
history, connected with my
own personal history, his
parents arriving in America,
the same year of my birth.
We shared common ground. I
remember what Judi Forbis
had said about his mother:
"Ansata Bint Mabrouka was
one of the great mares of
all time. Perhaps I'm prejudiced,
but I think those who saw
her, would have to agree."
In her short life, Ansata
Bint Mabrouka produced three
colts, the full brothers Ansata
Abbas Pasha and Ansata Ibn
Sudan and the *Morafic son,
Ansata Shah Zaman. And here
I was, standing in front of
her first foal, which had
spread her influence, all
over the world. Ansata Abbas
Pasha, in his life, had underscored
Judi Forbis' words about the
great mare and made her influence
perpetual. In Sy Montgomery's
book, THE GOOD GOOD PIG, she
shares a story about Amazon
River dolphins and the local
legend about them. Assuming
the disguise of a human, these
dolphins, shape-shifters,
would seduce real humans to
follow them back to the enchanted
world called "Encante", at
the bottom of the river. A
place so beautiful, that all
who visited, chose never to
leave. Sy Montgomery's
words, captured the sense
of enchantment that had filled
my heart to bursting, as I
stood captivated by Ansata
Abbas Pasha:
"I wanted to follow them back,
down, deep into the watery
womb of the world, to the
source of beauty and desire,
to the beginning of all beginnings-and
through their story, to show
again the power of animals
to transform us, to lead us
home to Eden, and to remind
us we can always start anew."
Life, in all of its challenges, in its unexpected moments, seems to rewrite our dreams, our goals, with seriousness and the adult pursuit of moments and accomplishments that happily take us farther away from our wishes and desires. Drunken with new-found glory in my career and family life and the resulting bliss of these moments, I somehow, lost touch with something important, something dear, something that had been written into the fiber of my very being, that now seemed to be like the books I had collected, dusty and abandoned on the shelves. In those moments with Ansata Abbas Pasha that are forever seared into my memory, I experienced what Sy Montgomery had expressed, when she learned about the River Dolphin legend. I had reached Encante and Ansata Abbas Pasha was my guide. Several years later, I would cross paths with Ansata Abbas Pasha again, through his grandson, Ansata Ali Abbas. When Ansata Abbas Pasha was owned by the Babson Farm, he sired a 1973 chestnut mare named Faye Roufa (out of Bint Fay Roufa). Eventually, this mare went to Ansata and became part of their herd. When she was bred to *Ansata Ibn Halima, the colt, Ansata Ali Abbas was born. When I saw Ansata Ali Abbas, as an older horse, he was at Hope Farm, then located in Mendham, NJ. He had previously been leased by Grove Hill Farm in Maine. Hope Farm was the home to two Ansata stallions: the powerful, masculine, ten-feet-tall and bulletproof, eat-up-the ground-with-his-movement Ansata Shah Zahir and the quiet, regal, calm, elegant, classical Mohamed Aly Tewfik-type horse, Ansata Ali Abbas. A picture of grace, refinement and harmony. Similar to the experience that I had had with his father, my fingers followed the familiar outline of harmony, elegance and grace. And in that moment, my mind and body shivered as I remembered a long-ago great horse that I once knew.
Only in sleep
shall I behold that dark eye glancing bright.
Only in sleep
shall I hear again that step so firm and light.
I never did get to breed a mare to Ansata Abbas Pasha or his maternal grandson, Ansata Ali Abbas, in order to produce my very own Abbas Pasha but I did embark on a journey of rediscovery, which has allowed me to arrive here, within this place, and share a moment with a very great horse, who helped me to understand the transforming power of enchantment.
Enjoy your horses,
Ralph Suarez
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