Beauty is our Passion
These words summarize the deeply held beliefs of Ali and Yasmine Shaarawi in all aspects of their lives. Everything about the world that they are creating on their farm just outside of Cairo illustrates their philosophy whether it is the magnificent Arabian horses, the noble Sloughi dogs, the exotic palm trees or the subtle landscaping of the grounds and buildings.
The keystone of their farm is their breeding program of Arabian horses. Both Ali and Yasmine have been involved with horses all of their lives. As a youth, Ali would rise early in order to groom his horse and ride at the Club before school. He bought his first Arabian mare, the lovely Wahag daughter, Wahwaha at the first EAO show in 1987. That started his serious involvement with breeding.
Yasmine has been raised with horses and has been riding since the age of three years when she had her own special saddle at her home in Switzerland. She is an accomplished dressage rider; show jumper and highly adept with driving horses. She won the first Egyptian Dressage championship in '95 on an Arabian stallion, Nagib. This generous and talented stallion opened her foray into the world of Arabians.
As with all passionate breeders, Yasmine and Ali have a personal vision of the lines and the look they want to breed. They are trying to preserve the image of the classical Arabian horse; the reflection of the wonderful paintings and photographs of the treasured ancestors of today's horses. They are working to maintain the strengths and diversity of the traditional Arabian horse. One of the goals of their program is to bring together many of the lines tracing back to the Royal Inshass Stud.
When one spends time with Yasmine and Ali among their horses and dogs, it is easy to understand and appreciate their efforts and goals for their special world.
Bio
Following his lifelong passion for horses and especially Arabians, Ali Shaarawi established the Shaarawi Arabians Stud in 1987. He started with a beautiful mare, Wahwaha, from El Zahraa Farm in Egypt. Today, Shaarawi Arabians is situated on a 38-acre farm in Abu Ghaleb on the Alexandria Desert Road. He and his wife Yasmine manage the farm with its 40 horses and beautiful exotic palms.
Ali has been an active member of the Egyptian Breeders Society since its establishment in the early 80’s. Later on, he became an international ECAHO A judge for halter shows and has traveled the world (Europe, Middle East, Australia, South America) judging many National and International Championships. He has been an Executive Committee member of WAHO since 2013.
For around 6 years he volunteered as the breeding consultant for the National Stud El Zahraa, in Egypt. Ali re-evaluated the horses and built breeding records for the program. During his time at el Zahraa, with his efforts and those working with him they managed to conserve many old families from extinction. Ali Shaarawi was then conscious of the need to educate a team of veterinarians about the art of breeding Straight Egyptians so they could carry-on independently. While managing the breeding program at el Zahraa he also helped organize the yearly National and International shows.
Vision
Our concept in breeding spurs from a belief in the importance of preserving the characteristics of Straight Egyptian lines. We believe that a horse which resembles the family will most probably carry the genetics of his ancestors and should pass them on to future generations. Even though most of our horses are typey and correct with good bodies and legs, we like to see diversity in our selection, and this comes from the difference in each families’ characteristics. We like to differentiate between, what we call “family” and what we call “strain”. When we say family it usually goes back to a specific horse (or mare) that we know and can refer to, a horse that is not so far back in history. As for the strains, these can go back centuries some making them very difficult to trace. In our opinion, going back to a family instead of a strain is a way we can reference a special mare that we are familiar with and are familiar with her characteristics. For our breeding program we carefully selected eight mares to represent seven, in our opinion, very important families;
The first mare we selected was Hareesah EAO from the Samiha family which belongs to the Hadban Enzahi strain. This family is characterized by its strength, type, movement, and elegance.
Secondly, we chose Guna EAO from the Moniet el Nofous family belonging to the Saklawi strain. In this family you can find beautiful horses with light bones, long necks, and dryness in the features.
Thirdly, Mumtaz Ree and Monieta Maareia were chosen from the Maroufa family which belongs to Kuhaylan Jellabi strain. The Maroufa family is bred for its good structure in body and legs, a deep girth, wide chest, strong hind quarters, big eyes, and type.
Fourthly, from the Shahd Inshaas family we chose Marjoora belonging to the Kuhaylan Krush strain. This family is characterized by being tall, slender, long legs, long neck, light in body, which make them good for racing, but also bear a lot of type.
Fifthly, we’ve got Rakia el Tarek from the Bukra family in the Dahman Shahwan strain. The Bukra line is about balance, beauty, big eyes, and type.
Sixthly, Amirah Moon from the Bint el Bahrain family also in the Dahman Shahwan strain. A little different from the Bukra family, Bint el Bahrain family is all about athleticism. A very strong desert type horse with big eyes, and also excellent for endurance.
Last but not least we have Asaiahs Kahlaara from the Maisa family in the Obeyyan strain. Although they are smaller in size than the rest of the families, they do have great type with high tail carriage, great movement and a very showy quality.