Strain Breeding - Part 2

Now it is time to start with concepts that are a little more complex than what we have been discussing so far - but if you've made it this far, you can do this too.

It is very common to say: "Sham's strain is kuhaylan krush". This is not technically correct. Or maybe I should say that the statement is incomplete. Sham's strain is 'kuhaylan' and his substrain is 'krush'. Many people knowledgeable about strains and strain breed know this and just realize that the 'substrain' is understood. But to those new to the concepts of strain breeding, this can be somewhat confusing. There are seven strains remaining in Al Khamsa: Abayyan, Dahmah, Hadban, Hamdani, Kuhaylan, Muniqi, and Saglawi. The 'subdivisions' of these strains are the substrains. 'Subdivisions' of the substrain can be the tail dam lines. Even within tail dam lines, there can be subdivisions. I've been using Sham's pedigree as an example so.......

Sham's
• strain is Kuhaylan
• substrain is Krush
• tail dam line is El Kahila
• dam line traces through *El Shaymaa - one of only 3 AK horses in the US which trace their dam line through *El Shaymaa. Is this important? Maybe yes, maybe no. But because of the scarcity of this dam line, it may be worth mentioning.

• Daaldan - Bb - Bint El Bahreyn (KDV) - Dahmah Shahwan
• Fa Deena - Gh - Ghazieh (AP) - Saglawi Jidran
• An Montoro - Jl - Jellabiet Feysul (AP)
• Bint Mist Aana - Ed - El Dahmah (APS) - Dahmah Shahwan
• *Morafic - Gh - Ghazieh (AP) - Saglawi Jidran
• *Bint Mona - Gh - Ghazieh (AP) - Saglawi Jidran
• Naddouma - Ro - Rodania (BLT) - Kuhaylan Ajuz
• Taverna - Ro - Rodania (BLT) - Kuhaylan Ajuz

OK, deep, slow breath, you've seen all of this before (if you started with the introduction) and you CAN do this just take it one step at a time and don't rush yourself. It is just you and your computer monitor - no one can see you. Ready? Let's go.....

Questions:
• What is Amir's (Mist Hallim Amir) strain?
• What is Amir's substrain?
• What is Amir's tail dam line? (use the list below the pedigree)
• What is Amir's tail dam line - based only on the information on the pedigree?
• Fill in the blanks...... Amir is by _________________ and out of ______________

Just do one question at a time. You CAN do this. Take your time and then read the answers....

Answers:
• Amir's strain is Kuhaylan
• Amir's substrain is Ajuz
• Amir's tail dam line is Rodania (BLT)
• Amir's tail dam line - based only on the information on the pedigree is Taverna
• Amir is by Fa Mist Hallim and out of AK Tianica.

Now one final concept - 'pure in strain'. This phrase is often used incorrectly and I've used it incorrectly on more than one occassion. Let's go back to Sham's pedigree once again. Sham's sire is Kuhaylan Ajuz and Sham's dam is Kuhaylan Krush. Technically speaking - Sham is ONE generation pure in strain Kuhaylan. He is not pure in substrain, but he is pure in strain - for one generation. 'One generation' may seem like a 'picky' addition, but a quick look at his pedigree shows that only his parents are kuhaylan in strain and therefore both of his granddams are kuhaylan in strain. His grandsires are not kuhaylan so he can only be pure in strain for one generation.

IF both of his parents were of the same strain and substrain, he would be one generation pure in strain AND substrain. It is not unusual to see/hear breeders say that a horse that is pure in strain and substrain for one (or more) generation is 'pure in strain'. Simply verbal shorthand because saying - repeatedly - that a horse is one generation pure in strain and substrain gets a little time consuming.

Now you are waiting for questions, aren't you? As a 'graduation present', I'm not going to ask any this time!

Although we haven't learned many new concepts on this page, I hope that I have really tied together all of the 'bits and pieces' that we have discussed on previous pages. Thank you for you time and effort in reading this series of pages. I want to congratulate you on making it all the way through. I hope that you find this page helpful in learning more about breeding Arabian horses!

If you are hopelessly confused, please write to me at: . As I have said repeatedly: the fault is MINE for not explaining clearly enough, NOT yours because you didn't understand.

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