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Important Sires-lines of Purebred Shagya Araber
by Dr. Fritz Gramatzki - 1979 |
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The O'Bajan Line
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In the 100 years following the
foundation of the Hungarian state stud Babolna in 1789, its Arabians developed into tough soldiers' mounts for the Honved
Hussars, and imports from Arabia continued to bring new Arabian blood to Hungary. Yet it was only in 1885 that a black jewel
was brought from the Arabian desert to Babolna who was destined to become a strong force in its Arabian breeding program.
O'Bajan, foaled in 1880, became famous as a sire both of purebred Arabians and especially of Shagyas, who were then called
,Arabian-bred horses". Thus it had taken many years to find, among all the imported stallions, one who was really significant,
and who exceeded the hopes that were set on him. |
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| This desert Arabian O'Bajan, whose sire came from the
Anazeh el Sbaa tribe and whose dam was of the Meneghie strain, is described as follows by Graf Wrangel in his book, Horse
Breeding in Hungary, in 1892: ,At present, there is only one original Arabian at Babolna. This is the black stallion
O'Bajan, purchased in 1885 in the desert, a ,,horse to fall in love with«. O'Bajan is small, only 1.54 m, but of him one
may say that there is much in little. The noble head with intelligent, expressive eyes; the well carried, if somewhat short,
neck; the wonderful, strong back; the well-developed, broad croup: the sufficient depth; the dry, sinewy, and correct legs
which can only be criticized for rather long and soft pasterns; the excellent movement in all gaits; and last not least the
foals that show promise of growing up taller than their sire - all this makes O'Bajan an extremely valuable sire. As for his
foals, they are characterized not only by refinement and a harmonious, strong shape, but also by the fact that they are in
general some 10 centimetres taller than their sire." |
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| O'Bajan was chief sire at Babolna for 25 years, until 1910. In
that time he sired 312 foals, of which 112 became sires and 56 became broodmares. The years before his death, Gustav Rau
visited Babolna and describes the aged O'Bajan as follows: „O'Bajan is said to have been a beautiful horse once. Today, he is
no more than a rough, scruffy ruin, but his eyes still sparkle with that life power that made him a mighty progenitor." Rau
stresses the long, wide croup as being the best feature about O'Bajan still notable in his old age; also his strong muscling.
Of his descendants, Rau states that they are considerably taller than the old horse; broad, deep, well made horses with
lovely, well defined legs and plenty of muscling. |
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| Among his get, the broodmares in particular are praised as
especially expressive and beautiful individuals. They appear in the pedigrees of many excellent stallions and mares, for
example the dam of the Babolna-bred stallion Gazal by Gazlan I out of 32 O'Bajan. From this mare, the important sire
Gazal is said to have inherited the somewhat long, but well-made middle part, and the long, well laid back shoulders. |
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| 5 sons of the original O'Bajan became sires at Babolna, only one
of whom, O'Bajan I, was a purebred Arabian. The other four were Shagyas. The most significant of these was the bay
O'Bajan V, foaled in 1894 out of 58 Samhan. This stallion founded a long and important sire line, as can be seen from the
accompanying genealogical chart. |
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| Mention should also be made of his son O'Bajan V-6,
foaled at Babolna in 1904 out of 122 Zarif III. This stallion was exported to South America, where, because of his beauty and
character, he was used in Arabian breeding programs in Brazil and Argentina and founded a widespread bloodline. In the
carefully kept stud books of those countries, this Shagya stallion is found in the pedigrees of many purebred Arabians. The
acceptability of these horses as purebreds has been long discussed, until a compromise was found at the WAHO convention at
Hamburg in 1978 in favour of this great sire. |
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| The bloodline passed on from O'Bajan V through his bay son
O'Bajan VI to his grandson O'Bajan VII, foaled in 1923 out of a Shagya XVIII daughter. Shagya XVIII is described as
a stallion with size and strong bones and great energy; his photograph shows a very well-made horse with excellent legs and
strong hocks. O'Bajan VII was grey like his dam, and very harmonious in all parts. His topline showed the desired curve
from the high-set neck over the ideal back to the long croup with a well-carried, rather high-set tail. The stallion presented
the ideal combination of strength, beauty, and presence, with correct proportions. Of particular note are the strong legs
with good knees and hocks and especially good fetlock joints. His energetic and long strides are said to have been
particularly remarkable; they were the manifestation of his energy, which is also evident in his photograph. |
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| The most significant horse he sired at Babolna was the mighty
brown O'Bajan X, whose son O'Bajan XIII was also a chief sire at Babolna for many years. O'Bajan XIII was
a true black who had inherited a special beauty from his dam, the bay mare 242 Kuhaylan Zaid. She also produced the lovely
grey stallion Koheilan XI. |
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| O'Bajan XIII was heavily used at Babolna and sired
wonderful daughters. Although he himself was small (though he did have long lines), most of his daughters are much taller. All
have the required long lines, their sire's unique beauty, are easy to handle, and make pleasant riding horses with great
endurance qualities. For this reason, several 0'Bajan XIII daughters are popular among German breeders and represent a high
breeding potential of the precious blood. At Babolna, O'Bajan XIII's daughters produced particularly striking results when
bred to Ibn Galal. Ibn Galal later went to the Dobel Stud, owned by Ursula Poth, and was highly valued as a sire. |
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| Black mares by O'Bajan X and O'Bajan XIII are always popular
harness horses at Babolna; a beautiful black harnessed between teams of greys is invariably eyecatching. |
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| A beauty of this kind was the mare Olympia, who came from
a similiar mating as that which produced O'Bajan XIII. Originally named 107 O'Bajan X, this mare was by good fortune
acquired in 1967 by Dr. Schmidt-Ankum. While still at Babolna, she had produced Gazal I by Gazal VII, who for many
years was chief sire at Mrs. Magnussen's Seehof Stud. at Ankum, she was bred once more to Gazal VII and produced the black
Othello, who is typical of the O'Bajan bloodline. He is a full brother to Gazal I and carries a high performance
potential. His owner is Peter Szalinski, Wallenhorst. |
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| O'Bajan X also sired the rather coarse, big, brown O'Bajan
out of 104 Gazal VI. He was used as a sire by A. ter Hazeborg, Wankendorf, and afterwards by K. Harster, Speyer. His sons
Ophir and Onyx, bred by Mr. Harster, are notable for their toughness and their performance qualities; both are at
stud with J. Dietz at Butzbach. |
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| Special mention must also be made of the O'Bajan VII son
Sultan, foaled in 1936 at Babolna out of 82 Shagya XXI I. He was chief sire for 9 years in the ter Hazeborg stud farm and
was characterized by toughness, jumping ability, and a good disposition. These characteristics he invariably passed on, for
example to the fleabitten grey Sunil, bred at Wankendorf and owned by Mrs. Erika Naumann in Heusenstamm. Sultan was the
dominant influence in forming the broodmare band at Wankendorf, where his blood was carefully strengthened by line- and
inbreeding. Ter Hazeborg's greatest succes was the result of breeding the Sultan son Suakim to his full sister
Gazelle in 1969, resulting in the superior performance stallion Bajar. |
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| Bajar is a virtually indestructible stallion with a great
jumping ability and the courage of a lion, and he has won and placed in many jumping competitions up to class M. The stallion
possesses clear outlines, a well-set neck with a light throat, plenty of presence, and large, expressive eyes. His back is
excellent, and the structure of his bones and muscling enable him to move in such a way that the power comes from the
hindquarters, allowing him to canter with high concentration and great security at every stride. The rider hardly has to do
more than steer him. For the last few years, Bajar has been at stud at the Nordland Stud, owned by Manfred Hansen, where he is
a popular sire. Strengthened by the close inbreeding, he is dominant for conformation as well as for athletic ability. Knowing
this, the author of these lines has bred his champion mare Babolna by O'Bajan XI II to Bajar, thus combining O'Bajan VII four
times in one pedigree, always in the 4th generation. This mating produced a colt unique for his conformation, type, and way of
going, O'Bajar, who was foaled in 1978. Even as a two-year-old, he regarded it as perfectly normal to jump over fences
up to 1.40 m. His owner is R.-M.-Sachadae, Remagen. The O'Bajan line is wide-spread today in Germany, both through O'Bajan X
and O'Bajan XIII, and through Sultan - Suakim - Bajar, in which branch it is particularly noted for athletic ability. |
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| The O'Bajan line as a source of beauty and ability is also found
abroad, particularly in Austria, which can be seen in the recently published Vol. II of the Austrian Arabian association's
stud book. In Denmark, the line is passed on through the very beautiful O'Bajan I, foaled in 1951 at Babolna by O'Bajan
X out of 36 Siglavy VI, chief sire at Mrs. Nyegaard's Bartahus Stud. One of his sons, the grey O'Bajan I-10, was sold
to Mrs. Paula Bahlsen, Hannover. |
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Several broodmares of the O'Bajan
line can be found in Switzerland, two of which are particularly promising individuals from Mrs. Nyegaard's breeding program in
Denmark, sired by the above mentioned O'Bajan I. They are owned by Ursula Rahm and V. Stössel, respectively.
In England there are also several
O'Bajan mares from Denmark. |
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On the whole, the O'Bajan line is
not quite so numerous as the Shagya and Gazlan-Gazal lines. But the O'Bajan blood acts genetically as a kinds of activating
ferment and adds harmony both to conformation and character, as well as that will to perform that makes the horse a special
friend of man.
Thus the heritage has come down
from the black 0'Bajan foaled in 1880 in the Arabian desert to his descendants of today, and it is rewarding for the breeder
to study it. |
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