The Region 12 Classic Egyptian Championships

Date

Region 12 Grand Champion Egyptian Heritage Mare/Stallion and Prime Time Halter AOTH Aria Impressive (Aria Impresario x Sofiya AA), owned by Raul and Colby Hernandez, and handled by Joe Alberti.
Grand Champion World Class Mare/Stallion TF Royal Euphoria (TF Royal Shahbaz x SH Heumoresque), owned by Allison Mehta and handled by Jose Palomera-Rodriguez. “I pulled her out of the pasture three months before the show,” says Allison. “She’d been handled as a younger horse, but she’s become more beautiful as she’s matured. Her pedigree is a wonderful blending of some of the best of ‘American’ Arabian horses, both those born here (like Bey Shah and Thee Desperado) and those brought in by the older breeders (like *Eukaliptus, *Bask, *Aramus, and *Raffles) as foundation horses. She is tail female to Homer Davenport’s original import mare, *Haffia, and is thus a fairly rare substrain of Abeyyan (Sharrakiyah). The good thing is that all these bloodlines are still available to American breeders, as we’ve been so diversified in our breeding programs here.”
Grand Champion Yearling Filly/Colt Evelia (Exxalt x Lavinia AF), owned by J. and S. Collins, S. Smith, and B. Carson, and handled by Michaiah Carson. 
Region 12 Champion Straight Egyptian Yearling Colts 2022 DS Dionysus (Mayaan Al Nadir SA x Anisette AR), owned by Michael Amato, and handled by Michael Wilson.
Region 12 Champion Egyptian Stallion Legacy Yearling and the Pyramid Society Champion EBC Yearling Filly ATH Zahrah DRA (Botswana x TF Shahlamara), owned by Dainah Rico, and handled by Ted Carson and Katie McGregor.
The Pyramid Society Champion EBC Yearling Colt ATH Justynn Jati (Botswana x Justynn Joelle), owned by Timothy Manring and handled by Katie McGregor.
Region 12 Champion Egyptian Heritage & Straight Egyptian Gelding ATH The Ingenious (Scapa x Lady Quintessa), bred, owned and handled by Rebecca A. Kuhr Miller.
Region 12 Champion World Class Yearling Colt 2022 GP Beau (Ibn Farid x GP Beyonce), owned by Green Pasture Arabians Inc. and handled by Joseph R Alberti II. 
Region 12 Champion Straight Egyptian Yearling Filly 2022 Li Noura (Marbach RCA x Lady Fa Moniet RCA), owned by Loai Itayim, and handled by Ted Carson. 
Region 12 Grand Champion Straight Egyptian Mare/Stallion Hadiyat Ahlame (Scapa x Maalis Breeze), owned by Virginia and Tom Harris, shown by Mike Wilson and Preston Keeter to her Championship win.

By Allison Mehta

Photos by Suzanne Sturgill 

So how to describe this year’s Region 12 Classic Egyptian Championships?  

 

Well, the beautiful World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida, celebrates horses from the moment you drive through the front gates, and we are so fortunate to be there each year.

 

Secondly, we have a wonderful group (growing each year) of volunteers who help make our “show within a show” such a success.  Plus, our CEC Board of Directors (Bridgette Orwig, Valerie Clinkenbeard, Missy Head, Robyn Thomas, “Jinksie” Harris, Gwen and Warren Soong, and Shawn Crews, along with Mike Wilson, our “trainer advisor” to the BOD) plan and work hard all year to produce the show.  

 

We witnessed some interesting trends this year. The number of horses was down slightly  (by about 5%  which we understand is across the board at most shows in 2023 after the “post-Covid bump”).  But the number of attendees — a very enthusiastic crowd — was up substantially from previous years with the audience including new breeders and Egyptian horse supporters from as far away as California. In addition, the quality of the horses shown overall was high — with some beautiful examples of straight Egyptian and Egyptian-related horses in all the different divisions.

 

For the past five years we have tried to use non-American judges to provide a little international flavor, and to introduce some of our American breeders to international judges. Last year Chen Kedar from Israel was our judge, and this year Emma Maxwell from the U.K. did a wonderful job.  Klaus Beste from Germany has graciously agreed to be our judge in 2024.

 
This was our eighth year of offering the Classic Egyptian Championships at Region 12, and after the show was over I think the entire Board feels we have a success on our hands.  But beyond our current success, most of us now believe we have a much greater responsibility to the Egyptian horse in North America — and to the people who love and breed these horses. For the last two years we have managed to raise over $74,000 in sponsorship money, which is always plowed right back into the show and some social offerings during the week at Region 12. This financial support has not come from wealthy patrons in the Middle East, nor from non-equine organizations here in the US. Rather, the money comes from small breeders and long-time lovers of the Egyptian horse (some people actually call us asking to sponsor the show!). Several provide quite large contributions, and some can only afford $50. But this has surprised and touched us deeply  –  to know how much interest and real devotion there is for the Egyptian Arabian across this country.

 

Our Board is starting to realize that we carry a greater responsibility than just to offer the Region 12 Egyptian classes. We believe that there is a need for a “gathering of the tribes” in some other venues each year, to work and plan for the Straight Egyptian horse’s future here in the U.S. And to that end, we already have some seminal thoughts in place to use a little money left over from the show and plan an educational and social event later this year.  

 

So, onwards to further support our U.S. breeders of Egyptian horses — and promote this wonderful creature we dearly love.

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