By Christie Metz

Majestic Noble SMF is a young stallion that Henry and I are very excited about. He is the result of our commitment to support the Pyramid Society’s Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge. This is a program developed to encourage and reward breeders to use straight Egyptian stallions. Through this program, we purchased a breeding to Marquis I, owned by Kehilan Arabians. We bred Marquis I to the Nabiel daughter, Nagda that we had leased from Debbie Cooper. The result was an extraordinary grey colt we named Majestic Noble SMF. So really, we were the ones to benefit because we now have this extraordinary young stallion in our breeding program.

As a yearling, Majestic Noble SMF was named the 2000 Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge, Reserve Champion Colt. He was presented by Becky Rogers; one of the owners of Noble’s sire, Marquis I. Becky never fails to remind Henry, who was presenting our colt Tempest Moon, since she beat him with his own horse as Henry placed third. At the same show Silver Maple Farm had three straight Egyptian colts showing within the same yearling class, with all three being named Top Five and Sarjah SMF named Reserve Champion Yearling Colt.

One of the things that makes Noble such an interesting individual, is that he is the only representative of the pairing of Marquis I, a son of Makhsous, and the Nabiel daughter Nagda. Interestingly Noble’s dam, Nagda, is also the result of a one time pairing of Nabiel and Bint Magidaa. The result is two crosses to the influential mare *Magidaa, on his dam’s side, thus Majestic Noble SMF brings the rare Abayyan Umm Jurays strain more intensely into the Silver Maple program. Additionally, Noble has no Babson blood whatsoever in his pedigree, so this is a great opportunity to infuse our program, and hopefully other breeders’ programs as well, with new blood through this handsome young stallion.

At just four years of age, Majestic Noble SMF bred his first mare, our straight Egyptian mare Rebel Rose SMF, by BB Thee Renegade and out of Royal Laleekha by Ibn El Mareekh. This was the first step in our plan to use Noble as an outcross on the offspring of our other three straight Egyptian stallions, and the result has been two beautiful fillies – Royal Rose SMF and Moon Rose SMF. Noble has contributed his lovely type to both fillies, as he has a really beautiful face with large, dark eyes. His type is combined with good size, refinement, correct conformation and very good movement. We love his tail that waves like a silver flag and as his name implies, he has a graceful, noble carriage. I think that the overall impression he gives is quality and a very masculine sense of beauty. This opinion seems to be shared by others, breeders and judges alike. In 2004, Majestic Noble SMF was named Egyptian Event Unanimous Champion Extended Specialty Straight Egyptian Four-Year-Old Stallion.

One of the things that most appealed to us when we started out breeding Egyptian Arabians, besides their obvious beauty, was the appreciation of their history. I really love studying their pedigrees, the old bloodlines and the stories and the philosophies of the breeders who produced our horses’ ancestors. For us, learning as much as we can about the past helps us to enjoy and appreciate our own horses even more. And, as we become more deeply involved with each of our horses as individuals, we look forward to the future and the families we are creating through them.