*Simeon Shai: An Update
By Mary Jane Parkinson,
as appeared in Arabian Horse World’s March 2004 issue.
Through his years, *Simeon Shai has generated moments of immediacy. The most telling probably came in 1988 when Bruce Clark judged a small show in Australia, unknowingly made champions of two of *Shai’s offspring, and then went looking for their sire. The must-have response occurred forcefully. *Shai looked me straight in the eye, and I was absolutely smitten. “Couldn’t stop thinking about him,” Bruce remembers.
When Bruce’s partner Gerry Alexander saw *Simeon Shai a few weeks later, his response was “Had to” just had to “have him.” A third partner in the plan to acquire, Ron Palelek, took about 60 seconds to inspect *Simeon Shai and joined the immediacy movement.
The three lost no time importing *Shai, and he arrived in California in January 1989. He divided his time between Bruce and Gerry at their BruMarBa Arabians in Garden Valley, California, and with Ron at Vantage Point Farm in Vantage, Washington. American breeders experienced a slightly modified version of the must-have feeling as they became aware of the quality of the new import in their midst. By the end of the 1990 foaling season, 40-plus *Simeon Shai foals were registered.
Before all those foals were born, Bruce, Gerry, and Ron (known as “The Shai Alliance”) had *Simeon Shai on the show circuit, an adventure that peaked with the distinction of 1991 Triple Crown Stallion (same-year championships at Scottsdale, the Canadian Nationals, and U.S. Nationals). To top off the Triple Crown, *Shai and his entourage flew to the Salon du Cheval at Paris in December 1991 and came home World Champion Stallion. With that major win, *Shai became the first Arabian stallion ever to win all four titles, and he did it in the record time of 10 months and under 17 different judges.
Another must-have moment, and a lasting one, came as *Shai won 1991 Senior Champion Stallion and Grand Champion Stallion at Scottsdale, the first of his Triple Crown wins. This time Christie Metz was the rapid convert. She and her husband Henry had established Silver Maple Farm, then in Sioux City, Iowa, and were newcomers to the breed. But Christie knew what she liked. “When *Shai came in that arena, showing off that giant fountain of a tail, I was absolutely blown away by his charisma and that ethereal quality that goes with some Arabians. I fell in love with him the minute I saw him, just connected with the personality and the soul of the horse. I went back to the stalls, checkbook in hand, and booked our straight Egyptian mare, Glorietasayonaara.”
The Metzes, among of the first straight Egyptian breeders to book to *Shai, continued to use him on their straight Egyptian, Egyptian-related and Spanish mares. Their appreciation for him intensified as they saw “just as Bruce, Gerry, and Ron had” the consistency of his siring pleasant dispositions, strong athletic ability, and correct conformation.
Christie and Henry began to plot a way to bring *Shai to Silver Maple, and he arrived there in February 2001, after an overnight flight from Seattle (where Ron had been standing him) to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Henry remembers the day: “*Shai came right out of the shipping crate, shook the shavings off, looked around, announced his arrival, bowed up, and stretched, then seemed to say, “Okay, get me in the trailer. Let’s go.” At the farm, he repeated his arrival routine and just moved right in without one complication. Amazing, I thought, here’s a 17-year-old horse who has traveled the world “ Australia, California, Canada, New Mexico, Seattle, and Paris. *Shai probably has more miles on him than most Thoroughbreds and never shows any wear and tear.”
“We wanted to bring *Shai to a new part of the country in order for him to generate more interest in the straight Egyptian and Egyptian-related communities,” says Christie. “We knew he was a good cross with daughters of The Egyptian Prince, Moniet El Sharaf, Ibn El Mareekh, and El Hilal, and on daughters of *Magidaa.”
Back at BruMarBa, Bruce Clark reflected on the contributions of *Shai to that program. “He crossed super well with our straight Spanish mares as well as daughters of *Barich De Washoe, especially those out of Comar Bay Beau daughters. I picked *Shai completely on his phenotype and found out later that he was straight Egyptian.
As a sire, *Shai has earned a reputation for consistency. Always the good mind and easy-to-live-with disposition; the big, dark, kind eyes; small, tippy ears and excellent placement of ears; model “fountain” tail carriage; a kind and gentle spirit with the ability to perform when asked; intelligence; and trainability. “We believe *Shai’s daughters will be some of the breed’s best broodmares,” says Henry.
Here the Metzes have a prime example. Their *Shai daughter Shaia (x Bint Zlabiya by *Barich De Washoe), an example of the “Golden Cross” of Spanish and Egyptian bloodlines bred by BruMarBa, came to Silver Maple in 1995, when she was five years old. She has scored as a show mare and as a producer. In the show arena, Shaia showed off her chestnut beauty and form, from the time she was a yearling, to collect top titles. As a two-year-old, she was Champion Mare at several Southern California shows, then went on to Regional Championships and Reserves, Supreme Champion Mare and Senior Champion Mare at the 1995 Egyptian Event, Scottsdale Reserve Champion Senior Mare, and at the National level Canadian National Reserve Champion Mare and two U.S. Top Tens Mare. Shaia has produced five foals for the Metzes, three by their stallion BB Thee Renegade (Thee Desperado x PH Safina by *Lancers Sahm) and two by their Ali Saroukh (Ruminaja Ali x Glorietasayonaara by Ansata Abu Nazeer).
“Shaia is incredible,” says Henry. “Obviously a beautiful mare and all her good qualities come through in her foals” the solid body, good croup, great topline. Bint Shaia looks so much like Mom it’s almost eerie. The *Shai body has come through for the third generation. *Shai is proving of interest to breeders of straight Egyptian lines, particularly those who have bred the lines of The Minstril and Thee Desperado for several generations.”
“To date, our breeding program emphasizes straight Egyptian bloodlines but we also incorporated the blood of *Bask, *Marsianin, Fadjur, Azraff and Ferzon through our Egyptian-sired lines,” Christie notes. “We still have two El Hilal daughters who contributed his blood. Shai crossed well with the Russian/Polish lines in Ruth Sherman’s Sherman Oaks program so we used one of his daughters Shai Exotica with Saroukh to help prove our theory that Renegade and Saroukh would work well on *Shai’s daughters. Second only to the straight Egyptian bloodlines, my personal preference is the straight Spanish Arabian. We have two Spanish mares that are doing a beautiful job with the Egyptian stallions or our Egytpian-bred stallion, Dreamcatcher SMF. *ABHA Gali (*El Perfecto x Example) and Example (*Barich DeWashoe x *Makkora); Henry and I truly believe that the straight Egyptian is the source for refinement and maintaining true Arabian type and it is our mission to perpetuate this in our breeding program.
“I have always believed that a stallion’s strength comes through his dam line,” says Christie. “When I’m studying a stallion, I look first at his dam and his paternal grandam, then at the mares farther back in the pedigree. In my opinion the strength of a mare line often tells you you're going to have a breeding stallion.”
When Christie reviewed *Simeon Shai’s pedigree, his dam Simeon Safanad stood out brilliantly. “A legend in her own time,” says Marion Richmond, the breeder and owner of Safanad and the breeder of *Shai. “Safanad produced 15 foals (four males, 11 females) at Simeon Stud, 1984 through 2001, and they and their progeny have further distinguished her.” Simeon Safanad was the product of Marion’s mating of Sankt Georg, an *Ansata Ibn Halima and Nazeer grandson with 27 Ibn Galal-5, a mare of all Egyptian lines that Marion purchased at Babolna Stud in Hungary.
Safanad was bred to Raadin Royal Star (of all Egyptian lines) to produce her first foal, *Simeon Shai. Later, Simeon Sadik, Safanad’s 1989 black colt by Asfour (Malik x Hanan by Alaa El Din) was Australian National Champion Stallion before he was exported to Shirley and Charlie Watts’ Halsdon Stud in England. Sadik was then Champion Stallion at Towerlands, an international show, judged by six European judges, and twice Reserve Champion at the All-Nations Cup in Aachen. Safanad sons and daughters or their progeny have been exported to Qatar, Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and the United States. In addition to *Simeon Shai, Australian National Champion Stallion, six more sons and daughters of Safanad have won championships. For Marion, watching *Shai go U.S. National Champion Stallion in 1991 gave her the greatest pride as a breeder. Safanad died in January 2004 at age 24. “A work of art, a very correct mare, very balanced with an exceptional length of croup and four good legs to stand on,” says Marion of Safanad. “When I’m gone, I want a Simeon horse to be recognized as a beautiful moving athlete with lots of type. I think I’m halfway there now.” Simeon Safanad helped Marion on that path.
*Simeon Shai, a Sire of Significance, as reported in AHW’s March 2001 issue, is credited with over 350 purebred foals, including numerous U.S. and Canadian National winners as well as champions in eight other countries. In addition, he has national and international champions in Australia, several European countries, South Africa, and the Middle East. “I do think that *Shai has shown to the world that straight Egyptians can be athletes,” says Marion. “When he was in training for the U.S. Nationals, for instance, he was ridden 30 kilometers every second day, and he didn’t have a puff or a bump on his legs.” Christie and Marion visit the *Shai get and grandget whenever possible. “The problem with buying a Simeon horse is that you get me too,” says Marion. “You get a package, not just a horse. I’m involved with all my children throughout the world.”
In summer 2003, Silver Maple Farm moved to California and became part of the resurgence of the Santa Ynez Valley as an Arabian horse center. The Metzes bought a farm on Edison Street, repaired and renovated stalls and pasture fences, and moved their herd in. The Edison Street facility functions as a transition site for the Metz Arabians. A new Silver Maple Farm is in process “a two-year, 120-acre process” on Happy Canyon Road in the area to the east of Santa Ynez. “We have about 26 acres in irrigated pasture now, and we’re going to add run-ins,” says Henry. “Then we’ll bring the young horses and the older mares over from Edison Street. Eventually, we will have all the horses on Happy Canyon. That will be *Shai’s home. When we’re all finished at the new site, we’ll schedule open houses and invite more people to see *Shai and the others.”
In his 20 years, *Shai has spawned several stories of legend quality. The first came at the Salon du Cheval in 1991 in the afterglow of the World Championship. Ron Palelek led *Shai back to his stall where hundreds “not dozens” of people waited for a look at the new champion. *Shai demonstrated his usual cool coming out of the show ring and let all the people swarm around him and touch and pet him. Eventually Ron decided it was time for *Shai to go into his stall and gave him a gentle tug on the lead shank. Nothing. Another tug and nothing, but *Shai turned his head to look at his right hind leg. There was a little girl with her arms wrapped around his leg. *Shai was not going to take one step until that child was removed.
At the Florida farm, the Metz’s learned more of *Shai’s self-assurance, Christie remembers: “My niece, an accomplished rider, had *Shai under saddle out in the arena, warming him up with figure eights. He got a little lazy going across the center, so she gave him a little bit of a crop and a little bit of heel. *Shai stopped dead in his tracks, turned his head and looked at her as if to say, “Excuse me, but I’m the king here. You’re just lucky you’re getting a ride.” She found herself saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Really sorry. I won’t do it again.”
At Silver Maple, *Shai also demonstrated his ability to convert non-horse people to the Arabian breed. At a fundraiser, about 250 spectators lined the rail of the arena and *Shai walked by them, enjoyed the hands reached out to touch him, and thought it was the coolest thing in the world, Christie remembers. Later, a man on the rail told Christie, “I don’t know anything about horses, let alone Arabians, but I can tell you this is some kind of Arabian.” Just one more person responding to *Shai’s nobility and inner character, Christie notes. “To me, *Shai epitomizes what the Arabian is within all breeds, which is an ambassador. No other horse has drawn more people, from all over the world, than this horse. Every place we go, people tell us they have a *Shai son or daughter and how much they love that animal.”
In his new setting, *Shai spends his time greeting visitors from around the world; traveling to a clinic twice each week to have his semen frozen; and snatching ice cream and other sweets whenever and wherever he can. (“Do not walk near this horse with something sweet. He gets an eight-foot tongue if you do,” says Henry.) *Shai is just as satisfied and content as are Christie and Henry Metz who recently acquired full ownership of him when they bought out The Shai Alliance. Bruce Clark reflects on the transaction, “For BruMarBa, *Shai gave us a better product than we had before he arrived, and we retained breedings to him. Gerry and I both felt he shouldn’t be moved anymore. He deserves better than that.” Christie and Henry agreed.
For *Simeon Shai, international show ring super star and sire of significance, there’s no more commuting between farms, no more show stalls, no more award presentations. Just breeding mares and captivating visitors to Silver Maple Farm, both of which he does extremely well.
