The prestigious electronic magazine
SouthArabians honoured us with an article about our stud farm. Long time friend of ours, Mario Braga, breeder and judge of Resgate Stud Farm, gently wrote of our almost 25 years of breeding Arabians. His first proposal was very personal, but it is not the magazine's style: more informative, less emotional. Soooo, here goes the trial, as this blog is all about emotions. But do go to SouthArabians' home-page as there are lots of beautiful photos and many more informations from all over South America.
Here is the cover page of the magazine. FAYARD NY is one of our stallions and the photo was taken by R. Sorvilo.
Namahê Stud Farm – by Mario Braga
This could be just another weekend in
my life. But tomorrow I will pay a visit to some longtime friends of mine. They
have been welcoming me in their home for over twenty years, kindly pretending they don’t know that I manage
to always find a way to arrive” Incidentally” just in time to steal some homemade
lunch. Which is invariably delicious by the way. Then, they will endure long
chatting hours with me through the whole afternoon, talking about the only
possible subject we breeders care talking about, Arabian horses. They are Claudio
and Nancy Hirsch, from Haras Namahê, a beautiful land located just thirty
minutes away from my farm. A place that has made so much history for the Arabian
horse breeding in Brazil.
It is impossible not to mention
Haras Namahê whenever we talk about the last decades of Brazilian Arabian horse
breeding. Located in the county of Quatis, in Rio de Janeiro, the farm was
founded by Claudio and Nancy Hirsch in the year 1991, after the purchase of
several horses at one of Haras Fortaleza’s traditional auctions (those horses were:
AF Império, AF Hamila, AF Habana, AF Heviana and Calima AL Shaklan).
Since that day, many national and
international champions were bred and shown by Namahê. Not to mention several homebred
that were exported to different countries.
For many years the farm has been ranked among the top breeders in the
regional and national levels, according to the Brazilian Arabian Horse
Association‘s statistics.
I feel I should start talking about
Snowshill Ariseyn. He was the farm’s first stallion and his image was so strong
that for some time it represented the farm’s image itself. A son of US Top Ten stallion Ariston and out
of a paternal sister to Ivanhoe Tsultan, Ariseyn was named Brazilian Reserve
National Champion Stallion in 1992, the very year he arrived in Brazil from the
USA. He then retired from the show ring
in order to prove his worth as a sire. Many of his offspring earned titles on
national and international levels. The first of them to raise attention was
Dawn Appeal NY, a filly that was named Brazilian Reserve National Champion
Junior Filly, prior to her exportation to the USA and then she was re-exported
to South Africa. She is one of the few Brazilian born mares to achieve US Top
Ten mare honors, and the only one to become South African National Champion
afterwards. Moreover she is the mother of South African Supreme National
Champion Stallion Hasan’s Magnafire. Another very famous son of Ariseyn was
Quartz NY, a multi champion at halter and also a unanimous Brazilian National
Champion at liberty. He is the sire of
many champions including Utrillo NY (a US Top Ten Stallion), Labeh NY and Naomi
NY, who have also produced champions of their own. The third that should be
mentioned, and the most beautiful of them all in my opinion, is Innamorata NY.
A true champion from the moment she was at her mother’s side until her crowning
as Brazilian National Champion Junior Mare. She died very early, but luckily
she left two offspring. A beautiful daughter by AB Magnum (Rivka NY) and a
handsome son by the champion Nuzyr HCF called Fayard NY, who serves as a Junior
Stallion at Namahê now and already is showing great potential with only few
foals on the ground.
Born in São Paulo, Claudio has been
living in Rio for many years. Despite his work as a businessman, he always
finds the time to actively promote the Arabian breed. His work at the Rio Arabian
Horse Association as well as the Brazilian Association was decisive to project
and develop the breeding of Arabians in the state of Rio de Janeiro. While being president of Núcleo Rio he
managed to bring the Brazilian National Horse Show twice to Rio de Janeiro. A
feat never done before or after that, with attested success, according to a
survey made and divulged at the time by the Brazilian breeders association. And
thanks to his efforts the traditional Rio Arabian Horse Show was done in the
beautiful coastal city of Angra dos Reis, which was much appreciated by
everyone especially by foreign visitors.
Nancy, in turn, has an extra bond
with the history of Namahê. The farm house has been her family’s gathering
point on week-ends, a place where her sisters and she spent time together. By
the way, for those who wonder the meaning of the farm’s name, here’s the answer
to that mystery: Na-ma-hê is the merging of the name of the three sisters:
Nancy, Marcia and Heloisa! Besides breeding horses, Nancy is also a literary
creator. She has published four novels already (all of which using the Arabian
horses as a background). She also writes a column for the Cavalo Arabe Magazine
and keeps a variety blog called umblogsoh.
The farm team is united and committed
with good results in the show ring and the breeding barn. A proof of that is
that two of the stallions used on the farm’s program have their suffix, NY. The
first to be used was Quartz NY and more recently also Fayard NY. Both of
them are show ring winners.
The farm’s manager is Celso Pineschi
who is in charge of all the daily activities. He has known the Namahê horses
for a long time, and supervises the horse’s activities ranging from
reproduction, to health, pastures, nutrition, breeding, fertility as well as
all the operational aspects that cannot be overlooked.
The long time farm’s trainer is
Odair da Silva Ribeiro, who is also in charge of all the conditioning of the
show string. A very experienced trainer, he has been defending the farm colors
on virtually every horse show of the Brazilian circuit.
Haras Namahê has always focused on
choosing mares that could succeed at both the show ring and the breeding barn.
At the list below I quote some of those mares that were added to the farm’s
herd from its inception until the present days, some of which have become
aristocrats in Brazil:
- Summer – One of farm’s first
mares, she has produced the champion filly Florenz NY (by Ariseyn) who in turn
produced the Breeder’s Cup Champion Joyeuse NY, who has been exported to
Argentina e later on to the USA. Joyeuse NY produced the beautiful Champion JJ
Bellagio, with Magnum Psyche;
- Tifany – The beautiful Tifany was by the
German stallion Shokry and out of the US import An Ondine. She has the
privilege of being the first Brazilian National Champion mare who was born and
raised in Brazil. She is the dam of the
beautiful Iehudith NY ( by Ariseyn ) who is responsible to perpetuate this dam
line, having already produced some beautiful get, specially the promising filly
Xardas NY (by Gabriel BFA);
- Jur Mirella – Multi halter
champion, a black beauty by NV Sure Fire, she was the mother of the
unforgettable Brazilian Champion Mare Innamorata NY, by Snowshill Ariseyn,
whose beauty is still remembered by many and whose son Fayard NY (by Nuzyr HCF)
is the farm’s present junior stallion.
- Desiree HBR – One of the most
beautiful mares at the farm, she is the
mother of many champions including Naomi
NY, Utrillo NY ( US Top Ten Stallion ) and Xsahgoras NY all by Quartz NY. She
is a granddaughter of Ali Jamaal and SW Bezatiw.
- *Special Appeal – Imported by
Haras Villa D’Este from the USA, Special Appeal was a big halter winner back in
her days. Her most famous daughter is the US Top Ten mare Dawn Appeal NY (by Ariseyn).
Two other champion daughters by Quartz NY are worth mentioning, Lolita NY and
Monroe NY.
- Labeh NY – Labeh is a beautiful
daughter of Quartz NY, therefore a second generation of the farm’s breeding
program. Her offspring are noted for their trot, attitude and quality,
specially her beautiful daughter Tinkerbell NY (by Emyhr Serondella), many
times champion filly in Brazil.
Since the beginning of their
breeding program, Haras Namahê chose to alternate using their own stallion with
outside breeding. Lately they have been using breeding from famous stallions
such as WH Justice, FA El Shawan, PA Gaszi, El Shakyr, Vulcano HVP, AB Magnum,
Voltaire Rach and Nuzyr HCF, while investing on their own stallion’s career,
Gabriel BFA. He is a syndicated stallion by Eden C and was last year’s
Brazilian Reserve Champion Young Stallion. Other stallions that stood or still
stand at Namahê are/ were Snowshill Ariseyn, his son Quartz NY and his
grandsons Clef de Champs NY and Fayard NY.
Haras Namahê along with its owners
Claudio and Nancy Hirsch are undoubtedly one of the great supporters of our
breed in Rio de Janeiro, by promoting horse shows, open houses and with their
work with the local Association. More recently they managed to have the
Brazilian Arabian Horse Magazine, Cavalo Árabe, to be sold in local news
stands, and thus allowing its presence in a much bigger scale.
It is my personal pleasure to be
able to begin the Brazilian segment here at Southarabians Magazine, by telling
a bit of the story of such a great farm and such dear friends of mine, that
have been receiving me in their home with open arms for so long. They are part
of the Arabian horse history in Brazil. As they are part of mine. They deserve
every bit of the success they have achieved, for they have always been present.
In the good times and the not so good ones. By investing believing, defending
and loving the Arabian horse. They are an example of dedication and
perseverance.
I shall ask the readers to excuse me
now. Though there is much more to be told, I need to wrap it up now. You see, it
is almost noon and Claudio and Nancy are expecting me for lunch today, half an
hour from here, at Haras Namahê!
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