“Bahtim” is the first nucleus of production with “the best horses” of princes and pashas. Its production from the “Egyptian horse” improves the blood of “horses of other breeds” and produces “international heroes.”
In the Ain Shams area of Cairo Governorate, and 10 minutes away from Cairo International Airport, the Zahraa station for breeding purebred Arabian horses is located, which is owned by the Egyptian government represented by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Egypt had unremitting efforts in the year 1887 to preserve the purebred Arabian horse, through the establishment of the horse board headed by Prince Omar Toson, who had little success, so that the Buffalo Breeding Department of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1908 was tasked with preserving the purebred Arabian horses.
A horse station was established in Bahtim area, where a selection of the best horses owned by princes and pashas were placed in it to be the first nucleus, and in 1914, he presented to the association 16 of the best Arab horses from the Khedive, Prince Muhammad Ali, Abu Nafie Pasha, Lady “Ant Planet” and Field Marshal Karl Kitchener.
In 1917, one mare was purchased from Ahmed Effendi Badr, whose origins belong to the horse of Lady “Ant Planet”, and in 1919 the station gifted a mare from Prince Muhammad Ali, while the Agricultural Society bought 7 mare from Lady Wentworth and Prince Muhammad Ali, and the Monsiu “Kadugli” returns It has its origins in the Lady Planet horses.
In addition, the Royal Agricultural Society, during that period, relied on 8 talents donated by Khedive Abbas Helmy, Prince Yusuf Kamal, Prince Muhammad Ali, Lady Planet, and Lord Kitchener, until in 1920, the Society bought 18 horses from Lady Networth, “9 males from Prince Muhammad Ali, And a horse from Ibrahim Khairy Pasha, a horse from Saad Eddin Shatila Pasha from Beirut, and a horse from the racehorses, and a horse donated from the royal family.
With the year 1928, the Agricultural Association discovered that Bahtim was not fit to breed horses due to the urban sprawl on them, and that the best environment for breeding horses was the desert, so it decided to move the station to the Ain Shamash desert area, specifically in the “Kafr al-Jamous” region, by establishing the new station on an area of 50 acres, to be completed. Building a new station, to which the horse was transported in 1930, and with the visit of King Farouk to the station, the name of the area changed from Kafr al-Jamous to Kafr Farouk.
Among the most prominent features of the new station is the establishment of more spacious stables and the latest models, leaving a spacious space around them to tame the produce, and with this, the Royal Agricultural Society has reached what it was aiming for in the establishment of this section, which is to continue to preserve and preserve the purebred Arabian horses that Egypt was famous for and preserved in its lineage. In the long term, without being mixed with any other lineages, the blood remained pure and the origin was preserved.
It is noteworthy that the fame of the Egyptian Arabian horse has spread throughout the world because of its strong advantages, as it combines the beauty of the body, proportionality of the members, agility of movement, speed of the enemy, unity of intelligence, high adaptability, smooth driving and high stature, as it is an important source of better breeding, purest and most beautiful breeds of horses in The whole world, where the Egyptian horse produced many winning heroes, whether in camel races or sprinting.
The Egyptian horse also influenced its beauty and capabilities in improving the blood of horses from other breeds, and it produced many world-famous heroes, and in the interest of upgrading the station, the selection of the best human elements in its management at that time was taken into account.
The command of the station was assigned to the English expert “Brunch” who played an important role in the process of its establishment. The Department of Education, Dr. Ahmed Basha Mabrouk, who also played an important role in preserving the horses, breeding them and producing the best ones, “according to the book A Journey to the Arab Countries,” one of the Agricultural Society’s publications Property.
In 1937 Dr. Ahmad Pasha Mabrouk carried letters from King Farouk to the King of Najd and the Hijaz and their annexes, Abdulaziz Al Saud, King Ghazi, King of Iraq, and His Highness Prince Abdullah, Prince of Transjordan, to facilitate his mission in obtaining a group of the best Arabian horses, but he did not find what he was looking for. To return without any horse.
Ahmed Pasha suggested that the Agricultural Society give a group of the best horses to their Majesties and Highnesses, and indeed the horse Ibn Mansour was donated to the King of Najd and Hejaz, and the horse “Fajr” to His Highness the Prince of Jordan and the horse Ibn Rabdan to His Majesty the King of Iraq.
Among the horses gifted, the two horses “Al-Fajr and Ibn Mansour” are brothers to Sheikh Al-Arab and Nazeer, but the custom followed at that time was that the gift was the finest thing to be given, as the gift was given in the name of the king, “The kings offer the kings what is valuable.”
Then Dr. Abdel-Alim Ashoub took over the presidency of the Education Department, where he was interested in writing books and volumes during his tenure. He wrote the book “Breeding Horses in Egypt”, then “Appendix to the History of Horse Breeding in Egypt,” and he also authored two illustrated volumes on horses, namely “Records of Kafr Farouk I The second “, as the first record is still in the library of Zahraa Station, and the second record was lost during the process of moving the library.
With General Tibor de Bedko Centerer, famous for about 10 years, the Hungarian expert in managing the station, he worked on developing the Zahraa station from construction and pastures, in addition to establishing a veterinary hospital, and developing the best horse breeding program through which he managed to impress Europeans and Americans and make Zahra Station their acceptance.
The Zahraa station continued its successes and achievements until the year 2010, and in accordance with the proverb that “every horse has a stumble”, the station currently needs sufficient experience to prepare successful breeding programs so that it remains the focus of the world’s attention and emerges from its failure, to return to its global position.