Henry Babson, of Grand Detour, Illinois, imported five mares and one mature stallion from Egypt in 1932. These horses became the core breeding group that we know as straight Babson Egyptian. The horses were bred as a closed herd and were much in demand as breeding and show stock.
The mare *Turfa was a coronation gift from the king of Arabia to the king of England. When WWII began in Europe she was shipped to Canada for safety. In 1941, Mr Babson purchased her and added her blood to the herd. The Babson horses with her blood added are collectively known as Babson-*Turfa.
In the 1950's Mrs Jane Llewellyn Ott, compiled a catalog of Arabian horses, tracing in all lines to the Bedouin desert. These notebooks wereknown as the "Blue Arabian Horse Catalog". The "Blue Stars" (the original group) were an important portion of the list separating them from the others as they had no "Muniqi" blood in their pedigree. Those designated as "Blue List" had some percentage of Muniqi blood. Muniqi is a strain which some considered tainted.
Pure and combined breedings of these three groups make up our breeding programs.
Babson Egyptian, Babson-*Turfa, Babson-*Turfa/Blue Star
Breeding Groups
