Flaxman ARABIANS

Flaxman Arabians was founded in 1978 by the late Jan van Nes who bought a larger pony for his daughter Helen. Jan had been breeding Welsh section A ponies since 1966 and to move up to a bigger version was not so difficult. In 1978 he bought a small Polish/Crabbet cross mare named Allegria born in 1974 bred by a small Dutch breeder. Allegria was by Gon (Negativ x Gomorra) and out of Deglet Noer (Goldbey x Merrymount Emma). When Jan bought this mare he wanted to be sure she stayed within the large pony size so she measured only 144 cm. At the time she was in foal to Ibn Argos (by Argos) and Allegria produced a lovely filly foal which the family named Flaxman's El Myrrah in 1979. Both mares lived their entire lives at Flaxman Arabians. Allegria lived up to 31 years old and El Myrrah 33 years. They gave them numerous foals by different sires. After buying this little mare Jan was on the lookout for some other bloodlines besides Polish and Crabbet and fell in love with Egyptian bloodlines. A visit led him to Stoeterij Arabica in Vlimmeren, Belgium, owned by Mr Peeters at the time. There he saw the liver chestnut stallion Aber (by Anter) and he fell in love with him. He bought two fillies from Mr Peeters, which were Naxaba out of the Crabbet mare Naxindos and Umbra out of the Polish mare Mazurka. Both fillies Egyptian related but a good step in the right direction for him. These fillies were born in 1978 and were yearlings at the time. Raising these youngsters was a new adventure for the family which involved all members. A year later Jan purchased another Aber daughter from Mr Peeters named Varacina and she was out of the Tersk bred mare Persona (By Naslednik) another chestnut filly as Jan loved his chestnuts. A visit was also planned to Smaroel Arabians, Family Smarius in Tilburg. Jan purchased two straight Egyptian youngsters both by Fikri (Ramses Fayek) a chestnut filly with flaxen mane and tail named Omara S (out of Nora) and a grey colt named Hassan's (out of Bint Fayek). Hassan also lived his entire life at Flaxman Arabians until he was 26 yrs old. And so the collection slowly started. As there were hardly any straights for sale at the time in Germany Jan took a big step and flew to the States to visit Imperial Egyptian Stud. He bought a lovely yearling filly named Imperial Monfisah by Moniet el Nafis. And with this purchase, the Straight Egyptian program of the stud started. This was the first filly Imperial Egyptian Stud had exported into Europe from the States. Jan was always on the lookout for more and other Egyptian bloodlines. Visits together with Sjef Smarius to the States and other farms in Germany and Switzerland led to the purchase of Shahd a daughter of Amlam bred by Fatma Hamza from Cairo, Egypt. This mare was already in Germany and was bred by Kasr el-Nil (by Tuhotmos) Shahd produced a lovely filly foal in 1983 which the family named Flaxman's Chaniah. Jan was infected with the virus called 'Arabitis' and he started to plan to build new facilities in Hendrik Ido Ambacht so the stud could extend. In 1985 a new stud was built and horses were moved in at the end of that year. The breeding program slowly built up and the number of horses had grown in the meantime to over 25 animals. Helen started her professional career in Arabians when the building of the stud was finished. Before that, she had always helped out in the office of Nestaan Holland the company of her father Jan which made insulation materials. Very active as a dressage rider Jan bought her a beautiful bay stallion named Porsche (by Tamerlan out of Serinda ) not from Egyptian lines but a Russian Crabbet cross-bred by Arabica in Belgium and the favourite riding horse of Helen for years to come. Helen and her brother Pieter started also to show in hand and competed in numerous local shows and also in Aachen and Paris. With Pieter at the lead resulting in a very nice second place with Naxaba (by Aber) in Paris. Every year foals were born and a selection was made on which ones to keep and which ones to sell. Not easy if everybody has their favourites. Helen also took on an apprentice job in the States with Eldorado Arabians of Bill and Evelyn Larsen in Arkansas for 5 months. There she learned a lot from Kaia Larsen about show training and conditioning of the horses. While over there she fell in love with a very handsome grey SE colt named Shah al Jabbaar. He was by Ansata Ibn Shah out of Dars Hideeba and was brought over to the Paris show next to Ansata Halim Shah before he was shown at the Salon du Cheval. Shah al Jabbaar did not live that long and unfortunately broke his leg at the age of 6 yrs old. The family was devastated but the search for a new stallion went on. Jan always wanted to have a black stallion and so the first black SE Arabian arrived in The Netherlands at Flaxman Arabians bred by Waseem Arabians from Texas. Jan's absolute favourite stallion was Waseem Saaraakh, born in 1985 by AK Waseem Montaal (Amaal) and out of Bint Serasaab (Ansata Abbas Pasha). He was a classic black stallion of 5-years old at the time with a super character. Very sweet and kind to handle. Sired some lovely foals including some very good race and endurance horses. Saaraakh lived the rest of his life at Flaxman until he passed away at the age of 27 years. In the meantime, the Larsen family was slowing down on their breeding program and the opportunity came along to buy their chief sire who was a half-brother to Shah al Jabbaar. This stallion was snow white and called El Masri Amir, born in 1981, by The Egyptian Prince and out of Dars Hideeba as well. He sired some very typey foals and put his stamp on the Egyptian breeding program of the farm. In the meantime, the tax rules had changed in the States and Canada and a lot of big Egyptian Breeders were giving up. This resulted in Jan buying several new horses for the farm but also to sell. Mainly in Italy as this was the new market at the time. Over 100 SE horses were flown into Amsterdam and became part of the breeding program of Flaxman and many other farms in Europe and the Middle east. The van Nes family was told that the local government was changing the landscaping around the current farm and which led to the fact that there was no more land left for the farm to have their animals graze on. The search began for a new facility because there were over 60 animals on the farm. Not only Arabs but also a lot of miniature Shetland ponies which Helen bred for many many years. Helen met Kay Hennekens at a horse show in 1987 and they have been a couple since then. They got married in 1991 and had two children Sophie in 1996 and Koen in 1998. A new facility got found in Brecht, Belgium, and small alterations got made to make this farm work for the family. The move took place in April of 1996. Since that date, the horses were all happy at the new farm in Belgium. More land, more stables, so the number of horses increased a lot more up to around 120. That is still the number of horses today. The new facility got led by Gust Lambrechts, the former farm manager of Arabica Stud. Gust did his job with pleasure for many years until health issues forced him to take his work career to a different direction. Gust is now working for Nestaan Holland and is an excellent sales agent of polyurethanes in Belgium. A new trainer was searched for and found in Peter Wilms, who is still the current trainer. For over 10 years, he has been able to show the horses of Kay and Helen Hennekens, who had become owners of the farm since the move to Belgium. Sadly Jan passed away in 2009 at the age of only 71 years. To honour Jan we have always kept our old horses which were his favourites. He was a true horseman and did his best for the Dutch Arabian horse society with a position on the board for over 20 yrs. Before he died, he bought his all-time favourite horse who was the liver chestnut stallion Ibn Barrada, born in EAO El Zahra in Cairo, Egypt, in 1990 by Gad Allah out of the Ikhnatoon daughter Barrada. He came into Belgium as a yearling and was bought by Jan when Ibn Barrada was 10-years old. He lived with us until he died of colic in 2012. A very special stallion with an extremely pretty face, very much a Koheilan in every way. Sophie Hennekens was a keen horse person from day one. She rode Shetland and Welsh ponies until she was grown out of them and Helen found her a nice Arab gelding to ride. She did have a lot of fun on her ponies until she gave up riding at the age of 15 and lost interest in horses in general since then . She now lives in Amsterdam and just finished her studies. Her interests have taken a different direction but she still comes home and enjoys the newborn foals. Koen Hennekens did not show any interest in the horses until Helen made him show the gelding Fa Emerald (Kar Tiburon x Krystal C) in the Junior handlers class at the Emerald Trophy in Brecht. This marked the start of his career and Koen was only 13 years old at the time. He always said he liked soccer better than the horses. Later, he gave up soccer when he got more involved with the horses. He never liked riding but tried as a child at the pony club. But after high school, he decided that he wanted to study horse management, and this study made him start to ride again. He went back into the saddle riding Dutch warmbloods and Trakehner horses. But his goal is to be a professional handler in the future. He did an apprentice job with Fernando Poli in Florida, USA, where he learned a lot about the schooling and conditioning of the horses. He has had the opportunity to grow into the amateur scene which resulted in 3 years in a row best amateur and most experienced amateur handler in the Aljassimya challenge. Now showing between the big boys. Koen has also learned a lot from his mentor Peter Wilms. Koen loves to show his gelding: Nabeel al Nasser, 2015 grey by EKS Alihandro out of Noof al Nasser. Always on the lookout for new horses to show. Koen has been very successful in 2018 with Esfahan 2012 bay stallion by Ekstern out fo El Fatha by Entyk and with Etoryk 2010 grey stallion by Om el Shahmaan and out of Etnologia by Gazal al Shaqab both stallions bred in Poland by Janow Podlaski. Koen has also been very successful with Jannat al Jassimya, a 7-years old chestnut mare by WH Justice and out of the Dakar el Jamal daughter Karenina Dakar. Koen has his favourites at the farm. For the last 3 years, he has been working for Schoukens Training Center in Maldegem as a Trainer - Handler. With lots of passion for his job. He is slowly going back into the show ring showing some horses for Flaxman Arabians. Besides the SE program Jan van Nes loved and cherished Flaxman Arabians decided that there was also room for some other bloodlines. Kay Hennekens was brought up with Russian Arabians at home his parents and sister Suzanne owned Shamrock Arabians in the Netherlands. They had a very nice stud with a great selection of Russians before they moved the stud to Portugal. Kay had his favourite stallion which came with him when he moved in with Helen which was Myca, born in 1985 a liver chestnut by Kilimandjaro out of Pinega 30. Straight Russian and a wonderful horse to ride. Helen had a lot of fun with him under the saddle. Myca lived with us until he passed at the age of 24 years. Because of his love for these Russian Arabians who were great movers and super show horses Kay always wanted to have something with some Russian blood. He bought a yearling colt at the Kossack Stud in 2010. The grey Pristice Kossack was born in 2009 and was by WH Justice and out of Prisiage by Gordon. Pristice is a very special horse and needs special treatment as he had a serious colic surgery when he was 3-years old. Luckily he is still with us and has proven to be a very good sire. Besides this WH Justice son Kay also bought another one from Al Jassimya farm in 2014. Jeryan al Jassimya was born in the US and came to Europe as 2-years old. Shown in Scottsdale, Las Vegas and Menton by Ted Carson with great results and shown by Glenn Schoukens he has been very successful with 4 Silver medals at the shows of St.Oedenrode, Bruges, Addington and The Belgian Nationals in Lier. Kay still has this love for the WH Justice lines and this resulted in the purchase of several nice WH Justice daughters such as A Golden Girl of Kossack out of Abakana Kossack, Julnar al Jassimya out of Ventures Serenade, Jawa al Jassimya out of Pagentry, Jubella al Jassimya out of Om el Belinda Estopa, Julie al Jassimya out of Belle Song and Jannat al Jassimya out of Karenina Dakar. Another WH Justice son at the farm is MM Sergio out of Sarah el Bey who won a lot of in-hand classes as a youngster. Now siring some lovely foals. Since 2020 we have been a licenced European A.I. Center. We keep our stallions at stud, and we can ship them throughout Europe. Current SE-bred stallions at the farm are FA Earl Grey, 2006, a grey stallion by FA Zain out of Flaxman's Nakaana by Hassan. 'GH Meknes, 2009, black stallion by Mudassir B Mehaman out of Al Kadaira by Shaikeel. Shadi al Zobair, 2019, grey stallion by Al Adeed al Shaqab out of Malika Bouznika by Imperial Mashar. Other successful stallions at the farm are Woj, 2014, grey stallion by Empire out of Waranga by Qr Marc. He has won many in-hand classes with Glenn Schoukens in the last two seasons. Including his class won at the European Championships in Prague in 2020. Winner of the Gold medal in the Inter Cup in Prague in 2020, winner of the Gold medal in Schayk in 2021 and 4th place in Menton. His first foal crop is on the ground and they are very promising. Very pretty fillies were born out of Elegancia by Extreme and out of Accona Shaell FF by Shael Dream Desert. Vakil al Baydaa, 2019, abay stallion by RFI Farid and out of Valentino's Angel by DA Valentino. He was shown as a yearling and recently in Schayk, where he got a 2 nd place in his class. We have used him for the first time this year, so we look forward to his first foals. Our new show star is Woronin, a 2016 chestnut stallion by Vittorio TO out of Wilda by Gazal al Shaqab. He was a best-ridden junior horse as 4 years old in Michalow in Poland. This season he was 2nd in his class in Schayk and got the Bronze Medal. In Lage Horste in Germany, he was shown by Koen Hennekens and won his class and got the Gold medal in the stallion championship and was named best in the show later on as he had the highest score of the day. We look forward to his foals. The breeding program continues with SE horses and modern show lines.