Iosif Mertyris

Located in Greece, JM Arabians owned by Iosif Mertyris is one of the most notorious and successful private breeding programs in Europe dedicated to international quality production. Iosif dedicates a lot of love and passion to the Arabian horses. He believes that this is the key to long-time success in all aspects of life. For the 2021 Dubai edition, I had the honor to interview him, and he was happy to walk me through the main stages of his activity as a breeder and spokesman of the Arabian horse. 1. Hello, Mr. Iosif. Welcome on board! Please, introduce yourself to our readers, give us some background to you, your family, and your education. 1. My name is Iosif Mertyris, I am Greek, and I come from the east coast of the Peloponnese. My country is called Ermioni, a beautiful peninsula on the Aegean sea. I lived in Italy for many years, and I did my university studies at La Sapienza of Rome. I live with my two children and my wife, who is also from Ermioni. 2. What made you prefer the Arabian breed to all the other horse breeds? 2. I got involved with the Arabian horse by chance. I have been to Israel several times for business reasons. On one of those business trips, I had the opportunity to see many Arabian horses. I have chosen this breed for the pleasure of a free ride. I own two straight Egyptian horses at the moment, one female and one male. I took them with me here to Greece, and both live on my farm with all the other horses. For me, it was love at first sight. Morphology, pride, and the ability to communicate with the Arabian horse are what I love the most. 3. When were JM Arabians founded? Which bloodlines are mainly bred there? 3. JM Arabians were founded in 2018. But the new farm was built in 2020, on a beautiful hill with lots of greenery and natural water sources. The Mediterranean climate is quite suitable for Arabian horses. 4. What does the word 'breeding' mean to you? What specific qualities or skills do you need to become a good breeder? 4. Breeding means you have a dream. It requires tons of patience, unconditional love, and knowledge, which is never enough. 5. What's your philosophy? And your breeding strategy? 5. My philosophy is to believe and try up with different bloodlines with different conformation and morphology. And strive to make my dreams come true. Bear in mind that not always a champion stallion and a champion mare will give you a Champion foal... 6. Who is/are the most important breeding stallion(s) at JM Arabians? Why? 6. The spearhead of the JM Arabians breeding program is D Ibn Rasheem, a son to FA El Rasheem and out of the mare Angeliccha. Perhaps, he is the son who resembles him the most. He is a young stallion boasting to his credit some of the most coveted titles in the world. At age 5, he is already an exceptional reproducer and, I am sure that his foals will do great things at shows. I also own an Egyptian stallion from the Thee Desperado bloodline, and a son to Ajman Moniscione called Ajman Star. 7. Which of your mares are you mainly using to improve or evolve your breeding program? 7. Right now, I own two Egyptian mares. A daughter to AL Ayal, and a black daughter to Burak Ben Eden, both very compatible with D Ibn Rasheem. The mares with Ajman Moniscione, WH Justice, Marajj, and Marwan Al Shaqab bloodlines are also a good match with D Ibn Rasheem. 8. Are there any particular foals offering good breeding and show potential? 8. The breeding products of JM Arabians are already at a very high level. I can safely say that Afrodite (D Ibn Rasheem x Lei My Star) is an exceptional filly, and I can't wait to take her to the first shows. There are other sons to D Ibn Rasheem that are quite handsome, such as the colt Nike out of Eiman AL Dunia. I am always so impressed by the way D Ibn Rasheem corrects and improves the overall morphology. He passes so much onto the new foals, even with mares that are not so good. 9. How do you tackle the concepts of 'beauty' and 'functional correctness' in our modern-day Arabians? 9. Our work as breeders is quite hard. We are looking for the top model by Armani or by Versace. But we must be objective. We love so much the foals which were born in our hands that sometimes this makes us lose our point of view. Arabian horses don't have to be only beautiful. They must be correct and functional horses in the first place. They must move as if they were flying on the ground. They must be proud. Modern Arabians look very fine, with extreme heads, statuesque bodies, a lot of type and movement. 10. Please, outline some of your most significant victories in the show environment so far. 10. I have participated in almost ten top-level competitions so far, like the All Nations Cup in Aachen, and twice the World Championship in Paris, winning two bronze medals and the best head award. In addition to this, I won the Gold Champion title at the International show in Milan, in Verona, and the Silver Champion title in Ströhen, Germany. 11. What are the objectives you would like your breeding program to reach in the future? 11. I would like to produce new future champion horses and to be able to participate and win the World Champion title! 12. Will you please leave a final message to the readers of this interview? 12. Arabian horses are my passion, love, lifestyle, best friends, family, my everything! Thanks a lot for your contribution Iosif. It was an honor to talk to you. We wish you all the best and plenty of good things in the new breeding seas