Changing the course of history

If you have ever had a horse with Gazal Al Shaqab's blood, June 1993 is when events began a friendship that allowed this to happen.

In Lexington, Kentucky, at the Egyptian Event, Shk Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani and Michael Byatt crossed paths and formed a working relationship that turned into a lifelong friendship. At the event, Michael Byatt sold Shk Hamad, the newly energized Al Shaqab Stud manager of Doha, Qatar, a stallion named Sabiell, who became the Supreme Champion Stallion. That week, and for some time after the show, Shk Hamad added other horses to the list of new acquisitions.

Later, in 1993, the unraveling of a relationship allowed a wonderful group of horses to become available through a court order. At the time, Al Shaqab was the obvious buyer. However, the deal couldn't come together in the allotted time frame, so Michael Byatt and friends put together the financing to acquire the 113 horses. In early 1994, the horses arrived at Michael's farm, and chaos followed. But the sun rose, and the dawning of early light allowed for clarity and vision, and a plan emerged.

As the plan related to Gazal Al Shaqab, his mother, Kajora, was among the herd. Kajora, along with five other mares, was sold to Al Shaqab. Later in the spring, Kajora, bred to Anaza El Farid and, once in foal, departed for Doha, Qatar. On May 15th, 1995, Kajora foaled a bay colt, extreme in beauty, and named Gazal Al Shaqab. Seismic changes were in store for the Arabian horse breed.

In the two years since the fortuitous meeting of Michael Byatt and Shk Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani, life in the Arabian horse breed made a monumental leap forward.

Al Shaqab continued to add more horses to their breeding program. One of the mares added to the program in the ensuing years was Little Liza Fame, a handsome and athletic mare who, when bred to Gazal Al Shaqab, produced the historical Marwan Al Shaqab.  History saw a glimpse of what horse shows would look like when, in 2001, father and son were World Champion Stallion and World Champion Colt. Over the next two decades, those two names would dominate every horse show.

In 2006, with the siring significance of both Marwan and Gazal on full display, Shk Hamad and Michael embarked on finding more suitable mares for the Shaqab breeding program. This venture proved very successful; among the purchased mares were the dams of World Champion Stallions: Kahil Al Shaqab, Wadee Al Shaqab, and Hariry Al Shaqab.

In the nearly 30 years since their first meeting, the synergies of two men, Shk Hamad Bin Ali Al Thani and Michael Byatt, have proved historical in every facet of the Arabian Horse World.

Equally important, a friendship was made that lasted a lifetime.