On Tuesday 30 August, the news reached us that the stallion Ali Khan had passed away at 22 years of age. A very familiar face to those in the UK over the late 1990s/early 2000s, Ali Khan was a horse that brought a smile to your face every time.
Sired by the great Al Hakkim (Ansata Halim Shah x Simeon Sasson), Ali Khan was out of Sharene (Khan Shadow x Nareena). Bred by Sue and Emrys Jones of Bychan Arabians in Wales, Ali Khan ended his days with Sten and Mai-Britt Schroll’s Kida Arabians in Denmark.
Ali Khan was well loved for his incredible movement and natural showiness. He was Reserve European Champion and twice a World Championships Top Ten. A British National Champion, Ali Khan also had titles in France and Switzerland, and he raised the roof in Aachen as everyone cheered for his powerful trot as he came in. In the words of Sten: “Those of you who went to the big shows (Towerlands, Saint Tropez, Aachen, Paris) back in 2003-2005 will surely remember how Ali simply took the arena and the audience with storm when he entered the arena with Rod Jones.”
Over the weekend, Ali Khan developed epilepsy and, while seemingly recovered, he fitted agan last night. Having lost 10% of his body weight in just three days, the very difficult decision was made for Ali Khan to be put to sleep.
Having been leased to a number of breeders, Ali Khan went to Kida Arabians in November 2012, with Sten and Mai-Britt purchasing the stallion outright in March 2015 to ensure that he would have a home for life. Sten recalls:
“Ali was a special gentleman in the barn. Evening after evening, I could stay beside him for hours and just listen to what he had to tell. It was like every evening, he told something new. Once in 2012, when he arrived, we had clairvoyance on him and I was told that if he wouldn’t have been born with hooves, he would have been a poet and a writer.
“We are not big producers and therefore we only have two foals from Ali – a yearling filly and a two-year-old colt, but we are so happy to have them here on the farm and look forward what they will achieve in the future. Also we still have frozen semen.
“Dear Ali Khan, we will miss you. You will be in our memories forever. RIP.”
