Alkhaled Farm

As a young boy growing up in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Khaled Ahmed Bagedo remembers the first time he saw a horse as if it were yesterday. “I knew instantly that I wanted to be close to it,” he recalls, “and not only that, I was determined to ride the horse right from the start.” Many of the onlookers on this auspicious occasion thought the boy was far too small to ride and would likely be terrified the moment he was put atop the horse. Yet the horse’s owner, a member of the Saudi Royal family, allowed the child to climb aboard and take his first ride. As with many who have experienced that magical feeling, the joy the young Khaled felt was indescribable. After a lifetime with horses, including tremendous success as an owner and breeder of winning Arabian racehorses, Sheikh Khaled turned his attention to perhaps the most challenging of all equine pursuits – developing a serious breeding program. Today, a visit to Al Khaled confirms his dedication to this goal: the paddocks and stables are filled with beautiful horses, and, more importantly, a group of exquisite foals which herald the promise of a bright future. As a renaissance of interest in Arabian horse breeding sweeps across the ancestral homelands of the breed, many in the region have looked to the straight Egyptian to foster their cultural heritage. The breeding program of Al Khaled Farm is an excellent example, as Sheikh Khaled has selected horses from some of the finest Egyptian breeding programs in the world to shape his own program. Before choosing his bloodstock, Sheikh Khaled often visited the breeding farms he admired, carefully observing what families and crosses were successful. “My own philosophy in acquiring horses was not to duplicate exactly what others were doing,” he explains. “I did not want to limit my options by beginning inside a ‘box.’ Instead, I gathered a variety of bloodlines and families so that I might begin to shape my own program and determine over time what is working w