In 1887, Lady Anne Blunt purchased the little-known desert-bred mare Jilfa from her breeder, Khashman al-Kassab of the Mawaheeb section of the Sba’ah Bedouin tribe. She was imported to Crabbet in 1888, as part of a batch that also included Azrek, and Ashgar, a Saqlawi Ubayri from the Shammar. Jilfa, a Jilfat Sattam al-Bulad by strain, was given away in 1896. I have never seen a photo of Jilfa.. At Crabbet, Jilfa produced Jamusa by Azrek, who in turn produced Mareesa in 1902, by Mareb (Mesaoud x Mansura, by Ashgar out of Meshura, another imported mare rarely found in Crabbet pedigree). Interestingly, Mareesa blends the three 1888 desert imports with the rare Meshura line, providing for an unusual early Crabbet pedigree. Mareesa produced the pretty Alfarouse by Berk (by now the line was out of Crabbet) and her sister Yakuta by Rasim (Feysul x Risala). In 1937, the latter produced Rasheeqa by the closely related Azym (Sher-i-Khurshid x Alfarouse), a son of Yakouta’s sister Alfarouse. Rasheeqa was 100% old Crabbet breeding and both her sire and her dam were of the same Jilfan strain. Rasheeqa produced the mare Resique in 1948, by Aaron (Algol x Rythma by Berk), carrying the asil Jilfa tail female…
In the 1990s, Syrian breeder Mustapha al-Jabri, of Aleppo, owned a sturdy, deserty little mare that was bred by the Shammar of Mesopotamia. He name was Mouna, and her strain was very precious: ‘Ubayyan Hunaydis (Lady Anne Blunt: “Mutlaq [her Mutayr stud manager] says mazbut strain”). She had at least two sons and one daughter by Jabri’s then head stallion Mahrous, a ‘Ubayyan Suhayli – another precoius marbat of the ‘Ubayyan strain. Both sons stood in Jabri’s stallion barn, but I don’t know whether he used them or not. I don’t recall their names, either, and I used to call them Ibn Mouna I and Ibn Mouna II. Below is Ibn Mouna I, with a youthful Edouard in the background. This horse had some defects, including longer cannon bones and a slightly thicker neck than I’d like, but he oozed real, bold, masculine, desert type. If he could roar he would.