Wujra Al Arab

On July 27 — my birthday — Wadha foaled a chestnut filly, sired through artificial insemination by the Bahraini stallion of Jenny Lees, Shuwaiman Al Rais (photo below). Further news about this loooong-awaited filly will be shared once she is out of the woods (i.e., the U Penn vet hospital in New Bolton, PA), so no photos just yet. In keeping with the W line back to her granddam Wisteria CF and her great-granddam HB Wadduda, I named her Wujra — which in Arabic means “the one fed or medicated by mouth”. She will pull through.

New-to-me photo of stallion Basil, Kuhaylan al-Mimrah from Syria

This new-to-me photo of the Syrian Kuhaylan Mimrah stallion Basil (Mahrous x Halah), of the breeding of the late Mustapha al-Jabri was taken at the Damascus Government Stud . It recently appeared on one of the many Facebook pages now focusing on Syrian Arabians, one hosted by “Alhorane”. I remember being struck by this horse the first time I saw him in 1990. He oozed Arabness.

Emir, a Saqlawi stallion of the Ruwalah

The excerpt below comes from Eduard Löffler’s 1860 book, Die österreichische Pferde-Ankaufs-Mission, which is a firsthand account of the 1856-7 expedition helmed by Colonel Rudolf von Brudermann to the desert to buy horses for the state studs. The expedition, by this point, had already acquired a number of horses, including Aghil Aga, who still has a presence in Al Khamsa horses. They had met with the Wuld Ali, who were camping in the Hauran, to the south of the Tell al-Hara, “only 17 or 18 hours of riding from Damascus”. Löffler says the sheikh was Mohamed El Duchi (Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr in Lady Anne Blunt’s Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, and Mohammed ed Douhi in Roger Upton’s Travels in the Arabian Desert), who happened to be in Damascus at the same time as the Austrians, negotiating with the governor over camels for a caravan of pilgrims travelling to Mecca in May. Colonel von Brudermann made arrangements via the Austrian consul Pfaeffinger to journey with the sheikh back to the Wuld Ali, where they might see their horses. Löffler remarks that the horses of the Wuld Ali were “edle, schöne, prachtvolle Thiere, die entzückten und jeden Pferdefreund enthusiasmirt haben würden”…

Some informed speculation about the desert-bred mare *Al Hamdaniah

One of the earliest desert-bred Arabian horses to come to the USA from the Kindgom of Saudi Arabia was the mare *Al Hamdaniah. This grey mare with her conspicuous blood mark on the shoulder, was the subject of this blog’s first entry, some fourteen years ago. Born in 1940, by an ‘Ubayyan stallion out of a Hamdaniyah mare, she was bred by Prince Sa’ud Ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Jalawi, an early governor of Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province, who gifted her to Admiral R.L. Connolly, who imported her to the USA. This morning I was thinking that her 1940 date of birth was significant. Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk of the Egyptian RAS had visited the stud of Sa’ud Ibn Jalawi in 1936, a mere four years before the birth of *Al Hamdaniah. He would have seen her dam at Ibn Jalawi’s stud. The account of the visit of Dr. Mabrouk includes a list of the stallions, colts and mares he saw, some eighty horses in all. It yields some clues about the pedigree of *Al Hamdaniah: Of the three ‘Ubayyan stallions and two ‘Ubayyan colts he saw, none were grey. Because a grey horse like *Al Hamdaniah must have at least one…

Dahjani Al Arab spring 2022

Dahjani Al Arab, a Kuhaylan Da’jani born in 2008, is one of four authentic, desert-bred Syrian stallions in France. The other three are Mahboub Halep, a grey Shuwayman Sabbah; Nimr Shabareq, a chestnut Ma’naqi Sbayli, and Dahess Hasska, a chestnut Kuhaylan Nawwaq. Photo of Dahjani taken earlier this month by owner Arnault Decroix in Normandy. I love the arched throatlatch and the small pricked ears on him.  

Ghazal Al Layel and Louna, Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah mares in Syria, 2008

Ghazal Al Layel and Louna are maternal half sisters, out of the Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah mare Ghazal Al Banat. Louna/Loonah is the 1993 daughter of the Hamdani ibn Ghorab stallion Mobarak, featured previously on this blog. The younger half-sister, Ghazal Al Layel, is the 1995 daughter of the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Shaddad, who has also featured on the blog before. Their dam, Ghazal Al Banat, is a daughter of the ‘Ubayyan Sharrak stallion Mashuj, whom Edouard has written about here. Photos were purchased from In The Focus.

Ridaab, Dahmat ‘Amer from Syria

Another rare set of photos, these of the Dahmat ‘Amer mare Ridaab also a the farm of Basil Jad’aan — with a young Basil holding her. She has a nice colt by Marzuk that year. Her sire was the Dahman ‘Amer stationed at the Military Housing in al-Hasakah in North-East Syria, and her dam one of the two Dahmat ‘Amer mares of Khidr al-Dairi of Ma’daan near Day al-Zur.  Both sire and dam Dahman ‘Amer, but from different branches, the sire from a Jubur strain, but taken in war by them from the ‘Ajarrash clan of the Shammar ca. 1935, and the dam from a Sba’ah strain. Back in 1992, she was already the last Syrian mare from this precious strain, but her line survives today, thirty years later.    

Down memory lane: Dahess 1987 Ubayyan Suhayli from Syria

This evening I had a bout of nostalgia for my old horses, so I went looking for pictures of Dahess, the desert-bred stallion my father and I bought from a racing stable in Beirut in 1993. I was 15. One afternoon, as I was just coming back from school, my father told me that he had been contacted by the secretariat of the organization managing the Beirut racetrack about two Arabian stallions that had recently been imported from Qatar, one of them a Syrian horse of desert lines. They were being housed at one of the racing stables on the road to the airport. Both were for sale. I pressed to drive down to the racetrack to see them at once. Half an hour later, we were standing in front of two stallions, an exquisitely balanced grey with a milky white coat, 14.3 hands, and a much taller, loosely built cherry bay. The grey we were told was “Syrian” and the bay “Russian”. Both were a bit thin. My father nudged me from his elbow, and started praising the bay horse, while deliberately turning his back to the grey one. The groom fell for the trick and hinted that the…

Associated Studs – The Amiri Arabian Stud of Bahrain Vol. 1

All photos by Danah Al Khalifa unless otherwise indicated. Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman Shawaf sired a breeding mare for Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman’s stud out of Jellabieh No. M1. Bred by the Royal Stud, served as breeding stallion for the Mounted Police.     Hamdany Riadh (top); Ma’anagieh Marshoosha (bottom) – photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais. Neither are listed as belonging to any particular stud.    Danah Farm Danah Al Khalifa writes: The breeding program at Danah Farm is centered around the foundation mare SITAH, ‘Hamdaniah Feisul’ and her offspring. Sitah’s history is documented from the time she was acquired as a two year old filly in 1964, at the Najd encampment of Emir Abdulla bin Saud. It was stated by the caretaker of the horse herd that Sitah was bred by Crown Prince Feisal bin Abdul Aziz, and was out of a Hamdaniah Ghiam mare of the horses of Al Saud, and by stud stallion Saqlawy El Njemy from the horses of Al Rasheed. Sitah No. D1 (Saqlawi El Njemy x Hamdanieh Ghiam) – mare b. 1961 photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais   Dhiab No. D4 – stallion b. 1972 (Ma’anagy El Saghir No. 300 x Sitah No. D1) (top); Burkaan…

Dahjani Al Arab for 2022

This year I will be using for the first time frozen semen from one of the Syrian stallions now in France. I chose Arnault Decroix’s Dahjani Al Arab (same prefix as my horses, by chance). He is a Kuhaylan Da’jaani from the old Syrian desert bloodlines I have known and loved for three decades (sheesh!). He traces directly to the Kuhaylan Da’jaani marbat of Ahmad al-Taha, the Shaykh of the large Juhaysh tribe in Northern Iraq. This is the same breeder as El Nasser’s, the Kuhaylan Da’jani which Egypt’s Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) used in the 1940s. These bloodlines are quite prized for racing in Syria today. Just look at the striking similarity between El Nasser and Dahjani Al Arab, 80 years apart.  

Manua, a desertbred ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah, in Russia

Manua was bought in Homs by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900, on the second trip that he and Count Stroganov made to Syria, but went to Stroganov’s stud in Russia, rather than Shcherbatov’s. Her sire was a Hadban Enzahi; her dam was from the Sba’ah and sired by a Kuhaylan al-Ajuz horse. From Abeyan sherrak strain. Bay mare imported. Born in 1891 at Hajji Mohammed Khudur, mugkhtar of Babaa Amur village, near Homsa. Sire bay stallion from Khadban Yenzekkhi strain, born at Gomussa’s Bedouin (of Sebaa Anaze) and was sold by the said Bedouin to Fellakh Ibrahim Aga from Ashaee tribe in northern Syria. Dam – bay mare from Abeyan Sherrak strain, purchased by Hajji Mohammed Khudur in 1882 from Bedouin Uakhadj Ibn-Suan from Moadja tribe (of Sebaa Anaze); its sire was from Kekhaylan Adjus strain. Purchased personally by Prince A.G.Scherbatov in Homsa city in 1900 from Hajji Mohammed Khudur and imported to Russia. While in Arabia, she foaled twice. 1900 covered by grey stallion from Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain in Homsa. The stallion was born in Bedouin tribe Gomussa (of Sebaa Anaze) and bought from them by Ibn-Faras, who lived in Homsa. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present…

Latifa, a Kuhaylah al-Sharif, and her daughter Leyla

Latifa was one of the desertbred imports of Count Sergei Stroganov. Foaled in 1883, she was bred by the Shammar, and bought by Stroganov on his trip to Syria in 1895. She produced two fillies and two colts for Stroganov, three of them by the Krush stallion Emir-el-Arab, and one – her daughter Leyla, below – by Sharrak. Leyla was foaled in 1897, the first of Latifa’s foals in Russia. In 1902, she produced a grey colt by Stroganov’s desertbred Saqlawi Jadran, Sottam el-Kreysh. Photos from the History of Russia in Photographs.

Kehayley, a Kuhaylat al-Ajuz from the Sba’ah, in Derkul, Russia

Kehayley was foaled in 1893, and imported to Russia by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900. Kekhaylan Adjus strain. Bay mare imported, born in 1893. In 1895 was secretly bought by Akhmet Beg (citizen of Hama town) and Bedouin Simran from Kkhrissa tribe (of Fedhaan Anazeh) from Bedouin Jaetnee from Abadat tribe (of Sebaa Anaze). Sire of Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Bought personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in Hama city from Akhmet Beg in 1900 and imported to Russia. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia In 1902 she foaled a colt, Dervish, by Dachman. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.

Dahman ‘Amer stallion, Dachman, at Derkul, Russia

This horse was purchased in Syria by Prince Shcherbatov. State Derkulskiy farm. Both parents belonged to Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Bay stallion, imported; height 2 arshins 1 3/8 inches. Born in Arabia in 1895 at Bedouin Jeral Ibn-Tuerish from Gomussa tribe (from Sebaa Anaze). The latter sold it to Aga-ed-Diun, mufti of Hama. Purchased for Department of State Horse Breeding personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in 1990 from Aga-ed-Din in the town of Hama. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia

Prince Shcherbatov’s desertbred stallions

Prince Alexander Grigorievich Shcherbatov was one of the Russian aristocratic horse breeders, who established an Arabian stud in the late nineteenth century. Together with his brother-in-law, Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov, Prince Shcherbatov, inspired by the Blunts, journeyed to Syria in 1888, in order to purchase Bedouin Arabian horses. They succeeded in buying horses from the Anazah and the Shammar, and in 1900 made a second trip to Syria. Neither Shcherbatov nor Stroganov’s studs survived the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, though part of the Tersk stud is situated on Stroganov’s farm. El-Kader (above), a Kuhaylan Swayti stallion from the Ruwalah, by a Ma’naqi ibn-Sbayli. Born in Arabia in 1882 at Bedouin Mis’ar Ibn-Moadjil of Ashadjaa tribe (from Roal Anaze). The said Bedouin sold the horse to Ahmet Pasha Shaaman in Damascus where it served as a sire for Roala tribe. Sire of Manegi Ibn-Sbeiyel strain. Purchased by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in person in Damascus and brought to Russia in 1888. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Faris (above), an Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the Shammar, by a Kuhaylan Ras-el-Fedawi. From Abeyan Sherrak strain, from Gkhenedish family (of Selga Shommar). Pebble grey stallion, imported, height 2…

جولان الخير صقلاوي جدراني من تاج الخير وبشرى الخير من خيل باسل جدعان ابو فارس

The Saqlawi Jadran Jawlan Al Kheir, by the Ubayyan Suhayli Taj Al Kheir out of Bushra Al Kheir a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah, at Basil Jadaan’s studfarm outside Damascus.

Kuhailaan Al Adiyat Hashal, from Bahrain to Texas

PJ Altshuler and Marwan Abu Suud received this precious gift from the Bahrain Royal Stud.  He is currently the only Bahraini stallion alive in the USA. I s The earliest known source of information on the strain of Kuhailaan Al-Adiyat Hashal is Judith Forbis’s article “Pearls of Great Price” as it appeared in a 1971 issue of the Arabian Horse World (AHW) magazine, republished in her book “Authentic Arabian Bloodstock” (1990). Judith Forbis visited the studs of the ruling family of Bahrain in March 1970 and mentioned the following: “Kuheilah Al Adiati is another strain rarely heard of before, but deriving from the Kuheilah family. She came from Saudi Arabia, and was presented to Sheikh Hamad when he was a prince, together with a letter of presentation from the offering Sheikh of Al Ajman: “I send to you this mare which fulfills Al Adiat […] When Sheikh Hamad saw her racing and found her exceedingly swift, he happily declaired: “Truly she is of Al Adiat” The strain is evidently a branch of the Kuhaylan family, and appears to have come to Bahrain in the period between 1923 and 1932, the period when Shaykh Hamad bin ‘Isa Aal Khalifah was deputy…

ارسان الخيل التي غنمتها شمر في كون الشريف

أفاد مشل باشا الجربا في حديث مع ضابط المخابرات الفرنسية فيكتور مولر- المسؤول عن مراقبة البدو في دولة سوريا الخاضعة انذاك للانتداب الفرنسي – أن ارسان الخيل التي غنمتها شمر (الثابت وخرصة وفداغه) في كون الشريف خمسة ارسان هي: العبية الشراكية وقد ال مربطها الى السحيلي من فداغه كحيلة الشريف وقد عدها مولر من الارسان المنقطعة الشنين عند القعيط النخيشة عند الحدب وهم شيوخ الثابت كحيلة الجلالا عند ابن دايس من الخرصة وأضاف مولر في حاشيته أن هذا الرسن قد انقطع بعد أن نفقت اخر فرس منه فرس شقراء كانت شراكة بين دهام الهادي والقعيط وقد أورد مولر هذه المعلومات في إحدى حواشي كتابه  “مع البدو في سوريا” (١٩٣١) نقلًا عن الشيخ مشل باشا الجربا اقول: مما لم يذكره الضابط مولر ان مربط كحيلة الشريف لابن سعدي من عوارف شمر وهو ما زال موجودًا عندهم حتى الان  كما أن مربط العبية السحيلية ما زال موجودًا أما الشنينة والنخيشة فانقطع الرسنين عند شمر منذ مدة ومن المعروف أن حرب شمر والشريف أستمرت سنوات عدة وتخللتها معارك كثيرة شاركت فيها معظم عشائر شمر وأفخاذها ولعل عشائر شمرية أخرى ليست تابعة مشل باشا الجربا غنمت أرسانا غير هذه الارسان مثلًا ذكر المؤرخ عبدالله العثيمين في كتاب “نشاة إمارة ال رشيد” اربعة ارسان اخرى…

A letter from Aleppo

From the March 1864 issue of the Sporting Magazine, Vol 43, pp. 179f.. This magazine was identical in content with the Sporting Review, hence the differing references for this letter in later sources. The anonymous Scotch gentleman has sometimes been identified as John Johnstone; his correspondent, the author of the letter, is almost certainly James Henry Skene, the British Consul at Aleppo, as it contains the quote attributed to him about “blood and stride in the desert”. The following very admirable letter from Aleppo has been handed to us by a Scotch gentleman, who has just imported two Arab mares by way of an experiment: “I have just received your letter of the 10th inst., and reply to it at once. “I have made five experiments in horses here— “1st. Out of thorough-bred English mares, by Arab stallions. “2nd. Out of the best Arab mares, by thorough-bred English horses. “3rd. Rearing the best Arab blood on succulent forage, as in England. “4th. Rearing thorough-bred English stock in the Desert, on dry food. “5th. Buying colts and fillies superior to those usually sold by the Arabs. “The first experiment has led to no great results, the produce being merely handsomer than English horses, without being…

South America: Tatar and the manchado coloration

Pardon the silence on my end, life has been busy. I wanted to share a photo of one of the desert bred stallions that found their way to South America (namely, Argentina) in the early 20th century. A chestnut with a large blaze and four white legs (edit: I appear to have been mistaken. see comments for further information), Tatar came to Argentina to stand stud at Hernan Ayerza’s farm in 1931. As best as I can understand, his arrival to South America was a coordinated effort, with Hernan enlisting the help of the prolific Carl Raswan. Carl Raswan went to his friend (his blood brother) Fawaz al-Shaalan, a leader of the Roala people in the southern part of Syria. Per Peter Upton’s publication “Arabians,” Fawaz sold Tatar to Carl Raswan, though it’s unclear to me if he was also the breeder. Fawaz was also involved in the Hearst importations of 1947, was involved with the Arab League delegation to the United Nations in the wake of the post-WWII developments of Israwl and Palestine, and if I’m not mistaken (someone please correct me if I am!) he was involved in Syrian parliament in the 60s as part of the Bedouin…

Stallion of the King of Saudi Arabia at Al Kharj Stud, 1940s from the Arabian Horse Archives

From the Arabian Horse Archives: Part of a series of 120 primarily glass slides taken by Joe Buchanan’s father, Robert Earle Buchanan, a professor of Agriculture at Iowa State University, on trips to the Middle East in 1946 and 1949. In the Comar Arabians collection of Garth and Joe Buchanan. Now held by Carolyn and Dick Hasbrook, Twinbrook Arabians, Ames, Iowa. About the chestnut stallion: notice the strong backline, the deep girth, the high withers, the straight shoulder and the long hip. You can see the big eye sockets too. I really wonder what his breeding is. In the pen behind him is another stallion, grey. Only a blurry head shows, but here too you can the protruding eye socket, the dry and delicate muzzle, the prominent bone under the eye, and the fine black skin around the eyes and muzzle. The hindquarter looks droopy but it may be the posture. About the white male donkeys: these are from the precious breed that comes from al-Hassa province of Eastern Arabia; they are taller and stouter than average donkeys, and have bigger and drier heads. A very precious breed now vanished.

King’s horses south of Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, 1946 or 1949

This unique photo is part of a series of 120 primarily glass slides taken by Joe Buchanan’s father, Robert Earle Buchanan, a professor of Agriculture at Iowa State University, on trips to the Middle East in 1946 and 1949. It is in the Comar Arabians collection of Garth and Joe Buchanan. Now held by Carolyn and Dick Hasbrook, Twinbrook Arabians, Ames, Iowa. It is on the website of the Arabian Horse Archives.

Tuwaissan Thaathaa

Jenny Lees posted this superb photo of the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisaan Thaathaa on Facebook the other day. The Tuwayssan reportedly strain came to Bahrain from Syria in the 1920s, and prospered there. It has disappeared everywhere else, and is now mostly associated with Bahrain and thought of as a Bahraini strain. The strain was formed in North Arabia, and is one of the oldest Arabian horse strains. I personally know of two branches of it: Tuwayssan ‘Alqami (‘Algami) and Tuwayssan Qiyaad. It will forever hold a special place in my heart because of my beloved Halima (registered in the Lebanese studbook as a Al-Tuwayssa), the grand-dam of which hailed from the ‘Anazah east of Homs, Syria.    

1971 Kuhaylah Jallabiyah from Bahrain

In 1971, Judi Forbis  took this beautiful and timeless photo of a Kuhaylah Jallabiyah mare in Bahrain, the daughter of an old speckled Jallabi stallion. The photo was published in Arabian Horse World, in Judi’s series of articles “Pearls of Great Price”. The croup is short as in many Bahraini horses, but otherwise, what a mare, what look. She oozes Arabness. When will be go back to breeding horses like this, instead of the china dolls and ‘living art’ of today? And, this is by far my favorite color in Arabians.

Bahraini Al Khamsa Roster Proposal passes its first vote

Last November I submitted a proposal for the inclusion in the Al Khamsa Roster of a number of Bahraini Arabian horses that had been exported from Bahrain, to the UK, South Africa, Egypt, Poland, and Germany. The proposal was masterfully presented by Joe Ferriss, with comparative pedigree charts and nice photos, and it passed its first vote at the Al Khamsa 2018 Convention in Texas. Hopefully, by this November, I will submit a proposal for the inclusion of the Syrian horses that have been exported to the West. This new blood is a much welcome addition to the existing authentic bloodlines.  

Saqr al-Musrib, breeder of the Hamidie import *Mannaky

The new Annotated Quest features a re-edition of Charles Craver’s article “Horses of the White City”, the most comprehensive article to date on the history of the Hamidie importation of Arabian horses to the Chicago World Fair of 1893. The history of the Hamidie horses themselves and that of the people around them is still shrouded with mystery. One of those people is J.R. Dolbony, who was associated with the importation in some way or other (he hailed from the Dalbani Shi’a Muslim family of Baalbeck in Lebanon today). I have found his testimonies about the Hamidie horses very intriguing, and I believe they should be taken seriously. In a letter to Homer Davenport from 1909 now at the US National Archives, Dolbony made several claims: 1) that he raised the Hamidie import *Mannaky; 2) that both *Mannaky’s sire and dam were of the Ma’naqi strain (hence his name); 3) that both were owned by “Sage el Misrub”, and 4) that *Mannaky was bred by this same “Sage el Misrub”. I have just identified this “Sage el Misrub”. He was none other than Sagr al-Misrub (that ‘r’ at the end of his first name must have been mistaken for an…

On the year of the migration of the Sba’ah back to Saudi Arabia

When I first opened Volume One of the Syrian Studbook some twenty five years ago, the first thing that struck me was the very limited number of horses that traced to the Sba’ah Bedouin tribe. After all, this powerful and wealthy tribe which is part of the larget ‘Anazah confederation spent its summer quarters in the area directly east of the city of Hama in central Syria. As a result it was familiar to Western travelers and government agents who took off from Aleppo, Damascus or Beirut, in search for Bedouin Arabian horses. Another result of this geographical location was that many of the early desert-bred imports to the West and Egypt, which form the antecedents of many of today’s Arabian horses, hailed from the Sba’ah tribe. Major Roger Upton, for instance, spent some time with Sba’ah leader Shaykh Sulayman Ibn Mirshid in 1874, and bought horses like Kesia, Yataghan and Haidee from his tribesmen. Similarly, Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt visited with Beteyen Ibn Mirshid a few years later and some of their best known early desert imports were bred by the Sba’ah: Queen of Sheba, Meshura, Azrek, Pharaoh, Dajania, Hagar, etc. Some of the horses imported by Homer…

Ma’naqiyah, Bint Mach’al

Another daughter of Mach’al, this time a Ma’naqiyah named Cha’lah, also from an old strain of the Dandashi lords of Tal Kalakh. Sire of dam: al-Jazzar, a Kuhaylan Nawwaq; sire of granddam: Ghazwan, a Kuhaylan al-Kharas; pictured with a foal by a partbred stallion. Photographed by my father somewhere in Western Syria, most likely in Tal Kalakh in the late 1970s, and pedigree in his handwriting on the back of the photo. How much I would give for just one of those mares now. There numbered in the low hundreds at the height of the Lebanese national program, before the civil war of 1975-1990. In 1991, there were only 25 mares left, most born between 1965 and 1975. Today, zero left in asil form.

Saqlawiyah, Bint Mach’al

An asil Saqlawiyah, daughter of Mach’al (and hence paternal sister of the stallion Achhal, the sire of the tree mares in the previous entries), from an old strain of the Dandashis (perhaps the Saqlawi Ibn Zubaynah strain tracing to Umm al-Tubul), photographed by my father in Tal Kalakh, Syria, in the late 1970s. She was exported to Qatar during the Lebanese civil war. Many of the best asil Lebanese mares were sent to the Gulf countries, where they were wasted.

Desert bred horses in Syria, 1985-86

While scanning old photos this morning, I happened on these two photos. There is a story to them. One evening in 1985 or 1986, a Lebanese visitor came to see my father in Beirut, and left the two photos behind. He spoke emphatically about his trip to the Syrian Jazirah (Upper Mesopotomia in North Eastern Syria today) and the desert-bred horses he had seen there. I was seven or eight years old, I did not catch much of the conversation but the photos made a lasting impression on me. It was in the middle of the Lebanese civil war, communications between Syria and the part of Lebanon we lived in were infrequent and difficult, and most Lebanese horsemen involved in the Lebanese horse racing scene, including my father, were convinced that no more good, authentic, pure desert-bred horses were left in the Syrian desert, because of the degenerescence of the breed and its contamination by  part-bred Arabs from Iraq. “You will only find leftovers there”, my father was once told. These photos and the visitor’s description showed otherwise, just at a time when the Syrian breeders were launching a large-scale effort to register all the horses of the Bedouins. Indeed,…

Mlolshaan Mutab, Bahraini stallion in South Africa

Pauline Du Plessis’s Saruk Arabians is standing the bay 1999 Bahraini stallion Mlolshaan Mutab (Mlolshaan Hilal x Mlolesh Durra by Jellaby Adari) at stud in South Africa. He was bred by the stud of Sh. Mohammed Bin Salman Aal Khalifah, and is heavily linebred with Mlolesh (Mulawlishan) blood.  He is a sire of endurance winners. Photo from Saruk’s stud Facebook page.

Other photo of desert bred stallion Bango imported to Algeria

I had never seen this photo of the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Bango, bred by the Shammar in 1923, and imported to Algeria by the French government in 1928, from an Egyptian racetrack. The photo was taken from an article on the Algeria stud of Tiaret, which appeared in the magazine Le Sport Universel Illustre N1375 of 1929/07/06. Although French studs did not favor grey horses at the time, Bango left behind 142 offspring in both Algeria and Tunisia, including the stallions Sumeyr, Beyrouth, Titan, Caleh, and the mares Tosca, Salome, Palmyre, El Balaska, Gafsa, Themis, Diyyena, and others that stamped Northern African studs with their quality.  

Telmese, b. 1903, “Asil from the Chammar”

A photo of the desert bred stallion Telmèse, born in 1903, imported to France by  Quinchez in 1912 has surfaced on allbreedpedigree.com. His name is spelled “Telmez” there. There is no strain recorded for Telmese, only that he was an “Asil de la tribu des Chammars”. This marks one of the first usages of the term “Asil” for an Arabian horse in French official records. His most important progeny includes the stallion Djebel Moussa, sent to Tunisia, out of Dragonne, and the mare Medje, out of Dragonne’s daughter Dourka.  

Dahman, b. 1900, from the Shammar

The desert-bred Arabian stallion Dahman, born in 1900, imported from Syria to France’s Pompadour stud in 1909 by Quinchez, remains one of the prototypes of the authentic Arabian stallion. He was bred by the Shammar, by a stallion of the Dahman strain, out of a mare of the Rabdan strain. This photo is in a 1923 article from the magazine “Le Sport Universel Illustre”, from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.      

Zubaida Assahara, 2010 Hadba Enzahi mare

I spent part of the weekend at Hazaim’s house and small farm in North Carolina, and got to see his five Davenports, four Kuhaylan Haifis and a Hadba Enzahi. The best part was a trail ride around the subdivision, him on Gilad Ibn Dubloon and me on Una CF. Below are two photos of his 2010 Hadba Enzahi mare, Zubaida Assahara (RL Thunder Cloud x RL Angel Girl by Letarnard), with 4 lines to *Hadba. She was in many ways my favorite, despite being the smallest of the lot. A war mare, built like a tank, with a broad chest, a deep girth and a broad, round rib cage, exuding stamina and power, with a pleasing and dry head, a big eye and prominent eye socket, a dry bony face, an elegant arched throat, hair fine like silk, a shiny copper coat, overall not without style, and so reminiscent of the small and valiant desert horses of my childhood in Syria.  

New photos of desert Arabians horses in Syria from 1930

Enjoy these photos from an auction site, Delcampe.net, which have never been published before. I don’t know their source, but I suspect they were taken during official government buying missions. A breeder from Algeria, Farid Chaoui, shared them with me, and should know more. The legend for some of them say “Hadideen”, the name of a Syrian Bedouin tribe, for others they say “Raqqa”. There are more.   

The Ma’naqiyah of Ibn Hidfah of Aal Murrah

I made a small but interesting breakthrough in further understanding old Bahraini pedigrees, and I am excited to share it. It concerns the background of one of the Bahraini foundation mares of the Ma’naqi strain. This is the mare “Managhieh Bin Hiddfa Al-Murra”, the maternal grand dam of the two Royal Stud stallions Managhi Al Kabir, and his brother the superb Managhi Al Saghir (photo below). It just occurred to me, after reading a letter from Jens Sannek to Edie Booth, where the name of the mare was spelled slightly differently as “Ma’anaghieh (Bin Hidfah Almorrah)”, that the part of the name between brackets referred to her breeder and his tribe. Al-Murra/Almorra refers to the South-Eastern Arabian Bedouin tribe of same name; Bin Hidfah/Bin Hiddfa would be the breeder’s clan. I set off looking for a clan by the name of Bin/Ibn Hidfah among the Aal Murra, and I found many mentions of it online. There is a reference to the warrior/poet Dayes Aal Hidfah, where he refers to “al-Mu’niq” in his verses, here. There are also many references to social events involving men from the Aal Hidfah clan on the tribe’s social media outlets, which are also maintained by a…

Help needed squinting at fuzzy photo

This is “Maanaghieh Safra Marshoosha”, literally “the yellow fleebitten Ma’naqiyah mare” from Bahrain. The photo is from Volume 1 of the Bahrain Studbook, and I think by Danah Al Khalifah. I don’t have it in a better resolution. I need help figuring out whether the mare is sticking her tongue out in the photo. It sounds stupid, but there is a reason for this request: ‘Atiyah Abu Sayfayn, the Fad’aan Bedouin from Syria who owned one of the most reputable XXth century Ma’naqi marbat told Kamal ‘Abd al-Khaliq who told me several years ago that ‘Atiyah once (in the 1950s-60s?) gave a grey/yellow Ma’naqiyah mare to Jad’aan the son of Miqhim Ibn Mhayd who in turn gave her to a senior member of the royal family of Bahrain. ‘Atiyah told Kamal that the mare’s nickname was Umm Lssoon, the ‘mother of tongues’ because she always stuck her tongue out. He also told him that she was closely related to Atiyah’s mare Wadeehah (b. 1970), photo below taken by me at Kamal’s stud outside Aleppo in the early 90s.

Video of Bahraini stallions at rest at stud of Sh. Mohammed Bin Salman

Thanks to Jenny Lees, I had the chance to visit the stud of the late Sh. Mohammad Bin Salman Aal Khalifah, now property of his sons. My camera phone (yes, I know) battery died within the first minutes, but not before I took this video video of the stallions at rest (click here). You will recognize several of the stallions Matthias Oster and featured here over the previous days and weeks. The first one is a Jellabi, the last one a fleebitten Mlolshaan, the handsome chestnut Sa’idan is right behind the first Jellabi by some sort of yellow manger. You can spot the Rabdan Al Aswaj by another manger towards the first third of the video.