Ayerza Arabian horses

PART ONE:  ARABIAN HORSES OF DON HERNAN AYERZA (‘El Aduar’) Arabian horse breeding in Argentina began in 1892/1893 when don Hernan Ayerza and his wife María Moreyra de Ayerza traveled to the Middle East with the purpose of buying Arabian horses and start breeding them pure upon their return to Argentina. Previous to their journey, some Arabian horses had already arrived to Argentina but they were used as breed improvers for other horse breeds; no one was breeding pure Arabians before don Hernan Ayerza.  Don Hernan and his wife María traveled  to the same region where Lady Anne Blunt and her husband Wilfrid Scawen Blunt had gone before to buy Arabian horses, and the same region to which Homer Davenport would later travel in 1906 to obtain Arabian horses and begin breeding them in US. Don Hernan was looking for horses of excellent Arab type, right temperament, with no white markings and above 1.53 cm in height. He encountered many difficulties regarding his selection criteria of height and coat color and he wrote in his letters back home that he had passed on some very fine horses  either because they were shorter than his preferred height or were heavily marked…

On the strain of Bint El Bahreyn in Lady Anne’s Journals

The circumstances of the acquisition by Lady Anne Blunt of the Bahraini mare Bint El Bahreyn, an existing line in Egyptian Arabian horses, are well documented in her Journals and Correspondence which Rosemary Archer and James Fleming published in 1986. The published Journals, however extensive, are only a curated subset of Lady Anne’s original handwritten journals at the British Library. They do not represent a full record of what Lady Anne recorded in her journals about Bint El Bahreyn, including a controversy about the mare’s actual strain. Read on. Sometime in late 2021, as Judith Forbis and I were working on the publication of the book “The Arabian Horses of Abbas Pasha“, she shared with me typewritten excepts she had transcribed from Lady Ann’s manuscript journals at the British Library during a visit in 1974 — so before Archer’s and Fleming’s publication. What follows below is a compilation of the journal entries about the purchase of Bint El Bahreyn, from the published journals and as well as in Judi’s typewritten notes. [From the published J&C] December 4, 1907: “He [Prince Mohammed Ali] says [his brother] the Khedive is also selling the two mares, Dahmeh Shahwanieh’s from I. Khalifeh, so I…

The Five [Khams] in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript

The Abbas Pasha Manuscript was completed in 1853 and is a compilation of accounts dating ca. 1850. Its Kuhaylan section has three short but interesting accounts about the “Five, the Mares of the [Prophet’s] Companions [al-Sahabah]. Account of ‘Arar Ibn Hunaydi, an elderly man, in a Ruwalah majliss of more than thirty people: “one Ma’naqiyah Hudrujiyah, one Jilfah Istanbalutiyah, one Saqlawiyah, and two that slipped my mind“ Account of ‘Ali ibn Daham, aged around seventy or eighty years or more, and Hamdan ibn Sani’, aged around seventy years or more, in a Bani Sakhr majliss of around fourty people: “one Ma’naqiyah Hudrujiyah, one Jilfah Istanbalutiyah, one Mukhalladiyah, one Kubayshah [uncertain reading], and one Saqlawiyah” Account of Tariq Ibn Dalmaz, owner of al-Saqlawiyah, of the Arabs of al-Sardiyah: “one Ma’naqiyah Hudrujiyah, one Jilfah Istanbalutiyah, one Saqlawiyah, one Mukhalladiyah, and one that’s not on my mind” A few quick observations on these accounts: 1/ Nowhere are the Five referred to as being the Five mares of the Prophet Muhammad [khams al-Rasul]; rather, they are referred to as the Five of his Companions [khams al-Sahabah]; it’s an important difference. In this regard, the Mukhalladiyah, which is listed in two of the three accounts,…

How the Saqlawi strain got its name

In my earlier dives into the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, I had somehow missed this statement on the origin of the Saqlawi Jadran strain: Talal Ibn Ramal [a Shammar Bedouin notable from Najd] was asked: from whom did the Jadraniyah originally reach Ibn Jadran? The aforementioned stated before the gathering that these were ancient utterances [qaalaat mubtiyah, meaning that recollections about them were faint]; but that they had heard from their first forefathers that the Jadraniyah was originally a Kuhaylat ‘Ajuz from amongst the Five [al-Khams]; that at the time of the [Prophet’s] Companions, the Kuhaylah had kicked [saqalat] another mare and injured her, and was named Saqlawi after that [incident]; that Saqlawi was a name [ie, for that Kuhaylah]; that she had originally passed to Ibn Jadran from one of two tribes, either from al-Dhafir or from al-‘Issa; that was what they had heard from the ancient ones. It is especially hard to disentangle foundational myths and legends from historical fact. In oral cultures, it’s almost impossible. That the source of the account acknowledged upfront “that these were ancient utterances” should be in this case be taken as a disclaimer of sorts, or at least a healthy dose of distancing;…

Ruwalah Bedouins on the effect of linebreeding

Today I took — yet another — deep dive into the Saqlawi Marighi section in the Arabic version of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript as published by the KAPL from the original of Gulsun Sherif. What I like the most in the book are the snippets where Bedouins share their views on breeding and conformation. These are usually buried within accounts of how horses passed from person or tribe to another. As such there are not gathered in one place. For example, here’s what al-Hudayri, a Bedouin from the Frijah clan of the Ruwalah, and otherwise a key source on the histories of the Saqlawi Jadran, Saqlawi Ubayri and Saqlawi Marighi strains, had to say about the impact of inbreeding Saqlawi Marighi mares to Saqlawi Marighi stallions on the size of their progeny: Whether the body of the mares is large or small has to do with the stallions, because the mares were not “struck by” (i.e., bred to) other stallions, only [to ones] from within and among them, the strain to itself, so they became the medium-sized mares that you are seeing now; and it is common knowledge that the shape [of the mares] is from the stallions; so when…

Basilisk and Rabanna as Saqlawi Marighi

In my book The Arabian Horses of Abbas Pasha: New Discoveries: The 1860 Abbas Pasha Sale List and Other Original Documents (Ansata Publications, 2022), with Kate McLachlan and Moira Walker, I showed how the strain of the Blunt mare Basilisk and hence that of her female descendants, including the Pritzlaff mare Rabanna and her own descendants, is actually Saqlawi Marighi. I made this discovery using two surviving original Arabic sources: the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, and the hujjah (Arabic certificate) of the Blunt mare Meshura, a close relative of Basilisk’s in the female line. The Abbas Pasha Manuscript was translated into English by Gulsun Sherif and beautifully published by Judith Forbis (Ansata Publications, 1993). The Arabic manuscript was then acquired by officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and published in Arabic under its original title Usul al-Khayl al-‘Arabiyah. An image copy of the hujjah of the Blunts’ mare Meshura was originally published in the book of her daughter Lady Wentworth, The Authentic Arabian Horse (1945). I published an English translation of it for the first time on this blog in May 2008 (link here), before publishing a slightly revised translation in my book in 2022. In summary, both primary sources…

King Ibn Saud on the people of Najd ca. 1928

From Rehan Ud Din Baber’s page, quoting King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud in the book ‘Ibn Sa?oud of Arabia, his people and his land’ by Ameen Rihani: “The Arabs of the North,’ he said, ‘ are heavy of foot and stolid; the people of Najd are quick, light, wiry. They snap and break not. Like our camels. The zelul of the North is strong but slow; that of the south is fast, although he has not so much enduring power. But the people of Najd are like the Bedu in hardship and adversity. We train ourselves in endurance. We put up with much that is hard and onerous. It is our land, our habit of life, our destiny —all one. We have to be always ready and fit. I train my own children to walk barefoot, to rise two hours before the dawn, to eat but little, to ride horses bareback, —sometimes we have not a moment to saddle a horse—leap to his back and go! This is the Najdi —the Najd spirit—the Najd condition of life. Especially the Najdis of the South — we are like our Bedu in this. ‘The people of Al-Qasim are traders and are not,…

Introducing guest blogger Silvia Bacci

I am happy to introduce Silvia Bacci as a guest blogger from Argentina on Daughters of the Wind ab horse in the way it came to us, when they were taken away from their cradle land. From Silvia: I have loved horses since I was born. And that love hasn’t diminished with age but on the contrary grew to encompass all and everything horse related. Was riding horses in the open fields by myself at 3 years old and riding in the sierras fresh-off-the track TB at 8 and enjoying them like the horse crazy kid that I was – and in part still am. My professional career took me away from the horses that I loved but the first thing I did when I stopped traveling and finally settled in one place was to buy a horse. My first Arabian horse. I have loved and admired Arabian horses and their history and relationship with their people all my life. Since discovering the Arab horses I have been a student of them – and I guess I can say, I will keep studying, learning and loving them until the end of times. With the study and learning of the Arabian…

Queen Shamsi of the Arabs wall panel from Nimrud, Iraq

In the British Museum lies this wall panel relief believed to represent queen Shamsi of the Arabs following her defeat at the hands of Tiglath-Pileser III’s Assyrian armies in 732 BCE. The four camels and the vase she holds in her hand are a representation of the tribute her Arab tribes had to pay to their victor. The relief dates from 728 BCE and was set at the central palace of Nimrud in today’s Northern Iraq, where British orientalist Sir Austen Henry Layard excavated it and moved it to London in 1848.

More Shams

Shams Al Arab (Cascade DE x SS Lady Guenevere) is built like a tank. Jeanne Craver and I were discussing whether her muscular hindquarter was more like that of a Doyle horse or whether it was more characteristic of the Drissula horses. She think it’s the latter and that her old mare Soiree (Sir x Sirrulya by Julyan) was like that. Julyan certainly produced horses built like that. Photos by DeWayne Brown this time, at the Doyle ranch. Click to enlarge them.

Shams at two months

Shams is Shaman’s maternal sister, out of DeWayne’s mare SS Lady Guenevere and by Cascade DE, a young Doyle stallion born in 2018. She is very strongly put together — look at that rear end! — but her neck could be a tad too short. Then again, her back is very short too, as DeWayne was quick to point out to me. Lyman Doyle, who took the nice pictures a couple days, ago thinks that she will turn a deep liver chestnut like her dam. It’s one of my favorite colors in Arabians. If Shams lives and matures into a broodmare I should like to breed her to a Davenport stallion with a long neck, e.g., Anecdote CF, to try and recreate the pedigree of Jeanne Craver’s mare Soiree, a distant relative from the same line. I may breed her to her brother Shaman as well.

Shaman at three years old

Looking good with a lot of maturing left to do. I am confident however that he will continue to fill up and will live up to his promise. He has substance and style and oozes masculinity. He moves well too. He is more old Blunt than the Crabbets themselves. I want to see him in his prime, at 8-10 years old. I also love his pedigree, not just the Ma’naqi Sbayli tail female, but also all the Greggans, Parnells, Subanis, and Julyans close up. The existence in 2023 of horses like him is such a miracle, in the world of [insert the name of your favorite Italian designer here, reincarnated as a show horse] Photos by Lyman Doyle two days ago.

A very nice colt from the Bint Kareema line in Belgium

This colt which Belgian breeder Patrick Vermuyten recently bought really caught my eye. He is from the Bint Kareema line, hence an Ubayyan by strain. Bint Kareema‘s (Rasheed BLNT x Kareema) is in my view one of the Arabian breed’s most underrated lines. Despite its very small numbers (mostly in Europe), it has consistently produced first class, well conformed, stlylish horses over the past fourty to fifty years mostly in Europe (e.g., Kauber Platte’s Hakeel Ibn Kaisoon). Unlike other damlines that become “worn out” over the generations — my friend Jean-Claude Rajot refers to these as “fin de lignée” — this line seems to be only getting better with time, if this colt is any indication. As an aside, Bint Kareema is one of the very few Straight Egyptian lines not yet accepted by Al Khamsa, due to missing information about the antecedents of the her dam Kareema, by a “Dahman” out of an “Obeya”. I have my own educated guess, which I wrote about some ten years ago. Today, an mtDNA comparison between this line and an Ubayyan Sharrak tail female line from the Tahawi,e extinct in asil form, but still represented in the general equine population, should help…

She did not pull through

Little Wujra, Wadha’s new filly by the Bahraini stallion Shuwaiman Al Rais, was put down yesterday at the veterinary hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She only lived three weeks, two of which at the hospital. She was born dysmature (with a “dummy foal syndrome”) and was afflicted with soft tendons. At first she was unable to rise to nurse, then she was unable to walk with ease. Things got better after two weeks, so she left the hospital with socks on her toes and wrappings around the front legs. Her prognosis was very good so I felt that the effort was worthwhile. Her left hock got infected at the farm and the infection quickly spread. She was rushed back to the vet hospital, but her low immunity got the better of her. I thought she would pull through. This is Wadha’s third failed attempt to put a live foal on the ground. In 2021, she slipped a foal by Monologue CF when seven months pregnant. In 2022, the foal, a colt also by Monologue, was too large and died half way out of the womb. Wadha suffered injuries in her vulva and almost died. This year at least she…

Kinza bred to Bashir today for a 2024 foal

This morning Lyman Doyle bred Kinza to Jenny Krieg’s magnificent Bashir Al-Dirri for a 2024 foal. They are from two different branches of the Basilisk female line: Bashir traces to the Peraga branch (*Mirage x Slipper), of which he is the last asil representative, while Kinza traces to the better represented Rabanna (Rasik x Banna) branch. Both stallion and mare blend Crabbet (i.e., Doyle), Babson (i.e., old Egyptian) and Pritzlaff (i.e., new Egyptian lines) seamlessly, so they should be a good match. Of course, Basilisk is from Ibn Dirri’s branch of the Saqlawi Marighi strain, as I have shown in the new book “The Arabian Horses of Abbas Pasha”. Below, a recent natural shot of Bashir, from Lyman. He truly is a magnificent horse.

Shams Al Arab, Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah filly

The little Ma’naqiyah filly seems to be doing well at the Doyle Ranch in Oregon. I named her Shams — the Arabic word for the sun. Because she is a welcome ray of sunshine after a string of colts — three very nice ones but still not helping with keeping this precious strain going. Second because it’s the name of my maternal grandfather’s last wife. Well, her name was Shamsi, a derivative of Shams. According to an Assyrian clay tablet from 715 BC, Shamsi was the name of an ancient queen of “the distant Arabs, dwellers of the desert, who did not know learned men or scribes, who had not brought tribute to any king”. That same table is the first to mention horses as tributes from the Arab Bedouins to the Assyrian king. It’s a very very old name, and a nice name. Hopefully that filly will grow into a nice mare. Photos by DeWayne Brown, the dam’s lucky owner.

Finally a Ma’naqiyah filly

After four years of trying, SS Lady Guenevere (“Guen”) gratified me with a filly yesterday, born at the Doyles’ ranch in Oregon. The filly’s sire is Cascade DE, a young Doyle stallion. I have been leasing Guen and her daughter Pippa by Chatham DE from DeWayne Brown in the hope for a filly. She is the first filly following three colts from both mares: Shaykh Al Arab (Tamaam DE x Pippa), Shaman Al Arab (Tamaam DE x Guen) and Sharif Al Arab (Bashir Al Dirri x Pippa). I hope she goes on to produce many fillies from that precious (to me) Ma’naqi Sbayli strain.

Jabinta, 1969 Saqlawiyat al-Abd

Going through some photos on my smartphone, which has an admittedly nice sample of the horses I like. This is the outstanding Jabinta (Jadib x Bint Malakah by Subani), a 1969 Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd (*Wadduda line) and the maternal granddam of my Jamr Al Arab. As my father would say in Lebanese Arabic, ya haik khail ya bala, which means: “either horses like this or none at all”.

“New” photo of early Crabbet mare Bozra

Kate found this “new” photo of the early Crabbet mare Bozra, by Pharaoh out of Basilisk. Both sire and dam were desert-bred, and both of the strain of Saqlawi ibn Dirri — a branch of the Saqlawi Marighi, itself a branch of the Saqlawi Ubayri (not Jadran). This mare would not be out of place in North-Eastern Syria today. The picture comes from Volume 1 of The Standard Cyclopedia of Modern Agriculture and Rural Economy, edited by R. Patrick Wright, and published in 1909, says Kate.

Merchants among camel-herding Bedouins – 1930s — Syrian desert

Another desert scene from the collection of French enthnographer Robert Montagne shows the tents of town merchants that use to stay among camel herding Bedouins on a seasonal basis. They would sell them the necessities that the desert environment could not produce: sugar, tea, coffee, dates, rice, spices, metal utensils, etc. Bedouins, their leaders in particular, where often heavily indebted to these merchants who also acted as creditors.

Sheep-herders from the Shammar – 1920s – Syria

From the collection of Jesuit priest, pilot and archaeologist Antoine Poidebard at the French Musee du Quai Branly comes this photo of a group of sheep herders from the Shammar tribe. The back of the photo has the following writing in French: “Berger bédouin de la tribu Chammar / Haute Djéziré / Cliché Poidebard”- manuscrit à l’encre bleue : “Berger bédouin de la tribu Chammar (désert de Syrie)”- étiquette collée : “Environ 300.000 nomades vivent sur les immenses territoires du désert de Syrie et sont rattachés au gouvernement de Damas. Nomades et pasteurs, ils pratiquent l’élevage du mouton et du chameau.“

“Meeting in the tent of a great Bedouin leader” – Syrian desert – 1930

A gorgeous photo from yet another collection at the Musee du Quai Branly, this time that of famed French anthropologist Robert Montagne, who studied Bedouin society and culture. The title in French is: “Desert de Syrie — Reunion dans la tente d’un grand chef bedouin de la tribu des Rwalla”. The young man to the right looks like Fawaz al-Sha’laan, the young leader of the Ruwalah at the time, who often appears in photographs by Carl Raswan dating from the same period.

Camel-herding tribe marching – Syria – 1920s

Also from the Varliette body of photographs at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris comes this beautiful photo of a camel-herding tribe marching. The palanquin of the daughter of the chief of the tribe is in the middle of the picture. The photo is also associated with Albert de Boucheman’s masterpiece “Materiel de la Vie Bedouine”.

Tribe Marching – 1920s – Syria

From the Varliette collection at the French Musee du Quai Branly comes this stunning photo of a “Tribe Marching” (Tribu en ordre de marche). It was taken between 1920 and 1934. The photo seems to have been published in Albert de Boucheman’s foundational study “Matériel de la vie bédouine”, of which I own a rare copy. I now have a lead into who Varliette is, given this apparent association with A. de Boucheman, whose focus in that book was the Sba’ah Bedouin tribe.

Sheepherders’ encampment – 1920s – Syria

From the Varliette collection of photographs at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris comes this photo taken between 1920 and 1934 of a Bedouin sheep herders’ encampment near Palmyra in Syria, titled “Campement de Bedouins Moutonniers”. Sheep herding tribes present in this area and at that time include the ‘Umur, the Fawa’irah, the Lhayb, and other smaller tribes. They were called in Arabic shawayah, or “people of the sheep” (shaat in Arabic), in contrast to the jammaalah tribes (those of the “people of the camel” – jamal in Arabic); and the baqqarah tribes (those of the “people of the cow” – baqar in Arabic).

Pretty Bedouin mare in the Naqab desert

Also from the collection of Jacques Edinger at the French Musee du Quai Branly — Jacques Chirac is this photo of a Bedouin leader and his beautiful mare from the Negev/Naqab desert around the city of Beersheba/Bi’r al-Sab’. Note the prickled ears, the small muzzle, the protruding eye sockets and the broad, flat forehead on this beautiful desertbred horse.

The colt of the year

I seldom post photos of horses for sale on this blog, if at all. Once in a blue moon, I make an exception for horses I would have liked to acquire myself. This one is one of them. Bev Davison has a gorgeous black colt for sale. Pedigree here. His name is SpiritWind Sahmadhi by SpiritWind Ahsahm out of DA Willow Windsong by Serr Serabaar. He is black (genetic tested, and clear for SCID, CA, LFS, & OAAM1.) He has Fay-el-Dine sire line and Basilisk dam line. He is built like a tank and with a lot of style, the way I like them. Look at the shoulder, the withers, the bad and the hip.

Belle’s 2023 foal

I am so taken with Belle’s new colt by Jamr, born a couple months ago at the farm of their new owner Moira Walker. Moira named him Belisarius. He is a throwback to the USA Arabians of a hundred years ago, those you find in black and white photographs of horse magazines and books. At that time, Arabians were good all around horses, not overly specialized in a single discipline, whether halter, endurance or racing.

The Khdili of Abbud Ali al-Amud in the Aldahdah Index

I have not looked at my “Aldahdah Index” in a while. It is a compendium of standardized entries on older Middle Eastern Arabian horses, mostly Syrian and Lebanese, in the style of the Raswan Index. I will publish it one day. I looked up the entry of the Khdili stallion of Abbud Ali al-Amud, who has recently been the subject of discussion on social media (Facebook and WhatsApp groups). I had written this about him back then: AL-KHDILI OF ABOUD ALI AL-AMOUD: an Asil desert-bred stallion; later owned by the Armenian horsedealer Apo in Aleppo. Strain: Kuhaylan Khdili, of the marbat owned by ‘Abbud ‘Ali al-‘Amud, a Bedouin from the Aqaydat tribe; al-‘Amud got his horses from the marbat of ‘Udayb al-Waqqa’ of the Saba’ah tribe. Comments: He was a small horse of such classic Arab type, with such an extreme head, that people in Aleppo were reluctant to use him because they found him to be ‘pretty like a mare’. He is closely related to the beautiful mare Leelas, a Kuhaylah Khdiliyah bred by ‘Abbud ‘Ali Al-‘Amud, and which is a daughter of the Ma’naqi al-Shwaiti al-Najrissi of the Aqaydat tribe. That was what I had about him some…

The young Krush filly

Below is a photo of the young filly that my father traded Dahess for. She was 10 days old in the picture. Her name was Amshet Shammar, born in 1995. Her sire was al-Aawar, the desert-bred Hamdani Ibn Ghurab stallion, and her dam was the old bay Krush mare Ghallaiah, which Radwan Shabareq had acquired from Rakan son of Nuri al-Jarba. Ghallaiah was sired by the black Saqlawi Marzaqani of al-‘Anud, the wife and mother of leaders of the Tai tribe. Ghallaiah’s dam was also sired by the same horse, which came from the Marazeeq, the owners of that strain since the 1840s (at least). That’s me on the background, and the late Mustafa al-Jabri to the right.

Three pictures of Dahess, the Ubayyan Suhayli stallion from Syria

This afternoon I scanned some photos from a trip to Syria my father and I took in 1995 (almost 30 years ago, yikes!). I am more aware than ever about the need to put old analog records in digital format and online. Starting with Dahess, the handsome Ubayyan Suhayli stallion my father had just traded for a filly from the breeding of Radwan Shabareq. Dahess was a personal favorite of mine. Funny how some horses are just horses, while others touch your soul. This was the last time I was to see him, as he met an untimely death in a freak accident a few months later. To me, he will always remain the epitome of the desert Arabian horse, the real deal. His origins were flawless. His sire Awaad was a Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida from the strain of Mayzar Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba, a strain that goes back to Ibn Rashid and the Mutayr Bedouins; his dam al-Jazi was sired by the grey Ubayyan Suhayli of ‘Atnan al-Shazi, a Faddagha Shammar Bedouin who had obtained the line from the Sahlan/Suhayli owners of the strain; I recall being told that this horse was sold to the UAE in the early 1980s…

A Syrian desert-bred stallion from the 1940s

I have been trying to go back in time as far as possible with the pedigrees of modern Syrian Arabian horses, looking for male ancestors as early as the 1930s and 1940s. It’s a difficult task, because the registration of Syrian foundation horses (the first wave in Volume 1, and the second wave in Volume 7) is based on oral testimonies, which seldom go beyond three or four generations, whether in horses or in humans. How many of us can readily remember the name of our paternal great-grandmother? A horse that keeps coming back in the back of the pedigrees of Syrian Arabians is the Dahman Amer of Sa’ud al-‘Ajarrash. In the back of the pedigree of this mare born in 1971, for example, where his owner’s name is misspelt and his strain is misrepresented. The mare’s hujjah shows the right strain and owner for this stallion, her great-grandfather, which was likely active in the 1940s. The same stallion appears as the sire of the Egyptian RAS desert-bred stallion El Nasser. Below a photo of this really fine mare in extreme old age (around 32). She was a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of the strain of Ibn ‘Amoud. I took this photo…

Tarff in another picture

A photo of Tarff (*Fadl x *Turfa) I had not seen before — he is in two of my mares. What a good mare *Turfa was, perhaps one of the best ever imported to the US. I second the old saying among US Arabian horse breeders that the more *Turfa in a horse, the better the horse. The same cannot be said of other more recent desert blood, which is precious but needs to be used with care, in my opinion, if one wants to avoid longer back and shorter hips. On another note, Americans really maintained their stallions very fat in the 1950s.

Shaman Al Arab at nearly three

Very happy with how Shaman is turning out (look past the winter coat ), and he is not three yet. I am inching closer towards the type of horses I want to see. I like them built like tanks, the stallions very masculine and the mares very feminine, all very dry and superlative movers. No to “living art”, no to “cute”, no to “extreme”. Yes to being a good horse first, before being an Arabian. Yes to irreproachable authenticity of bloodlines. Shaman will make a good stallion. Photo by DeWayne Brown taken today.

Notes to myself

The Sba’ah ‘Anazah had a first-class marbat of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak known as Ubayyan al-‘Awbali. The ‘Awbaliyyat were the Ubayyan Sharrak mares of al-‘Awaabilah clan of the Mihlif of the Mawayiqah of the Sba’ah. The Nawwaq clan owners of Kuhaylan Nawwaq are from the Qasim (Gasim) section of the Rasaalin of the Sba’ah. The Ma’naqi Sbayli take their name after Ibn Sbayyil of the Ajlan of the Rasaalin of the Sba’ah. The Ajlan are headed by Ibn Mijlad. Zudghum, owner of the most famous Ma’naqi Sbayli marbat of the XXth century was Zudghum Ibn Mijlad (TBC). Amir al-Dandal told me that the Ma’naqi Sbayli (Najrissi) marbat of the Aqayadat was obtained from the Rasaalin. The hujjah of the mare Aseelah (dam of Dinar, by al-Aawar) states that she was Ma’naqiyat Zudghum.

The little colt who was given away

The last horse I bred in Lebanon before moving to the USA in 2000 was this handsome young colt, by the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Dinar (Al-Aawar x Aseelah) out of my Saqlawiyah Sha’ifiyah Fadwa (Al Kaher x Loumah, by Faisal x Hababah). Fadwa was a striking bay mare, the outcome of an Egyptian-Syrian cross as her sire Al Kaher (Ikhnatoon x Marium by Ibn Shahrzada) was an Egyptian EAO export to Syria. He was given away to somebody as a weanling. Pity, because I thought he was special. But then again, one can’t keep them all. Not sure he was ever registered. I need to look him up.

Barazan in 2006 and *Haleb in 1906

Two more pictures of the authentic desert-bred stallion Barazan (Odeilan x Asfourah), a Saqlawi Marzaqani bred by the Shammar Bedouin. Photos by Gudrun Waiditschka in 2006 in Syria. Look at the striking similarity of the the bottom photo of Barazan with that of *Haleb, another desert-bred that was imported to the USA in 1906. True desert type has remained remarkably consistent over the past 100 years.

Barazan, asil desert-bred Saqlawi Marzaqani stallion in Syria

Khalid Rakhlani runs a beautiful page on Facebook, called Arabian Horses in Syria. It features numerous photos of Arabian horses of 100% Syrian stock, registered in the Syrian Arabian Horse Studbook. This morning’s photo of the stallion Barazan caught my eye. He represents a type of desert horse that is rapidly disappearing: small, yet well built, with this wild animal quality to him. His sire Odeilan, a seal brown Ubayyan Suhayli, was very small, but this was from malnutrition. Barazan is jet black without white markings, in the pure tradition of old Saqlawi Marzaqani stallions. In the 1950s, the Maraziq Bedouins who have owned the strain since the 1850s stood a famous stallion called the “Black Marzaqani”, who sired the famous race winner Mawj al-Athir (who was also his brother, the black Marzaqani having bred his own dam as a young colt). Later in the 1970s, the daughter and wife and mother of Tai leaders, Anud al-Nayif also stood a black Saqlawi Marzaqani stallion — the “horse of al-‘Anud”. Below, an early photo of his maternal grand-dam Tairah when she was still in the Syrian desert, with her Bedouin owner Sabah Munawikh al-Uthman of the al-Luhaib clan of the Shammar.…

On stallions used by the Tai in the XXth century

There was another important aspect of my recent series of conversations with Abu Tamer, Hammad Jaddu’ al-Jaz’aa, the venerable Tai Bedouin owner of a hundred year old marbat of Saqlawi Jadran Arabian horses known as the Saqlawiyyat of Dari al-Mahmud (or Saqlawiyyat Dariyyat as they have been calling them these days). It relates to the stallions him, his brothers and their father Jaddu’ al-Jaz’ah before them used to breed to their mares. He mentioned them using the following desert-bred stallions over the decades: The grey Kuhaylan Krush of Juhayyhim al-Mitkhan of the Tai, a horse Juhayyim got from the Shammar Jarba (early 1980s and 1970s) The black Kuhaylan Haifi of Juhhayim al-Mitkhan, a horse of Tai lineage (early 1970s and 1960s) The stallion of Muhammad al-Fajri of the Shammar, a Saqlawi Shaifi of the strain of Ibn Bisra (1970s) The fleebitten grey stallion of Bunyan al-Mujwil (al-Jarba), named “al-Sarukh”, a Saqlawi Shaifi of the strain of Ibn Bisra, born with the Jawwlah of Tai, but originally of Shammar stock (early 1970s and 1960s) The chestnut Kuhaylan Ibn Jlaidan of Bardan ibn Jlaidan of the Shammar (early 1970s and 1960s) The second horse of ‘Ebbo al-Humayyid, a bay Saqlawi Jadran of…

On two desert-bred stallions from the 1930s

This evening I was chatting with Hammad Jaddu’ al-Jaz’ah (Abu Tamer). We chat regularly about the horses about the horses of the Syrian Jazirah more generally and the horses of his family in particular. They have been breeding a well established (mathbut) strain of Saqlawi Jadran since the 1920s. At around 85 years old, Abu Tamer has an excellent memory. This evening he told me a few things about his horses which I did not know before. First, the original mare his father acquired was a daughter of Dahman Amer the horse of al-Ajarrash. This seems to have been a notable desert-bred stallion, present in the back of the pedigrees of many Syrian desert horses (beyond the number of generations registered in the studbook). The Dahman Amer of al-Ajarrash is the sire of the Hamdani Simri stallion al-Malkhukh, who is present in most Syrian horses today through his great-grandson Krush Juhayyim (son of the Ubayyan Suhayli of Abd al-Aziz al-Maslat, the son of a daughter of al-Malkhukh), but also in the tail male of the Saqlawi Ibn Zubayni stallion Abjar (son of Ghuzayyil, son of Hamdani al-Jhini, son of al-Malkhukh son of al-Ajarrash). Most notably, the Dahman Amer of Sattam…

Quick note on Krush Juhayyim

Mostly a note to myself.. I finally found a document that establishes the breeder of Krush Juhayyim, the foundation stallion of modern Syrian Arabian horsebreeding. A breeding certificate mentions that the sire of a grey ‘Ubayyah mare is “Krush Juhayyim from the marbat of al-Abd al-Muhsin (Sattam al-Hawwas)”. Sattam is the son of Hawwas the son of Mayzar the son of Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba. Mayzar was the leader of the Syrian Shammar as of 1934. PS — I learned from the Jarba shaykhs that this Krush strain came to them directly from Ibn Rashid of the Shammar of Hail. After the Ottomans quelled the rebellion of the Shammar under Abd al-Karim al-Jarba and hung him over a bridge on the Tigris in Mossul, his mother Amshah took her surviving son Faris and Abd al-Karim’s son Abd al-Muhsin, and stayed with their relative Ibn Rashid to shield them from the Ottomans. Upon their return to Mesopotamia, Ibn Rashid gave the young Abd al-Muhsin one of his Krush mares, which he had gotten from the al-Dawish leaders of Mutayr.