Hamdaniyah al-‘Ifri, dam of *Ta’an, Syria
This mare is a desert-bred Hamdaniyat al-‘Ifri, bred by a Bedouin named Mus’ir Hamad al-Sakran, who also bred her son *Ta’an. *Ta’an was imported to the USA in 1994. Her sire was the grey Kuhaylan al-Wati of Diab al-Sbeih of the Shammar Bedouins, a stallion who was used over a short period of time, but sired influential horses, such as Mahrous.
Hamdani al-‘Ifri is a very respected strain in the Northern Arabian desert and the Jazirah area (Upper Mesopotomia in Syria and Iraq today). Upon being asked how his horses compared with Hamdani al-‘Ifri, ‘Abd al-‘Iyadah al-Dar’an Ibn Ghurab, owner of the old and otherwise very famous Hamdani Simri marbat of same name, is reported to have said that the Hamdani horses of the al-‘Ifri were even more authenticated than his, because al-‘Ifri had obtained them directly from Simri himself. The Hamdani horses of Ibn Ghurab also came from Simri, but via another Bedouin. The clan of al-‘Ifri are Bedouins from ‘Anazah (from the people of Ibn Haddal I think), who kept a marbat alive until the 1970s. I am not sure how the dam of *Ta’an relates to the horses of al-‘Ifri (i.e., what the chain of owners from al-‘Ifri to her breeder is).
I took this photo at the stud of Mustafa al-Jabri in 1993. The mare was later sold to one of the Gulf sheikhdoms, where she was wasted.
Hello ,
I have not seen Taan myself , but his daughter , Jumana ” Kuhayla Um Arqub” , an old gray mare bred and owned by my friend Saed Yakan of Aleppo is such a great mare , she has two fillies by two different Hamdani Ifri stallions from my stud , and they are just great.
Kindest Regards
Omar Anbargi
Look at how deep down her thigh the muscling goes, substantially below the stifle. Very Nice!
Best
Bruce Peek
Is that a feature of Arabians Bruce? I was personally disturbed by this trait of hers for several years..
I think a trait of the good ones , yes. A good strong,”set of trousers,”i.e. where the muscling runs down into the back of the gaskin even below the stifle is desirable for both power and stability. And since we in the west perhaps too influenced by a pursuit of ,”refinement,” have bred horses with less and less substance we should probably try to rectify that by breeding
into this mares line among others. Add more ,” arabianess,”
to our arabians.
best wishes
Bruce Peek
We have noticed very different muscle insertion down the back of gaskin and above the hock in our horses. I am not sure what it means, but we have not thought that one was better than the other. Certainly don’t want them narrow in there, you are right!