List of horses imported by De Portes to France in 1819

Joe Achcar recently circulated the following list of stallions imported by the mission of Mr. de Portes to the Syrian desert in 1819. The list comes from the book  written by the veterinarian of that mission, Louis Damoiseau, which appeared in 1832:

Abou Far, Abou Arkoub, Abjar, Abou Seif, Berek, Cheleby, Choueyman, Bedouin, Daher, Aslan, Addal, Sakkal, Haleby, Tadmor, Saraf, Ourfali, Hachmet Bey, Meckawi, Orkan, Gazal, Massoud, Mahrouk, Hadji,Richan, Medani, Durzi, Effendi, Diva, Kebeche, Hadeidi, Houteif, Munki, Mahama, Frigian, Drey, Kelle.

All these stallions were apparently imported from the Anazah tribes. The list is interesting because at least six of these stallions (Abou Arkoub, Choueyman, Kebeche, Richan, Munki, Frigian) carry recognizable strains names, which means that these strains were well-established at a relatively early date. Of course, the most famous stallion of this importation was Massoud, who contributed significantly to the founding of the Anglo-Arab race.

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