Photo of the day: Madani

Madani (by Souci x Sissana by Mossoul) was one of Tunisia’s best Arabian racehorses in the 1950s.  This old photo was originally published here. Madani is among others the sire of the stallion Inchallah, exported to France in the late 1950s. He also has progeny in Germany.

12 Replies to “Photo of the day: Madani”

  1. A lovely blog!! I own an Arab and we compete in the Open Side of Dressage. My guy looks nothing like the photos you have, although I am told he has excellent blood lines. Lets say we would most likely be thrown out of the ring at a breed show. I have been told that he is more like the old style (what ever that means) more bone, wider chest, larger haunches etc.
    Very intersting reading. thank you

  2. Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoy it. Please tell your friends about it.. The ring is not everything. A good Arabian is first and foremost an Arabian you can ride..

  3. This a copy of an e-mail sent by Dr Khadija Idriss head of the Tunisian stud-book in 2004.
    It shows that “Barr”1942 was imported fromSyria or Lebanon.
    In these countries there is no Barb horses.Hansi Hech-Melnyk in her book “the Pindex” shows an exhibit page 563 showing “Barr” under Etalons Barbes (Barbes Stallions) taken fron the FRSB XXVIII/P.41.It is the same stallion apearing in Dr.Idriss’s list : same birth place same birth date.
    Interesting problem!!Who should we believe?

    LISTE DES CHEVAUX AR DONT SUFFIXE
    PAYS ETRANGER’OR’ ‘LB’ ‘SY’

    * Nom Cheval * Nais * Sexe*

    **************************************
    * AZEM SY * 1918* M *
    * BANGO OR * * M *
    * BARR OR * 1942* M *
    * CHEIKH EL OURBANE OR* 1940* M *
    * DYNAMITE II OR * * M *
    * EL MANAGHI OR * * M *
    * EL OBAYAN OR * * M *
    * EMTAYRA OR * 1938* F *
    * HELLAL OR * 1907* M *
    * IBISCH OR * * M *
    * LATIF OR * 1903* M *
    * MALEK OR * 1903* M *
    * MANSOURAH OR * * F *
    * MASBOUT OR * * M *
    * NASR OR * * M *
    * QUATRE AS OR * 1908* M *
    * SALAMIE OR * * M *
    * TAMERLAN OR * * M *
    N.B :
    SY : Syrie
    OR : Orient, peut être Syrie ou Liban
    Pour tous ces chevaux ascendant de plusieurs lignés de pur sang arabe en
    Tunisie.Nous n’avons pas leurs pères et mères, ils apparaissent dans les
    pedigrees des chevaux Tunisiens en dernière position .
    Restant à votre disposition pour toute information utile, je vous
    souhaite bonne réception.
    Dr Khadija DRISS
    Responsable de Stud Book

    Syrian Arab Horse Association
    Tel:00 963 11 2135401
    Fax : 00 963 11 2135403.P.O.BOX: 31815
    Damascus Syria

  4. Thsi is Hansi Melnyck reply in a private mail to “Barr” origins,

    Dear Joe
    thank you so much for your rely. Please let me tell you that I have an “Open Mind” and records from reliable sources are important to me. It is possible that no “Barb” went into the countries you mentioned, but would have to be proven.It is difficult for me to accept the fact that the French stud books for a decade made continuos errors, stating that “Barr” is a Barb and suddenly out of the blue data comes about to correct this. the French have always been in my opinion highly accurate in their publications. It also bothers me that nobody ever corrected them until so many years later and it took my “Pindex” to get the ball rolling. I gave a copy of my Pindex in 1994 to Tunisian delegate, and I never heard one complaint. I will be in Oman at the WAHO meeting and may be, if you like, we can discuss this matter further. Have a wonderful day
    Hansi
    Serenity Arabian Farms

  5. I have a silly question for you: do you think there is a chance the French took “Barr” to mean “Barb”? Only one letter difference.. What would a Barb horse be doing in the Middle East?

  6. This exactly what I wrote to Hansi,we never had any Barb breeding in the ME.Unless,”Barr” was one of the Spahi horses “:During the 1920s mounted Spahi regiments saw extensive active service in the French mandated territories of Syria and Lebanon, as well as in Morocco””Wikipedia.
    –If he was a Barb and come together with the French forces he must have been such an outstanding horse to be brought back again by the French remount to Tunisia….
    Despite the fact that the French remount opend army remount studs in Lebanon and Syria and bought Arabian stallions for this purpose ,some of them are pictured in The Raswan Index.
    “Barr” according to the Tunisian Stud Book was born in 1942 in the Orient,so he could not have been imported by the “Spahi”‘forces from North Africa.Unless he was born in Syria from a Barb stallion and a Syrian mare ,in this case why the French Remount bought Arab Stallions they might have used imported Barb stallions.

    In my opinion “Barr”was used to create Arabe-Barbe horses,maybe that’s why he was under barbe.

  7. You’re right, I personally think it’s just an administrative mistake and that someone put him in the wrong studbook under Barb. Unfortunately, I can’t prove this hypothesis. We need his hujjah.

  8. gisella bergman m’a parle de Barr elle m’a dit que cet etalon à donner des produits de petite taille pour des pur sang de course donc ils ont décider de le mettre entant qu’étalon pour les jument barbes afin d’avoir de meilleures chevaux arabe_barbes c’est de la selon elle qu’est née cette confusion

  9. oui moi aussi je suis de cet avis, ainsi que Joe Achcar plus haut. Cela dit, je crois qu’il faut obtenir ses papiers d’origine de chez le service des haras en france.

  10. Dear Edouard

    I am working on the Tunesian horses and found many to be “Asil”.
    The Germans time ago stated that they had some documentation for “Barr”.
    I was to get copies and never did.

    Morocco still has many excellent Barb horses, I saw many myself in 1994
    It stand to reason that also other North AFRICAN imported and/or bred some.
    I recorded numerous Asil mares topbred with Barr or Koraich. It bothers me.

    Any more news on this subject please?

    Regards
    Hansi

    1. Hansi

      Barr is Asil. The French government has his documents. Stephen Eberhardt from Germany recently wrote about him on his blog, with the following info:

      “Name: Barr
      Born: 1942
      Breeder: Jawali tribe/Syria
      Strain: Manakki (Managhi) Sbeili

      He came together with Ghalbane, Masbout and Cheikh el Ourbare from Syria. This was one of the last importations. There was very much irritation, because Barr was A L S O registered in the barb stud book, because he was also used on barb mares, to produce horses for the French government.”

      Also, Walid from Tunisia wrote about him on this blog and said: “gisella bergman told me about Barr she said that he produced horses that were too small for racing, so the Tunisian government decided to use him on Barb and register him in their Barn studbook to improve Arab Barb breeding.”

  11. Hello, im abdel tunisian arabian race horse breeder
    I have a lot of interrest in bloodlines
    So im asking for help, i want to Know somes informations about Em tayra and mansourah two mares imported from orient
    Pleaaaase abuser me i want espescially to Know their strain ( manaki, khohilan,seklawi or Jilfan…?)
    Thanks.

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