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.

The King is dead, long live the King!

This morning I woke up to a message from Jeanne Craver to the Davenport Owners list serve on Google Groups that Triermain CF had died the night before. Her message, titled “Another end to another era”, was: I went to feed about 30 minutes ago, and Triermain was gone. It looks like he strolled out to the water tank and was heading back to the shed and just dropped. No sign of struggle. He ate his breakfast with his usual gusto, and had seemed well. I am glad he went so quickly. Jeanne The passing of the last senior stallion at Craver Farms indeed marks the end of an era. Triermain was my personal favorite, after his sire Thadrian. He will forever have a special place in my heart. He was just perfect. First photo by Anita Westfall. Second photo from the Craver Farms collection. Of his several sons and successors, Aurene CF (below, photo by owner Hannah Logan) is, in my opinion, the new king. Long live the king! In homage to Triermain, a quote from the poem of Walter Scott “the Bridal of Triermain” after which Charles Craver named him, because only him was worthy of Plantagenet daughters:…

Aurene CF and the survival of old desert Arabian type

The photos Hannah Logan posted on her Facebook page made my day this morning. Hannah is a new breeder who acquired several horses from Marilyn McHallam’s herd in British Columbia, and they seem to be thriving. I was particularly pleased to see this nice photo of the 2004 Kuhaylan Haifi Davenport stallion Aurene CF (Triermain CF x Aureole CF by Fair Sir) after all these years; I had seen him at Craver Farms as a two year old in 2006 — I had mentioned the possibility of exporting a Davenport stallion to Syria, and Charles Craver suggested Aurene. Charles thought highly of him. I saw Aurene again at Pamela Klein’s in Southern Virginia in 2010 (I think) and liked him even better. In 2012, Pamela drove Aurene up to Pennsylvania for breeding to one of my older mares, Bint al-Barra. She took, but then absorbed the pregnancy. Five things amateurs of the old type of Arabian horses would like in this photo of Aurene: first, the long forelocks, a sign of asalah — authenticity, and a favorite feature of the Prophet Muhammad; second, the prominent facial bones between the eyes and the muzzle that make the face look so dry, another sign of asalah; third,…

Goodbye Wadd

Wadd left to Oregon last week. He will live with Jessica Heinrick in the High Desert, not far from the Malheur wildlife refuge, and he will be ridden regularly. I retain breeding rights. Jessie has been sending me casual photos of him on the way, and should be picking him up today. It’s sad to see him go, but he leaves behind a promising filly, Barakah (from a rare Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz line from Najd), and he covered Thalia (a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah like him) right before leaving. I also keep his precious sister Wadha, which I also bred. The filly, a year old in June, inherits his strong, straight short back and his extra deep girth (first picture), both improvements over her dam. She also has his big eye, his long, highly set neck (second picture), and his silk-like skin.  

Wadd at five

Wadd, who is now five years old, is maturing into a handsome, masculine stallion in the line of the Kuhaylan Hayfi sires of Craver Farms. He is more reminiscent of his grandsire Javera Thadrian than he is of his sire Triermain CF. Large eyes, broad forehead, prickled ears, bony face, arched neck, curved throat, short back, deep girth, broad chest, sloped shoulder, silky hair, fine skin, solid tendons, short cannon bones, high tail carriage, and good movement. I would have preferred a deeper jowl, a longer hip and a straighter croup, but I can live with that, because when moving the slightly droopy quarter does not show. His daughter has both his many qualities and his few shortcomings.  

Solenn on Wadha!

The day before yesterday marked a milestone in my breeding career: it was the first time I horse I bred (Wadha in 2010) was ridden by a girl I bred (Solenn in 2012). Solenn was feeling very proud, and it was the first time Wadha was around children, let alone being ridden by someone other than her trainer, Sue. She turned out to be very accepting of young children screaming and running around her. Sue says she will be very reliable as a mount for children.  

Wadha this afternoon

So yesterday and today I went up to Pennsylvania to see my horses, and Jeannie Lieb met me there. I learned a lot from Jeannie about proper nutrition and hoof care, and I took hundreds of photos of my horses — with the iPhone unfortunately. Still, many are not that bad. Here are a couple of Wadha. Click on them to enlarge them. Wadha, born in 2010, is by Javera Thadrian out of Wisteria CF, by Triermain CF. They are three of my four favorite Davenport Kuhaylan Hayfis. Wadha is now being trained with the lounge; she has learned to lead, trot and canter, and just had a saddle put on her.

Wadd, yesterday

I am in the USA for a few days, for the first time in two years. I am here for work reasons, but you can imagine I took advantage of the weekend to go see my horses. So Saturday, Darlene Summers and Jenny Krieg drove up with me to Pennsylvania to see the 7 (well, 6.5) I have there, and had a wonderful time talking horse on the way. As usual, my camera died on me half-way through the visit, and I have to rely on my friends’ photos. Here is a photo of my Wadd, which Darlene too. He will be 4 years old this September. He is a slow grower, and Charles Craver told me today that the inbred ones are even slower growers than the others. He had just rolled in the mud, and still had a lot of his winter coat. I still think highly of him, and hopefully he will keep improving and taking more after his sire, the glorious Triermain CF (whom I also saw today — what a privilege).  

Davenport/CMK California Get-Together

There was a meeting of Davenport and CMK folks and their horses in California last week. Many horses were  shown, and many photos were taken. See some of the photos by Carol Mingst, here. Here is one of my favorite Davenport mare Pirouette CF, by Carol Mingst, and another of her daughter, ADA Sareeah (by Dubloon CF), by Christine Emmert. Both are excellent photographers, au naturel.  

Portia

Also from the DAHC website, this gorgeous photo of Portia (Tripoli x Dhalana by Salan), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Charles Craver, and the founder of a dynasty of her own at Craver Farms. I have met a couple of mares in Syria at the stud of Basil Jadaan in the early 1990s that bear a striking resemblance to her. There was in particular an old Kuhaylat Ibn Mizhir mare at Basil’s and a Saqlawiyat Ibn ‘Amud whose heads look almost exactly like Portia’s.

Goodbye, Wisteria

Today Wisteria CF left the care of Craver Frams in the trailer of her proud new owner Kathy Busch. Along with her rode Enchante CF (Zachary x Velveteen by Sir). I am sad to see Wisteria go but I am very happy that Kathy is the one who has her now, because Kathy keeps her horses for a long time and takes great care of them. Wisteria leaves behind a colt and a filly, and I could not wish for more. I am also forever grateful to Charles and Jeanne Craver for having kept her at their place, after selling her to me, and having taken such good care of her over the past five years. The day before, Javera Chelsea (Thane x HB Diandra by Mariner) and Dakhala Sahra (Plantagenet x Soiree by Sir) left Craver Farms to go to Tom and Jess Maiyer in Galion, Ohio, for embryo transfer.

Port Angeles CF, 2001 asil Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion in the USA

My friend Jenny Krieg has suggested the Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Port Angeles CF (Portico x Aureole CF) as a horse I might want to consider breeding from in the spring. He is a brother of Porte CF from his sire, and a brother of Aurene CF from his dam. Here is a photo, gleaned off the website of his owner Randall Abler, at Eden Arabian Farms in Georgia.

En Pointe CF, asil Kuhaylah Hayifyah mare, USA

I think I may have already written that this mare was one of my favorite living asil mares, on pedigree, on photo, and in real life (I saw her at Carol Lyons in 2003 or was it 2004? I don’t remember): En Pointe CF is a war mare the likes of which seldom exist today. An ‘atiq (antique, ancient in Arabic) mare of the ancient desert type, reminiscent in her style and class of the Old Blunt mares of the Rodania tail female like Risala and Rissla. Her dam Pirouette CF is my all time favorite living Davenport mare, and her sire Triermain CF is my favorite living Davenport stallion. Her double grandsire Javera Thadrian is simply my all time favorite asil Arabian stallion in the West (but you knew that already). By the way, I do believe that linebreeding to Javera Thadrian does produce outstanding horses. En Pointe CF is one example; Tantris CF is another, and my own Wadha (Javera Thadrian x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF, by Javera Thadrian) and Wadd (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF) are not bad at all, either. Not sure who owns her today, but she is lucky.

Zohoor, asil Kuhaylah Hayifyah in Syria

Raed Yaken, who lives in London but is originally from Aleppo, Syria, sent me these pictures of his asil mare Zohoor (“Flowers”), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Alaa al-Din al-Jabri. Zuhur is by Mahrous (of Mustafa al-Jabri, his nephew) out of the small bay mare Durra whose photo was one of the first ones posted on this blog in 2008. Some time ago I also posted photos of Zohoor I saw both mares at Alaa al-Din Jabri’s back in 1991, and I also saw Durra’s dam Freihat; I remember all three of them very well. They are from the most asil, authenticated marbat of K. Hayfi in Syria, that of Wawi al-Kharfan of the Fad’aan. Theirs is one of the best marabit in Syria, and it is now with the Yakan family. His name is mistakenly spelled “Wadi” (which is not a man’s name, but means ‘valley’ in Arabic) in the Syrian Studbook and the error was picked up by others since. No one seems to remember who that Wawi al-Kharfan was, but he seems to have been one of the men of the Fad’aan Bedouin leaders Muqhim (Mijhim) al-Mayahd close circle. There is a lingering story, which I was…

Wadha

Wadha (Javera Thadrian x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF) is now 18 months old and is looking more and more like her sire. I am very happy with how she’s turning out. Jeanne Craver told me she is starting to look like Pirouette CF (Javera Thadrian x Piquante by Plantagenet), which in my opinion as well as that of a number of Davenport breeders, is the best looking of the Kuhaylan Hayfi mares alive today.

Photo of the Day: Enchante CF, Kuhaylah Hayfiyah

The Kuhaylat al-Hayf mare Enchante CF (Zacharia x Velveteen by Sir) was bred at Craver Farms, and then sold to Shirley Jacobsen who then gave her to Pamela Klein.. She is now at Craver Farms, where this photo was taken last week by Nancy Becker. I saw this mare three times, and she never looked as good as in this picture.. Darlene Summers has the only foal of hers, a daughter by Triermain called Elegance, and everyone in the Davenport breeders community agrees that this grand and precious mare should have more foals.  

Wisteria: it’s a boy!

I am thrilled! At 1.00 am this morning, Wisteria foaled a handsome colt, by her own sire Triermain. Jeanne Craver, who brought him to the world, with Charles, wrote: At 11 she was starting to think about it; at 1 she had a nose and one leg out and was lying on her back up against the wall. The hardest part was rolling her down off the wall, and then the other front foot was bent back at the pastern, and once I straightened that out, out he came with Wisteria doing most of the work.  At one hour, he is up and walking on his own, he has had a bottle of mom’s best, and the mare has almost finished cleaning, I took a few iPhone photos in the dark. He is a handsome boy, withers at about my waist, legs straight, close coupling, nice neck…. everything looking good! Oh, and he’s grey. Surprise! In keeping with the W pattern of his dam, his granddam HB Wadduda, and his two sisters Walladah and Wadhah, he shall be named Wadd, the name of the ancient (before Islam) Arab god of love, whose sanctuary was located in the oasis town of Dumat al-Jandal…

*Wadduda blood today

I have now officially become infatuated with the desert-bred mare *Wadduda. I am reading and re-reading everything I can find about the mare and her famous descendants (Hanad, Antez, Jadaan, Caravan, Dhareb, Bint Sahara, Bint Sedjur, etc) squinting at fuzzy old photographs, and obsessively making notecards like I used to do when I was ten years old. The pedigree geek in me in back big time, and I am loving it. Below is a photo of the 2003 asil Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Twickenham (Regency x Kiddleywink by Regency) (look at that smart friendly face and these short prickled ears). Twickenham is one of three stallions still pensioned at Craver Farms, along with his sire (and grandsire) Regency, now aged 30, and the grey Triermain. While not a tail female descendant, Twickenham carries the highest percentage of *Wadduda blood in asil breeding: 19.5%, on par with his sire.

Photo of the Day: That First Nicker

This is the Kuhaylah Haifiyah GH Janet (Javera Thadrian’s full sister), welcoming her 2005 gray daughter (by Ascendant), Brighton TAH. I’m not sure who took the photo — probably Tanya Hardin, the breeder. (Because it’s a little bit of an obsession with me lately, I want to point out that Janet’s head has never seen an #40 clipper blade, and doesn’t need it to show off her beautiful eye and fine dark skin.)

Photo of the Day: Audacity, asil Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mare in the USA

Audacity (Lysander x Bint Dharebah by Monsoon) was one of the pretties Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mares of Davenport bloodlines, and the matriarch of a important sub-family of equally beautiful horses, including Audobon, Nuance, Affinity, Piquante, and Pirouette . Bred by Craver Farms.