‘Abeerah, Shuwaymat Sabbah from Syria

I took these two rare photos of ‘Abeerah, the black Shuwaymat Sabbah at the farm of Basil Jad’aan in 1992. Sired by the dark Ma’naqi Hadraji of the ‘Ufaytan clan of the Shammar, and out of a grey mare by the Saqlawi Jadran of Farhan al-Nayif of the Tai, and out of a black Shuwaymah by the ‘Ubayyan Suhayli of the leader of the Jubur, ‘Abeerah was one of the most beautiful desert-bred mares. She was much prized by Basil, and give him a beautiful black filly by Mokhtar, which he named al-Qahirah. ‘Abeerah traced to the horses of Sfuq al-Rahbi (al-Jarba), who obtained the damline from the leaders of the Bu-Mutaywit (a sub-tribe of the Juhaysh between Sinjar and Tall ‘Afar) who in turn got her (again) from the Jarbah leaders of the Shammar, who owned the strain. ‘Abeerah (alt. spelling Obeirah) was the dam of Khaldee, a horse present in almost every Syrian pedigree today, by the seal brown desert-bred Kuhaylan Ibn Jlaidan sire al-Asda’ (Khaldee was not by the Hadban Enzahi stallion Burhan, his official pedigree notwithstanding).  

عبيرة الشويمة لمالكها باسل جدعان عام ١٩٩٢

صور نادرة للفرس عبيرة الشويمة من تصويري سنة ١٩٩٢ في مزرعة مالكها باسل جدعان ابو فارس بالصبورة ابو عبيرة المعنقي الحدرجي الاصدا حصان ظاهر العفيتان أبو امها الصقلاوي الجدراني الازرق حصان عبد الرزاق النايف من شيوخ طي ابو جدتها عبيان السحيلي الازرق الكبير حصان الشيخ عبد العزيز المسلط درجت جدتها بنت عبيان الشيخ عبد العزيز المسلط من محمد الرحبي الشمري صاحب المربط الى السادة الطفيحيين وكانت دهماء اللون ثم درجت بنتها اي بنت صقلاوي عبد الزراق النايف من الطفيحيين الى شخص من عشيرة الشرابيين اسمه عمر احمد عبيد بالسبعينات وكانت زرقاء وشبا عمر احمد عبيد الشويمة ام عبيرة من معنقي العفيتان وانجبت عبيرة ويعود مربط الرحبي الى الجارالله شيوخ عشيرة البو متيويت من الجحيش القبيلة الزبيدية جنوب جبل سنجار ولعل الجارالله حصلوا بدورهم على هذه الشويمات من ال محمد شيوخ شمر -وهذا تخمين مني والله اعلم (وعبيرة ام الفحل المشهور الخالدي واخت الفحل شويمان صالح العبدالله الحسن (ابو كحيلان البوثة ابو زير الجليدان اما الخالدي ابن عبيرة فهو أيضا توليد عمر احمد عبيد وهناك التباس شديد حول هوية ابيه فيزعم البعض وهم الاغلبية ان اباه كحيلان علي الباشا العواصي الاصدا ويقول البعض الاخر ان اباه صقلاوي جدران من خيل الدندح اما سجل الانساب السوري فيورد الخالدي كابن الفحل  برهان هدبان…

The Shuwayman Sabbah strain between the Tai and Shammar Shaykhs: a family affair

Lineages of desert-bred horses are surprisingly resilient. Each time I think a line is lost it seems to reappear somewhere else. I have been following the Shuwayman line of the Jarbah Shaykhs for three decades now. Many mares were lost during the Syrian civil war, and I feared the strain was lost. Yet a branch has survived with a branch of the Shaykhs of Tai in the Upper Jazirah. It is now helping regenerate that strain. It traces to that liver chestnut mare, born in 1986. Sire: a grey Saqlawi Jadran of the strain of Ibn ‘Amud, from the marbat of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of the same marbat. Sire of dam: a grey Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of Farhan al-Nayif al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shakyhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn Amud of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. His dam a grey Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah Ibn ‘Amud of Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. Sire of grand-dam: the black Marzaqani stallion of Al-‘Anud, the wife of Faris al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. She had received him from the Maraziq as a colt. His sire I think the famous…

Cherifa and the Shuwayman Sabbah strain back to 1655

Cherifa is a foundation mare of the breeding program of the French colonial stud of Tiaret, Algeria. From Algeria, the line has spread to France, Poland and elsewhere around the world. Cherifa is particularly well documented. She is entry #1333 in the French Stud Book: bay, born in 1869 in the desert, imported to Algeria around 1875, died in 1878, strain “Chouimi-Sebayé”, acquired from “Farhan ibn Hudaib of the Sbaa Enezah”. The information on her Bedouin owner is significant. French importation records often mangled the spelling of the names of the strain, breeder or tribe. They sometimes gave their imported horses the strain of the sire instead of that of the dam. In this case, the owner was none other than the paramount Shaykh of the Sba’ah tribe, Farhan, son of Ma’jun son of Sallal son of Barjas son of Sahu son of Mu’di son of Hudaib. Lady Anne Blunt met him during her first trip to the desert three years after the French purchased Cherifa. She details her encounter with him in her journals entry for April 5, 1878, and writes that he was 22 or 23 years old (so born ca. 1855). Farhan ibn Hudaib was also photographed…

Treasures in a box: the Shuwaymah Sabbah mare of the Jarbah in 1999

I am locked down here in South Africa. Wherever you are, there is a high chance you’re locked down too. I am busier than ever, though, as work and the rest surreptitiously blend into each other. At least I am lucky to still have a job, so I am counting my blessings. One good thing about the lockdown in my case is that I found some time to open a box of old horse photos. “Old” here means from the time you could hold a photo in your hands. I scanned a few of those. Here’s one for you. I took it one evening of August 1999 in Hama, Syria, at the farm of the late Fuad al-Azem “Abu Tamer”. It shows the old Shuwaymah Sabbah mare Al-Jawzaa, a grand and classy mare of the old desert type, from the breeding of Rakan al-Nuri al-Mashal Basha al-Jarba, and from the old war line of these Sheykhs of the Northern Shammar. The mare was taken out of her stall and brought back in within minutes as the sun was setting and we had finished sipping coffee, just long enough for me to snap three photos. Unfortunately, neither photo does justice to…

Mokhtar winning the Latakia race in 1993

I scanned this archive photo of a famous event among Syrian horse breeders, the Latakia race of 1993, which I attended with my father. Arabians from all over the country and neighboring ones flocked to this national event, the first of its kind on such a scale. This is a photo of the finish line of the eighth and last race, over a distance of 2000 meters. Mokhtar, Basil Jadaan’s black desert-bred Kuhaylah al-Krush, (now in France and turning 30 next year) won the race, with minimal training. Khalid, Mustafa al-Jabri’s Saqlawi Jadran (Mahrous x Khalidah) came a close second. The biggest surprise was the third place (not showing in the first picture, but to the right in the second one) of Hakaya, the black desert-bred Shuwaymah Sabbah of the Sheykh of the Bedouin tribe of Tai. She was 15 years old, heavily in foal, ridden bareback, without formal training, by a bulky Tai Bedouin (the others were ridden by professional jockeys), and without a bit… only a Bedouin halter. Let me write this again to let it sink in: a 15 years old mare, heavily in foal, ridden bareback, without formal training, by a bulky Bedouin, and without a bit coming third in…

Mahboob Halab, 2007 Shuwayman Sabbah stallion from Syria, in France

He is turning every bit like his dam, a fortress of a mare, which died this summer after inhaling a suspicious chemical gas near Aleppo, but he is more refined than her. I love his high withers. Click on the photo (by Fabienne and Severine Vesco) to enlarge it.    

Shuwayman Fahad, 2011 Shuwayman Sabbah stallion in France

Also a while ago, Arnaud Decroix from France sent me this photo of the young Shuwayman Fahad, a 2011 Shuwayman Sabbah bred by Jean Claude Rajot by the Syrian desert-bred stallion Mahboob Halab (also a Shuwayman by the way) out of Shueymah Sabbah, herself by the Syrian desert-bred stallion Mokhtar (a Kuhaylan Krush from the Shammar) out of Jean-Claude’s foundation mare Murad Haouda Sahib (Cherif x Hamada by Irmak) who is from Robert Mauvy’s breeding program. 75% desert-bred blood from Syria on this horse. This is a special horse, whose carefully bred bloodlines are a testimony’s to Jean-Claude’s commitment to the preservation of the true Arabian horse.

Newborn Shuwaymah filly from France

Since it’s that time of the year, and my work is leaving me a few minutes to breathe, here are photos of another new 2012 arrival, the filly Qoreibet, daughter of the Syrian stallion Hussam al-Shamal and of the Shuwaymat Sabbah mare Qhadidja (Ourki x Quejala by Fawzan), from the breeding program of Adrien Deblaise in France, and traces to Moroccan lines.

Murad Ghazy, Shuwayman Sabbah stallion from France

This morning Adrien Deblaise, from France, sent me two photos of his superb stallion, Murad Ghazy. Ghazy was bred by Louis Bauduin, by Jahir (Iricho x Ciada by Ghalbane, d.b.), out of Murad Hadra (Medicq Allah x Hamada by Irmak), of Algerian and Tunisian lines. He traces to all three Cordonnier-bred stallions (Iricho, In Chaallah, Irmak) the French Government brought from Tunisia in the 1960s, sparking a small revival of asil Arabian breeding in France. Note also the not-so-distant line to the great desert import Nibeh in Murad Ghazy’s pedigree: Murad Ghazy — Murad Hadra — Medicq Allah — Medica — Meziana — Messina — Nibeh.  

Shuwayman Fahad, 2011 stallion, France

Arnault Decroix is now the proud owner of the weanling Shuwayman Fahad (Mahboob Halab (SYR) x Shueymah Sabbah by Mokhtar (SYR)), a Shuwayman Sabbah bred by Jean-Claude Rajot in France. This exceptional young fellow is the son and the grandson of two stallions of Shammar lines imported from Syria to France in the late 1990s and the late 2000s respectively. I think you will hear a lot about this horse in the coming years, especially in the endurance realm.  

Hamada, Shuwaymat Sabbah, bred by Robert Mauvy, France

When I was a kid, there were not many horse books I could read. I had no access to the hardcovers in my father’s library, like Lady Wentworth’s “Authentic Arabian Horse” or W.R. Brown’s “Horse of the Desert”. I was too afraid to tear a page anyway, and they were not easy to handle. I could read the softcovers though. One of these, and my favorite, was Robert Mauvy’s small book “Le Cheval Arabe”. I knew it by heart, almost line by line. In it was a chapter called “Hamada”, where the author describes how the dam of his new filly (a 1975 chestnut daughter of Irmak which he named Hamada, out of Shawania, who was by Amri) refused to let her nurse, and how she had to be bottled-fed, and how she later turned out. I somehow became attached to this filly without knowing her, and her story stuck in my head. In 1994, my father and I went to France for a benign medical treatment, and we looked up Mauvy’s surviving horses in the Studbook. Some of them were owned by Louis Bauduin, who lives a couple hours south of Paris, so we went to pay him a…

Murad Hadiya, Shuwaymat Sabbah, France

Chris Bauduin on Murad Hadiya (Ourki x Hamada by Irmak), a Shuwaymat Sabbah tracing to the desert-bred mare Cherifa, bred by the Sba’ah and imported to Algeria around 1875. My father took this picture in France in 1994, while Louis Bauduin, his daughter, Jean-Claude Rajot and myself standing in the background. This mare is based on Robert Mauvy’s breeding and had tremendous presence, which this photo barely captures.

Photo: Hamdan II, 1957 Shuwayman Sabbah stallion in Austria

I wanted to post this photo of the Shuwayman Sabbah stallion Hamdan II (Hamdan X Folla by Ibn Barakat) born in 1957, bred at Hamdan stables and imported to Austria by the late Gustl Eutermoser. I took the photo as a schoolboy in Austria back in 1979, when Hamdan II was 22. Mr Eutermoser maintained a stud of horses from Egypt and Saudi Arabia after having lived in the Middle east for some years. Later he moved to Spain where his wife continues breeding, concentrating on asil horses tested in endurance and dressage. The Tahawi mares on the blog reminded me of this old stallion. Matthias

More Mahboob Halab progeny in France

Mahboob Halab, the asil Shuayman Sabbah stallion from Syria, now in France with Jean-Claude Rajot, has more foals on the ground, which gives me the opportunity to showcase the progeny of the Syrian desert-breds here. Here’s his daughter Shueymah Challawieh, out of one of Jean-Claudes’ mares, also a Shuwaymah by strain, but tracing to the imported Cherifa, bred by the Sba’ah Bedouins and imported to Algeria in 1869.

Mahboub Halab, Shuwayman stallion from Syria, now in France

Catherine Wocjik of France just sent me these recent photos of the 2005 young asil Shuwayman Sabbah stallion Mahboub Halab, bred in Syria by Radwan Shabareq, and now in France with Jean-Claude Rajot, who is the man on his back. By the way, this stallion will be the subject of my upcoming talk at the next Al Khamsa Convention in Pennsylvania: “A closer look at a modern Syrian Arabian horse pedigree: the case of Mahboob Halab”. Photos of his first foal crop coming soon..

Fresh information on the Davenport mare *Hadba

Recently, I wrote here about the little-known group of horses from the Hadban strain tracing to the desert-bred mare *Hadba, imported by Homer Davenport from Arabia in 1906. The hujjah (Arabic authentication certificate) of that mare is available, and I did a new translation of it, which appeared in the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III (2008). I am reproducing an updated, revised version of this translation here: We, who put our names and seals below, based on our honor, say that the bay mare whose has a stocking on her left hind leg and a star on her face, that her dam is a Hadbah to be mated and her sire is Shuwayman Sabbah, and the sire of her filly is Ma’naqi Sbayli; Abd al-Sakam Azraq took this mare from Hajj Ismail the Shaykh of Sfireh, and Hajj Ismail took her from ‘Ajil ibn Zaydan the Shaykh of Shammar, and for the sake of clarity, we have put our names and seals [below]. Written by: Abdessalam Azraq [seal] From the people of [the town of] Sfireh: Muhammad Nur [or Nadar or Thawr, unclear] [finger print] Ahmad al-Muhammad [seal] Mustapha al-Bdeiwi [seal] Hajj Ahmad al-Abdallah from the tribe of al-Fardun [seal] Ahmad Sarraj [seal] I swear by God…

Photo of the day: Al Bark, Shuayman Sabbah stallion from Syria

I just received this beautiful headshot of the bay stallion Al-Bark (Beebars x Etidal by Burhan x Obeirah) from Joe Achcar in Syria. This stallion is a Shuwayman Sabbah by strain, but from a different marbat that that of the Jarbah leaders of the Shammar Bedouin tribe.  The marbat of Shuwayman Sabbah to which Al-Bark traces is known as “Shuwaymat al-Rahbi” from the name of their breeder Mohammad al-Rahbi, who also happens to be from Shammar. The Shuwayman horses of Mohammad al-Rahbi trace their origin to the leader of the large Bu-Mutaywit Bedouin tribe of Northern Iraq, which has bred them for several generations. They are a well respected marbat, according to Shammar elders, such as ‘Abd al-‘Iyadah al-Da’ran Ibn Ghurab, who used to breed from one of their stallions. They were also known as good racehorses.. Al Barq in particular traces to a really good old stallion who was active in the area of settlement of many Shammar tribes in the early nineteen eighties: the dark bay Ma’anaghi Hadraji of Dahir al-‘Ufaytan, perhaps of the best desert-bred stallions of the late twentieth centuries, in my opinion.

Photo of the Day: Murad Chahin, Shuwayman Sabbah from France

Bred by J.C. Rajot of Tournus, France from Robert Mauvy lines, Murad Chahin (Shawani x Hamada by Irmak) is a Shuwayman Sabbah blending Algerian and Tunisian lines with old, asil French blood. He traces to Cherifa, a Shuwaymah bred the Sba’ah Bedouins in 1869 and imported to Algeria later. He is very reminiscent of some of the Doyle horses I saw at Terry’s and Rosemary’s this summer.

Two new proposals to add horses to the Al Khamsa Roster

These have been quite busy days for me, and I have not been able to write as often as I wanted to. That said, I wanted to quick highlight the fact that two new proposals to add new horses to the Al Khamsa Roster have been sent to the Al Khamsa Board of Directors. The first was sent by Joe Ferriss, and concerns the three Tahawi (an Egyptian peasant tribe of Arab stock) mares that are the foudation of Egypt’s Hamdan Stables: Fulla (a Shuwaymah Sabbah), Futna (a Kuhaylah Khallawiyah), and Bint Barakat (a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah). The second proposal (click here if you interested in reading it) was submitted by yours truly and concerns the mare *Lebnaniah, a Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah imported by W.R. Hearst to the USA in 1947. The AK Board is currently discussing both proposals.

Jilfan and Shuwayman lines from France

Adrien Deblaise breeds Arabian horses of Tunisian, Moroccan and Algerian bloodlines in Western France. His father Philippe was a bookseller that specialized in equine literature.  Philippe’s inventory contained one of the largest collections in France books on horses in general and Arabians in particular. Below are pictures of two of Adrien’s mares: B’Oureah Marine (by Ourki x Bismilah by Irmak), and Qhejala (by Fawzan x Jelala II by Abouhif). B’Oureah is shown here competing for a 60 mile endurance race (which she won). She is a Jilfat Dhawi by strain, tracing to the mare Wadha imported by the French government from the Fad’aan tribe in 1875. Qhejala traces to Cherifa, a Shuwaymat Sabbah imported by the French from the Sba’ah tribe in 1869. Note the resemblance between Qhejala (who is 75% Egyptian) and the Babson (a group of asil Arabians of Egyptian bloodlines) broodmatron Fada (Faddan x Aaroufa by Fay El Dine). Fada’s rare photo below is from the late Billy Sheets’ photo collection.

Photo of the day: Mahboob Halab

Before I move to discussing the two stallions just imported from Syria to France, and following the posting of Shahm’s photos a couple days ago, I want to share with you a couple pictures of the second stallion, Mahboob Halab, a 4 year old Shuwayman Sabbah from the marbat of the Jarbah leading family of the Shammar tribe. Both photos are courtesy of Jean-Claude Rajot, who owns Mahboob. The above one was just taken in France, and the one below in Syria, about 6 months ago, before the horse’s importation. Desert bred horses heavy on the blood of al-Aawar, the Hamdani ibn Ghurab stallion, are very slow to mature, according to Radwan Shabareq, al-Aawar’s last owner. They typically reach full maturity at 8 years old.

Two asil stallions from Syria now in France

Last week, I wrote about the quest of Robert Mauy’s friends, Jean-Claude Rajot and Louis Bauduin of France, to regenerate the bloodlines of their Arabian horses with the importation of stallions from the Arabian desert, or North Africa. Jean-Claude and Louis’ quest first took them to Tunisian and Algeria in the late 1980s. They saw many horses at the government studs of Tiaret (Algeria) and Sidi Thabet (Tunisia, where Louis took the photo of the mare below), as well as with private breeders. They also took many photos. However, the horses they liked were either too old or not for sale. In the 1990s and 200s, as Syria was slowly opening up to the western world, Jean-Claude and Louis undertook several trips to the Syrian desert, the first of which took place with Jens Sannek and Bernd Loewenherz. A great book by Sannek and Loewenherz resulted from this memorable trip. in 2008, Jean-Claude and Louis visited several marabet (Bedouin studs) of the Shammar Bedouins, including Ibn Jlaidan’s (Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz, a Najd marbat), Ibn Ghurab’s (Hamdani Simri), Ibn ‘Ufaytan (Ma’naghi Hadraji), and al-Ghishm (Kuhaylan al-Wati); with an eye towards learning about the desert horse in its natural milieu, and perhaps buying a young stallion or…

*Mounwer, an asil stallion from Lebanon, imported to the USA in 1947

Comming on a recent post, RJ Cadranell mentioned the CMK Record, a publication that replaced the Arabian Visions Magazine. Below, a scanned article of the CMK Record, Fall 1988 issue, courtesy of Micheal Bowling, where he discusses the 1942 asil stallion *Mounwer, imported to the USA by W. R. Hearst in 1947. *Mounwer was a Shuayman Sabbah by strain, and was bred by the Khamis family of Rayaq, Lebanon, by Kayane out of Bint al-Berdowni. Check out my entry on Kayane here. *Mounwer is the paternal half-brother of the mare *Layya, also bred by the Khamis family and imported by Hearst. While *Layya has left (too few) asil descendants, and was accepted by Al Khamsa in 2002, the blood of *Mounwer is now completely lost to asil breeding. (If you have a PC, right-click on your mouse, and download Michael’s article to be able to read it without damaging your eyes. If you have a Mac, I don’t know what to tell you…)   And that’s a photo of *Mounwer, who really looked like he was a lovely horse. More on some of his ancestors later.

Abbas Pasha Manuscript — First page in Arabic

This document recently appeared on one of the discussion threads below. For those of you who know the Abbas Pasha Manuscript in its English edition, this is just the first page in one of the original Arabic editions.. This is a quick and dirty translation (writing from work, gotta go home soon), without the Quran verses in the reversed triangle: “Warning/advice about breeding/mating horses; I say, about stallions to be mated; the first to be mated (yushabbi) is Duhayman Shahwan from the strain (rasan) of Kunayhir, and Duhaym al-Najib;  the second is Kuhaylan al-Mimrah; then al-Saqlawi al-Jadrani and it is from three branches, the dearest of which is the strain of al-Simniyyat, then the strain of al-Sudaniyat, then the strain of al-Abd; followed by the strain of al-Saqlawi al-Ubayri and al-Marighi, which are the same strain; and following that, Hadban al-Nzahi which consists of six strains: the first (ie, the best) is Hadbat al-Munsariqah; the second is Hadbat Mushaytib; the third is Hadbat Jawlan; the fourth is Hadbat al-Fard; the fifth is Hadbat al-Mahdi; the sixth is Habdat al-Bardawil which is not to be mated; following that is Kuhaylan al-Tamri; and after that, Shuwayman al-Sabbah; and after that, Hamdani Simri al-Khalis; and…

Photo of the Day: Ya’sub, a Jilfan Dhawi from France

Louis Bauduin sent me this picture of the stallion Ya’sub in old age. Ya’sub (Shawani x Belkis by Irmak), now deceased,  was bred by Jean-Claude Rajot, and owned by James Legros. He combines two of the best Tiaret (the famous French government horsebreeding stud in Algeria) bloodlines: the Shuawyman Sabbah line to Cherifia (b. 1869, bred by the Sba’ah tribe, imported to Tiaret) through his sire Shawani (Saadi x Zarifa); and the Jiflan Dhawi line to Wadha (bred by the Fad’aan tribe, imported to Tiaret in 1875( through his dam Belkis (Imark x Belle de Jour by Iricho).

Discussion avec le jeune émir des Shammar à Hassakè (Avril 1992)

Question : Quand a eu lieu la dernière razzia en Syrie ? Réponse : La dernière razzia a eu lieu en 1943, des Shammar sur les Sba’ah. Ils sont partis d’ici (Hassakè ou al-Hassakah) avec 100 cavaliers le matin. Ils sont tombés sur le campement Sba’ah distant de 40 miles, à midi. Tous les cavaliers étaient de retour dans l’après-midi. Question : Vous voulez dire dans la nuit ? Réponse : Non, non dans l’après-midi. Je me suis permis d’insister : mais vers les 8 ou 9 heures du soir ? Réponse empreinte d’un certain agacement : Non dans l’après-midi vers les cinq heures ! Voilà ce qu’aux yeux des Bédouins leurs chevaux pur sang sont à même de faire naturellement. Il est à noter qu’à l’heure actuelle cette moyenne horaire correspond à ce que l’on fait avec les 4×4 en dehors des pistes.

Introducing new blogger: Jean-Claude Rajot

This morning I was talking to Jean-Claude Rajot over the phone and I asked him if he would agree to write on Daughter of the Wind. I didn’t think he would, but I still asked. He agreed. And I am happy he did.  Jean-Claude, a French breeder of Arabian horses, is the president of USCAR (Union pour la Sauvergarde du Cheval Arabe). USCAR is a grassroots preservationnist organization of the old kind (the good kind), in many ways the French version of the US-based Al Khamsa.  Jean-Claude was also a disciple and one of the closest people to master breeder Robert Mauvy, during the last 11 years of Mauvy’s life. Mauvy called Jean-Claude “mon fils” (‘son’).  Jean-Claude and friend Louis Bauduin, USCAR’s vice-president, owned several of Mauvy’s horses. Their offspring now constitute the nucleus of their breeding programs.  Mauvy’s teachings have had a most profound influence on me. His small book “Le Cheval Arabe” is my Arabian horse Bible since I was ten. One of the book’s photos features the stallion Cherif (by Saadi x Zarifa, by Matuvu), bred by Mauvy in 1967. A chapter of the book is dedicated to the nursing of Hamada (by Irmak x Shawania by Amri),…

Famous quote: Lady Anne Blunt on Faris al-Jarba

Since the last couple posts have been about mares of the Shuwayman Sabbah strain bred by the Shammar, here is a quote from Lady Anne Blunt‘s “Bedouin tribes of the Euphrates” (p. 235) that had a lasting impression on me:  “Faris’s own mare is a tall bay, Shuéymeh Sbàh, with a powerful shoulder, great girth, legs like iron, but a rather coarse hindquarter.”  Also, in the same book, in an annex on strains (p. 439), under “Shueyman Sbàh”:  “Faris, Sheykh of the Northern Shammar, has a mare of this breed. She is coarse, but of immense strength and courage, and when moving becomes handsome.”  How true of Hakayah, the black Shuwaymah mare from Tai. Uninspiring when standing, magnificent when moving. Again, Hakayah’s g. g. granddam (I may be adding “g” or two) was a wedding gift from Nuri al-Jarba to the Shaykh of Tai. Nuri is son of Mah’al (Pasha) al-Jarba, who is son of Faris. The same Faris in the above quotes. Does it mean that Hakayah and her offspring trace directly to Faris’ war mare? There is no way to know for sure, but they certainly are from the same close family. 

Photo and Hujja of the day: Hakayah

Following the recent entry on the pretty black mare Shams al-Ghurub, and to Joe Ferriss recalling that he saw her dam Hakayah in 1996 in Syria, I am posting a picture of Hakayah that I took back in 1989. Hakayah was then with Ahmad (Abu Tahir) al-Ghalioun, who had leased her from her owner, the Shaykh of the Bedouin tribe of Tai.  I don’t remember anything about the foal at her side. Here is my partial translation to English of the Arabic hujjah (certificate of authenticity) of Hakayah, skipping the introductory religious blessings:   “I, shaykh Mohammad al-Abd al-Razzaq al-Ta’i, testify, and my testimony is before God Most High, that the mare whose strain and marbat is Shuwaymat Sabbah and with the following description: [her] color [is] black, her age ten years old is from our horses, from the horses of the Tai, protected, without any impurities, her sire is the horse of Juhayyim, and he is Krush, and protected; the sire of her dam is the same horse, Krush Juhayyim, he is protected, and is from the horses of the Tai; the sire of her grand-dam is the horse of Juhayyim,  al-Hayfi, and he is protected; She is well known and bred [by us] one generation after the…

Photo of the day: Shams al-Ghurub

Shams al-Ghurub is a black-bay mare from Syria, born in 1987. Her strain is Shuwayman Sabbah. She was bred by the Shaykh of the Bedouin tribe of Tai, Mohammad al-‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Nayif near al-Qamishli in North Eastern Syria, from a strain that originally belonged to the Shaykhs of Shammar, the al-Jarba. The leading families of the two tribes intermarry frequently, and it was on the occasion of the marriage of one of the Tai princesses to Nuri al-Jarba that a Shuwaymah mare was given to the Tai Shaykhs. Shams al-Ghurub is one descendent of this mare. More on this particular strain in a subsequent entry. I took this picture in 1990 in Hims, Syria.    

El Sbaa and the last Asil horses of France

Look at the picture of the magnificent El Sbaa below: a French government commission led by M. Rieu de Madron purchased this Asil Ma’anaghi Sbayli stallion straight from the desert [correction: from Cairo, Egypt] in 1925. El Sbaa stood at the Stud of Pompadour, France, but he was ill suited for its humid climate, so he developed a form of asthma and died a few years later. He left too few offspring behind, including the stallions Nemer (out of Ninon), Khartoum (out of Kioumi), the full borthers Medard and Meat (out of Medea), and the dark brown stallion Matuvu (out of Manon).  Nemer was exported to Poland, and Khartoum to Romania, where they both started famous racing lines that endure to this day (although not in Asil form).  Meat was retained for the Stud of Pompadour, where he took over from his sire, and Matuvu was sent to the stallion depot of Blois, where only a handful Arabian horse breeders used him. Two Asil lines to El Sbaa survived well into the 1970s: one old French dam-line at Pompadour, and another Algerian dam-line with the French breeder Robert Mauvy. At Pompadour, the last Asil to carry a line to El Sbaa was the very typey mare Ablette (by…

More stallions at Al Basel

Another horse that I saw at Al Basel was, to me, a real charmer. His name is Shawal. He is a Shuwayman Sabbah stallion. He is handsome, very charismatic and an excellent mover. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to go inside the arena to take pictures so he was photographed from the railing and it cuts of the view of the whole horse. Nonetheless, I wanted to share his photo because even in his body language you can detect a special personality, one which is enhanced by his very dark bay color against the backdrop of bright sand. He is another prized Asil stallion at Al Basel. I don’t now about his present status. -Joe Ferriss