Some thoughts about the strain of the desert-bred horses *Munifan and *Munifeh

The account of the visit of Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk of the Egyptian RAS to Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Jalawi (or Jluwi), Governor of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in 1936 can also be used to shed some light on the desert-bred stallion *Munifan. The same reasoning used in the recent blog entry about *Al Hamdaniah also applies to *Munifan. *Munifan was also born in 1940, four years after Mabrouk’s visit. He was gifted to George O’Brien by Ibn Jalawi, and imported in 1947 to the USA by O’Brien. His Saudi export document indicates that he was by an ‘Ubayyan out of a Kuhaylah. His sire could be any of the five Ubayyan horses Dr. Mabrouk saw on his visit two Ibn Jalawi: a 7 year old bay stallion, an 11 year old dark bay stallion, a 7 year old chestnut stallion himself sired by a chestnut ‘Ubayyan stallion, and two bay colts, both sired by a bay ‘Ubayyan, likely the first one on this list, who appears to have been the head sire. Dr Mabrouk’s list of the mares he saw at Ibn Jalawi includes several mares of strains typically classified as branches of the generic Kuhaylan strain.…

Ahmed Mabrouk on the ‘Ubayyan horses of Ibn Jalawi at al-Hasa in 1936

In his 1936 book “A Journey to Arabia”, Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk of Egypt’s Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) has this to say of the horses of Prince Sa’ud Ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Jalawi, the governor of the al-Hasa province of the new kingdom of Saudi Arabia: “In the Prince’s stables, near his private palace, I saw about 80 horses. These I believe are the most pedigreed in Arabian owing to their concentration in a limited spot and the consequent exclusion of any outside blood.” Dr. Mabrouk lists two mares of the ‘Ubayyan strain: 8. Ebeya El-Safra, grey, 8 y., fine bones and short neck. 9. Ebeya El-Hamra, bay, 10 y., big eyes but progeny with small eyes, spavin [sic], off hind, faint star and marking off hind coronet, very fine. He also lists two ‘Ubayyan stallions and two ‘Ubayyan colts: 1. Ebeyan, bay, 7 y., 140 cent, both fore off hind white, faint race 2. Ebeyan, dark-bay, 11 y. white coronet, near fore, off hind, week [sic] hocks. 3. Two colts, bay, ex Ebeya El-Safra, by Ebeyan El-Ahmar, four whites, blaze, like sire. [sons of number 8] The markings on stallion 1 appear to correspond to this picture in Dr. Mabrouk’s book,…

AAS Nelyo, the new kid on the block

I bought AAS Nelyo last July from Edie Booth as a potential outcross for my horses down the line. He is a ‘Ubayyan, from the line of *Mahraa, a 1943 mare of the horses of Sa’ud ibn ‘Abd Allah Ibn Jalawi Aal Saud, the governor of the oil-rich Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. I think the full strain is ‘Ubayyan al-Suyayfi, a branch of Ubayyan Hunaydees, which is itself among the best of branches of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak, but I can’t prove it yet. AAS Nelyo, who is six years old, is closely linebred to a few of the early horses imported from Saudi Arabia, including close crosses *Taamri (9 crosses), *Rudann (8 crosses), *Munifan (8 crosses), *Munifeh (8 crosses), and Muhaira, his female line (7 crosses). He was being training for endurance racing. He is very different in type, temperament and coat color from anything else I have seen before. He is registered as bay, but he looks to me like he could be a seal brown or a dark shade of chestnut.      

Barakah yesterday after two years

I was pleased to see how my 2016 mare Barakah Al Arab (Wadd Al Arab x Jadah BellOfTheBall) had developed over the past two and a half years. I left her a gangly two year old, and she has filled up since. She certainly has some more growing to do. Wadd improved the shoulder angle and the length of the shoulder, added much needed depth of girth and breadth of ribcage; he left the head pretty much the same as her mother’s, except for adding more distance between the eyes, the ears are as long and prickled as her mother’s. On the other hand, Belle’s beautiful level croup and highly set tail are gone; instead Barakah inherited Wadd’s slightly sloping croup and the short hip which is a legacy his dam Wisteria. When going you don’t notice it as much. I did not pay as much attention to her feet as I should have. Overall, Barakah is an improvement over Belle, without having lost her “desert” look. By the way, I feel breeders needs to be as openly candid about their horses as they can, if they want to improve on them in the long term, especially if they do…

Ajman, Hamdani Simri of mainly Saudi lineages in Ireland

Jens Sannek sent me these three photos of a stallion of his breeding in Europe. The bloodlines lines are absolutely unique in Europe. Ajman (Maamoun Tarik x Bint Aja by Mirath x Aja by El Haml) is a 1996 liver chestnut of the Hamdani Simri strain that traces to the *Halwaaji, a mare of Saud stock imported to the USA. His dam Bint Aja was bred by Lee Oellerich in Canada in 1980 and imported to Europe. Lots of old Saudi blood up close in that pedigree: *Al Hamdaniah, *Turfa, *Muhaira, *Nufoud, *Taamri, *Rudann and *Halwaaji. The sire of Ajman, Maamoon Tarik, carries even unique and interesting bloodlines. He is of predominantly Olms lineage, which means that on top of the EAO and Babson Egyptian blood (Kaisoon, Farag, Negem) he carries additional Saudi lines to *Sunshine, *Nufoud, and *Tairah through mares of Krausnick breeding imported from the USA to Germany, as well as a hint of Davenport through Shiba (Hanad x Schilan). The cherry on the cake of this pedigree tapestry is the line to Gazala, a 1967 desert-bred mare of Shammar breeding imported from Hail, Saudi Arabia to Germany in 1971. Jens, who also bred Ajman’s sister Ajibah by Wahhabit,…

Little Bassma

A quick snapshot of little Bassma from two weeks ago. She is unfolding slowly. I will be back in the USA in July and will take good pictures. I just love the combination of bloodlines this filly brings. A Saudi tail female to *Nufoud with a cross to *Turfa in the bottom, a female line to *Wadduda on her sire’s side, plenty of Davenport blood all over (11/16), and a dose of Doyle lines (3.5/16) for good measure. So proud to have been able to continue this wonderful *Nufoud line, walking in the footsteps of the late Carol Lyons.

Ibn-Taamri, 1971 Hamdani Simri stallion

Ibn-Taamri, 1971 chestnut stallion, by *Taamri out of *Rudann, both from the stud of King Saud ibn Abd al-‘Aziz Aal S’aud at al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. Search for their names on this blog for a translation of their original Arabic hujja document. Photo of Ibn-Taamri by Edie Booth. You can click on the arrow at the right of the photo to see pictures of *Taamri and *Rudann by Sam Roach.

Magazine article about the horses of the Aramco families

Some two years ago, Jenny Krieg located this interesting article in a magazine for Aramco US expatriates to Saudi Arabia. It has a lot of photos which the Arabian horse community had not seen before. Among these is the cover photo (below) of the magazine featuring the famous mare Sindidah, ridden by a young “Aramcon” near the Abqaiq gated community in 1958. The article chronicles the memories and adventures of Aramco horse-riding families tfrom the late 1940s through the 1960s. These families were typically interested in riding and enjoying the horses with their children, and caress less about the origins and provenance of their horses, other than these “having a royal connection” or coming “from the Bedouin”. A few horses are named for their strains: Kuhaylan, Hamdani, Obayya. The second part of the article is here. It features a photo of Jalam (mispelled Jamal) Al Ubayyan never seen before.

Bahir, Hamdani Simri stallion in Canada

The other day I was writing about looking for an outstanding stallion for my herd of mares. The next day Lee Oellirich sent this photo of his young Hamdani stallion Bahir (Haziz x Bahiyeh). He is the full brother of this mare. I like the heads with the protruding bones, the nostrils and the ears and the eyes, and I like the high withers.

Translation of the hujjah of the Saudi mare *Amiraa

In the name of God the Most Merciful and Compassionate Riyadh District of Najd Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 11 Jumadah al-Aakhir 1380 I, Mutlaq al-‘Atawi, head of the royal horse stables of his Highness King Saud ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, declare that the following testimony is correct: On the 11th of Rabi’ the second 1378, the ownership of the red Hamdaniyah mare “Halwaaji” was transferred to Sam Roach. And it was known that this mare was in foal to the grey Hamdani horse “Mas’ud” at the time of the transfer of her ownership. And the horse “Mas’ud” bred the mare “Halwaaji” on the date of the 14th of Dhul Hujjah 1377, and he bred her another time on the date of the 16th of Dhul Hujjah 1377. And I certify in front of God Most High that the mare “Halwaaji” and the horse “Mas’ud” are both from pure blood and a noble origin, tracing to horses whose purity of blood and lineage have been preserved by the Saud family. [Signature of Mutlaq al-‘Atawi]Witness: [signature]The secretary Translated by Edouard Al Dahdah, June 2007

Belladonna CHF, Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from a Saudi line

RJ Cadranell and Jeanne Craver shared this photo of the Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz mare Belldonna CHF (Audobon x LD Rubic), which RJ took at Randall Harris’. She is the dam of my Jadah BelloftheBall, bred by Randall. This line is very close to the desert, through *Nufoud, a mare in the stables of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud. Here is another photo of Belladonna CHF, and a link to an earlier entry featuring her.

Stallion of the King of Saudi Arabia at Al Kharj Stud, 1940s from the Arabian Horse Archives

From the Arabian Horse Archives: Part of a series of 120 primarily glass slides taken by Joe Buchanan’s father, Robert Earle Buchanan, a professor of Agriculture at Iowa State University, on trips to the Middle East in 1946 and 1949. In the Comar Arabians collection of Garth and Joe Buchanan. Now held by Carolyn and Dick Hasbrook, Twinbrook Arabians, Ames, Iowa. About the chestnut stallion: notice the strong backline, the deep girth, the high withers, the straight shoulder and the long hip. You can see the big eye sockets too. I really wonder what his breeding is. In the pen behind him is another stallion, grey. Only a blurry head shows, but here too you can the protruding eye socket, the dry and delicate muzzle, the prominent bone under the eye, and the fine black skin around the eyes and muzzle. The hindquarter looks droopy but it may be the posture. About the white male donkeys: these are from the precious breed that comes from al-Hassa province of Eastern Arabia; they are taller and stouter than average donkeys, and have bigger and drier heads. A very precious breed now vanished.

Kasim, desert colt, from the Arabian Horse Archives

The ‘Ubayyan colt Kasim was a gift from King ‘Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud to the Earl and Countess of Athlone (Queen Victoria’s granddaughter) during their visit to Arabian in 1938. I donated this photo and that of *Turfa and Faras which you saw on this blog earlier, the Arabian Horse Archives. They were a gift from Kees Mol, who had received them from someone who had received them from the Dutch Consul in Jeddah who took the pictures, as indicated on the archives’ website.

Faras, desert-bred Kuhaylat al-Krush mare from Najd

Kees Mol offered me this photo of the mare Faras (‘mare’ in Arabic), and in turn I donated it to the Arabian Horse Archives, on the website of which a copy can now be found. Faras was a 1927 desert bred Kuhaylat al-Krush, gifted by Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia to her HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and the Earl of Athlone during their visit to Arabia and Bahrain in 1938. She was from the most precious and sougth after strain of Central Arabia. Peter Upton’s book “the Arab Horse” has a copy of her hujjah, written in Ibn Saud’s hand. She also appears to have been a producer of horses famed for their speed and endurance. Despite all these credentials, I am not sure she would be accepted in a halter show for Arabians today (or even thirty years ago). Most people familiar with Arabian horses in the West, and increasingly, in the East too, would not believe her to be an Arabian: where is the dish, the two-level profile? Where is the bird-like eye, popping out of its socket? the croup flatter than a counter top? the swan-like arched neck? the meaty face? the…

Belle this afternoon

This is Jadah BelloftheBall (aka “Belle”, and I am going to change this name with the registry). The background is an eyesore, but she otherwise looks good. She is a 2002 Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, tracing to *Nufoud, a mare from the stables of Ibn Saud. Her sire is Invictus Al Krush and her dam is one of my favorite Arabian mares, Belladonna CHF, by Audobon out of LD Rubic, another favorite.  

My Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz

Last week I saw “Belle” for the first time. Jadah BelloftheBall (I so don’t like that name and I want to change it) is Jeannie Lieb’s gift to me in 2013. I liked the mare, she sent all the right vibes to me. Looking at her, you’d easily forget you are in the woods of Pennsylvania, and you would feel transported in time and space to Arabia in the early twentieth century (one of my favorite time and space combinations, but I don’t think I would have survived more than a few days there and then). She is a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz tracing in tail female to *Nufoud of King Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud, sent to Albert Harris in 1932. She is only five generations removed from the desert (from both *Nufoud and *Turfa), and she looks like she came straight out of there. The mare is not without defects, I would have especially liked to see a deeper girth and a longer croup, but I don’t mind her just the way she is; I appreciate the big bone, the short and thick cannons, the large hocks and hooves, the high wither, the highly set tail, and above everything else, that overall look…

Muhammad Eid Al-Rawwaf, Consul of Najd and Hijaz in Damascus and the Albert Harris imports: a new find

This fascinating article (in Arabic) reveals that King Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud, upon founding the Kingdom of Najd, Hijaz and its dependencies (which in 1932 became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) entrusted the responsibility of representing his Kingdom before other Arab countries to members of the Agheylat corporation (see below about them). This makes a lot of sense since the Agheylat had developed deep commercial ties with many of these countries, including Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon, where they maintained trading offices. Sheykh Fawzan al-Sabiq, the King’s first ambassador to Egypt (in 1926), appears as the most famous of these early Agheylat diplomats, according to the article. His brother Abd al-Aziz was indeed a horse merchant established in Egypt. Other early Saudi diplomats from the Agheylat include Mansur al-Rumayh, Hamoud al-Barrak, al-Rabdi and al-‘Usaymi. The most pleasant surprise, and one that will enable us to shed further light on the history of several desert-bred Arabians imported to the USA, is the inclusion of the name of Muhammad Eid al-Rawwaf among these diplomats hailing from Agheylat families. He appears as the governor of Jeddah in the 1930s, before being appointed as the Saudi representative to Baghdad. He belonged to an influential family of Agheylat from Buraydah.…

El-Haml, 1967 ‘Ubayyan stallion in the USA, then Germany

Yesterday, Lee Oelllerich sent me these photos of the 1967 ‘Ubayyan stallion El-Haml (El Hamdan x Al Fellujah by Al Felluje) at 3 years old. What a horse, and what a combination of good horses. These BLUE STARs can surely improve any stock, Arabian or not, Al Khamsa or not. Click on the photos to enlarge them. Lee tells me El-Haml was a successful Race and Endurance horse who left for Germany in 1980, and ran his last flat race two weeks before exportation at age thirteen.  

Tribal Origins of Saudi Horses at Inshass Stud

There appears to have been a senior stallion at the Sa’ud Royal Studs in the 1940s of the strain of Obeyan el Seifi (correct spelling Suyayfi, a strain well referenced in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript); he is the sire of several mares and one stallion sent as gifts to King Faruk of Egypt. One of these mares is Hind (b. 1942), whose family spread worldwide; another is Nafaa (b. 1941), which is frequently discussed on this blog, although she has a much smaller family. According to the Inshass Original Herd Book (IOHB), Obeyan el Seifi had two more offspring that went to Egypt but did not leave any modern day progeny: a mare, Durra (b. 1943), out of a “Sa’adaa el Debdab”, and a stallion, Mabrouk (b. 1943), out of “Sowaytia ben Kowyel”. These are grossly misspelt names of prominent Bedouin leaders, but the way they were misspelt does give us clues some about the horses origins. Here’s how: “El Debdab” is actually El Deydab (better spelling: al-Daydab), a Bedouin leader of the Suwaylimat tribe (a part of the Jlass, which is the ‘Anazah confederation headed by the Ruwalah), and early supporter of the Saudi monarchy; they are now settled…

2014 Bahraini/Saudi Dahman Shahwan foals in Germany

To continue with the series of this year’s foals, here are a couple from Regine and Warren Staas in Germany, from desert Saudi-Bahraini lines, tracking to *Savannah in tail female. This black filly is alredy on allbreedpedigree.com (here) by AAS Japik (AAS Sail out of AAS Al Kamila) out of AAS Ghazala, and both dam and daughter look splendid!   The chestnut colt below is also a Dahman, by AAS Japik out of AAS Muharraq (AAS Theeb x AAS Ghazala), and is also a promising one. These are all close lines to the desert, and as Lady Anne Blunt wrote in her Journals about a mare of same strain and same origin (Bint El Bahreyn) “the Dahmeh Shawanieh from Ibn Khalifeh, she is a fine mare and authentic” (Dec. 22 1907) and “authentic blood from eastern Arabia is rare” (Dec. 30 1907). It still is.  

Welcome, Belle

I am excited to announce that the Kuhaylat al-Ajuz Jadah BelloftheBall a.ka. “Belle” (Invictus Al Krush x Belladonna CHF by Audobon x LD Rubic by Plantagenet) has joined the Al-Dahdah herd. She is a gift from my friend Jeannie Lieb, who delivered her from Boston to Pennsylvania yesterday! I have been wanting a mare from the line of LD Rubic for 12 years now, ever since a came to the USA, and now I have one, so it’s a dream come true. This morning I found this email in my archives. It is from the late Carol Lyons and is dated Dec. 22, 2001: “{…] You asked about Rubic and Belladona. […] Who would I breed these mares to if I had the opportunity?   I would try to  breed Rubic to Triermain.   There is a story here about why Charles gave this horse the name of  Triermain’.  It comes from a poem which tells the vertues of a man named Triermain and that he is worthy of the daughter of Plantagenet.  Rubic is a Plantagenet daughter so the choice is obvious.  I believe that Charles is a ‘master breeder’ and  Triermain has been used on a number of Plantagenet daughters and granddaughters…

In Awe of: Ubayyat al-Bahrain

I am extremely impressed with the structure and conformation of Jenny Krieg’s filly, Ubayyat al-Bahrain, one of two daughters of the twenty seven year old desert-bred Bahraini stallion Mlolshaan Hager Solomon, out of the Ubayyah mare DB Kalilah. I don’r think she is even two years old. To be honest, I have never seen such depth of girth, shortness of back, strength of musculature, and length of ear (all marks of an asil ware mare) in any Arabian horse in the USA before. She reminds of war mares I have seen in Syria including Mari a Shuwaymah Sabbah at Radwan Shabareq and Nawwarah a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah at Abdel Mohsen al-Nassif. That’s how war mares in the desert were like. Really. Seeing this photo encouraged me to breed to this Bahraini stallion and I will do it as early as this spring, even if I would have preferred not to have to fork out 1,000 USD in breeding fees. The image below is copy of Loan Oak Photography.  

MD Turfairan, Young tail female Turfa colt

Susan Whitman recently sent me this picture of a promising and very correctly built 2011 colt from her tail-female Turfa program, MD Turfairan (MD Ibn Hattairan x MD Bint Turfaira by El Rabih). I especially like the photo of his maternal grandsire El Rabih (Al Felluje x Sharifa Abkar by Famaje), a Ubayyan stallion, with prominent facial bones, a sign of authenticity in Arabian horse breeding.

Jadah Kerasun has a home

The blind Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Jadah Kerasun, one of the last four remaining tail females to the Saud Royal Stud import *Samirah seems to finally have found a permanent home with Marge Smith of Oregon. Pamela Klein agreed to haul the mare from the Midwest to the Northwest at a discount rate, and Carrie Slayton single-handedly fundraised to raise the money for the shipping expenses, through facebook and on this website. This constitutes one of the nicest examples of the Al Khamsa preservation minded groups coming together to take collective action.

Jadah Sharuuq, 1995 black Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion

Jeanne Craver sent me this photo of the black Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion Jadah Sharuuq (Lifes Capade LD x Belladonna CHF by Audobon), a Sharp (no Blunt/Crabbet blood) stallion bred by Randall and Mary Sue Harris of Peoria, IL, from lines from Carol Lyons. This rare and precious stallion is just five generations removed from the 1925 desert bred Saudi mare *Nufoud, in the dam line. He combines in my opinion, the best of American asil Arabian bloodlines: the Davenports, the Saudi Arabian imports of Albert Harris, the blood of *Turfa up close, and the Egyptian lines of H.H. Prince Mohammed Ali (*Fadl and *HH … Hamida). Jeanne had already sent me a photo of his beautiful dam Belladonna CHF — click here.      

The Hamdani Simri line of *Samirah through Koweyt in pictures

What follows are pictures of horses from a little known and much underlooked asil line in the USA, that of the Saud Royal Stud’s Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare *Samirah, through her daughter Koweyt by Alcazar, Koweyt’s daughter Konight by Kaniht (all from Albert Harris’ breeding) and Konight’s 1963 daughter Ameera Moda by Fa-Turf (so lots of desert horses upclose). Two pictures of Konight are below. All the pictures are from Carrie Slayton, a long time breeder of this line, to whom the credit goes for saving it from extinction. I had written about this branch of the *Samirah line back in 2009 (click here) but did not learn of its current status until Carrie contacted me recently, and we started a conversation about these horses, which led her to send me these pictures.     Carrie leased two daughters of Ameera Moda (Fa-Turf x Konight by Kaniht) from the original breeders — the Bancrofts — and bred them to asil stallions over the years. One such daughter is Sha Bint Ameera (below) by the Hamdani Simri stallion Fa Charlamar, of old Davenport/Babson/Saud lines. From the photos, Sha Bint Ameera looks like a mare of old desert type, the like of which you…

Maur Halawi, 1994 asil Ubayyah mare

I am a big fan of the asil Arabians that trace to the ‘Ubayyan mare *Muhaira. I believe she is as important an influence as *Turfa in US pedigrees, especially the ones close to the desert. The mare below, Maur Halawa (Arrogaance x Maur Blue Treasure by Arrogaance), bred by Maureen Matheson, is one of these tail female *Muhaira mares, and is very reminiscent of the good desert-bred broodmares that I recall when growing up in Lebanon and Syria.        

The *Nufoud tail female, on the brink of extinction

I have mentioned the 1982 “war mare” LD Rubic (Plantagenet x Tarrla by Tarff) a number of times on this blog. She is the kind of mare I wished I had owned or bred. She is a great-grand-daughter of the desert bred mare *Nufoud, a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from the Saud royal studs, imported to the USA by Albert Harris in 1932 through Amin Rihani. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was still called the Sultanate of Najd and Hijaz at that time. She is also a great-grand-daughter of another Saudi royal mare, *Turfa. LD Rubic was bred by the late Carol Lyons out of the last Al Khamsa mare of that strain, Tarrla. Carol saved that line from extinction, and many others. Rubic left two sons and five daughters: of the sons, Salil Ibn Iliad has produced a number of asil mares here and there. He is getting older. The other son AB Razeel, is younger but had not had progeny as far as I know. The five daughters of the LD Rubic are MSF Rubie, Bint Rubic CHF, MSF Shamis, AB Dafiinah, and Belladonna CHF. MSF Rubie is a problem breeder, and has not had a foal in a long…

On Sa’dan Tuqan as Kuhaylan

The Abbas Pasha Manuscript [1993, edited by J. Forbis and G. Sherif], which is essentially the transcription by Abbas Pasha’s envoys of Bedouins’ testimonies about their horses, is the foremost primary source on the Bedouin-bred Arabian horse available today. Its hundreds of testimonies is the precious remnant of an oral culture, now long gone. No wonder modern Saudi families and clans who have nothing to do with horses anymore are relying on it as a bargaining chip to ask for favors from the Saudi royal family, or to ascertain their social status (things along the lines of: “Your Highness, my ancestor gave your ancestor a precious mare, they were close, it is written in the horse book, so now I need… from you in return”).   However great the legacy of Judith Forbis as a breeder of Arabian horses of the show type has been, her most enduring legacy, IMO, is to have made this book available to Western audiences. Page after page, the information in the Manuscript debunks many Western misconceptions about Bedouin horse breeding. Really, the only thing missing from the book is an index of the individual horses, strains and Bedouins mentioned. Check out this quote, page 439 [notes between brackets are mine]: “The Sheikhs of Subayah [actually, Subay’, a Bedouin tribe…

Haraka and Bint Hamida, Saqlawi Jadran mares in the USA

The two Saqlawiyat Jadraniyat full sisters Haraka and Bint Hamida (Kenur x *H.H. Mohamed Ali’s Hamida) have founded a dynasty of their own in the USA. Their dam Hamida (Nasr x Mahroussa) was bred by Prince Mohamed Ali and was a half sister of *Zarife, *Fadl, and *Maaroufa; their sire Kenur (*Sunshine x *Tairah) was the offspring of two Albert Harris’ Saudi imports to the USA. Both photos are from the archives of Billy Sheets, but I have seen them before in a Khamsat magazine issue too.

Ziba, from the Kuhaylat al-Krush mare line of Dafina, Crabbet and Courthouse lines

Ziba (Dancing Magic x Shazla by Shazda out of Darthula out of Saladin II) was one of my father’s favorites. A 1980 mare from the ‘marbat’ of Lord and Lady Moyne, and tracing to the desert bred Kuhaylat al-Krush Dafina, a gift from Ibn Saoud to Judith Wentworth, Ziba had no less than ten lines to Skowronek, and this, along with her Krush tail female to Dafina, is exactly the reason why my father bought her from Said Khair’s stud in Jordan and imported her to Lebanon, together with her son Sharif by a show horse of European lines. At the time, my father was a big fan of the Crabbet breeding program (and he still is in some ways), both under Lady Anne and then under her daughter Judith, and we did not know anything about Skowronek’s pedigree. We believed that Skowronek was the best thing that ever happened to Crabbet Stud, and Judith Wentworth certainly did a good job leading her readers to this conclusion. When we learned more about Skowronek, we sold Ziba to some local politician and she eventually found her way to Syria. Her non-asil status aside, Ziba had glorious tail carriage and movement, and was a…

*Mlolshaan’s new filly

Last year, Jenny Krieg and Rodger Vance Davis teamed up to take two of Rodger’s mares to be bred to the old Bahraini stallion *Mlolshaan Hager Solomon, in Michigan. This stallion, who came from Bahrain as a gift to his present owner Bill Biel, is currently the only stallion in the USA who was born in Arabia Deserta. Until then he had produced one asil mare, and Jenny decided to do something about the 24 year old stallion got any older. Rodger’s Dahmat Shahwan mare foaled a big handsome colt with the foot turned the wrong way who had to be destroyed. But his Ubayyah mare, who is tail female to *Mahraa of Ibn Jalawi of Saudi Arabia, foaled a very special filly for Jenny last month, named Ubayyat al-Bahrain, below. I wished we had more fillies displaying as much character and true Arab features as this one. Jenny even tells me there are plans to bring two other Saudi mares from Rodger’s to Solomon this year. Fingers crossed for that, and for more Solomon foals. Photo by Jamie Lamborn.

Jadah Samirah, Samirahs Adlayah, Hamdani Simri mares, USA

Jadah Samirah (photo below), owned by Stephanie Theinert who sent me these two pictures, is a special, precious mare in many respects. This 1993 grey mare is one of the very last survivors of the Sheet’s Arabian Stud Farms (ASF) breeding program, which in the 1990s was one of the largest asil preservation programs in the USA, with a focus on rare lines. She is by the wonderful ASF Hercules (ASF David x ASF Kera by Julyan), out of ASF Ubeidiya (ASF Ezra x ASF Euodia by ASF David). She carries some of the last lines ever to a number of original desert-bred Arabian imports to the UK and the USA, like Lord Russel’s *Mameluke (GSB), Captain Gaisford’s *Nedjran, Major Upton’s Kesia (GSB), and Homer Davenport’s *El Bulad and *Farha. She also carries some of the last lines so great American bred horses of the past, which are no longer to be found in other asil Arabian lines, like: Gharis, Medina, Komet, Mershid, Niht and Larkspur. Jadah Samirah is truly a time capsule of Amercican Arabian breeding of the first part of the XXth century. Jadah Samirah is also one of the four last representatives of the *Samirah line. *Samirah…

A ray of hope for the Turfa horses

Wendy Clark has taken up the torch on the preservation of the American asil Arabian horses that trace in tail female to the outstanding *Turfa, a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from the stables of Saudi Arabia’s King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud, and imported to the USA in 1941 by Henri Babson.These tail female *Turfa’s and other precious asil Arabians with lines to this mare are now critically endangered, after having been very popular with many breeders up to the 1980s. Recently, Wendy obtained the 1995 mare Bint Ibn Hilweh (Ibn Muhandis x Alah Al Abayyah), a tail female *Turfa, and added her to her *Turfa preservation breeding program. The mare seems to have been neglected by her previous owners, and is now recovering slowly at Wendy’s. The photo below is from before that time, when she was still with her breeder Susan Whitman. I first saw this photo on Susan’s website ten years ago, and this was one of two of my favorite mares.  

Kuhaylan Abu ‘Arqub in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript

When I first purchased my first copy of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, I was surprised not to find a mention of the well-known strain of Kuhalyan Abu ‘Arqub (fem. Umm ‘Arqub). Its absence was particularly puzzling since it was listed as one of the ten strains the viceroy of Egypt Abbas Pasha Hilmi I liked best. Upon taking a closer look however, I found it, “hidden” under the inconspicuous strain of Kuhaylan al-Fajri, which I had never heard of before. Here are the main is what the Manuscript has to say about this strain of Kuhaylat al-Fajri or Umm ‘Arqub, around 1840-1850, which is when the manuscript was compiled: — it goes back to Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, and is ‘to be mated in the darkest night’ (which means that the tribe could use males from that strain as stallions). — it is of a precious stud (or marbat in Arabic). — it is originally of the ‘Abidah sub-tribe of the great Bedouin tribe of Qahtan (where a lot of the best and most ancient strains seem to have hailed from — stay tuned for a list of these ‘Abidah strains). — it passed from the ‘Abidah to a man of the…

Photo of the Day: DB Rulique, Hamdani stallion in Canada

DB Rulique (Ruta-Am x Desert Malique by Desert Jalam) is a 1987 Hamdani Simri stallion bred by Rodger Davis entirely from original desert stock. He traces in tail female to Sindidah, a mare from the stables of the House of Saud. His owner Kelly Miller of Alberta, Canada, trained him as a level 3 dressage horse. Bedouins consider the ‘blood marking’ on the body to be a mark of ‘asalah’ (purity, authenticity). Photo from Lee Oellerich, who owned the horse for a couple years.

Photo of the Day: Hamdani Ibn Bahri, 2001 asil Hamdani Simri stallion in Canada

Below is a photo of Hamdani Ibn Bahri (Bahri x Qaisumeh by Qaisum who is Bahri’s full brother), a 2001 asil Hamdani Simri stallion from the breeding of Lee Oellerich in British Columbia, Canada.  He has six lines to the stallion *Taamri, DB and carries 50% Taamri blood and three lines to *Rudann, DB and thee lines to *Halwaaji, DB. *Taamri, Rudann, and *Halwaaji were all imported to the USA in 1960 by Sam Roach from the Saud Royal Stud of al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. The hujjah (certificate of authenticity) of *Taamri was featured here.

Nabeh, desert-bred Ubayyan al-Suyayfi stallion, Saudi Arabia

This stallion was the favorite of my wife Gabriele and I during our visit at the Najd Stud near Al-Kharj in Saudi Arabia: Nabeh, a fleebitten grey stallion 8 years by Haleem (already featured on this blog earlier), from the Ubayyan al-Sufayfi. Nabeh was the most beautiful desert-bred we saw on our trip, with small and tippy ears, a pretty face and also special action. He had less cadence and a longer stride trotting. By the way all the stallions at the Najd Stud are ridden daily. They looked like they could make perfect dressage horses. Of the 300 asil horses in that private stud, about 20 were from the Kuhaylan Krush strain, 20 of the Hamdani Simri strain, 5 of the Suwayti al-Firm strain, 4 of the Kuhaylan al-Musinn strain, 4 of the Shuhayb strain and all the rest of the Ubayyan al-Suyayfi strain.

Photo of the Day: Haziz, 2002 asil Dahman Shahwan in Canada

Another younger asil stallion of the Dahman Shahwan strain owned by veteran breedere Lee Oellerich of Canada is Haziz (Bahri x Hulaifa), a full brother of Hulaif, pictured below.  No wonder Bedouins used the word ‘Bahr’ (sea) to refer to their horses, ever since the time of the Prophet Muhammad: the action of this horse is reminiscent of sea waves swirling towards you.

Glorious Bahri, 1983 asil Hamdani Simri stallion in Canada

The glorious asil Hamdani Simri stallion Bahri (Ruta-Am x Taamhal by Taamri out of Halwaaji), a four-times grandson of the desert, since all his grandparents were imported by Sam Roach from the stables of King Ibn Saud in al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. Bahri was bred by Lee Oellerich in Canada, and is still doing great at 28 years old. His color certainly comes from his double grandsire *Taamri, whose name means ‘date-color’ from ‘tamr’, dates in Arabic.

Rare image of the Saudi Royal Stud of al-Kharj in the 1960s

This is a unique photo, and a precious witness to an era now long gone. It shows the stables of King Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud in the 1960s, at a time when hundreds, if not thousands, of desert-bred horses were being gathered by will or by force, from the Bedouin tribes of Saudi Arabia and beyond (mainly Syria), in the hands of the Saud family. The photo was taken by the late Laura Cavedo, who was being given a tour of the royal studs, and is from the collection of the late William Sheets (Billy). I have fifteen others. There are surviving first-hand accounts of how Farhan al-‘Ulayyan, one of the most trusted slaves of Miqhim ibn Mhayd, who was the leader of the Fad’aan Bedouins during much of the first half of the XXth century, organized the collecting and the shipping of hundreds of  ‘Anazah’s desert-bred horses from Syria to Saudi Arabia, in batches of ten, during the 1960s and 1970s and well up to the 1980s. Farhan would buy all the horses he could find, coaxing the impoverished ‘Anazah (but also Shammar) Bedouins out of their horses, and send them to the stables of the Saud family. He would…

Desert Horses’ Dispersal

Joe Ferriss sent me this announcement about a herd dispersal in Arkansas. There are 8 asil Arabians involved, all of BLUE STAR bloodlines. Five of these are ‘Straight Desert’, meaning that they entirely to horses imported from Saudi Arabia in the 1950s and 1960s. All need homes and quickly. Normally, Joe does not like to get involved in placing horses, and neither do I, but given the rarity of bloodlines we thought it important to let people knows. Click on this links to open a PDF document with the list of the horses, their pedigrees and the contact information of the owners. No picture of the horses are available here, but both the senior stallion and the senior mare are out of Desert Kalila, also dam of the mare DB Kalila pictured below. The line is a distinguished ‘Ubayyan line, from the horses of Prince Saud ibn ‘Adballah ibn Jalawi, governor of Eastern Saudi Arabia, in the 1930s and 1940s. Back there, it is highly valued.

Photo of the Day: Ibn El Iat, Kuhaylan stallion, USA

This is Ibn El Iat (El Iat x Marecho by Ibn Sirecho) a 1992 Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion owned by Elta Cook Ozier in Illinois. His pedigree is special because it consists of three horses only: *Fadl, Sirecho and *Turfa. There used to be many horses with that pedigree pattern a couple decades ago. Ibn El Iat is and his full sister MD Bint Marecho are the only two left, and both are 31.2% *Turfa. While I am not a fan of percentages, I tend to feel that the more *Turfa in a horse of these lines, the better the horse. Photo from Jeanne Craver.

Preservation across the USA

Jenny Krieg, of Maryland has partnered with Rodger Davis of Illinois to send two of Rodger Davis’ mares to the stallion from Bahrain, *Mlolshaan Hager Solomon (Rabdaan Alwasmy M19 x Mlolesh Asila M105 by Sharid), who is up in Michigan with Bill Biel. All of us have five pairs of fingers crossed for what should be Solomon’s second and third asil foals. We are also hoping that others will follow Jenny’s and Rodger’s lead and send more mares to this desert-bred stallion before it is too late. One of the two mares, DB Kalila, (AAS El Hezzez x Desert Kalila by *Furtha  Dhellal), a 2002 ‘Ubayyah tracing to the mare *Mahraa of Prince Saudi Ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Jalawi, Governor of Hasa, was leased by Jenny.  Her photo is below. I like the long ears and the croup.

Video: Foundation horses of Antique Arabian Stud

Thanks to Edie Booth for this video of some of the old horses of Antique Arabian Stud, which trace closely to desert-bred Arabians imported from Saudi Arabian, mostly from its Royal Studs. The segment where the newborn foal plays with Edie’s son (now a young man) is very touching. How I wish my children could have this interaction on a daily basis.. Two more videos were shared by Edie, too..

Why do Arabian horse imports from Saudi Arabia don’t have ‘substrains’?

Blog reader Mathias, from Germany, asked a pertinent question a few weeks ago: How come, he observed, “the horses from Saudi sources […] mostly have one strain name and no substrain, like Turfa and […] the mare Ghazala imported to Germany from Saudi Arabia”? I had never noticed before, but Mathias is correct. Check out the available, recorded information on the Saudi horses sent to Egypt’s royal Inshass Stud as gifts: Nafaa, a Kuhaylah, but what Kuhaylah? Hind, a Saqlawiyah, but what Saqlawiyah? Mabrouka, a Saqlawiyah, again with no “substrain”, or marbat; El Kahila, a Kuhaylah with no marbat, etc. Now check out the recorded information on the Saudi horses imported to the USA: *Mahraa and her daughter *Muhaira: Ubayyan, but which Ubayyan? *Al Hamdaniah: Hamdaniyah, but no substrain; *Taamri, *Jalam al-Ubayyan, *Al Obayya: all Ubayyan, no substrain; *Amiraa, *Rudann, *Halwaaji, *Sindidah, *Bedowia El Hamdani: all Hamdanis but no substrain; *Turfa: Kuhaylan, but no substrain, etc. etc. These horses came from famous and well established studs like that of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud at Al-Khorma, or that of Saud Ibn Jalawi in al-Hasa, they were from the Bedouin tribes, who were justifiably proud of their horses’ origins and who carefully, albeit orally, transmitted…