A very nice colt from the Bint Kareema line in Belgium

This colt which Belgian breeder Patrick Vermuyten recently bought really caught my eye. He is from the Bint Kareema line, hence an Ubayyan by strain. Bint Kareema‘s (Rasheed BLNT x Kareema) is in my view one of the Arabian breed’s most underrated lines. Despite its very small numbers (mostly in Europe), it has consistently produced first class, well conformed, stlylish horses over the past fourty to fifty years mostly in Europe (e.g., Kauber Platte’s Hakeel Ibn Kaisoon). Unlike other damlines that become “worn out” over the generations — my friend Jean-Claude Rajot refers to these as “fin de lignée” — this line seems to be only getting better with time, if this colt is any indication. As an aside, Bint Kareema is one of the very few Straight Egyptian lines not yet accepted by Al Khamsa, due to missing information about the antecedents of the her dam Kareema, by a “Dahman” out of an “Obeya”. I have my own educated guess, which I wrote about some ten years ago. Today, an mtDNA comparison between this line and an Ubayyan Sharrak tail female line from the Tahawi,e extinct in asil form, but still represented in the general equine population, should help…

Three pictures of Dahess, the Ubayyan Suhayli stallion from Syria

This afternoon I scanned some photos from a trip to Syria my father and I took in 1995 (almost 30 years ago, yikes!). I am more aware than ever about the need to put old analog records in digital format and online. Starting with Dahess, the handsome Ubayyan Suhayli stallion my father had just traded for a filly from the breeding of Radwan Shabareq. Dahess was a personal favorite of mine. Funny how some horses are just horses, while others touch your soul. This was the last time I was to see him, as he met an untimely death in a freak accident a few months later. To me, he will always remain the epitome of the desert Arabian horse, the real deal. His origins were flawless. His sire Awaad was a Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida from the strain of Mayzar Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba, a strain that goes back to Ibn Rashid and the Mutayr Bedouins; his dam al-Jazi was sired by the grey Ubayyan Suhayli of ‘Atnan al-Shazi, a Faddagha Shammar Bedouin who had obtained the line from the Sahlan/Suhayli owners of the strain; I recall being told that this horse was sold to the UAE in the early 1980s…

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,…

A strain claimed to trace to the Bani Hilal, eleventh century AD

On a very old strain, from the Arabic original of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, translation mine: The Gmassah [a branch of the Sba’ah tribe] were asked about the [strain of] ‘Ubayyah of Ibn ‘Alyan, which marbat she is from? The elders of the Sba’ah informed that: ‘She is ‘Ubayyah Huwaynah, [belonging] to [the tribe of] Bani Sakhr; she came to them [i.e. to Bani Sakhr] in ancient times; when they [the Sba’ah elders] asked about her, they found out that she was from an ancient marbat, and is to be mated, so they started mating her; it is said that she belonged to Bani Hilal; the Qudat [a branch of the Bani Sakhr] took her in war [qila’ah] from under the Sultan Hasan [the leader of the Bani Hilal] when the Bani Hilal went westards [gharrabu, i.e. to North Africa].‘ Some context here: The tumultuous XIth century  migration of the Bani Hilal and other tribes from Arabia to North Africa, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the defining moments in Egyptian and North African history. The historical events were described by XIVth century historian Ibn Khaldun. The saga of their migration was transmitted in verse by…

Ahmed Mabrouk on the Ubayyan horses at Ibn Jalawi in East Arabia in 1936

The following are excerpts from the RAS Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk’s book “A Journey to Arabia”, pertaining to his visit to Eastern Arabia in 1936: [King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia] gave me two recommendations, one to H.H. Prince Seoud Ibn Galawi, Ruler of El-Ehsa […]. The well known hospitality of H.M. The King and his Governors in Arabia was evident in H.H. Prince Ibn Galawi. In the Prince’s stables, near his private palace, I saw about 80 horses. These I believe ar the most pedigreed in Arabia owing to their concentration in a limited spot and the conseuqent exclusion of any outside blood. Nevertheless, I do not consider them bedouin bred horses but stable bred like those in Egypt […]. Photographs and descriptions of some of these horses follow.  Among the stallions he noted, there were three of the ‘Ubayyan strain, two bays (one dark) and a chestnut; he also noted two ‘Ubayyan bay colts; two ‘Ubayyah mares, one a safra (light grey) the other a hamra (bay). Other strains he saw horses from include Krayaan (which he wrote was a branch of the Krush), Harqan, Krush, Musinn, and Kuhaylan (no details), and Hamdani. Mabrouk also noted the horses markings,…

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.      

Down memory lane: Dahess 1987 Ubayyan Suhayli from Syria

This evening I had a bout of nostalgia for my old horses, so I went looking for pictures of Dahess, the desert-bred stallion my father and I bought from a racing stable in Beirut in 1993. I was 15. One afternoon, as I was just coming back from school, my father told me that he had been contacted by the secretariat of the organization managing the Beirut racetrack about two Arabian stallions that had recently been imported from Qatar, one of them a Syrian horse of desert lines. They were being housed at one of the racing stables on the road to the airport. Both were for sale. I pressed to drive down to the racetrack to see them at once. Half an hour later, we were standing in front of two stallions, an exquisitely balanced grey with a milky white coat, 14.3 hands, and a much taller, loosely built cherry bay. The grey we were told was “Syrian” and the bay “Russian”. Both were a bit thin. My father nudged me from his elbow, and started praising the bay horse, while deliberately turning his back to the grey one. The groom fell for the trick and hinted that the…

Manua, a desertbred ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah, in Russia

Manua was bought in Homs by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900, on the second trip that he and Count Stroganov made to Syria, but went to Stroganov’s stud in Russia, rather than Shcherbatov’s. Her sire was a Hadban Enzahi; her dam was from the Sba’ah and sired by a Kuhaylan al-Ajuz horse. From Abeyan sherrak strain. Bay mare imported. Born in 1891 at Hajji Mohammed Khudur, mugkhtar of Babaa Amur village, near Homsa. Sire bay stallion from Khadban Yenzekkhi strain, born at Gomussa’s Bedouin (of Sebaa Anaze) and was sold by the said Bedouin to Fellakh Ibrahim Aga from Ashaee tribe in northern Syria. Dam – bay mare from Abeyan Sherrak strain, purchased by Hajji Mohammed Khudur in 1882 from Bedouin Uakhadj Ibn-Suan from Moadja tribe (of Sebaa Anaze); its sire was from Kekhaylan Adjus strain. Purchased personally by Prince A.G.Scherbatov in Homsa city in 1900 from Hajji Mohammed Khudur and imported to Russia. While in Arabia, she foaled twice. 1900 covered by grey stallion from Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain in Homsa. The stallion was born in Bedouin tribe Gomussa (of Sebaa Anaze) and bought from them by Ibn-Faras, who lived in Homsa. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present…

Abeyan, Arnab and Abba, ‘Ubayyan Sharrak half-siblings

The horses below are half-brothers and -sister, bred by Count Stroganov, out of the mare Anaze. Anaze was an 1877 ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah, sired by a Ma’naqi Ibn Sbayli. Her breeder is not given in her Russian stud book entry, only that Stroganov bought her in Deir on the Euphrates in 1888. Abeyan (above) was an 1892 stallion, sired by Tamri, a grey Kuhaylan Tamri stallion bred by Mohammed Ibn Rashid, the Emir of Jabal Shammar, and taken by the Anazah in war in 1889. Tamri was gifted to Stroganov by Sheikh Nasr Ibn Abdallah in 1890. Arnab (above) was an 1893 stallion, sired by Emir-el-Arab, a Kuhaylan Krush from the Wuld Ali. Emir-el-Arab’s sire was an ‘Ubayyan Sharrak from the marbat of Abu Jreyss. Stroganov bought Emir-el-Arab in Damascus, in 1888. Abba (above) was the younger half-sister of Abeyan. Foaled in 1897, her sire was Sherrak, the stallion that had been gifted to Stroganov along with Tamri in 1890. Photos sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.

Sherrak, an ‘Ubayyan Sharrak Abu Jreyss stallion

Below is one of Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov’s desertbred stallions, gifted to him by Sheikh Nasr Ibn Abdallah, when he visited Stroganov’s stud farm in Russia. Sherrak, an ‘Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the marbat of Abu Jreyss. From Abeyan Sherrak strain of Abu Djereys family. Grey stallion, imported; height 2 arshins 2 ¼ inches. Born in Arabia in 1885. Brought from Arabia to Russia for Count C.A. Stroganov in 1890 by Sheikh Nasr Ibn-Abdalla. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Photos sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.

Prince Shcherbatov’s desertbred stallions

Prince Alexander Grigorievich Shcherbatov was one of the Russian aristocratic horse breeders, who established an Arabian stud in the late nineteenth century. Together with his brother-in-law, Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov, Prince Shcherbatov, inspired by the Blunts, journeyed to Syria in 1888, in order to purchase Bedouin Arabian horses. They succeeded in buying horses from the Anazah and the Shammar, and in 1900 made a second trip to Syria. Neither Shcherbatov nor Stroganov’s studs survived the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, though part of the Tersk stud is situated on Stroganov’s farm. El-Kader (above), a Kuhaylan Swayti stallion from the Ruwalah, by a Ma’naqi ibn-Sbayli. Born in Arabia in 1882 at Bedouin Mis’ar Ibn-Moadjil of Ashadjaa tribe (from Roal Anaze). The said Bedouin sold the horse to Ahmet Pasha Shaaman in Damascus where it served as a sire for Roala tribe. Sire of Manegi Ibn-Sbeiyel strain. Purchased by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in person in Damascus and brought to Russia in 1888. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Faris (above), an Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the Shammar, by a Kuhaylan Ras-el-Fedawi. From Abeyan Sherrak strain, from Gkhenedish family (of Selga Shommar). Pebble grey stallion, imported, height 2…

Zamzamah, 2007 Ubayyat Ibn Suhayyan in Syria

Last week Basil Jadaan sent me photos and videos of his mares. He is carefully rebuilding his stud after having lost all his horses during the Syrian civil war. This is his lovely 2007 Ubayyat Ibn Suhayyan mare Zamzamah. She is by a Kuhaylan Hayfi government-owned stallion Midyan al-Ghouta (Layth al-Arab x Mayyada), out of Zamzam, who was by Dinar (Al-A’war x Aseela) out of Raabi’ah (Al-A’war x Freiha al-Sughra). Freiha al-Sughra was bred by Shammar Bedouin Hamid Ibn Suhayyan, the owner of the strain. The strain is a branch of ‘Ubayyan, which the Shammar clan of Ibn Suhayyan has been breeding for close to 200 years. Before that, the strain was with al-Lumaylimi of the Wuld ‘Ali Bedouin, and before that with al-Hunaydees of al-Dhafeer. The maternal grand-dam of this mare was the full sister of the stallion Shahm that was imported to France but died soon after.

*Abeyah tail female survives with the Shammar

Lately, I have been enjoying regular evening discussions with Radwan. He is energized now that several of the mares he had lost to the IS were found and brought back. He is part of a WhatsApp group with Bedouin shaykhs and breeders in Syria to discuss desert horses and strains. Yesterday’s discussion yielded a wonderful, just wonderful surprise: the specific Ubayyan Sharrak line to the 1906 Davenport import *Abeyah still exists among the Shammar. *Abeyah, per her hujjah now on the Arabian Horse Archives, was from the marbat of Mit’ab al-Hadb, the leader of the Thabit clan of the Northern Shammar, and one of its “men of war” (rijal harb) — military commanders. In the course of the 20th century (still trying to find out when), this precious Ubayyan Sharrak marbat, which originally hailed from the Sba’ah ‘Anazah, passed from the sons of Mit’ab to their paternal cousins the sons of Shugayyif. They are now known after Shughayyif. By the 1980s, Muhammad ibn Mit’ab al-Hadb only had Saqlawiyat Jadran — and what Saqlawiyah these were! More on them another time. But their cousins the Shughayyif kept the line going. Two mares made it in the second rounds of registrations in…

Mas-huj, Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from Syria

The 1983 stallion Mas-huj stood at the farm of Basil Jadaan near Damascus for one season, when this photo was taken. Basil gave a copy of the photo to Hazaim Alwair who published it online for some time. Mas-huj was from the city of Hama, from an old lineage of Ubayyan Sharrak tracing to the Sbaa tribe. I remember Mashuj well, from seeing him in Hama year in year out during the late 1980s and early 1990s at the farm of Fuad al-Azem. His sire was a Saqlawi Jadran of Ibn Zubayni from another old Hama lineage (that of the family of al-Khani). He raced in Beirut under the name of Zad al-Rakib. My father recalls seeing him — the Saqlawi — pull a cart on the streets of Beirut in the early 1980s after his racing career was over. I was in the car apparently but too young to remember.   

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.

Another daughter of Achhal from Lebanon

This mare, also a ‘Ubayyah, and also a daughter of Achhal, was the last two “asil” Lebanese mares. She was owned by Abd al-Hamid al-Halabi, who bred her to French stallions (non-asil) that my father had selected for Lebanon in 1992. She left no “asil” progeny as a result. Like most everyone in the Middle East at the time (and until today), he had no idea at the time that the notion of “asil” and the Western notion of a “purebred Arab” registered in a studbook were not the same. Years after that, we eventually understood that not all “purebred Arabs” traced to Bedouin-bred horses in all their lines, but it was too late for the Lebanese breeding from an “asil” perspective. When the Lebanese studbook was accepted by WAHO, it already consisted of 25 or so elderly mares, and one gelding racehorse. Stallions had to be imported from aboard. This mare was one of the youngest, born in 1980 I believe. I think her name was Chahla, but I am not sure.

Zenobia, Ubayyah Sharrakiyah from Lebanon, 1991

Zenobia, born in 1977, was one of the prettiest asil mare in Lebanon, my father’s favorite horse, and a notoriously difficult producer. A ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah tracing to the marbat of Ibn Thamdan of the Sba’ah, with a regal pedigree that was linebred to Mach’al, the foundation stallion of Lebanese asil breeding. She left no asil progeny, and my father sold her in 1992 at the age of 15. Sire: Achhal, a son of Mach’al; dam: Bint Su’ad; sire of dam: Wazzal, another son of Mach’al; dam of dam: Su’ad; sire of granddam: al-Jazzar; dam of granddam: Mash’al’s sister, a daughter of Shaykh al-Arab.

Bahraini Obayyan stallion in Germany

Obeyaan Mirage the Bahraini Ubayyan stallion which the Royal stables of Bahrain have gifted to Warren and Regina Staas arrived today at their farm. He is very handsome, and comes from old lines. This is the fourth Bahraini stallion to come to Europe in the last five years, after the Kuhaylan Ibn Aafess stallion “Kuheilaan Afass Maidaan” that was gifted to the Government of Poland, and the Mulawilishan stallions “Mlolshaan Mahrous” and the Tuwayssan stallion “Tuwaisaan Tha’atha’a” that were presented to HM the Queen of England.

Kina Murray on Reem al-Oud in 2002

I love this photo of the desert-bred Ubayyah Suhayliyah Reem al-Oud in Bedouin gear with Kina Murray riding. It was taken in the North East Syria in 2002. Here’s Kina’s description of this moment: “Attached is me having a gentle walk on an elderly mare on the trip when we went to do the investigation on all the horses that were added to the studbook, in 2002. […] I can’t remember her strain, possibly Obeyah Seheilieh, I rode her when we visited the home of Sheikh Mezer Ojail Abdull Kareem of the Shammar in Al Hassaka, as far as I recall.  One of my best memories ever. In fact she had just taken part in an impromptu 5km race across the desert!   Here are a couple of quotes from the report I wrote about that trip:  “At the home of Sheikh Mezer Ojail Abdull Kareem of the Shammar in Al Hassaka, a slightly longer  race  across  the  desert  with  about  5  mares taking  part  was  arranged  for  our entertainment, it seemed that this was a regular activity. One of the mares taking part was 22 years old. The ‘finishing line’ appeared to be exactly where our group was standing, and it…

Bahraini stallions in the flesh

I finally saw the Arabian horses of Bahrain, those “Pearls of Great Price”, after a 30 year wait. Thanks to Jenny Lees who arranged the private visit to the Stud of the late Sheikh Mohammad Bin Salman Aal Khalifah, we, my father and I, had the privilege of seeing these horses two days before their presentation. In an unforgivable episode of forgetfulness, I only brought my camera phone, the battery of which died after snapping photos of the third stallion. The others are in my head, just like hundred of other horses seen but not photographed. Most impressive among the horses of the late Sh. Mohammed was a grey Hamdani (no photos). An older Rabdan, a chestnut Sa’eedan, a grey Tuwaisan, a grey Shawafan, and a dark chestnut Radban, many of these sons of the older Radban. The three below were among my favorites: from top to bottom: a very showy ‘yellow Ubayyan; a very balanced and powerful Jellabi; and a more refined, drier speckled Mlolshaan.

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.  

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.

Ubayyat Ibn Thamdan at the Tahawi in Efypt, ca. 1955

Mohammad Mohammad Osman Faysal Abdallah Saoud al-Tahawi sent me this beautiful photo of his grandfather Faysal on a Ubayyat Ibn Thamdan mare, taken around 1955. I like everything about this photo: the whitewashed tombs in the background, straight out of the Arabian Nights, the mud brick walls and the mud houses and the oasis, the old Shaykh on the mare, and the electric pole as a lonely testimony of creeping modernity in a scene that could otherwise have taken place a thousand years ago. And the mare of course: look at that perfect specimen of a desert mare: the full powerful croup, the walk, the carriage of the neck, and the long head so full of character. The strain above all: Faran Ibn Thamdan of the Sba’ah Bedouins was the owner of one of the three or four best strains of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak in North Arabia, a strain which produced some of the best foundation horses of the Arabian breeding program on my home country of Lebanon some fifty years ago. More about the strain of Ubayyan ibn Thamdan later, once I am done staring at this picture.    

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.        

Faras Mattori

The desert-bred ‘Ubayyah Suhayliyah mare Reem al-‘Ud, bred by the Shammar tribe in northeastern Syria, also known as “the mare of Mattori” from one of her past Bedouin owners, was featured several times on this blog. Here is yet another photo of her in extreme old age, which shows well the black skin around her eyes. Her last owner was Sh. Mayzar al-‘Ajil al-‘Abd al-Karim al-Muhammad al-‘Abd al-Karim al-Jarba, a descendant of the great Shammar hero ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jarba known as “Abu Khudah”.

Asil *Abeyah tail female survives through show lines

Some time ago, I wrote about how the 1964 mare Carila (Caravan x Akila by Akil), the last asil mare from the female line of the Davenport mare *Abeyah was lost in the 1990s despite a last minute preservation effort.. Recently, while going through Datasource, I was thrilled to find out that an asil line to *Abeyah has actually survived, through modern show ring lines and outside any preservation program. This is the line of the 1963 mare RO  Jameelah (Faaris x Ramleh, by Ghazi x Fersaba, by Ferdin x Saba), who has a line to Nureddin II through his son Ferdin, which means she is not Al Khamsa, because Al Khamsa does not accept Nureddin II. Now the case of Nureddin II (Rijm x Narguileh by Mesaoud) is a long and complex one, and a painful one at that. In my opinion, he is who the studbooks say he is, that is, the 1911 son of his two parents, the Crabbet horses Rijm and Narguileh. I have seen all the documentation available, and I don’t buy the arguments of either Carl Raswan or his disciple Jane Ott, about him being the son of an English Thoroughbred. This theory has been refuted many times by all serious researchers.…

More recent Tahawi acquisitions of asil Arabians from the desert

Read this entry in the stud book of Faysal ‘Abd Allah Sa’ud al-Tahawi, excerpted from the tribe’s website: “Then, in the year 1356 H, we bought the bay ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah from Ibn Samdan, when she was in foal, and she gave birth, while in our ownership, to a chestnut colt whose sire is the [Kuhaylan] Nawwaqi who was [standing at stud] with the Arabs of Sba’ah, and whose owner was Fanghash, on the first day of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1356 H [equivalent to the 12th of May, 1937]. And we solt that colt to Cairo.” And further down: “And on July 27, 1949, Faran Ibn Samdan came to us, and we each took our shares [in horses], and he gave up his shares in al-‘Ubayyah and received from us 172 pounds. This was the bay ‘Ubayyah which came from Salih al-Misrab at the hand of Husayn Abu Hilal in 1356 H.”  Now please tell me, how many people in 1950, just over sixty years ago, had the luxury of receiving Ibn Samdan, the breeder of the best and most authenticated marbat of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak among the Sba’ah, in his own house, to pay him his share of the ‘Ubayyat Ibn Samdan,…

Nauwas and Hisani Jzairah, Ubayyan mares of desert lines in the USA

Veteran preservation breeder George Hooper sent these old pictures of the asil ‘Ubayyah mare Nauwas (Al-Khobar x *Muhaira), one of my favorite mares of old Saudi bloodlines, and her filly foal Hisani Jzairah by the desert bred sire *Jalam al-Ubayan. The one below is of Nauwas and her colt Princeton Kadil:

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.

AAS Sawannah, an asil Arabian back to her homeland

Below is a photo of a USA bred Arabian mare, which we saw at the stables of Prince Turki bin Fahd Bin Jiluwi Aal Saud, a scion of the Jiluwi family who were the Eastern al-Ihsaa (Hasa) province governor. The mare is a Dahmat Shahwan, AAS Sawannah, by AAS Hezzez out of DB Jasidah by Desert Jalam. Prince Turki bint Fahd Al-Jalawi told us that this mare traces to the horses of his family’s stud in al-Hufuf, and that he had bought her because this line had died out in Saudi Arabia. Prince Turki also imported two ‘Ubayyah mares from his grandfathers’ horses: Sahar Ataeq and DB Faimah, both from the *Muhaira tail female. It is nice to see that least one member of the Saud Royal family obtained horses preserved with us Westerners back their homeland, and is proud to continue the horsebreeding tradition of his family.

Alfat, desert-bred Ubayyan al-Suyayfi stallion from Saudi Arabia

Here is another photo from our trip to Saudi Arabia, with the Asil Club delegation. This one was taken at the Najd Stud of Prince Turki Bin Fahd Bin Abdullah Al Saud near al-Kharj. This was the highlight of our trip. There are about 300 asil DB horses in that stud, as well as some Egyptians of the Dahman Shahwan line. We saw very nice stallions that could have stepped out of the historic photographs of the Blunts and others. Below is the bay stallion Alfat, 12 years, by Al Beshir out of Al-Sayeda, from the strain of ‘Ubayyan al-Suyayfi. Matthias

Jalaa’, Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from Syria, at Jabri stud

This is Jalaa’, a young chestnut ‘Ubayyan Sharrak stallion at the Jabri stud farm in Aleppo. Jalaa is a ‘Ubayyan Sharrak of the marbat of Ibn Duwayhiss of the ‘Anazah. Thanks to Arnault for posting his pedigree on allbreedpedigree.com. Photo by G. Waiditschka. He is by the Shabareq-bred Ma’naghi Sbayli stallion Tadmor (Al-Aawar x Holwah) out of the Jabri-bred mare Shareefah (Ihsan x Dalahem by Mahrous out of Nawal). Al-Aawar was featured here; Holwah here; Ihsan here; Mahrous here and Nawal here, all on this blog. Here is a full shot, also by by G. Waiditschka.

Another photo of Dahess, the Ubayyan Suhayli stallion

Dahess (Awaad x Al-Jazi by the Ubayyan of ‘Atnan al-Shazi) was a 1987 grey stallion. He was bred by sayyid Muhammad al-Shaykh Salim a Tufayhi, a non-Bedouin from a family of religious notables in Upper Mesopotamia, as so was his dam. He was a ‘Ubayyan Sharrak by strain, tracing to the marbat of ‘Awwad ‘Azzam al-Sahlan, or ‘Ubayyan Suhayli. He was sired by the grey Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion Awaad, who hails from the famed marbat of Mayzar al-‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba, and as such he is a half brother to the black stallion Mokhtar now in France. His dam, al-Jazi, was reportedly one of the prettiest mares in Syria, and eventually came to be owned by the late Basil al-Asad, brother to the current president of the Syrian Arab Republic. Dahess was sold as a youngster to the former Qatari consul in Damascus, the late Yusuf al-Rumaihi, who owned a wonderful collection of beautiful and well-authenticated desert-bred mares (more on this later), as well as the two Egyptian stallions Okaz (Wahag x Nazeemah) and al-Qahir (Ikhnatoon x Marium).   When Rumaihi passed away, the horses were dispersed and some of them found their way to Qatar, where they were overlooked and eventually given away. Dahess then…

Photos of the Day: Mahrous, desert-bred Ubayyan stallion from the Shammar

I recently scanned a number of photos of Syrian Arabian horses that I took in the early 1990s, and I will be sharing them with you over the next days and weeks. It makes sense to begin this series of photos with the 1981 ‘Ubayyan Suhayli stallion Mahrous, head sire at the Jabri stud in Aleppo, Syria in the 1980s and much of the 1990s. He is consequently one of the most influential stallion in Syrian pedigrees today. I took these photos in 1992. Mahrous was a masculine and prepotent stallion, who stamped his progeny. All his sons and daughters inherited his balanced, near-faultless conformation and his good disposition. His head was criticized by some for not being a classic Arabian head with a ‘dish’ — Mahrous had a straight profile and a  — but you can see from these pictures that it had all the essential characteristics of the head of a true desert-bred Arabian stallion: huge soulful eyes, short pricked ears, huge arched cheekbones,  a broad forehead between the eyes, and a clean, delicately arched throat (mithbah). I have already discussed Mahrous’ very well-established pedigree in an earlier entry, to which I refer you (click here).

A detailed discussion of the hujjah of the desert-bred mare *Abeyah

Below is a translation of the Arabic language hujjah of the mare *Abeyah, imported by Homer Davenport from the Northern Arabian (i.e., Syrian) desert to the USA in 1906. It is adapted from the translation of this hujjah which I did in 2005 for the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III. The Al Khamsa Arabians III translation remains the one readers ought to refer to, because it is a word for word translation of the original Arabic, but the one below reads better in English: “I, o Faris al-Jarba, witness that the bay mare which has a blaze on her face and two stockings on her hindlegs is a ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah from the marbat of Mit’ab al-Hadb, to be mated in the dark night, purer than milk; we only witness to what we know, and don’t withhold what is unknown. Faris al-Jarba bore witness to this [seal of Faris al-Jarba follows] I testify by God that the witness referred to, Faris Pasha from the tribe of Shammar, is a just man and that his testimony is acceptable. Ahmad al-Hafez [seal of Ahmad al-Hafez follows]” I will be discussing this hujjah in detail in the comments section below, so when you…

[Republished] Stallions at Al Basel – Basil, a son of Mahrous

I was sorry to hear about the passing of Majd, the bay Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion whose picture i recently posted. While visiting the Al Basel government stud in Syria, Majd’s sire was introduced. He is an imposing grey of good size, and his name is Basil [Mahrous x Halah]. He is of the Kuhaylan Mimrah strain and is bred by Mustapha Al Jabri. He is a horse of great quality and has a wonderful nobility which reminds me of that sense of quiet, confident, but strong diginity akin to a great war horse. The Blue Star stallion Muhairon (Sirecho x *Muhaira) was very much like this. [askterisks are used to denote imported to North America.] I wish I had more photos of Basil but the one here is descriptive of his quality which shows great proportions, leg quality and wonderfully shaped ears, a true Bedu charger to be proud of. -Joe Ferriss

Mahrous, desert bred Ubayyan and herd sire at Jabri Arabian, Syria

The ‘Ubayyan Suhayli stallion Mahrous was, until his death in the late 1990s, the herd sire at Mustafa al-Jabri’s stud in Aleppo, Syria. Today his sire line is, along with that of the Damascus stallion Ayid, the most prolific in modern Syrian Arabian horse breeding. If you check Mahrous’ entry in the Syrian Arabian Horse Studbook, you will find relatively little information about him, in comparison with other major stallions of his generation (e.g, Mobarak, Mashuj, Raad, Marzuq, Mokhtar, all born between 1982 and 1987). I was able to learn more about Mahrus’ background by asking a number of persons, including Mustafa, Radwan Shabariq and the late Abd al-Qadir al-Hammami, as well as others who knew the horse well. Hazaim al-Wair has also conducted a masterful inquiry among the Shammar Bedouins clans of al-Sbeih and al-Ghishm about Mahrous’ sire. Mahrous was born in 1981, in the steppe area between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, in Northeastern Syria. He was bred by a Bedouin of the Faddaghah clan of the Shammar tribe, a man named Wuhayyid al-Hamad al-Duhayyim. Wuhayyid then sold Mahrous to horse merchant, who sold him to another, before Mustafa bought him as a young stallion in 1983/84. The photo of Mahrous,…

Photo of the Day: Rock, Kuhaylan al-Kharas stallion bred by the Tahawi

This photo of the stallion Rock (Ragie x El Charsaa by Gezeier) with proud owner Shaykh Sulayman ibn Abd al-Hamid ibn ‘Ulaywa al-Tahawi was taken from the Tahawi family website. I am so grateful to Bernd Radtke for among other things, his sharing with me the pedigree of Rock’s daughter Bombolle (Rock x Maskerade), which has allowed to reconstitute Rock’s pedigree. Rock’s strain is Kuhaylan al-Kharass, and his tail female traces to the Kuhalyan al-Kharas marbat of the Sba’ah Bedouins. Kuhaylan al-Kharas is a flagship strain of the Sba’ah, and is the strain of the Blunt import Proximo, among other well known Arabians of Lebanon and Syria. Rock’s pedigree is heavily linebred to the two strains of Dahman ‘Amer (from the marbat of Jarallah Ibn Tuwayrish) and ‘Ubayyan Sharrak (from the marbat of Abu Jreyss).