Turefi Dahman, 1984 stallion from the UAE
Anyone knows what the origin of this picture on allbreedpedigree.com is? It is supposed to represent the 1984 chestnut UAE stallion Turefi Dahman (Dahman Al Asfar 1975 x Turefiya Safra OA 1974), yet the horse in grey. The sire on the pedigree is UAE bred from Saudi lines, and the dam (persumably from the strain of Kuhaylan Turayfi) is presented as a desert bred. [Update: Photo by Rick Van Lent, Jr]
Perhaps it is a picture of his sire, Dahman Al Asfar. The following all refers to Dahman Al Asfar. He was born in 1975 and registered in Saudi Stud Book volume 1 with the name Ward El Jazeera, with his birth colour (chestnut) he was bred by Prince Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer, Al Shariaa Stud. He was exported to Sheikh Zayed Al Nahayyan’s Amiri Stables in Abu Dhabi in 1980 where his name was changed. His strain is in the Saudi studbook as Hamdani Simri.
The picture is definitely of Turefi Dahman one of a number taken by Rik Van Lent Jr for the presentation book for the WAHO Conference held in Abu Dhabi in 1996. His sire Dahman Al Asfar was a grey,presented to HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan in July 11th 1979. However there is a mistake somewhere in the records because Dahman Al Asfar (according to Royal Stables records of the time)was 15 years old when he arrived ie foaled in 1964. I saw him first in 1992 when he was already a very old horse, he died in 1993 of old age. Dahman Al Asfar was first registered in UAE as there was no Saudi studbook at the time. I believe the confusion occurred because The Royal Stable records show a chestnut called named Hamdani Ashgar accompanied Dahman Al Asfar from Saudi, and he was recorded as a 5 year old, HH did not like him and he was given away to the army in 1982 on HH orders. He was not used for breeding, whereas Dahman Al Asfar left a colt (Turefi Dahman) and a filly (Dahma Romaniya) who have left produce. Unfortunately there is no record if the name changes took place in Abu Dhabi. It was said that Dahman Al Asfar had been a very good racehorse and had raced in Kuwait. I could never establish the truth of that, but his legs certainly had considerable wear and tear and showed signs of firing. Historically many neighbouring rulers presented horses to the Al Nahyans, a number coming from Saudi Arabia The first photographic record appears to be that of a mare presented to Sheikh Zayed the Great in 1904 by the Sharif of Makkah. I will see if I still have any photographs of Dahman Al Asfar. I would be interested to know if there was much racing of Arabians in Kuwait in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Thank you for this comprehensive and precious piece of information, Deirdre.
Yes, there was indeed racing of some sort in Kuwait in the 60s and 70s as far as I know, as many good lebanese asil racehorses were sent there during the civil war in Lebanon.
Deirdre if you see this – is there any record of the name of the sire and dam and strain of Dahman Al Asfar? Thanks!
I have that presentation book also when I attended the WAHO conference in 1996 and it is a wonderful memento of that conference as well as an excellent photo comparison of the types of horses generated by the various pedigrees presented. The booklet represents a wide range of bloodlines with a strong representation of French, Russian and Crabbet with also some American, European and Egyptian blends. Many horses illustrated in the book have good racing records and some are now famous. The picture you show above Edouard, must be from the same Van Lent, Jr. photo shoot as Ms. Hyde indicates. In the catalog Turefi Dhaman is wearing the same halter and the pose is a direct side view as are others in the book. Perusing through the book is a remarkable lesson in the powerful impact on Arabian appearance of contemporary French bred racing stock. I find it amazing for instance in comparing the type of the American/Polish-bred racing stallion TC Tomahawk with the French-bred Khephren. Then there is also the splendid example of the ideal Crabbet/English stallion in the picture of Aboud (his daughter Kaida shows the same type), versus the very powerful, substantial French-bred stallion Dent De Loup, UAE Race Horse of The Year, 1995/96.
I am afraid there is no mention of sire or dam or strain, however there are descriptions of markings hence I know that the two stallions got mixed up. The Saudi book has the markings of the chestnut, who may very well have been the real Ward El Jazeera. I understand HH Sheikh Zayed had very strong views on what an Arabian horse should look like and that Dahman Al Asfar fitted that bill whereas the other horse did not. I must also point out for the interest of Joe Feriss that Aboud was personally selected by His Highness after seeing pictures of Muscat and Padron in Arabian Horse World and he asked Col Wilson to find him a similar type of horse, Aboud was one of those whose pictures and credentials was presented.
I also could not agree more about how fascinating to see development in the appearance of the Arabian in the book. I think a similar book nowadays would emphasise even more the exaggeration of differing types which have developed in the last couple of decades.
Deidre, is the dam of Turefi Dahman a mare from the UAE or is she also a gift from somewhere else, Saudi or perhaps Syria? The strain of Kuhaylan Turefi/Trayfi/Treyfi typically belongs to the Anazah in North Arabia..
It is interesting but rather disappointing if not worse. I had not looked into Turefiya Saffra until now as I rather assumed there was no information available as she was in EAHS Vol 1 as OA and she had long left the Royal Stables before I arrived. Anyway just now when I went through Dahman Al Asfar’s breeding record I found the stable reference for Turefiya Saffra as Turefi Dahman’s dam and then dipped into the Stable register. She was in fact born in Abu Dhabi in March 1976 and was the first filly in that record given the numbers F1 then M100 as a mare, she was a grey roan foal and her dam is recorded as M60 Saudia and sire Nasser (dead). She raced in 1979 and 1980, then had four foals between 1984 and 1987, her first foal, Turefi Dahman, is noted as being the 1st foal of second generation breeding (in the new Royal Stables) She died of colic in 1987. The rest of the reading is somewhat concerning because she was nick-named Horrid and a note has been added at a later date Anglo Arab!! This might apply to fact or appearance. I wondered also if the dam’s name Saudia had significance so looked her up she was No 60 in the register and is there called Shaweema Shahbah 1969 no record of origin, sire or dam so she must have come from outside UAE. She also died of colic in 1981 after producing three foals, the first being Saudia by in this instance a stallion called Sudani. Looking him up adds another question mark, no mention of Nasser and under origin “Sudan” has been scored out and the word chestnut inserted in a different hand writing, whilst under his description he is bay. He was foaled in 1966 and destroyed in 1980 chronic lameness. It is also strange that he does not appear to have any recorded foals. I do not know what can be honestly concluded from this. The records were carefully kept as can be seen by a British vet under a Col. ex British army who ran the Stables neither had any knowledge or understanding of Arabian breeding nor any reason to be anything but honest. The majority of the early horses were discarded from the Royal Stables with the full agreement at the time of Sheikh Zayed, largely because he did not like the look of the horses, or so I was told and the Royal Stables restocked with horses purchased from the West. All this said I think it is significant that basically of all the many stallions in the old register only three OA stallions were considered good enough or of suitable type to remain in the Stables and those were Dahman Al Asfar, Turefi Dahman, who was just a colt on HH last visit and an Iragi stallion called Saad Ali. This would only have happened with the express instruction of HH Sheikh Zayed.
So Turefiya Saffra is the daughter of “Nasser” and M60 Saudia, who is elsewhere known as Shaweemah Shahbah, and this Saudia/Shaweemah Shahbah has another foal other than Turefiya Saffra also called Saudia by a horse called Sudani from Sudan. So he should be different from “Nasser”.
Saudia means coming from Saudi Arabia, just like Sudani means coming from the Sudan.
Another alternative is that M60 Saudia and Shaweemah Shahbah are not the same mare.
All this is rather normal as such royal stables typically got gifts from many places.
A quick question: is there anything next to “Nasser” such as “Sharif” or “Jordan”. It is not a typical horse name.
The plot thickens, but first I must correct one thing Shaweema Shahbah had three foals first in 1976 our F1 and no sire is given at this point. Then Shaweema was covered in 1977 by Sudani, in 1979 and 1980 by Managi she aborted that last and was covered in 1981 by Dahman Al Asfar but died before foaling. Only the first foal the filly made it into the stable records. It is very difficult to follow the breeding records and they way it is written up. Now I have been through the mare register and find that a mare M 6 was called Abiya al Zirga (Saudia) the Saudia is in brackets after her name just like that, she was foaled 1973 grey Sire Al Mareed, Dam Lulu she is noted as Arab and her first three coverings were 1981, 1982, 1983 all by Dahman Al Asfar.
Lulu had one other filly Managiya Al Safra by Nasser and she was M1. Could it be they are all mixed up? Is it just co-incidence M 6 and M 60 and so on. The Royal Stables was established in Abu Dhabi in 1969, but there is no date given as the start date for the record and certainly no obvious reason how the numbers were allocated or on what evidence it is based. I believe the RS was started with horsesbrought from The Mezyad Stable in al Ain some had been there for generations many were gifts. This was three years after HH took over as ruler in Abu Dhabi and 2 years before the formation of the UAE in 1971. Looking at the origin and date information where it is given, it looks as if many new horses came in between 1969 and 1973 and these predominatly from Saudi, Lebanon, Morocco. No breeding is given and they have those strain type names. Then in 1978 Thoroughbreds appear from Pakistan and later UK and after that the modern western arabs appear from 1981. Races were organised for National day, visiting dignitaries, and grand weddings. It is all a bit frustrating like looking through a net curtain you can almost see but not quite.
I think “Saudia” as short for “al-Mamlakah al-Arabiyah al-Saudia”, which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). That’s how it referred to in short. So it would not be a mare name, but a country of origin. This makes sense and is further confirmed by the multiple mention of Saudia for mares of different strains.