Video of the day: at full speed in the desert of Qatar
The video below was shot in Qatar, and the rider is a Bedouin from Bani Hajar, a large branch of the tribe of Qahtan. This way of riding is called “Bdaawi riding”. I believe – but I am not sure – that the mare he is riding is from the from the horses exported to Qatar from the Hasa (al-Ihsaa) eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Most of the horses, the camel and the sheep owned by ordinary Qataris come from the eastern part of Saudi Arabia.
Here in Saudi Arabia, we have several hundred horses like this mare that were not registered in the WAHO accepted studbook, despite being asil. These horses are currently overlooked.
Notice how the mare runs with her hindquarters wide part. The Arabic term for a mare with hindquarters wide apart is “fajhah“. One can also tell this is a racy mare, because of the way she throws her forelegs forward, and the way she pushes her head and her neck forward too.
This type of song is called “Samiri”. The words are, in transliterated Arabic:
“atliqu al-khayl dama al-khayl mukhtalah,
fikku quyudaha banat al-kuhaylah,
nahmidu allahu ‘alyana ‘ammat akhbaruhu”
which means, roughly translated:
“let the horses run, as long as the horses are ridden,
un-tether the daughters of al-Kuhaylah,
we praise God, may his deeds be spread upon us”
Simply wonderful. Tislam, Pure Man. Thank you!
Many thanks to Pure Man for this video. It touches my heart deeply. How I would love some day to fly across the desert with such liberty on an Asil mare. Note her modest size yet remarkable strength and ease with which she flies across the land with her rider. I am reminded of movies I took many decades ago of the very tall Jackson Hensley riding bareback the small stallion Re-Echo (Sireff x Faarecho). This horse moved with such effortless power and ease in a proud and joyful way, that it did not matter his size or the size of the rider. This is what has often been written about the true Arab in times past. So wonderful to see it in this day. Thanks again Pure Man.
I have seen this video more than a dozen,and I’m sure
tomorrow i will see again,and again..
Thank You Pure Man
Stunning little mare, maybe it is good that she and her likes are unregistered. If they were preserved by tradition until today, chances are they will be in the future as well.
Charles and I both like this mare, very much!
This video is breathtaking. Sheer exuberance on the part of both man and horse. If I confess how many times I’ve watched this someone will come to take me away. Can’t imagine what it must be like to gallop through open space without fear of woodchuck holes or similar dangers.
Love the rider’s patent leather loafers! 🙂
Well, I am not the only person who have seen this video million times.I have no words to describe my filling! There is a moment when you understand that the riser is flying on her back. “Flying” without any poetical meaning. He really is flying, like an arrow or even more like a bullet. Just look that he remains immobile, it is the picture around that changes.
PS. I always thought that the horse was a Saudi mare. I do not know why, but I had this impression.
تذكرني طريقة عدو هذا الحصان ببيت شعر لأبرز من وصف الحصان وهو الشاعر الجاهلي امرؤ القيس
مكر مفر مقبل مدبر معا كجلمود صخر حطه السيل من عل