Why I like Brimstone’s picture better*
One of the signs of ‘asalah‘ (purity, authenticity) in Arabian horses is the prominence of the lateral facial bones (see the two arrows in the photo below); this is a sign of authenticity (asalah) and ancient (‘itq) breeding. These bones are prominent and protruding only in Arabian horses. In Arabia, horses with these bones are chosen to become breeding stallions; the more protruding these bones, the more this is a clear indication that a horse is asil. This is even an essential condition of asalah. This is why I like this horse’s picture better than other one [i.e., Siglavy Bagdady VI].
Written by Pure Man and translated by Edouard
In addition to the facial bones, the heads of the horses are completely different. Brimstone’s head is shorter and wider; while Siglavy Bagdady’s head is longer and narrower. In Egyptian breeding, it is like comparing the heads of *Morafic and *Ansata Ibn Halima. Both horses are SE, both are Nazeer sons, both were significantly influential horses and yet, one horse is long and narrow, the other is short and wide. One is not better or purer than the other horse, they are just different from each other. They are beautiful within their own selves and for this, we must respect the diversity of the breed, as it manifests itself individually.
Thank you Pure Man! I love your posts. They are very clear and to the point, especially helpful to someone like me who easily gets lost in all the technical terminology I sometimes encounter here. In particular I find this piece of information about the lateral face bones extremely helpful as, having despaired of finding a Davenport here in Europe, I am about to begin a search for for an asil Arabian horse here in Italy (with much misgiving!). Thank you.
PS Edouard, would it possible for you to translate my message and convey it to Pure Man?
Fascinating, pure man. Thank you for sharing this.
Fascinating! At present I have 16 Asil horses here in England. So now I will go around my fields and look at them all in a different light. I know some of mine have more defined lateral face bones than others even though they are closely related. They are predominantly pure Bahrainis from the Royal Stud of Bahrain but I also have an Asil Egyptian stallion GOUDAH and have used him on two of my Asil Bahraini mares. The result has been spectacular foals. I will get back to you with my findings after I have done the rounds.
Jenny
Nice! What strains do you have now?
Edouard: As everyone has said, thank you and thanks to Pure Man, as you have certainly offered something new to all of us, in terms of Asil qualities. Anyway, can you ask Pure Man about a very prominent jibbah? I have always thought a jibbah to be another measure of authenticity and now that I have a mare with a very extreme jibbah, even somewhat freakish, I wondered what someone like Pure Man would think of a horse with this jibbah.
Send a pic, it’s easier
I just emailed you. Thanks so much.
Elena,
You should definitely visit the group of pure bred Kingdom descendants in the Netherlands and now also Germany. There are now 7. We sent a group of 2 mares and a stallion (who has also been approved for breeding) 3 years ago. email me if you would like the contact info for these horse owners. Edie (desertbred@hotmail.com)
Who are these horses Edie?
“the more protruding these bones, the more this is a clear indication that a horse is asil.”
Thirty years ago, when I was a kid reading the Asil Club publications, I thought that asil status was based on pedigree, like the Western concept of “purebred.”
Fifteen years ago, when I had some initial contact with breeders in the Middle East, I learned that the same horse could be considered asil in one tribe but not in another, and that some Middle Eastern breeders insisted that a foal produced through artificial insemination was not asil, even though its full brother or sister produced using natural service was asil. Thus “asil” seemed to be much more a social and religious concept than a pedigree definition, influenced by the personal opinions and views of that individual breeder.
Now I learn that determinations about asil status can be made simply by a physical examination of an individual horse.
Of course they can. There are physical characteristics of asalah; these are the sign of good breeding. And there are also characteristic of kadish breeding. For instance, if you see a 16.2 hand horse in the horse in the desert, it is your right to wonder whether it is asil or not.
It is not that different from Raswan claiming that the coarse features of Ma’anaghis are attributed to the Turkoman crosses they were supposed to have had (according to him), which would obviously make them not asil.
Yes Edouard, of course, if a horse is way off type, one would naturally question its breeding. But that’s not what I was getting at.
These are the questions I was trying to raise:
If a horse with a flawless pedigree had only a minor but still apparent deviation from expected type (not a major deviation, like standing 16.2), would you reject it as asil, in spite of the pedigree?
Would you be willing or able to declare a horse asil or not based entirely on a physical inspection, without being told the pedigree?
I don’t know about this. I have a Paint filly whose bones protrude like this… as does her dam’s… and they certainly are not asil Arabians. Or even have any recorded Arab blood.
Can you send a photo, Robin?
Sure can Jeanne! I will need to take some head on shots so you can see them better. She has a very “saqlawi” type head for not being Arabian. Gracefully beautiful. Soulful eyes as well. This filly is only 3, and as other breeds of horses dry out just as Arabs do… I can’t wait to see what she looks like as she matures. My CMK gelding (who would not be considered Asil as he is a general list) has these bones protruding much more than my Al Khamsa mares. Course, he has a lot of Davenport. 😉 But I know the protruding bones are not strictly an Arab thing…
Ok, RJ these are important questions. I will treat these separately in other post to come soon. But the short answer is no to both.
MajesticLineage
your Kdich Have blood of Arabian horses
Make Sure
تسمى هذه العظمة بالنواهق ويستحب بروزها وفي صورة هذا الحصان جبهة عريضة واذنان جميلتان ذكرني بقول الشاعر الجاهلي امرؤ القيس : له أذنان تعرف العتق فيهما كسامعتي مذعورة وسطربرب
To the last commenter: thank you! Al-Nawqi is what they are called. I must remember that.
al-Nawaahiq.
We called them “tear bones.”