Month: March 2010

New domain names

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If you now type “daughtersofthewind.org” and “daughtersofthewind.com” (with an “s” in daughters) you will be redirected to this site, because I just bought these two domain names.  Two years ago, the plan was to buy these two domain  names, and the idea was to call this blog “Daughters of the Wind”, or “banat al-rih”, which … Read more

New foal crop at Jadaan Arabians in Syria

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It is that time of the year, and asil foals are starting to crop up everywhere. I just received these two photos of newborns at Basil Jadaan’s stud in Damascus, Syria (thanks Basil and Joe). They are representative of the latest generation of Syrian asils: pretty, expressive, and true to type.  Their grandparents and great-grandparents … Read more

Children of the Wind: Between Orient and Occident: WAHO sponsored conference in Sicily

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Check out the program of this interesting conference to be held in Sicily, Italy in two weeks time. The choice of the venue is ominous, since Sicily is along with Andalusia, one of the regions of Europe where Arabo-Islamic culture blended with Western culture over several centuries. Note also the panel of speakers and the … Read more

Misconceptions in Straight Egyptian pedigrees are harder to dispel

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I recently saw in the online brochure of a well known stud that breeds “Straight Egyptians” that the Saqlawi Jadran descendents of Roga El Beda (i.e., the tail female line represented by Moniet El Nefous and El Bataa in modern pedigrees, among others) was made to trace back to the desert-bred mare Ghazieh through Bint … Read more

Photo of the day: Al Bark, Shuayman Sabbah stallion from Syria

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I just received this beautiful headshot of the bay stallion Al-Bark (Beebars x Etidal by Burhan x Obeirah) from Joe Achcar in Syria. This stallion is a Shuwayman Sabbah by strain, but from a different marbat that that of the Jarbah leaders of the Shammar Bedouin tribe.  The marbat of Shuwayman Sabbah to which Al-Bark traces … Read more

A simple framework for assessing the purity of desert bred Arabian horses

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Just reposting this old article, to stimulate a new discussion around it. It is slightly revised, to reflect the evolution of thought on this issue. —————- The idea of an international registry for Asil Arabian horses has been gaining momentum over the last few years, not only within Western asil breeeders’ circles, but among Arab … Read more

Photo of the Day: *Houran, Kuhaylan Tamri

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I love this old photo of the stallion *Houran, a Kuhaylan Tamri, imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906. The horse is standing so proudly, his neck beutifully arched, and his gaze fixing a far-reaching point on the horizon. Tood bad *Houran only left one daugher in asil USA breeding (the Ma’naghiyah Sbayliyah mare Bint Nimnaarah). *Houran was sired by … Read more

Asil as a cultural notion

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This is an excerpt from Christa Salamandra’s book “A New Old Damascus: Authenticity and Distinction in Urban Syria”, which I am about to finish reading. It has nothing to do with horses nor with Bedouins, but I thought you’d find her characterization of ‘asala’, authenticity, (from which ‘asil’, “he who is authentic”) interesting: “In Syria, as elsewhere … Read more

Off to Kuwait

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I will be in Kuwait for the week, for work, and paradoxically this might mean you will be reading more of me, just because there is little to do there after 9.00 pm, except work very hard (in case my boss is lurking)

These horses can run

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This pretty and deserty 17 year old Hamdaniyah mare of Davenport breeding, Artemisia CF (MV Reflection x Artema by Tripoli) “recently completed 70 miles at the El Paso-Las Cruces endurance ride in Texas in fine form and loved every minute of it, and made the list for Top Twenty Limited Distance Endurance Mileage Horses of … Read more

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