We had a brisk discussion in the comments of an earlier posting about whether the leg faults apparent in the photograph were actually characteristic of the subject. While we did touch on age and injury, I wanted to point out another way in which photos can misrepresent a horse. Herewith, two photos of a nine-year-old Davenport stallion, HF Shaton (Wotan x Chiffon CF, Hamdani Simri): Same photographer (Anita Enander), same equipment, taken within a minute of each other. But see how a tiny change in the viewing angle stretches out the middle of the body, narrows the neck and shortens the hip? The effect can be even more exaggerated with the wide-angle lens in consumer cameras. This is not to say that we should not discuss or judge horses from photographs, but a healthy awareness of the limitations of the medium helps. How else can we reconcile *Wadduda’s reputation as a great beauty with the rather indifferent images we have of her?
From left to right: Persephone CF (Hamdani Simri), Tapestry CF (Kuhaylan Haifi), Chiffon CF (Hamdani Simri). Photo c1986 in Las Vegas, NV. Chiffon was at one time the mascot for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She carried the flag and was ridden around the track at football games, and in parades. Persephone has founded a family in her own right. Chiffon breeds on only through one son, Ibn Don Carlos, but her presence makes herself felt two and three generations down. (See the photos from the 2007 Al Khamsa Fantasia for many of her descendants.) Thanks to Jeanne Craver for providing the photo! (There are more of Chiffon at the DAHC photo archive.)
Another major piece of history I fell upon while reading through the Seoud al-Tahawi family website is this hujjah of “Dahman Abdallah Seoud”, the sire of the stallions Barakat and Soniour, and the great-grandsire of the three Tahawi mares of Hamdan Stables in Egypt: Fulla, Futna, and Bint Barakat. Here is my rough translation, with a more refined translation to follow, as well a transliteration of the Arabic in latin script so that readers of Arabic can double-check the translation: We testify by God and by his Prophet that the metallic grey horse which is five years of age, and which was bought by Sheykh Abdallah Abu Seoud al-Tahawi al-Hindawi is Dahman ‘Amer; his dam is the Dahmah ‘Amer from the horses of Jarallah Ibn Tuwayrish of the Arabs of Gomussah, and his sire is the Saqlawi Jadran from the horses of Ibn Zubaynah of the Sba’ah; and that the aforementioned horse, the Dahman, is well authenticated [mathbut], and well known [mashhur], to be mated [hadudah] with all the asil mares, there is not the shade of a doubt about him [ma fihi laww qat’iyah abadan], and he is protected [muhaffadh] at Muhammad Na’san Agha ibn Ahmad Agha al-Barazi, and for…
I think I just made a remarkable discovery from the website of the Tahawi clan in Egypt (eltahawysaoud.com): a scanned copy of the original hujjah (Arabic authentication document) of three horses acquired by the Tahawi Bedouins of Egypt from the Sba’ah tribe. Below is the scanned copy of the hujjah in Arabic, and my own translation of it — a rough and dirty translation for now: In the Name of God the Most Merciful and Compassionate To his Excelleny the Honorable Sheykh Faysal Bey al-Abdallah al-Saud [al-Tahawi] I testify by God and his Prophet that the two grey horses, the first of which is aged two and a half years, and which is with Husayn Hilal, are [both] Duhm [plural of Dahman] al-‘Amiri, of the horses of Jarallah Ibn al-Tuwayrish from the Arabs of Sba’ah from the tribal section of Saheem, and the sire of one of them is Kuhaylan al-Kharas, and the sire of the other one is Kuhaylan al-Tamri of the horses of the Sba’ah; and I testify by God and by Muhammad the Prophet of God that they are protected [muhaffadhat] and free of impurities; And concerning the bay ‘Ubayyah mare, which has a foal by a her…