A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
I am in Lebanon for the holidays with the family, and have been catching up on some Arabian horse reading. All the important books are here, and I only quote from memory when in the USA. Just finished re-re-reading “The Crabbet Arabian Stud” by R. Archer et al, and have started Lady Wentworth’s “The Authentic … Read more
Speaking of jewels (Confetti CF is on the left, Provance CF on the right): Edouard, take this out if you want — but their owner, Mary Ann Brewer, has decided to stop breeding, and is offering these two Kuhaylat, and Tokens Ceelen (a straight Davenport mare, tail female to Schilla) on a free lease to … Read more
One of the few asil Tahawi mares left in Egypt is this old Kuhaylah Nawwaqiyah owned by Helga al-Tahawi, the wife of the late Shaykh Soliman al-Tahawi. She is one of those which the Board of Directors of Al Khamsa recently recognized as tribal “horses of interest”. I think the photo is from Bernd Radtke, … Read more
This morning Jeanne Craver shared with some of us this picture of my young Wadd (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF), who at 5 months old, shows real potential as a stallion, and I wish the best for him. That inbreeding to Triermain really paid off, and I would repeat it if I … Read more
The two Saqlawiyat Jadraniyat full sisters Haraka and Bint Hamida (Kenur x *H.H. Mohamed Ali’s Hamida) have founded a dynasty of their own in the USA. Their dam Hamida (Nasr x Mahroussa) was bred by Prince Mohamed Ali and was a half sister of *Zarife, *Fadl, and *Maaroufa; their sire Kenur (*Sunshine x *Tairah) was … Read more
A few months ago, I posted a photo of the stallion Hallanny Mistanny (Zarife x Roda) from the Billy Sheets photo collection. Here is another one, taken at the same. It’s less good, and he shows his extreme old age here (I think 28).
Recently uploaded on the website of the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this photo of the beautiful 1975 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Irade (Ibn Alamein x Iras), bred at Craver Farms.
Raed Yaken, who lives in London but is originally from Aleppo, Syria, sent me these pictures of his asil mare Zohoor (“Flowers”), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Alaa al-Din al-Jabri. Zuhur is by Mahrous (of Mustafa al-Jabri, his nephew) out of the small bay mare Durra whose photo was one of the first ones posted … Read more
Jeanne Craver has sent a number of precious photos of the Kuhaylat al-Krush mare Asara (Kasar x Badia by Jadaan)Â to be uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website. Asara is one of the Second Foundation Davenport mare, whose is the tail female of a number of favorites featured on this blog, such as the … Read more
The status of the 1921 French Arabian racehorse Denousté is a thorny question with which I have been grappling for a long time. I believe I have now reached closure on the issue, and I feel relieved, even if no new information has surfaced on the horse. There were always two issues about this horse: … Read more
While looking up ancient Arabian art over the Internet, I was struck by the expression of these two steles from a village near Hail, in Central Arabia. They were dated to the 4th millenium BC. Â These were displayed for the first time outside Saudi Arabia at an exhibition in the Louvre in Paris, then in … Read more
This mare, Al-Shumuss, was at the stud of Mustafa al-Jabri in Aleppo in the 1990s, and her dam was at Radwan Shabareq’s. She was a Kuhaylat al-Krush, by a Hamdani Simri who was himself by the black Saqlawi Marzaqani stallion of al-Anoud, Princess of Tai; the mare’s dam was by the same black Saqlawi Marzaqani. … Read more
While re-reading the excerpt from the RAS’s Dr. Ahmad Mabrouk below, I realized that this man did not seem to know that the Arabian horses are transmitted by the dam. He recognizes that the horse he bought for the RAS was out of “El Nowagia”, and “by Krush”, yet not only does he name the … Read more
Teymur sent me this photo of the phenomenal 1921 grey asil Kuhaylan Krush stallion known in Lebanon as Krush Halba, and in Turkey as Baba Kurus. Â He was the foundation stallions for both countries asil Arabian horse breeding programs, even his line does not survive in Lebanon anymore, and is holding on by a thread … Read more
As part of the working group on the horses of the Tahawi, which Edouard mentioned in a recent post, I wanted to share with you brand new information about the Egyptian stallion Gamal El Din. The information was obtained when Yehia Abd al-Sattar al-Tahawi, Mohammad Saoud al-Tahawi, and myself, recently recorded a one hour video with … Read more
Did you know that the Arabic letter  qaf‘, which in Latin script is equivalent to the letter Q has at least three different pronunciations in spoken Arabic, depending on the dialect? One pronunciation of qaf is as [Q] in conformity with classical Arabic, and is used in the dialect of the Druze inhabitants of Mount Lebanon, and … Read more
Is this Hasiker (*Hamrah x *Reshan), the K. Hayfiyah daughter of two Davenport imports?
In the past few months, and following the inclusion in the Al Khamsa Roster of the three Egyptian mares of Tahawi breeding at Hamdan Stables, Folla, Futna, and Bint Barakat, a small and informal working group was formed. Its core members include three people from Egypt: Yasser Ghanim Barakat al-Tahawi, Mohammed Mohammed Saoud al-Tahawi, and … Read more
Arnault Decroix is now the proud owner of the weanling Shuwayman Fahad (Mahboob Halab (SYR) x Shueymah Sabbah by Mokhtar (SYR)), a Shuwayman Sabbah bred by Jean-Claude Rajot in France. This exceptional young fellow is the son and the grandson of two stallions of Shammar lines imported from Syria to France in the late 1990s … Read more
One of the new photos recently uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this one of CL Hi-Ned (Dharanad x Hi-C by Sir), a 1977 Kuhaylan al-Krush of Davenport lines.
Kim Davis, who has been breeding Kuhaylan al-Krush horses of Davenport bloodlines for several decades, sent me this picture of her Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Quantum LD (Mandarin CF x Leafs Ivey by Wotan), who was bred by Carol Lyons.
My favorite stallion of the visit was without contest the 1991 Hamdani Simri stallion Clarion CF (Regency CF x Chinoiserie CF by Dharanad), at Kirby Drennan. I would like to breed a mare to him in the near future. This stallion, who has a strong liver chestnut color, is built like a war horse. He … Read more
Of all the old mares I saw, my personal favorite was Kirby Drennan’s 1982 Hamdani Simri mare Anthesis CF (Plantagenet x Meringue by Sir Marchen), who, at 29 years old, looked like an Arabian gazelle.
Wisteria was as beautiful as ever, with large, expressive eyes. She was reminiscent of the painting of the “mare of Baz” which graces the cover of Asil Araber II. I am sorry I don’t have a better photo to render the indefinable charm that emanates from this mare, who is not photogenic.
For starters, here is two pictures I took of Nancy Becker’s 1995 Hamdani Simri stallion stallion Haffiad CF (Regency CF x Kiddleywink CF by Regency CF). He is a true son of the desert, full of fire and kindness at once.
I just went to heaven and back. This past weekend I took the family to Craver Farms for a visit with Charles and Jeanne (shamefully, my first in six years), and the horses. We also saw Alice Martin, Nancy Becker, Kirby Drennan and their horses, who are wonderful. I took some pics, but Kirby took … Read more