A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
This morning I stumbled upon an erudite and thoroughly researched paper by Dr. Shihab al-Sarraf of the International Center of Furusiyyah [Horsemanship] Studies on “Mamluk Furusiyyah Literature and Its Antecedents”, published at the University of Chicago’s Mamluk Studies Review, VIII-1-2004. It is the most comprehensive review to date of the Islamic literature on horses and … Read more
Stephan Eberhardt shared with me this photo of his Algerian/Tunisian/Egyptian mare Dachna (Khaiber x Dahna by El Aswad a.k.a Ibn Galal-15), a Shuwaymah Sabbah tracing to the Tiaret mare Cherifa. I am always pleased to see that these asil lines  from North Africa have crossed well with Egyptian lines in Europe. The mare has two close … Read more
Last year, I posted a photo of the grey Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Sultan, one of the Syrian government stallions at the stallion depot of the Veterinary Unit of the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture in 1958 (Syria’s then equivalent of the EAO). Now I am posting this photo of Sultan’s mate, the Hamdani Simri stallion Hassaan. Photo from … Read more
Here is a photo of his son Brassicaire out of the wonderful Jilfat al-Dhawi mare Bossa Nova (Iricho x Bassala by Masbout)
This is my translation of the hujjah of Mumtazah, the maternal and paternal grand-dam of the Kuhaylan Krush stallion Mokhtar, who is now in France with Chantal Chekroun and is already 27 years old. I am happy to see the number of his descendants increase every year. “I the undersigned ‘Iyadah al-Talab al-Khalaf, known as … Read more
This one is from Louis Bauduin, who owns Shuwayman Badawi (Mokhtar x Murad Haouda by Cherif out of Hamada by Irmak). Guillaume Lambert Gilles Shwaar in the photo.
Adrien Deblaise just shared with me this photo of the Syrian stallion imported to France, Hussam al-Shamal (Raad x Rouba al-Shamal by Al-Abjar). He is reminicent of his sire the desert-bred (literally born under a tent) Kuhaylan al-Mossen Raad in color, size of the eye, croup, and of his maternal grandsire, the impressive Saqlawi ibn … Read more
Photo from Olivia Greene. We are trying hard to find Bint Jadiba (Ibn Tirf x Jadiba), the foal in the picture. She was alive as of two years ago.
This colt is Murad Aman, by Nimr Shabareq (imported from Syria) out of Murad Ouafah Habib (Jahir x Mourad Had’ra by Medicq Allah x Hamada).
 Il est décevant de constater qu’effectivement la politique d’élevage à Tiaret obliqua très vite aux abords de l’année 1970 ! Il est à noter que deux mâles de trois ans furent exportés à Cuba en 1964 !? Il s’agit de : GUEM par Beyrouth et Alouta par Loubieh et Mesqa par Masbout (OR). GUEDACH par Masbout (OR) et … Read more
Anyone knows the exact location of the Sheykh Obeyd stud in today’s Cairo? It is supposed to be half way between the neighborhoods of Matarieh and Ain Shams, but I need a street address.
Last week, my beloved 28 year old Ma’naqi Sbayli mare, Dakhala Sahra, was put down. She had a stroke, which had left her moving in circles from point A to point B, instead of straight lines. I saw footage of this, which I will not share here out of deference for her. I had never … Read more
Perhaps I should not be doing that, but I am posting a list of potentially surviving Tiaret lines in a Word document. There are less than a handful potentially left, as John was writing earlier. If someone finds a way to get hold of one, let me know. I will jump on the next flight to Algiers. … Read more
I have previously written twice and in some detail about the desert-bred stallion El Sbaa imported to France in the 1920s (here and here). It turns out that the strain of the horse is Kuhaylan J’aitni (that’s from his file at Pompadour) and that he was purchased by French Inspector Rieu de Madron from Ahmad … Read more
To complete the trio of photos from the French and North African studs, here is one of the Tunisian stud of Sidi Thabet, also courtesy of Michael Bowling.
Yesterday Michael Bowling shared with me this lovely post card of an Arabian mare and her foal at the French government stud of Pompadour, in the Correze district. No date on the postcard.