Faysal Ibn Sha’lan and the pursuit on the Kuhaylah Rodaniyah mare, 1870.

A fantastic account and a funny story of a botched ghazu, from Rehan Ud Din Baber’s Facebook page, that treasure trove. “On occasions which a resident in the country and one on good terms with the Sheikhs can alone take advantage of, the most valuable horses and mares are sometimes picked up, in almost peculiar manner. A friend of mine secured a splendid Keheilen er Rodan mare of remarkable beauty, symmetry and speed, for £ 270, under the following circumstances which would supply materials for a sensational novel. This mare belonged to Faissal Ibn Shalan Sheik of the Roala tribe who had refused enormous offers for her. Five men of the Mowali on plunder intent, turned out on the picked mares of the tribe to steal camels from the Roala. They drove off some the first night, and, emboldened by their success, returned to poach again. The Roala were in waiting and attacked these freebooters. The Mowali, considering discretion the better part of valour, beat a hasty retreat, trusting to the speed of their mares. In the hot pursuit fifty Roalas were left behind, but two, better mounted than their comrades, continued it for ten hours. The Mowalis escaped with…

Centennial of the death of Lady Anne Blunt Dec 1917- Dec 2017

There was an article in the Khamsat magazine about the Centennial of Lady Anne Blunt. Yesterday, Greg Olson sent me these two images he took of her grave in the Italian Catholic cemetery of Abbassia in Cairo, three days ago. I visited it in 2015, and was so awed that I could not get myself to take a picture. It seems it was recently cleared of the plants and shrubs that had grown around it.

Overview of History of Tahawi horses

Yasser Al Tahawi has this excellent overview of  the history of the Tahawi horses on his social media page: • Early 19th century: the great Egyptian conquests in the Middle East (Syria, Arabia, Sudan) … the Tahawies played a major role. Strong connections were developed between the Tahawies and the big tribes of Arabia including Anazah and Shammar. • Mid 19th century: the Tahawies are granted vast territories on the eastern borders of the Nile Delta … the Bedouin Tahawies are now settling for their first time in history. • Fall of the 19th century: the Tahawi Sheikhs were busy establishing vast studs and competing in importing the most prestigious strains form the Arabian desert. • Early 20th century: the Tahawies are the most important breeder in Egypt and its main provider of asil desert-bred horses. • Fall 19th century to mid 20th century: the Egyptian Royal family and aristocrats, Royal Agricultural Society, Lady Anne Blunt…etc. were all among the Tahawi clients. • 1940s/50s: around 3,000 heads of the finest Arabians of the time, all with distinguished race records. The peak of the Tahawi glory and their flourishing vast studs. • 1960s: the Egyptian revolution crackdown on the aristocratic elite and…

Jellaby Kher, 1986 asil Kuhaylan Jallabi stallion from Bahrain

From Mohammed al-Matrooshi’s social media accounts come these photos of the very masculine 1986 Bahraini stallion Jellaby Kher M45, by Rabdaan Alwasmy (M19) {Maanagy Al Ahmar X Rabda (M16) } out of Jellabieh Al Khar’aa (M3) {Hamdany Riyadh X Jellabieh (M1)}, bred and owned by Sheikh Mohammad Bin Salman Al Khalifa. I am not sure who took the photo, but it seems to date from the first WAHO conference in Bahrain, in 1998.