This photo was identified as BINT FEREYHA with an IBN NURA filly. I was hoping that a quick check of the pedigrees would identify her, but such is not the case – the book was published in 1898, and both Ibn Nura fillies out of Bint Fereyha that are listed on Allbreed (I know, not the best of sources) were born within this timeline: the 1893 bay filly FULANA and the 1898 grey filly WUJRA. My guess based on that was that this is Fulana, just because Wujra was born the same year this book was published, but that’s not definitive proof. The only photo I have been able to find of Fulana unfortunately does not show her face very well, so I’m uncertain of the facial markings. That said, Edouard also shared this with me, from the Sheyk Obeyd Studbook: 1897 – WUBBR, chestnut colt that (I believe) eventually went grey, by Ibn Sherara — which brings us to a third possibility. Does anyone else recognize this photo, or the little foal (perhaps as a grown horse?)
Skowronek’s widespread presence in the pedigrees of horses registered as Arabians is arguably the raison d’etre for a number of different preservation initiatives including Al Khamsa, the Asil Club, the Pyramid Society and probably even this blog. Since I was a boy, I had heard about Skowronek and thought his non-Arabian ancestry was common knowledge since the 1940s when my grandfather first learned about it. Attending the 2017 WAHO conference made me realize I was mistaken. Below are a number of viewpoints from people I either personally interacted with or overheard during my trip: Two Arabs friends, from different Middle Eastern countries, who wanted to know what I thought about the whole Skowronek issue. Is he really not Asil? A prominent British breeder who had this to say to me when I mentioned Skowronek and his non-Arabian ancestors: “Oh that’s not proven now is it? It’s just unsubstantiated rumor.” A European breeder conversing at a dinner table: “Oh the DNA shows the Asil horses are all part breds too, so who cares?” A European and an Australian shouting in a bus: “All the evidence has been published on Skowronek over 50 years ago. He has non-Arabian blood in his pedigree”…