Zalfa drawing
Indi Miskolcsi has immortalized little Zalfa in this drawing.
Month: May 2019
Have Tunisian Arabian horses disappeared?
Back in the 1990s, when Hansi Heck-Melnyk and I were trying to account for all Tunisian horses in Tunisia and Europe, there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of these beautiful, dry Arabians with lines that traced exclusively to horses imported from the desert of North Arabia. Tunisia was indeed had the one of the … Read more
Mounted Bedouins, Emir Saud’s visit to Emir Abdullah in Amman, Transjordan c. 1935
Such reads the caption on the photo below, shared by Rehan Ud Din Baber on his wonderful Facebook page. Rehan tells us the photo is from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, which I will certainly look up. Also sharing Severine Vesco’s beautiful comment on that photo, in French: C’est en regardant ces … Read more
Five days old Zalfa dies from a broken hock
Zalfa had to be put down yesterday, at the veterinary hospital. In many ways, she was just too good to be true. I just hate breeding when this happens. I just hate it. You buy a rare old mare in her twenties sight unseen from far, far away, you do export papers, you ask friends … Read more
Skowronek Series Pre 1921
It’s easy to get lost following any 200 year history and the Skowronek saga is no different. The storyline breaks into two periods of time: the history before his 1921 registration in Weatherby’s GSB and then the commentary post 1921. Each part will be examined sequentially. Each post will include links to English translations of … Read more
Barber at the train station of El Marg, Cairo, 1908
1908. A barber setting up shop by the train station of El Marg, North of Cairo. This is the closest train station to Lady Anne Blunt’s stud of Sheykh Obeyd. Her journals indicate she regularly used this station to go to Cairo and back to her stud, about the time that picture was taken. I … Read more
Kuhaylan Zaid, desert bred import to Hungary
[My dashboard tells me this is blog post number 2000 on Daughters of the Wind, after more than eleven years of blogging] Marta Ulan has a page on Facebook where she shares photos of foundation horses. Not sure what the source is for this nice photo of the foundation stallion Kuhailan Zaid, the desert-bred import … Read more
Announcing Zalfa Al Arab, 2019 Hadba Enzahi filly
This morning Carrie Slayton announced to me the birth of a filly out of her grand old broodmare RL Zahra Assahra (Portent x Antezzah by Grand Pass). She is to be named Zalfa, with the suffix Al Arab. Zalfa means “the one who draws near” in Arabic. That’s because she came from so far away, … Read more
Rare Kuhaylah mare find in France
Severine Vesco and Amelie Blackwell, wearing their treasure hunter hats, found this gem of a mare somewhere in rural Southern France. Lannilis, the mare, is a 20 year old Kuhaylah Nawwaqiyah, of Tunisian, Algerian, and old, pure French bloodlines. She had a career as a trail riding horse, and is now being used to produce … Read more
Judging Skowronek
There are many ways to judge a horse. Some of the more common considerations include conformation, size, temperament, athletic ability and genetic “potency.” These are normal criteria for evaluating all breeds of horses. However, within the Arabian breed, another criterion takes precedence over all others: pure blood. A pure or asil Arabian horse is defined … Read more
25-Amurath Sahib descendants
The 1952 daughter of Amurath Sahib and 221-Kuhaylan Zaid (tail female to 60-Adjuze), 25-Amurath Sahib was a pretty grey mare (you can see a photo of her here), who produced a number of asil foals for Bábolna, including their chief sire Farag II, by Farag (Morafic x Bint Kateefa), the stallion Ghalion 6, by Ghalion … Read more
Monologue CF in Michigan
I am happy to report that Monologue CF (Riposte CF x Soliloquy CF by Regency CF), now 18 years old, has been busy pasture breeding two precious mares at Laura Fitz’s, her HH Karisma Krush and her Mi Blue Angel. Monologue has been doing so much better since going to Michigan with Laura on lease … Read more
Murana I tail female
Does it still exist in asil tail female? or did Sadana and her daughter Souha die without asil female progeny?
Amurath Sahib and his dam Sahiba
Below is a photo of Amurath Sahib as a four-year-old, in racing condition. The picture comes from Jezdziec i Hodowca, Vol. 15 (36), 1936. In addition to being a racehorse himself, Amurath Sahib sired the Polish Derby winner Equifor, and the Polish Oaks winners Estokada and Adis Abeba. He was also fortunate enough to escape … Read more