Month: August 2019

As to the breeding of mules, the best mules for carrying loads are those produced in Armenia, and after these the North African mules. In breeding them, a donkey with excellent conformation and long and wide ears is put on the ramakah (see below); in this case, the offspring turns out to be a large mule, with an excellent conformation, [a] perfect [one]. If the mare was a rumiyyah [i.e., Turkish] or a countrybred (biqaa’iyyah), it is the best of mules, because it turns out to be a mule with a strong build, a broad back and hip, thick legs, [which is] enduring with loads, weights and chores. If the horse was mounted on the she-donkey, the offspring is often is a small mule, short-headed and snub-nosed (fatssan). It might turn out free of these defects, but it won’t measure up to the offspring of the mare, in its conformation, endurance and beauty. This is because of the spaciousness of the belly of the mare, and the tightness of the belly of the she-donkey. […]. As to the breeding of donkeys, the best [donkeys] are the Egyptians, and these are those produced in Upper Egypt; and after these, the Yemeni…

Lyman Doyle took this photo of Jenny Krieg’s young stallion Bashir al-Dirri (Tamaam DE x Sarita Bint Raj), a 2015 Saqlawi Jadran stallion tracing to Basilisk. He carries some of the very last lines in Al Khamsa to the stallions *Mirage, *Euphrates, and *Al-Mashoor. Photo by Lyman Doyle. This stallion has superlative action and near perfect conformation. Jenny, Lyman and I had agreed to breed SS Lady Guenevere to him, but it was his first time breeding a mare, and could not get the job done. There will be other occasions, I am sure. Meanwhile, if you are interested in breeding to him, you can reach out to Jenny Krieg.

I have recently leased the Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah mare SS Lady Guenevere (SS Dark Prince x SS Lady Galadriel by El Reata Juan), from DeWayne Brown. She is Pippa’s dam. Photo by Lyman Doyle She was bred to Kashgar DE during her last heat cycle, and came back in heat this week. Terry and Lyman Doyle, who are keeping her at their farm for me, bred her to their stallion Tamaam DE. The sireline of both Kashgar and Tamaam are to Ghadaf to Ribal to Seyal then Mesaoud. Her sire line is to Gulastra to Astraled then Mesaoud. Gulastra and Ghadaf were maternal half brothers.

Most modern (i.e., XIXth century onwards) Arabic dictionaries offer similar definitions for the birdhawn (translations mine): The al-Ra’id dictionary defines it as an “animal lesser than a horse, with thick body parts, stocky, especially used as a pack animal“. The al-Wasit dictionary defines it as “a term for non-Arab horses and mules, from the equus genus, with a massive build, thick body parts, strong legs and large hooves“. The al-Ghani dictionary defines it as “an animal from the equus genus, with a stocky frame, thick body parts, strong legs, large hooves, especially used as a pack animal“. The al-Ma’aani dictionary defines the birdhawn as “an animal, lesser than horses but larger than donkeys; a Turkish horse“. I find this last definition very interesting, because it aligns with the Western definition of a pony: larger than a donkey, but smaller than a horse. From the same species as a horse, but not quite a horse in size, use or status. The reference to Turkish horses is reminiscent of Kirghiz ponies (drawing below and photo both from Wikipedia). The much older Lisan al-Arab dictionary (1290 CE) defines the birdhawn as: “a horse, other than the progeny of Arab horses” (al-baraadhin mina al-khayl:…

From the Nasiri book, again, my translation: The knowledge of the authentic (‘atiq), enduring (sabur) and generous (karim) horse needs [some] citation and demonstration, because all past horsemen of the Age of Ignorance [jahilliyah, before the advent of Islam] have featured horses in their poetry and mentioned them [along] with their characteristics. The Prophet of God, Peace Be Upon Him [from now on, PBUH] has favored them [i.e., the authentic horses] over other horses because he, PBUH, has set aside (‘arraba, same root as Arab so a play on words) the Arab and disparaged (hajjana, same root as hajin, again a play on the next word) the hajin; he allocated two shares [of the spoils] to the Arab horse (al-faras al-‘arabi) and one share to the non-Arab horse (al-faras ghayr al-‘arabi). It was reported, after the Prophet of God, PBUH, in featuring the authentic horse, that the jinn do not manifest themselves to anyone in a home with an authentic (‘atiq) horse. A horseman needs such a horse. The first thing he needs to know is to pick for himself an enduring (sabur), generous (jawad, also means charger) horse on which to face his enemy [in battle]. If he does…

[Updated on September 12, 2019] From the Nasiri book (1333 CE), citing al-Waqidi (d. 823 CE) Al Waqidi recited that the first to ride horses after Adam was Ishmael son of Abraham peace be upon them; and after Adam, they had become wild, untamed, until they were subjected to Ishmael who rode them, and he is [missing words here] the Arab [horses]. From Jarr al-Dhayl fi ‘ilm al-Khayl, by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505 CE) Al Waqidi said, after Muslim ibn Jundub [al-Hudhali, d. 724 CE]: the first to ride horses was Ishmael son of Abraham, peace be upon them; they were wild, untamed, until they were subjected to him. Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar [al-Qurashi, d. 870 CE] said, in the “Lineages”, after Ibn ‘Abbas: horses were wild and could not be ridden, so the first who rode them was Ishmael, so for this they were named al-‘Iraab. Al-‘Iraab could be translated as “Arab horses”.

From the Nasiri book: Al Kalbi recited that God Most High brought a hundred horses out of the sea for our Lord Solomon, and they had wings, and that they were called “goodness”. And God knows best.

The epitome of the Arab horse, and a hero of the British Afghan campaign.

My quick translation of this creation story from the Nasiri book, which took it from a much earlier account by VIIIth century chronicler Wahab Ibn Munabbih; the translation can be improved, but this is a good start: From Wahab ibn Munabbih, who said: “I was told that when God Most Glorified and Most High wanted to create the horse, he said to the south wind: I am creating a creature from you, to make it a [source of] strength for my friends, disgrace for my enemies, and beauty (jamal, unsure in this context) for the people of my obedience. So he grasped a fistful of the wind, created a horse out of it, and said: I have called you ‘horse’ and I made you Arab; goodness is tied to your forelocks, spoils are to be won on your back, and extinction (fana, but unsure) is with you wherever you are. I favor you over other creatures, and I made you their master; I made you fly without wings; you are for seeking and you are for escaping; and I will have you carry men who will glorify me, so glorify me with them; [men] who will praise me, so praise…

The Damkhiyyat (feminine singular Damkhiyyah, masculine singular Damkhi) are most likely a reference to Damkh, a mountainous range in Najd and its surrounding area (photo below). It lies some 300 km west of Riyadh, by Halban, on the highway from Riyadh to Mecca. Arab geographers and poets starting from the 700s CE alike made several references to the waterfalls and lush grazing pastures of this area. It was historically the territory of the tribe of Banu ‘Amru bin Kilab.

[Edited September 1, 2019] I have been enjoying reading a scanned Arabic copy of the manuscript “the Complete Guide to the Professions of Veterinary Medicine and Horse Breeding”, which Hylke Hettema recently pointed me to. This is the medieval treatise otherwise known as the “Nasiri Book” in English or Le Naceri in French. It was composed by Abu Bakr ibn Badr al-Din al-Mundhir al-Baytar (d. 1340 CE), the head veterinarian in the stud of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt/Syria/West Arabia al-Nasir Muhammad around 1333 CE. A more recent copy of this manuscript recently went on auction at Sotheby’s. Nicolas Perron famously published a translation of this manuscript to French between 1852 and 1860. The translation was mostly done by the Egyptian scholar al-Dumyati. You can buy new French editions here, in two volumes. I don’t believe it has been translated to English yet. I found Chapter 5 of Book 1, on the “anssaab” of horses, very intriguing. “Anssaab“, the plural of “nassab“, normally means lineages. I first thought about translating it as “breeds” but I am going to stick with “lineages” for now. Perron rendered it in French as “races” (see here, page 16). Of the lineages of horses and…

This afternoon, I spent a good two hours with Hylke Hettema combing through her online version of al-Kitab al-Nasiri (The Complete Guide to the Professions of Veterinary Medicine and Horse Breeding, Called “The Nasiri Book”). This is the equestrian treatise which Nicolas Perron famously translated and published between 1852 and 1860 under “Le Naceri, la perfection des deux arts”. The book was written in 1333 CE by Abu Bark ibn Badr al-Din ibn al-Munthir al-Bitar, Master of Horses, for his boss, Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. Hylke and I were looking for an early mention of the word “asil” as applied to horses. We found several mentions, and made several other interesting discoveries and inferences. There is material for ten articles! One of the clearest mentions of the term “asil” as applied to horses occurs in the fifth chapter of the first book (page 8 in the link of Hylke): wa amma idha kaana al-fahlu asilan, wa-kaanat bihi ‘aahah kal-jardi wa-al-‘awari wa-al-kardi, fa inna haadhihi la tu’addi. Perron renders this sentence in French as follows (page 37 in the Gallica copy): “Mais si l’étalon, de race pure, est atteint de quelque maladie occasionnelle, si par exemple, il est glabre ou il…

This is my fourth and last attempt to breed — please don’t make fun of me — my lame, old, maiden mare SS Shadows Aana for a 2020 foal. She came in heat last week and Sue Moss had her bred by Jamr. We know he is fertile since another old mare of mine, Nuri, is in foal to him. Logs of previous attempts in 2016, 2017 and 2019 respectively here, here and here.

Of course, many of you have already seen this important article, which Gudrun Waiditschka published in her online magazine In the Focus, about her recent trip to Syria and her covering the recent Arabian horse festival there. It is in the German language.

Now formally introducing Kinza Al Arab (Subanet Jabbar SDA x DA Ginger Moon), 2019 Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah filly. Kinza: very long ears, superlative shoulder, long withers, low-set eyes, fine muzzle, long hip and a fun disposition. Photos by Bev Davison.

I just happened on Stephanie Sears well illustrated article from 2003 on Arabian horses in Syria. It was published in Canadian Arabian News. Lots of photos I see for the first time, and a nice account of her travels around the country. The link is here. Save it before it disappears!

Karsten Scherling took this photo of Joan DeVour’s stallion Le Coquin some ten years ago in Oregon. That is one of the few Al Khamsa horses with a line to the legendary *Mirage. He now has a new filly.

A random thought unrelated to horses and perhaps better suited for social media: this morning I found myself longing for a glass of chilled karkade, the hibiscus infusion popular in Egypt and Sudan. I recall the one Gulsun Sherif served me in Maadi on a hot August afternon some five years ago. Check this blog entry about it, on the blog “the Egyptian kitchen”.

Yesterday, Hylke and I were discussing when the word “asil” (authentic, original in Arabic) first came to be used in reference to Arab horses, and by whom. I do not believe Bedouins were the first to use the term to refer to their own horses. Even today, they seldom do. Rather, I believe it is a word urban dwellers of Damascus, Aleppo, Bagdad or other cities first applied to some of the horses of the Bedouin to differentiate them from horses of unknown origin and provenance (kadish). Hylke believes the spread of the word “asil” as applied to horses is connected to Orientalism, to European views of racial superiority and to the idea of “purity of blood”, applied to Arabian horses. That would have come about sometime during the nineteenth century. She believes the word was picked up by Syrian/Egyptian/Ottoman horse merchants, traders and other townfolks in response to European emphasis on “pure blood”. It would be nice to find the earliest written reference to the use of the word “asil” in reference to Arab horses in Western equine and travel literature, but also in contemporary Arabic or Ottoman Turkish writings.

I really look forward to the publication of Hylke Hettema’s academic work. It revisits a lot of assumptions about the genesis of the Arab horse, links it to the emerging of a collective Arab ethnic identity, and highlights the role of Orientalism in creating an imagined classic Arabian horse in modern times. I have learned a lot from her over the past two years, and questioned some long-held assumptions. You will hear a lot about her work in the coming years and decades. You may not agree with everything she concludes, but it has the tremedous merit of questioning ossified claims that have come to be accepted as timeless truths over time. Keep asking yourself questions. It keeps us alive. Meanwhile, read Hylke’s article on “Ancient Arabians: A Closer Look at Ancient Egyptian Horses” on her blog “Remembering a Desert Horse“.