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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

[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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

[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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more