The first crop of Davenport/Doyle crosses has arrived at the Doyle farm. It is absolutely first class. En Pointe CF (Triermain CF x Pirouette CF by Javera Thadrian) produced a superb, very well-balanced filly Chatham DE (second from top), and her daughter Andorra DL (Dubloon CF x En Pointe CF) produced an excellent colt by Tamaam DE (first from top). Photos by Lyman Doyle. Lyman correctly points out that the colt’s head looks more like Doyles, while the filly’s head looks more like Davenports.
Ma shaa Allah, as we say in Arabic. At 27 years old, Popinjay (Banter CF x Persimmon by Brimstone) just looks glorious. Photo by his owner Maria Wallis.
[Updated on September 12, 2019] I just happened upon an online copy of an animal dictionary from the XIVth century, “Hayat al-Haywan al-Kubra” (“The Great Life of Animals”). It is by a Cairene author, Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa ibn ‘Ali al-Dumayri (1341-1405). It defines several horse-related terms like hisan, khayl, and faras. I realized that the Arabic word khayl does not seem to have a direct equivalent in English. It does mean a “group of horses” considered collectively, just like the English word “people” means a group of human beings, considered collectively. Compare “a horse” with “a human being”, the plural “horses” with “human beings”, and you will realize that there is no single horse term that is the equivalent of “people”. Khayl is such a term in Arabic. So here is my translation of excerpts from the work of al-Dumayri: al-hisan: the male one of the khayl (al-dhakar min al-khayl) al-khayl: a group of horses (jamaa’at afraass), it has no singular, like “people” (al-qawm). It is in the feminine; the plural [of the plural] is khuyul. al-faras: a single one of the khayl (waahid al-khayl); the plural is afraass. Faras is equally used for the male and the…
From Lyman Doyle, who is keeping them at his family farm. It is a bit blurry but it show the nice action Pippa always had. These Ma’naqis…
[Edited September 1, 2019, with new sections translated] From the Nasiri book: The breeding of horses (al-khuyul) is divided into three parts: one is the breeding of Arab horses (al-khuyul al-‘arabiyyyat); the second is the breeding of the hamaaliij and countrybreds (al-biqaa’iyyat); the third is the breeding of donkeys and Armenian mules. In this chapter, we describe the breeding of the Arab ones (al-‘Arabiyyat); the others will be mentioned later, in due course, if God Most High is willing. As to the breeding of Arab horses (al-khuyul al-‘arabiyyat), it is said that the horses fit for breeding are […] and fast, and are not […], because these defects, when present in the fathers, are passed on to the sons. If the stallion were from a good origin (asil), and suffered from a blemish like being hairless, or one-eyed, or amputated, these are not passed on. It was said, in a proverb of the Arabs: “Look for the qualities in the stallion, and let go of the rest all you want”, because (dawaab, plural of daabbah) take after their fathers more than they resemble their mothers. It is preferred that one stallion (fahl) be assigned for every ten broomares (hajurah) [a…