By Sheikh El Arab out of Ragia by Ibn Rabdan. Dam of Ibn Halima by Nazeer, who became Ansata Ibn Halima in the USA. Long ears (good, an indication of asalah), long face (good), narrow forehead (less good). That type of Straight Egyptian horses disappeared in one generation. Mares like these were absorbed in the Nazeer/Morafic tsunami. Pity.
She is perhaps the very last one from that strain left in the desert, and a distant relative to the Davenport Hadbans.
The picture is not so good, but the mare pictured is interesting. She is the only offspring the Shuwayman stallion Mahboub Halep produced in Syria before leaving for France. Her strain is Kuhaylan al-Wati (same strain as Kuhaylan Jallabi, by the way) Sire: Shuwayman, Mahboub Halep (a maternal grandson of Al-Aawar with another cross to him further back through Barakah whose sire was the Hamdani Ibn Ghurab the horse of Lofan, whose sire was al-Aawar), from the strain of the Shaykhs of the Shammar Sire of dam: Rabdan, Zayn al-Khayl from the strain of the Shaykhs of Tai Sire of grand-dam: Krushan, Bahr Al Hadi, from the strain of the Shaykhs of the Shammar (a son of the Hadban stallion Burhan who was a son of the Hamdani of Lofan al-Hadi son of Al-Aawar) Sire of great-grand-dam: Krushan, Bahr Al Hadi, same as above (so one more cross to Al-Aawar) Sire of great-great grand-dam: Hamdani ibn Ghurab, Al Aawar. He sired Nawrooz. Sire of great-great-great grand-dam: A Kuhaylan al-Wati from her family, from the strain of al-Ghishim Sire of great-great-great-great grand-dam: also a Kuhaylan al-Wati, but not sure if same horse as above or not. So in total at least…
An very early photo, taken in 1857, of this superb Mamluk Sultan mausoleum, which now lies in the heart of Cairo. Abbas Pasha had just died afew years earlier.
Tamaam DE died a couple days ago at the Doyle ranch in Oregon. I am happy the two leased Ma’naqiyah mares are in foal to him for next year. I hope one of them produces a colt so I could use him as a stallion. What a dream to have one’s own Ma’naqi stallion.
A fascinating article in the BBC.
On Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan’s expedition to Syria and Iraq, to find horses for Prince Roman Sanguszko’s Gumniska Stud, one of their first stops was Egypt. There, they saw a number of horses from different studs and stables, including the Astraled son Rustem, the Crabbet-bred mare Bint Riyala, a grey son of the Sheykh Obeyd mare Serra, the dark chestnut Ibn Rabdan, and a desert-bred stallion, Schammar. They also toured the racing stables of Cairo, and found there a filly which Raswan thought very beautiful. He wrote about her in glowing terms to Prince Sanguszko, hoping for extra funds to buy her: From the beginning I said, that I do not expect to find a stallion or mare in Egypt (or Syria) which might “suit” Mr. Z. (& consequently you too). However, we “discovered” an unusual mare. – She seems to be the “sister” to Nedjari. A mare of the very same type & breeding. – From among several hundred (perhaps 600) horses which we have seen this one mare is outstanding. She is the type which, when brought to Poland, people will point to her & say: “What an Arab!” and neither Mr. Z. nor I would be…
This Rabdan stallion’s name is Jurnass. He is the most noteworthy Syrian stallion of the last couple years. His current owner is Dham al-Ahmad al-Daham al-Hadi al-Farhan al-Jarba, Sheikh of the Shammar. A few years ago, some Syrian Bedouins started started mating Rabdan stallions from Tai marbats, probably because they are so handsome. It was not the case before. Breeders from the cities followed suit. This new trend started with the very handsome Zayn al-Khayl (Ghaseeb x Raghdanah), who was used heavily across Syria with excellent results. Those same breeders who used to deride Egyptian pashas for having mated Rabdans a hundred or so years ago (e.g., Rabdan al-Azrak, the sire of Ibn Rabdan) used Zayn al-Khayl in a heartbeat.
How do they manage to produce horses of this caliber, amidst war, insurgency, uncertainty and the absence of the rule of law?