I just downloaded the “Book of Sheep” and the “Book of Camels” of Al-Asma’i from archive.org. Al-Asma’i was also one of the earliest authors of the “Book of Horses”. Al-Asma’i was the rival of Abu ‘Ubaydah, the author of another early “Book of Horses”. I don’t nearly love sheep and camels the way I love horses, and I know little about either. I thought it interesting however to compare the same author’s treatment of this triad of domesticated animals. A nagging question is whether the early Books of Horses were describing Arab horses, or horses in general, or both. The question becomes especially relevant to color patterns unusual in modern-day Arabian horses. Of course both cite Arabic poetry to illustrate their descriptions, but this may or may not have been a literary device of the time. One needs to be weary of jumping to the conclusion that the horse described is an Arab because Arabic poetry is used to illustrate the descriptions — without ruling out this possibility. In particular, I would like to learn whether the sheep described are similar to the ‘awass breed of the Bedouins — the ovine equivalent of the Arab horse, and whether other types…