I am very impressed with this young lad. And I thought his half-brother and close Ma’naqi Sbayli relative Shaykh was already a winner! Shaman looks more “old Egyptian”, Shaykh more “Crabbet”. Hard to choose between the two. They both speak well for their sire, Tamaam DE, who met an untimely death last year. Photos by Rosemary and Terry Doyle.
Check out the Wikipedia page of Captain G.E. Leachman, the British explorer, army officer, political officer and above all, spy. Photo below, disguised as a Bedouin. The Bedouins, who feared him, called him Njayman. His murder in 1920 in Abu Ghraib by Dari al-Mahmud, Shaykh of the Shammar Zawba’, is a famous episode in Bedouin lore. It sparked the Arab revolt in Iraq. The article says Dari’s son Khamis shot him in the back over a disagreement over a local robbery. Bedouin lore perpetuates a different explanation: Njayman insulted Dari and Khamis killed Leachman with his sword in revenge. The episode is worth a book. I am not surprised Saddam Hussein financed a movie based on it. Modern descendants of Dari’s horses of the Saqlawi Jadran strain, and to a lesser extent, the Dahman Amer strain, are famous in the North Arabian desert, and a regular fixture on this blog.
I found the photos I was looking for, so I will stop scanning for the night. They don’t do justice to the effect this horse had on you. This is Qayss, by Mahrous out Zabbaa’, a stylish bay mare registered in the studbook as a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, but actually from the prestigious branch of Kuhaylan Junaydi. The authorities in Syria registered many horses from unfamiliar strains under the generic Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz, including horses of the Rishan Shar’abi, Mlayhan, Kuhaylan Junaydi, Kuhaylan al-‘Anz and Kuhalyan al-Sharif strains. According to Abbas al-Azzawi’s masterful ‘Asha’ir al-Iraq (Volume 1, under the Shammar section), the war mare of Beneyeh Ibn Quraymis al-Jarba was a Kuhaylah Junaydiyyah. Beneyeh was killed in war in 1231 Hijri (1815 CE). He was the paternal cousin of Sfug al-Jarba, the Shaykh of the Shammar whom the Ottomans treacherously murdered in 1847. Qayss’ eye was placed high, and his head was plain, but what charisma he had and what impression he made on you! What personality and what strength!
Layth, by Mahrous out of Hallah, was spectacular. He was the prototype of the masculine stallion. I had never seen a neck like that on a Syrian horse. Photo from my 1995 visit to Mustafa al-Jabri’s stud. His strain goes back to the Khallawiyyaat marbat of the Ja’alifah of the Northern Shammar in Iraq, through the Tai. Anything from that marbat is now gone, I believe. I am not sure if the Khallawi strain is a branch of the Kuhaylan strain (the Abbas Pasha Manuscript says it is) or a strain of its own. Below, one of his daughters, out of a Kuhaylat al-Wati mare, either Dawhah or one of her daughters. She was very impressive too. Photo from my last visit to Jabri’s, in 2000.
I have written frequently about this horse. In my opinion, Saad II was one of the three best sons of al-Aawar. He was out of a grand mare, Leelas, a Kuhaylah Khdiliyah of ‘Abbud al-‘Ali al-‘Amud of the ‘Aqaydat. That strain harked back to the Kuhaylaat al-‘Ajuz of the Khdilat section of the Fada’an. It was held in high esteem by all the Bedouins across Arabia. Indeed, I have rarely seen such unanimity about a strain. I took these pictures at Mustafa al-Jabri’s farm in 1997. Saad II was in poor condition then. My father, who really had an eye for picking good stallions for his mares, thought the world of him. He sent his favorite mare, a bay Saqlawiyah Sha’ifyah of Ibn Bisra from Rayak, Lebanon all the way to Aleppo, Syria, to be bred to him. She produced that gorgeous colt, below. Photos at the farm of Michel Pharaon, then leased by Husayn Nasser. I never knew what happened to him. My father probably gave him away to someone.
Also at Hisham Ghorayed. Sire: Sa’ad, a Saqlawi Sh’aifi son of Mahrous; dam: a desert-bred Kuhaylat al-Wati mare of the marbat of Hakim al-Ghishm of the Shammar, acquired by Hisham Ghorayeb. Sa’ad produced so well.
This mare was one of the most sought after in Syria. I took this photo in 1992 at the stud of Hisham Ghorayeb in Damascus. Her dam was a Ma’naqiyah Sbaliyah of the marbat of Turki al-Najriss of the ‘Aqaydat Bedouins, a prestigious strain that goes back to the Rasaalin of Sba’ah. Her sire was the Saqlawi Sh’aifi of Diban al-Ka’r. He traced to the horses of Hajjo Ibn Mahel of the Shammar. I recall that Hazaim Alwair and I spent an entire summer in 2005 making phone calls to multiple Bedouins to verify the authenticity of this horse. I have it all written somewhere.
I used to have a photographic memory. One glance at one of the thousands of pictures in my archives and I could tell you the name of the horse, his owner’s name, his parents, and his entire pedigree. Lately I have been catching myself gazing at a photo and asking myself: “who the hell is this horse?”, before reaching for the back of the photo in the hope of finding a handwritten note. I guess it’s called ageing. I thought it would never happen.
Many readers know of my passion for rare strains. They represent both genetic and cultural diversity. I am encouraged by the many rare lineages still extant in Syria, particularly in the Upper Jazirah area. It is the area where the formerly nomadic Shammar Bedouins chose to settle — at least those who did not go back to Saudi Arabia. It’s also the area where semi-settled tribes like the Tai and the Jubur are to be found. In addition to those registered, I have been able to verify the continued existence of the following stains, some not currently registered: 1/ Wadhnan, not registered, with the Tai. 2/ Mlayhan. One mare registered in Volume 1 of the Syrian Studbook, under K. al-‘Ajuz, and another in the second wave of Volume 7, with her offpsring. A dozen more unregistered, with the Tai. 3/ Kuhaylan Shukayli, which is Kuhaylan al-‘Ushayyir (not “al-‘Asheer” as wrongly spelled in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript). One mare was registered in Volume 1 of the Syrian studbook and another in Volume 1 of the Lebanese studbook, but no offspring from these. With the Tai. 4/ Kuhaylan al-Sa’eedan, which is different from Sa’dan. Not registered. Likely the same strain as the…
Lineages of desert-bred horses are surprisingly resilient. Each time I think a line is lost it seems to reappear somewhere else. I have been following the Shuwayman line of the Jarbah Shaykhs for three decades now. Many mares were lost during the Syrian civil war, and I feared the strain was lost. Yet a branch has survived with a branch of the Shaykhs of Tai in the Upper Jazirah. It is now helping regenerate that strain. It traces to that liver chestnut mare, born in 1986. Sire: a grey Saqlawi Jadran of the strain of Ibn ‘Amud, from the marbat of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of the same marbat. Sire of dam: a grey Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of Farhan al-Nayif al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shakyhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn Amud of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. His dam a grey Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah Ibn ‘Amud of Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. Sire of grand-dam: the black Marzaqani stallion of Al-‘Anud, the wife of Faris al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. She had received him from the Maraziq as a colt. His sire I think the famous…
Evidence on the Mlayhan strain about the Gmassah, and the Shammar of both Mesopotamia and the Najd, from her book “Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates”: Wilfrid then inquired about the horses, or rather mares, in Jebel Shammar, and asked if the Arabs there had the same breeds as the Mesopotamian Shammar. “Just the same,” he answered. ” They have Kehilehs, and Jilfehs, and Dakhmehs, and Meleyhas, just as with us. There are not many horses (kheyl) bred there. And here: Several Arabs of the Gomassa have been here, talking principally about horses, for they are the great breeders of horses in the desert. Among others, they spoke of a wonderful mare, a Meleyha, which they said a certain European had once offered 6oo for, when they were in their summer-quarters near Aleppo ; but the manner of his dealing seems to have impressed them with the idea that he was out of his mind, and they would not sell the mare. They made very merry over this. We asked them the usual question about the horses of Nejd, and the existence of separate breeds there, and they gave the usual answers. […] Our horses are the same as those of…
I came across the text of an administrative decision, dated April 30, 1921, signed by General Gouraud, French High Commissionner for Syria and Lebanon, and conferring upon Mashal Ibn Faris al-Jarba, Shaykh of the Shammar of Der Ezzor, the title of Pasha. I sent it to his grandson Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Mashal, Abu Nayif. He is my source of information for a lot of the horse-related information on the Jazirah today.
Lyman Doyle sent these photos of this year’s last arrival, another colt and another Ma’naqi Sbayli: Shaman Al Arab (Tamaam DE x SS Lady Guenevere by SS Dark Prince) was born two days ago. I am leasing his dam from DeWayne Brown. Shaman, pronounced SHAAH-MAAN, means “the one with a distinctive mark”, shamah. His odd blaze is certainly one. He also takes his name from a handsome Shammar desert-bred stallion in Syria, which I have been coveting for a while. He is the maternal uncle of the young Shaykh Al Arab. I will retain one of the two, not sure which one yet.
Radwan is looking for a new stallion for his growing herd. I advised him to purchase this young Mlayhan stallion, whose sons have been winning races. He is quite small but his origins are top notch. The Tai tribe, the clan of al-Nahhab in particular, have owned a marbat of the Mlayhan strain for a long time. They brought it with them from Iraq a long time ago, maybe two hundred years. His maternal grand-dam was part of the second wave of registrations in Volume 7 of the Syrian studbook. She had several sisters and relatives, but only she was registered. I don’t know if he is a Mlayhan Shahm al-Rass or from another branch. This is the strain of the “parrot-mouthed mare” which Major Roger Upton saw among the Sba’ah Bedouins in 1874, and which Lady Anne Blunt saw again in 1878. Upton and Blunt spelled it “Meleyhan”.
Lyman Doyle sent me these scanned photos of grand mare Jabinta (Jadib x Bint Malakah by Subani), a 1969 Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd tracing to Homer Davenport’s *Wadduda. She has my Jadiba (by Dib) at her side. Jadiba and Jabinta are the kind of mares that should have produced ten foals not one, and certainly not by the same stallion. As my father would say: “Ya hayk faras ya bala!“, or “Either a mare like that, or none at all!”
This was my father’s answer when I asked him why he was about to purchase a beautiful, authentic desert-bred mare that was not registered in any studbook. There was something idealistic and foolish — these two tend to overlap — about his stance which left a mark on the teenager I was. No formal authority at the time was ever going to recognize the purebred status of this beauty. Her resale value and that of her offspring were almost nil. Despite having given it a lot of thought over the years, I am still conflicted about registration. On one hand, one does not really need a formal registry to confirm the purebred status of a horse. Registries get their information from somewhere. That somewhere, in the case of this mare, was the spotless reputation and the word of the mare’s owner. Also, I reasoned, registries got it the other way around. The very definition of a “purebred” for most breeds is a horse entered in a registry. That includes WAHO’s famously circular definition of a purebred Arabian horse. Besides, registries around the world are full of horses proven not to be purebred. Heck, that is the rule more than it…