A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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. … Read more