Zarifa, a Sa’dah al-Tuqan mare, in Russia

Zarifa (below) was bred by Count Stroganov from his imported stallion Sherrak, out of the mare Ghazu. Zarifa’s dam Ghazu was a grey mare foaled in the desert c. 1879/1880, sired by a Dahman ‘Amer. Stroganov purchased her on his first expedition to Syria, in 1888, from the Sba’ah. She produced seven foals in Russia, sired by Emir-el-Arab, Sottamm el-Kreysh, Sherrak, and Ashgar (Emir-el-Arab x Anaze). Zarifa herself produced three foals by the time the 1903 stud book was compiled, a chestnut colt and filly by Emir-el-Arab in 1900 and 1901, and a grey filly by Sottamm el-Kreysh in 1902. Photo from the History of Russia in Photographs.