Some twelve years ago, Luis Baudin wrote this beautiful piece on Daughters of the Wind, in French. Here is a translation, largely done with Deepl (the best instant translation engine by far): “I would like to come back to the Tunisian horse named Jehol Sahraoui (Ouaffar x Kalthoumia by Sabour), a deep bay born at Mr Heinz Gerd Bergmann… I had the opportunity to ride this stallion in 1989 during a visit to the Ghobber, who were at the time semi-nomadic breeders in the Maknassy region. I had gone riding with the chief of the tribe Rhida Ghobber, his brothers and cousins including Youssef and Amara Ben Ghabri. I still remember the look on the face of my friend Jean-Claude riding beside me while filming with his eyes the superb steed in full action. I still remember hearing Rhida shout from behind me: “Luis, can you imagine going like that for thirty kilometers?” We were swarming on the horizon of this desolate landscape at very high speed. Jehol knew only one pace: the gallop! Prancing as we were still treading, my reins elastic and his mouth soft, this devil of a horse seemed to sink into the ground before skidding…
My beloved Wadha nearly died while foaling, and her foal by Monologue died too. A large bay colt, both hindlegs white, so large that he was stuck at the level of his hips for two and a half hours and died before he could come out. Wadha’s vagina was teared up pretty bad and she did not pass her placenta until several hours after she was rushed to the vet hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania. She remains there, but is doing better now. It was traumatic. It reminds of me of the note Lady Anne Blunt put in her herdbook about her Jallabiyah mare Makbula: “Foal dead, mare nearly dead”.
Lovas Nemzet, Laszlo Kiraly’s 22 years old Hungarian horse magazine is having its annual photo competition. The deadline is July 24, 2022. Everyone is encouraged to apply.