A photo of Tarff (*Fadl x *Turfa) I had not seen before — he is in two of my mares. What a good mare *Turfa was, perhaps one of the best ever imported to the US. I second the old saying among US Arabian horse breeders that the more *Turfa in a horse, the better the horse. The same cannot be said of other more recent desert blood, which is precious but needs to be used with care, in my opinion, if one wants to avoid longer back and shorter hips. On another note, Americans really maintained their stallions very fat in the 1950s.
Very happy with how Shaman is turning out (look past the winter coat ), and he is not three yet. I am inching closer towards the type of horses I want to see. I like them built like tanks, the stallions very masculine and the mares very feminine, all very dry and superlative movers. No to “living art”, no to “cute”, no to “extreme”. Yes to being a good horse first, before being an Arabian. Yes to irreproachable authenticity of bloodlines. Shaman will make a good stallion. Photo by DeWayne Brown taken today.
The Sba’ah ‘Anazah had a first-class marbat of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak known as Ubayyan al-‘Awbali. The ‘Awbaliyyat were the Ubayyan Sharrak mares of al-‘Awaabilah clan of the Mihlif of the Mawayiqah of the Sba’ah. The Nawwaq clan owners of Kuhaylan Nawwaq are from the Qasim (Gasim) section of the Rasaalin of the Sba’ah. The Ma’naqi Sbayli take their name after Ibn Sbayyil of the Ajlan of the Rasaalin of the Sba’ah. The Ajlan are headed by Ibn Mijlad. Zudghum, owner of the most famous Ma’naqi Sbayli marbat of the XXth century was Zudghum Ibn Mijlad (TBC). Amir al-Dandal told me that the Ma’naqi Sbayli (Najrissi) marbat of the Aqayadat was obtained from the Rasaalin. The hujjah of the mare Aseelah (dam of Dinar, by al-Aawar) states that she was Ma’naqiyat Zudghum.
The last horse I bred in Lebanon before moving to the USA in 2000 was this handsome young colt, by the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Dinar (Al-Aawar x Aseelah) out of my Saqlawiyah Sha’ifiyah Fadwa (Al Kaher x Loumah, by Faisal x Hababah). Fadwa was a striking bay mare, the outcome of an Egyptian-Syrian cross as her sire Al Kaher (Ikhnatoon x Marium by Ibn Shahrzada) was an Egyptian EAO export to Syria. He was given away to somebody as a weanling. Pity, because I thought he was special. But then again, one can’t keep them all. Not sure he was ever registered. I need to look him up.