Very proud of the lastborn Al Arab filly. Both Monologue CF and Barakah Al Arab did a wonderful job there. Jeanne Craver said that the filly looked like a camel — in a good way. I so agree.
I saw Judi last week at a Pyramid Society even in Morocco, where she spoke about her long and successful career as a breeder, and asked me to speak about the consistency of Arabian horse type over the past 500 years, based on Western and (the very few) Arab first hand accounts. It was a nice event hosted by Pyramid Society Morocco’s president Youcef Laghzal and his group of breeders. Judi and I reminisced about the time we spent at Joe Ferriss’ working on the book “The Arabian Horses of Abbas Pasha” in November 2022. Sharon Ferriss took the photo, and Joe did the captions — not me. I do not remember what he was talking about, but it was certainly interesting, like everything Joe says.
This precious photo of Julep (Gulastra x *Aziza by Gamil Manial) popped up on my Facebook feed this morning, posted by Julie Koch, who indicated that it was “a photo Joan Yerkie took of Julep at Cedardell Arabians in the 1960s”. It is dated Aug 1966. Julep is in at least three horses I have owned and in two I bred and still own. He is one of the treasures of US asil breeding.
The Hamdani Simri stallion Monologue CF (photos below, earlier and in 2022) has been producing extremely well over the years. His son Haykal Al Arab (x CSA Baroness Lady), now gelded, is perhaps the showiest colt I have bred so far (video below as a colt). My recollection from seeing Monologue’s other son Inaam Al Krush at Jackson Hensley’s several years ago is that of an outstanding horse (more photos here by current owner Kim Davis). A third son, now gelded, Malaak Al Talj (x Mi Blue Angel), at Laura Fitz, has also been getting a lot of compliments. Photos below at a young age, then as a long yearling. There is also Kandahar TW, which I don’t recall having seen, and Darlene Summers’ Rose Petal Rhapsody (x Divine Little Rose), now with Aida Schreiber. And now my own little Badiah Al Arab (x Barakah Al Arab), born April 2024. Pity that there are not more of his progeny around, because Monologue is an excellent representative of Arabian horse true type. I can say that because the credit for breeding him goes to Charles and Jeanne Craver. I am just lucky enough to co-own him with Darlene Summers. I wish…
Jeanne Craver tells me that she “love[s] “the head shape, and the low set eye, nicely cut ears, very close coupling, love[s] the angles of the shoulder and hip”.
This was once one of the largest and nicest groups of Al Khamsa Arabians in North America.
This morning Barakah delivered a strong, healthy filly by Monologue CF. Mother and baby are doing well. I feel so blessed, and I pray things continue to go well. The vet is coming this afternoon for an IgG blood test and plasma transfusion. This filly is special because she is the first third-generation foal from my breeding, after her dam Barakah Al Arab (b. 2016) and her maternal grandsire Wadd Al Arab (b. 2011). Wadd was the son of my first mare in the USA, Wisteria CF. She is also the outcome of a sustained effort to preserve the rare female line to *Nufoud, Albert Harris’ imported desert-bred mare. This effort is one of the many bright spots in the preservation campaign Al Khamsa launched in 2010, around the AK Preservation Task Force. This filly is the the third one I have bred from that strain in eight years. I also retain her dam and her dam’s half-sister. *Nufoud was named after the Great Nafud sand desert of Central Arabia, so it’s only fitting that her eighth-generation descendant in the female line be named Badiah. Badiah in Arabic means both “nomads” as a collective (a synonym for bedu, the Bedouin,…
My friend Muhammad Ma’sum al-Agub recently acquired a promising young Saqlawi Marzakani stallion of Shammar lines. His sire is my black Kuhaylan al-Wati stallion Mushahhar, his dam is a daughter of Zayn al-Khayl. Notice the short back, the long hip, the sloped shoulder, the round barrel, the strong coupling, the long neck, and the (moderately) large, black eye.