A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Photo courtesy of the Facebook Page “The Old Bahrain“. This image is timeless. The buildings, the street, could have looked the same 500, 1000, 2000 years ago. Compare this picture with depictions of ancient Mesopotamian cities based on archaeological evidence.
Photo courtesy of the Facebook Page “The Old Bahrain“. Historians believe that the transformation this part of the world has witnessed over two generations had no precedent in world history.
The photo below, by Sport and Press General Agency, comes from the article, ‘Arab Horse Society’s Endurance Test’, printed in the 7 October 1921 edition of the Live Stock Journal, The original caption reads: Belka, Mr. H. V. M. Clark up, in the concluding stages of the Arab Horse Endurance Test. This was the second … Read more
Also from the Facebook page “The Old Bahrain” this photo labeled: “Arab traders can be seen in a photo taken at the Arabian horse market in Bombay, India, around 1898“ Of course many of the Arab “social media horse sharks” took this photo and reposted it as if it was taken in Cairo. I even … Read more
DeWayne was at the Doyle ranch this weekend and took photos of two year old Shamsah Al Arab (Cascade DE x SS Lady Guenevere, b. 2023), the dark chestnut one; and long weanling Karma Al Arab (Bashir Al Dirri x Kinza Al Arab, b. 2024), the lighter chestnut one. I am equally pleased with both … Read more
The nice Facebook page “The Old Bahrain” published these photos. The first photo has this legend: 1950s: Sir Charles Belgrave, Advisor to the ruler of Bahrain, astride his Arabian mare Oleander during his daily inspection of the Bahrain’s Police Camel Corps. The second photo has this legend: Sir Charles Belgrave, the advisor to the ruler … Read more
Below is a photo of the grey mare Sabine, foaled in 1900, who is presumably the daughter of two of M. Portalès’ imports. The picture comes from the article, ‘Les chevaux du midi’, printed in the 27 October 1907 Le Sport universel illustré. Mossoul’s entry in volume 11 of the Stud-Book français (1894) says he … Read more
The photos below come from ‘Le haras de Pompadour’, printed in the 14 April 1900 edition of Le Sport universel illustré. Mossoul, an ‘Anazah stallion, imported in 1892. The article has a brief description of Mossoul, praising his forehand, chest and haunches, while casting a critical eye at his top line: Mossoul, de la tribu … Read more
Notice the intelligent eye, large without being oversized, and the dry and bony face, with flat jowls, not meaty. Also note the very delicately chiseled arch of the throat. All these features are hallmarks of the breed.
The photos and text below come from ‘Le haras de Pompadour’, printed in the 21 April 1900 edition of Le Sport universel illustré. Kadidja, imported in 1892. Malakaa, imported in 1896. El-Zhora, imported in 1896. She was nicknamed The White Pearl with a Black Collar, due to her tattoos. An excerpt from the article follows … Read more
MD Turfairan (“Turf”) left for a new home yesterday. Turf was Jessie Heinrick’s gift to me, in return for my gifting her Wadd Al Arab. I regret that Turf did not have any opportunities at stud in my ownership. He would have nicked especially well with the *Nufoud mares. Despite his short height, he has … Read more
Karma Al Arab is last year’s filly out of Kinza Al Arab (Subanet Jabbar SDA x DA Ginger Moon), my Saqlawi Marighi mare. She is very balanced, with near perfect conformation. Her sire Bashir Al Dirri is really an outstanding horse. Photos by Lyman Doyle this morning.
My lovely Bassma Al Arab (Jamr Al Arab x Jadah BelloftheBall) is turning four this year. She is growing by leaps and bounds. She is on a temporary lease at Monica Respet’s, who took this nice photo.
My Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah filly Shamsah Al Arab (Cascade DE x SS Lady Guenevere) is now two years old. She is not my favorite by any means, but she’s been improving steadily, and will grow into a solid mare. The ears, muzzel, jowls and loins are all nice. It is too early for the shoulder and … Read more
I am now reading a 2002 French-language edition of Count Waclav S. Rzewuski’s manuscript “Sur les Chevaux Orientaux et Provenants [sic] des Races Orientales“. Rzewuski wrote his book sometime after his stay in Arabia from 1818 to 1821, where he lived among the Arabs and bought up to 100 stallions and 35 mares for European … Read more
In French first, then Deepl.com’s translation to English: Le défaut de proportions gracieuses de la tête ne fait naitre aucun dégoût chez les Arabes, qui font surtout attention a l’origine du cheval et a ses autres qualités. La tête est en général plutôt petite et décharnée. Une tête un peu plus allongée ne serait considérée … Read more
Jeanne Craver shared these really nice and new-to-me (except the bottom one) photos of the mare Dharebah (Dhareb x Antarah by Antez), the cornerstone mare of the 50+ years old Craver Frams breeding program. Please stare at these photos as closely as you can, and try to replicate her features in your breeding programs, whatever … Read more
She was bred to Hamdaany Dafuq. In the background, her full sister Dhahabiah, whose loss two weeks ago was a real blunder.
Google Translate has a very cool feature that allows you to translate text for an image as opposed to a word processing document. I used it to translate the introductory text of George Philippe Tabet’s 1937 booklet “Les Noms de Famille des Chevaux Arabes” — The family names of Arabian Horses. I miniminally edited the … Read more
Yesterday Jens Sannek shared with me a pair of pictures of the absolutely stunning Iranian Asil stallion Barout Lami, a 2017 Wadnan Khursan. This stallion oozes true Arabian type. Compare with Eldar HD, the Hamdani Simri stallion of Davenport bloodlines, at Michael Bowling’s.
The 1919 broodmare Nusara (Abu Zeyd x Noam), a Kuhaylah Da’janiyah, bred by W.R. Brown then sold to W.K. Kellogg, is a very present in pedigrees of Crabbet horses from the Doyle family. I had not seen a photo of her before.
Two photos of Darak upon departure from his old home and arrival to this new one. Top photo by Marion Wassilewski, bottom photo by Jeanne Crousaud. Darak, bred by Danah stud is so rich in the Kuhaylan Jallabi blood, even by Bahraini standards. His sire is Jellaby Radad, his dam’s sire is Jellaby Mojaahid M151, … Read more
Lyman sent me this photo of Jellaby Maroof M30 from one of the later Bahraini studbooks. My kind of Arabian stallion. Maroof is the maternal brother of Jellaby Radad, who is the sire of my Hamdaany Darak and Lyman’s Hamdaany Daneer. Daneer is coming to the USA.
From Judi Forbis’ Hoofbeats Along the Tigris, her first and in my opinion, best book: The greatest number of horses bred by Arabs [ie, Bedouins] seems to be found in practically a direct line from Mosul to Aleppo and above that area into Turkey along the Turkish-Syrian-Iraq border, where horses are still occasionally used for … Read more
The following are excerpts from a precious article, Introducing the Asil Horse Of Khuzestan, written by the late Mary Gharagozlu and published on the WAHO website. This is one of those rare informative articles that lets Arab voices speak about what features to look for in an Arabian horse. The Bedouin quoted here is a … Read more
There are a handful breeding programs in the USA that I follow closely, like Carrie Slayton’s in California, and Bev Davison’s in Idaho. They have the same bloodlines as I do, more or less, and we collaborate. Bev now has a few high-percentage Abbas Pasha Saqlawi horses for sale or lease, mostly males and some … Read more
The late Danah Al Khalifa sure knew how to pick stallions for her Sitah-linebred mares. Georgous Rabdaan Muttaawi (Musannaan Al Meemar x Rabda Shaawieh by Burkaan D3) is just one example. He is the sire of the two full sisters Danika and Dhahabiah, bred by Danah. Dhahabiah is the one that died last week, sadly. … Read more
Bint Mayadah is doing very well for her new/old owner Steffi Weirich, who took the pictures in her pasture. I am very happy that Steffi took her on.
Badia Al Arab (Monologue CF x Barakah Al Arab by Wadd Al Arab), now a yearling, is slowly growing into an excellent filly. Thrilled about her, and sad about her half sister out of Wadha, which I lost a day after birth to an infection. The traditional Arab way of presenting Badia would be: Grey … Read more