Al Khamsa has the following information on the Bahraini mare Nuhra (two photos above): A 1936 bay Kuhaylah Wadnah Khursaniyah mare bred by the Amiri Stud of Bahrain. By a Kuhaylan Jallabi by a Kuhaylan Jallabi, and out of a Kuhaylah Wadnah Khursaniyah by a ‘Ubayyan. NOTES: This information is referenced to the Amiri Stud Book of Bahrain and the Arab Horse Society stud book (Vol. VI, 1944, page 254). Nuhra was imported in 1939 to Englad as a gift from the ruler of Bahrain to the Earl of Athlone. I wonder who her sire was. We know from both Ahmed Mabrouk’s 1936 account and the from foundation stallion’s chart in the Amiri Studbook of Bahrain (below) that the sire of the first speckled Jallabi was a stallion of the Shawaf strain, so he could not be Nuhra’s sire. We know from the Amiri Studbook that the second speckled Jallabi (famous photo below) was born in 1930 or 1932, and that his sire was the first speckled Jallabi. Could he have been the sire of Nuhra? Could there have been another Jallabi stallion sired by a Jallabi stallion in Bahrain at that time?
More progress in comparing written primary sources on Bahraini horses with each other. This time it’s about Old Dahman I (1938-1970) also known as Dhahmaan Alawwal, one of the foundation stallions of Bahraini breeding. There is this mention on the Bahraini Royal Stud website, which borrows from and builds on Volume I of the Amiri Arabian Horse Stud Book of Bahrain (photos from Volume 1 are below, by Valerie Noli-Marais): Another replacement was sent by Shaikh Abdulla Jassim Al-Thani of Qatar, Dahmeh El Shagara. Dahmeh El Shagara was a good producer. She was the dam of Dahman Alawwal (by Mlolshaan Speckled). Now here is Judi Forbis who saw him at the stud of Jezra and wrote about him in the “Pearls of Great Price” series that was published in Arabian Horse World in 1971, following her March 1970 visit to Bahrain “Of particular interest at this stud [Jezra] was old DAHMAN, well over thirty years of age. He had been used extensively and while having size and great forehand depth, he was light behind, short and somewhat rounded in croup and possessed a strangely pointed triangular head which was very large, convex, bony and coarse, though dry. It is said…
His full name was Fatis bin Salim al-Hajiri of Beni Hajar tribe of Qahtan. I found five sources on him in English, and there must be more in Arabic. 1/ In Judith Forbis’ “Pearls of Great Price” 1971 AHW article: “…an ancient Arab named Fetyz, whom nobody knows the true age of and who attended Sheikh Isa’s great granfather.” 2/ In Volume 1 of the Amiri Arabian Studbook of Bahrain: “In 1969 old studmaster Fatis realized that in the herd of broodmares in his change there was only one Kuheila’t Umm Zorayr, […] Fatis took her up to the Palace and put her in race training!” “After the death of the old studmaster in charge, from 1942 to 1974, registering each purebred became a necessity” 3/ On the website of the Bahrain Royal Stud: “There was a fourth mare, Hamdanieh Fatis 202 bred at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia.“ This photo and legend: “Old Fatis on Old Shawaf” are also on this website: Also this photo, riding what looks like the same Shawaf stallion (I really like this horse) 4/ Another, nicer and larger photo in Danah Al Khalifah’s photo book “The Living Treasures of Bahrain” also riding this Shawaf.…
Some progress in linking primary sources on older Bahraini horses to each other. The below is an Ubayyah mare in Volume 1 of the Amiri Arabian Stud Book of Bahrain (page 63): Compare with the description of this mare in Judi Forbis’ AHW “Pearls of Graet Price” series, following her 1970 visit to the Amiri Stud in Jezra, where she saw 40 mares and two stallions, including Old Dahman I: “Chestnut Obeyah mare whose dam was from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, high white stockings, human eye, big broad blaze, including both nostrils and a white patch on her belly.” The two sources very likely describe the same mare. Compare: Bahrain Volume I page 63, Obeyah N.4 Judi Forbis article in AHW (1971) Obeyah Obeyah Chestnut Chestnut dam: Saudia dam was from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia LF to knee, LH (typo there) to hock, RF to knee, RH to hock high white stockings blaze extending to muzzle and both nostrils big broad blaze including both nostrils sire Dahman I Dahman I head stallion standing at Jezra This mare was probably an Ubayyah of Ibn Jiluwi. Volume 1, in its introductory paragraph on horses of the Ubayyan strain, mentions that “the strain was the…
Our wifi was off for the entire day yesterday. I managed to get some filing done, folded up shopping bags. Even got some meal prepping done. I dove into the boxes that Gisela Aschenborn Uijs (of Nabilah fame) sent me and I found a certified copy of NABILAH (imp) (ENZAHI x ZAMZAM, by GAMIL III)’s extended pedigree. The original was issued by Fouad Abaza Pasha, Director General of the Royal Agricultural Society and witnessed by Dr. Abdel Alim Ashoub, Chief Animal Breeding Section, Royal Agricultural Society. The pedigree spans several pages, so I’ll take it apart and post it when I can. The wifi going off was serendipitous after all!!
I was always curious about the background of the Bahraini stallion Krushan Speckled (aka Krushan Al Marshoosh, also called Krushan Al Aswad, and his beautiful dam Krush Al Araibi (alt spelling Araiby). There is a full article about him and his dam, as well as awesome pictures of both, in the “Pearls of Great Price” series of articles that Judith Forbis wrote for Arabian Horse World in 1971. There are also other nice pictures in Danah Al Khalifah’s Pearls of Great Price photo book (like the photo of Krushan prancing, top), and Volume I of the Amiri Arabian Studbook of Bahrain (like the photo of Krush Al Araibi, next up). In addition, below is some of what Volume I has to say about Krushan and his dam: “The Stud Stallion, Krushan Speckled, was out of the dam Krush El Araibi which was bred by the then Shaikh of Amara, Mohammed El Araibi. He had brought her as a tribute to Shaikh Sulman in the late 1940’s.” I looked up El Araibi (alt. spellings Al Araibi, Al Araiby) online and found many traces of him. He was a prominent Iraqi tribal leader, the leader of the al-Bu Muhammad tribe, following the…
I love the intelligent look on the Bahraini stallion Jellaby Kher M45. He is Darak’s great-grandsire. The photo was taken during the WAHO conference of 1998.
Jasminah, by Abu Hamza x Jalidah by Abu Khamseh, 2017 Wadnat Khursan mare. Photo by Christelle Seranne. Bred to Darak for 2027.