Edouard Aldahdah

Together with Aleppo, Sanaa in Yemen and Fes in Morocco, my favorite ancient city. Then come Florence, Budapest, Rome, Paris, Vienna. Here the suq of Midhat Pasha. Photos from the Library of Congress.

Photo gleaned on an online discussion where Lyman Doyle was asking about feedback on his Tamaam’s straight profile. Call this creature whatever you want, a snake, a seahorse, a mutant, “living art”, but not an Arab horse. This has gone too far.  

Ginger — with Bev Davison in Idaho — was bred to Bev’s stallion Subanet Jabbar SDA (photo below), a Saqlawi with a high percentage Crabbet and Abbas Pasha blood, with close crosses to personal favorites like the Doyle stallions Parnell and Subani, and the dark bay Babson stallion Saafaddan. That was close to three weeks … Read more

Wadha was bred last week to the Bahraini stallion Shuwaiman Al Rais (photo below), from the breeding of Jenny Lees in the UK. I am looking forward to this cold outcross, the first ever of a Bahraini horse to a mare of old Syria (i.e. Davenport) lines. I hope it works, because Wadha was still … Read more

Today Rosemary Doyle bred for me the Managhi mare Daughter of the Pharaohs (aka “Pippa”), which I leased from DeWayne Brown, to the Doyle stallion Tamaam DE (photo below, by Carver DE out of Maloof Habiba), who of 100% old Crabbet lines. Fingers crossed for a healthy foal in 2019.

Finally, Jamr Al Arab (Vice Regent CF x Jadiba) who is now under saddle with Sue Moss riding. Last photo while collecting is by Darlene. He traces to *Wadduda, the war mare of the leader of the Fad’aan Bedouins, imported by Homer Davenport in 1906. (I like repeating these things).

And this Wadha Al Arab before a trip to the vet clinic for AI breeding. Top photo by Darlene.

This is Jadah BelloftheBall (“Belle”), a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from the strain imported by Albert Harris through Amin Rihani to the USA from the Saudi Royal Stables in 1932.                                 

This is my not-so-little Barakah Al Arab (Wadd Al Arab x Jadah BelloftheBalll), almost two years old, and a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz tracing to the mare *Nufoud (ca. 1925) of the royal stables of Saudi Arabia. It was hard to get a full body shot because she kept mobbing me.

This past weekend Jeanne Craver flew in and out to say goodbye before I leave for a new assignment in South Africa, and we went to see the horses, together with Jenny Krieg and Darlene Summers. This is my beautiful Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah mare SS Shadows Aana. Any foals from her seem extremely unlikely at this … Read more

Through Yahya Al-Tahawi in Egypt comes this new picture of El Deree, the desert-bred race horse that became a senior stallion at the Egyptian Royal Stud in Inshass. This photo was never published in the West before.

That is a local “Shami” breed of cows from Southern and Western Syria. They have red coats and produce relatively little milk, that is dense and delicious. It has now all but disappeared, crossed with imported cattle from Europe and elsewhere.

This mare has a fast pace and carries herself with distinction and style. My ten year old girl remarked on this saying: “I like Belle because she walks so proudly”.  She embodies the unique nobility of the breed. Also, she produces better than she is.

My black Ma’naqiyah mare SS Shadows Aana was bred to my Saqlawi al-‘Abd Jamr Al Arab for a 2019 foal last Thursday May 3, and the following Friday, Saturday and Monday. Friday and Saturday’s were good covers. The cross would bring out multiple lines to Gulastra through his three offspring Gulida, Nusi and Julep.

Two days ago Carrie Slayton bred the Hadbah mare RL Zahra Assahara (Portent x Antezzah by Grand Pass) to Ambar Diaz’ Porte CF (Portico x Recherche). Carrie and I now co-own Zahra. If the resulting foal (with three close crosses to Portia) is a filly, she is mine, and any colts and future fillies are … Read more

I am grateful to my friend from Deir El Zor Okba al-Ruwaili for having recently clarified to me the meaning of the expression “Min Hab El Rih and Nabt El Shih”, which occurs in many hujaj (or Arabic authentication certificates). Okba tells me that the expression is used by ‘nabati’ or settled folks from Syria … Read more

This season I am planning a larger number of breedings than any year before, in part because many mares are not getting younger, and in part to avoid a situation like last year where too few attempts lead to no offspring in 2017. Years without foals are sad. In the event of five pregnancies, then… … Read more

Mohammed Abdel Sattar Tahoon from Egypt did what many Egyptian and other horse breeders and lovers have been dreaming to do since the time of Lady Anne Blunt. He went looking for the fabled ruins of Dar El Beida (in Arabic, the “White House”), the stables Abbas Pasha I built for his collection of Arabian … Read more

It’s breeding season again, and a number of great matings are being planned and conducted across the country. Porte CF (Portico x Recherche) is in Southern California with Carrie Slayton who bred him to her two Davenport Haifi mares, Brighton TAH (Ascendant x GH Janet) and ADA Skylarking (“Birdie”, Palisades CF x Lustre CF by … Read more

He was the Master of Horses in Bahrain following Old Fatis, in the 1970s and 1980s, and he has a good book in Arabic about Arabian horses in Bahrain, which I am trying to get my hands on. That photo is likely from that book.

An article about Syria: Home of Horses by Hylke Hettema on her blog, got me to think about other references to horses in ancient times from what today is Syria. The following reference from the Archives Royales de Mari [ARM], with its mention of the chiding of king Zimri-Lim of Mari (1776-1751 BCE) by one of … Read more

I am thrilled about my leasing the chestnut 2015 Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah mare Daughter of the Pharaohs from DeWayne Brown. Pippa (her barn name) is by the handsome Doyle stallion Chatham DE (Huntington Doyle x Gulida Tara) and out of De Wayne’s mare SS Lady Guenevere, a close relative of my own Southern Springs black Ma’naqiyah … Read more

Finally some decent shots, after a clean up. She will be bred this month, for the first time.

Mlolshaan Mutab (Mlolshaan Hilal x Mlolesh Dhabiya), 1999 Bahraini stallion in South Africa. Bred by HH Sh. Mohamed Bin Salman Aal Khalifah of Bahrain. At Saruk stud with Pauline Du Plessis. He is full of the Mlolshaan blood.  

Yesterday. Left to right: Michael Bowling, Jeanne Craver, me and Joe Ferriss. RJ Cadranell, we missed you.

There was an article in the Khamsat magazine about the Centennial of Lady Anne Blunt. Yesterday, Greg Olson sent me these two images he took of her grave in the Italian Catholic cemetery of Abbassia in Cairo, three days ago. I visited it in 2015, and was so awed that I could not get myself … Read more

Yasser Al Tahawi has this excellent overview of  the history of the Tahawi horses on his social media page: • Early 19th century: the great Egyptian conquests in the Middle East (Syria, Arabia, Sudan) … the Tahawies played a major role. Strong connections were developed between the Tahawies and the big tribes of Arabia including … Read more

From Mohammed al-Matrooshi’s social media accounts come these photos of the very masculine 1986 Bahraini stallion Jellaby Kher M45, by Rabdaan Alwasmy (M19) {Maanagy Al Ahmar X Rabda (M16) } out of Jellabieh Al Khar’aa (M3) {Hamdany Riyadh X Jellabieh (M1)}, bred and owned by Sheikh Mohammad Bin Salman Al Khalifa. I am not sure who took … Read more

The most interesting feature of this article by Hylke Hettema on her blog is the observation that Assyrian reliefs featuring horses displayed what seems to be bead necklaces similar to those used on horses today to keep the evil eye away, such as the one on this stallion of the late Dani El Barbary’s below with … Read more

Arabian horse strains have a way of surviving and turning out in unpredictable places outside their countries of origin. When the Bahrain Royal Studs first lost their precious Kuhaylan al-Kray strain, they turned to Jenny Lees in the UK, who had received the mare Kray Mohammadia (Jellabi Alahmar Montasir  x Kray Manifa) from Bahrain as … Read more

Linda Cottle from New Zealand shared this treasure of a photo on the page of Rehan Ud Din Baber on Facebook. The photo was taken by her grandfather, a soldier from New Zealand who visited the Sheykh Obeyd Stud of Lady Anne Blunt during World War One. The photo shows Lady Anne Blunt and a … Read more

This colt is growing into superb young stallion. He was bred by Jenny Krieg, with help from the Doyle family and their stallion Tamaam DE, out of a mare from the single rarest lines in Al Khamsa Arabians: the blood of *Euphrates, *Al-Mashoor, and *Mirage flows through his veins. https://www.facebook.com/doylearabians/videos/406235289835488/    

Kirby Drennan and Jeanne Craver shared this beautiful photo of two Craver Farms mares, the 1986 Hamdani Simri Chinoiserie CF (Dharanad x Levant), on the left, who died in the stampede that followed the 1993 Illinois River flood at Craver Farms, and the 1984 Kuhaylah Krush Minaret CF (Heir Apparent x O-Henrietta), on the right.

From Rehan Ud Din Baber’s beautiful Facebook page. From Gertrude Bell’s archives at the British Library?

Some eight years ago, Louis Bauduin wrote a wonderful article about riding the Tunisian Asil Arabians of Mrs. Bergmann in the Sahara desert. Of these were Mrs. Bergmann’s stallions Jehol Sahraoui and Marzouk. Yesterday, Severine Vesco posted this photo of Marzouk, a stout little stallion of Jiflan bloodlines, ahead of this ride.

Hurrian Hymn N.6, also called the “Hymn to Nikkal” is the most ancient piece of music in the world to have reached us, dating from 3,400 years ago. Nikkal was a Canaanite goddess of fertility (of the soil and of humans). French archaeologists discovered the melody in 1955 on a clay tablet in the ancient Canaanite … Read more

Una CF (Saranad x Femina by Ibn Alamein) is the rarest mare in Davenport breeding. She has no lines to Tripoli, no lines to Schilla, and is of the Kuhaylan Haifi strain. Here with her owner’s daughter, who is very proud of her. The mare looked thin in that photo taken last July and had … Read more

From his new owner Jessie Heinrick. He has never looked better.

I have been working on a translation of Abu ‘Ubaydah al-Taymi’s (died 822-823 AD in Basra) masterful “Book of the Horse” for close to eight years now, on and off. I am doing for my friend Radwan Shabareq, on my free time — meaning some nights and some weekends, with Jeanne Craver as editor and … Read more

A lot has been said about “secret” signs, which Bedouins used to recognize and evaluate the purity of a horse. Rszewuski mentioned them, claiming that he possessed an empirical knowledge of these signs, shared by his Bedouin friends. Nothing about these was found in  his personal archives after his death. Was he boasting ? Is … Read more

Two rare photos of Egyptian stallion El Sud El Aaly (Nazeer x Lateefa), born in 1957 at the Egyptian Agricultural Organization and gifted to the King Mohamed V of Morocco in 1960. Original post from the Facebook group Straight Egyptian Arabian horses in Morocco through Sheila Cone and Olivier Wibihal. A full brother to Hansi’s Serenity Ibn Nazeer … Read more

My favorite city in the entire world: Shibam, in Yemen, the “Manhattan of the desert”, and it’s six-centuries old mud skyscrapers. One day, I will go back there, and give back to Yemen and its wonderful civilization and people a sliver of what it has given me.

“And a crest like a tall frankincense tree set on fire by an offender” (“wa-saalifatun ka-sahuuqi al-Labaani adrama fihi al-ghawiyyu al-su’uru”) The vision of a blazing frankincense tree is fitting for a chestnut horse.   Below, a frankincense tree:

To the upper right is Bab Tuma, one of Damascus’ Christian neighborhoods, with the Armenian Catholic church standing out. In the upper left is the neighborhood of al-‘Amarah. In the lower right is the Jewish quarter, ‘hayy al-Yahud’. Note the inner courtyards of many of the houses. In the center, the Mariamite church; in the … Read more

This spring Wadha’s mate will be the Bahraini stallion Shuwaiman Al Rais, thanks to Jenny Lees. He is seen here competing in endurance at Windsor, UK. Other recent photos that show the breadth of his chest, the length of his neck and that of his forelocks, the depth of his ribcage, the length of his hip, … Read more

This spring will be the time to breed my Ginger, who is now at Bev Davison’s in Idaho. A strong contender is Bev’s junior stallion, Subanet Jabbar SDA (Summer Sonnet SDA x Bint Bint Subani by Ibn Saafaddan), a tail female Gulida, and an even blend of old Doyle and Babson bloodlines. I find it … Read more

The first picture features Dixie Cup (Prince Hal x Dixie), which must have had one of the nicest set of ears on an Arabian of Davenport bloodlines. Abu ‘Ubaydah’s “Book of Horses”, written ca. 803 AD, has more than eighteen description of horses’ ears, and of features Arabs appreciated in them, long, upright, pricked, finally shaped, … Read more

These 1929 photo depict the entrance gate of the royal palace of Guzana (modern Tall-Halaf, in Northeastern Syria), capital of the Aramaean kingdom of Bit Bahiani. King Gabara of Guzana built the palace in the Xth century BC (so three thousand years ago). The palace was discovered by Max Von Oppenheim (of “Die Beduinen” fame, for … Read more

For several years, Hansi ran the same ad about Serenity Arabian Farms in the Khamsat magazine, featuring some of the several hundred horses she and her first and second husbands Bradford Heck and William Melnyk bred over the course of more than four decades. I recall being in awe of three stallions in particular (photos … Read more

From an Al Khamsa news bulletin: “The Arabian Horse community worldwide lost a fierce advocate this morning. Hanna Luise Heck-Melnyk, known to all as Hansi, passed away at 11:43am EST, Sunday January 14, 2018, at her farm in Hawthorne, Florida, at the age of 86. Founder of Serenity Arabians, Hansi has been a long time supporter of Al Khamsa, … Read more

Ten years already. I can hardly believe it. I feel so blessed for the old friends it has allowed me to keep in touch with, and the new friends it has allowed me to make, from around the world. Above all, I feel blessed for the collective knowledge and memory gathered here. One day we … Read more

Don’t you love that strong, powerful neck and broad chest. Shueyman Redjem exudes power, and is reminiscent of his sire Murad Dahman (Ahshwan x Murad Hadiya by Ourki x Hamada) whom I rode across the fields and trails of Burgundy in the summer of 2010, with Jean-Claude Rajot. I also rode his dam Shueymah Sabbah … Read more