A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
While visiting Egypt for week a couple weeks ago, I spent a morning at the Egpytian Agricultural Organization’s (EAO) stables of El Zahraa in Ein Shams. I was joined by my father, General Salim Al-Dahdah, who lives in Beirut, and came to Cairo to spend a few days with me. EAO Director Ali Said welcomed us, … Read more
I am pleased to introduce Louis Bauduin as a guest blogger on “Daughter of the Wind”. Louis is a passionate preservation breeder, and a devoted enthusiast of true, “real” Arabians horses of old French and North African bloodlines. He was one of the closest disciples to the late masterbreeder Robert Mauvy, who is the main … Read more
Laszlo Kiraly kindly sent me this photo of an 1896 aquarel of an unidentified Arab horse at the French government stud of Tarbes. Thanks Laszlo!
I have started working on “Le French Directory” (click here to access) a section of this website dedicated to listing the hundreds of Arabian horses that were imported to France, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from the desert in the XIXth and XXth centuries. This is work in progress. So far there are only stallions, but … Read more
Following an inquiry about photos of descendents of Mohalhil in an earlier post, Jeanne Craver kindly sent me the two pictures below. The first one of his unique offspring, Prince Faisal, out of the desert-bred Hadbah mare Mahsuda, herself a gift from King Abd al-‘Aziz al-Sa’ud to Charles R. Crane. This photo of a rather … Read more
These four rare photos of Mohalhil are courtesy of the late Billy Sheets. No idea where he got them from. Mohalhil was a grey Ma’naghi Sbayli bred by the Shammar tribe in 1922 and imported to Egypt in 1925, by Fawzan al-Sabik, who raced him there before presenting him Charles Crane in 1929. Crane imported him … Read more
Three more pictures this time from the region in eastern Yemen known as Hadramout. From top to bottom, the magic city of Shibam (“the Manhattan of the desert”), the palace of the Kathiri sultan at Say’un (now a hotel), the minaret of the mosque of Tarim (the tallest in Arabia), and a palace in a … Read more
Nothing to do with horses, but I thought some of you would enjoy these pictures of the green mountains of Yemen, which I gleaned from the internet. They help dispel some stereotypes about this area of the world.. The name ancient Romans knew Yemen by was ‘Arabia Felix‘, “Fertile Arabia”, because of its running waters, its lush vegetation … Read more
According to the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, sometime in the first half of the nineteenth century, a Bedouin warrior by the name of Rashid ibn Jarshan, from the tribe of al-Buqum, owned a branch of the strain of Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz that was known as Kuhaylat Ibn Jarshan, after his name. His marbat was famous, and one of his mares was … Read more
Rosemary B. Doyle, who is attending the 2009 WAHO conference in Oman, just reported to the Al Khamsa Board about the first day of WAHO meetings. One event worth noticing is that Yemen was voted in as a WAHO member. Yemen, the cradle of the Arabian breed, if one is to believe the old Arab … Read more
I haven’t written for more than a week, and feel guilty about it. I just landed in Cairo this morning, where I will stay for three days, after spending one week in Morocco. The weather here is cold, and I am about to get out for a breath of (not so) fresh air. I wish the … Read more
It looks like the WAHO conference in Syria has given a number of Syrian entrepreneurs a bright idea: the desert Arabian horse as a commercial good. They are hosting “Arabian Passion: the Damascus International Horse and Equestrian Fair” (I made it a policy not to link to commercial stuff, so Google it yourselves if you want), … Read more
Another horse from Egypt that has left his mark on Tunisian breeding is the chestnut Ibn Fayda (Ibn Rabdan x Lady Anne Blunt’s Feyda), a gift from Egypt’s Prince Kemal El Din Hussein to the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet. This chestnut Ibn Fayda, b. 1925, is the full brother of the bay Ibn … Read more
Nasr, the chestnut [January 23rd: Sporthorse-data lists hims as “brown”, and the French studbook as “bay”] horse pictured below was a desert-bred stallion that was imported to the Tunisian stud of Sidi Thabet in the 1920s. He was imported from Egypt, where he’d had a good career as a racehorse. French masterbreeder Robert Mauvy, who knew … Read more
Niazi is another desert bred stallion imported to France. He may have been part of the last importation before World War, but I am not sure. I don’t know his strain either. What is sure is that he is one of the first French imports whose records show the mention “asil”, a term seldom used … Read more
Yesterday, January 11th 2009 marked the first birthday of “Daughter of the Wind”. I want to pause for a minute and take a look at one year of blogging about desert Arabian horses. As a trained economist I can’t resist sharing the latest figures from my dashboard. Since March 26th, 2008 (which is when I … Read more
A nice picture of Jalam al Ubayyan as a young stallion in Saudi Arabia. He was bred in 1949 by Saud Ibn Adballah ibn Jalawi, Governor of the Saudi province of al-Hasa, and was imported to the USA by Connie Cobb in 1966. He is present in many of the shorter (i.e., closer to the desert) pedigrees of US-bred asil horses (mainly through the category … Read more
I don’t know where to start from.. the story of Kuhaylan al-Wati is so long and so rich, and begins way before the strain acquired its current name.. It also encompasses a number of other related, albeit better known strains. While I mull this over, let me leave you with this picture of Falat, a Kuhaylat … Read more
As a follow up to the previous post on the quizz mare, Binni II (*Shams x *Munirah), here is a picture of her dam *Munirah, a Kuhaylat ‘Afayr bred by the Saud royal stables, imported in 1962 from Saudi Arabia to the USA by Richard and Laura Cavedo. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Craver. Thanks Jeanne!
In my opinion, *Abeyah was the best mare of the Davenport importation, and perhaps one of the best mares to come out of Arabia. She was certainly the best authenticated one. Look at my translation of her hujjah (also published in Al Khamsa Arabians III): I, o Faris al-Jarba, witness that the bay mare which … Read more
Do you happen know who this gorgeous beauty is (was)? Clue: bred in the USA, but a daughter of the desert. Definitely an absolute favorite of mine, judging only from the few (rather poor) pictures I have of her. Here is another one:
I just wanted to take this occasion to wish everyone a Happy, happy new year. It’s been a great year for Daughter of the Wind, which by the way will blow its first candle in a just a few days.. Here’s to another great year of enjoying these wonderful horses and the great people who … Read more
A recent entry featured the beautiful Mauvy stallion Moulouki. Here is a picture I took in 1995 of his son Doum (x Shawania) who like his sire before him, stood at stud at Pierre-Henri Beillard’s Le Sureau (South western France), which is now being dispersed. [Update Jan. 5th, 2009: Doum was also bred by Mauvy]
When I started this blog, I thought I’d be able to write about a strain each week, which means you should have read about 50 strains by now. Well, I was able to only feature six strains on this blog, with varying degrees of detail: Kuhaylan al-Hayf (i.e., K. Hayfi), Kuhaylan al-Dunays (i.e., K. Dunaysan), Kuhaylan … Read more
I can’t resist sharing with you the nice holiday card I just received from Joe and Sharon Ferriss. Thank you Joe and Sharon.. and the one Laszlo and Eva Kiraly also sent me.. Thanks Laszlo and Eva.. and a Happy Holiday to all..
The magnificent grey stallion pictured below was bred was Robert Mauvy in 1969 near Tours, in France. Mauvy also bred his sire Amri (Saadi x Zarifa) and Amri’s dam Zarifa (Matuvu x Iaqouta). He sold Amri to Idaho in the USA as a three year old, but not before he used him on a couple … Read more
If you anyone knows someone who could volunteer to write intelligently about asil horses in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain today, please email me privately at ealdahdah@hotmail.com. I am looking for someone who knows the horses and the country context hands on, and preferably but not necessarily from there. Fluency in English is not required since … Read more
It seems almost impossible to believe that this line has been lost to asil breeding in the tail female. Where have all the Kuhaylan Da’jani gone? Dajania‘s was the second-most important line in Crabbet breeding, which is one of the preeminent components of today’s mainstream Arabian horse breeding. True, there has never been as many mares … Read more
Part 1 introduced the young stallion Menjad Maram al-Baida, whose sire and dam were imported from Syria to France. Some people would refer to this horse as a “Straight Syrian”. I don’t like this phrase, nor any term with “Straight”. Others who know more than I do don’t seem to like it either. [Incidentally I wonder whether … Read more
The new Al Khamsa website’s got a facelift. Check out the nice feature on Portico CF, too.
It’s been some time I have been telling you this: some really good Arabian horses can come out of the North African government studfarms. This is an unidentified mare at the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet. Photo courtesy of Jean-Claude Rajot and Louis Bauduin, 1988.
Recently I became aware of the existence of a young bay stallion of desert-bred stock that was bred in France, where he is now standing at stud. The name of this young stallion is Menjad Maram al-Baida, and his strain is Saqlawi Jadran (photo below, from his owners website). Menjad was bred by Mrs. Chantal Chekroun, … Read more
A heads up for the joint Al Khamsa / CMK preservation symposium that will be held in Redmond, Oregon in August 2009. The 1924 stallion Gulastra will be the star of the event. It will coincide with the 2009 Al Khamsa Convention.
Here is the link to the Babolna Roster Proposal that seeks to include Babolna bred asil Arabians into Al Khamsa. It contains a wealth of information about the proposed foundation horses, as well as the rare pictures, including the only picture of 25 Amurath Sahib I am aware of. Jeanne Craver put the proposal together, … Read more
Think of this new “Lost asil tail females” series as an obituary section in a newspaper.. I know there is no point in grieving over what is lost, but it’s a good reminder of how lucky we are to have what we still have. The series starts with *Nedjme, just because “she was given the position … Read more
A previous entry had discussed how the young children of Shammar Shaykh (and prominent Syrian politician) Mayzar Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba lost the ownership of their father’s prestigious marbat of Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida strain upon the latter’s death (late 1960s? early 1970s?), and how the man Mayzar had entrusted with his assets took the horses for himself. … Read more
Third and last photo sent by Laszlo Kiraly of his horses in Hungary. This is Dahhmany Bagdady (Wahhabit x Tisrina B), Laszlo’s stallion. Dahhmany is a unique combination of Egyptian bloodlines, Davenport (Old American) and Babolna blood (through Siglavy Bagdady VI). Wahhabit was Siglavy Bagdady VI’s only asil son.
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Another photo courtesy of Jean-Claude Rajot is of the stallion El Obayan, a ‘Ubayyan Sharrak, which the Veterinary Dr. Bardot bought in 1923 from the city of Hama in Syria, for the stud of Tiaret in Algeria. El Obayan was in the stall next to El Managhi, who was featured earlier. In Algeria, El Obayan … Read more
Another 25 Amurath Sahib tail female, and Asil foundation mare at Laszlo Kiraly, is 205 Farag II (Farag II x 226 Ibn Galal I). 205 Farag II is a grand-daughter of 25 Amurath Sahib through this mare’s son Farag II, and a great-grand-daughter through this mare’s daughter 3 Siglavy Bagdady VI, which adds the precious … Read more
Jean-Claude Rajot just sent me this rare photo of the important desert bred stallion El Managhi, bought in 1923 in Hama (central Syria) by veterinary Dr. Bardot for the Algerian stud of Tiaret. The stallion Bango, bought in Alexandria was part of the same importation. There is another picture of him in F. Klynstra’s book … Read more
Food for thought: “The Arabian is not a color breed, so markings and color are not all that important, except that the body spot has been discriminated against in the judging rules — though recently modified and accordingly, has been considered “unclean” by novices. Some the more naive — unfamiliar with the breed’s tradition of … Read more
This picture of 225 Scheherezade (Ibn Galal III x 220 Ibn Galal I)is courtesy of her owner Laszlo Kiraly of Hungary. 225 Scheherezade has two crosses to the Babolna mare 25 Amurath-Sahib (Amurath Sahib x 221 Kuhailan Zaid), including one in the tail female. As such she traces to the desert bred 60 Adjuze imported by … Read more
Even the otherwise ultra-standardized pedigrees of Egyptian Arabians can yield a surprise or two. That of the mare Bint Nafaa and her descendents, with their cross to El Gadaa, a horse bred by Fad’aan Bedouin leader Miqhim ibn Mahayd, and later raced in Egypt and used by Hamdan stables, is a case in point. The … Read more
As I put the final touches of the fourth and last entry of the feature on the Krush al-Baida strain, take a second look at the three previous entries on this precious strain, here, here, and here. Also, check out this account of a conversation about Krush al-Baida with Shaykh Faysal ibn Sattam ibn Mayzar al-‘Abd … Read more
I just want to wish readers in the USA a Happy Thanksgiving.
I just bought Edward Skorkowski’s “Arab Breeding of Poland” from the website of a bookstore in Iowa. I read many excerpts of it before, but was never able to put my hands on a copy. My first reaction was: “okay, so that’s where all these old photos of Polish Arabians on the Net comefrom..”. My … Read more
The blog entry “Amer: a Saudi race stallion” and the ensuing online conversation has generated a heated debate, with potentially explosive consequences for many involved. To summarize using politically correct language: the stallion Amer, currently owned by Umm Qarn farms of Qatar, is an extremely controversial horse, owned by extremely powerful people. He has dozens … Read more
I first saw Mubarak in 1989 when an old truck disembarked a batch of three horses at the farm of Hisham Ghurayyib in Damascus, Syria. I was told that the truck had just come from the desert area of al-Jazirah, “Upper Mesopotomia”. It was my first encounter with Arabian horses born and raised in the desert. … Read more
Another favorite photo of a second generation offspring of four desert breds. This is Ibn Taamrud (b. 1988), an Asil Hamdani, by Taam-rud (Taamri x Rudann) out of Alwal el Shahhat (Jalam al-Ubayyan x Sindidah). All four grand-parents are either from the stables of the Royal House of Saud and their close relative Ibn Jiluwi. My translation … Read more
Edie Booth of Antique Arabian Stud, Canton, Texas, just posted this video of three of her Asil stallions on the comments section of this blog. The black stallion is AAS al-Sakb, and the grey one is AAS Enan. I don’t know who the third one is. [Update Nov. 18, 2008: Edie Booth tells us the … Read more
I love this picture, and I love this horse. Alwal Bahet (Jalam al-Ubayyan x Sindidah), an Asil Hamdani Simri, the son of two desert-bred horses imported from Saudi Arabia to the USA, is just magnificent. Click on his parents’ link to learn more about his background. I read somehere that this picture was taken a few … Read more
… occurs in the archives of Dur-Sharrukin (today’s Khorsabad), the capital of Assyrian King Sargon II (721-705 BC). It dates from around 715 BC. It mentions king Sargon II exacting tribute from “Pir’u king of Musuri, Shamsi queen of the Arabs (a-rib-bi in the original text), Itamra king of Saba, the kings of the coast … Read more
I am no “expert” on Polish Arabians (and I have a lot of trouble with the concept of “expert” in general anyway), so don’t expect these posts will tell you anything many of you don’t know already. I am writing them for the record only. As a reminder to reader that there was a blessed time when some … Read more
A beautiful representative of the Shaykhan strain tracing to the Lebanon-bred mare *Layya imported by W.R. Hearst is the 1992 mare Nile Swan (Ansata Nile Comet x Fadda Laila). Congratulations to Michelle, her new owner. I hope this mare and others from her strain, like Jenny Krieg’s HS Marayah, contribute to a renaissance of this … Read more
This morning I was talking to Jean-Claude Rajot over the phone and I asked him if he would agree to write on Daughter of the Wind. I didn’t think he would, but I still asked. He agreed. And I am happy he did. Jean-Claude, a French breeder of Arabian horses, is the president of USCAR … Read more
I’ve just geotagged several photos in my Flickr roll. You can now see the horses’ photos on a map, according to where they were bred. I will add more geotagged photos as we go.
“Excellent horse, but his grey color makes him unusable”. So the French government, prompted by the cavalry’s dislike of the color grey, sold the stallion Burgas to Poland in 1923, without using him. Burgas, a Saqlawi Jadran by a ‘Ubayyan Sharrak, born in 1907, was one of 20 Arabian stallions imported to France in … Read more
One more French desert-bred import. This one is Nibeh. All I know about him is that he was bred by the Fad’aan Bedouin tribe and imported to France in 1912, where he stood at the government stud of Tarbes (one of the three main Arabian stallions depots in France, with Pau and Pompadour). If anyone knows … Read more
I thought I’d share this photo of Nawal with you, after the mention of the strain of ‘Ubayyan ibn Duwayhiss in a previous post of mine. ‘Ubayyan ibn Duwayhiss is a branch of ‘Ubayyan Sharrak owned by the Sba’ah tribe. Nawal was bred by Khairi Ajil al-Dibs, of the Aqaydat semi-nomadic sheep herding tribe, on the … Read more