The link below leads to a video from the British Pathé’s Reuters Archive, showing parts of a competition held in Beirut: LEBANON: BEIRUT: HORSE PARADE OF BEST ARAB STALLIONS. (1959) The British Pathé’s description of the video is given below: Background: The proud and nobly-bred Arab stallion came under scrutiny, October 10, during a competition in Beirut, Lebanon, to select the most perfect animal of the breed. Kuwaits’ ruler, Sheikh Abdullah Sabah, provided strong competition with horses from his Arab stock, but failed to outclass the entry from Iraq. According to age, the horses were placed in one of three sections, Winner of the section for animals over three years of age, was an Arab stallion, owned by Mr. Mirrahi of the Lebanon. A three-year-old Arab horse from Iraq won the intermediate class, for Mr. Mikkaoui. Iraq also claimed first place in the class for the under three-year-old, when a horse owned by Henri Pharaon was chosen. Of interest are two of Edouard’s previous posts on Arab horses from Lebanon: *LEBNANIAH ROSTER PROPOSAL TO AL KHAMSA (2009): Mentions the al-Mi’rabi family. Cf. “Mr. Mirrahi of the Lebanon” in the British Pathé text above; the British Pathé descriptions do not always have…
The photo below comes from the Imperial War Museum’s Ministry of Information Second World War Collection. The description from the Imperial War Museum’s page reads as follows: CONTINGENT ARRIVES IN ENGLAND FOR VICTORY PARADE, LIVERPOOL, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND, UK, 1946 (D 27677) Sergeant Major Mahmoud Zahaire of the Trans Jordan Frontier Forces tends to the two horses he was tasked with bringing to England on the deck of the ORBITA. The horses are a gift from the Palace of Prince Amir Abdullah for the Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth. A colleague from the Trans Jordan Frontier Forces helps to feed the horses. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205202314
The stallion below is the Saqlawi Jadran Benlarich Futhi El Arab (Sidi El Thabi x Johrhemar El Lulwa), tail female to Ghazieh through the Orpen import Nabilah (Enzahi x Zamzam). He was a versatile riding horse, with a show record under saddle, and an endurance career with over 1600km, that included completing the Fauresmith National Ride in 2010, a roughly 200km ride split over three consecutive days, as well as a first place finish in the heavyweight category at the 120km at the Parys Daly Land Rover ride. In addition to his accomplishments as an athlete, owner Eduard von Moltke says that he was a very great gentleman. His pedigree is noteworthy, as his dam, Johrhemar El Lulwa, is the granddaughter of Inzam Saklabilah, who was out of Nabilah by Gordonville Ziyadan; Ziyadan was not just the only son of the Kuhaylah Mimrahiyah mare Barakah, but also the only asil son that her fellow Orpen import Zahir got. It is unusual to see all three Orpen imports this close in an asil pedigree today.
The origins of the three horses presented by Shibly Bisharat to King Faruq of Egypt are currently somewhat obscure, as the only information we have at present comes from Shibly’s son Midhat Bisharat’s correspondence with Dr Hans Nagel, which gives their strains and includes the fact that they were purchased from the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force when it was disbanded in 1948. There is no mention of their breeders, and no direct connection to the Bedouin. Only the stallion Besheir El Ashkar and one of the two mares, Badria, still have descent in horses accepted by the Asil Club and Al Khamsa. What we know of these two from Pearson and Mol’s 1988 The Arabian Horse Families of Egypt is given below: Besheir el Ashkar was a chestnut foaled on 26th March, 1935. He was presented to the Inshass Stud by Basharat Bey in March 1948 and sold to the Wasta Farm in October 1951. p. 59 Badria was a chestnut foaled on 26th March, 1941. She was presented to the Inshass Stud by Basharat Bey in March 1948 and transferred to the Veterinary Section of the Army in June 1953 and later to the EAO. p. 129 Both horses have an exact…
The excerpt below comes from Eduard Löffler’s 1860 book, Die österreichische Pferde-Ankaufs-Mission, which is a firsthand account of the 1856-7 expedition helmed by Colonel Rudolf von Brudermann to the desert to buy horses for the state studs. The expedition, by this point, had already acquired a number of horses, including Aghil Aga, who still has a presence in Al Khamsa horses. They had met with the Wuld Ali, who were camping in the Hauran, to the south of the Tell al-Hara, “only 17 or 18 hours of riding from Damascus”. Löffler says the sheikh was Mohamed El Duchi (Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr in Lady Anne Blunt’s Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, and Mohammed ed Douhi in Roger Upton’s Travels in the Arabian Desert), who happened to be in Damascus at the same time as the Austrians, negotiating with the governor over camels for a caravan of pilgrims travelling to Mecca in May. Colonel von Brudermann made arrangements via the Austrian consul Pfaeffinger to journey with the sheikh back to the Wuld Ali, where they might see their horses. Löffler remarks that the horses of the Wuld Ali were “edle, schöne, prachtvolle Thiere, die entzückten und jeden Pferdefreund enthusiasmirt haben würden”…
Below is a copy of an advert for *Munifan, from volume 5 of Here’s Who In Horses of the Pacific Coast, an annual publication compiled by Betty Jellinek. Published in 1949, volume 5 covered the horse shows of the previous year.
Below is a photo of Sahiby Bint Baraka, the daughter of Barakah and Tuwaisan, as an adult mare. Wollie Bollie is an affectionate nickname, meaning “ball of wool”. Sahiby Bint Baraka had four registered foals, two daughters and two sons. It is through her second daughter, Sahiby Noura, that the asil Kuhaylan al-Mimrah line survives in southern Africa today. Her first daughter, Sahiby Danah, was by the half-Egyptian stallion Robdon Zingari (Zahir x Yasimet), and produced four colts. Through them, Sahiby Danah’s blood can be found in the pedigrees of endurance horses, such as Arkab Nazeer, Deo-Gratias Nazira, and Silvretta Brio. Her first son, Sahiby Asham, by Ahir (Morafic x Deenaa), did not breed on, while her second son, Sahiby Tuwaisan, died just short of his first birthday.
The photo below shows 20 Farag, a daughter of the EAO import Farag, out of the mare 25 Amurath Sahib. Her dam was herself a granddaughter of the desert-bred stallion Kuhaylan Zaid, imported by Carl Raswan and Bogdan Zientarski for Bábolna on the same trip that they bought Kuhaylan Haifi and Kuhaylan Afas for Prince Roman Sanguszko’s Gumniska stud in Poland. Photo by Betty Finke, purchased from In The Focus. 20 Farag is tail-female to the mare Adjuse (60 Adjuze in the Al Khamsa roster), imported to Bábolna in 1885 by Fadlallah al-Haddad, along with the stallions Koheilan Adjuze and O’Bajan (both of whom feature in 25 Amurath Sahib’s pedigree). Foaled in 1876, Adjuse was a grey mare (Wrangel calls her forellenschimmel, “trout grey”), sired by a Koheilan Adjuse and out of a mare listed as Scheha; she stood 157cm tall, or just shy of 15.2. 20 Farag’s granddam 221 Kuhaylan Zaid was caught up in the Second World War, and it is by a small miracle that she survived to produce 25 Amurath Sahib. She was one of four daughters of Kuhaylan Zaid who landed up in the vaccine-manufacturing Behring Plant, Marburg, Germany, and who were subsequently exchanged for…
Ghazal Al Layel and Louna are maternal half sisters, out of the Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah mare Ghazal Al Banat. Louna/Loonah is the 1993 daughter of the Hamdani ibn Ghorab stallion Mobarak, featured previously on this blog. The younger half-sister, Ghazal Al Layel, is the 1995 daughter of the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Shaddad, who has also featured on the blog before. Their dam, Ghazal Al Banat, is a daughter of the ‘Ubayyan Sharrak stallion Mashuj, whom Edouard has written about here. Photos were purchased from In The Focus.
The mare in the photo below is Al-Qahira, daughter of the mare ‘Abeerah from Edouard’s earlier post, bred and owned by Basil Jadaan. Her sire was Mokhtar. The photo was taken at the Pure Syrian Show in 2008. Picture purchased from In The Focus.
Below is a photo of the Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Marouf/Maroof, photographed in 2008 at the Pure Syrian show. Picture purchased from In The Focus.
Photos sourced from Le Sport Universel Illustré, no. 906, 21 December 1913 Helwan (Mesaoud x Hilmyeh). He is registered in Vol. 20 of the General Stud Book (GSB), issued in 1905. He was sold to C. E. Poole, of Caledon, South Africa, and exported in 1907. Poole used him on his part-bred Cleveland mares, and Helwan had no recorded purebred get in South Africa. (See Charmaine Grobbelaar, 2007, The Arabian horse and its influence in South Africa.) Nawab (Astraled x Nefisa). Like Helwan, he too is registered in Vol. 20 of the GSB, but as an unnamed foal for the year 1905; his name, colour and sex are given in Vol. 21 of the GSB, issued in 1909. He was the sire of the mare Selmnab (out of Simrieh), who was imported to the USA by Roger Selby. Unfortunately, Selmnab has no known asil descendants alive today. The 1937 Selby Stud Brochure of Arabian Horses describes Selmnab as follows: SELMNAB. (Next page). Bay. 14.0. Foaled 1920. 900 lbs. A Hamdanieh Simrieh. Sire: Nawab. Dam: Simrieh. Bred at Crabbet Stud, England. 812 Arabian Horse Club. 5407 Jockey Club. Selmnab has the wildest desert appearing eye of the group of brood mares. She is of the…
The hujjah published by Rousseau, in 1813, in Fundgruben des Orients, vol. 3, was printed by the journal both in Arabic, and translated into French. I reproduce both versions here below. “Au nom de Dieu, clément et miséricordieux, de qui nous attendons, toute assistance et secours.” “Le prophète dit: mon peuple ne se réunira jamais pour affirmer l’erreur.” “Voici l’objet de cet écrit authentique: Nous soussignés déclarons devant le Dieu suprême, certifions et attestons, en jurant par notre sort, notre fortune et nos ceintures, que la jument baie marquée d’une étoile blanche au front, et dont un pied de l’arrière-main, et un de l’avant sont blancs, descend d’aïeux nobles, tant du côté maternel que du côté paternel, par trois filiations directes et consécutives; qu’elle est véritablement née d’une cavale seglaaouié d’Al-Cazran du Nedjed, et d’un étalon de la race de choueyman Elisebbah, et qu’elle reunit les qualités de ces jumens dont parle le Prophète, lorsqu’il dit: leurs seins sont des trésors et leurs dos des sièges d’honneur. “Appuyés du témoignage de nos predecesseurs, nous attestons, sur notre sort et notre fortune, que la jument en question est d’une origine noble et qu’elle est aussi pure que le lait; qu’elle est renommée par sa légèreté et sa…
The works of the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817) were published after his death, by the African Association. The book in which this hujjah is found, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, was the last of his books to be published, in 1831. The subject of the hujjah is a Saqlawi colt, out of a famous white Saqlawiyah, sired by a bay Kuhaylan stallion. “GOD. “Enoch. “In the name of the most merciful God, the Lord of all creatures, peace and prayers be with our Lord Mohammed and his family and his followers until the day of judgment; and peace be with all those who read this writing, and understand its meaning. “The present deed relates to the grayish brown colt, with four white feet and a white mark on the forehead, of the true breed of Sakláwye, called Obeyán, whose skin is as bright and unsullied as milk, resembling those horses of which the Prophet said, ‘True riches are a noble and pure breed of horses;’ and of which God said, ‘The war horses, those which rushed on the enemy with full blowing nostrils,—those which plunge into the battle early in the morning.’ And God spoke the truth in his incomparable…
Below is the text of a hujjah from the early eighteenth century. It was published in Thomas Pennant’s 1776 British Zoology. Note that the English consul was already aware of the fact that proof of ancestry was needed to confirm that a horse was truly an Arab. The horse that is the subject of this hujjah appears to be a Ma’naqi. The footnote to the hujjah also mentions pure in the strain breeding. Taken before ABDORRAMAN, KADI of ACCA. The Occaſion of this present Writing or Inſtrument is that at ACCA in the Houſe of Badi legal establiſh’d Judge, appear’d in Court Thomas Uxgate the Engliſh Conſul and with him Sheikh Morad Ebn al Hajj Abdollah, Sheikh of the County of Safad, and the ſaid Conſul deſir’d from the aforeſaid Sheikh proof of the Race of the Grey Horſe which he bought of him, and He affirm’d to be Manaki Shadûhi*, but he was not satiſfied with this but deſir’d the Teſtimony of the Arabs, who bred the Horſe and knew how he came to Sheikh Morad; whereupon there appear’d certain Arabs of Repute whoſe names are undermention’d, who teſtified and declar’d that the Grey Horſe which the Conſul formerly bought of Sheikh Morad, is Monaki Shadûki of the pure Race of Horſes, purer than Milk†, and that the…
The photo below shows the three mares (from left) Sachida, Sadana and Sandara, daughter, dam, and granddam, at Marbach in 1992. Photo purchased from In The Focus. Sachida’s pedigree. Sachida had nine registered foals, five of whom were asil fillies. These were: Sarina, 1993 grey mare, by Nami Saadawi, 1995 grey mare, by Nami Sabita, 1996 grey mare, by Serenity Habib Sahalina, 1997 grey mare, by Neshan Sabola, 2004 grey mare, by NK Bolbol Sarina has three asil daughters who have produced foals at Marbach, Sabiha II, Sangule, and Sarafine. Of Saadawi’s asil daughters, only WM Sahaabah has produced registered offspring to date. Sabita and Sahalina have no recorded foals, and Sabola is the dam of two colts. Sadana’s two other asil daughters Sahira and Souha have left no asil fillies to continue their line. That said, the stallion Sahil Ibn Farag II-3 (out of Souha) is a source of Murana I in mid-pedigree, with two asil colts bred at Marbach, and a daughter Farah Hafida Farag II-3 foaled in 2020 at Stephanie Weirich’s Farag Arabians. (A previous post on the 25-Amurath Sahib descendants being bred at Farag Arabians can be read here.) Sandara has another asil branch of descent…
El Salil Paloma is a 2009 Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah from the Nabilah tail female line, in South Africa, out of the mare Induba Wasifa, by the Kuhaylan al-Mimrah stallion Skarabee Picasso. Nabilah (Enzahi x Zamzam) was one of the two Egyptian mares imported in 1945 from the Royal Agricultural Society by Claude Orpen, along with the well-known Mimrahiyah Barakah. After arriving in South Africa, Nabilah was sent to Namibia, where she produced her daughter Inzam Saklabilah by the stallion Gordonville Ziyadan. All Nabilah’s descendants today trace to this one registered daughter. In addition to her status as one of the rare Nabilah line mares, El Salil Paloma is precious in South African asil breeding, as she is also one of the few Nabilah tail female descendants without Hanan or Tifla. To date she has produced two asil foals, a colt by El Salil Benjamin and a filly by Kromar Xoyatan, but the filly sadly died last month. Paloma herself nearly did not make it to adulthood, as her owner and breeder Fallon Thiele writes: When Paloma was a 3month old filly she was caught in a snare, it severed her back tendon on her right hind leg. We nearly put her…
Below is a photograph of the young Morafic son Ahir (out of Deenaa), aged two. The photo, taken by Zelda Welgemoed, and shared by Wilton Burger, was taken at the Sahiby Stud in Tokai. Ahir was bred by Gleannloch, and imported to South Africa by Dr Valérie Noli-Marais, who used him on Sahiby Bint Baraka, the daughter of the Egyptian mare Barakah and the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisan. Ahir and Sahiby Bint Baraka had three foals, two of which were colts – Sahiby Asham and Sahiby Tuwaisan – and one filly, Sahiby Noura. Sahiby Noura was then bred back to her own sire twice, producing one colt, Sahiby Rifki, and the celebrated broodmare, Sahiby Juleemah, from whom all the asil al-Mimrah horses in South Africa descend. Ahir left other asil offspring, besides the Barakah descendants. Dr Noli-Marais also imported the Straight Egyptian mare AK Bint Gamilaa (Ibn Moniet El Nefous x Gamilaa); she produced three colts – Sahiby Al Hasni, Sahiby Al Jiwan, and Sahiby Gamaal El Arab – and one filly – Sahibi Bint Ahir – by him. Subsequently, Mr Maritz imported another Straight Egyptian mare Lar Malika (Al Fattah x Talara), who produced the filly Sidi Morafica by Ahir,…
Saadey (below) was a Sa’dah al-Tuqan, foaled in Arabia in 1892, and purchased from Abdallah el-Khamud by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900. At the state stud at Derkul, Saadey was covered by the imported stallion Sem-Khan (purchased in Cairo), but did not produce a foal. In 1902 she gave birth to a filly, Elvira, by the Kuhaylan Swayti stallion El-Kader. Seglawiey (below) was another desertbred mare at Derkul. Foaled in 1894, she was out of a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of Ibn Sbeyni from the Fad’aan, and sired by a Kuhaylan Abu Junub. She, like Saadey, was imported to Russia by Prince Shcherbatov for the state stud at Derkul in 1900. In 1902, Seglawiey produced a chestnut filly, Nadide, by the Crabbet-bred stallion Naaman. Photos from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Zarifa (below) was bred by Count Stroganov from his imported stallion Sherrak, out of the mare Ghazu. Zarifa’s dam Ghazu was a grey mare foaled in the desert c. 1879/1880, sired by a Dahman ‘Amer. Stroganov purchased her on his first expedition to Syria, in 1888, from the Sba’ah. She produced seven foals in Russia, sired by Emir-el-Arab, Sottamm el-Kreysh, Sherrak, and Ashgar (Emir-el-Arab x Anaze). Zarifa herself produced three foals by the time the 1903 stud book was compiled, a chestnut colt and filly by Emir-el-Arab in 1900 and 1901, and a grey filly by Sottamm el-Kreysh in 1902. Photo from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Samura (below) was the 1895 daughter of the desertbred Kuhaylat al-Jallala mare Saeeda. Samura’s dam Saeeda was foaled in 1884, bred by the Misrab tribe of the Sba’ah. Imported by Stroganov on his first joint expedition with Prince Shcherbakov in 1888, Saeeda produced eight foals between 1891 and 1902, all but one by desertbred stallions; her eighth foal was sired by Abeyan. Samura’s sire was the Krush stallion Emir-el-Arab, bred by Muhammad Ibn Smeyr of the Wuld Ali. At the time the Russian stud book was compiled, Samura had produced two colts, a chestnut colt by Sherrak in 1900, and a chestnut going grey colt by Sottamm el-Kreysh in 1902. Photo from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Manua was bought in Homs by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900, on the second trip that he and Count Stroganov made to Syria, but went to Stroganov’s stud in Russia, rather than Shcherbatov’s. Her sire was a Hadban Enzahi; her dam was from the Sba’ah and sired by a Kuhaylan al-Ajuz horse. From Abeyan sherrak strain. Bay mare imported. Born in 1891 at Hajji Mohammed Khudur, mugkhtar of Babaa Amur village, near Homsa. Sire bay stallion from Khadban Yenzekkhi strain, born at Gomussa’s Bedouin (of Sebaa Anaze) and was sold by the said Bedouin to Fellakh Ibrahim Aga from Ashaee tribe in northern Syria. Dam – bay mare from Abeyan Sherrak strain, purchased by Hajji Mohammed Khudur in 1882 from Bedouin Uakhadj Ibn-Suan from Moadja tribe (of Sebaa Anaze); its sire was from Kekhaylan Adjus strain. Purchased personally by Prince A.G.Scherbatov in Homsa city in 1900 from Hajji Mohammed Khudur and imported to Russia. While in Arabia, she foaled twice. 1900 covered by grey stallion from Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain in Homsa. The stallion was born in Bedouin tribe Gomussa (of Sebaa Anaze) and bought from them by Ibn-Faras, who lived in Homsa. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present…
Latifa was one of the desertbred imports of Count Sergei Stroganov. Foaled in 1883, she was bred by the Shammar, and bought by Stroganov on his trip to Syria in 1895. She produced two fillies and two colts for Stroganov, three of them by the Krush stallion Emir-el-Arab, and one – her daughter Leyla, below – by Sharrak. Leyla was foaled in 1897, the first of Latifa’s foals in Russia. In 1902, she produced a grey colt by Stroganov’s desertbred Saqlawi Jadran, Sottam el-Kreysh. Photos from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Edl Agbahr Yashma is another of the asil horses in southern Africa with the Courthouse stallions Nimr and Atesh in her pedigree. The photos below were taken by LeeRay Photography, and shared with their permission. Edl Agbahr Yashma (foaled in 2015) is by the Straight Egyptian stallion Asala Al Khufu 2 (Ansata Aly Sherif x Sahibi Bint Ibn Minuet) out of Edl Agbahr Toirose (Sidi Ibn Halina x Sidi Erica). Yashma’s granddam Sidi Erica is a daughter of Whitehouse Yashma and Thee Cyclone, making her a full sister to Jauhar El-Zar, sire of the Mimrahiyah mare Sanniesguns Sahara previously featured on the blog.
Kehayley was foaled in 1893, and imported to Russia by Prince Shcherbatov in 1900. Kekhaylan Adjus strain. Bay mare imported, born in 1893. In 1895 was secretly bought by Akhmet Beg (citizen of Hama town) and Bedouin Simran from Kkhrissa tribe (of Fedhaan Anazeh) from Bedouin Jaetnee from Abadat tribe (of Sebaa Anaze). Sire of Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Bought personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in Hama city from Akhmet Beg in 1900 and imported to Russia. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia In 1902 she foaled a colt, Dervish, by Dachman. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Hassan (below) was one of Count Sergei Stroganov’s homebred Arabians, foaled in 1896 out of the imported mare Hamra and by the stallion Sherrak. Hassan’s dam Hamra was foaled in 1884; she was bred by the Sba’ah Anazah and sired by a Kuhaylan Nawwaq. She was brought to Russia in 1888 for Count Stroganov by Sheikh Nasr Ibn Abdallah. Between 1891 and 1902, she produced six fillies and two colts, by the stallions Sherrak, Sottamm el-Kreysh and Arnab. Sherrak and Sottamm el-Kreysh were both desertbred imports; Arnab was a son of two imports, Emir-el-Arab and the mare Anaze. Sottamm el-Kreysh was a Saqlawi Jadran, named for his breeder, the Sheikh of the Bani Sakhr. Emir-el-Arab was a Kuhaylan Krush, bred by Muhammad Ibn Smeyr, Sheikh of the Wuld Ali of the Anazah. Photo of Hassan sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
This horse was purchased in Syria by Prince Shcherbatov. State Derkulskiy farm. Both parents belonged to Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Bay stallion, imported; height 2 arshins 1 3/8 inches. Born in Arabia in 1895 at Bedouin Jeral Ibn-Tuerish from Gomussa tribe (from Sebaa Anaze). The latter sold it to Aga-ed-Diun, mufti of Hama. Purchased for Department of State Horse Breeding personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in 1990 from Aga-ed-Din in the town of Hama. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia
Dijleh is the 1889 daughter of Ashgar and Dahna (Kars x Dahma). Bred by the Blunts, she was sold at the 1899 Crabbet Park sale, and exported to Russia along with Naaman and Sobha. From Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Dark bay mare, imported, born in 1889 at Mr. Blunt’s farm in England and bought by Colonel Zdanovich in 1899. Sire: “Ashgar”, red stallion, imported, from Seglawi Obeyran strain. Purchased by Mr. Blunt in Deir on Euphrates in 1887, born in 1883 from stallion of Abeyan Sherrak strain and from mare of Seglawi Obeyran strain from Bedouin tribe Saekkh (of Shommar) in Mesopotamia. Dam: “Dagkhna”, red mare from Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Born at Crabbet Park (Mr. Blunt’s famr) from “Kars”, imported bay stallion of Seglawi Djedran strain, with family Ibn-Sbene of Mekhed tribe (of Fedhaan Anaze). Purchased by Mr. Blunt near Aleppo and brought to England in 1878. “Dagkhna’s” dam – mare “Dagkhma”, bay mare, imported, from Dagkhman Umm-Amr strain. Born at Bedouin Ibn-Khemsi‘s from Gomussa tribe (of Sebaa Anaze). The latter sold her to Bedouin Ueynan Ibn-Said, from Gomussa. “Dagkhma’s” sire: stallion of Abeyan Sherrak strain was at Gomussa Bedouins. “Dagkhma” was purchased by Mr. W. Blunt from Ueinan Ibn-Said in…
The horses below are half-brothers and -sister, bred by Count Stroganov, out of the mare Anaze. Anaze was an 1877 ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah, sired by a Ma’naqi Ibn Sbayli. Her breeder is not given in her Russian stud book entry, only that Stroganov bought her in Deir on the Euphrates in 1888. Abeyan (above) was an 1892 stallion, sired by Tamri, a grey Kuhaylan Tamri stallion bred by Mohammed Ibn Rashid, the Emir of Jabal Shammar, and taken by the Anazah in war in 1889. Tamri was gifted to Stroganov by Sheikh Nasr Ibn Abdallah in 1890. Arnab (above) was an 1893 stallion, sired by Emir-el-Arab, a Kuhaylan Krush from the Wuld Ali. Emir-el-Arab’s sire was an ‘Ubayyan Sharrak from the marbat of Abu Jreyss. Stroganov bought Emir-el-Arab in Damascus, in 1888. Abba (above) was the younger half-sister of Abeyan. Foaled in 1897, her sire was Sherrak, the stallion that had been gifted to Stroganov along with Tamri in 1890. Photos sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below is one of Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov’s desertbred stallions, gifted to him by Sheikh Nasr Ibn Abdallah, when he visited Stroganov’s stud farm in Russia. Sherrak, an ‘Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the marbat of Abu Jreyss. From Abeyan Sherrak strain of Abu Djereys family. Grey stallion, imported; height 2 arshins 2 ¼ inches. Born in Arabia in 1885. Brought from Arabia to Russia for Count C.A. Stroganov in 1890 by Sheikh Nasr Ibn-Abdalla. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Photos sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below are two of the mares that Prince Aleksander Shcherbatov bought on his second expedition to Syria. Djerifa (above), a Sa’dah al-Tuqan mare bought in Deir. From Saadan Togan strain. Red mare, imported, height 2 arshins 2 ¼ inches. The horse was born in 1895 in Mesopotamia, at Bedouin Yedjaefee Ibn-Sakhu ‘s of Agkhedaat tribe. Sire: stallion of Abeyan Sherrak strain from Bedouin tribe Moadja (of Sebaa Anaze). Dam: bought by Ibn-Sakhu from Bedouin from Saekkh tribe (of Shammar) in 1892. “Djerifa” was purchased personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in 1900 in Deira on Euphrates, from Bedouin Yedjaefee Ibn-Sakhu and brought to Russia. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia According to the 1903 stud book, Djerifa was barren to the cover of both Khamad and El-Kader, in 1901 and 1902 respectively. Shemsa (above), a Ma’naqiyah Hadrajiyah mare. From Manegi Khedrudj strain. Bay mare, imported, height 2 arshins 2 ½ inches. Born in 1894 in Arabia at Bedouin Hussein Effendi, son of Sheikh of Baggara tribe. Sire from Mangegi Ibn-Sbeyel strain. Dam born at Hussein Effendi, sired by stallion from Kekhaylan Nouag strain. Purchased personally by Prince A.G. Scherbatov in Mesopotamia in 1900 from Hussein Effendi…
Prince Alexander Grigorievich Shcherbatov was one of the Russian aristocratic horse breeders, who established an Arabian stud in the late nineteenth century. Together with his brother-in-law, Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov, Prince Shcherbatov, inspired by the Blunts, journeyed to Syria in 1888, in order to purchase Bedouin Arabian horses. They succeeded in buying horses from the Anazah and the Shammar, and in 1900 made a second trip to Syria. Neither Shcherbatov nor Stroganov’s studs survived the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, though part of the Tersk stud is situated on Stroganov’s farm. El-Kader (above), a Kuhaylan Swayti stallion from the Ruwalah, by a Ma’naqi ibn-Sbayli. Born in Arabia in 1882 at Bedouin Mis’ar Ibn-Moadjil of Ashadjaa tribe (from Roal Anaze). The said Bedouin sold the horse to Ahmet Pasha Shaaman in Damascus where it served as a sire for Roala tribe. Sire of Manegi Ibn-Sbeiyel strain. Purchased by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in person in Damascus and brought to Russia in 1888. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Faris (above), an Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the Shammar, by a Kuhaylan Ras-el-Fedawi. From Abeyan Sherrak strain, from Gkhenedish family (of Selga Shommar). Pebble grey stallion, imported, height 2…
The horse in the photo below is the 1897 son of Mesaoud and Nefisa, who was bought along with Sobha at the 1899 Crabbet Park Sale, and sent to the Russian state stud at Derkul. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below is a photo of the 1879 Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Sobha, bred in Egypt (Wazir x Selma), bought by the Blunts in 1891, and then sold to Colonel de Sdanovitch in 1899, who sent her to the Russian stud at Derkul. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below are photos of three Bábolna horses, from the 1896 Berättelse till Landtbruksstyrelsen öfver en år 1893-94 med statsunderstöd företagen resa i utlandet för studier i husdjursafvel. O’Bajan, above, was one of the four stallions acquired for Bábolna by General Fadlallah Mikhail el-Haddad in 1885. Erika Schiele, The Arab Horse in Europe, says of him: [He was] one of the most valuable stallions ever to come to Hungary. He covered mares at Bábolna for twenty-five years, until his death in 1910. Of his 312 foals, 112 stood at stud, and fifty-six became brood mares. At the World Exhibition in Paris of 1900, one of his sons won a first prize for pure-bred Arabs against competition from Russia, England, Constantinople, and even Aleppo. He lies buried under a two-hundred-year-old acacia tree in the stable-yard. In the photos below, the black stallion Jussuf is actually Jussuf I, the 1890 son of Jussuf and Bent-El-Arab, making him a full brother to the 1888 mare 46-Jussuf. Bent-El-Arab, imported on the same expedition as O’Bajan by Fadlallah el-Haddad, has died out in tail female descent at Bábolna, but still survives in Polish breeding, as the mares 233 Kuhailan Zaid-13 and 22 Kuhailan Zaid-1 were rescued from…
Continuing on with the Courthouse elements in asil South African breeding, below are photos of the Rosina granddaughter, Whitehouse Bint Yakouta (Anchor Hill Omar x Sahiby Yakouta). Foaled in 1986, Whitehouse Bint Yakouta is the head of the second of the three branches of asil Rosina-line horses in Southern Africa, with representation in Namibia and South Africa both. She has nine asil foals on record, five sons and four daughters, all by the EAO-bred import Mefdal (Zahi x Marzouka). Her first foal, the stallion Kamarie El Omar (foaled January 1994). Another of her sons, Kamarie Anter (foaled December 1994). Kamarie Anter again. Whitehouse Bint Yakouta (on the right) with her daughters Kamarie Yosreia (foaled 1995), Kamarie Bint Bint Yakouta (foaled 1997), and Kamarie Yasmeena (foaled 2000). Photos courtesy of Wilton Burger and Maretha Garbers Coetzee.
(By Kate McLachlan and Moira Walker) Below is a photo of the rising five-year-old mare, Sanniesguns Sahara, a daughter of the asil Rosina-line stallion Jauhar El-Zar and the Kuhaylah Mimrahiyah Sidi Maschata. Her sire’s dam, Whitehouse Yashma, is by the stallion Anchor Hill Omar, bringing in Babson-Sirecho-Gainey breeding. Yashma’s dam, Sahiby Yakouta, is a daughter of the Courthouse mare Rosina, who has one line each to the stallions Atesh and Nimr. The Courthouse Stallions have been featured before, with barely surviving asil lines posted about 1/ here, 2/ here, 3/ here, 4/ and here. For functional purposes, the lines of descent have broken into two branches: the Austria branch, consisting of Nimr and Fedaan; and the South Africa branch, consisting of Nimr and Atesh. The preservation of the considerably more endangered Austrian branch has been spearheaded by Laszlo Kiraly, who rescued the 1994 mare Saraly El Shahin and 2015 daughter, Salome Hamdaniya, who both carry the unique tail female line going straight back to the Blunt mare Sobha. Hopefully this continues to thrive, as it is currently the only known line to carry forward Fedaan. The South African line, on the other hand, is a little more robust, although it…
From the March 1864 issue of the Sporting Magazine, Vol 43, pp. 179f.. This magazine was identical in content with the Sporting Review, hence the differing references for this letter in later sources. The anonymous Scotch gentleman has sometimes been identified as John Johnstone; his correspondent, the author of the letter, is almost certainly James Henry Skene, the British Consul at Aleppo, as it contains the quote attributed to him about “blood and stride in the desert”. The following very admirable letter from Aleppo has been handed to us by a Scotch gentleman, who has just imported two Arab mares by way of an experiment: “I have just received your letter of the 10th inst., and reply to it at once. “I have made five experiments in horses here— “1st. Out of thorough-bred English mares, by Arab stallions. “2nd. Out of the best Arab mares, by thorough-bred English horses. “3rd. Rearing the best Arab blood on succulent forage, as in England. “4th. Rearing thorough-bred English stock in the Desert, on dry food. “5th. Buying colts and fillies superior to those usually sold by the Arabs. “The first experiment has led to no great results, the produce being merely handsomer than English horses, without being…
On Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan’s expedition to Syria and Iraq, to find horses for Prince Roman Sanguszko’s Gumniska Stud, one of their first stops was Egypt. There, they saw a number of horses from different studs and stables, including the Astraled son Rustem, the Crabbet-bred mare Bint Riyala, a grey son of the Sheykh Obeyd mare Serra, the dark chestnut Ibn Rabdan, and a desert-bred stallion, Schammar. They also toured the racing stables of Cairo, and found there a filly which Raswan thought very beautiful. He wrote about her in glowing terms to Prince Sanguszko, hoping for extra funds to buy her: From the beginning I said, that I do not expect to find a stallion or mare in Egypt (or Syria) which might “suit” Mr. Z. (& consequently you too). However, we “discovered” an unusual mare. – She seems to be the “sister” to Nedjari. A mare of the very same type & breeding. – From among several hundred (perhaps 600) horses which we have seen this one mare is outstanding. She is the type which, when brought to Poland, people will point to her & say: “What an Arab!” and neither Mr. Z. nor I would be…
Below are photos of Pomponia (Zagloba x Kadisza) and Salme (Kalif x Fatma). Both trace in the tail female to Juliusz Dzieduszycki’s imported Kuhaylah Moradiyah mare Sahara; Salme is actually the full sister to Pomponia’s dam. Pictures from Stefan Bojanowski’s Sylwetki koni orientalnych i ich hodowców. Pomponia produced three daughters, Bona, Dora, and Zulejma. Bona’s daughter Babolna, and Dora’s daughter Nora, were imported to the United States by J. M. Dickinson in 1935. Another of Dora’s daughters, Krucica, was the dam of Mammona, the Queen of Tersk; the pair made the long trek from Janów Podlaski to Tersk in 1939, when Mammona was a foal at her dam’s side. The eldest of Pomponia’s daughters, Zulejma, foaled in 1914, was by the imported desertbred stallion Kohejlan, also the sire of Gazella II and Mlecha. Among the handful of Polish horses who survived the First World War, Zulejma went to Janów Podlaski as a six-year-old, and produced a series of daughters, among them some of the last asil mares of old Polish breeding, such as Lassa (another of J. M. Dickinson’s imports, and the dam of Latif), Kahira (dam of the Polish racehorse Trypolis), and Dziwa (dam of Ofir). Fatma, the dam…
This photo comes from L’Algérie Photographiée: Province d’Oran, by Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin, taken circa 1856/7.
The photo below, shared with the kind permission of Janien Strauss, is of the Kuhaylan al-Mimrah stallion, Sidi Egyptian Nile (Thee Cyclone x Sahiby Juleemah), whose half-siblings have been featured on the blog before. The story of the Kuhaylan al-Mimrah strain in South Africa is already known to most readers of the blog, but here is a quick recap: in the 1940s, Claude Orpen imported three stallions and two mares to South Africa from Egypt. One of these mares was the three-year-old Barakah (Ibn Manial x Gamalat). In South Africa, she produced two foals by her fellow import, the stallion Zahir (Ibn Fayda x Zahra), a colt, Gordonville Ziyadan, and a filly, Gordonville Zahara. Unfortunately, Zahara died young, and Barakah’s next foals were not asil. The Kuhaylan al-Mimrah strain would have died out in asil form, had it not been for the intervention of Dr Valerie Noli-Marais, who acquired the aged Barakah, and the gift of the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisan, by Sheikh Isa bin Sulman Al-Khalifa. Barakah’s last foal, born when the mare was twenty-seven, was, miraculously, a daughter, Sahiby Bint Baraka. Sahiby Bint Baraka had four registered foals, but only one of her two fillies was asil, Sahiby Noura,…
Mardschana Bint Mahra traces tail female to the Dahmah Shahwaniyah mare Malacha, foaled at the EAO in 1955, and imported to Germany with her dam Moheba (pedigree here). Moheba, like Marbach’s other EAO Dahmah Shahwaniyah import Nadja, traces tail female to Farida, the 1921 daughter of Nadra El Saghira; Moheba descends from Farida’s daughter Ragia (by Ibn Rabdan), while Nadja traces to Bint Farida (by Mansour). Photos shared here by kind permission of Oliver Seitz. Mardschana’s dam Mahra is a daughter of Malik El Nil, who traces tail female to the mare Bint Karima, whom Edouard has written about before.
In 1955, the filly Nadja was imported to Weil-Marbach alongside Hadban Enzahi. Bred by the EAO, she was a daughter of Nazeer out of the mare Nefisa (pedigree here). The mares in this post all trace to her through her daughters Noha and Nabya, both sired by Hadban Enzahi. Photos shared here by kind permission of Oliver Seitz.
Photos shared here by kind permission of Oliver Seitz.
The 1952 daughter of Amurath Sahib and 221-Kuhaylan Zaid (tail female to 60-Adjuze), 25-Amurath Sahib was a pretty grey mare (you can see a photo of her here), who produced a number of asil foals for Bábolna, including their chief sire Farag II, by Farag (Morafic x Bint Kateefa), the stallion Ghalion 6, by Ghalion (Morafic x Lubna), and the mare 3-Siglavy Bagdady VI, by Siglavy Bagdady VI (Siglavy Bagdady VI x 250-Kuhailan Haifi I). Some of the descendants of these horses can be found at Farag Arabians, Germany. Stephanie Weirich has very kindly consented to share photos of her 25-Amurath Sahib horses. The 1999 stallion Sheik Tahawi (Unkas x Tahia) has been brought in for the daughters of Farag II-3. The mare Shuweyma Sabbah (Moftha x Moona) is being bred this year to Sahil Ibn Farag II-3. Both Shuweyma Sabbah and Sheik Tahawi trace back to the mare Folla. It is good to see these unique bloodlines breeding on, as they preserve some of the old European lines, as well as Kuhailan Zaid and Kuhailan Haifi, in asil form.
Below is a photo of Amurath Sahib as a four-year-old, in racing condition. The picture comes from Jezdziec i Hodowca, Vol. 15 (36), 1936. In addition to being a racehorse himself, Amurath Sahib sired the Polish Derby winner Equifor, and the Polish Oaks winners Estokada and Adis Abeba. He was also fortunate enough to escape the Dresden firebombing that decimated the stallions of Janów Podlaski, as he was the mount of Dr Andrzej Krzysztalowicz, who had stayed behind to watch over the mares while the stallions were sent on ahead. None of his sons used for breeding – Arax, Equifor, and Gwarny – were asil, and only two of his daughters were, 25 Amurath Sahib, bred by Bábolna, and Arwila. While Amurath Sahib is still represented in pedigrees today, there is no asil descent left from him. [Edit: As R. J. Cadranell points out in the comments below, 25 Amurath Sahib still has asil descendants. Mea culpa.] His dam, Sahiba, was herself a good racehorse, with victory in the Sanguszko Prize (over 2,400m) as a three-year-old. She also won both the Polish Oaks and the Polish Derby. Her sire, Nana Sahib, was a grandson of Amurath 1881 Weil, so that…
Quite by accident yesterday, I came across the following photograph in the Getty Museum’s collection, of an Arab stallion presented to Napoléon III by the Sultan of Turkey in 1867: The caption reads “Aladin, étalon de pur sang arabe offert par le Sultan Abd-ul-azis à l’empereur Napoleon en 1867”. The occasion of the gift was Abdulaziz’s visit to Europe; Paris was the host city of the World’s Fair that year, and there was a significant Ottoman presence at the fair. Aladin was not the only Arab horse presented by the Sultan to European heads of state in 1867 – he also gave horses to the British royal family, among them Kouch, sire of Gomussa, who was given to the future Edward VII. The Illustrated London News from 16 November that year mentions four of the horses by name and provides an engraving of them to boot: The gift of the Sultan of Turkey, our late guest in London, to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, consisting of four noble horses of the purest Arabian breed, has been mentioned in this Journal. The Engraving on the preceding page represents these superb animals, which have been placed in the stables of…
As Moira has pointed out in the comments on the post on Gomussa there is an unexpected curve ball in the matter of Gomussa’s parentage. In the 1896 Harper’s Weekly Vol. 40, Borden quotes Vidal as saying that Kouch “was an undoubted Saglawi Jedraan, a blood bay, 15 hands, the most beautiful horse I ever set my eyes on”. Earlier in the same volume, Borden mentions two full sisters bred by Vidal, by Kouch out of an Exmoor mare named Mitre. These pony mares were Coquette and Beauty, and the photos accompanying the text show Coquette to be bay and Beauty chestnut.
For a while now, I have been trying to compile as many first-hand accounts of Arab horses written by eighteenth and nineteenth century European travellers in the Levant, the Middle East, and Arabia as I can, and one of the things that I have found fascinating is the changing of the five strains listed as Al Khamsa over time, with the only constants being the Kuhaylan and the Saqlawi. D’Arvieux’s Voyages dans la Palestine, published in 1717, is one of the earliest European works I have yet found to give an account of Arab horses in their homeland. He talks about the Kehhilan, contrasting it to the “ancienne race” Aatiq and to the Guidich, but does not mention any of the strains, save for Touysse, probably the Tuwaisan, which he gives as the name of a mare belonging to one Abrahim Abou Voüassés. In his Beschreibung von Arabien (1772), Niebuhr gives rather more information on the strains of the Arab horse. Using the term Köchlâni to denote the breed as a whole, he refers to the strains as families, listing the most common strains of each area. Such familiar names as Dsjülfa, Mânaki, Seklaúi, Hamdâni and Daádsjani are listed, along with some rarer strains, such as Sáade, Toreífi and Challaúi –…