Published information on the desert-bred mare Sitah D1
The late Danah Al Khalifah wrote in Volume 1 of the Amiri Arabian Studbook of Bahrain that “the breeding program at Danah Farm is centered around the foundation mare SITAH, ‘Hamdaniah Feisul’ and her offspring. Sitah’s history is documented from the time she was acquired as a two year old filly in 1964, at the Najd encampment of Emir Abdulla bin Saud. It was stated by the caretaker of the horse herd that Sitah was bred by Crown Prince Feisal bin Abdul Aziz, and was out of a Hamdaniah Ghiam mare of the horses of Al Saud, and by a stud stallion Saqlawy El Njemy from the horses of Al Rasheed.”
She also wrote the following in a 1975 issue of Arabiana (article scan courtesy of Laura), on the circumnstances of Sitah’s acquisition: “After a futile horse buying trip to Riyadh, on our way back to Dhahran, we discovered a small band of horses grazing in the desert, belonging to Emir Abdulla bin Saud. We went to see them and found that three of the mares were going to be disposed of […]. Three mares were pointed out to us, a Kuheilah, Obeyan and a Hamdanieh […M]y husband and daughter wanted the, then, roan two year old filly, Hamdanieh […] because she was small, 14.2 hh. Hamdanieh as it was, and we named her SITAH (a common name the bedu give to mares, RENOWN.) […] As an afterthought we asked the Bedu in charge about the breeding of the mares and were pleasantly surprised: Hamdanieh (Hamdanieh Ghiam) was bred by Emir Feisal in Taif, out of the mares of the house of Al-Saud by a stallion Saglawy Njemy of the house of Al Rasheed.
Similarly, Judith Forbis wrote in her 1971 Arabian Horse World article (excerpt below) on the Bahraini horses that “We stopped to see SITAH, her [i.e., Danah] exquisitely refined white desert bred mare of the Hamdaniyah Ghiam strain. Sired by a Saqlawi Njemi from the Al Rashid family, Sitah was bred at the stud at Tiev, [Edouard’s note: Tiev = Ta’if, the city where the stud of King Faysal Ibn Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud was located] the long famous Saud stud, by King Feisul of Saudi Arabia, at the time he was a crown prince”.
An additional source on Sitah is a typewritten letter from Danah Al Khalifah to Jens Sannek (excerpt below), where she gives him information on Sitah including a specific date of birth of 1961 and the same information as above on her sire and her dam. This letter is courtesy of Edie Booth who has the original.
By the way, the strain of Saqlawi El Njemy recorded as being that of the sire of Sitah is none other than the strain of Saqlawi Najm al-Subh (“Star of the Morning” in Arabic), also knows today as Saqlawi Marzakani among the Northern Shammar. The Northern Shammar are in Syria and Iraq. They often sent horses to their Southern Shammar brethren, whose leaders were from the Al Rasheed family.
Top photo of Sitah by Dr. Valerie Noli-Marais, a South African friend of Danah Al Khalifa’s. Middle photo by Danah Al Khalifah, published in Arabiana. Below photo by Erika Schiele, courtesy of Jens Sannek. More on Sitah’s strain in a next post.
Absolutely gorgeous!!
The top photo of Sitah D1 was also taken by the late Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais during her visit. I wonder what she thought of Sitah.
I must sound like a broken record, but it really is striking to me how much resemblance I can see between Sitah and Jadah BellOfTheBall.
There is an air, which I too noticed, but the Sitah horses have a deeper girth and a rounder barrel/ribs. Sitah is more reminiscent of *Turfa in this regard. It will become clearer in the photos I will upload over time. The resemblance may well be linked to a common provenance at the Taif royal stud of Crown Prince Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz.
Lovely quality mare. Her refined head and large eyes are reminiscent of some Davenport mares.
Descriptions of Sitah D1 by Danah Al Khalifah in the 1975 Arabiana article:
“To get back to Sitah. She is a typical desert war mare. Her delicate build and gentle expression is deceptive. When aroused she is the fiercest looking horse, and has sent many a grown man running. The Queen of Danah Farm, where every other horse, including the stallions, will step aside wherever she walks… she is also the “guard dog” at the farm, and when a stranger approaches she is the first one to tell, by a fierce, resounding snort. It might be of interest to some readers that Sitah was never happy in Egypt but came to “bloom” when we arrived in Bahrain. It was quite noticeable how she came alive again.”
Also, as a legend for the middle photo: “SITAH (Hamdanieh Ghiam) at 10 years. A typical desert war mare. Her delicate build and gentle expression most deceptive – when aroused she become very fierce and protective – the “Queen” of Danah Farm!