A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Not Botticelli’s, Rubens’ or Canova’s Three Graces, but Danah Al Khalifa’s: Diva, Danika, Daniah. Photos by Jenny Lees. Daniah with the pretty face and the dark mane is the youngest, and is now with Lyman Doyle in Oregon. Diva, the oldest, now dead, is the fleabitten (marshoosha) with the good bone, large eye and broad … Read more
Sir Ruper Hay, a British political agent in Bahrain two these two photos for the UK Royal Geographical Society now part of Getty Images archives online. The top one is captioned: ”The ruler of Bahrein’s Palace, Rifa’a, Bahrain, circa 1926, and the bottom one: The palace of the late ruler of Bahrein at Sakhir, Bahrain, … Read more
Video by Christelle Seranne who keeps them for me. As Christelle put it, an Iran versus Bahrain showdown, with an electric fence rather than a Gulf in between.
Courtesy of Nina Heidke, who continues to breed the horses of her partner Lee Oellerich, including descendants of *Hadriyah (*Jalam Al Ubayyan x *Savannah) of the Dahmah Shahwan strain.
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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” … Read more
The stud of Sheykh Muhammad B. Salman Aal Khalifah in Bahrain includes representatives of an Arabian horse strain by the name of “Sa’idan”, of which one impressive representative is the stallion pictured below, Saidan Gharib. The photo from the 1998 WAHO Convention in Bahrain. While the strain sounds very similar to the strain of Saadan … Read more
A nice article in Arabian Horse Magazine by Jehangir Rustomjee on his visit to Poland to see Kuheilaan Aafas Maidaan. Below a different photo of him, by © Lidia Pawłowska.
Jens Sannek has been kindly supplying me with a lot of new-to-me information about the horses of Gustl Eutermoser and Ulrike Marcik. He tells me that they were good friends of Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz Al Sa’ud, then governor of the Hail province, and that they imported two desert-bred Saudi mares through him from … Read more
From her Journals and Correspondence (J&C, edited by Archer and Flemning), comes an account of the travels of Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt among the Bani Lam of Lower Mesopotamia and Khuzestan. It took place during their 1879 journey through al-Amarah in Lower Mesopotamia through Khuzestan/Arabistan by way of Dezful and Shustar all the way … Read more
Jens Sannek continues to gratify me with photos of desert Arabian imports to Europe and their progeny. This photo came to him from the late Austrian breeder Anton Tucek. It shows Anton’s 1991 bay stallion Jezar, by the Bahraini stallion Sarhan out of the black Iranian mare Jezabel. He had obtained Sarhan (Maanaghi Saghir x … Read more
A September 1975 letter by the late Danah Aal Khalifa in response to a photo sent to her by Lee Oellerich identified the chestnut mare *Sawannah, born in 1948, and later imported to the USA, as follows:
This hujjah is reproduced in Richard Berenger’s 1771 The History and Art of Horsemanship pp. 116f., and was provided to him by Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland. The last day of Safar 1173 hijri is 21 October 1759. The following is tranſlated from an original Arabian certificate, by the learned and ingenious Mr. … Read more
لعلّ أوسع الصقلاويات شهرةً على المستوى العالمي صقلاويات ابن زبينة ويعود سبب هذه الشهرة إلى حرص باشاوات مصر على شرائها وإقتنائها وعلى رأسهم الخديوي عبّاس حلمي الأول (حكم 1848-1854 م) الذي كاد أن يتسبّب بانقراض صقلاويات ابن زبينة بل كل أنواع الصقلاويات من موطنها الأصلي في البادية السورية وشبه الجزيرة العربية. ومن المعروف عن صقلاويات … Read more
The photos of the two stallions below come from the article, ‘L’Opinion des Arabes sur le cheval’, printed in the 3 March 1900 issue of Le Sport universel illustré. Kapa-Kaifa [sic] (above) was a 1894 bay Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz stallion, purchased in Kaila, Syria. I am not certain that the name of the horse, nor the … Read more
The photos below come from a serialised article, ‘L’Opinion des Arabes sur le cheval’, in Le Sport Universel Illustré no. 190, 10 March 1900. The dapple grey above is a 5 year old stallion, whose sire was from the region around Urfa. The mare below, photographed by Captain Defrance, is also five, and is herself … Read more
Very proud of Darak, one of three Diva sons to come to France. Diva was one of Danah Al Khalifah’s best mares.
Photo courtesy of the Facebook Page “The Old Bahrain“. This image is timeless. The buildings, the street, could have looked the same 500, 1000, 2000 years ago. Compare this picture with depictions of ancient Mesopotamian cities based on archaeological evidence.
Photo courtesy of the Facebook Page “The Old Bahrain“. Historians believe that the transformation this part of the world has witnessed over two generations had no precedent in world history.
The nice Facebook page “The Old Bahrain” published these photos. The first photo has this legend: 1950s: Sir Charles Belgrave, Advisor to the ruler of Bahrain, astride his Arabian mare Oleander during his daily inspection of the Bahrain’s Police Camel Corps. The second photo has this legend: Sir Charles Belgrave, the advisor to the ruler … Read more
She was bred to Hamdaany Dafuq. In the background, her full sister Dhahabiah, whose loss two weeks ago was a real blunder.
Lyman sent me this photo of Jellaby Maroof M30 from one of the later Bahraini studbooks. My kind of Arabian stallion. Maroof is the maternal brother of Jellaby Radad, who is the sire of my Hamdaany Darak and Lyman’s Hamdaany Daneer. Daneer is coming to the USA.
The late Danah Al Khalifa sure knew how to pick stallions for her Sitah-linebred mares. Georgous Rabdaan Muttaawi (Musannaan Al Meemar x Rabda Shaawieh by Burkaan D3) is just one example. He is the sire of the two full sisters Danika and Dhahabiah, bred by Danah. Dhahabiah is the one that died last week, sadly. … Read more
Kate shared this picture from the 1977 edition of the “Encyclopedia of the Horse”. The legend says “Arаb mares and foаls аtthe stabIes of the Emir in Bahrain on the Persian Gulf.” Neither her nor I had seen it before.
Beautiful Dhahabiah (Rabdaan Muttaawi x Deede by Ibn Sitah) died a sudden death a few days ago. Diarrhea in the morning, then again in the afternoon, spasms and then gone. All in twelve hours. She had been with me 20 days only.
Jens Sannek shared this photo of Sitah D1 which Erika Schiele had given him in 1976. The photo was taken earlier. Note the huge eye, and the body and overall quality reminiscent of another desert mare, *Turfa.
Jens Sannek shared this wonderful historical video, taken by Anton Tucek, of the Bahraini stallion Burkaan D3. Laszlo Kiraly had already shared it with me years ago, and I may have uploaded it here. Jens added: I know that Burkaan is registered bay in the Amiri Stud Book Vol. 1 Nr. D3. The Studbook was … Read more
Five years after Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan’s 1931 horse-buying trip to Arabia including Bahrain, it was the turn of Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk to make a similar trip for the Royal Agriculture Society (RAS) of Egypt. In 1936, he visited the stud of the ruler of Bahrain, Shaykh Hamad Aal Khalifah, and had the following … Read more
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 … Read more
To the right, Diva (Jellaby Mojaahid X Mabrooka by Jellaby Alasil x Sitah d.b.); in the middle, Danika (Rabdaan Muttaawi x Deede by Ibn Sitah x Mabrooka), in the background, Hamdanieh Dania (Rabdaan Farajallah x Danika). Hamdanieh Dania coming to the USA for Lyman Doyle. Marion Wassilewski
Wilton Burger shared these these new-to-me photos of the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisan, imported to South Africa by Valerie Noli-Marais. The first one has Hasan Bin Salih Al Ruwaiyi riding him in Bahrain, the second was taken in South Africa. Photo credits to the Estate of Dr. Valerie Noli-Marais.
The acquisition of the majority of the horses of Danah Stud of Sh. Rashid bin ‘Isa bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifah, son of the late Danah Al Khalifah, marks the beginning of a new venture in the nearly 20-year old trajectory of the Al Arab stud. After a focus on some of the best … Read more
I am very proud to announce the acquisition of the black roan stallion Kuheilaan Umm Zorayr Zyad D23. Zyad was bred by the late Danah Al Khalifah in 2001. He belongs to the extremely rare strain of Kuhaylan Wuld Umm Surayyir that is now unique to the Kindgom of Bahrain. Originally the “house strain” of … Read more
One of my favorite photos from Volume 1 of the Arabian Stud Book of Bahrain is that taken by Danah Al Khalifah of this bay Shawafan/Shawaf stallion. Fortunately, his line carries on in modern Bahraini horses. The same stallion appears in another photo (below) that appeared in Danah Al Khalifah’s “Living Treasures of Bahrain”, below. … Read more
The other day Moira Walker pointed me to the book “A trip to Baghdad: With an Appendix on the Arab Horse” written in 1908 by an Indian senior official, Nawab Hamid Yar Jung. He traveled with his father, Colonel Nawab Afsur-ul-Mulk, and another man, Mahboob Ali Beg, to Baghdad in March 1907, and its vicinity, … Read more
I wrote about H.R.P. Dickson’s 1949 book “The Arab of the Desert” in an earlier blog entry about the Ubayyan strain of Ibn Jalawi. This entry is about about the horses of the rulers of Bahrain, in the context of Dickson’s mention of specific Arab leader being famous for keeping a certain strain of Arabian … Read more
I had published this beautiful photo of the 1994 Syrian Kuhaylan Khallawi stallion Al Sabik (*Ta’an x Hallah) some ten years ago. Recently Arnault Decroix shared with me another photo of the same handsome horse taken a few moments before or after the first one. This was truly a special horse.
Arabic language Facebook pages concerned with historical photographs of the Arab world, its populations, and its culture occasionally turn up photos of Bedouin Arabian horses. Below is one example: The text under the photo is in Ottoman Turkish, a language I don’t read, but close enough to Arabic for me to make up that the … Read more
On July 27 — my birthday — Wadha foaled a chestnut filly, sired through artificial insemination by the Bahraini stallion of Jenny Lees, Shuwaiman Al Rais (photo below). Further news about this loooong-awaited filly will be shared once she is out of the woods (i.e., the U Penn vet hospital in New Bolton, PA), so … Read more
This new-to-me photo of the Syrian Kuhaylan Mimrah stallion Basil (Mahrous x Halah), of the breeding of the late Mustapha al-Jabri was taken at the Damascus Government Stud . It recently appeared on one of the many Facebook pages now focusing on Syrian Arabians, one hosted by “Alhorane”. I remember being struck by this horse … Read more
Yet another one of my smartphone favorites is this photo of a Syrian Kuhaylat Ibn Mizher mare of the horses of Shaykh Hashim al-Jarba. Her name is al-Tayou’, and she is 13 years old. The strain is an offshoot of Kuhaylan Krush. She is a granddaughter of the black Saqlawi Marzaqani stallion Barazan I like … Read more
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 … Read more
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.
One of the earliest desert-bred Arabian horses to come to the USA from the Kindgom of Saudi Arabia was the mare *Al Hamdaniah. This grey mare with her conspicuous blood mark on the shoulder, was the subject of this blog’s first entry, some fourteen years ago. Born in 1940, by an ‘Ubayyan stallion out of … Read more
Dahjani Al Arab, a Kuhaylan Da’jani born in 2008, is one of four authentic, desert-bred Syrian stallions in France. The other three are Mahboub Halep, a grey Shuwayman Sabbah; Nimr Shabareq, a chestnut Ma’naqi Sbayli, and Dahess Hasska, a chestnut Kuhaylan Nawwaq. Photo of Dahjani taken earlier this month by owner Arnault Decroix in Normandy. … Read more
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 … Read more
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.
Another rare set of photos, these of the Dahmat ‘Amer mare Ridaab also a the farm of Basil Jad’aan — with a young Basil holding her. She has a nice colt by Marzuk that year. Her sire was the Dahman ‘Amer stationed at the Military Housing in al-Hasakah in North-East Syria, and her dam one … Read more
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.
This evening I had a bout of nostalgia for my old horses, so I went looking for pictures of Dahess, the desert-bred stallion my father and I bought from a racing stable in Beirut in 1993. I was 15. One afternoon, as I was just coming back from school, my father told me that he … Read more
All photos by Danah Al Khalifa unless otherwise indicated. Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman Shawaf sired a breeding mare for Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman’s stud out of Jellabieh No. M1. Bred by the Royal Stud, served as breeding stallion for the Mounted Police. Hamdany Riadh (top); Ma’anagieh Marshoosha (bottom) – photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais. … Read more
This year I will be using for the first time frozen semen from one of the Syrian stallions now in France. I chose Arnault Decroix’s Dahjani Al Arab (same prefix as my horses, by chance). He is a Kuhaylan Da’jaani from the old Syrian desert bloodlines I have known and loved for three decades (sheesh!). … Read more
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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
كحيلان الملولش من خيل البحرين عند بولين وبينار دو بليسيس في جنوب افريقيا Mlolshaan Mutab, from Bahrain, owned by Pienaar and Pauline Du Plessis in South Africa. Photo Kate McLachlan.