A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
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
I am so very proud of this beautiful and fine stallion, one of the very last Tunisian asil in existence. I am also very grateful to Skander Karoui to have given me the opportunity to acquire him. Not a single ounce of French Arabian blood, whether old (Denouste, Duc II, Kriss II, etc.) or new … Read more
Some 16 years ago, in 2008, I wrote about this beautiful old Kuhaylat al-Ajuz Arabian mare from Tunisia, Hadia, on this blog, .here. One year after that, in 2009, I wrote about the bay Tunisian stallion Jehol Sahraoui, here. He was from the program of Gisela Bergman in South-West Tunisia. The second photo of Jehol … Read more
Severine Vesco and I were doing some background work on the Tunisian sire lines today. We found that the Volume IV of the Tunisian Studbook (1977-8-9) had the strains of the horses assigned in the good-old-fashioned European way… by using the strain of the tail male ancestor. The stallion Rial, for instance, was given the … Read more
The striking1985 chestnut Kuhaylan al-Ajuz stallion Samir (Sibawaih x Chajaret Eddour by Esmet Ali) was the other chief sire at the government stud of Sidi Thabet, together with Dynamite III. I saw him at Sidi Thabet in 2005. He reminded me of Regency CF at the time. Photo from the social media account of the … Read more
For a long time there was a shadow hanging over the lineage of the senior Tunisian stallion Dynamite III (Esmet Ali x Nachoua by Madani), photo below. He and his many sons (Akermi, Safouen, Bardo, Halim, Touwayssane, etc), were accomplished racehorses of the first order and sires of racehorses in Tunisia and beyond. They were … Read more
This is another video of Rhoufi, the 20 year old stallion I imported to France this past August. I got him from Skander Karoui of Tunisia. Skander, the rider in the video, had found him and bought him from an Italian man, who had obtained him from an equestrian club near Tunis. The horse had … Read more
الفحل كحيلان العجوز الازرق من خيلي الاسم الغوفي العمر ٢٠ سنة المنشأ تونس يعود اصله الى كحيلة العجوز فرس خليل بك الاسعد من ال علي الصغير زعماء جبل عامل وقاعدتهم بلدة الطيبة في جنوب لبنان اليوم والمعروف عن ال علي الصغير انهم احفاد محمد ابن هزاع السالمي الوائلي احد اعيان عشيرة السوالمة من عنزة اتى … Read more
Above, a famous drawing by French nineteenth century artist Victor Adam. Below, the Kuhaylan Ajuz stallion Rhoufi, my pride and joy, and the lone surviving treasure of the 150 year old Tunisian asil breeding program, bred by Gisela Bergmann in 2003 and photographed in 2023 by Arnault Decroix at his farm in Normandy.
The answer is Tunisian! Not Syrian, not old or new Egyptian, not Davenport, not Saudi, not Bahraini! Here are two more pictures of him at the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet where his owner is keeping him. Enjoy.
Some twelve years ago, Luis Baudin wrote this beautiful piece on Daughters of the Wind, in French. Here is a translation, largely done with Deepl (the best instant translation engine by far): “I would like to come back to the Tunisian horse named Jehol Sahraoui (Ouaffar x Kalthoumia by Sabour), a deep bay born at … Read more
Susanne Schreibvogel published these two photos, along with a short article in Arabische Pferde Des 92 – Feb 93 after she payed a visit to Sidi Thabet. I’ve added a translation of the photo captions. “Mourad M’Barek, Sidi Thabet’s director, with one of the two-year-old arabian mares.” “The twenty-year-old, Tunisian-bred, chief sire Dynamite III by … Read more
Walid’s mare, Mouna (Kesseb x Mamdouha by Ilamane), a 2000 grey, is one of the last, if not the last, asil Shuwaymah Sabbah in Tunisia (Tosca line back to Primevere, a foundation mare of the Tiaret Stud in Algeria). She is special in that she is a younger mare that is very close to the desert … Read more
A rare photo of the Tunisian stallion Raoui (Cheikh El Ourbane x Bornia by Loubieh x Benti by Ibn Fayda I) has surfaced on the Internet, and I just gleaned it and saved it here. He was a great racehorse, winning 19 races in Tunisia. He was the son of the last desert-bred stallion imported to … Read more
Kina Murray just wrote to me that a gelding son of the asil Tunisian Arabian stallion Okba, out of a Polish/French/Russian mare, won the 100 mile Tevis Cup endurance ride. Kina tells me that “the winner, ridden by experienced endurance competitor Heather Reynolds, is called French Open (Okba x Selma Croixnoire, by Ala Croixnoire) – he … Read more
I am even more disconnected from the racing scene in the USA than I thought. I recently found out that the 1983 Tunisian Jilfan Dhawi racehorse Okba (Koufi x Ahram by Esmet Ali) had been imported to the USA where his offspring (out of mares from non-asil race Russian, Polish, US/Kontiki and other racing lines) have … Read more
Stephan Eberhardt shared with me this photo of his Algerian/Tunisian/Egyptian mare Dachna (Khaiber x Dahna by El Aswad a.k.a Ibn Galal-15), a Shuwaymah Sabbah tracing to the Tiaret mare Cherifa. I am always pleased to see that these asil lines from North Africa have crossed well with Egyptian lines in Europe. The mare has two close … Read more
To complete the trio of photos from the French and North African studs, here is one of the Tunisian stud of Sidi Thabet, also courtesy of Michael Bowling.
Patrick from Belgium sent me the list of the Tunisian Arabian stallions accredited by the Tunisian government’s Fondation Nationale D’Amelioration de la Race Chevaline (FNARC), which is under the Ministry of Agriculture. He tells me that 30-50% of the stallions are still from the old Tunisian bloodlines (at least on paper), and the rest from … Read more
This morning Adrien Deblaise, from France, sent me two photos of his superb stallion, Murad Ghazy. Ghazy was bred by Louis Bauduin, by Jahir (Iricho x Ciada by Ghalbane, d.b.), out of Murad Hadra (Medicq Allah x Hamada by Irmak), of Algerian and Tunisian lines. He traces to all three Cordonnier-bred stallions (Iricho, In Chaallah, … Read more
Fabienne Vesco, a French preservation breeder in Eastern France, breeds horses of combined Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian and Egyptian lines, of the Jilfan Dhawi and Shuayman Sabbah strains. Below is her pretty mare Akhesa Beni Sakr, by the Tunisian stallion Hadhr El Basher (Chedi x Loubna by Oramin0) out of her mare Akaba Beni Sakr (Jahir x Loubia Bint … Read more
I took this photo of the Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz Chahata (Hosni xHamida by Soufyan) at the stallion depot of the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet in 2006. He was a great race horse, and I thought he was exceptionally well built, while at the same time displaying good Arab type. I wonder what’s with the … Read more
Adrien Deblaise, a preservation breeder in western France, sent me these two photos of the splendid and very asil 1975 Jilfan Dhawi stallion Jahir (Iricho x Ciada, who was by Ghalbane x Malika, by Masbout x Themis by Bango x Akaba). The pedigree on allbreedpedigree.com is wrong, so I am not linking to it. His … Read more
It is that season of the year again, and new asil Arabians colts and fillies are being born all around the world. Here is the filly, now two weeks old of Walid Maazaoui’s Tunisian very asil 1992 chestnut mare Ezzina (Chaabane x Ouilayah by the handsome Egyptian stallion Ragheb). Walid is a modern preservation breeder, one of … Read more
There is this photo of the beautiful asil stallion Sumeyr (Bango d.b. x Jamnia by the Algerian asil Oukrif out of Taflia by the Egyptian Ibn Fayda) on allbreedigree here. He was bred at a private stud in Tunisia, then exported to France where he stood at the government stud of Pau, in the South West. His … Read more
Iricho was born in Tunisia in 1959 at the stud of French Navy Admiral – and otherwise master Arabian horse breeder – Anatole Cordonnier, who sold him to the French government a few years later. Iricho, a Jilfan Dhawi tracing to Wadha, bred by the Fad’aan Bedouins and imported from the Arabian Desert to Algeria in 1875 … Read more
J’aimerais revenir sur le cheval Tunisien nommé Jehol Sahraoui (Ouaffar x Kalthoumia par Sabour), un bai soutenu né chez M Heinz Gerd Bergmann… J’ai eu loisir de monter cet étalon en 1989 lors d’une visite chez les Ghobber, éleveurs semi nomades à l’époque dans la région de Maknassy. Sortie en compagnie du Chef de Tribu Rhida … Read more
I had been reading about the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet in Robert Mauvy’s writings since my teenage years. I happened to be in Tunisia for work and did not want to miss the opportunity to go there and visit, so I took half a day off, bought a Kodak camera for 10 bucks … Read more
A few days ago, Michael Bowling sent me the following photos of the 1964 Tunisian stallion Omran (Esmet Ali x Simrieh by Oukrif), from the rare tail female that goes back to the desert-bred mare Mzeirib, imported to Tunisia by the French in 1891. Omran was exported to one of Germany’s zoos, says Michael. The black … Read more
I am writing in response to Edouard’s article on Esmet Ali. I have photos of him as a foal at his mother’s side, as well as documents about his debut at the Tunisian racetrack of Kasr Said. I can garantee you this is the same horse as the later Esmet Ali. All you have to … Read more
The outstanding stallion Esmet Ali (photo below) is at the center of a controversy that has been quietly brewing for several decades now in Tunisia and beyond. Since Esmet Ali is in the pedigree of almost every single Arabian horse in Tunisia today, the matter is of some importance. I do not know what position … Read more
Ezzina (Chaabane x Wilaya by Ragheb), proudly owned by Walid Maazaoui, is one of the last asil mares in Tunisia. Ten years ago, Tunisia was still one of the last reservoirs of asil blood in the “East”, but that is quickly changing, and today there are only a few dozen asil mares and stallions left. The country … Read more
My research project about Syrian horse-racer Ahmad Ibish is progressing well, but I am not ready to share the results on this blog yet. Ibish, of Damascus, Syria, was on the top of my list of influential urban Middle Eastern horsemen of the twentieth century, along with Henri Pharaon of Beirut, Lebanon, Iskandar Qassis of … Read more
Bien que je suive très attentivement et très régulièrement les articles de ce blog merveilleux , je me rends compte avoir laissé passer de nombreuses occasions d’apporter commentaires et précisions. Je m’empresse donc de réparer cette négligence en ce début d’année 2010. Tout d’abord , je m’étonne de la perplexité qu’a suscité la petite maxime … Read more
Blog reader Elena Latici who lives in Italy recently bought this young fellow from Louis Bauduin’s farm in France. Murad Mandour (by Shuayman El Badawi x Murad Ouffah Habib by Jahir) is a bay Shuwayman Sabbah yearling who combines modern desert-bred blood from Syria (through his paternal grand-sire Mokhtar, bred by the Shammar Bedouins) with older desert-bred blood … Read more
Jazour est né en 1968 chez Mr Robert Mauvy. Ce magnifique bai, par Saadi et Izarra, par David, de lignee Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz (tracant sur Samaria), très athlétique a fait ses preuves sur le terrain, en participant à des raids d’endurance qu’il a souvent gagné. Il fut aussi un excellent géniteur. Il gagna notament une course d’endurance où il … Read more
I “stole” this picture from the Internet, but it’s for a good cause. This is Jehol Sahraoui (Ouaffar x Kalthoumia by Sabour), for a long time the head sire at Mrs. Gisela Bergmann’s stud in Ghardimaou in western Tunisia. Mrs. Bergmann has bred precious ‘old’ Tunisian lines for some thirty years, and Jehol Sahraoui, born … Read more
Gisela Bergman has been living in Tunisia and breeding Arabian horses from old Tunisian lines for more than three decades. She is one of the very last breeders of the Dolma Batche tail female in Tunisian breeding. Gisela has recently had trouble feeding and taking care of her horses. She is elderly, suffers from arthritis, and lives on … Read more
At last I get to see a picture of Bossa Nova (Iricho x Bassala by Masbout), thanks to Adrien Deblaise who sent me this one today. Bossa Nova, of the Jilfan Dhawi strain that traces to the mare Wadha from the Fad’aan tribe, was bred by the French government stud of Pompadour, by Iricho, an … Read more
Recently, Ambar Diaz started posting photos of some of this blog’s authors and regular contributors mounted on asil Arabian horses, as a way to put names on faces. Here is a photo that reader Predrag Joksimovic sent me of himself, mounted on Mahiba (Shams El Arabi x Mansoura), a very deserty little mare. Mahiba’s sire … Read more
The series on desert-bred Arabian imports to North Africa continues thanks to breeder and blog reader A. Deblaise. This is Aziz, one of the earliest desert-breds imported to Algeria by the French. I know nothing about his strain or his original breeder. All I know is that he … Read more
Today French horse-breeder Adrien Deblaise made my day. He sent me a set of very rare, old pictures of desert-bred Arabians imported to France, Tunisia and Algeria in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some time ago, I started a series of blog entries featuring photos of some these outstanding and so little known desert-breds (Dahman, El … Read more
Adrien Deblaise breeds Arabian horses of Tunisian, Moroccan and Algerian bloodlines in Western France. His father Philippe was a bookseller that specialized in equine literature. Philippe’s inventory contained one of the largest collections in France books on horses in general and Arabians in particular. Below are pictures of two of Adrien’s mares: B’Oureah Marine (by … Read more
My friends Jean-Claude Rajot and Louis Bauduin have been breeding Arabian horses for a long time. They are the students and friends of the late Robert Mauvy. Robert Mauvy is, simply put, the Westerner who came the closest to understanding the Arabian horse and to breeding it as its original custodians, the Bedouins of Arabia, … Read more
Sandra Uhlig’s mare Djoumanah El Nil, from Germany, has an interesting pedigree: Egyptian bloodlines on top, and a Jiflan Dhawi tail female from Tunisia through the mare Malaga and her dam Berriane. Berriane was bred in Algeria and imported to Tunisia by Admiral Cordonnier for his Sidi Bou Hadid stud). Note the line to the stallion … Read more
Je voudrais rappeler le cri d’alarme lancé par Monsieur Robert Mauvy ! : “Renouvelant mon cri d’alarme, mon cri de désespoir ! Il faut absolument et à tout prix sauver ce qui reste du véritable Pur Sang Arabe. Il est impossible de laisser disparaître l’une des plus belles oeuvres du Créateur. Que l’initiative privée, que les … Read more
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
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
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
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.
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
In 1909, a French government commission led by Inspector Quinchez bought 24 desert-bred stallions from the Egyptian racetrack of Sidi Gaber in Alexandria. Of these, 17 went to Algeria (then a part of France), and the remaining 7 were distributed in government studs across mainland France. The seven were: Dahman, Meenak, Farid, Aslani, Hamdany El Samry, Latif and Maarouf. The … Read more
Looks like my recent series of entries on Tunisian Asil Arabian horses has sparked a good discussion on Straightegyptians.com, which by the way, I am not subscribed to. I wish I had enough time to contribute to it, but there are only so many hours in a day, and besides, I am pretty certain my boss … Read more
Dynamite II is a desert-bred stallion imported to Tunisia by the French in 1920. He is recorded to be by a Hamdani out a mare by the name of Tayyara. I should have more information in my archives (including on his strain) but need to look it up. Meanwhile, here is the picture. The sireline … Read more
Believe it or not, this extremely pretty and typey mare is an Asil Arabian from Tunisia. Hadia, a Kuhaylah al-‘Ajuz, by Kefil out of Rafiaa, by Bango) was bred at Sidi Thabet in 1958, and is the dam of many successful racehorses. She is one of the few greys Sidi Thabet retained for breeding. She … Read more
Madani (by Souci x Sissana by Mossoul) was one of Tunisia’s best Arabian racehorses in the 1950s. This old photo was originally published here. Madani is among others the sire of the stallion Inchallah, exported to France in the late 1950s. He also has progeny in Germany.
Some of you have emailed me privately with questions about French and North African Asil Arabians of the past and the present. Thank you for your messages. It is nice to see that there is interest in these horses. I reread the posts I have been writing on French Asil horses to refresh my memory. … Read more
Another picture of the magnificent Tunisian Asil stallion Irmak (Aissaoui x Leila by Duc), bred by Anatole Cordonnier in Tunisia in 1959 and exported to France. I posted another picture of Irmak here. Irmak was a Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz by strain. Photo courtesy of P. H. Beillard, of the stud of Le Sureau in France.
Several recent blog entries have mentioned the Arabian mare Bucolique (Besbes x Berthe by Irmak). Bucolique is arguably one of the few remaining Asil mares of French bloodlines still in breedable age. She was born in 1982, so that window of opportunity is closing fast. Bucolique is not quite representative of “Old French” bloodlines: both her sire Besbes … Read more