This son of the Doyle stallion Tamaam DE and the rare Sarita Bint Raj does not cease to amaze me. Look at the withers-shoulder-neck complex! Photos by Lyman Doyle. Pippa is the mare in the bottom.
This black mare, of the Ma’naqi Sbayli strain tracing to Haidee, is the maternal grandmother of my SS Shadows Aana. Her formidable build, her high withers and her very deep girth, are some of the reasons I like this line so much. Mares like her can be the cornerstone of an entire breeding program.
She is looking glorious at age 21. How time flies. She was a young mare when I saw her at Carol Lyons in 2002. Her origin is so well authenticated, and so is her filly’s by the Doyle stallion Chatham. It does not get more mazbut than that. Photo by Lyman Doyle.
The first crop of Davenport/Doyle crosses has arrived at the Doyle farm. It is absolutely first class. En Pointe CF (Triermain CF x Pirouette CF by Javera Thadrian) produced a superb, very well-balanced filly Chatham DE (second from top), and her daughter Andorra DL (Dubloon CF x En Pointe CF) produced an excellent colt by Tamaam DE (first from top). Photos by Lyman Doyle. Lyman correctly points out that the colt’s head looks more like Doyles, while the filly’s head looks more like Davenports.
Ma shaa Allah, as we say in Arabic. At 27 years old, Popinjay (Banter CF x Persimmon by Brimstone) just looks glorious. Photo by his owner Maria Wallis.
[Updated on September 12, 2019] I just happened upon an online copy of an animal dictionary from the XIVth century, “Hayat al-Haywan al-Kubra” (“The Great Life of Animals”). It is by a Cairene author, Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa ibn ‘Ali al-Dumayri (1341-1405). It defines several horse-related terms like hisan, khayl, and faras. I realized that the Arabic word khayl does not seem to have a direct equivalent in English. It does mean a “group of horses” considered collectively, just like the English word “people” means a group of human beings, considered collectively. Compare “a horse” with “a human being”, the plural “horses” with “human beings”, and you will realize that there is no single horse term that is the equivalent of “people”. Khayl is such a term in Arabic. So here is my translation of excerpts from the work of al-Dumayri: al-hisan: the male one of the khayl (al-dhakar min al-khayl) al-khayl: a group of horses (jamaa’at afraass), it has no singular, like “people” (al-qawm). It is in the feminine; the plural [of the plural] is khuyul. al-faras: a single one of the khayl (waahid al-khayl); the plural is afraass. Faras is equally used for the male and the…
From Lyman Doyle, who is keeping them at his family farm. It is a bit blurry but it show the nice action Pippa always had. These Ma’naqis…
[Edited September 1, 2019, with new sections translated] From the Nasiri book: The breeding of horses (al-khuyul) is divided into three parts: one is the breeding of Arab horses (al-khuyul al-‘arabiyyyat); the second is the breeding of the hamaaliij and countrybreds (al-biqaa’iyyat); the third is the breeding of donkeys and Armenian mules. In this chapter, we describe the breeding of the Arab ones (al-‘Arabiyyat); the others will be mentioned later, in due course, if God Most High is willing. As to the breeding of Arab horses (al-khuyul al-‘arabiyyat), it is said that the horses fit for breeding are […] and fast, and are not […], because these defects, when present in the fathers, are passed on to the sons. If the stallion were from a good origin (asil), and suffered from a blemish like being hairless, or one-eyed, or amputated, these are not passed on. It was said, in a proverb of the Arabs: “Look for the qualities in the stallion, and let go of the rest all you want”, because (dawaab, plural of daabbah) take after their fathers more than they resemble their mothers. It is preferred that one stallion (fahl) be assigned for every ten broomares (hajurah) [a…
As to the breeding of mules, the best mules for carrying loads are those produced in Armenia, and after these the North African mules. In breeding them, a donkey with excellent conformation and long and wide ears is put on the ramakah (see below); in this case, the offspring turns out to be a large mule, with an excellent conformation, [a] perfect [one]. If the mare was a rumiyyah [i.e., Turkish] or a countrybred (biqaa’iyyah), it is the best of mules, because it turns out to be a mule with a strong build, a broad back and hip, thick legs, [which is] enduring with loads, weights and chores. If the horse was mounted on the she-donkey, the offspring is often is a small mule, short-headed and snub-nosed (fatssan). It might turn out free of these defects, but it won’t measure up to the offspring of the mare, in its conformation, endurance and beauty. This is because of the spaciousness of the belly of the mare, and the tightness of the belly of the she-donkey. […]. As to the breeding of donkeys, the best [donkeys] are the Egyptians, and these are those produced in Upper Egypt; and after these, the Yemeni…
Lyman Doyle took this photo of Jenny Krieg’s young stallion Bashir al-Dirri (Tamaam DE x Sarita Bint Raj), a 2015 Saqlawi Jadran stallion tracing to Basilisk. He carries some of the very last lines in Al Khamsa to the stallions *Mirage, *Euphrates, and *Al-Mashoor. Photo by Lyman Doyle. This stallion has superlative action and near perfect conformation. Jenny, Lyman and I had agreed to breed SS Lady Guenevere to him, but it was his first time breeding a mare, and could not get the job done. There will be other occasions, I am sure. Meanwhile, if you are interested in breeding to him, you can reach out to Jenny Krieg.
I have recently leased the Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah mare SS Lady Guenevere (SS Dark Prince x SS Lady Galadriel by El Reata Juan), from DeWayne Brown. She is Pippa’s dam. Photo by Lyman Doyle She was bred to Kashgar DE during her last heat cycle, and came back in heat this week. Terry and Lyman Doyle, who are keeping her at their farm for me, bred her to their stallion Tamaam DE. The sireline of both Kashgar and Tamaam are to Ghadaf to Ribal to Seyal then Mesaoud. Her sire line is to Gulastra to Astraled then Mesaoud. Gulastra and Ghadaf were maternal half brothers.
Most modern (i.e., XIXth century onwards) Arabic dictionaries offer similar definitions for the birdhawn (translations mine): The al-Ra’id dictionary defines it as an “animal lesser than a horse, with thick body parts, stocky, especially used as a pack animal“. The al-Wasit dictionary defines it as “a term for non-Arab horses and mules, from the equus genus, with a massive build, thick body parts, strong legs and large hooves“. The al-Ghani dictionary defines it as “an animal from the equus genus, with a stocky frame, thick body parts, strong legs, large hooves, especially used as a pack animal“. The al-Ma’aani dictionary defines the birdhawn as “an animal, lesser than horses but larger than donkeys; a Turkish horse“. I find this last definition very interesting, because it aligns with the Western definition of a pony: larger than a donkey, but smaller than a horse. From the same species as a horse, but not quite a horse in size, use or status. The reference to Turkish horses is reminiscent of Kirghiz ponies (drawing below and photo both from Wikipedia). The much older Lisan al-Arab dictionary (1290 CE) defines the birdhawn as: “a horse, other than the progeny of Arab horses” (al-baraadhin mina al-khayl:…
From the Nasiri book, again, my translation: The knowledge of the authentic (‘atiq), enduring (sabur) and generous (karim) horse needs [some] citation and demonstration, because all past horsemen of the Age of Ignorance [jahilliyah, before the advent of Islam] have featured horses in their poetry and mentioned them [along] with their characteristics. The Prophet of God, Peace Be Upon Him [from now on, PBUH] has favored them [i.e., the authentic horses] over other horses because he, PBUH, has set aside (‘arraba, same root as Arab so a play on words) the Arab and disparaged (hajjana, same root as hajin, again a play on the next word) the hajin; he allocated two shares [of the spoils] to the Arab horse (al-faras al-‘arabi) and one share to the non-Arab horse (al-faras ghayr al-‘arabi). It was reported, after the Prophet of God, PBUH, in featuring the authentic horse, that the jinn do not manifest themselves to anyone in a home with an authentic (‘atiq) horse. A horseman needs such a horse. The first thing he needs to know is to pick for himself an enduring (sabur), generous (jawad, also means charger) horse on which to face his enemy [in battle]. If he does…
[Updated on September 12, 2019] From the Nasiri book (1333 CE), citing al-Waqidi (d. 823 CE) Al Waqidi recited that the first to ride horses after Adam was Ishmael son of Abraham peace be upon them; and after Adam, they had become wild, untamed, until they were subjected to Ishmael who rode them, and he is [missing words here] the Arab [horses]. From Jarr al-Dhayl fi ‘ilm al-Khayl, by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505 CE) Al Waqidi said, after Muslim ibn Jundub [al-Hudhali, d. 724 CE]: the first to ride horses was Ishmael son of Abraham, peace be upon them; they were wild, untamed, until they were subjected to him. Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar [al-Qurashi, d. 870 CE] said, in the “Lineages”, after Ibn ‘Abbas: horses were wild and could not be ridden, so the first who rode them was Ishmael, so for this they were named al-‘Iraab. Al-‘Iraab could be translated as “Arab horses”.
From the Nasiri book: Al Kalbi recited that God Most High brought a hundred horses out of the sea for our Lord Solomon, and they had wings, and that they were called “goodness”. And God knows best.
The epitome of the Arab horse, and a hero of the British Afghan campaign.
My quick translation of this creation story from the Nasiri book, which took it from a much earlier account by VIIIth century chronicler Wahab Ibn Munabbih; the translation can be improved, but this is a good start: From Wahab ibn Munabbih, who said: “I was told that when God Most Glorified and Most High wanted to create the horse, he said to the south wind: I am creating a creature from you, to make it a [source of] strength for my friends, disgrace for my enemies, and beauty (jamal, unsure in this context) for the people of my obedience. So he grasped a fistful of the wind, created a horse out of it, and said: I have called you ‘horse’ and I made you Arab; goodness is tied to your forelocks, spoils are to be won on your back, and extinction (fana, but unsure) is with you wherever you are. I favor you over other creatures, and I made you their master; I made you fly without wings; you are for seeking and you are for escaping; and I will have you carry men who will glorify me, so glorify me with them; [men] who will praise me, so praise…
Jeanne Craver gratified me today with two pictures of my own Kuhaylat al-Krush mare Mayassah Al Arab (Clarion CF x Cinnabar Myst by ASF David). Thank you Jeanne! She is now six years old, and a liver chestnut like her sire. Debbie Mackie boards her for me. She looks good and it seems Debbie has been spoiling her. I like horses built like tanks, and I like Arab horses that look like horses, not dolls. I wish Clarion CF had ten or twenty foals, not two. She is one of two remaining Al Khamsa mares to carry the blood of the three Al Khamsa foundation horses Kesia I, Kesia II and Mameluke. The other mare is Karin Floyd’s Samirahs Adlayah.
The Damkhiyyat (feminine singular Damkhiyyah, masculine singular Damkhi) are most likely a reference to Damkh, a mountainous range in Najd and its surrounding area (photo below). It lies some 300 km west of Riyadh, by Halban, on the highway from Riyadh to Mecca. Arab geographers and poets starting from the 700s CE alike made several references to the waterfalls and lush grazing pastures of this area. It was historically the territory of the tribe of Banu ‘Amru bin Kilab.
[Edited September 1, 2019] I have been enjoying reading a scanned Arabic copy of the manuscript “the Complete Guide to the Professions of Veterinary Medicine and Horse Breeding”, which Hylke Hettema recently pointed me to. This is the medieval treatise otherwise known as the “Nasiri Book” in English or Le Naceri in French. It was composed by Abu Bakr ibn Badr al-Din al-Mundhir al-Baytar (d. 1340 CE), the head veterinarian in the stud of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt/Syria/West Arabia al-Nasir Muhammad around 1333 CE. A more recent copy of this manuscript recently went on auction at Sotheby’s. Nicolas Perron famously published a translation of this manuscript to French between 1852 and 1860. The translation was mostly done by the Egyptian scholar al-Dumyati. You can buy new French editions here, in two volumes. I don’t believe it has been translated to English yet. I found Chapter 5 of Book 1, on the “anssaab” of horses, very intriguing. “Anssaab“, the plural of “nassab“, normally means lineages. I first thought about translating it as “breeds” but I am going to stick with “lineages” for now. Perron rendered it in French as “races” (see here, page 16). Of the lineages of horses and…
This afternoon, I spent a good two hours with Hylke Hettema combing through her online version of al-Kitab al-Nasiri (The Complete Guide to the Professions of Veterinary Medicine and Horse Breeding, Called “The Nasiri Book”). This is the equestrian treatise which Nicolas Perron famously translated and published between 1852 and 1860 under “Le Naceri, la perfection des deux arts”. The book was written in 1333 CE by Abu Bark ibn Badr al-Din ibn al-Munthir al-Bitar, Master of Horses, for his boss, Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. Hylke and I were looking for an early mention of the word “asil” as applied to horses. We found several mentions, and made several other interesting discoveries and inferences. There is material for ten articles! One of the clearest mentions of the term “asil” as applied to horses occurs in the fifth chapter of the first book (page 8 in the link of Hylke): wa amma idha kaana al-fahlu asilan, wa-kaanat bihi ‘aahah kal-jardi wa-al-‘awari wa-al-kardi, fa inna haadhihi la tu’addi. Perron renders this sentence in French as follows (page 37 in the Gallica copy): “Mais si l’étalon, de race pure, est atteint de quelque maladie occasionnelle, si par exemple, il est glabre ou il…
This is my fourth and last attempt to breed — please don’t make fun of me — my lame, old, maiden mare SS Shadows Aana for a 2020 foal. She came in heat last week and Sue Moss had her bred by Jamr. We know he is fertile since another old mare of mine, Nuri, is in foal to him. Logs of previous attempts in 2016, 2017 and 2019 respectively here, here and here.
Of course, many of you have already seen this important article, which Gudrun Waiditschka published in her online magazine In the Focus, about her recent trip to Syria and her covering the recent Arabian horse festival there. It is in the German language.
RJ Cadranell and Jeanne Craver shared this photo of the Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz mare Belldonna CHF (Audobon x LD Rubic), which RJ took at Randall Harris’. She is the dam of my Jadah BelloftheBall, bred by Randall. This line is very close to the desert, through *Nufoud, a mare in the stables of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud. Here is another photo of Belladonna CHF, and a link to an earlier entry featuring her.
Now formally introducing Kinza Al Arab (Subanet Jabbar SDA x DA Ginger Moon), 2019 Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah filly. Kinza: very long ears, superlative shoulder, long withers, low-set eyes, fine muzzle, long hip and a fun disposition. Photos by Bev Davison.
I just happened on Stephanie Sears well illustrated article from 2003 on Arabian horses in Syria. It was published in Canadian Arabian News. Lots of photos I see for the first time, and a nice account of her travels around the country. The link is here. Save it before it disappears!
Karsten Scherling took this photo of Joan DeVour’s stallion Le Coquin some ten years ago in Oregon. That is one of the few Al Khamsa horses with a line to the legendary *Mirage. He now has a new filly.
A random thought unrelated to horses and perhaps better suited for social media: this morning I found myself longing for a glass of chilled karkade, the hibiscus infusion popular in Egypt and Sudan. I recall the one Gulsun Sherif served me in Maadi on a hot August afternon some five years ago. Check this blog entry about it, on the blog “the Egyptian kitchen”.
Yesterday, Hylke and I were discussing when the word “asil” (authentic, original in Arabic) first came to be used in reference to Arab horses, and by whom. I do not believe Bedouins were the first to use the term to refer to their own horses. Even today, they seldom do. Rather, I believe it is a word urban dwellers of Damascus, Aleppo, Bagdad or other cities first applied to some of the horses of the Bedouin to differentiate them from horses of unknown origin and provenance (kadish). Hylke believes the spread of the word “asil” as applied to horses is connected to Orientalism, to European views of racial superiority and to the idea of “purity of blood”, applied to Arabian horses. That would have come about sometime during the nineteenth century. She believes the word was picked up by Syrian/Egyptian/Ottoman horse merchants, traders and other townfolks in response to European emphasis on “pure blood”. It would be nice to find the earliest written reference to the use of the word “asil” in reference to Arab horses in Western equine and travel literature, but also in contemporary Arabic or Ottoman Turkish writings.
I really look forward to the publication of Hylke Hettema’s academic work. It revisits a lot of assumptions about the genesis of the Arab horse, links it to the emerging of a collective Arab ethnic identity, and highlights the role of Orientalism in creating an imagined classic Arabian horse in modern times. I have learned a lot from her over the past two years, and questioned some long-held assumptions. You will hear a lot about her work in the coming years and decades. You may not agree with everything she concludes, but it has the tremedous merit of questioning ossified claims that have come to be accepted as timeless truths over time. Keep asking yourself questions. It keeps us alive. Meanwhile, read Hylke’s article on “Ancient Arabians: A Closer Look at Ancient Egyptian Horses” on her blog “Remembering a Desert Horse“.
This has to be the best horse news of the summer. Bev just wrote from Idaho to share the news that DA Ginger Moon (“Ginger”) delivered a healthy filly foal several hours ago, a week or even two before her due date. Four white socks and a winding blaze. Very long ears, fine muzzle. I am elated. Bev’s Subanet Jabbar SDA is the sire. This is his first foal. I am still looking for a name that starts with “K” (cf. her ancestors Kumoniet, Kumence, and Kualoha).
KUHAYLAN AL-WATI OF DIYAB AL-SBEIH: a gray (born black, he later turned dark gray) asil desert-bred stallion; born c. 1977 (certainly after 1975 and before 1980); bred by Fawaz Ibn Ghishm, who is a lesser shaykh of a clan of the Northern Shammar; Strain: Kuhaylan al-Wati of the marbat of Hakim al-Ghishm of the Shammar; one of the sons of Hakem ibn Hsayni ibn Ghishm once told us that the father of their father got this strain from the Anazeh tribe. The Ghishm also mentioned they only bred their horses to each other, and that breeding to an outside horse was an exception. Sire: a desert bred Kuhaylan al-Wati bred by Fawaz ibn Hakem al-Ghishm of the Shammar tribe; Dam: a desert-bred Kuhayla al-Wati also bred by Fawaz ibn Ghishm; Comments: Fawaz gifted the horse, who was between one and a half and three years old to his inlaws al-Sbeih. A sister of Fawaz had married Mohammad, the eldest son of Diyab al-Sbeih. Diyab was a Mukhtar of the Shammar, a non Shaykh notable; Muhammad ibn Diyab al-Sbeih died in the uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood in the beginning of the 1980s). There is some disagreement between the four Ghishm…
One of the five mares brought back to France by the mission of De Saunhac and Chambry of 1902 was the tall bay mare Naeleh, born in 1898. Her photo below is from a 1902 article in French magazine le Sport Universel Illustre, which describes her purchase in Damascus. The caption for the photo in this article says she was sired by a Kuhaylan and out of a Shuwaymah. It could have been the reverse, because the Kuhaylan strain of the sire is in the feminine form (the article spelled it “Kahlaylet”), while the Shuwayman strain of the dam is in the masculine form (“Choueyman”). Naeleh is the maternal granddam of the beautiful Pompadour broodmare Noble Reine, by Dahman, pictured below (photo from the archives of Robert Mauvy, courtesy of Pierre Henri Beillard), and her full sister Ninon, photo further below. Both inheriated the long, horizontal croup of their sire Dahman.
I happened upon two online editions of the French magazine Le Sport Universel Illustre from the year 1902. They feature an extensive and fascinating account, in two parts, of a French government buying mission to the Orient. The mission started in Constantinople, made its way to Beirut by sea, then traveled to Damascus by rail over Mount Lebanon, before returning to Beirut. It then followed the coastline northwards from Beirut all the way to Antioch where it bought several horses, before staying at Aleppo for four days. In Aleppo, it met the military governor Hasan “Mousim” Pasha, and saw his horses. I wonder if he was not the Hasan Tahsin Pasha whom Davenport met four years later. The mission tried to make its way to Deir Ezzor but a rebellion prevented it from reaching the Euphrates, so instead it went from Aleppo southwards towards Maarah, Hama and Homs. From there it went back again to Beirut and from there traveled south to Sidon, Safad, Nablus and Jerusalem. The mission was led by General Inspectors Chambry and de Saunhac, with the veterinary doctor Manoury. It brought back 12 stallions and 5 mares. Among these was the impressive stallion Khouri, sired by…
I am so happy with how true to his origins he has proven to be. One of my favorite arm-chair horse activities has been to trace his pedigree as far back as possible. Photo by Severine Vesco.
I finally found a couple good photos of Marwah, the Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of Ibn Amud. The top photo was taken at the entrance of Basil Jadaan’s old farm. Marwah was sired by the grey Hadban Enzahi of Fazaa al-Hadi al-Jarba, the son of the old bay Hadban Enzahi of Fazaa. Both Hadbans stood in Garhok in North Eastern Syria, and were widely used by the neighboring Arabs. She was small, but otherwise impossible to fault. Her croup and hindquarters were among the best I have ever seen in desert-bred Arabian horses. NOTE: Please, if you feel the urge to share on social media, link to the entire blog article, but don’t download and share as if the photo were yours. I don’t want Facebook to own these photos or others.
Both taken by an unknown photographer at the old farm of Basil Jadaan. He had a lot of style, and when ridden, he would prance sideways rather than walk straight. Critics would fault his sinuous, snake-like middle of the body, but he did not transmit that.
The more time passes, the more I cherish those precious few horse photos that also happen to show a glimpse of the people around the horses. I used to believe that good horse conformation shots should not show the handler, and certainly not the people in the background. When they did, I would relentlessly crop the people out. I now realize that the people, some of them now gone, are an integral part of the story the photo is telling. Below, a filly at Mustafa al-Jabri’s farm in 1993, with Radwan Shabareq and Kamal ‘Abd al-Khaliq standing in the background, and me sitting on the grass. My father wanted to buy the filly, and took many photos of her. Below, a youthful Chris Bauduin on Murad Hadiya in 1994. In the background, from left to right, Jean-Claude Rajot, myself in the green jacket, a lady whose name I forget and Louis Bauduin near Nemours, France. Below, my father standing near his beloved Ubayyan Suhayli stallion Dahess, then standing at the Jabri farm outside Aleppo in the mid 1990s. And below, me taking notes behind a young Jabri mare whose name and strain escapes me now. Either a Hamdaniyah or a…
I spent the morning digging through old photos, which also bring back stories. I like this photo so much. It features a Tai Bedouin horse breeder, Muhammad al-‘Abd al-Sulayman al-Rhayyil, putting one of his toddler sons on his Saqlawiyah mares near Al-Qamishli, North Eastern Syria. The photo belongs to the sons, now grown men in their thirties and fourties. I believe it is from the early 1980s. The mare is a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah from the breedeing of al-Rhayyil. He or his father obtained what would have been the granddam of this mare in 1952 from the family of the Shaykh of the Tai, Abd al-Hamid (a.k.a Hamid) al-Talal al-‘Abd al-Rahman. The latter got the line from the family of the owner of the marbat, Hasan al-‘Amud, the Shaykh of the ‘Amud section of the Northern Shammar. According to ‘Abbas al-Azzawi (in his encyclopedic book “The Tribes of Iraq”, in Arabic), who quotes the Shaykh of the ‘Amarat Bedouins Mahruth ibn Haddhal, the ‘Amud had obtained the prized original mare in war from the Frijah section of the Ruwalah. This piece of information makes this line one of the most authenticated Saqlawi lines in the desert, because the Frijah are the…
The first one was taken at the desert festival of Palmyra in the mid-1990s, so before its destruction by ISIS. You can see Mobarak in Bedouin gear, standing by one of the tower tombs (now destroyed), next to a female performer in traditional Bedouin costume. The second photo was taken at Basil’s old farm in the suburbs of Damascus. It is now the site of a hotel. Both photos belong to Basil Jadaan and were first published on Hazaim Alwair’s web page, now defunct.
Christine Emmert is a great photographer of horses. She took this photo of Bonnie Duecker’s Davenport gelding Mai Raisuli (Indie Star x Pretty Fancy by Lysander). You see the resemblance with Anita Westfall’s iconic photo of Lysander (below): the ears, the jaws, the forehead.
They are from Basil Jadaan’s pre-war breeding. I believe, but I am not sure, that the one to the right is Yaqut, a daughter of Marwah, a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah. The one to the left would be Bent al-Sham, but I forget who her dam was. Professional photo by Rick Van Lent, for Basil, who gave it to Hazaim, who shared it with me. Marwah’s lineage somehow survives in France today. Qokriyah El Shatane, by Mokhtar out of Hijab, by Ward Al Mayel out of Nisreen, by Mobarak out Marwah, still lives.
Latif is best known as the sire of Denouste, and as such a premier French racing sireline. I had written about him here, some ten years ago.
The 1987 Hamdani ibn Ghurab Mobarak was Basil Jadaan’s foundation stallion. The photo was taken at Basil’s farm, and first published online by Hazaim Alwair. I first saw Mobarak at the farm of Hisham Ghrayyib in Damascus as a three year old. He had come a few days before from his native Shammar Bedouins, and was on his way to Basil Jadaan’s farm. Mobarak was not without defects, but he had such style, such fine skin and such desert looks that it was impossible not to be smitten by him. He did not walk, he pranced, sideways. He oozed Arabness.
The 1983 stallion Mas-huj stood at the farm of Basil Jadaan near Damascus for one season, when this photo was taken. Basil gave a copy of the photo to Hazaim Alwair who published it online for some time. Mas-huj was from the city of Hama, from an old lineage of Ubayyan Sharrak tracing to the Sbaa tribe. I remember Mashuj well, from seeing him in Hama year in year out during the late 1980s and early 1990s at the farm of Fuad al-Azem. His sire was a Saqlawi Jadran of Ibn Zubayni from another old Hama lineage (that of the family of al-Khani). He raced in Beirut under the name of Zad al-Rakib. My father recalls seeing him — the Saqlawi — pull a cart on the streets of Beirut in the early 1980s after his racing career was over. I was in the car apparently but too young to remember.
At the old farm of Basil Jadaan near Damascus. Note the short back, the strong coupling, the arched neck, and the huge eye. The overall balance. Stare at him: he is a concentrate of Arabness.
The findings of recent genetic research by Dr. Barbara Wallner on the sire lines in Arabian horses is likely to cause a lot of stir in the Arabian horse world, from racing “industry” circles to purist ones. The research points to, among other findings, English Thoroughbred ancestry in the sireline of the Saudi/Qatari stallion Amer. Amer was the most successful sire of “Arabian” racehorses of his generation. The information is part of a larger study titled “The horse Y chromosome as an informative marker for tracing sire lines”. It shows the y chromosome in Amer’s offspring displaying the same unique genetic mutation that characterizes the offspring of the English Thoroughbred stallion Whalebone. This mutation is not present in the y chromosome of other English TB male descendants of the Darley Arabian. The Darley Arabian is the sireline for Whalebone, and the main foundation sireline of the English TB breed overall. This means that the face-saving argument of “both Amer and Whalebone/Darley trace to an Arabian horse sire line” does not stand. Many purist breeders must feel so vindicated. I do, for one. Thank god for genetic advances, and for the freedom of expression in some countries that allow such studies…
A recent entry on this blog witnessed a discussion between two French breeders on the notion of “le sang” as applied to Arabian horses. I would like to come back to it, as I believe it to be fundamental to understanding the kind of Arabian horses this blog advocates. This notion is not well captured by the literal translation of the French term “sang” as “blood”. It is not about purity of blood, nor is it about bloodlines. A closer English approximation is perhaps “stamina”. Robert Mauvy offers the best definition, in my opinion (in French, followed by Mr Google’s version): “Le sang! Ce mot en matière hippique ne désigne nullement ce liquide de vie qui anime celle des êtres vivants; ce muscle liquide qui amène a l’organisme les éléments nutritifs et ramène les déchets de cet organisme, non! L’expression hippique “sang” résume, dans un tempérament nerveux, sanguin au paroxysme — le concentre d’énergie, de force, de solidité des tissus, de densité des os, de résistance a toute épreuve, de volonté et de courage. Le cheval arabe de sang pur est l’expression la plus haute du “sang”. C’est lui le “sang”! The “sang”! This word in equestrian matters does not…
A thought had in passing the other day: one notices a significant increase in the use by French and other European horsemen of the term “Nedjdi” (among other spellings) in the first decades of the XIXth century, to refer to some Arabian horses. I believe this increase was probably associated with the influx of Bedouin tribes, mostly ‘Anazah, from Central Arabia (Najd/Nejd/Nedjd) to Northern Arabia that was taking place around the same time. The first decades of the nineteenth century were indeed the time when the Ruwalah, under al-Dray’i ibn Sha’lan, the Fad’aan and other ‘Anazah tribes migrated to the north. In doing so, they came in contact with the Ottoman centers of Damascus and Baghdad, and with other Bedouin tribes already present in the area. People in these urban centers and Northern Arabian Bedouins alike must have referred to the new arrivals and their horses as “Nedjdi” — the ones from Nedjd. What I believe this means — and here lies the crux of my argument — is that the “Nedjdi” horses are essentially the Arabian horses of the ‘Anazah gone northwards. In the North, they would have been contrasted with Arabian horses maintained by the Northern Arabian tribes…
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.
The previous post triggered some memories, which I am eager to put in writing so they don’t vanish — especially as my father, now 86, cannot be persuaded to write his memoirs. Starting from the mid-1980s, my father, General Salim Al-Dahdah, would regularly take me with him to the Beirut racetrack, l’Hippodrome du Parc de Beyrouth. He was a longstanding member of the board of the racetrack’s supervising organization, the Societe pour la Protection et l’Amelioration de la Race Chevaline Arabe au Liban (SPARCA). Henri Pharaon had founded SPARCA in the 1920s and had led it most of his life. He also owned the largest number of racehorses at any given point in the racetrack’s history. Other notable SPARCA members and large owners included Moussa de Freige and Saudi Royal Prince Mansur ibn Saud. I only have faint memories of my earliest visits to the racing stables of Henri Pharaon and Moussa de Freige in the mid 1980s. These involve prancing horses, slender grooms, heaps of alfalfa, white plastic chairs, tea cups and endless conversations between adults, with their dose of foul language. They also involve sounds of neighing, horse farts, horses nervously pounding the metal doors of their boxes…
Just a note to say that the author of one of the obituaries of Henri Pharaon (1901-1993) in the Independent is wrong about him hailing from a Triestine family. The Pharaons are originally from Damascus, and one of their branches emigrated to Egypt then Trieste, which was then the only outlet of the Habsburg Empire on the Mediterranean Sea. Indeed a reader issued this correction: MAY I add to Professor John Carswell’s evocative memories of Henri Pharaon (10 August, further to the obituary by Robert Fisk, 7 August)? writes Rosemarie Said Zahan.Pharaon did not come from an old Triestine family which had emigrated to Egypt. The family came from the Bekaa in Lebanon, but one member, Antoun Kassis Pharaon, emigrated in the middle of the 18th century to Egypt, where he soon rose to become the substantial figure of Customs Master (Le Grand Douanier). He strongly advocated the Red Sea overland trade route from Europe to India via Suez (long before the canal was built), and in so doing, was helpful to many European traders. In 1784, he left Egypt and settled in Europe where he was given the title of Count of the Holy Roman Empire. His descendants are…
A previous entry by Kate McLachlan on the modern descendants of the Weil Stud foundation mare Murana I led me to the family of Cassis-Faraone of Trieste. Murana I was acquired in 1816 by Baron Fechtig for Weil by way of the port of Trieste. Some of Europe’s most illustrious foundation Arabian horses were associated with Fechtig: Tajar, Bairactar, Murana I, Warda, Koeyl, etc. But who was he? Lets pin down some places first: Weil was the royal stud of the King Wilhem I of Wurttemberg (1781-1854), whose capital was Stuttgart. Trieste, now in Italy, was at the time the main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Mediterranean sea. The trade of Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Orient, including Egypt and Syria, went through Trieste. Baron Ferdinand Fechtig Von Fechtenberg, the son of a senior magistrate in Vienna of same name, became a merchant when he married Teresa, daughter of a wealthy merchant from Trieste, Antonio Cassis-Faraone. This marriage marks the beginning of his trading association with the Orient. Antonio Cassis-Faraone was born in Damascus in 1745, the scion of a Greek-Catholic (ie, Melkite) family of traders. This is the same family as that of Henri Pharaon, who played such…
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.
Daughter of the Pharaohs, aka “Pippa”, the 2015 Ma’anqiyah Sbayliyah filly I leased from DeWayne Brown, is confirmed in foal to Tamaam DE for March 2020. I am very much looking forward to this foal, whatever its gender. Terry and Lyman Doyle brought me the good news.
Excerpt from an Art Newspaper article: The Arab Image Foundation, Beirut’s pioneering non-profit archive of Middle Eastern photography, has launched an online platform that makes 22,000 images from the collection accessible and searchable for the first time. The foundation’s building, which has been closed to the public since 2016, will also reopen this summer, a spokesman says. I haven’t looked, but I hope there is something about Arabian horses there.
Photos shared here by kind permission of Oliver Seitz.
Back in the 1990s, when Hansi Heck-Melnyk and I were trying to account for all Tunisian horses in Tunisia and Europe, there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of these beautiful, dry Arabians with lines that traced exclusively to horses imported from the desert of North Arabia. Tunisia was indeed had the one of the largest pools of such Arabians, after Egypt but before Syria (pre-civil war) and Bahrain. The Tunisian state stud of Sidi-Thabet which I visited in 2004 (or was it 2005?), was filled with good broodmares. Today, almost thirty years later, one is hard-pressed to find a horse with a 100% Tunisian pedigree. Most everything at the state stud of Sidi Thabet seems to have been top crossed with doubtful French blood. There may be a few left at Gisela Bergmann’s near Jendouba, and a couple others in private hands, but that’s about it in Tunisia. Maybe a few more in Germany (thanks to the Bergmann’s influence), and one or two old mares in France, but there hasn’t been any Tunisian stallions there in a while, the last one being Jassem (Koraich x Nefissa by Madani). How can that be? Can someone undertake a survey of what…
Such reads the caption on the photo below, shared by Rehan Ud Din Baber on his wonderful Facebook page. Rehan tells us the photo is from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, which I will certainly look up. Also sharing Severine Vesco’s beautiful comment on that photo, in French: C’est en regardant ces photos là qu’on comprend vite ce qu’est l’arabe… un cheval de guerre dans un des milieux les plus difficiles au monde, et dans une culture tribaleEt vu que le sport c’est quand même plus facile que la razzia ou la guerre, il devrait y exceller. Le cheval arabe est bien plus qu’un chanfrein concave ou une queue en panache. C’est un compagnon d’arme, garant et dernier rempart de son cavalier, un roc chargé de le protéger, de l’emmener en sécurité aussi bien qu’au combat, d’aller vite mais aussi loin, d’affronter tous les obstacles, avec Noblesse… Endurance, vitesse, polyvalence, volonté, proximité à l’homme, solidité, puissance, sécheresse des tissus, charisme, noblesse, Sang Voilà toutes les cases que doit cocher un cheval arabe pour survivre à ce mode de vie, et c’est tout ça qui l’a rendu si …. Parfait