General

Gamont on the stud of Abbas Pasha pre-1842

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An excerpt by the French Gamont, who was in charge of Mehemet Ali’s stud of Choubra between 1828 and 1842. Google Translate will get you a good translation. Haras d’abas-pacha. — Le haras d’Abas-Pacha est situé dans une plaine de sable, auprès d’Héliopolis. Ce haras est une copie de celui de Choubra. Longtemps, Abas-Pacha a … Read more

Ahmad al-Taha of the Juhaysh

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Finally, a photo of Shaykh Ahmad al-Taha, leader of the Juhaysh tribe in Northern Iraq. The Juhaysh were a large sheep-herding tribe. The belong to the larger Zabid confederation, which migrated northwards from Yemen to the Euphrates valley some 500 year ago. Only the leaders of the tribe kept horses. The Juhaysh had two main … Read more

Yasser’s piece: “The Arabian Horse Identity Throughout History and the Future of the Breed: Identity Determinants and Transformations Through the Historical Epochs”

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I am sure many of you have alreay seen the piece Yasser Ghanim al-Tahawi recently wrote for the Kuwaiti Bait Al-Arab’s magazine. Yasser has emerged as one of most precise and boldest thought leaders on the subject of the identity of the Arabian horse. Scroll down to the end of the pdf for the piece. … Read more

Jamr again

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This is Jamr again, in stills. I want to see similarities with the Blunt horses in this 1922 video by British Pathe. Again, I wish the neck was a tad longer; and if he had three more inches to him. Part of it was due to poor nutrition because he was weaned at three months … Read more

Slow-looking

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I feel very comfortable with Jamr‘s head, because of the combination of the straight profile, the small muzzle, and the deep jowls. I think one needs to see beyond the flashy, in-your-face, provocative, even disturbing “beauty” of present day heads of Arabian horses of the showring kind, with its exaggerated features. One instead needs to … Read more

A strain claimed to trace to the Bani Hilal, eleventh century AD

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On a very old strain, from the Arabic original of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, translation mine: The Gmassah [a branch of the Sba’ah tribe] were asked about the [strain of] ‘Ubayyah of Ibn ‘Alyan, which marbat she is from? The elders of the Sba’ah informed that: ‘She is ‘Ubayyah Huwaynah, [belonging] to [the tribe of] … Read more

Ahmed Mabrouk on the Ubayyan horses at Ibn Jalawi in East Arabia in 1936

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The following are excerpts from the RAS Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk’s book “A Journey to Arabia”, pertaining to his visit to Eastern Arabia in 1936: [King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia] gave me two recommendations, one to H.H. Prince Seoud Ibn Galawi, Ruler of El-Ehsa […]. The well known hospitality of H.M. The King and his … Read more

Barakah, 5 years old

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Barakah is now 5. I think she may have more growing (and widening) to do. She is 95% Davenport (four generations of Davenport stallions on top) but she looks nothing like full-Davenport horses. She is leggier, and differently balanced, with flatter bone. She has her sire’s drooping quarter (when moving this does not show). Pity … Read more

Muddy yet magnificient Wadhah

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Wadhah is now 11, and looks truly magnificent. She is in foal to Monologue CF, and due in mid-May for her first foal. She really looks like the Thadrian daughter that she is. She has fully transitioned from the zarqa (darker, blue-grey) to the safra (light grey, almost white, with yellowish mane and tail) shade of … Read more

Stating the obvious

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I am about to state the obvious about horses that combine different, well-established bloodlines: sometimes they look like horses of one bloodline, and sometimes like horses of the other bloodline, depending on the angle, the stage of growth, the light, etc. Jamr, who is roughly half Davenport, half Doyle (i.e., Blunt), sometimes reminds of me … Read more

Jamr — Finally

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I went to see the horses a few days ago. They looked wonderful. The younger ones have finally matured into what I was expecting of their bloodlines. I felt so vindicated, in terms of the breeding decisions I took over the past decade. I had remained uncertain about these decisions until recently. Jamr, albeit small, … Read more

Sawwan update

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A very good endurance riding friend of ours is sending her mare to visit Gülilah Sawwan , the last living SE son of the German import Mahib. Assad Princess Surrayah is sired by the noted endurance sire (and all around sweetheart) Sidi el Nabiel out of the Maistro[imp] daughter Sidi Halima. She’s not exactly a … Read more

Head stallion at al-Kharj in 1936

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From the 1936 book of Dr. Ahmad Mabrouk of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt, “Rihlah ila Bilad al-‘Arab”, comes this picture of a stallion of King Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud at the al-Kharj stud in Najd. Arabian horse fans would do well to carefully study the horse in this picture: he was the senior … Read more

Harab Bachir

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We’re in the process of getting the stallion Harab Bachir’s registration in the Namibian stud book finalised. These are some VERY candid photos and as you can see my talent for equine photography blossomed at a young age and promptly withered. I’m very excited about this stallion. Apart from the line to Tuwaisan[imp] that is rare in … Read more

Bahraini race video

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This video sent along by Talal Farah shows a race held in Bahrain between a part-bred Arab horse from Lebanon and a Bahraini mare owned by the Bahraini ruler. The part-bred, a grey owned by famous racehorse owner Mahmud Fustuq, is Bahr al-Hadi, who sired a good deal of the Lebanese part-breds. He was very … Read more

Crabbet stallion Rasim in Poland

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In the same vein as the photos of lesser-known Crabbet horses which Kate re-published below, here is a photo of Rasim (Feysul x Risala, born 1906) from the December 1933 edition of the French magazine Le Sport Universel Illustre, with a nice description of him in French. The photo was taken during a visit of … Read more

Jilfan Dhawi in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript

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Today I found the following note in the 1935 book of Prince Mohammed Ali. It is an excerpt from the Abbas Pasha Manuscript (or one of its drafts), on a mare of the Jilfan Dhawi strain acquired by Abbas Pasha: The intensely black Jilfah Dahwa mare of the Fid’an, owned by Nasir al-Wayil of Shammar, … Read more

الكحيلة الخلّاويّة عند الفيحان في الجزيرة السورية توثيق محمد معصوم العاقوب

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روى سليمان العزو السليمان الفيحان من قبيلة الشرابين تجاوز الستين من العمر عن تاريخ قدوم الخلّاوية الى أهله قال: درجت الخلّاوية الى جد أبي اسمه فيحان منذ ما يقارب 180 عام من اعنزا حيث حدثت مشاجرة بين الرعاة من اعنزا والشرابين على المراعي حوالي منطقة جبل سنجار وفي هذه المشاجرة أُصيب رجل من الشرابين وبعد … Read more

Another picture of Najm and Marwah, the desert-bred Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of the Shammar

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Marwah had these magical soulful eyes and long eyelashes. She was small, but built like a tank. Both photos from Marwa’s owner Basil Jadaan. The strain belongs to Hasan ibn Amud who led the Amud clan of the Northern Shammar, but traces to the Jadraniyat mares of the Frijah clan of the Ruwalah. The Frijah … Read more

Republishing: Marwah with Najm al-Himmayri

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Basil Jadaan’s gorgeous  foundation mare Marwah, a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of the marbat of Ibn ‘Amud from the Shammar, pictured here with the late Najm al-Himmayri. Najm’s day job was “horseman”, or “horse expert”. Marwah was the dam of Hijab (by Ward al-Mayel), exported to France and the maternal grandam of the French-bred Syrian stallion Menjad … Read more

Fawaz

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Fawaz al-Rajab passed away last week. The news of his passing saddened me greatly, perhaps because he was directly connected to my family’s story with horses. Fawaz was one of Syria’s very last hassanah, (in Arabic حصانة, “men of horses”). Part merchants, part experts, part brokers, part stallion handlers, but never breeders nor owners, the … Read more

ام الفحل السوري الشهير كروش جهيم

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  وقعت عيناي على حجة باسم جهيم المطخان يفيد بها ان ام الفحل الشهير كروش جهيم المعروف باسمه هي كروش محمد النواف الجربا مما يعني ان كروش جهيم يرد الى فرس علي العبد الرزاق الجربا التي وردت مع امه العمشة اثر رجوعها من حائل حيث اقامت عدة سنوات في ضيافة ابن رشيد وقد اتى ابن … Read more

Goodbye Ginger

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Seven years after this post, it’s time to say goodbye to Ginger (DA Ginger Moon, photo below). She went to Bev Davison, who had been keeping her for me for some time. Bev now has quite a collection of horses with high percentage Abbas Pasha blood from the dam lines of both Gulida and Rabanna, … Read more

The only American woman doctor in Aramco

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This interesting 2019 article from Aramco Expat is an obituary of sorts for John Ames, an early (pre-World War II) Aramco employee. He was the husband of Dr. Esther Ames, who imported the Ubayyah mare *Mahraa and her daughter *Muhaira to the USA. The following exceprt struck me: John was married to Esther – Esther … Read more

كحيلة ابن مزهر في الجزيرة السورية توثيق محمد معصوم العاقوب مراجعة الشيخ هاشم الجربا

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تُعتبر كحيلة ابن مزهر من الارسان الحديثة وهي بالأصل كروش بطحها رجل من الجوالة من قبيلة طي يُقال له حماد الاسيود الخابور من رجل من الفدعان يُقال له ابن ماضي ثم اخذها من الجوالي ابن مزهر من اقارب شيخ طي انذاك محمد العبدالرحمن العساف توفّي نهاية اربعينيات القرن العشرين وهو الذي أطلق عليها اسم كحيلة … Read more

Sidi Mabrouka

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I have to admit that this mare has always been a favourite of mine, ever since I saw her at my first endurance ride at the age of sixteen. One of her owners, Mr. Paul Kotzé of Diepsand Stud, sent me some screenshots of her, that I will replace when I receive the photos. The … Read more

A hujjah in M. Rousseau’s ‘Lettre sur les chevaux arabes’, 1813

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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 … Read more

A hujjah from 1808

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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 … Read more

A hujjah from 1722

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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 … Read more

Three generations of Murana I mares at Marbach

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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, … Read more

الصگلاوية الجدرانية في الجزيرة برواية حمّاد الجدوع الجزعة توثيق محمد معصوم العاقوب

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يقول حماد الجدوع الجزعة سمعتُ من أبي يقول الصگلاوية الجدرانية التي عندنا بالأصل لآل غبين شيوخ الفدعان من اعنزا وقدا أهدوا فرس الى ابن اختهم ضاري ابن محمود شيخ زوبع من شمر في ثورة العشرين في العراق جَلى ابن محمود الى الجزيرة السورية لأنّه كان احد القادة للثورة وجلبَ معه مجموعة من الخيل ضمنها الصكلاوية … Read more

Five breedings this year

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This is the year I have planned the most breeding since 2006. Five mares were bred or about to be bred. Of these three are going to Davenport stallions: Andre DL, Anecdote CF, and Monologue CF. 1/ CSA Baroness Lady to the Da’jani stallion from Syria (planned) 2/ Wadha Al Arab to Monologue CF (in … Read more

Extreme

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This is the stallion I am going to breed my mares to this year. I chose him because of his extreme arched neck, his extreme throat latch, his extreme high set tail, his extreme muzzle, the extreme black skin around his eyes, and above all else, his extreme floating action. Wish me extreme luck.

Sidi Thabet visit

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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

Bassma Al Arab, at three months old

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By far the nicest surprise of yesterday’s visit to see my horses was little Bassma Al Arab, now three months old. She is Belle’s daughter by Jamr Al Arab. She looks absolutely superb, and I hope she lives long enough to fulfill her promise. She is going to be grey. I confess having taken that … Read more

Belle yesterday, after two years

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Yesterday I went to see my horses for the first time since the onset of COVID-19 some two and a half years ago. Belle the Kuhaylat al-Ajuz looks good and has had two fillies in the last four years. Both fillies are an improvement over her, in terms of balance and structure. I am going … Read more

Passing away of Danah Al Khalifah

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WhatsApp and Twitter threads of Gulf countries Arab horse and saluki breeders are spreading the news of the passing of Danah Al Khalifah of natural causes, the day before yesterday. Rest in Peace, noble lady of the horses, you have done so much.

Kesseb, Mezerib & Loubieh

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Some more of what I received from Tunisia. I’ve added the pedigree information I could find. (That in and of itself is a caveat). Kesseb (Sibawaih x Remada, by Cheikh El Ourbane)   Mezerib   Loubieh (Bouq x Eqbatane, by Ihalli)

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