Online Datasource
Yesterday evening, I threw away my 2000 Arabian Horse Datasource CD-ROM, and bought a new one year online membership. The geek in me was so excited. Now guess what is the first studbook I looked up in search for lost and forgotten asil Arabians? Saudi Arabia? Syria? Bahrain? Iraq? the USA? France? No. I looked up Algeria first.
I guess that’s where my heart really lies. This is where France sent its best desert-bred imports and its best horsemen. This is where, in my opinion, some of the most authentic, true-to-type Arabians were bred. Every mare at the the West-Algerian stud of Tiaret was a gem.
Of course, following their country’s independence , the Algerians went ahead and imported “Arabians” from Spain, the UK and elsewhere, effectively putting an end to some 100 years of asil breeding. I wanted to see what remained of the Tiaret breeding, which up to the 1980s was centered on the two magnificent stallions Larabi (Fil x Ledmia by Ghalbane) and Guercif (Ghalbane x Gaila by Bang0). The news is not good, but there may be two or three mares of breedable age still alive, with progeny in 2000. I feel like jumping in an airplane..
Hi Edouard, Good to hear you are now an online subscriber to AHA datasource. I use if often but like all references it is important to negotiate your way around the errors recorded therein. Some are minor but some are significant. For example: the Egyptian mare Bint Dalal is listed as by Rabdan x Dalal but in fact she is by Hadban x Dalal, not Rabdan. This effectively makes Anter’s pedigree in error as well as numerous Inshass horses with Mekdam and El Zafir in the pedigree. With respect to the Egyptian pedigrees AKA III is always a good cross check as well as Hansi’s reference books, Judi Forbis’s writing and some PS books.
Also some of U.S. imported desert breds found in some Blue Star pedigrees are not informative. For example Sawannah is not listed as the dam of Hadriya. Sara Jones probably has a running list of things that need fixing on DataSource but all things considered it is well worth an annual subscription and I use it frequently.
I use it often, but not to do research on original desert bred horses and pre-registration horses. Rather, its strength is complete registered progeny and how lines breed down to the present (or relatively recent present, anyway).
I agree RJ. That is its real asset. I find that it helps reveal patterns in breeding a well. Also one can interpret some interesting facts such as the way in which a horse’s second generation impact unfolds. A stallion with very few progeny in comparison to a very heavily used one may have a much higher percentage of grandget than the heavily used horse indicating a large breeder interest in his genetic impact as a sire. When one cross references other writings and correspondence of the past with the results displayed in the DataSource it is interesting to see how patterns unfold.