Daughters of the Wind

From the Arabian Horse Archives comes this beautiful picture of the Stud of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Sa’ud at al-Kharj, the dream of many a horse breeder. From the collection of Comar Arabians. It is not available in better resolution anymore.

Bait al-Arab Kuwaiti researcher Yahya al-Kandari found a manuscript on Arabian horse strains in a private library in Jerusalem. The manuscript seems to date from 1264 Hijri, equivalent to 1848 CE. The handwriting is indeed characteristic of the mid-XIXth century Arabic script. I am eager to learn more, but for now, I will take what’s … Read more

Monologue CF recently had a very showy son for Laura Fitz in Michigan, the outcome of his stay there last here. His dam is Laura’s 2014 grey mare Mi Blue Angel (DB Khrush x Thank Heaven by Mlolshaan Hager Solomon). Unfortunately, Laura’s other mare, HH Karisma Krush proved barren to him.

The past few weeks have been fairly productive, in terms of my digging into the origins of Arabian horse strains, based on the accounts in the Arabic edition of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript. I wrote about the origins of the Dahman, Saqlawi, Hamdani, Hadban, Shuwayman, Krushan, Mimrah, and Harqan strains. I also have upcoming entries … Read more

Georges Philippe Tabet’s short booklet “Arabian Horse Lineages” (Ansaab al-Khayl al-Arabiyah, Dar al-Ahad, Beirut, June 1937, 56 pages in both Arabic and French) features a long list of Arabian horse strains. This is the “yellow booklet” I mentioned in an earlier entry. The list is different from lists of Western travelers — Blunt, Upton, Raswan, … Read more

Today was a special day. As a child, I used to treasure the times spent talking with my father about Arabian horses. In the evenings, I would sit by his bedside,and read from the same books or magazines he read from. There was a white nightstand near his bed. In one of the nightstand’s drawers, … Read more

I finally located the original reference to the famous account of the gift of a really expensive desert-bred mare to al-Malik al-Nassir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Syria and Hijaz. He reigned from 1293 to 1341 CE, with two interruptions (1294-99 and 1309-10). Al-Nassir Muhammad was really fond of desert-bred horses from Arabia. … Read more

I have been reading and writing a lot about the Dhafeer Bedouin tribe lately, because of its link with the origins of the Hamdani and Hadban strains. So here is a rare picture of ‘Ajmi ibn Suwayt (died 1988), the tribe’s Shaykh during most of the twentieth century. While the tribe’s traditional dira (i..e, the … Read more

From the “History of Najd” of ‘Uthman Ibn Bishr: Under the year 1670-71 CE: In the year 1081 [Hijri], was the battle of al-Kaythal, a well known place in Najd, between al-Dhafeer and al-Fudul. Under the year 1674-75 CE: In the year 1085, [came] the famous time known [as] Jarman during which prices increased, and … Read more

It’s an exaggeration but this is what Hamid ibn Mudhi al-Suhayyan, the Shammari owner of the marbat of Ubayyan Ibn Suhayyan, told me in 2006. At the time I did not fully grasp the significance of what he had said. After reading the initial stories about the foundation of every strain in the Abbas Pasha … Read more

I take special interest in the origin of Arabian horse strains. I am particularly keen on establishing the approximate dates when the main strains first came about. In the context of oral Bedouin culture, this can present obvious challenges. Before the advent of modernization and mass literacy in the twentieth century, Bedouins did not assign … Read more

This entry compares two Arabic primary sources some 53 years apart: First, my translation of a passage in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript (1853) about the Hamdani Simri strain, with my notes in brackets. “Mughir Ibn Buraykan of the Gmassah [a clan of the Sba’ah tribe], a man aged one hundred years, was queried. He testified … Read more

Syrian racehorse owner Ali al-Barazi was an authority on the horses of Homs and Hama in Central Syria. He was also a primary source of information about the horses of the Sba’ah Bedouin tribe, whose summer encampments were near these two cities. His family acquired many horses from the Sba’ah. His information about the racehorses … Read more

I love reading the Abbas Pasha Manuscript in its Arabic version. I find it entertaining, a bit like a novel. This is one of my favorite passages — my translation, and my annotations in brackets: Shahata al-Hunaydees was asked: “Do tell us about your marbat [a Bedouin stud], by your honor and good fortune. From … Read more

A younger me with Mustafa Jabri on the left and Radwan Shabareq on the right. The good years. Some 25 years ago if not more.

Dali was the brother of Radi al-Hkaysh and the paternal cousin of ‘Atallah al-Battu, who owned the Hamdani Simri stallion al-Aawar, and before him a Dahman ‘Amir of the horses of ‘Ajil al-Yawar. This Dahman ‘Amir had been given to him by his maternal uncles so he could earn a livelihood from charging stud fees. … Read more

Faddan Salim al-‘Ufaytan and his son, from the Hdibah clan of the Northern Shammar. The ‘Ufaytan have owned the Ma’naqi Hudruji strain among the Shammar for some hundred years. They got the strain from the ‘Anazah. The strain originally belonged of the ‘Amarat tribe of the ‘Anazah. I think, but I am not sure, that … Read more

Rosemary pointed my attention to the black eyeliner mark around his eyes. It is a relatively rare feature in chestnut Arabian horses, and a mark of authenticity. I think DeWayne took the first two pictures. This Ma’anaqi Sbayli strain really produces quality, and the hybrid vigor from the concentrated Doyle blood helped.

i am enjoying the book “Review of the ‘Anizah Tribe”: “An avenger should not kill the aggressor while asleep and he usually wakes him up to remind him of his evil deed before dispatching him. He then slits the corners of his mouth up to the ears, cuts off his ears and put them in … Read more

I just received two books in the mail. I am super excited about them. The first one is a previously unpublished “Review of the ‘Anizah Tribe” by Gerald de Gaury, the British explorer of Arabia (photo below). Bruce Ingham, who wrote the very informative “Bedouin of Northern Arabia” about the Dhafeer tribe, discovered this manuscript … Read more

The other day Hazaim told me very casually, almost in passing, that the Shaykh of the Sba’ah (‘Anazah) tribe Ma’jun Ibn Hudaib was his uncle’s best friend, and that Hazaim knew him personally. He even sent me his picture. He also told me that the Shaykh of the Gmassah (‘Anazah) tribe, Rakan Ibn Mirshid, lived … Read more

Al-Khaldi’s line is the most popular line of race horses in Syria today. It is now hard to find a Syrian Arabian without a line to him. Hazaim took the these two photos in 2005 in Garhok, in the extreme North East of Syria. Yours truly is holding him, in bad need of a haircut. … Read more

Yesterday I learned that Wisteria had died in January 2020, at 25 years of age. She was the reason for my love for Arabians of Davenport bloodlines. She was also the first horse I owned in the US, fourteen years ago. She had “wondeful eyes, very great style and beauty“, like Jauza in the words … Read more

Arched neck. Fine throat-latch (mithbah). Broad jibbah. Low placed, large eye. Long fine muzzle. Deep jowls. What’s not to like? Meanwhile, some people with common sense are ringing the alarm bell. No black background here. I am not picking on a particular horse, but showing a global trend. The photos are meant for illustration purposes.

Arched neck. Fine throat-latch (mithbah). Broad jibbah. Low placed, large eye. Long fine muzzle. Deep jowls. And, soo cute! Bright golden chestnut color. What’s not to like? Who cares about legs anyway?

The filly is a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah daughter of Provance CF, the little girl is Kuhaylat al-Wair daughter of Hazaim. Both originally from Syria.

Thanks to Kate, I was able to purchase the unpublished PhD. thesis of John F. Williamson, “A political history of the Shammar Jarba tribe of al-Jazirah: 1800-1958“, Indiana University, Ph.D., 1975. Here is a quote from the thesis about the rebellion of Shammar leader ‘Abdul Karim al-Jarba against the Ottomans: ‘Abd al-Karim revolted in early … Read more

Photo here. Afif is one of the largest wells in Arabia. The ‘Ataiba was one of the most powerful Bedouin tribes in Arabia.

Same photographer as the image below, different setting: an oasis, a wealthier man, a better-groomed horse, an Arab bit.