A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Some thirty years ago, an aprocryphal story spread in Arabian horses circles about a purported conversation between a senior Western official and a Saudi prince (their names are not the point of the story). It goes that the Western official pleaded for the Prince to register his large herd of Arabian horses — two hundred … Read more
“Nowadays breeding of the Arabian in the Middle East has concentrated on race horses for the Beirut and Cairo race tracks. However this breeding has been tainted by the intrusion of English Thoroughbred blood in the Arabian horses of Iraq. The Iraqi Arabian is bigger and runs faster — but he has lost the look … Read more
I am not sure who colorized this well-known photo of *Haleb, taken by Arthur Moore during Davenport’s trip to Arabia in 1906, but they did a good job (except perhaps for too many blue gowns). The quality of *Haleb shows well. I am reminded of his descendant Mayassah.
Badia Al Arab is by Monologue CF out of Barakah Al Arab. Barakah Al Arab is by Wadd Al Arab out of Jadah BelloftheBall. Wadd Al Arab is by Triermain out Wisteria CF. Three generations Al-Dahdah breeding. الكحيلة بركة العرب وبنتها بادية العرب يوم السبت
The Wadnan (or Wathnan) stallion Abu Khamseh (Khamseh x Parsa by Hashem) was one of Europe’s most important endurance horses. The first photo was taken in his prime, the second as was completing a 200 km ride, and the third by Christelle Seranne in old age.
Facebook pages are reposting this photo of Jedran (Ghazi × Baribeh) a 1932 chestnut stallion from the lineage of Basilisk. He was bred by W.R. Brown, stood at Travelers Rest, was sold to the US Remounts and was used in service from 1935 to 1945. Photo from The Arabian Horse News magazine February 1955. He … Read more
Photo by Christelle Seranne
Photo Marion Wassilewski
Photographed by Yoshio Kawashima
Somehow I had never seen this photo of Spencer Borden’s stallion Segario, an important sire in early American Arabian horse breeding. Someone posted them on allbreedpedigree.com. He is in the pedigree of Mayassa Al Arab, and of her son Munir Al Arab (by Pulcher Ibn Reshan), photo below. Munir belongs to Debbie Mackie, who’s been … Read more
Ahmad Tariq al-Hashimi sent me this old photo, likely taken in Iraq at the beginning of the 20th century. You see an Ottoman official, and the text is in Ottoman Turkish. The mare on the left is Kuhaylat al-Ajuz and the one on the right is a Kuhaylah Bu’ayrah. Both are superb representatives of the … Read more
This stallion is not your usual Egyptian horse. Born at Gustl Eutermoser in Austria in 1974, he traces to the desert-bred Mabrouka, gifted by King Ibn Saud to the King of Egypt in 1945. He is special in that six out of sixteen of his 4th generation ancestors are desert bred. The headshot photo was … Read more
Atlass is by Adjar out of Aram. Photo through Jens Sannek. Not sure who took the picture. A foundation mare of the Iranian lines that came to Europe, although she did not come to Europe herself.
Now aged 25 years old, Hayoun (Hashem x Palmirah) is a grandson of Hamdan II (Hamdan x Folla) and looks like him. He is 50% Iranian, 37.5% RAS/Inshass Egyptian, and 12.5% Tahawi to Folla. Photo S. Freitag.
Photo gleaned off social media without a source. If you know it’s source please share. [Update: Kate tells me rthat there was another photo of King Faisal on the same horse at ctesiphon.com]
Jens Sannek again shared with me a photo of the stallion Haddad (Selim x Arezoo), an important sire in Iran, and the full brother of Khamseh that went to Europe. Haddad and Khamseh are of the Hamdani strain of the Sh. Hajat of the Al Katheer Bedouin tribe.
Jens Sannek has been kindly supplying me with a lot of new-to-me information about the horses of Gustl Eutermoser and Ulrike Marcik. He tells me that they were good friends of Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz Al Sa’ud, then governor of the Hail province, and that they imported two desert-bred Saudi mares through him from … Read more
On their journey back from Hail to Bagdad in early 1870, Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt met the Al Kathir tribe, which she refers to in the plural as “Ketherin”, with their leader Mutlakh, and nearly purchased a handsome Wadnan Khursan horse from them. The Al Kathir are part of the larger Bani Lam tribe. … Read more
This is just to have an idea of the people behind the horses. I found these on a (human) genealogy website. His brother is Abdel Khan, mounted on a dark Arabian horse. His father’s full name including titles is Gholam Hossein Khan Sardar Mohtasham Bakhtiar (Haji Ilkhani). His grandfather’s full name is Emam Gholi Khan … Read more
Linking out to Gudrun’s Waiditschka’s informative article on the Arabian horses of Iran, which she republished on her website after Germany’s Asil Club accepted some 300 foundation horses from Iran.
Through Kina Murray also comes this short movie about an ealier iteration of the centuries-old, seasonal migration of the Bakhtiari tribe. The sequence of the horse falling, hitting a rock, rolling then rising again as if unhurt is stunning.
From her Journals and Correspondence (J&C, edited by Archer and Flemning), comes an account of the travels of Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt among the Bani Lam of Lower Mesopotamia and Khuzestan. It took place during their 1879 journey through al-Amarah in Lower Mesopotamia through Khuzestan/Arabistan by way of Dezful and Shustar all the way … Read more
Stephan Eberhardt shared with me these photos from a book he has: from top to bottom: Hamza (chestnut Nesman stallion), Jallad (grey Wadnan stallion) and Palmira and Bint Palmirah (the two chestnut Wadnah mares, out of three in the bottom photo). He tells me that he saw both Jallad and the black mare Jezabel at … Read more
Jens Sannek shared with me this rare photo, which purports to show the Iranian foundation stallion Karoun, a Jilfan Jarjari by strain, tracking to the horses of the Bani Malik tribe. He’s had it for 30-35 years, but does not know its source. Hopefully a reader can point to its origin. Mary Gharaghozlu wrote the … Read more
By Khamseh out of Parsa by Hashem out of Palmira by Jallad. 75 percent Iranian lines, 25 percent Egyptina lines. Photos taken in 2021 at 26 years old.
Reposting this old photo of Fanaira (Fanifeh x *Muhaira), a bay 1962 Ubayyah mare of the strain of Ibn Jiluwi, bred by the Searles in the USA, entirely from Ibn Jalawi’s breeding. She is in the same style as my AAS Nelyo, who traces to her five times. The tail set and carriage, the croup, … Read more
Wilton posted these two photos of Jezabel a few years ago. I believe that he got them from a German magazine. The first one features an older Jezabel with her last foal Juno by an Egyptian horse of show bloodlines. The second shows her with the Hamdani Simri stallion Inta (Ibn Insiatur x Sabah).
The lovely Sotoudeh, a 1998 Iranian Asil Meleihieh of the strain of Ghassem Ali Zargani of the Zarqan/Zargan Bedouin tribe of Iran. I wrote about Ghassem Ali Zargani (multiple spellings) here. Photo courtesy of Jens Sannek, who just like me, is awed by this strain.
I found online traces of the Shaykh Hanash Mojadami that Mary Gharazoglu writes about as one of the foremost breeders of Arabian horses in Iran. Accordingto her, the clan he led bred several strains: The Kaab, under whose name General Tweedie recognizes the Arab of Iran, are a large tribe divided into sub-tribes. Those best … Read more
A screenshot of a fine chestnut mare from the movie “Migrate to Survive” on Mary Gharagozlu’s horses, around minute ten.
Yet another movie recommendation from Kina Murray is the 1925 silent movie “Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life” on the migration of the Bakhtiari tribes of Iran. It’s an hour long. Kina tells me that there is a much a better version, without all the irritating advert interruptions on youtube, but that one has to … Read more
THe Encyclopedia Iranica has an interesting article on the Arab tribes of Iran, which takes a long historical perspective over thousands of years. The following excerpt on the tribes of Khuzestan is informative: There are numerous Arab tribes in Ḵūzestān, all of which still speak Arabic. The most important ones at the turn of the … Read more
The stallion Karoun, a Jilfan Jarjari from the strain of the Bani Malek tribe of Khuzestan born ca. 1942, is the main sireline progenitor for Iranian Arabian horses. Genetic Y-DNA studies have found this sire line to fall under the most common Arabian male haplogroup (Ao-aA1a). Below is a table from Kate McLachlan’s recent Khamsat … Read more
Lately, I have been digging into the origins of Iranian Arabian horses. Using authoritative works in the Arabic language such as ‘Abbas al-‘Azzawi’s monumental “Tribes of Iraq” in four volumes and other sources, I was able to identify several of the older, original horse breeders mentioned in the first studbook of the Asil Stud of … Read more
Jens Sannek continues to gratify me with photos of desert Arabian imports to Europe and their progeny. This photo came to him from the late Austrian breeder Anton Tucek. It shows Anton’s 1991 bay stallion Jezar, by the Bahraini stallion Sarhan out of the black Iranian mare Jezabel. He had obtained Sarhan (Maanaghi Saghir x … Read more
Jens Sannek also shared with me this beautiful picture of Jezabel (Arras x Atlass by Adjar), a 1976 black Wadnah Khursan of the Mir strain, bred by the Asil Stud of Khuzestan. Jezabel was also imported to Austria in 1979, along with Jallad and several other young mares and stallions.
Jens Sannek shared with me this wonderful picture of the Iranian Arabian stallion Jallad (Arras x Atlassi by Sepid x Aram), a Wadnan Khursan of the Mir strain. Jallad was from the foundation stock of the Asil Stud of Khuzestan (ASK) and was imported from Iran to Austria by Gustl Eutermoser and Ulrike Marcik in … Read more
Jasminah will be bred to the 2001 stallion Hayoun (Hashem x Palmira) for a 2027 foal — his photo and the hypomating below. Hayoun is the full brother of the dam of Abu Khamseh (photo below), a significant stallion in European endurance comptitions. Abu Khamseh is already in Jasminah’s pedigree.
You may be wondering about the reason for the series of recent blog entries on the Iranian Arabian horses. That’s because of Jasminah, a 2017 Wadhnat al-Khursan mare from the breeding program of the late Ulrike Marcik in Spain. Wilton had already written about Jasminah on this blog, a few years back. Jasminah traces twice … Read more
Thanks to Kina Murray for reminding me of this wonderful documentary, “Migrate to Survive”, about the Iranian asil horses of Mary Gharagozlou. Some really nice mares and stallions are featured, including the black one Mary is seen riding into the mountains in the screenshot below, and a couple of noticeable grey and chestnut mares.
Quoting from her article on the Asil Horse of Khuzestan (full article here on the WAHO website), a good starting point for information on this topic: Of the tribes mentioned by Layard in the first quotation, branches of the Al Khamees, Al Kathir and the Bani Lam are existent today in Khuzestan. The Bani Lam … Read more
book “Breeding of Pure Bred Arab Horses: “Some Europeans make a big distinction between a Syrian, or desert and Najd horse; etc. All these horses are from the same origin ….. I am often amused to read about horse lovers who have had to deal with Arab horses; they seem to be quite convinced that … Read more
That gorgeous, magical city
The following on the desert-bred stallion Dynamite II is an excerpt from a typed text in my archives, “Les Chevaux de Pur Sang Arabe de Sidi Thabet — Tunisie 1931”. The text looks like it was copied from an anonymous 1931 book the details for which are available online, here. The text cites Dynamite II … Read more
مقطع فيديو لعرض خيول اسطبلات حمدان عام 1972 يظهر فيه الفحل فل ياسمين في الدقيقة الثالثة Thanks to Kate for finding it.
Photos of Moira Walker’s rising three-year-old colt Landrace Belisarius (Jamr Al Arab x Jadah Belloftheball, by Invictus Al Krush) having fun in the snow. Belisarius is a Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz from the Nufoud mare line. While his pedigree is predominantly Davenport, he has Doyle blood from his sire’s dam Jadiba, as well as a line to … Read more
A September 1975 letter by the late Danah Aal Khalifa in response to a photo sent to her by Lee Oellerich identified the chestnut mare *Sawannah, born in 1948, and later imported to the USA, as follows:
I am enjoying looking at a treasure trove of photos of Bev Davison’s horses over the years that she has been uploading on Facebook. I particularly like those dark bay horses with high percentage of Ali Pasha Sharif bloodlines. This was said to be the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite coat color in horses. He said: خيرُ … Read more
The photo below comes from James Fleming’s 1992 booklet, The Courthouse Arabian Stud of Bill Musgrave Clark, published by Alexander Heriot. Solomon was the first foal of his dam. In 1952, he was exported to Italy along with his half-brother Sennacherib, by Joseph. Neither horse left offspring at the Courthouse Stud. Solomon’s sire Atesh was a … Read more
[One of t]The first mention of the Musinn (Muson, Mosenn, etc) strain occurs in W.S. Rzewuski’s book, “Sur les chevaux orientaux et provenants [sic] des races orientales”. The manuscript at the Polish National Library in Warsaw was published in 2003 with the title “Impressions d’Orient et d’Arabie”: Le fameux el-Mesenneh el-Wehabi, acheté à Abd el-Aziz, … Read more
Said Rzewuski: “Woznah: La fondatrice de cette race très fameuse par ses qualités pour la guerre fut dans l’ère nommée la Djahélieh (le paganisme) consacrée a l’étoile qui précède, de pair avec une autre, le lever de Canope. Race très antique et précieuse. Anti-prophétique. Rarissime. Forte membrée. D’origine des environs de La Mecque.” In English: … Read more
Photo Deb Mackie
Shaykh Al Arab a.k.a “Notch”, a Ma’naqi Sbayli horse that I bred out of a mare leased from DeWayne Brown, has grown into a nice riding horse for the Doyles. Photo and video Lyman Doyle.
Three more photos I found, showing three generations from El Hamdan, pictured age ten; El-Haml at seven and Aja at two. Photographer(s) unknown, but photos graciously provided by Gisela Aschenborn Uijs. El Hamdan above and below El-Haml Aja
I was recently gifted three boxes full of material by my mentor, Gisela Aschenborn Uijs as they’re moving from the iconic Farm Orumbo-Nord where the renowned mares Nabilah and Barakah were guests. One find was four photos that, after a few phone calls, turned out to be Sidi Abu Khai , a 1984 stallion bred … Read more
Chapter II: of the Province of Nedsjed “The Bedouins inhabit a great part of the province. The remainder is mountainous, full of cities and villages, and parcelled out among so many petty sovereigns, that almost every little town has its own Schiech (i.e., Shaykh). Formerly, when the power of the Sherriffes was at its height, … Read more
Kate McLachlan has identified Carsten Niebhur’s Description de l’Arabie (a contemporary French translation of the German original) as the source for the first list of Arabian horse strains in Western literature. The account can be safely dated to 1765-1766, when Niebhur was crossing Mesopotamia, Syria and Anatolia on his way back from India to Constantinople: … Read more