A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Wadd, who is now five years old, is maturing into a handsome, masculine stallion in the line of the Kuhaylan Hayfi sires of Craver Farms. He is more reminiscent of his grandsire Javera Thadrian than he is of his sire Triermain CF. Large eyes, broad forehead, prickled ears, bony face, arched neck, curved throat, short back, … Read more
Barakah Al Arab — fuzzy picture — was born on June 23, 2016, at 4.00 am, a tall filly by Wadd Al Arab (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF) out of Jadah BelloftheBall (aka “Belle”, by Invictus Al Krush x Belladonna CHF by Audobon CF). She will probably be grey. She is a … Read more
DA Ginger Moon (“Ginger”, by DB Destiny Moniet x Kumence RSI by Monietor RSI), my 1998 Saqlawiyah of Ibn Dirri is looking increasingly good and has stopped loosing weight and even started gaining some. The last shot is from February 2016, with Chris Yost, who owns Ginger’s 2014 yearling colt El Moubarak BLY.
This is the mare I will be breeding this spring. Shadows Aana (SS Shadowfax x Juans Aana by El Reata Juan), a 2000 Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah with five crosses to Julyan (and hence, Julep, and Gulastra), three crosses to Antez, and two crosses to Hanad (through his daughter Schiba) has been with me since last July. … Read more
This is the 3rd trim since Thalia joined my barn around the first of the year. An improved connection of her hoof capsule to the coffin bone (P3), which you can see in the “Right Front” photo, has grown down from the coronary band enough for me to feel comfortable with REALLY backing her toe up. … Read more
The top picture is Thalia in early January right after I brought her to my place from Virginia for Edouard. The bottom picture was taken yesterday, March 20, 2016. I want you to notice how the fat pat from her croup to her tail head has evaporated. She no long has a rear-end that looks … Read more
Clarion CF (Regency x Chinoiserie by Dharanad), 1991 liver chestnut stallion, is the sire of my Mayassah, and is standing at Kirby Drennan’s, in Virginia, IL.
From my visit to Illinois, last weekend. With Marty Bugg. The first photo is my best shot of a horse in motion in a long time.
This 2003 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion (Regency x Kiddleywink by Regency) is, according to Jeanne Craver, the most look-alike of his Regency’s sons, and his second youngest.
Debbie Mackie’s Reema CF (Trilogy x Fragrance by Regency) was the prettiest mare I saw in my trip to Illinois over last weekend. She is so refined and yet so well built and balanced.
I was blown away by Pulcher (a.k.a Anecdote CF, by Triermain CF out of Aniq El Bedu by Iliad), while visiting Jackson Hensley and Alice Martin last weekend.What beauty, what type, what personality, what nobility, what “Arabness”, what “desert appeal” (I am coining the phrase) this horse has! Whew! Certainly Triermain’s best son.
This is my 2013 Kuhaylat al-Krush filly, Mayassah Al Arab (Clarion CF x Cinnabar Myst by ASF David). Three years old this summer. I am very proud of this filly I bred for several reasons. She embodies my preservation efforts. The antiquity of her bloodlines is an obvious reason: for instance, Abu Zeyd (Mesaoud x … Read more
Elegance had her third dental visit and second power tool dental procedure on March 1, 2016. She was ready for another adjustment as I saw her starting to avoid the long stem hay and searching for the fine stuff that falls out during their selecting what hay to eat. Also, washing her mouth out every … Read more
Oh how much I would give to know the strain and the breeding of this handsome desert stallion. I have a fascination for the mounts of Arab kings, sheykhs and other leaders, and I pay particular attention to the photos featuring them — this one by Gerald de Gaury of King Ali of Hijaz, the last … Read more
We need a concerted, sustained c ollective effort to save what remains of the Asil Tunisian Arabians before the French invasion for racetrack pseudo-Arabian makes is too late. This is the gorgeous 1963 Kuhaylat al-Ajuz mare Naziha (Chetoui x Chouka by Ibn and Idara by Ibn Fayda and Selma by Azem and Isaoub by Negrach).
I scanned this archive photo of a famous event among Syrian horse breeders, the Latakia race of 1993, which I attended with my father. Arabians from all over the country and neighboring ones flocked to this national event, the first of its kind on such a scale. This is a photo of the finish line of the … Read more
Jeannie Lieb took this beautiful photo of Thalia CF (Javera Thadrian x Bint Dharebah by Monsoon). She looks so much like her sire Thadrian, and his sister Cheslea, and his other sister Janet.
I had not seen this photo of Letan (*Muson x *Jedah) before, but now I understand who some of the pretty faced grey Davenport stallions, like Tantris CF, and Quatrain CF, took after. It comes from Dharebah, through Dhrareb, a son of Letan.
These photos illustrate how the horse grows a new hoof with correct mechanics if it is set up by the trimmer to heal itself. Thalia’s front hooves were first trimmed by me 2 weeks ago on January 12. I waited 2 weeks and did a touch-up trim on those front hooves today and took new … Read more
Thalia’s hooves. Where do I begin? I knew she’d had laminitis (active) in mid-October 2015 due to eyewitness reports. What I’ve discovered, now that she is with me, is she has been having laminitis attacks, off and on, for at least a year. And without supportive care. The coffin bones (P3) in her front hooves … Read more
Meet Thalia CF, a 23yo 100% Davenport mare of very old lines whom Edouard stepped up to give a home to and also hopes to get a foal from in the future. He officially became her owner when I recently picked her up in Virginia and brought her to my place for “rehabilitation”. All Edouard … Read more
Above on the left is the relevant portion of the output provided you by Equi-Analytical for their (601) Equi-Tech hay analysis. For purposes of education I also added a test for Selenium (not part of the Equi-Tech analysis). I already know I live, and my hay comes from, a selenium deficient area of the United States (and Canada where this … Read more
Equally asil but very different.
Stan, now 10 years old (big boy!) and Haykal, 5 months, are equally handsome and are good friends.
Walid’s mare, Mouna (Kesseb x Mamdouha by Ilamane), a 2000 grey, is one of the last, if not the last, asil Shuwaymah Sabbah in Tunisia (Tosca line back to Primevere, a foundation mare of the Tiaret Stud in Algeria). She is special in that she is a younger mare that is very close to the desert … Read more
Still digging into photo archives from ten years ago. These two pictures of the beautiful Rishah Shar’abiyah mare of Khudr al-Khawwaf, taken at sunset in October 2005 near Qamishli, Syria are one of them. Her dam is a daughter of al-Aawar, and the strain traces to the marbat of Hawwash al-Hatmi of the ‘Abdah clan of … Read more
This is one of the few photos I snapped of the young stallion Al Ameer Dahess (Dahess x Mari by al-Aawar) in Garhok, north-eastern Syria in 2005. He is the sire of the Syrian stallion in France Dahess Hassaka (below).
The hamlet of al-Talibiyah near Gizah in 1931. How did such beauty give way to ugliness? From the Facebook archives of Ahl Misr Zaman.
Check out the link here.
Yasser Ghanem’s beautiful and powerful Ju’aythiniyah mare, of Tahawi bloodlines and going back to the ‘Anazah Bedouins, is now Al Khamsa, since October 2015.
What a difference a dental visit makes! Before I show pictures of Elegance’s teeth before and after her dental work, let me first show an equine dental numbering chart : The Triadan system in the horse. Based on an image supplied by David Crossley My previous post showed Elegance’s upper left premolars and molars having a 45 degree … Read more
To the left, “Lady” (CSA Baroness Lady), 1999 grey Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah and her colt by Monologue CF, to the right, “Ginger” (DA Ginger Moon), 1998 chestnut Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah, barren from Bahraini Mlolshaan stallion. Below, the Ma’naqi colt, who is absolute stallion material. Compare with the last photo, feauting his sire Monologue CF
Belle — Jadah BelloftheBall — is showing her pregnancy and looking good. I bet that’s thanks to the wonder diet you recommended for her, Jeannie Lieb. None of my other horses looked as good this afternoon.
When growing up in the Middle East, I would always look forward to the prospect of hearing the whinny of stallions in the stables, farms and racetracks, and it was an integral part of the experience of turning stallions loose in paddocks. Seeing this video brought this experience back to mind. It also made me realize … Read more
Pirouette CF in the center (and the center of my interest back then), Wisteria to the right, turning her back and acting like the aloof princess she is, and unidentified chestnut mares at Craver Farms in 2002. Click to enlarge.
I am not sure I posted this photo before, but it shows Brassband (Plantagenet x Tyrebah) at Craver Farms, with my father in 2002. Click to enlarge.
With owner Gail Wells.
One of the most striking stallions bred at Craver Farms is the 2001 grey Flourishes CF (Lydian x Fragrance by Regency) with Randal Abler and Gail Wells in Georgia. Jeanne Craver, Jenny Krieg and Darlene Summers who saw him on the way back from the Al Khamsa Convention In Floriad were all taken by him. … Read more
Vice Regent CF (Regency x Violetta by Salutation) is the sire of my Jamr, out of Jadiba. He will be 24 years old now. Photos by Jeanne Craver last week. He looks regal. I love that big eye (wish Jamr had inherited that).
Carver DE, a Saqlawi Jadran stallion of old Doyle/Crabbet lines, gone too soon. Photo by Lucy Doyle.
This mare is the daughter of the mare featured in the entry below. Same breeder, a Bedouin of the Fad’aan. I had written about her breeding in the early times of this blog, here.
New scans, taken in 1997, of Wadeehah, 27 years old, the Ma’naqiyah Sbayliyah from Atiyah Abu Sayfayn at Kamal Abd al-Khaliq outside Aleppo. An outstanding mare, born under a tent, and one of purest in Syria.
Rehan Ud Din Baber has this amazing Facebook page where he displays dozens of pictures of desert Arabian horses in their original environment. Most of the photos are from the US Library of Congress Digital Archives. My absolute favorite is this photo of the mare of Emir Abdullah of Transjordan. The photo, taken by John D. Whiting, has … Read more
Gudrun Waiditschka has this nice article on her website about the stallion Tajar 1811 of Count Jozsef Hunyadi, a foundation stallion of European breeding imported from Egypt by Baron Von Fechtig to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Tajar was from the stud of the Mamluk Murad Bey. He does not have lines in Al Khamsa today.
I was unpacking today and I found my negatives’ scanner in a box I had not opened in years. I also came across some old negatives from the days of our travels to Syria, my father and I, to see desert Arabian horses, so I scanned them. These times did not feel particularly blessed back … Read more
Also from my scans is this photo of old Leelas, the Kuhaylah Khdiliyah (an ‘Ajuz branch, highly esteemed in the Syrian desert) of ‘Abbud ‘Ali al-‘Amud of the ‘Aqaydat Bedouins, which he got from ‘Udayb al-Waqqa’ of the ‘Anazah. He was so attached to her, he would not sell her at any price, even though … Read more
I took this photo in the early 1990s, on one of the trips my father and I used to take to the Biqa’ valley of Lebanon to see our horses. A flock of sheep grazing in the morning sunrise.
I have been saying it over and over, but the Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mare FinDeSiecle CF, with Jeannie Lieb, has one of the most beautiful heads I have seen on an Arabian horse. It’s perfection, in my opinion. The eyelashes, the muzzle, the deep jaws, the proportion. A case study.
He is growing nicely. Just in July he was still a big colt, a bit clumsy; now he is a young stallion. He put up quite a show, and has some of the trotting and prancing action of his sire Triermain.
The day before yesterday marked a milestone in my breeding career: it was the first time I horse I bred (Wadha in 2010) was ridden by a girl I bred (Solenn in 2012). Solenn was feeling very proud, and it was the first time Wadha was around children, let alone being ridden by someone other … Read more
There is a very nice Facebook page about the Beirut racetrack at its beginnings, when it was called “Hippodrome des Pins”. It’s full of historical pictures. Here is one of my favorites, which came with the following caption: “The first race meeting was held on 06.10.1921 at the Hippodrome: the meeting consisted of 4 races, … Read more
It’s time for little Haykal Al Arab, born two months ago — on August 11, 12.30 am — to make his online debut. He was born three weeks early, so I waited till he grew stronger before showing pictures. He is by Monologue CF out of CSA Baroness Lady (Sab El Dine x Takelma Rosanna). … Read more
A rare photo of the Tunisian stallion Raoui (Cheikh El Ourbane x Bornia by Loubieh x Benti by Ibn Fayda I) has surfaced on the Internet, and I just gleaned it and saved it here. He was a great racehorse, winning 19 races in Tunisia. He was the son of the last desert-bred stallion imported to … Read more
The equine dentist I have been using for the past 4 years, Ron (he was recommended by my previous dentist, Larry, when he retired), visited Elegance yesterday October 9, 2015. He palpated her entire jaw line on both sides, checked how much chewing motion she had, and checked her TMJ area before he looked inside … Read more
Now that we know Elegance has metabolic imbalances, as well as toxicities, the question becomes how best to supplement her to detox the toxic level of Aluminum and the overload of Iron? The first step is to have either hay and/or pasture tested for what the horse is consuming as the bulk of their diet. … Read more
I received the Hair Mineral Analysis results for Elegance yesterday. It is very revealing. She is over the top in Fe(Iron), Li(Lithium) and Al (Aluminum). She is below normal for Ca(Calcium), P(Phosphorus), Mg(Magnesium), Mo(Molybendum) and Se(Selenium). The low Se is not uncommon in the US. Even when the USGS Soil Selenium Map shows adequate soil selenium … Read more
I had all abut forgotten about this long article, in two parts, adapted from a presentation I made at the Institute for the Desert Arabian Horse’s February 2005 Symposium on Preservation. Both parts were previously published in Al Khaima, the Institute’s magazine (part 1 in vol. II no. 2; part 2 in vol. 3 no. 1) as … Read more