Kathy Busch and Crista Couch kindly took a day trip to see the stallion Rahim Regency WAF (Regency CF x Dakhala Sahra) near Kansas City, MO, of which here is a video (click on rahim). Sired by Regency CF (Ibn Alamein x Bint Antan by El Alamein) and looking very much like his sire, Rahim is the son (and otherwise the only offspring — so far) of my new acquisition, the 26 year old Ma’naqiyah Sbailiyah Dakhala Sahra (Plantagenet x Soiree by Sir). He is some 88% Davenport, with a tail female to Miss Ott’s Sirrula, all the way back to Major Upton’s Naomi. His owner Joseph Walters, has been breeding him to Polish mares, and was not aware of his Al Khamsa, asil status.
The book from these pictures were taken was published in the Hungarian language in 1904. It was translated into Arabic language in 2004 by Mr. Tha’er Saleh with the support of the Hungarian Translation Fund. The original photos are at the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture in Budapest. The book is about the travels of Austro-Hungarian government envoy Fadlallah Mikhail el-Haddad to the Arabian desert, a few years before the trip of Homer Davenport. The purpose of the trip of Mikhail el-Haddad to Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia) was apparently to access alternative sources of desert blood to the ‘Anazah blooflines, which the Austro-Hungarians already had access to. His trip first followed the Damascus-Palmyra-Deir-ez-Zor axis, then the Euphrates valley to down to Fallujah and Baghdad. From there, Haddad went along a large circular route south of Bagdad, which included Najaf, Kerbala, the ‘Amarat Bedouin (a branch of the ‘Anazah) pastures and then crossed the Euphrates river eastwards until he reached the Tigris river. From top to bottom, and left to right: Photo 1: In Tell Kalakh, which is west of the city of Homs in Syria, with Abdallah Agha al-Dandashi from whom the stallion O’Bajan was bought in 1885; photo 2: with some…
Voici une photo inédite prise sur le vif en 1949: la grande Salomé née à Tiaret en Algérie, fille de Bango DB et Maâna par Safita DB au soufflage! La scène se passe au haras de Sidi Bou Hadid en Tunisie, près de Bizerte. L’homme au béret n’est autre que l’amiral Anatole Cordonnier, c’est la seule photo de lui qui existe.
Teymur sent this picture of the other foundation sire of the Turkish Arabian breeding program, the 1928 bay stallion Sa’d (Kuheylan Cietni x Kuheyletul Sade Tukan), also known as Baba Saad, a Kuhaylan Sa’dan al-Tuqan, by a Kuhaylan Ju’aytni. He was Turkey’s most famous racehorse.
Marie Arthur sent these photos of the nice Kuhaylat al-Krush mare IV Shtika Al Krush (CL Hi Ned x Tika Al Krush by Krushan Al Krush), who Hi Ned’s only Krush daughter. If you scroll down you will see a photo of this impressive stallion.
The day before yesterday was my daughter’s fourth birthday, and also Daughters of the Winds fourth anniversary.
While digging through old pictures, I came across this headshot of the asil Saqlawi stallion al-Abjar, which I took in the mid 1990s, at the studfarm of the late Hajj Amin Yakan near al-Bab, not far from Aleppo. He was a tall stallion of tremedous style, carriage and presence. My father is the man in the picture. I have already written about al-Abjar here. He was a Saqlawi Jadran of Ibn Zubayni, from the marbat of al-Dali’ (like his relative *Mirage), later in the marbat of the Mudariss family. There is still a thin tail female line running through his sister, in Damascus.
Today, preservation breeders of asil Arabians in the USA breed on a small scale. They are fewer breeders than before and they are far between. Many of these breeders don’t always have the stallions their mares need, whether in their barns of just around the corner. Some breeders have the stallions but not the mares. Some have stallions who are sons and brothers of their mares, and don’t want to inbreed. There needs to be a good supply of (non-Egyptian) Al Khamsa stallions registered to ship semen from. When I wanted to breed Jadiba to a Davenport stallion this past summer, the only ones I could find who were ready to ship were Triermain CF in Illinois, Vice Regent CF in Georgia, and Pal-Ara Sensation and Mandarin in Oregon. Mandarin died last year, and Triermain is getting old. I opted for Vice Regent but now I have more mares and I wish there are other stallions to choose from. There is no shortage of outstanding Davenport and BLUE STAR and other asil stallions, who ought to be registered to ship. I wish Davenport stallions like Regatta CF, Daedalus LD, Porte CF, Silverton CF, Indie Star, Eldar HD, Shiraz CF, Clarion…
The Abbas Pasha Manuscript [1993, edited by J. Forbis and G. Sherif], which is essentially the transcription by Abbas Pasha’s envoys of Bedouins’ testimonies about their horses, is the foremost primary source on the Bedouin-bred Arabian horse available today. Its hundreds of testimonies is the precious remnant of an oral culture, now long gone. No wonder modern Saudi families and clans who have nothing to do with horses anymore are relying on it as a bargaining chip to ask for favors from the Saudi royal family, or to ascertain their social status (things along the lines of: “Your Highness, my ancestor gave your ancestor a precious mare, they were close, it is written in the horse book, so now I need… from you in return”). However great the legacy of Judith Forbis as a breeder of Arabian horses of the show type has been, her most enduring legacy, IMO, is to have made this book available to Western audiences. Page after page, the information in the Manuscript debunks many Western misconceptions about Bedouin horse breeding. Really, the only thing missing from the book is an index of the individual horses, strains and Bedouins mentioned. Check out this quote, page 439 [notes between brackets are mine]: “The Sheikhs of Subayah [actually, Subay’, a Bedouin tribe…
The thread below contains very interesting and valuable observation by Joe Ferriss on Western need for a systematic classification of Bedouin strains, and by Lisa on the value of written versus oral information in Bedouin culture. Let me add the following general principles: The Bedouins’ culture was an oral one; information was transmitted orally between people of the same generation and from generation to generation. They did not need anything in written when dealing with each other. The truthfulness and probity (‘adl in Arabic, a value depending on honor) of the man ensured the trustworthiness of the information, and it was confirmed by other men who acted as witnesses. When dealing with outsiders, whether non-Bedouin Arabs like the town people or Aleppo, the Cairo-based missaries of Abbas Pasha, as well as Westerners, there arose the need to have this information put in writing, for two reasons :first, the system of values that bound Bedouins to each other did not apply to outsiders. Conversely, the outsiders did not trust information that was not put in writing. So, as far as Arabian horses were concerned, the hujjah was the transcription in writing of information that was originally shared and transmitted orally. I am not sure it was designed for Westerners first. Rather I think…
I am in Lebanon for the holidays with the family, and have been catching up on some Arabian horse reading. All the important books are here, and I only quote from memory when in the USA. Just finished re-re-reading “The Crabbet Arabian Stud” by R. Archer et al, and have started Lady Wentworth’s “The Authentic Arabian Horse”. Can’t help lamenting how she messed with her mother’s “Book of Fragments” each time. Someone ought to reconstitute that book from scratch and republish it. I also flipped through Raswan’s “Black Tents of Arabia”. Somehow I never feel safe with Raswan. There is some good information, in the middle of a sea of misleading and often wrong statements. I really feel I could fill an entire new blog at the rythm of a post per day documeting these, and I know I eventually will some day. Meanwhile, I have learned to respect him as a passionate advocate of the preservation of the asil Arabian in the USA. He must have been a really nice person, too. I think there are two ‘golden rules’ about Lady Blunt and Raswan, concerning information about horses, strains, tribes, etc. I have said this before, and will continue to say it: I…
Speaking of jewels (Confetti CF is on the left, Provance CF on the right): Edouard, take this out if you want — but their owner, Mary Ann Brewer, has decided to stop breeding, and is offering these two Kuhaylat, and Tokens Ceelen (a straight Davenport mare, tail female to Schilla) on a free lease to interested Davenport breeders. Contact her for details — she’s in Texas.
One of the few asil Tahawi mares left in Egypt is this old Kuhaylah Nawwaqiyah owned by Helga al-Tahawi, the wife of the late Shaykh Soliman al-Tahawi. She is one of those which the Board of Directors of Al Khamsa recently recognized as tribal “horses of interest”. I think the photo is from Bernd Radtke, but it might directly from the Tahawis. A collective effort on three continents is under way to get these 15 or so remaining Tahawi horses recognized by the EAO in Egypt, and as a result, by WAHO.
This morning Jeanne Craver shared with some of us this picture of my young Wadd (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF), who at 5 months old, shows real potential as a stallion, and I wish the best for him. That inbreeding to Triermain really paid off, and I would repeat it if I could. Behind him stands his sister Wadhah (Javera Thadrian x Wisteria CF), who is now 18 months old. By the way, I have chosen the suffix Al Arab for my (very much virtual for now) stud. So he will be registered as Wadd Al Arab (“Wadd of the Arabs”), and his sister as Wadhah Al Arab. When I was younger, I was really impressed by racehorse names like Shaykh al-Arab, Shatt al-Arab, Wahid al-Arab, and used to think horses with such names were to be reckoned with. From a purely linguistic perspective, Wadhah really should have been registered as “Wadhat al-Arab”, since a final “t” in Arabic is silent unless followed by a noun in the possessive case (e.g., Kuhaylah Rodaniyah and Kuhaylat Rodan, which translate respectively as “Rodanian Kuhaylah” and “the Kuhaylah of Rodan”; another example is Saqlawiyah on it’s own as opposed to the…
The two Saqlawiyat Jadraniyat full sisters Haraka and Bint Hamida (Kenur x *H.H. Mohamed Ali’s Hamida) have founded a dynasty of their own in the USA. Their dam Hamida (Nasr x Mahroussa) was bred by Prince Mohamed Ali and was a half sister of *Zarife, *Fadl, and *Maaroufa; their sire Kenur (*Sunshine x *Tairah) was the offspring of two Albert Harris’ Saudi imports to the USA. Both photos are from the archives of Billy Sheets, but I have seen them before in a Khamsat magazine issue too.
A few months ago, I posted a photo of the stallion Hallanny Mistanny (Zarife x Roda) from the Billy Sheets photo collection. Here is another one, taken at the same. It’s less good, and he shows his extreme old age here (I think 28).
Recently uploaded on the website of the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this photo of the beautiful 1975 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Irade (Ibn Alamein x Iras), bred at Craver Farms.
Raed Yaken, who lives in London but is originally from Aleppo, Syria, sent me these pictures of his asil mare Zohoor (“Flowers”), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Alaa al-Din al-Jabri. Zuhur is by Mahrous (of Mustafa al-Jabri, his nephew) out of the small bay mare Durra whose photo was one of the first ones posted on this blog in 2008. Some time ago I also posted photos of Zohoor I saw both mares at Alaa al-Din Jabri’s back in 1991, and I also saw Durra’s dam Freihat; I remember all three of them very well. They are from the most asil, authenticated marbat of K. Hayfi in Syria, that of Wawi al-Kharfan of the Fad’aan. Theirs is one of the best marabit in Syria, and it is now with the Yakan family. His name is mistakenly spelled “Wadi” (which is not a man’s name, but means ‘valley’ in Arabic) in the Syrian Studbook and the error was picked up by others since. No one seems to remember who that Wawi al-Kharfan was, but he seems to have been one of the men of the Fad’aan Bedouin leaders Muqhim (Mijhim) al-Mayahd close circle. There is a lingering story, which I was…
Jeanne Craver has sent a number of precious photos of the Kuhaylat al-Krush mare Asara (Kasar x Badia by Jadaan) to be uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website. Asara is one of the Second Foundation Davenport mare, whose is the tail female of a number of favorites featured on this blog, such as the Krush stallions Janub Al Krush, CL Hi-Ned, and Indie Star. Below are are some of these photos, which you can click on to enlarge. What a mare.
The status of the 1921 French Arabian racehorse Denousté is a thorny question with which I have been grappling for a long time. I believe I have now reached closure on the issue, and I feel relieved, even if no new information has surfaced on the horse. There were always two issues about this horse: the first concerned a distant antecedent in his pedigree; and the second was about some French breeders breeding their Arabian mares to part-bred Arabian stallions and claiming the offspring were by Denousté. The issue of his pedigree is easier to get a grasp of: Denousté was born in 1921 at Mr. Lalague in South Western France, and was by the desert-bred stallion Latif, a Hamdani Simri from the Fad’aan Bedouins, and out of Djaima, who was by Khouri, a desert-bred Ubayyan Sharrak also from the Fad’aan, and out of Dame Tartine, who was by Burkeguy (see below) out of Déesse, who was by the desert-bred Emir Selim and out of Berthe, who was the offspring of two desert-bred imports: the stallion Nahr El Kebir and the mare Merjane, a Mukhalladiyah by strain, imported from the Naqab (Negev) desert near Gaza. It’s a pedigree that’s relatively…
While looking up ancient Arabian art over the Internet, I was struck by the expression of these two steles from a village near Hail, in Central Arabia. They were dated to the 4th millenium BC. These were displayed for the first time outside Saudi Arabia at an exhibition in the Louvre in Paris, then in Barcelona. I think the exhibition will be coming to the USA at some point soon.
This mare, Al-Shumuss, was at the stud of Mustafa al-Jabri in Aleppo in the 1990s, and her dam was at Radwan Shabareq’s. She was a Kuhaylat al-Krush, by a Hamdani Simri who was himself by the black Saqlawi Marzaqani stallion of al-Anoud, Princess of Tai; the mare’s dam was by the same black Saqlawi Marzaqani. The line came from the Shammar, from Rakan al-Nuri al-Mashal al-Jarba, but before that it was his maternal uncles the Tai chiefs; and while most everyone among the horse breeders in Syria thought this line traced back to the Krush al-Baida marbat of Mayzar ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba of the Shammar (it is even registered as Krush al-Baida in the Syrian studbook) which ultimately goes back to the Mutayr Bedouins, it turned out, following questioning of the elders and leaders of the Tai Bedouins in the late 1990s that this Krush marbat actually came from the Fad’aan Bedouins of the ‘Anazah. There are two distinct lines of Kuhaylan Krush in North Arabia: one going back to the Fad’aan ‘Anazah (like Krush Halba below, like the Davenport import *Werdi, like the mare in this picture), and another line, known as Krush al-Baida (the white Krush) going back…
While re-reading the excerpt from the RAS’s Dr. Ahmad Mabrouk below, I realized that this man did not seem to know that the Arabian horses are transmitted by the dam. He recognizes that the horse he bought for the RAS was out of “El Nowagia”, and “by Krush”, yet not only does he name the horse “Kroush“, but he also says he was “a Krush”. The horse was obviously a Kuhaylan Nawwaq like his dam. And these were supposed to be the best horse experts of their time. I mean, it’s like a US constitutional expert saying that the President is elected by Congress, and getting away with it. I just don’t get it.
Teymur sent me this photo of the phenomenal 1921 grey asil Kuhaylan Krush stallion known in Lebanon as Krush Halba, and in Turkey as Baba Kurus. He was the foundation stallions for both countries asil Arabian horse breeding programs, even his line does not survive in Lebanon anymore, and is holding on by a thread in neighboring Syria. Teymur can tell you more about this horse’s performance in Turkey. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the diary of Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk’s of the Egyptian Royal Agricultural Society on this horse: “At Beirut I found a Krush, a nice grey horse who won 17 races. This horse out of El Nowagia by Krush belongs to Saad el Din Shatila Pasha. The sire of the Krush horse which I bought was sold a few years ago to the Turkish government …it is worth mentioning that in the only 3 stables I visited in Beirut, I saw about 30 offspring of the famous stallion Krush ….”. The Kuhaylan Nawwaq stallion named Kroush, who was imported by the same Dr. Mabrouk to Egypt for the RAS and sired a number of horses for the RAS, including the mare Bushra and the stallion Tamie’, was a son…
As part of the working group on the horses of the Tahawi, which Edouard mentioned in a recent post, I wanted to share with you brand new information about the Egyptian stallion Gamal El Din. The information was obtained when Yehia Abd al-Sattar al-Tahawi, Mohammad Saoud al-Tahawi, and myself, recently recorded a one hour video with one of the very old Tahawi horse breeders, Shaikh Tahawi Sa’eid Mejalli al-Tahawi, who was born around 1904, and is 107 years old today. He still has an amazing memory for his advanced age, and is one of the old Bedouin breeders, and a great horse expert, following his father Shaikh Sa’ied Mejalli al-Tahawi. In this interview, he shared many exciting details about the old Tahawi horses such as “Dahman Abdullah Saoud” which he saw himself when he was young. “Dahman Abdullah Saoud” was the sire of the race horse Barakat (also a Dahman, but from another line), among others, and is today represented in modern Egyptian pedigrees through his great-grand-daughters Fulla, Futna, and Bint Barakat. Shaikh Tahawi al-Tahawi also spoke about lady Anne Blunt and her frequent visits to the Tahawi clan, and about the horses she bought from them. These horses are referred to…
Did you know that the Arabic letter qaf‘, which in Latin script is equivalent to the letter Q has at least three different pronunciations in spoken Arabic, depending on the dialect? One pronunciation of qaf is as [Q] in conformity with classical Arabic, and is used in the dialect of the Druze inhabitants of Mount Lebanon, and the ‘Alawi inhabitants of the coastal mountain chain in Syria, as well by many other groups elsewhere in Arabic speaking countries. For example the would pronounce the Arabian horse strain name Nawwaq as “Nawwaq”, just as you would in English, and as it is spelled in classical Arabic. Similarly, “Saqlawi” would be pronounced exactly as it is written. Another pronunciation of qaf is as the glottal stop [‘], which is best rendered in latin script by the letter [A]. Most Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians and Lebanese — including myself — will pronounce it this way. Nawwaq is pronounced “Nawwa’ ” in this case, and Saqlawi becomes “Sa’lawi”. A third pronunciation of qaf is as the letter [G], and this is the way most (but by no means all) Arabs of Bedouin stock will pronounce it, including a majority of Jordanians, Saudis, other Gulf citizens and some…
Is this Hasiker (*Hamrah x *Reshan), the K. Hayfiyah daughter of two Davenport imports?
In the past few months, and following the inclusion in the Al Khamsa Roster of the three Egyptian mares of Tahawi breeding at Hamdan Stables, Folla, Futna, and Bint Barakat, a small and informal working group was formed. Its core members include three people from Egypt: Yasser Ghanim Barakat al-Tahawi, Mohammed Mohammed Saoud al-Tahawi, and Yehia Abd al-Sattar Eliwa al-Tahawi; one from Europe: Bernd Radtke; and three living in the USA: Jeanne Craver, Joe Ferriss and myself. There are others, too. One consequence of the formation of this working was the recent designation by the Board of Directors of Al Khamsa, Inc of about of 15 of the surviving tribal Tahawi horses as “Al Khamsa Horses of Interest”. You read about this on this blog, and you will hear more about it in the future. It is certainly a first step toward the recognition by Al Khamsa of other tribal horses (e.g., Syria’s, Saudi Arabia’s, Bahrain’s) in the Arabian horse’s original homeland. It will probably have other consequences on the Egyptian Arabian horses, too. Another related consequence of this group working together and exchanging information was the uncovering of previously hidden information, discover new information and make a number of educated guesses…
Arnault Decroix is now the proud owner of the weanling Shuwayman Fahad (Mahboob Halab (SYR) x Shueymah Sabbah by Mokhtar (SYR)), a Shuwayman Sabbah bred by Jean-Claude Rajot in France. This exceptional young fellow is the son and the grandson of two stallions of Shammar lines imported from Syria to France in the late 1990s and the late 2000s respectively. I think you will hear a lot about this horse in the coming years, especially in the endurance realm.
One of the new photos recently uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this one of CL Hi-Ned (Dharanad x Hi-C by Sir), a 1977 Kuhaylan al-Krush of Davenport lines.
Kim Davis, who has been breeding Kuhaylan al-Krush horses of Davenport bloodlines for several decades, sent me this picture of her Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Quantum LD (Mandarin CF x Leafs Ivey by Wotan), who was bred by Carol Lyons.
My favorite stallion of the visit was without contest the 1991 Hamdani Simri stallion Clarion CF (Regency CF x Chinoiserie CF by Dharanad), at Kirby Drennan. I would like to breed a mare to him in the near future. This stallion, who has a strong liver chestnut color, is built like a war horse. He has a masculine, virile, beauty. Jeanne Craver always knew I would like him, and she was right. Jeanne said that if this horse was with the Shammar Bedouins, he would be their herd sire. I could not agree more.
Of all the old mares I saw, my personal favorite was Kirby Drennan’s 1982 Hamdani Simri mare Anthesis CF (Plantagenet x Meringue by Sir Marchen), who, at 29 years old, looked like an Arabian gazelle.
Wisteria was as beautiful as ever, with large, expressive eyes. She was reminiscent of the painting of the “mare of Baz” which graces the cover of Asil Araber II. I am sorry I don’t have a better photo to render the indefinable charm that emanates from this mare, who is not photogenic.
For starters, here is two pictures I took of Nancy Becker’s 1995 Hamdani Simri stallion stallion Haffiad CF (Regency CF x Kiddleywink CF by Regency CF). He is a true son of the desert, full of fire and kindness at once.
I just went to heaven and back. This past weekend I took the family to Craver Farms for a visit with Charles and Jeanne (shamefully, my first in six years), and the horses. We also saw Alice Martin, Nancy Becker, Kirby Drennan and their horses, who are wonderful. I took some pics, but Kirby took the only non-horse picture (below). The absolute highlight of the trip, other than seeing my horses and especially the new ones, were the two hours I was able to spend with Charles and Jeanne helping put together the slides projector and watching some video footage of the horses at Craver Farms from 1958 up to 1961. Priceless images, and priceless moments, with Charles and Jeanne commenting on the footage. I saw a total of 50 minutes of footage of Tripoli and many of the early horses, some of them preceding the Davenport “Second Foundation”: Arabesque (Rouf x Koreish by Alcazar); her fillies Byzantia (by Garaff), Tizzy and Josephine and her son Tristram (impressive), all by Tripoli; the wonderful 100% Blunt mare Ringlet Astralis x Rudeyna by Daoud), who unfortunately did not produce there; and of course the Second Foundation mares Dharebah (breathtaking, a desert-type mare) Dharanah,…
I am now more and more convinced that the Arabian horse of the show type has veered away from the original Arabian horse so much that it now forms a distinct breed. There is hardly anything in common anymore between the kind of horse featured on this blog and the ‘living art’ featured in halter shows (whether it is asil or not asil, pedigree-wise). We are now at a stage whether different names should be used to designate two different breeds of horses. I suggest the term “Post-Arabian” for the show type.
Fabienne Vesco, a French preservation breeder in Eastern France, breeds horses of combined Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian and Egyptian lines, of the Jilfan Dhawi and Shuayman Sabbah strains. Below is her pretty mare Akhesa Beni Sakr, by the Tunisian stallion Hadhr El Basher (Chedi x Loubna by Oramin0) out of her mare Akaba Beni Sakr (Jahir x Loubia Bint Breek by Breek), a Jilfat al-Dhawi that blends Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian and Egyptian lines. The foal in the photo was by Fabienne’s Shuwayman Sabbah stallion Hortal El Din (SEA Asal x Thallame by Breek).
I took this photo of the Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz Chahata (Hosni xHamida by Soufyan) at the stallion depot of the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet in 2006. He was a great race horse, and I thought he was exceptionally well built, while at the same time displaying good Arab type. I wonder what’s with the hocks, though.
I am a big fan of the 1998 Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion Indie Star (Mandarin CF x Gbarh Asjah by Astrologer), bred by Carol Lyons. I really would like to breed a mare to him at some point. The photo is by Christine Emmert (who is a really good photographer) and was recently uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website. I had posted an earlier photo on this blog.
Another photo recently uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this picture of the 1972 asil Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Ibn Dharantez (Dharantez x Silvia by Sir), bred by Charles Craver. I don’t know why, but I feel that this photo will appeal to a number of Egyptian breeders who read this blog.
Teymur, from Germany, sent me this picture of the Turkish Arabian mare Halepguzeli 3 (in Turkish, the “Beauty of Aleppo”), a Kuhaylat Umm Junub by Fis Fis (Hilaluzzaman d.b. x Macera d.b.) out of Halepguzeli 2 (Kurus, i.e., “Krush Halba” x Halezguzeli d.b). The original “Beauty of Aleppo” who was the grand-dam of the mare in the photo was a Kuhaylat Umm Junub born in 1930 and bred by a Nuri Effendi of Aleppo, Syria, and later imported to Turkey. So know we know at least two surviving lines for the precious strain of Kuhaylan Abu Junub, one in Saudi Arabia (but came from Syria in the 1960s-70s), and one in Turkey, which also came from Syria in 1930. I am simply amazed at the resilience of these rare strains that were so prevalent before and which at some point were thought to be lost. It’s like new sightings of birds everyone thought were extinct.
My Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd mare Jadiba (Dib x Jabinta by Jadib), who I went to see last weekend, is in foal to the Hamdani Simri stallion Vice Regent CF (Regency x Violetta by Salutation), who was bred by Craver Farms and is owned by Randal Abler and Gail Wells. Vice Regent recently had his first foal at age 20, and it’s a colt, Laarado (x Laarisa EAF, who is by Alaadri), who is owned by Kathy Kelly in Georgia. Photos below
Yesterday, a reader, Kim Fortune, sent me this New York Times article (I am using her words here) “recognizing the late mother of Anne Blunt, Augusta Ada King, and her amazing mathematical skills and her development of the computer.
Last weekend I went to Pennsylvania to see Jadiba, and I stopped at Monica Respet’s farm. Monica and some of her friends are specializing in breeding a small and increasingly rare group of horses who are tail female to *Urfah, a Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd imported from Arabia by Homer Davenport in 1906. One of these mares is JDA Husaana (Salil Ibn Iliad x Saafadda CHF by Fiddlesticks), photo below, a 1999 chestnut mare who was bred by Pam Baker. Just like the Davenports or the Doyles, or like my own Jadiba and Sahra, JDA Husaana is Early American Foundation, meaning that she traces 100% to the horses listed in AHR Volume V, registration numbers 1-2924. These are basically the Arabian horses found in the USA by and before 1944. Lots of very, very old American Arabian horse blood flows in her veins. In addition to her two “Davenport” grandsires, she carries the blood of three stallions bred by Jane Ott and her mother, who launched the first large-scale asil preservation effort in the USA: Joramir (Sirecho x Fad Roufa), Dahrecho (Sirecho x Dahma Al Zarka), and Zarlan (Mistlany x Zarieha), as well as the Ott mare Blue List (Saafaddan x Zarieha by…
One more picture from AHA Datasource, this time of Samh, another son of two Hindi imports, *Daham and *Bint Attebe. This is how people liked show horses to look like in the 1950s.
This picture is from the AHA Datasource online, and shows Nazira, the daughter of two 1949 Hindi imports, *Daham, and *Dalal.
Another of the Hindi imports of 1949 from Lebanon was *Bint Attebe (Attebe x Yumna), bred by Subhi Hindi. She was Grand Champion mare at the All Arab Show in Estes Park, Colorado in 1958, and US Top Ten mare in 1959, where she beat one of the recently imported Nazeer daughters.. Definitely one of the best mares ever imported to the USA from the Middle East, in my opinion.
AHA’s Datasource has some nice photos of the 1949 Hindi imports. Here are a couple of the handsome Sa’dan Tuqan stallion Daham (Shaykh al-Arab x Muna). His sire Shaykh al-Arab was featured on this blog, a couple years ago, and was the cornerstone of Lebanon’s asil Arabian horse program in the 1940s.
This evening, I submitted a proposal to the Al Khamsa Board on the inclusion of the five 1949 Hindi imports to the USA in the AK Roster. They are: *DAHAM AHR, gs, b. 1947, AHR #8205 *DALAL AHR, gm, b. 1947, AHR #9822 *BINT ATTEBBE, gm, b. 1946, AHR #10851 *JAMIL ZAMEN, gs, b. 1950, AHR #13542 *JAMILA ZAMEN, gm, b. 1950, AHR #13541 I will share the proposal with you as soon as it is completed. There is currently only one mare alive that is entirely from these bloodlines. If that proposal passes the first vote by the Board and the Assembly, and the second vote by both bodies, then that mare, Hindi Nafha (born in 1991), a Sa’dat al-Tuqan, would be the only horse eligible to join the AK Roster. She has no progeny to date. If you want to learn more about the Hindi horses in the USA, then click here for this recent (September 2011) feature.
Some of you asked for photos of progeny ofthe superb Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion Janub al-Krush (Pompey x June), who was bred by Jackson Hensley from Davenport lines. Kim Davis kindly sent me these photos of his 1994 daughter Januba al-Krush (out of Tika Al Krush by Krushan Al Krush).
Another photo that recently appeared on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this photo of the Hamdani Simri stallion Lydian (Lysander x Viola by Prince Hal).
The Hamdaniyah Simiryah mare Viola (Prince Hal x Cressida by Sir) was bred by Craver Farms and is the maternal grand-dam of Vice Regent CF (Regency x Violetta by Salutation x Viola). Vice Regent is the stallion I chose to bred my Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd mare Jadiba (Dib x Jabinta by Jadib) t0. Not sure who deserves credit for taking this photo, but it’s an awesome one. It is also featured on the DAHC website where I took it from. Bedouins believed that a long, think forelock just like Viola’s is a sign of great asalah (authenticity) in Arabians.
One of my all-time favorite pictures of Arabian horses is this famous photo of the superb 1977 Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion Janub Al Krush (Pompey x June by El Alamein) with a young Kim Davis at his side. The first time I saw this picture, all I could think is that I wanted to be Kim, and be owned by a horse like Janub. The photo is from the DAHC website, who now has a bunch of new photos under the 1970s category, many of them I saw of the first time.
Arnault Decroix from France sent me this photo of two yearling fillies, daughter of his excellent Syrian asil stallion Dahiss Hassaka (Al-Ameer Dahiss x Ogharet by Marzouq, out of Hanadi), a Kuhaylan al-Nawwaq from the marbat of Shaykh Abd al-Jalil al-Naqashbandi, a leader of the Sufi Naqashbandi mystics of the Euphrates valley. Dahiss Hassaka (photo below) was bred by Radwan Shabareq and later imported to France. I owned his grandsire Dahiss, as well as a sister of his dam, “Zahra” who was by Dinar out of Hanadi. A head shot of hers was published earlier, you will find it if you scroll down.
Jeanne Craver just sent me this other photo of the desert-bred mare 214 Scherife (Cherife), the Shammar-bred Kuhaylat al-Sharif, which was imported by Fadlallah al-Haddad to the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1903. She actually very much looks like the the Kuhaylat al-Sharif of Ibrahim Dawwas al-Saadi, who was registered in the first Syrian Studbook as a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz. It would be interesting to do a mtDNA analysis of the descendants of these two mares.
Another picture from the 1903 issue of “Sport Universel Illustre”, also sent by Adrien Deblaise, shows the Hungarian desert-bred import Cherife, from the same importation as Hagayle below. No further information. Perhaps RJ or Laszlo know more.
The family of Adrien Deblaise has one of the largest rare equine books collection in Europe, and certainly in France. From time to time, he sends me scans of precious photos, for which I am very grateful, like this photo of the splendid desert-bred war mare Hadialeh, a Kuhaylat al-Ajuz purchased from the Sba’ah ‘Anazah Bedouins by a Hungarian mission in 1903. I don’t have more information on this importation, but I am sure Adrien can say some more to that, and it may be of one of the missions with which Fadlallah El Hedad was associated. The mare sounds like she is from the Khdili marbat of Kuhaylan al-Ajuz, judging from her name. This is the same branch of Kuhaylan which both Carl Raswan and Lady Anne Blunt refer to as “Hedeli”. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Adrien Deblaise, a preservation breeder in western France, sent me these two photos of the splendid and very asil 1975 Jilfan Dhawi stallion Jahir (Iricho x Ciada, who was by Ghalbane x Malika, by Masbout x Themis by Bango x Akaba). The pedigree on allbreedpedigree.com is wrong, so I am not linking to it. His sire Iricho was imported from Tunisia to France, and has close lines to the desert. His grandsire, the Hamdani Simri Ghalbane, and his great-grandsire, the Saqlawi Jadran Masbout, and his great-great-grandsire, the Ma’naqi Sbaili Bango, all came from the Syrian desert, and were among the last imports to French Algeria. So much pure, authentic, well-ascertained blood flows in his vein, so close to the original desert source. Adrien tells me the first photo was taken at Louis Bauduin who was standing him at stud, while the second was a show contest, much earlier.
This photo was also taken in the same place as the one below it, and it shows the same chestnut Hamdaniyat Ibn Ghurab mare as the mare in the center of the photo below, four years later. Jean-Claude Rajot, who I believe took it, and Arnault Decroix, visited the marbat of Ibn Ghurab and several other marabet in 2009, in their quest for asil desert-bred horses to bring back to France, in the first importation of this type and scale since the 1920s. They brought back one mare, Rafikat al-Darb, a Shuwaymah, as well as several stallions: Mahboub Halab, a Shuwayman; Nimr Shabareq, a Ma’anaqi; Dahess Hassaka, a Kuhaylan al-Nawwaq; Milyar Halab, a Kuhaylan al-Krush; and Shahm, a Ubayyan who, in my opinion, was the best of the lot, and died a premature death a few months after his importation, without having had the chance to leave offspring. Look at where the ears of the Hamdaniyah mare in the photo are set, and how they point. They horses are like wild animals, in this sense. Most of the Hamdani of Ibn Ghurab are of a very rich chestnut color; both Radwan Shabareq’s al-A’awar, and Basil Jadaan’s Mobarak, were of this…