A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Read this entry in the stud book of Faysal ‘Abd Allah Sa’ud al-Tahawi, excerpted from the tribe’s website: “Then, in the year 1356 H, we bought the bay ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah from Ibn Samdan, when she was in foal, and she gave birth, while in our ownership, to a chestnut colt whose sire is the [Kuhaylan] … Read more
The more I am reading through the materials recently posted on the Tahawi website, the more I realize that the people within WAHO and the EAO who have denied registration to the asil Tahawi horses in the 1980s must have a lot on their conscience — nothing less than the destruction of one of the … Read more
In the XIXth and early XXth century, there was a famous and well-respected marbat of Dahman ‘Amer with Ibn Hemsi of the Gomussah clan of the Sba’ah Bedouins. The Blunts purchased two horses from that strain: Dahma, which they bought from “Oheynan Ibn Said” of the Gomussah (who had bought her from Ibn Hemsi), and … Read more
Recently, Mohammad Mohammad Uthman al-Tahawi, who maintains the very rich Tahawi tribe website, uploaded an important document, which is like a Abbas Pasha Manuscript in miniature. It is the herd book of his great grandfather, and leader of the Tahawi clan, Shaykh ‘Abdallah Saoud al-Tahawi. Mohammad found it among the horse related documents of his … Read more
I found this family tree of the Shammar Bedouin clans from the section of the tribe known as Zawba’ (Zoba). It can be found online on an Arabic genealogy website. Most Shammar genealogies were put together by Western travelers, often basing themselves on more or less reliable Bedouin informants. This one was compiled by a Syrian … Read more
I need help identifying several horses in photos I took in my June 2002 visit to Carol and Diane Lyons. They are all beautiful horses, but I failed to remember the names as I was taking the photos. I have several more. The stallion in the first photo looks like he has some Monsoon not … Read more
Jenny Krieg, referring to a discussion on straightegyptians.com in 2007, tells me that it seemed that the late Lady Anne Lytton apparently told Carol Mulder, who told someone else (who was writing on se.com under the username “BasilisBelka”) that the famously ugly photo of Mrs. Dillon’s imported Arabian stallion El Emir (below) was not of … Read more
The other day I was looking at foundation horses (i.e., original Arabian horses imported to the USA and the UK from the Arabian desert) in the pedigree of my new mare Jadiba, trying to gauge how “comfortable” I felt about the information currently available to us in terms of their ‘asalah’ or authenticity. “Comfort” is … Read more
This is the first time I see a photo of Nusi (Gulastra x Nusara by Abu Zeyd), a 1928 Kuhaylan Da’jani stallion bred by W.R. Brown in Berlin, New Hamsphire, USA.
Another asil horse bred and owned Lee Oellerich in Canada was the 1977 asil stallion Naizahq (Mirath x Dahma al-Shaqra by Ruta-Am), also a Dahman Shahwan of the Bahraini line that traces back to *Sawannah. Lee tells me: “He is a winnner of numerous match races, against all comers, including English Thoroughbreds (TB). He ran 4 … Read more
A grand mare of very close desert bloodlines from Saudi Arabian and Bahrain, of the Dahman Shahwan strain now extinct in Bahrain. Hadiyeh (Dahman Al Bahrain x Qasidah by Mirath) is an asil 1994 mare bred and owned by Lee Oellerich in Canada. Photos from Lee.
This nice picture of the mare Fairfax KH (Atticus x Fair Naomi UF), bred and owned by RJ Cadranell in Washington state is from the DAHC website.
Yesterday, Jeanne Craver sent me this picture of my other mare Wisteria CF, and her 2010 daughter Wadha by Javera Thadrian (his last offspring). Wisteria is in foal to her sire Triermain for a September 2011 foal. Judith Franklin, who was visiting, took the picture.
Yesterday, I went up to Pennsylvania to see the mare I recently bought. This time Jadiba looked much better than the first time I saw her (thanks in part to the great care Sue Moss, the lady in the photos, is giving her), and I was pleased with her overall. I thought she had some … Read more
The 1988 black Kuhaylah Haifiyah mare Fa Bahim Pharra (Bahim Hisan x ASF Diane, by Dhahran x Dihkenna) is the youngest Al Khamsa tail female descendant of the mare Dihkenna, a mare of especially valuables bloodlines. She is last recorded as being owned by Alma Cizek in 1988, with no progeny. Anyone knows how Mrs. … Read more
ASF Gersom (Dhahran x Esperanzo Asal Fanifara, by Fanifeh) was a 1974 bay stallion who headed the Arabian Stud Farms (ASF) stallions battery in its later years. He sired 27 registered Arabians, mostly out of mares tracing to *Turfa, *Muhaira, and *Al Hamdaniah. Himself was a Kuhaylan al-‘AJuz tracing to *Turfa. Billy Sheets, who owned … Read more
Mokhtar, the old asil Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion, bred by the Shammar Bedouins in Syria and now in France, continues to sire nice foals at 24 years of age. Here is a photo of the little filly Mutarak Nesba (Mokhtar x Murad Diffa) bred by Guillaume Lambert and Margot Leroux-Berger, in France. By the way, it … Read more
Mahboob Halab, the asil Shuayman Sabbah stallion from Syria, now in France with Jean-Claude Rajot, has more foals on the ground, which gives me the opportunity to showcase the progeny of the Syrian desert-breds here. Here’s his daughter Shueymah Challawieh, out of one of Jean-Claudes’ mares, also a Shuwaymah by strain, but tracing to the … Read more
Amirhossein Ghasemi sent these pictures of the stallion Babrak Bamian (Lohrasb x Fariba), a Wadnan Khursan stallion from Iran, of the marbat of Hajji Shahab.
Both Mohammad al-Tahawi and Yasir Ghanim have sent me a new link to the website on the Tahawi Bedouins where they have uploaded many, many more documents about the original Tahawi horses, including the herd-book of their leader Shaykh Abdallah Saoud al-Tahawi, which contains hundreds of entries documenting purchases of horses from the desert, dates … Read more
Following yesterday’s last blog, Jeanne Craver sent me these rare pictures of the 1949 Saqlawi al-‘Abd (back to *Urfah) mare Shasinada (Hanad x Shasi by Asil) and her 1942 dam Shasi (Asil x Sherah by *Hamrah), courtesy of Nyla Eshelman. Both mother and daughter are of the old Bedouin type that was prevalent in the … Read more
Shasinada (Hanad x Shadi by Asil out of Sherah by *Hamrah) was a Hanad daughter (read RJ Cadranell’s article about the legacy of Hanad here) and an asil Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd, whose pedigree primarily (99%) consists of horses imported from the desert by Homer Davenport in 1906, with a touch of Major Upton’s bloodlines. She was … Read more
A short video of the excellent Tribute CF (Telemachus CF x Oreana CF by Plantagenet), now a gelding but still impressive, and two of the best Plantagenet daughters, the grey full sisters Domina and the chestnut Anjou (both out of Bint Dharebah), at Pamela Klein’s in Virginia in 2007. All three Kuhaylan Hayfi by strain. When … Read more
Click here for pictures of a “cute” horse from Saudi Arabia, aptly called Sabeh, “Panther”.
Jadah Samirah (photo below), owned by Stephanie Theinert who sent me these two pictures, is a special, precious mare in many respects. This 1993 grey mare is one of the very last survivors of the Sheet’s Arabian Stud Farms (ASF) breeding program, which in the 1990s was one of the largest asil preservation programs in … Read more
Those of us preservationists who have a mare or two, and can’t afford to breed them every year, always find it harder to choose stallions when the time comes to breed their mare. They have to live with the consequences of their decisions, and this alone tends to make them more risk averse. Of course, … Read more
Vice-Regent CF (Regency CF x Violetta CF by Salutation), a Hamdani Simri tracing to Galfia, bred by Craver Farms, and owned by Randy Abler, is yet another candidate for breeding Jadiba in a couple weeks. He is one of the very few Davenport stallions registered for shipping semen. Photos courtesy of Jeanne Craver. More photos … Read more
I saw this quote on the blog of Ralph Suarez, and it’s from Lady Anne Blunt: “An inborn love of the horse is instinctive, quite unreasoning, and one cannot recall any beginning of what seems to have always been there, together with a craving for perfection in the object of interest.”
Now look at his progeny. This one one is a colt (and he oozes true desert type and conformation), Shuwayman Fahad, out of a mare by a Syrian sire (the Krush Mokhtar), and from an good French dam line, also from the Shuwayman strain (Cherifa tail female).
Catherine Wocjik of France just sent me these recent photos of the 2005 young asil Shuwayman Sabbah stallion Mahboub Halab, bred in Syria by Radwan Shabareq, and now in France with Jean-Claude Rajot, who is the man on his back. By the way, this stallion will be the subject of my upcoming talk at the next … Read more
Check this good article on the CMK website. It was compiled by W.R. Brown and published in the Arabian Stub Book [volume 2] in 1918.
Photos from Ghasemi in Iran. Here is Dowran I’s pedigree:
A very interesting discussion started from a question of parentage [Note from Edouard cf. the post on Tabab below] leading to the question of who the bedouin horse is. Do the horses of Abbas Pasha and other Egytian notables belong to the authentic, asil Arabian horse or not? Can You call them bedouin horses the … Read more
Tabab, 1921 stallion, was by *Deyr out of the bay Domow, who was out of the chestnut *Wadduda. Who Domow’s sire really was is not easy to figure out. Her registered sire is the Crabbet stallon *Abu Zeyd (Mesaoud x Rose Diamond), a chestnut but the colors don’t match because two chestnuts can’t produce a … Read more
The head of this mare illustrates several features to be found in old style (‘atiq), Bedouin-type Arabian horses in their homeland. I have seen these features in Bedouin-bred Arabian mares time and again. Some of them are commonly found in modern Arabian horses, like good distance between the ear and the eye, others less so: … Read more
The lovely Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Porte CF (Portico x Recherche by Prince Hal) is now with Ambar Diaz in California, and is looking very good. Porte CF was owned by Pamela Klein, who gave him to Ambar. He’s pictured here with Michael Bowling.
Clarion (Regency x Chinoiserie by Dharanad), a 1991 Hamdani Simri is another candidate for Jadiba.
He is with Debbie Jessen in Illinois, and a good horse, with a good pedigree. A 2003 Regency son, out of a Plantagenet daughter, out of a Sir Marchen grand-daughter, adding a line to the handsome Ibn Hanad (last headshot in black and white). The first photo shows Chancery as a five years old, and the second and … Read more
I really liked the yellow one in the middle, he should have won, but the judges thought the green one looked more ‘extreme’ and ‘exotic’… but it certainly was a tough call. Maybe next year, with green eye-makeup instead of the red..
This is a photo of Jadiba’s dam, Jabinta (Jadib x Bint Malakah by Subani), also courtesy of Jeanne Craver. As you can see, she has none of her daughter’s conformational defects: longer neck (or is it picture?), shorter back, longer ears. I like this mare better than I do her daughter.
An old photo of Jadiba taken by her previous owner Annette Pattishall, from Joe Ferriss’ Khamsat article, courtesy of Jeanne Craver.
You may be wondering what’s with the recent flareup of blog entries on *Wadduda and some of the Doyle horses… Well, there’s a reason. As of this morning, I am the proud owner (I still can’t believe it actually) of Jadiba (Dib x Jabinta, by Jadib) a 23 year old chestnut Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd tracing in … Read more
El Alamein (Dhareb out of Antarah by Antez), a 1943 Kuhaylan Haifi, and one of four full siblings, who were at the heart of the rebirth of Davenport breeding. Shown here in old age, and blind from an infection (hence the swollen eye). Charles Craver handling.
Karsten Scherling took this photo of the 1990 Saqlawi Jadran stallion Huntington Doyle (Dib x Gulida Nadjia by Bragadoon Fa Raad) at the 60 year celebration of the Doyle breeding program in Oregon in 2009. Huntington Doyle is the senior stallion at Doyle Arabians, and has the highest percentage of Abbas Pasha blood in any … Read more
Does anyone know where the three mares: Kali Ma Eee (Cerulean CF x Sha Bint Ameera), 1987, bay; Sha Princess (Kamil Ibn Sahanad x Shaa Bint Ameera), 1986 bay; and Bint Bint Moda (Kamil Ibn Sahanad x Sha Ghazya), 1986 bay, are, if they still are alive? All three tail female *Samirah, from the horses … Read more
“You go to the stables and … look into the box and see the war mare of Sheik Hashem Bey with spear scars adorning her neck and sides and prayers to Allah from different tribes hanging from silken cords around her neck. She is small, chestnut in color, bone like flint, slender, high carried tail, … Read more
Grace Note CF (Pericles x Most Fair CF by Fair Sir) was bred by Craver Farms and later owned by Randy Abler of Georgia. Photos Shirin Samiljan. Note the long, tipped ears, the prominent facial bones, the delicate nostrils, and the placement and expression of the eyes. Faras ‘atiq like we say back home. … Read more
I was re-reading the Cravers’ “Annotated Quest” the other day, and came upon this description of *Wadduda by Homer Davenport, which had marked me the first time I read years ago: “The war mare, the present from the Supreme Ruler, was the chestnut. She seemed to be fretting to get out of the only town … Read more
Simri was a desert-bred Arabian horses of the Hamdani Simri strain imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906. He did not leave any progeny. I have never seen a photo. I did this new translation of his hujjah from the original Arabic document, and have annotated it below: ———————————————– “Blessings upon God who … Read more
Bred by Charles Craver, by El Alamein out of Saranah by Salan. I saw him in extreme old age in 2000 shortly before his death. He produced more than 50 get, inclucing his son Regency CF, who is still alive at 30, and who in turn produced 65 offspring for Craver Farms.
Monika Luft writes: A sensational discovery: Unknown letters of Bogdan Ziętarski and Carl Raswan from their expedition to Arabia! Polskiearaby.com have unearthed documents which cast a new light on the famous horse-buying expedition for the stud of Prince Roman Sanguszko in Gumniska near Tarnów. Several letters, discovered 80 years after being written, bring surprising details … Read more
Wendy Clark has taken up the torch on the preservation of the American asil Arabian horses that trace in tail female to the outstanding *Turfa, a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from the stables of Saudi Arabia’s King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud, and imported to the USA in 1941 by Henri Babson.These tail female *Turfa’s and other precious … Read more
Not sure if I have linked to this article by Pat Payne on the horses of F.E. Lewis, an early breeder of asil Arabians of Davenport bloodlines in California, and mostly known as the breeder of Antez (Harara x Moliah by Hamrah). It’s posted on the website of the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy (DAHC), which … Read more
Lili Marlene SHF (Sergeant Major CF x Kestrel by Salutation) is a 2004 Hamdaniyah Simriyah of Davenport bloodlines bred by Fred Mimmack of Colorado. I really like this mare. She is reminiscent of some of the best-bred and best-balanced Arabians that were to be found in the 1950s and 1960s in my home country of … Read more
The 1975 Jilfan Jarjari stallion Samarquand (Arras x Avalin by Karoun) was bred by the late Majid Khan Bakhtiar, and later owned by his wife the late Mary Gharagozlou. He produced blacks as well as good race horses. His dam Avalin was a bay Jilfah (written Djelfe in Iran) mare, and the sire was Arras, … Read more
The young Hamdani stallion Chancery (Regency x Anthesis by Plantagenet x Meringue by Sir Marchen), pictured here at age 4, is from one of the last crop of foals bred by Craver Farms, before large-scale breeding was discontinued in 2006. Photo from Jeanne Craver.
This is the beautiful 1960 stallion Al-Khobar (Ibn Fadl x *Al-Hamdaniah), a Hamdani Simri of mostly Saudi Arabian bloodlines. Photos from George Hooper, who owned his daughter Nauwas.
I have now officially become infatuated with the desert-bred mare *Wadduda. I am reading and re-reading everything I can find about the mare and her famous descendants (Hanad, Antez, Jadaan, Caravan, Dhareb, Bint Sahara, Bint Sedjur, etc) squinting at fuzzy old photographs, and obsessively making notecards like I used to do when I was ten years old. … Read more