A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
Jeanne Craver shared these really nice and new-to-me (except the bottom one) photos of the mare Dharebah (Dhareb x Antarah by Antez), the cornerstone mare of the 50+ years old Craver Frams breeding program. Please stare at these photos as closely as you can, and try to replicate her features in your breeding programs, whatever … Read more
She was bred to Hamdaany Dafuq. In the background, her full sister Dhahabiah, whose loss two weeks ago was a real blunder.
Google Translate has a very cool feature that allows you to translate text for an image as opposed to a word processing document. I used it to translate the introductory text of George Philippe Tabet’s 1937 booklet “Les Noms de Famille des Chevaux Arabes” — The family names of Arabian Horses. I miniminally edited the … Read more
Yesterday Jens Sannek shared with me a pair of pictures of the absolutely stunning Iranian Asil stallion Barout Lami, a 2017 Wadnan Khursan. This stallion oozes true Arabian type. Compare with Eldar HD, the Hamdani Simri stallion of Davenport bloodlines, at Michael Bowling’s.
The 1919 broodmare Nusara (Abu Zeyd x Noam), a Kuhaylah Da’janiyah, bred by W.R. Brown then sold to W.K. Kellogg, is a very present in pedigrees of Crabbet horses from the Doyle family. I had not seen a photo of her before.
Two photos of Darak upon departure from his old home and arrival to this new one. Top photo by Marion Wassilewski, bottom photo by Jeanne Crousaud. Darak, bred by Danah stud is so rich in the Kuhaylan Jallabi blood, even by Bahraini standards. His sire is Jellaby Radad, his dam’s sire is Jellaby Mojaahid M151, … Read more
Lyman sent me this photo of Jellaby Maroof M30 from one of the later Bahraini studbooks. My kind of Arabian stallion. Maroof is the maternal brother of Jellaby Radad, who is the sire of my Hamdaany Darak and Lyman’s Hamdaany Daneer. Daneer is coming to the USA.
From Judi Forbis’ Hoofbeats Along the Tigris, her first and in my opinion, best book: The greatest number of horses bred by Arabs [ie, Bedouins] seems to be found in practically a direct line from Mosul to Aleppo and above that area into Turkey along the Turkish-Syrian-Iraq border, where horses are still occasionally used for … Read more
The following are excerpts from a precious article, Introducing the Asil Horse Of Khuzestan, written by the late Mary Gharagozlu and published on the WAHO website. This is one of those rare informative articles that lets Arab voices speak about what features to look for in an Arabian horse. The Bedouin quoted here is a … Read more
There are a handful breeding programs in the USA that I follow closely, like Carrie Slayton’s in California, and Bev Davison’s in Idaho. They have the same bloodlines as I do, more or less, and we collaborate. Bev now has a few high-percentage Abbas Pasha Saqlawi horses for sale or lease, mostly males and some … Read more
The late Danah Al Khalifa sure knew how to pick stallions for her Sitah-linebred mares. Georgous Rabdaan Muttaawi (Musannaan Al Meemar x Rabda Shaawieh by Burkaan D3) is just one example. He is the sire of the two full sisters Danika and Dhahabiah, bred by Danah. Dhahabiah is the one that died last week, sadly. … Read more
Bint Mayadah is doing very well for her new/old owner Steffi Weirich, who took the pictures in her pasture. I am very happy that Steffi took her on.
Badia Al Arab (Monologue CF x Barakah Al Arab by Wadd Al Arab), now a yearling, is slowly growing into an excellent filly. Thrilled about her, and sad about her half sister out of Wadha, which I lost a day after birth to an infection. The traditional Arab way of presenting Badia would be: Grey … Read more
Kate shared this picture from the 1977 edition of the “Encyclopedia of the Horse”. The legend says “Arаb mares and foаls аtthe stabIes of the Emir in Bahrain on the Persian Gulf.” Neither her nor I had seen it before.
Landrace Belisarius, Jamr’s only son so far, is slowly unfolding into a great stallion prospect for his proud owners Moira Walker and Jeff Vorwald. I cannot stop staring and squinting at his pictures, trying to figure out which parts of him are after his sire, and which ones after his dam. Of course it keeps … Read more
Beautiful Dhahabiah (Rabdaan Muttaawi x Deede by Ibn Sitah) died a sudden death a few days ago. Diarrhea in the morning, then again in the afternoon, spasms and then gone. All in twelve hours. She had been with me 20 days only.
A rare photo bringing together the King of Saudi Arabia, Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud and the ruler of Bahrain, Sh. Salman bin Hamad Aal Khalifa, around 1950. You wonder if Arabian horses were ever discussed at encounters like these.
Jens Sannek shared this photo of Sitah D1 which Erika Schiele had given him in 1976. The photo was taken earlier. Note the huge eye, and the body and overall quality reminiscent of another desert mare, *Turfa.
Jens Sannek shared this wonderful historical video, taken by Anton Tucek, of the Bahraini stallion Burkaan D3. Laszlo Kiraly had already shared it with me years ago, and I may have uploaded it here. Jens added: I know that Burkaan is registered bay in the Amiri Stud Book Vol. 1 Nr. D3. The Studbook was … Read more
It is with our deepest sadness that we inform you of the death of our beloved the founder of Bahrain Kennel club Mrs. Dana Sehested Preetzman on the 5th of July 2021. Mrs. Dana Sehested is the widow of the late His Excellency Sheikh Isa bin Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The late … Read more
Dafuq, who is now 10 years old, has three close crosses to Sitah D1 for a total of 37.5 percent of his pedigree. He is the most like her of the three stallions, more so than Daneer and Darak. Photos by Marion Wassilewski. He also has two close crosses to Mlolshaan Almarshoosh M37, photo below … Read more
Five years after Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan’s 1931 horse-buying trip to Arabia including Bahrain, it was the turn of Dr. Ahmed Mabrouk to make a similar trip for the Royal Agriculture Society (RAS) of Egypt. In 1936, he visited the stud of the ruler of Bahrain, Shaykh Hamad Aal Khalifah, and had the following … Read more
Eugene Geyser of the Nabilah Arabian Stud has recently acquired the Rosina tail female mare Kamarie Bint Yosreia and her daughter Kamarie Marikah, bred by Mel Mutafis. He writes: “We are so grateful and pleased to add these lines to our preservation breeding program. These bloodlines add to our existing Nabilah lines with Nabilah and … Read more
Bogdan von Zientarski (1884-1958) — photo below by Carl Raswan — was the manager of the Gumniska stud farm for Prince Roman Sanguszko from 1927 to 1944. In 1931, Sanguszko sent him and Carl Raswan on a shopping trip to Arabia to buy original Arabian horses. They came back with four mares and four stallions. … Read more
A beautiful photo of Danah Alkhalifa with her salukis “Princy” and “Flicka”, taken in Bahrain in August of 1972 and published in Arabiana magazine 1975. Thank you Laura for the scan.
I found a booklet simply titled “Stammhengste” (Foundation stallions) and “Stammstuten” (Foundation mares). I guess with a bit of digging one could figure out which stud it belongs to. What I found interesting is the pedigrees listed with measurements, something I for one, rarely see these days. I picked out the asil pedigrees, especially because … Read more
The late Danah Al Khalifah wrote in Volume 1 of the Amiri Arabian Studbook of Bahrain that “the breeding program at Danah Farm is centered around the foundation mare SITAH, ‘Hamdaniah Feisul’ and her offspring. Sitah’s history is documented from the time she was acquired as a two year old filly in 1964, at the … Read more
To the right, Diva (Jellaby Mojaahid X Mabrooka by Jellaby Alasil x Sitah d.b.); in the middle, Danika (Rabdaan Muttaawi x Deede by Ibn Sitah x Mabrooka), in the background, Hamdanieh Dania (Rabdaan Farajallah x Danika). Hamdanieh Dania coming to the USA for Lyman Doyle. Marion Wassilewski
Zaala (Aissaoui x Ifada, by Sabour) 1969 arabian mare Breeder: Sheikh Amara B. Lacheb Owner: M. Jelaila Born at Maknassy, Tunisia Photo: Roland Stichlmeir https://beta.allbreedpedigree.com/zaala-SiQKYn6J/pedigree Samra (Esmet Ali x Ifrikia, by Kefil) 1966 arabian mare with her 1986 foal by HosniBreeder: Sidi ThabetOwner: Sadok Essaied Photo: Roland Stichlmeirhttps://beta.allbreedpedigree.com/samra-TiIgY1re/pedigree Saada (Esmet Ali x Rafiaa, by Bango) … Read more
Wilton Burger shared these these new-to-me photos of the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisan, imported to South Africa by Valerie Noli-Marais. The first one has Hasan Bin Salih Al Ruwaiyi riding him in Bahrain, the second was taken in South Africa. Photo credits to the Estate of Dr. Valerie Noli-Marais.
Hamdaany Daneer (Jellaby Radad x Danika) is the one of three Bahraini horses from Danah Stud that Lyman Doyle will be taking to the USA this summer. Of the four Bahraini stallions that Lyman and I acquired, Daneer is certainly the showiest and the best mover. He does not trot, he floats. He does not … Read more
The acquisition of the majority of the horses of Danah Stud of Sh. Rashid bin ‘Isa bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifah, son of the late Danah Al Khalifah, marks the beginning of a new venture in the nearly 20-year old trajectory of the Al Arab stud. After a focus on some of the best … Read more
I am very proud to announce the acquisition of the black roan stallion Kuheilaan Umm Zorayr Zyad D23. Zyad was bred by the late Danah Al Khalifah in 2001. He belongs to the extremely rare strain of Kuhaylan Wuld Umm Surayyir that is now unique to the Kindgom of Bahrain. Originally the “house strain” of … Read more
One of my favorite photos from Volume 1 of the Arabian Stud Book of Bahrain is that taken by Danah Al Khalifah of this bay Shawafan/Shawaf stallion. Fortunately, his line carries on in modern Bahraini horses. The same stallion appears in another photo (below) that appeared in Danah Al Khalifah’s “Living Treasures of Bahrain”, below. … Read more
Egyptian diplomat Mahmoud Samy Pacha appears as the owner of the 1924 chestnut mare *Exochorda (Aiglon x Leila II) in her export document from Egypt to the USA, on file with the Arabian Horse Association. That document was attested to by Dr. Branch, the Director of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt, and by the … Read more
A 1947 picture of one of the world’s wonders (at least in my books): Shibam, the “Manhattan of the Desert”, by Wilfried Thesiger.
Wonderful Sa’dah in the extreme north of Yemen has been very affected by the Yemeni civil war that started in 2015. Lucky are those who saw it before it was destroyed. This is how near-eastern cities looked like several thousands years ago.
This recent picture of Subanet Jabbar SDA, the Saqlawi stallion of Bev Davison and the sire of my Kinza Al Arab, really shows his style and his action. A horse like I like them.
I am so very proud of this beautiful and fine stallion, one of the very last Tunisian asil in existence. I am also very grateful to Skander Karoui to have given me the opportunity to acquire him. Not a single ounce of French Arabian blood, whether old (Denouste, Duc II, Kriss II, etc.) or new … Read more
The wonderful Dahhmany Bagdady, one of the last representatives of the old, prepotent Babolna/Weil type of royal Arabian horse. He is 23 years old this year. The famed and storied tail male to Siglavy Bagdady exists through him and his few offspring, a handful of stallions scattered across Europe. I am so proud that he … Read more
I have never been to a more magical place. Photograph by Pascal and Maria Maréchaux of a fortified house in Wadi Markha (top), the village of Shaharah (middle) and the village of Jebel Bura (bottom).
ورد في مخطوط أصول الخيل المعروف أيضًا بمخطوط عباس باشا ذكر سليمان آل محمد من شيوخ بني خالد فجاء في فصل العبيات في سياق قصص عبية الصيفي ما نصه أفاد بداح الصيفي وشافي ولد فهيد الصيفي ومسعود ابن غدير مشايخ سبيع أنها عبية شراكية للشراك من بني خالد واندرج من الشراك فرس صفره لولد أخته … Read more
Above, one pole tent of a regular Bedouin. In the middle, three pole tent of a minor shaykh. Below, seven pole tent of an important tribal leader (e.g., Fawaz al-Shaalan of the Ruwalah, or Rakan ibn Mirshid of the Sba’ah). Photos by Louis Delseny (1906-1997), a French army officer and amateur photographer who served in … Read more
وضعت هذه الحجة عام ١٢٨٤ هجري الموافق ١٨٦٧-١٨٦٨ ميلادي لحصان عربي عمره سنة لونه ازرق ماوردي رسنه معنقي ابوه كحيلان نواق مصدر الحجة أرشيف رئاسة وزراء السلطنة العثمانية بالاستانة عبر صفحة الدار السلطانية ومتصفح الوثائق العثمانية ويظهر فيها واحد من ختمين وصلانا من جدعان ابن مهيد عقيد عشيرة الفدعان من عنزه في ذاك الوقت كما … Read more
Someone recently posted on social media one the nicest historical videos of desert Arabian horses I have ever seen on the internet. The video feature, among other scenes, a French horse-buying mission to Syria in the 1930s-40s: My attempts to locate the location of the filming yielded the following: The section of the video with … Read more
From Williamson’s unpublished dissertation on the Shammar Jarba: Bedouin society ascribed its highest social values to bravery, fighting prowess, and personal cunning. Because it placed so much importance on these qualities. Bedouin society worked out a system of inter-tribal raiding known as ghazw wherein a man could demonstrate his fitness. Tribes carefully planned ghazw against … Read more
Anecdote CF (Triermain x Aniq El Bedu), a.k.a. Pulcher Ibn Reshan, photo by the late Jackson Hensley, ten years ago.
Some 16 years ago, in 2008, I wrote about this beautiful old Kuhaylat al-Ajuz Arabian mare from Tunisia, Hadia, on this blog, .here. One year after that, in 2009, I wrote about the bay Tunisian stallion Jehol Sahraoui, here. He was from the program of Gisela Bergman in South-West Tunisia. The second photo of Jehol … Read more
Today, modern buildings extend all the way to the mountain range of Mt. Noqm.
I gleaned off this awesome photo of a Bedouin palanquin in the area of Tadmor/Palmyra in 1937, for what looks like a marriage or a ceremony of some sort. As is usually the case for these photos from “nostalgia influencer” social media accounts, there is no source for the photo.
I had been telling you about the strain of Ubayyan al-Khudr of the Bani Sakhr in earlier posts. I stumbled upon a reference to this strain, as I was doing a new translation of the hujjah (certificate of authenticity) of the Arabian stallion Marhum. This was a desert-bred horse born in 1890 and imported from … Read more
I ordered this book on the epic of the migration of the Bani Hilal, in one of its Tunisian versions. The author interviewed one of the last oral reciters of this grand epic, an old Tunisian herder, and translated it into French. I The epic of the Bani Hilal is the Arabs’ equivalent to Homer’s … Read more
Nino Van Reisen of Gothenburg University has this audio recording of a section of the Epic of the Dayaghim as narrated by members of the al-Madhi leading clan of the tribe of Aal Issa in Northern Jordan. The recording features a story about Arar ibn Shahwan’s stallion Mashhur. As Arabic listeners will gather, the pedigree … Read more
A very nice photo of Moira Walker’s Landrace Bellara (Pulcher Ibn Reshan x Jadah BelloftheBall), the youngest Kuhaylat al-Ajuz from the line of the Saudi royal mare *Nufoud.
Yemen has been on my mind a lot lately. صورة لسوق المراشي مركز مديرية خراب المراشي – الجوف (1973 – 1975م) تصوير المهندس المعماري البرتغالي فرناندو فراندا الصورة محفوظة بمتحف كالوست كولبنكيان – لشبونة – البرتغال
I was happy to find a mention of this important manuscript in Major Roger Upton’s “Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia” (London, 1881). It is a short manuscript by a member of the Jabiri family of Aleppo who lived in 19th century and listed many strains of Arabian horses known to him. Here is Upton’s … Read more
I confess being terribly late in acquainting myself with some of foundational Arabian horse literature in English. Roger Upton’s “Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia” is one of those books I had not read, save for passages here and there. I am happy I found a searchable version of it online, and I am having … Read more
[This article is work in progress jointly between Kate McLachlan and I] Kate and I are have serious doubts about the Darley Arabian being from the Fad’aan tribe, as modern lore has it. There were no Fad’aan Anazah Bedouins in the area of the Syrian desert between Aleppo and Palmyra around 1700 CE, where the … Read more
صورة قديمة لحصن عزان حصن الشيخ عبدالكريم بن احمد المهشمي.. مركز رحوب مديرية برط العنان محافظة الجوف اليمنمنقول عن صفحة فهد اسماعيل الانباري