Barakah is now 5. I think she may have more growing (and widening) to do. She is 95% Davenport (four generations of Davenport stallions on top) but she looks nothing like full-Davenport horses. She is leggier, and differently balanced, with flatter bone. She has her sire’s drooping quarter (when moving this does not show). Pity she did not inherit her dam’s beautiful level croup, highly set tail, extra-long ears or blood mark. There may also be a looser coupling than either sire or dam, and I am not sure where that came from, or if it’s here to stay. Still, she has her sire’s deep girth and his broad chest. Overall, her build is an improvement over her dam’s, and I believe the line is now ready to be crossed with Monologue CF, who will bring extra balance. Like her dam, she has a lot of style, and a “dry”, “deserty” look.
Wadhah is now 11, and looks truly magnificent. She is in foal to Monologue CF, and due in mid-May for her first foal. She really looks like the Thadrian daughter that she is. She has fully transitioned from the zarqa (darker, blue-grey) to the safra (light grey, almost white, with yellowish mane and tail) shade of grey. That’s when you wish you had brushed her before the photoshoot.
I am about to state the obvious about horses that combine different, well-established bloodlines: sometimes they look like horses of one bloodline, and sometimes like horses of the other bloodline, depending on the angle, the stage of growth, the light, etc. Jamr, who is roughly half Davenport, half Doyle (i.e., Blunt), sometimes reminds of me his sire Vice Regent CF, like in the picture below; at other times, he reminds me of his paternal grandsire Regency CF (but he’s not nearly as good); and yet at other times, he looks like his material grandsire Dib, a Crabbet/Doyle horse. Vice Regent has a longer neck; his son has a better coupling, and longer hip (at least in this picture of Vice Regent, I have never seen him in real life). Both are smooth-bodied. The heads also look the same, with the small muzzle and the deep jowls. Vice-Regent’s eye is larger, but I think it’s because the muscles around the eyes, including those of the eyelids, are stronger and more dense in Doyle horses than in Davenports.
I went to see the horses a few days ago. They looked wonderful. The younger ones have finally matured into what I was expecting of their bloodlines. I felt so vindicated, in terms of the breeding decisions I took over the past decade. I had remained uncertain about these decisions until recently. Jamr, albeit small, looks magnificent. I waited almost ten years before seeing him mature into his current state. He is very masculine and tightly build; he has the deepest of jowls; a small muzzle; a naturally arched neck; a very broad forehead; large, prominent, bony eye sockets, and a straight profile — the way I like it in stallions. And he moves with so much power and style. When I remember Lady Anne Blunt’s quote ““A straight profile should not be a defect if the forehead is very broad, the eyes placed low and very large, and the muzzle small”, it’s him that I have in mind.
A very good endurance riding friend of ours is sending her mare to visit Gülilah Sawwan , the last living SE son of the German import Mahib. Assad Princess Surrayah is sired by the noted endurance sire (and all around sweetheart) Sidi el Nabiel out of the Maistro[imp] daughter Sidi Halima. She’s not exactly a spring chicken, but we’re hoping for the best. Helping to save the Mahib[imp] line for asil breeding out of a Freiha Al-Hamra (APK) tail female mare could have been worse. Assad Princess Surrayah
Below is a photo of the Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Marouf/Maroof, photographed in 2008 at the Pure Syrian show. Picture purchased from In The Focus.
From the 1936 book of Dr. Ahmad Mabrouk of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt, “Rihlah ila Bilad al-‘Arab”, comes this picture of a stallion of King Abd al-‘Aziz Aal Saud at the al-Kharj stud in Najd. Arabian horse fans would do well to carefully study the horse in this picture: he was the senior stallion in the senior stud of the most senior person in Arabia at the time. You’re looking at the archetype of the breed in its native homeland. Note the power, length and slope of the shoulder, the pointy ears, prominent withers and the length of hip. Note the straight profile and the strong neck. Neither swan necks nor extreme dished profiles were not a thing. Ten years later, in 1946, the archetype at al-Kharj did not look much different.
We’re in the process of getting the stallion Harab Bachir’s registration in the Namibian stud book finalised. These are some VERY candid photos and as you can see my talent for equine photography blossomed at a young age and promptly withered. I’m very excited about this stallion. Apart from the line to Tuwaisan[imp] that is rare in asil Southern African breeding, he also traces back in his dam line to the mare Lar Shawania[imp] (Ibn Dahman x Talara, by Talal). She was unfortunately overshadowed by her maternal half-sister Lar Malika[imp]. You’ll also find the stallion Maistro[imp] in his pedigree, a noted endurance sire albeit a bit late. Harab Bachir, 2016 stallion Harab Bachir Side view of Bachir
This video sent along by Talal Farah shows a race held in Bahrain between a part-bred Arab horse from Lebanon and a Bahraini mare owned by the Bahraini ruler. The part-bred, a grey owned by famous racehorse owner Mahmud Fustuq, is Bahr al-Hadi, who sired a good deal of the Lebanese part-breds. He was very handsome. The Bahraini mare is a Kuhaylah Jallabiyah. See how she overtook him in the long run, after he led on a short distance.
In the same vein as the photos of lesser-known Crabbet horses which Kate re-published below, here is a photo of Rasim (Feysul x Risala, born 1906) from the December 1933 edition of the French magazine Le Sport Universel Illustre, with a nice description of him in French. The photo was taken during a visit of the author of the article to the Ujazd stud of Baron William Bicker in present-day Poland. Baron Bicker had purchased the 18 year old stallion from Lady Wentworth in 1924 for a very large sum.
This evening I had a bout of nostalgia for my old horses, so I went looking for pictures of Dahess, the desert-bred stallion my father and I bought from a racing stable in Beirut in 1993. I was 15. One afternoon, as I was just coming back from school, my father told me that he had been contacted by the secretariat of the organization managing the Beirut racetrack about two Arabian stallions that had recently been imported from Qatar, one of them a Syrian horse of desert lines. They were being housed at one of the racing stables on the road to the airport. Both were for sale. I pressed to drive down to the racetrack to see them at once. Half an hour later, we were standing in front of two stallions, an exquisitely balanced grey with a milky white coat, 14.3 hands, and a much taller, loosely built cherry bay. The grey we were told was “Syrian” and the bay “Russian”. Both were a bit thin. My father nudged me from his elbow, and started praising the bay horse, while deliberately turning his back to the grey one. The groom fell for the trick and hinted that the…
From the Arabian Horse Archives comes this beautiful photo of the 1922 desert-bred Hamdani Simri stallion *Saoud, imported by Amin Rihani to the USA in 1928.
Today I found the following note in the 1935 book of Prince Mohammed Ali. It is an excerpt from the Abbas Pasha Manuscript (or one of its drafts), on a mare of the Jilfan Dhawi strain acquired by Abbas Pasha: The intensely black Jilfah Dahwa mare of the Fid’an, owned by Nasir al-Wayil of Shammar, came into the possession of Nasir from the Tawman of Shammar. The Tawman got it from the Fid’an. Its mother is still in the possession of Shammar and its father is the black Mu’niqi Hadraji of the horses of the Tawman of Shammar. The mare was acquired by its (present) owner through purchase. Just noting that this is the same marbat as that of the mare Wadha, a Jilfat Dhawi bought by a French government commission from a Fad’aan camp in 1875, and sent to Algeria, where she founded a famous damline.
Photos sourced from Le Sport Universel Illustré, no. 906, 21 December 1913 Helwan (Mesaoud x Hilmyeh). He is registered in Vol. 20 of the General Stud Book (GSB), issued in 1905. He was sold to C. E. Poole, of Caledon, South Africa, and exported in 1907. Poole used him on his part-bred Cleveland mares, and Helwan had no recorded purebred get in South Africa. (See Charmaine Grobbelaar, 2007, The Arabian horse and its influence in South Africa.) Nawab (Astraled x Nefisa). Like Helwan, he too is registered in Vol. 20 of the GSB, but as an unnamed foal for the year 1905; his name, colour and sex are given in Vol. 21 of the GSB, issued in 1909. He was the sire of the mare Selmnab (out of Simrieh), who was imported to the USA by Roger Selby. Unfortunately, Selmnab has no known asil descendants alive today. The 1937 Selby Stud Brochure of Arabian Horses describes Selmnab as follows: SELMNAB. (Next page). Bay. 14.0. Foaled 1920. 900 lbs. A Hamdanieh Simrieh. Sire: Nawab. Dam: Simrieh. Bred at Crabbet Stud, England. 812 Arabian Horse Club. 5407 Jockey Club. Selmnab has the wildest desert appearing eye of the group of brood mares. She is of the…
Today Kate found my Holy Graal. Two of my Holy Graals. Ever since I was 12, I have been wanting to see photos of the two fountainhead mares of Algerian Arabian horse breeding, at the Jumenterie of Tiaret: the two mares Olympe and Primevere. Robert Mauvy’s precious gem of a book, “Le Cheval Arabe” has a section on these two mares that left an imprint of the teenager I was. Today, 31 one years later, when I need to take a flight somewhere, the first book I instinctively grab is this one. I never tire of reading it again and again and again. I don’t believe anyone has captured the essence of the Arabian horse the way Mauvy has. Both Olympe and Primere are the grand-daughters of two mares imported from Arabia to Algeria by the French: respectively Wadha, a Jilfat al-Dhawi of the Fad’aan Anazah, and Cherif (b. 1869), a Shuwaymah Sabbah of the Sba’ah Anazah. The French bought both mares at the camps of these of two tribes. Some 150 years later, both lines are still thriving worldwide. Here are the two pictures from the Sport Universel Illustre. Thank you, Kate. You have given shape to a longstanding…
I just miss beautiful photos of Davenport mares and stallions, so I went digging among the old ones. I am particularly fond of chestnuts with blazes, long pricked ears, broad foreheads, protruding eye sockets and beautiful soulful eyes like Decibel CF.
روى سليمان العزو السليمان الفيحان من قبيلة الشرابين تجاوز الستين من العمر عن تاريخ قدوم الخلّاوية الى أهله قال: درجت الخلّاوية الى جد أبي اسمه فيحان منذ ما يقارب 180 عام من اعنزا حيث حدثت مشاجرة بين الرعاة من اعنزا والشرابين على المراعي حوالي منطقة جبل سنجار وفي هذه المشاجرة أُصيب رجل من الشرابين وبعد سنة توفّي متأثراً بهذه الاصابة فاصبح الرعاة من الشرابيين يشاجرون اي اعنزي في تلك المنطقة لعلهم يجدون القاتل فيأخذون بالثأر فأرسلوا اعنزا وفد جاهة لفض هذا الخلاف وبالفعل تم دفع الديّة لذوي المقتول وكان سيّدهم وشيخهم فيحان وبعد دفع الديّة اهدوا فيحان فرس وقالوا له (( دير بالك عليها تراهي الخلّاوية وهي فرع من كحيلة العجوز )) واعطوه حجة يشهدون بها أنّها أصيلة وفحلها من الخيل الشبوّة { للأسف لم نجد الحجة } ونمتْ هذه الفرس عند فيحان وبعد فترة بسيطة وُلدَ سليمان الفيحان بتاريخ 1842 تقريباً توفي 1951 عاش قُرابة مائة وعشرة سنين عندما كبر سليمان اهتم بالخيل كثيراً فأعطاه والده وهو فتى صغير فرس أو فرسين قبل زواجه. وهو الوحيد الذي حافظ على هذه الخيل وانقطعت عند باقي اهله واقربائهوعاد ووزع عليهم من خيله فاستمرت عند حفيده سليمان العزو الفيحان صاحب (( الراوي )) وجوديف الحمود واخوانه يطلق عليهن اسم خلاويات الفيحان ومدرجات…
Marwah had these magical soulful eyes and long eyelashes. She was small, but built like a tank. Both photos from Marwa’s owner Basil Jadaan. The strain belongs to Hasan ibn Amud who led the Amud clan of the Northern Shammar, but traces to the Jadraniyat mares of the Frijah clan of the Ruwalah. The Frijah were the fountainhead of the Saqlawi Jadran strain.
Basil Jadaan’s gorgeous foundation mare Marwah, a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah of the marbat of Ibn ‘Amud from the Shammar, pictured here with the late Najm al-Himmayri. Najm’s day job was “horseman”, or “horse expert”. Marwah was the dam of Hijab (by Ward al-Mayel), exported to France and the maternal grandam of the French-bred Syrian stallion Menjad Maram Al Baida (by Mokhtar). Najm, together with a few others like Abd al-Qadir Hammami (from Aleppo), ‘Uqlah al-Hanshul (from Deyr), Fawwaz al-Rajab (from Homs), Rashid ‘Issa (from Hama), Shakir al-Salluh (from al-Mayadin), was a fountain of knowledge. He knew all the stories and the all the horses and all the strains. I never met him, but Basil knew him well.
Fawaz al-Rajab passed away last week. The news of his passing saddened me greatly, perhaps because he was directly connected to my family’s story with horses. Fawaz was one of Syria’s very last hassanah, (in Arabic حصانة, “men of horses”). Part merchants, part experts, part brokers, part stallion handlers, but never breeders nor owners, the hassanah lived for and from the horses. They were one’s first point of contact when buying, selling or inquiring about a horse. They knew the landscape like nobody else. Abu Hussein Khattab and Abd al-Qadir Hammami were the main hassanah of Aleppo. Uqlah al-Hanshul and Najm al-Himmayri were the main two for Deyr al-Zor. They all passed. Today, with the rise of direct advertising, social media, and specialty magazines, there is no room for the hassanah anymore. The profession is a thing of the past. Fawaz was the main such “man of horses” for the Syrian city of Homs from the 1960s to the 2010s. He took over his father’s business. In 1976, my father, then newly engaged to my mother, made his first visit to her family in Homs. He asked his future in-laws where he could see horses around the city. My uncle…
Register here to attend, if you can.
وقعت عيناي على حجة باسم جهيم المطخان يفيد بها ان ام الفحل الشهير كروش جهيم المعروف باسمه هي كروش محمد النواف الجربا مما يعني ان كروش جهيم يرد الى فرس علي العبد الرزاق الجربا التي وردت مع امه العمشة اثر رجوعها من حائل حيث اقامت عدة سنوات في ضيافة ابن رشيد وقد اتى ابن رشيد بالكروش من الدويش شيوخ مطير
Seven years after this post, it’s time to say goodbye to Ginger (DA Ginger Moon, photo below). She went to Bev Davison, who had been keeping her for me for some time. Bev now has quite a collection of horses with high percentage Abbas Pasha blood from the dam lines of both Gulida and Rabanna, where Ginger will fit in nicely. She also has Ginger’s younger full sister, DA Moon Dancer, who at 21 is yet to produce a foal . It was very rewarding to have owned Ginger. She is a grand mare, with style, power, distinction, a long slender neck, deep jowls, soulful eyes, and an unmatchable shoulder-withers complex. She has produced several good foals over the past years, in addition to those she’s had for her breeder Sheila Harmon, who sold her to me. Ginger came to me with a 2014 black colt by Sheila’s good Babson stallion Serr Serabaar; I gave the colt to Chris Yost who’s been training him for endurance racing. He has grown into a fiery black stallion (video here). Chris also owns the colt’s full sister, DA Ebony Moon. Together they finished the Tevis Cup in 2013 (photo below). I then…
This interesting 2019 article from Aramco Expat is an obituary of sorts for John Ames, an early (pre-World War II) Aramco employee. He was the husband of Dr. Esther Ames, who imported the Ubayyah mare *Mahraa and her daughter *Muhaira to the USA. The following exceprt struck me: John was married to Esther – Esther Ames MD. As the only American woman doctor in Aramco, she spent a fair amount of time in Riyadh tending to the women of the royal family: the dowagers, the princesses and their daughters. She was a great favorite and was showered with elaborate hand-embroidered dresses, finely worked brass coffee pots, silk scarves and the like. Sometimes Emir Saud bin Jiluwi, the governor and most powerful man in eastern Saudi Arabia, would send his personal black Cadillac and two bodyguards to take her to his palace. John even managed to get a blade out of the connection when some grateful prince sent him a curved, eight-inch dagger in a beautiful jet black scabbard filigreed in fine gold-plated wire. Surely, if Dr Ames, the only American female doctor in East Arabian, had attended to the wealth of the wives, sisters or daughters of Saud Ibn Jalawi,…
This handsome stallion, a personal favorite of mine, born in 1988, is the sire of the flee-bitten Kuhaylat Ibn Mizhir mare that many of you liked in the entry below. He was one of the last stallions the Tai Bedouins used as a herdsire, in the village of al-Na’em, where some Tai had settled. This earned him the nickname “Krush al-Na’em”. His sire was a Hamdani Ibn Ghurab of the Tai, sired by a Dahman Amer of ‘Ajil al-Yawir al-Jarba, the Shammar. His dam’s sire was the Ma’naqi Hadraji of Zahir al-Ufaytan, and the sire of the maternal grand dam — is said to have been a Kuhaylan Krush. The maternal grand-dam is from the horses of Mutlaq al-Haybah of the Shammar.
تُعتبر كحيلة ابن مزهر من الارسان الحديثة وهي بالأصل كروش بطحها رجل من الجوالة من قبيلة طي يُقال له حماد الاسيود الخابور من رجل من الفدعان يُقال له ابن ماضي ثم اخذها من الجوالي ابن مزهر من اقارب شيخ طي انذاك محمد العبدالرحمن العساف توفّي نهاية اربعينيات القرن العشرين وهو الذي أطلق عليها اسم كحيلة ابن مزهر لأن الاعنزي اخفى نسبها عندما سُلبت منه وبعد فترة من الزمن جاء الاعنزي الى شيخ طي يطلب فرسه فقال له الشيخ اذهب الى تلك الفيضة والخيل موجودة فيها إن عرفت فرسك فهي لك فذهب الرجل وجاء ثلاث رؤوس من الخيل تزيد او تنقص وبالفعل جميعهن من فرسه سأله الشيخ كيف عرفتهن ؟ قال: قصر جين وبگاع عين فقال له الشيخ نعطيك نصفهن بشرط ان تخبرنا اصلهن فقال الاعنزي هن من رسن كروش وبقيت الخيل تتبارك عند مشايخ طي وعندما بدأ الواهو بالتسجيل تم قبول الخيل في المنظمة ودرجت من الشيخ محمد الفارس العبدالرحمن فرس الى نزار الاسعد اسمها مواضي وفي عام 1983 أعطي عبدالعزيز المحمد العبدالرحمن مهرة لحمود الملحم الجرباء من مشايخ شمر وبينهم قرابة خولة ولحمود الجرباء ومن بعده ابنائه دور كبير في الحفاظ على هذه السلالة ونمت وتباركت عندهم تميّز من هذا المربط بطل السرعة هدّار وهيشان وبرزان وفرسي الانتاج لزاز…
I have to admit that this mare has always been a favourite of mine, ever since I saw her at my first endurance ride at the age of sixteen. One of her owners, Mr. Paul Kotzé of Diepsand Stud, sent me some screenshots of her, that I will replace when I receive the photos. The photos were taken when she was already 23, after foaling, but you can still see what a quality mare she was. Sidi Mabrouka was bred by Mr. A.W.A. (Jack) Maritz of Farm Kamkuip, South Africa. She is by Raafeek[imp] (Ibn Morafic x Surrayah, by Morafic) out of Sahîby Juleemah (Ahir[imp] x Sahîby Noura, by Ahir[imp]). She falls within the earlier non-Minstril group of offspring. Sidi Mabrouka age 23 List of registered offspring (South African Studbook): Durakha Sarab, by W.D. Majesty[imp] (Prince Fa Moniet x Lar Monieta, by A.K. Shah Moniet) 1991 stallion. No offspring. Sabaa Hamdan, by Sabaa Ibn Muneera (Sidi Ibn Muneera x Durakha Arisa, by Ahir[imp]), 2000 stallion. Sired one filly, Sabaa Juleemah. Status: “Biological Identification Required”. No registered offspring. Kibriya Nishkur – to be discussed later. Sidi Mabrouka then found her way to the Tir’at Stud of Mr. P.A.L. Nel, a long-time…
The hujjah published by Rousseau, in 1813, in Fundgruben des Orients, vol. 3, was printed by the journal both in Arabic, and translated into French. I reproduce both versions here below. “Au nom de Dieu, clément et miséricordieux, de qui nous attendons, toute assistance et secours.” “Le prophète dit: mon peuple ne se réunira jamais pour affirmer l’erreur.” “Voici l’objet de cet écrit authentique: Nous soussignés déclarons devant le Dieu suprême, certifions et attestons, en jurant par notre sort, notre fortune et nos ceintures, que la jument baie marquée d’une étoile blanche au front, et dont un pied de l’arrière-main, et un de l’avant sont blancs, descend d’aïeux nobles, tant du côté maternel que du côté paternel, par trois filiations directes et consécutives; qu’elle est véritablement née d’une cavale seglaaouié d’Al-Cazran du Nedjed, et d’un étalon de la race de choueyman Elisebbah, et qu’elle reunit les qualités de ces jumens dont parle le Prophète, lorsqu’il dit: leurs seins sont des trésors et leurs dos des sièges d’honneur. “Appuyés du témoignage de nos predecesseurs, nous attestons, sur notre sort et notre fortune, que la jument en question est d’une origine noble et qu’elle est aussi pure que le lait; qu’elle est renommée par sa légèreté et sa…
The works of the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817) were published after his death, by the African Association. The book in which this hujjah is found, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, was the last of his books to be published, in 1831. The subject of the hujjah is a Saqlawi colt, out of a famous white Saqlawiyah, sired by a bay Kuhaylan stallion. “GOD. “Enoch. “In the name of the most merciful God, the Lord of all creatures, peace and prayers be with our Lord Mohammed and his family and his followers until the day of judgment; and peace be with all those who read this writing, and understand its meaning. “The present deed relates to the grayish brown colt, with four white feet and a white mark on the forehead, of the true breed of Sakláwye, called Obeyán, whose skin is as bright and unsullied as milk, resembling those horses of which the Prophet said, ‘True riches are a noble and pure breed of horses;’ and of which God said, ‘The war horses, those which rushed on the enemy with full blowing nostrils,—those which plunge into the battle early in the morning.’ And God spoke the truth in his incomparable…
Below is the text of a hujjah from the early eighteenth century. It was published in Thomas Pennant’s 1776 British Zoology. Note that the English consul was already aware of the fact that proof of ancestry was needed to confirm that a horse was truly an Arab. The horse that is the subject of this hujjah appears to be a Ma’naqi. The footnote to the hujjah also mentions pure in the strain breeding. Taken before ABDORRAMAN, KADI of ACCA. The Occaſion of this present Writing or Inſtrument is that at ACCA in the Houſe of Badi legal establiſh’d Judge, appear’d in Court Thomas Uxgate the Engliſh Conſul and with him Sheikh Morad Ebn al Hajj Abdollah, Sheikh of the County of Safad, and the ſaid Conſul deſir’d from the aforeſaid Sheikh proof of the Race of the Grey Horſe which he bought of him, and He affirm’d to be Manaki Shadûhi*, but he was not satiſfied with this but deſir’d the Teſtimony of the Arabs, who bred the Horſe and knew how he came to Sheikh Morad; whereupon there appear’d certain Arabs of Repute whoſe names are undermention’d, who teſtified and declar’d that the Grey Horſe which the Conſul formerly bought of Sheikh Morad, is Monaki Shadûki of the pure Race of Horſes, purer than Milk†, and that the…
The photo below shows the three mares (from left) Sachida, Sadana and Sandara, daughter, dam, and granddam, at Marbach in 1992. Photo purchased from In The Focus. Sachida’s pedigree. Sachida had nine registered foals, five of whom were asil fillies. These were: Sarina, 1993 grey mare, by Nami Saadawi, 1995 grey mare, by Nami Sabita, 1996 grey mare, by Serenity Habib Sahalina, 1997 grey mare, by Neshan Sabola, 2004 grey mare, by NK Bolbol Sarina has three asil daughters who have produced foals at Marbach, Sabiha II, Sangule, and Sarafine. Of Saadawi’s asil daughters, only WM Sahaabah has produced registered offspring to date. Sabita and Sahalina have no recorded foals, and Sabola is the dam of two colts. Sadana’s two other asil daughters Sahira and Souha have left no asil fillies to continue their line. That said, the stallion Sahil Ibn Farag II-3 (out of Souha) is a source of Murana I in mid-pedigree, with two asil colts bred at Marbach, and a daughter Farah Hafida Farag II-3 foaled in 2020 at Stephanie Weirich’s Farag Arabians. (A previous post on the 25-Amurath Sahib descendants being bred at Farag Arabians can be read here.) Sandara has another asil branch of descent…
يقول حماد الجدوع الجزعة سمعتُ من أبي يقول الصگلاوية الجدرانية التي عندنا بالأصل لآل غبين شيوخ الفدعان من اعنزا وقدا أهدوا فرس الى ابن اختهم ضاري ابن محمود شيخ زوبع من شمر في ثورة العشرين في العراق جَلى ابن محمود الى الجزيرة السورية لأنّه كان احد القادة للثورة وجلبَ معه مجموعة من الخيل ضمنها الصكلاوية الجدرانية فباع هذه الصكلاوية لمحمد الدندح شيخ الجوالة من طي من خلال سائس الخيل اسمه سرحان فارسل معه الفرس وحجتها وكانت الفرس لاقح وذُكر في الحجة اسم الحصان الذي تشبت منه الفرس وهو دهمان عامر من خيل ضاري ابن محمود وبعد عِدّة أشهر ولدتْ الفرس مهرة اشترى جدوع الجزعة نصف هذه المهرة ب 125 نيرة رشادية وجمل ( جمل بيت ) سمّاها جدوع فرحة جدوع عندما كبرت هذه المهرة ( فرحة جدوع ) شبّاها من حصان عبو الحميّد من رسن صكلاوي جدراني اسمه فرحان ايضاً وصل للحميّد من ضاري ابن محمود ثم افلت فرحة جدوع بمهرة شقراء ثم شبّاها من نفس الحصان فرحان وبعد شهور قليلة حان موعد الفكك جعل محمد الدندح المهرة وفوقها 20 نيرة كوم (( حُصّة )) والفرس كوم (( الحصة الثانية )) فاختار جدوع الجزعة الفرس ودفع 20 نيرة لمحمد الدندح (( هذه طريقة للمشاركة في الفرس عند الفكك المالك يكوّم…
DeWayne Brown visited the horses at Terry and Rosemary Doyle’s farm in Alfalfa, OR the other day. He sent me these two pictures of my Ma’naqi Sbayli colt Shaykh Al Arab (Tamaam DE x DaughterofthePharaohs by Chatham DE), who is now 15 months old. He has many barn names: Terry calls him Naj, Rosemary calls him Notch, and DeWayne calls him Eddy. I call him Shaykh. I have seldom seen such strong barrel, deep girth and round rib cage on an Arabian yearling, at least not in the USA. My friend Pienaar Du Plessis from South Africa said the same thing. I feel it’s worth to wait to see him grow. He is the first colt in the second picture, the third is his maternal uncle Shaman, who is a couple months younger. Long live the Ma’naqis.
This is the year I have planned the most breeding since 2006. Five mares were bred or about to be bred. Of these three are going to Davenport stallions: Andre DL, Anecdote CF, and Monologue CF. 1/ CSA Baroness Lady to the Da’jani stallion from Syria (planned) 2/ Wadha Al Arab to Monologue CF (in foal) 3/ Mayassa al Arab to Anecdote CF (planned) 4/ DaughterofthePharaohs (Pippa) to Bashir Al Dirri (in foal) plus a fifth mare I am not talking about yet.
Jens Sannek sent me this message, a few days ago: In Germany Falko Zimmermann bred the mare Murjana, a Saglawieh Jedranieh Ibn Sudan via Ghazieh, born 2012, bay, by Menjad Maram al Baida (Mokthar x Hijab) out of Assads Galifah (Maamoon Tarik x Gazeera (Sindbad x Golson)). Sindbad is by Hadban Enzahi out of Sahmet and she is by Hadban Enzahi out of Jatta by Jasir). Falko takes Murjana and Assads Galifah for Western riding. I add two photos. I think you will enjoy them. The first is Murjana, the second is Assads Galifah. The dapples on the bay of Murjana is characteristic of Mukhtar’s lineage; his dam was like that. So much rare and precious Arabian blood in these mares. Not just the Syrian desert blood of Menjad, which is very clean, but also that of Maamoon Tarik, which I had pointed to in another entry on this blod, but also that of Soldateska, through Sindbad. Wow.
This is the stallion I am going to breed my mares to this year. I chose him because of his extreme arched neck, his extreme throat latch, his extreme high set tail, his extreme muzzle, the extreme black skin around his eyes, and above all else, his extreme floating action. Wish me extreme luck.
Susanne Schreibvogel published these two photos, along with a short article in Arabische Pferde Des 92 – Feb 93 after she payed a visit to Sidi Thabet. I’ve added a translation of the photo captions. “Mourad M’Barek, Sidi Thabet’s director, with one of the two-year-old arabian mares.” “The twenty-year-old, Tunisian-bred, chief sire Dynamite III by Esmet Ali out of Njoua”
Monologue CF still looks his same old self at 20. If anything his eyes look even more bulging with age. I like the balance on this horse so much, and I wish he was used more. Wadha is in foal to him. I think I will breed him to Barakah next. Because of his high percentage *Wadduda blood (18.8%) he is being used by other Al Khamsa breeders on their *Wadduda tail female mares through Sahanad.
By far the nicest surprise of yesterday’s visit to see my horses was little Bassma Al Arab, now three months old. She is Belle’s daughter by Jamr Al Arab. She looks absolutely superb, and I hope she lives long enough to fulfill her promise. She is going to be grey. I confess having taken that breeding decision on a hunch, and I caught a lot of flak for it: parents’ conformations don’t match each other, pedigrees don’t match, foal will be small, etc. I tried it in part to test whether Jamr was fertile, after a few unsuccessful attempts with older mares. I also did because I felt the resulting foal could benefit from his broad forehead, his extra-deep jowl, his small muzzle, his very short back (which Belle lacks), his muscular arched neck, and his big “Doyle butt” – essentially a long, hip and a muscular thigh. And Jamr delivered on most of the above, building my confidence in my him as a stallion along the way. He even brought size (!) balance and depth of girth on top of that. Look at the outcome: The head is the same as the dam’s as you can tell from the…
I was pleased to see how my 2016 mare Barakah Al Arab (Wadd Al Arab x Jadah BellOfTheBall) had developed over the past two and a half years. I left her a gangly two year old, and she has filled up since. She certainly has some more growing to do. Wadd improved the shoulder angle and the length of the shoulder, added much needed depth of girth and breadth of ribcage; he left the head pretty much the same as her mother’s, except for adding more distance between the eyes, the ears are as long and prickled as her mother’s. On the other hand, Belle’s beautiful level croup and highly set tail are gone; instead Barakah inherited Wadd’s slightly sloping croup and the short hip which is a legacy his dam Wisteria. When going you don’t notice it as much. I did not pay as much attention to her feet as I should have. Overall, Barakah is an improvement over Belle, without having lost her “desert” look. By the way, I feel breeders needs to be as openly candid about their horses as they can, if they want to improve on them in the long term, especially if they do…
Yesterday I went to see my horses for the first time since the onset of COVID-19 some two and a half years ago. Belle the Kuhaylat al-Ajuz looks good and has had two fillies in the last four years. Both fillies are an improvement over her, in terms of balance and structure. I am going to breed her at least one more time, this time to the Syrian Kuhaylan Da’jani stallion for which I now have semen thanks to Arnault Decroix. I thought she was looking very much like her maternal grandsire Audobon and his dam Audacity in that picture.
The dry, arid climate and terrain of the South Western USA are much closer to that of the steppes of Arabia than the wetter climate and more lush pastures of, say, the mid-Atlantic region or the plains of the Midwest. I have observed that these drier conditions are resulting in Arabian horses that look much closer to the horses raised in Syria and Arabia, and to those raised in Namibia and the drier parts of South Africa. Drier skin, stronger, more solid bone, more visible tendons, and something different in the way the eyes shine that I cannot describe. This observation is a central tenet of the writings of French master breeder Robert Mauvy, based on his empirical observations. I would like to read any scientific papers on the climate and terrain impact on horse phenotypes, if anyone knows of any. The mare below, Roxana Star (Personic LF x Jauhar Al Khala by Sportin Life), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah of Davenport bloodlines born in 2005, illustrates this observation. She is in the Southwestern USA, with Christine Emmert. Photos by Christine.
WhatsApp and Twitter threads of Gulf countries Arab horse and saluki breeders are spreading the news of the passing of Danah Al Khalifah of natural causes, the day before yesterday. Rest in Peace, noble lady of the horses, you have done so much.
Some more of what I received from Tunisia. I’ve added the pedigree information I could find. (That in and of itself is a caveat). Kesseb (Sibawaih x Remada, by Cheikh El Ourbane) Mezerib Loubieh (Bouq x Eqbatane, by Ihalli)
Jens Sannek sent me these three photos of a stallion of his breeding in Europe. The bloodlines lines are absolutely unique in Europe. Ajman (Maamoun Tarik x Bint Aja by Mirath x Aja by El Haml) is a 1996 liver chestnut of the Hamdani Simri strain that traces to the *Halwaaji, a mare of Saud stock imported to the USA. His dam Bint Aja was bred by Lee Oellerich in Canada in 1980 and imported to Europe. Lots of old Saudi blood up close in that pedigree: *Al Hamdaniah, *Turfa, *Muhaira, *Nufoud, *Taamri, *Rudann and *Halwaaji. The sire of Ajman, Maamoon Tarik, carries even unique and interesting bloodlines. He is of predominantly Olms lineage, which means that on top of the EAO and Babson Egyptian blood (Kaisoon, Farag, Negem) he carries additional Saudi lines to *Sunshine, *Nufoud, and *Tairah through mares of Krausnick breeding imported from the USA to Germany, as well as a hint of Davenport through Shiba (Hanad x Schilan). The cherry on the cake of this pedigree tapestry is the line to Gazala, a 1967 desert-bred mare of Shammar breeding imported from Hail, Saudi Arabia to Germany in 1971. Jens, who also bred Ajman’s sister Ajibah by Wahhabit,…
Hopefully this time is the right time. Last time she slipped her foal at five months. She will be taking progesterone until she delivers. I can’t wait for this foal.
شكر وتقدير للاستاذ خالد الرخلاني الذي جهد في ادخال بيانات انساب الخيول العربية السورية على قاعدة www.allbreedpedigree.com
I received this photo from a friend in Tunisia, taken at Sidi Thabet. Kesseb (Sibawaih x Remada, by Cheikh El Ourbane) This is the only information that I could find, for what it’s worth.
This account recorded in early 2021. It reads like a testimony of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript. My translation: I, Hammad Jaddu’ al-Jaz’ah, of the tribe of Tai, clan of al-Jawwalah, I am the owner of the strain of Saqlawi Dari, the horses of Jaddu’ al-Jaz’ah, in the township of Abu Hujairah, district of al-Qahtaniyah, province of al-Qamishli, governorate of al-Hasakah: Concerning the marbat of Da’jani Kashir, the horses of Khidr al-Ahmad al-Husayn al-Juburi, they came [to Syria] at the end of 1958 or the beginning of 1959. It was the father of Khidr who came [to Syria]; his name was Ahmad al-Ali al-Juburi (of the Jubur); he was the direct son of the daughter of Ahmad al-Taha; his maternal uncle was Ahmad al-Taha. The man came from Iraq, with blood on his hands [Edouard’s note: he had killed two men there]; That’s why he crossed into Syria. There were two mares with him, a red one (bay) and a light grey one, both of the Da’jani Kashir strain, which was the marbat of his maternal uncle Ahmad al-Taha. He settled in Syria, from the beginning of 1959 until his death. To this day, his son Khidr al-Ahmad al-Juburi is…
Yesterday Ginger foaled a little male, who as of this morning was still fighting for his life. He could not stand to nurse on his own, so Bev — bless her heart — has been waking up every two hours to lift him so he could nurse. I hope he pulls off. He is Ginger’s third foal in three years, after my Kinza, now two, and Bev’s Ginger Snap, a yearling. All three are by Bev’s stallion Subanet Jabbar SDA, so tracing to Fay El Dine in tail male and to Rabanna/Basilisk in tail female. When my partner Jana first saw a photo, her first reaction was: “Oh he looks like a little dog!” so I named him Kulayb. It’s Arabic for “little dog”, and it’s an old, old, Arabic Bedouin name. The Ancient Hebrews had it too, as the Biblical Caleb. In ancient pre-Islamic poetry, Kulayb son of Rab’iah was the name of a Bedouin hero from the ancient tribe of Taghlib. He was the brother of Mohalhil.
فرس شقراء كحيلة الخدلية يعود مربطها الى عضيب الوقاع السبيعي ابوها الصقلاوي الجدراني من خيل دريعي الاحدب من عشيرة شمر ابو امها المعنقي السبيلي حصان الشويطي من خيل النجرس من عشيرة العقيدات
صورة للشيخ خالد بن عضيب الوقاع شيخ فخذ المجاهمه من الموايقه من قبيله السبعه من عنزه كان لوالده عضيب الوقاع السبيعي مربط معروف لكحايل الخدليات درج على قبيلة العقيدات في ما بعد
El Salil Paloma is a 2009 Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah from the Nabilah tail female line, in South Africa, out of the mare Induba Wasifa, by the Kuhaylan al-Mimrah stallion Skarabee Picasso. Nabilah (Enzahi x Zamzam) was one of the two Egyptian mares imported in 1945 from the Royal Agricultural Society by Claude Orpen, along with the well-known Mimrahiyah Barakah. After arriving in South Africa, Nabilah was sent to Namibia, where she produced her daughter Inzam Saklabilah by the stallion Gordonville Ziyadan. All Nabilah’s descendants today trace to this one registered daughter. In addition to her status as one of the rare Nabilah line mares, El Salil Paloma is precious in South African asil breeding, as she is also one of the few Nabilah tail female descendants without Hanan or Tifla. To date she has produced two asil foals, a colt by El Salil Benjamin and a filly by Kromar Xoyatan, but the filly sadly died last month. Paloma herself nearly did not make it to adulthood, as her owner and breeder Fallon Thiele writes: When Paloma was a 3month old filly she was caught in a snare, it severed her back tendon on her right hind leg. We nearly put her…
Published in July 1971 by Danah Al Khalifa. All photos by her, unless otherwise indicated. Her photo captions are included. “To the starting post!” Each Friday from November till May, a popular meeting place is His Highness Sheikh Isa’s private racetrack. Races are informal and unique in style. No betting, no prizes, nevertheless each competitor is keen to ride a winner. Every colt and filly is race trained to it’s worth! It is in racing that the good or the bad points of conformation, character and HEART come out. They start to race at three years of age if well developed, over a distance of six furlongs (1200m.) The distance is increased with age, up to two miles, and some horses are still racing when fifteen years old. Stallions and mares race in mixed groups. “Jockeys come in all sizes!” (Photo: R. Paterson) “A mare’s excitement at the start.” “and a stallion’s protest! Shawaf: “Unchanged by the years, a grand old Arab and his grand old steed take part in a festive parade.” “And jockeys come in different styles!” Homestretch!! No whips are permitted! … But sometimes a hollow bamboo reed is used as it…
Published in July 1971 by Danah Al Khalifa. All photos by her, unless otherwise indicated. Her photo captions are included. HAMDANIEH: ” … how exquisite her ears, pointed as a date flower bud … ” “An Arabian beauty with a dropped veil!” During date harvest season when flies are bothersome, some favourites get a ‘rish-rash’ for eye protection – this one’s slipped down. Grey Dahman with Arab headstall. Grey racing mares in ‘summer flesh’. DAHMEH: ” … her chest is power … ” (Photo: Forbis) ‘BAY RACING MARES IN SUMMER FLESH’. Dark bays, the most prominent colour in the royal stud. JETHENIEH: ” … her large head flexeth with ease … ” ‘On a promenade’. MA’ANAGY: “A son of Old Bay Jellaby, young, proud and spirited, yet so gentle a young girl can handle him.” (At private stud.) HATHBEH: ” … know that ye must bridle her with a sizeable and strong bit … ” ‘A young Sheikh on his favourite mare.’ Hamdany and Tuwaisan: “High spirited playful young stallions.” DAHMEH. “On wings and springs.” a) The free flying trot so characteristic of a true hotblood. b) The powerful and bold…
Published in July 1971 by Danah Al Khalifa. All photos by her, unless otherwise indicated. Her photo captions are included. Shuwaimeh & Shawafah. Two expectant mothers. (Photo: Forbis) Hamdany. A new born colt, four hours old. In future will become a dark bay. Hamdany Ibn Krushan. Three weeks old, was born black but on reaching maturity will become silver grey. Hamdany. A dark grey weanling colt pictured when six months old. Hamdany was born dark brown, his second coat dark grey, however on reaching maturity he will be a pure white horse. To accustom the horse to being chained by the legth first lesson is to tie a thick rope around the front pastern for a few days, as shown in this photograph. Hamdanieh. Weanling filly pictured at 7 months of age. Born brown, second coat roan. She is a future speckled grey. “Jellaby Ibn Krushan, a two year old colt. Born black but a future silver grey. Arabs often compare their best horses with the Saluki, the Arabian greyhound, in good points.” At this time the colt is broken to rider and halter, to stand still when mounted and to walk, turn and stop.…
Published in July 1971 by Danah Al Khalifa. All photos by her, unless otherwise indicated. Her photo captions are included. Bahrain’s mounted police leaving the Guest Palace Old Speckled Jellaby, pictured at 34 years of age, sired his last foal the same year. Born 1930, died 1968. (a note in pencil reads: “Tuwaisan’s sire of dam” – Wilton) Photo: M. Shakib Tuwaisan: A treasured racing stallion of Bahrain, was a royal gift to a private stud in South Africa. (Photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais) Old Bay Dahman, in his shady teasing cage, photographed at the age of 30 years while he was still at stud. Born 1938 died 1970. A mare exploding in high spirits. Old Bay Jellaby, at the age of 28 years, still at stud. Sire Old Bay Jellaby. (Photo: F. Alqusaibi) Krushan, son of Old Speckled Jellaby, pictured at 18 years of age. Born 1952 died 1970. Young Bay Jellaby now at stud, aged 16 years, is full brother to Old Bay Jellaby. Young Bay Dahman, pictured at 8 years, was sired by Old Bay Jellaby and now replaces Old Bay Dahman at stud. Hamdany aged 7 years,…
All photos by Danah Al Khalifa unless otherwise indicated. Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman Shawaf sired a breeding mare for Sheikh Mohammed bin Sulman’s stud out of Jellabieh No. M1. Bred by the Royal Stud, served as breeding stallion for the Mounted Police. Hamdany Riadh (top); Ma’anagieh Marshoosha (bottom) – photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais. Neither are listed as belonging to any particular stud. Danah Farm Danah Al Khalifa writes: 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 Najd encampment of Emir Abdulla bin Saud. It was stated by the caretaker of the horse herd that Sitah was bred by Crown Prince Feisal bin Abdul Aziz, and was out of a Hamdaniah Ghiam mare of the horses of Al Saud, and by stud stallion Saqlawy El Njemy from the horses of Al Rasheed. Sitah No. D1 (Saqlawi El Njemy x Hamdanieh Ghiam) – mare b. 1961 photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais Dhiab No. D4 – stallion b. 1972 (Ma’anagy El Saghir No. 300 x Sitah No. D1) (top); Burkaan…
Published by Danah al Khalifa in 1980. Photos listed in the same order with pedigree info provided. All photos by Danah al Khalifa, unless otherwise indicated. Shawafa 264 b. 1975 (Ma’anaghi El Kebir x Shawafa Nr. 160) Dahman II Jellaby Sakhir – after 30 in 1980 Old Dahman (photo: Dr. Valérie Noli-Marais) Jellaby Wazmiah in old age Dahman 296 – stallion b. 1970 (Ma’anaghi El Saghir No. 300 x Dahmeh El Hamra No. 23) Dameh 23 & Colt. Dameh El Hamra No. 23 – mare b. 1965 (Old Dahman I x Bint Dahmeh El Shagara) Dahman El Ahmar No. 196 – stallion, 2yr (top) (Ma’anagy El Saghir No. 300 x Dahmeh El Hamra No. 23). Hadfan No. 298 – stallion, 2yr, (bottom) b. 1978 (Ma’anagy El Saghir No. 300 x Hadfah No. 159) Hamdany bin Um Shamy No. 81 – stallion b. 1973 (top) (Dahman II x Hamdanieh Um Shamy No. 119). Hamdanieh Bint Um Shamy No. 257 – mare b. 1975 (Hamdany No. 75 x Hamdanieh Um Shamy No. 119) Shuwaimah Nr. 48 – mare b. 1973 (Hamdany Nr. 71 x Shuwaimah No. 47) (left); Hamdanieh Johara No. 305 – mare b.…