Below are two of the mares that Prince Aleksander Shcherbatov bought on his second expedition to Syria. Djerifa (above), a Sa’dah al-Tuqan mare bought in Deir. From Saadan Togan strain. Red mare, imported, height 2 arshins 2 ¼ inches. The horse was born in 1895 in Mesopotamia, at Bedouin Yedjaefee Ibn-Sakhu ‘s of Agkhedaat tribe. Sire: stallion of Abeyan Sherrak strain from Bedouin tribe Moadja (of Sebaa Anaze). Dam: bought by Ibn-Sakhu from Bedouin from Saekkh tribe (of Shammar) in 1892. “Djerifa” was purchased personally by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in 1900 in Deira on Euphrates, from Bedouin Yedjaefee Ibn-Sakhu and brought to Russia. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia According to the 1903 stud book, Djerifa was barren to the cover of both Khamad and El-Kader, in 1901 and 1902 respectively. Shemsa (above), a Ma’naqiyah Hadrajiyah mare. From Manegi Khedrudj strain. Bay mare, imported, height 2 arshins 2 ½ inches. Born in 1894 in Arabia at Bedouin Hussein Effendi, son of Sheikh of Baggara tribe. Sire from Mangegi Ibn-Sbeyel strain. Dam born at Hussein Effendi, sired by stallion from Kekhaylan Nouag strain. Purchased personally by Prince A.G. Scherbatov in Mesopotamia in 1900 from Hussein Effendi…
Prince Alexander Grigorievich Shcherbatov was one of the Russian aristocratic horse breeders, who established an Arabian stud in the late nineteenth century. Together with his brother-in-law, Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Stroganov, Prince Shcherbatov, inspired by the Blunts, journeyed to Syria in 1888, in order to purchase Bedouin Arabian horses. They succeeded in buying horses from the Anazah and the Shammar, and in 1900 made a second trip to Syria. Neither Shcherbatov nor Stroganov’s studs survived the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, though part of the Tersk stud is situated on Stroganov’s farm. El-Kader (above), a Kuhaylan Swayti stallion from the Ruwalah, by a Ma’naqi ibn-Sbayli. Born in Arabia in 1882 at Bedouin Mis’ar Ibn-Moadjil of Ashadjaa tribe (from Roal Anaze). The said Bedouin sold the horse to Ahmet Pasha Shaaman in Damascus where it served as a sire for Roala tribe. Sire of Manegi Ibn-Sbeiyel strain. Purchased by Prince A.G. Shcherbatov in person in Damascus and brought to Russia in 1888. Stud Book of Arabian horses with their pedigrees present in Russia Faris (above), an Ubayyan Sharrak stallion from the Shammar, by a Kuhaylan Ras-el-Fedawi. From Abeyan Sherrak strain, from Gkhenedish family (of Selga Shommar). Pebble grey stallion, imported, height 2…
The horse in the photo below is the 1897 son of Mesaoud and Nefisa, who was bought along with Sobha at the 1899 Crabbet Park Sale, and sent to the Russian state stud at Derkul. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below is a photo of the 1879 Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare Sobha, bred in Egypt (Wazir x Selma), bought by the Blunts in 1891, and then sold to Colonel de Sdanovitch in 1899, who sent her to the Russian stud at Derkul. Photo sourced from the History of Russia in Photographs.
Below are photos of three Bábolna horses, from the 1896 Berättelse till Landtbruksstyrelsen öfver en år 1893-94 med statsunderstöd företagen resa i utlandet för studier i husdjursafvel. O’Bajan, above, was one of the four stallions acquired for Bábolna by General Fadlallah Mikhail el-Haddad in 1885. Erika Schiele, The Arab Horse in Europe, says of him: [He was] one of the most valuable stallions ever to come to Hungary. He covered mares at Bábolna for twenty-five years, until his death in 1910. Of his 312 foals, 112 stood at stud, and fifty-six became brood mares. At the World Exhibition in Paris of 1900, one of his sons won a first prize for pure-bred Arabs against competition from Russia, England, Constantinople, and even Aleppo. He lies buried under a two-hundred-year-old acacia tree in the stable-yard. In the photos below, the black stallion Jussuf is actually Jussuf I, the 1890 son of Jussuf and Bent-El-Arab, making him a full brother to the 1888 mare 46-Jussuf. Bent-El-Arab, imported on the same expedition as O’Bajan by Fadlallah el-Haddad, has died out in tail female descent at Bábolna, but still survives in Polish breeding, as the mares 233 Kuhailan Zaid-13 and 22 Kuhailan Zaid-1 were rescued from…
كحيلان الملولش من خيل البحرين عند بولين وبينار دو بليسيس في جنوب افريقيا Mlolshaan Mutab, from Bahrain, owned by Pienaar and Pauline Du Plessis in South Africa. Photo Kate McLachlan.
I happened upon this Gazetteer of Egypt in the French language from the year 1891 — the “Annuaire egyptien administratif et commercial” on the wonderful website of the French national library. Under the “Conseil Legislatif”, the legislative council, it has “S.E. Aly Pacha Cherif” as the President. See below.
صورة العفريّة العودة فرس الشيخ هاشم حمود ملحم الجربا بنت عبيان الشيخ عبد العزيز المسلط ام الفرس العودة لونها احمر بنت الصقلاوي الجدراني حصان الشيخة عنود الفارس مالكها ابراهيم العلي ام الام لونها اشعل مالكها العفري من عنزة كان مقيم في الرقة وكانت ام الام شراكة بين الشيخ ملحم فارس الجربا والعفري في الخمسينات ثم تم التفاكك عليها حدثني الصديق محمد معصوم العاقوب قال ولدت الفرس سبع أحصنة وتم تسجيلها كرسن نادر في 1998 بجهود كبيرة وولدت آخر مهرة والوحيدة عن عمر 32 من كروش الناعم الأشهب
تواصلت مساء اليوم مع الصديق محمد معصوم العاقوب ودار الحديث حول الفرس العبية السحيلية العود فرس مطر السراي “مطوري” فشاركته هذه الصورة للعود مع فلوها ابن الحمداني الاعور. الصورة من تصويري سنة ١٩٩٤ او ١٩٩٥ بضواحي حلب عند رضوان شبارق ابو ابراهيم وكانت العود آنذاك ملك للشيخ ميزر عجيل العبدالكريم الجربا وهناك التباس عند البعض بخصوص اب واجداد الفرس العود فوجب التوضيح: ابو العود عبيان السحيلي الاشعل حصان عطنان الشاظي الجعيدان من شمر فداغا ابن كحيلان الواطي الازرق الحديدي حصان ذياب السبيه وابو ام العود أيضًا عبيان السحيلي من نفس المربط حصان مسكاوي عطنان الجعيدان والعود توليد مطوري ولعل العود من افضل الافراس التي عرفتها الجزيرة السورية
Volume 1 of the Bahrani stud book published in 1980 describes the breeding practice of the Al Khalifa family at the time. “No outside stallion is directly used for stud purposes. New blood is introduced indirectly by the high-caste mares received or exchanged with other Sheikhs from the interior of Arabia. When these mares are bred to local stallions, their progeny or grand-progeny will sometimes qualify as studs. The different strains or families of Arab horses are perpetuated through the mares, offspring always taking the dam’s name regardless of the stallion’s strain. Although all the strains found in Bahrain are equally pure, stud horses are chosen only from the strains deemed most noble. The word ‘noble’ here is the nearest equivalent to the Arab word ‘asil’ and does not convey the exact meaning. All tribes recognize the inherent mobility of certain strains but the preference for some strains over others varied from tribe to tribe. It was the custom in Central Arabia for the prominent Sheikhs to keep stud horses from a few selected strains only, but in some tribes after repeated breeding of these stallions with mares of a ‘new’ strain, the progeny of the letter gradually gained acceptance…
The Saqlawi Jadran Jawlan Al Kheir, by the Ubayyan Suhayli Taj Al Kheir out of Bushra Al Kheir a Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah, at Basil Jadaan’s studfarm outside Damascus.
السمن من السمون من المنشأ من ضنا عربان من الخرصة من ضنا ماجد من الفدعان وهو صاحب مربط صقلاويات السمنيات )
The palace of Prince Yusuf Kamal in Qina, Upper Egypt. Built in 1908 in the Neo-Mamluk style. Prince Yusuf was the son of Prince Ahmed Kamal but did not share his father’s interest in Arabian horses. His archives survive in a museum in Coptic Cairo.
Piotr Grzywnowicz posted these two gorgeous photos of the desert-bred stallion Kuhailan Haifi on his Facebook page. What an intelligent look in his eyes. I wish the beautiful halter has survived.
وقد سمعت القصة نفسها عن لسان تاجر الخيل والخبيرالحلبي عبد القادر الحمامي رحمه الله سنة ١٩٩٣
الفحل “الاشهب” المعروف بكروش الناعم ابن حمداني الدعبو ابن دهمان عامرمن خيل عجيل الياور مواليد عام 1988 توليد اسعد سليمان الحسن قرية عكرشة صاحب ام كروش وملك عبود عواد المضحي قرية الناعم امه كروش البيضا لونها ادهم مالكها اسعد سليمان الحسن ابوها المعنقي الحدرجي حصان ظاهر العفيتان لونه أصدأ وامها كروش صاحبها سليمان الحسن ابوها كروش وامها كروش من مربط مطلق عبد الكريم اللهبا من قرية الباردة
كروش البيضا سلالة عريقة ترجع كحيلة العاجوز . اشتُهرتْ في نجد عند الدويش شيخ قبيلة مطير وعند ابن رشيد حاكم حائل انذاك وتحظى هذه السلالة بتقدير عالي عند البدو وقيل فيها الكثير من الأشعار. أمّا تاريخ هذه السلالة في نجد وشبه جزيرة العرب فهو معلوم وما يَهمّنا هو كروش في الجزيرة السورية ذكر الشيخ هاشم حمود الجربا أنّه بعد اعدام صفوگ الجربا 1847 م وابنه عبدالكريم صفوگ الجربا 1871 زمن الدولة العثمانية فرّت عمشة الحسين زوجة صفوگ بابنائها واحفادها وكانوا صغاراً أكبرهم فارس الصفوگ وقضوا بضعة سنين في حائل بضيافة ابن رشيد وعند عودتهم الى الجزيرة السورية أهداه ابن رشيد فرس من رسن كحيلة كروش البيضا وهذه الفرس أنسلت وتكاثرت عند ابناء فارس واحفاده وبالأخص عند علي العبدالرزاق ومنه انتقلت الى العبدالمحسن والعبدالكريم لأنه لم يكن له ذريّة من الذكورأمّا خيل العبدالمحسن أو ما يُعرف بكروشات العبدالمحسن فقام عليهن عيادة الگُرطة بعد انتقالهم من الريف الى المدينة وفي تسجيل منظمة الواهو تم قبول الخيل باسم عيادة الگُرطة وفي عام 1982 تُوفّي النوري الجربا وفي مجلس العزاء لمحَ جدوع السعدي مُهرة كروش دهماء فطلبها من راكان النوري فأعطاها إيّاه وبعد عِدّة سنوات أرسل راكان النوري الى جدوع السعدي فأخذَ مُهرة وبيعت ثلاث افراس إلى الداخل الأولى لقبها العرجة ذائعة الصيت وهي…
Continuing on with the Courthouse elements in asil South African breeding, below are photos of the Rosina granddaughter, Whitehouse Bint Yakouta (Anchor Hill Omar x Sahiby Yakouta). Foaled in 1986, Whitehouse Bint Yakouta is the head of the second of the three branches of asil Rosina-line horses in Southern Africa, with representation in Namibia and South Africa both. She has nine asil foals on record, five sons and four daughters, all by the EAO-bred import Mefdal (Zahi x Marzouka). Her first foal, the stallion Kamarie El Omar (foaled January 1994). Another of her sons, Kamarie Anter (foaled December 1994). Kamarie Anter again. Whitehouse Bint Yakouta (on the right) with her daughters Kamarie Yosreia (foaled 1995), Kamarie Bint Bint Yakouta (foaled 1997), and Kamarie Yasmeena (foaled 2000). Photos courtesy of Wilton Burger and Maretha Garbers Coetzee.
The source is a British handbook on the Turkish army from 1916. Note “Liva”, Egyptian Lewa, Major-General.
PJ Altshuler and Marwan Abu Suud received this precious gift from the Bahrain Royal Stud. He is currently the only Bahraini stallion alive in the USA. I s The earliest known source of information on the strain of Kuhailaan Al-Adiyat Hashal is Judith Forbis’s article “Pearls of Great Price” as it appeared in a 1971 issue of the Arabian Horse World (AHW) magazine, republished in her book “Authentic Arabian Bloodstock” (1990). Judith Forbis visited the studs of the ruling family of Bahrain in March 1970 and mentioned the following: “Kuheilah Al Adiati is another strain rarely heard of before, but deriving from the Kuheilah family. She came from Saudi Arabia, and was presented to Sheikh Hamad when he was a prince, together with a letter of presentation from the offering Sheikh of Al Ajman: “I send to you this mare which fulfills Al Adiat […] When Sheikh Hamad saw her racing and found her exceedingly swift, he happily declaired: “Truly she is of Al Adiat” The strain is evidently a branch of the Kuhaylan family, and appears to have come to Bahrain in the period between 1923 and 1932, the period when Shaykh Hamad bin ‘Isa Aal Khalifah was deputy…
(By Kate McLachlan and Moira Walker) Below is a photo of the rising five-year-old mare, Sanniesguns Sahara, a daughter of the asil Rosina-line stallion Jauhar El-Zar and the Kuhaylah Mimrahiyah Sidi Maschata. Her sire’s dam, Whitehouse Yashma, is by the stallion Anchor Hill Omar, bringing in Babson-Sirecho-Gainey breeding. Yashma’s dam, Sahiby Yakouta, is a daughter of the Courthouse mare Rosina, who has one line each to the stallions Atesh and Nimr. The Courthouse Stallions have been featured before, with barely surviving asil lines posted about 1/ here, 2/ here, 3/ here, 4/ and here. For functional purposes, the lines of descent have broken into two branches: the Austria branch, consisting of Nimr and Fedaan; and the South Africa branch, consisting of Nimr and Atesh. The preservation of the considerably more endangered Austrian branch has been spearheaded by Laszlo Kiraly, who rescued the 1994 mare Saraly El Shahin and 2015 daughter, Salome Hamdaniya, who both carry the unique tail female line going straight back to the Blunt mare Sobha. Hopefully this continues to thrive, as it is currently the only known line to carry forward Fedaan. The South African line, on the other hand, is a little more robust, although it…
حدثنا محمد معصوم العاقوب من شيوخ حرب طي قال الربدا كحيلة عجوز والربداء من أسماء النعامة وتميّزت بهذا الاسم لأنها طَرحتْ ذَكر النعام والنعامة معروفة بسرعته في عام 1810-1815 للميلاد غزتْ قبيلة اعنزا باشات الاكراد مرتين في منطقة قورانشار شمالي بلدة رأس العين السورية في المرّة الأولى استطاع الباشا صد اعنزا وكان اسمه عَبْدي الكَلَشْ وغَنِمَ من اعنزا مجموعة من الخيل والابل وأسير يُقال له في لهجة البدو (( گضيب)) في هذه الاثناء كانت قبيلة حرب في هذه المنطقة لأنها وفيرة بالماء والمرعى وتربط شيخهم جميل الدرويش علاقات قوية مع الاكراد ويلقّبونه جَمّو حسب لهجتهم كان جميل يُحسن الى الاسير الاعنزي ويعامله معاملة جيدة فقال له خُذ تلك المهرة فإن الاكراد لا يعرفون قيمتها فأرسل الشيخ أبنه الصغير خليوي لطلبها من الباشا فأعطاها له وأخبرهم الاعنزي بأنّ هذه المهرة ربدا خشيبي من خيل ابن هذال وأنها من أرفع الخيل عندهم ومنذ ذلك الحين والخيل الربد مع حرب الى يومنا هذا شاركتهم كُل تفاصيل حياتهم وانتقلت معهم الى منطقة القامشلي بعد حدوث خلاف مع الباشا ودخلت حرب ضمن حلف طي في منطقة القامشلي وكان لها مواقف كثيرة معهم لا يتسع المجال لذكرها فأعزوها كثيراً واذكر أنّ عمي عبدالرزاق يحدثني عن فرسهم الربدا بأنهم كانوا في الربيع في بيت الشعر تأتي الفرس…
طيرة ترد للمرازيق مباشرةً ابوها كحيلان الواطي الازرق الحديدي ملك دياب السبيه الشمري وولادة حاكم الحصيني الغشم الشمري، مبارك حمداني سمري توليد عبد العيادة الدرعان ابن غراب فيصير صايل اخو طاحوس Sayil, a Saqlawi Marzaqani of the breeding of Basil Jadaan, by Mubarak out of Tairah. Tairah traces directly to the horses of the Maraziq; her sire was the iron grey Kuhaylan al-Wati (b. ca. 1970) of Diab Sbeih of the Shammar, gifted to him by Hakim al-Ghishm also of the Shammar. Mubarak (b. 1987) was a Hamdani Simri of the breeding of ‘Abd al-Iyadah al-Dar’aan Ibn Ghurab. This makes Sayil the brother of Tahus, a major desert stallion registered in the second wave of the Syrian Studbook, Volume VII.
الصورة تقديم ابو فارس باسل جدعان
To the left, the late Wegdan (Dani) El Berbary. In the middle, my father, General Salim Al-Dahdah. To the right, Basil Jadaan. Lower right, Rosemary Doyle. Photo by the late Hansi Heck-Melnyk, in Karsten Scherling’s archives.
She really does look good and I am very pleased with her. Yasser tells me she has really fine skin and many of the personality traits of the desert horses. She may be barren this year. If so, we will try a breeding to one of the Bahraini stallions at the EAO, either the Jallabi or the other one.
Yasser Ghanem took that screenshot from the virtual AK Convention yesterday. It’s nice to see all the friendly faces on the same screen: Yasser, and Jeanne and Basil and Monica and Moira and Jeannie and Edie and Bev and Kim and PJ and Joe and Rosemary and Kate and all the others.
اتوجه بالشكر والتقدير الى الصديق باسل جدعان على سعيه باستضافتي في الحلقة السابعة من برنامج مساء الخيل الذي بمحاورة الدكتور محمد مشموم وتقديم السيد سعيد سامي
الفحل فواز كحيلان كروش من عيد وست الكل ملك صالح خدام السروجي الصورة في مزرعته من تصويري سنة ١٩٩٢
..for who she was, the horses she bred, the ideas she promoted and the values she stood by. And may she rest in peace forever. A visit to her was a life lesson.
A stunning photo of the 1966 Babson stallion the The Shah (Fabah x Bint Fada by Fa-Serr), exported from the USA to English. The 1978 British National Champion Stallion. Photo: Briery Close, reposted on Facebook by Wilton Burger.
I saw this horse, Daalimaar Al Sharif last year at the Al Khamsa Convention in Fayyetteville, Arkansas, and liked him instantly. He has style, presence and power. I just looked at his pedigree, and was pleasantly surprised at how diverse it was, the Julian/Gulastra, the Hallanny Mistanny, the Sirecho, and a drop of Ibn Halima (just enough) on top of the Serasabba tail female. In general, I am impressed at how Babson and Babson-related breeders in the US have been working with their horses, and how the younger generation of these horses is turning up. one of his young brothers, promising: another brother, WC Sir Habbas Azeer, also out of this mare, well built and equally stylish: and yet another sibling. That mare needs to produce some fillies too!
The stuff you learn on Facebook.. Today I learned the registered name and strain of the Arabian stallion that stars in the movies “The Black Stallion” and the “The Black Stallions Returns”. He is a Ma’naqi Sbayli tracing to the Blunt’s Ferida in the tail female, and his name is Cass Ole. I can already see an ad for my CSA Baroness Lady, the last living Al Khamsa mare tracing to that strain, with the headline: “From the strain of the Black Stallion”. A related anecdote: A few years ago, while having lunch with a prominent breeder from the Gulf in his stud farm, I asked: “So, where did you get your passion for Arabians? Was your grandfather a Bedouin warrior?”. The answer was not quite what I was expecting: “No, I read Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion”.
So there will be nothing left from my beautiful Shadows. The vet clinic wrote this morning that the last egg they had harvested from her had failed to result in an embryo. This marks the end of a heart-wrenching five year adventure with that beautiful mare. She was beautiful inside out. Shadows with the large, soulful eyes, prominent eye sockets and long eyelashes, delicately arched throatlatch, refined neck, fine cup-like muzzle and delicately shaped lower lip, the high withers, deep girth, round barrel and the broad chest of a lioness, who despite her bad hindleg injuries carried herself with dignity. Why is it always the best ones that leave like this? What sort of curse is that?
أفاد مشل باشا الجربا في حديث مع ضابط المخابرات الفرنسية فيكتور مولر- المسؤول عن مراقبة البدو في دولة سوريا الخاضعة انذاك للانتداب الفرنسي – أن ارسان الخيل التي غنمتها شمر (الثابت وخرصة وفداغه) في كون الشريف خمسة ارسان هي: العبية الشراكية وقد ال مربطها الى السحيلي من فداغه كحيلة الشريف وقد عدها مولر من الارسان المنقطعة الشنين عند القعيط النخيشة عند الحدب وهم شيوخ الثابت كحيلة الجلالا عند ابن دايس من الخرصة وأضاف مولر في حاشيته أن هذا الرسن قد انقطع بعد أن نفقت اخر فرس منه فرس شقراء كانت شراكة بين دهام الهادي والقعيط وقد أورد مولر هذه المعلومات في إحدى حواشي كتابه “مع البدو في سوريا” (١٩٣١) نقلًا عن الشيخ مشل باشا الجربا اقول: مما لم يذكره الضابط مولر ان مربط كحيلة الشريف لابن سعدي من عوارف شمر وهو ما زال موجودًا عندهم حتى الان كما أن مربط العبية السحيلية ما زال موجودًا أما الشنينة والنخيشة فانقطع الرسنين عند شمر منذ مدة ومن المعروف أن حرب شمر والشريف أستمرت سنوات عدة وتخللتها معارك كثيرة شاركت فيها معظم عشائر شمر وأفخاذها ولعل عشائر شمرية أخرى ليست تابعة مشل باشا الجربا غنمت أرسانا غير هذه الارسان مثلًا ذكر المؤرخ عبدالله العثيمين في كتاب “نشاة إمارة ال رشيد” اربعة ارسان اخرى…
Yaqut is another gorgeous Saqlawiyat Ibn ‘Amud from the breeding of Basil Jadaan, by Shaddad (Marzuq x Aseelah) out of Karawiyah (Odeilan x Marwah). She is a maternal grand-daughter of Marwah and the dam of Basil’s stallion Shadeed. Sadly, this maternal line was lost due to the war in Syria and is now only represented through Shadeed. Yaqut’s sire Shaddad, a Ma’naqi Sbayli, was bred by Kamal Abd al-Khaliq in Aleppo, and his lines blended very well with Basil’s mares. Below, her son Shadeed against the backdrop of Palmyra’s ruins
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، والحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين،،، وبعد، أبدأ بالتهنئة والشكر للصديق العزيز والباحث النابه المدقق، إدوار سليم الدحداح، على هذه الخطوة المباركة بالتدوين باللغة العربية على مدونته العريقة ذائعة الصيت “بنات الريح”. وقد كان لي شرف التدوين سابقا باللغة الإنجليزية على هذه المدونة المباركة المعنية بالأصالة وحفظ الخيل العراب. والآن يسعدني أن ألبي الدعوة الكريمة وأن أبدأ بأول مقال باللغة العربية. وقد أخترت أن أبدأ بمقدمة قصيرة أتبعها لاحقا بسلسلة مقالات عن مفهوم الأصالة بين العلم والخرافة، وما يعتريه من جدال عند المهتمين المعاصرين. فبسم الله نبدأ وبه نستعين. تـقـديـــم تحتاج المصطلحات والتعريفات إلى ضبط وتدقيق، وتحتاج المباحث والأحكام والإستنتاجات إلى منهجية علمية بعيدة عن الخطابة الشعرية. ثم تحتاج كل مساعينا لأهداف وغايات ورؤى، وأيضا مبادئ تضبط سعينا وتوجهاتنا. وثقافتنا العربية والإسلامية زاخرة بعلوم الضبط، ومناهج البحث، ومقاصد السعي، ولعل من أبدعها وأشدها إحكاما علوم الحديث، وعلم الجرح والتعديل، والذي نصل فيه بمنهجية علمية موضوعية لا انحياز فيها لاتصال وصحة سلاسل الرواية وقوة وموثوقية حلقاتها. ثم علم الفقه بمقاصده واستدلالاته، ناهيك عن العلوم الطبيعية التي أبدعت حضارتنا العربية مناهجها التجريبية والإستقرائية وعلمتها للغرب. واليوم مع التراجع الحضاري لعالمنا العربي تنتقل راية البحث والتحقيق لأكثر مناحي تراثنا إلى غيرنا، من البحث التاريخي، لعلوم الأثار…
Keep your fingers crossed but I guess I will not end up with seven foals from Shadows: “Of the 7 oocytes we received, only two oocytes were able to mature. They were fertilized and one cleaved and started to divide and grow. We need it to continue to develop until it becomes a blastocyst. I will know its outcome in the next few days.”
أفاد مشل باشا الجربا في حديث مع ضابط المخابرات الفرنسية فيكتور مولر- المسؤول عن مراقبة البدو في دولة سوريا الخاضعة انذاك للانتداب الفرنسي – أن ارسان الخيل التي غنمتها شمر (الثابت وخرصة وفداغه) في كون الشريف خمسة ارسان هي: -العبية الشراكية وقد ال مربطها الى السحيلي من فداغه -كحيلة الشريف وقد عدها مولر من الارسان المنقطعة -الشنين عند القعيط -النخيشة عند الحدب وهم شيوخ الثابت -كحيلة الجلالا عند ابن دايس من الخرصة وأضاف مولر في حاشيته أن هذا الرسن قد انقطع بعد أن نفقت اخر فرس منه فرس شقراء كانت شراكة بين دهام الهادي والقعيط .وقد أورد مولر هذه المعلومات في إحدى حواشي كتابه “مع البدو في سوريا” (١٩٣١) نقلًا عن الشيخ مشل باشا الجربا اقول: مما لم يذكره الضابط مولر ان مربط كحيلة الشريف لابن سعدي من عوارف شمر وهو ما زال موجودًا عندهم حتى الان. كما أن مربط العبية .السحيلية ما زال موجودًا أما الشنينة والنخيشة فانقطع الرسنين عند شمر منذ مدة ومن المعروف أن حرب شمر والشريف أستمرت سنوات عدة وتخللتها معارك كثيرة شاركت فيها معظم عشائر شمر وأفخاذها. ولعل عشائر شمرية أخرى ليست تابعة مشل باشا الجربا غنمت أرسانا غير هذه الارسان . مثلًا ذكر المؤرخ عبدالله العثيمين في كتاب “نشاة إمارة ال رشيد” اربعة ارسان…
After a twelve year wait, DOW finally has Arabic language functionality. I am over the moon. Thanks to Yasser the magician, who revived his programming skills from 20 years ago and took a dive in this blog’s underbelly. Guest bloggers and I can write in Arabic, and Arabic speaking readers can post their comments in Arabic. Posts can either be in the English Left to Right (LTR) interface, or readers can click on the green flag on the blog’s menu (just under the main DOW title) which will take you to the Right to Left (RTL) interface, which looks better since Arabic is an RTL language. To convey my profound gratitude, I asked Yasser to write the first Arabic entry on DOW. Other Arabic-language guest bloggers will follow.
Rosemary Doyle sent me these photos of the younger Ma’naqi colt Shaman (Tamaam DE x SE Lady Guenevere) who looks like a good stallion prospect. He has both style and substance.
This quote in the recent DNA study led by Samantha Brooks in the journal Nature is pretty damning, I thought: The presence of Thoroughbred-specific Y chromosome haplogroups among Arabian racehorses indicates that the large chromosomal blocks of Thoroughbred origin detected in flat racing Arabian horses are likely derived, at least in part, from crosses with Thoroughbred stallions that occurred after the emergence of the “Whalebone” haplotype in the 1800s.”
I posted this video because it is an excellent example of a young stallion’s free swinging walk. The video is mostly in slow motion so you can easily see the beautiful extension of the front legs, the hoof hitting the ground heel first to flat and the huge over track from behind. You don’t get a walk like that only through excellent conformation. You also have to have excellent hoof mechanics. Most horses I encounter, of every breed, walk toe first which indicates a desire to avoid contacting the back half of the hoof area due to discomfort/pain if the full weight is applied there first, as it should be. His owner says “He self trims in this country. It’s been a few months. We sanded out some rock chips but didn’t even trim him before nationals…” With time and an eye for detail you don’t need slow motion to detect a heel first/flat footed landing vs a toe first landing. It is amazing what getting the hoof mechanics correct can do to promote the individual horse’s natural stride. IMHO this stride has never been altered by poor farrier work and/or injury. Now to keep it this way throughout his…
Update: that Arabic font is not working. I am giving up. Please bear with me as I update the look and feel of this blog. It’s been twelve years since the last update. Blog design has changed a lot since then. I am also trying to enable Arabic language entries. Let me know what you think of the new design. أول سطر عربي في مدونة بنات الريح
In other happy news, Wadha was checked in foal to Monologue CF today. I had been trying to get this mare in foal for three years.
My beautiful Shadows left us today. What a sweet, gentle, soulful mare she was. Shadows was euthanized this morning, and her ovaries collected for shipping to the University of Pennsylvania veterinary center in New Bolton, PA. There, oocytes will recovered and sent to the Equine Medical Services clinic in Columbia, Missouri. This clinic is a world leader in equine reproduction. There, the oocytes will be placed in an incubator. Mature ones will then be injected with tiny doses of semen, a revolutionary micro-technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Some of the embryos to be produced via ICSI will then be transferred into a recipient mare right away, and others will be frozen for transfer at a later date. Hopefully this will ensure several male and female offspring from this precious mare. I just wish this technology was both more affordable and more widely available ten years ago, when grand old mares like Javera Chelsea and Dakhala Sahra could have benefited from it. The semen is from Jenny Lees Bahraini stallion Shuwaiman Al Rais.
A large DNA study published in the Journal Nature (link to full study here) comes to confirm what we purist breeders have known for a long time: that so-called “Arabian” horses of flat racing lines have a significant blood of English Thoroughbred running in their veins. The author, Samantha Brooks, very elegantly suggests a different labeling of these “Arabian” lines. I still like “Pseudo-Arabians”, which I coined a decade ago.
This year the Al Khamsa Convention will be virtual (on Zoom), but the lineup of speakers is great as always. Make sure you register here. RJ Cadranell and I are also making a presentation on Saturday, on a surprise topic.
I am very impressed with this young lad. And I thought his half-brother and close Ma’naqi Sbayli relative Shaykh was already a winner! Shaman looks more “old Egyptian”, Shaykh more “Crabbet”. Hard to choose between the two. They both speak well for their sire, Tamaam DE, who met an untimely death last year. Photos by Rosemary and Terry Doyle.
Check out the Wikipedia page of Captain G.E. Leachman, the British explorer, army officer, political officer and above all, spy. Photo below, disguised as a Bedouin. The Bedouins, who feared him, called him Njayman. His murder in 1920 in Abu Ghraib by Dari al-Mahmud, Shaykh of the Shammar Zawba’, is a famous episode in Bedouin lore. It sparked the Arab revolt in Iraq. The article says Dari’s son Khamis shot him in the back over a disagreement over a local robbery. Bedouin lore perpetuates a different explanation: Njayman insulted Dari and Khamis killed Leachman with his sword in revenge. The episode is worth a book. I am not surprised Saddam Hussein financed a movie based on it. Modern descendants of Dari’s horses of the Saqlawi Jadran strain, and to a lesser extent, the Dahman Amer strain, are famous in the North Arabian desert, and a regular fixture on this blog.
I found the photos I was looking for, so I will stop scanning for the night. They don’t do justice to the effect this horse had on you. This is Qayss, by Mahrous out Zabbaa’, a stylish bay mare registered in the studbook as a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, but actually from the prestigious branch of Kuhaylan Junaydi. The authorities in Syria registered many horses from unfamiliar strains under the generic Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz, including horses of the Rishan Shar’abi, Mlayhan, Kuhaylan Junaydi, Kuhaylan al-‘Anz and Kuhalyan al-Sharif strains. According to Abbas al-Azzawi’s masterful ‘Asha’ir al-Iraq (Volume 1, under the Shammar section), the war mare of Beneyeh Ibn Quraymis al-Jarba was a Kuhaylah Junaydiyyah. Beneyeh was killed in war in 1231 Hijri (1815 CE). He was the paternal cousin of Sfug al-Jarba, the Shaykh of the Shammar whom the Ottomans treacherously murdered in 1847. Qayss’ eye was placed high, and his head was plain, but what charisma he had and what impression he made on you! What personality and what strength!
Layth, by Mahrous out of Hallah, was spectacular. He was the prototype of the masculine stallion. I had never seen a neck like that on a Syrian horse. Photo from my 1995 visit to Mustafa al-Jabri’s stud. His strain goes back to the Khallawiyyaat marbat of the Ja’alifah of the Northern Shammar in Iraq, through the Tai. Anything from that marbat is now gone, I believe. I am not sure if the Khallawi strain is a branch of the Kuhaylan strain (the Abbas Pasha Manuscript says it is) or a strain of its own. Below, one of his daughters, out of a Kuhaylat al-Wati mare, either Dawhah or one of her daughters. She was very impressive too. Photo from my last visit to Jabri’s, in 2000.
I have written frequently about this horse. In my opinion, Saad II was one of the three best sons of al-Aawar. He was out of a grand mare, Leelas, a Kuhaylah Khdiliyah of ‘Abbud al-‘Ali al-‘Amud of the ‘Aqaydat. That strain harked back to the Kuhaylaat al-‘Ajuz of the Khdilat section of the Fada’an. It was held in high esteem by all the Bedouins across Arabia. Indeed, I have rarely seen such unanimity about a strain. I took these pictures at Mustafa al-Jabri’s farm in 1997. Saad II was in poor condition then. My father, who really had an eye for picking good stallions for his mares, thought the world of him. He sent his favorite mare, a bay Saqlawiyah Sha’ifyah of Ibn Bisra from Rayak, Lebanon all the way to Aleppo, Syria, to be bred to him. She produced that gorgeous colt, below. Photos at the farm of Michel Pharaon, then leased by Husayn Nasser. I never knew what happened to him. My father probably gave him away to someone.
Also at Hisham Ghorayed. Sire: Sa’ad, a Saqlawi Sh’aifi son of Mahrous; dam: a desert-bred Kuhaylat al-Wati mare of the marbat of Hakim al-Ghishm of the Shammar, acquired by Hisham Ghorayeb. Sa’ad produced so well.
This mare was one of the most sought after in Syria. I took this photo in 1992 at the stud of Hisham Ghorayeb in Damascus. Her dam was a Ma’naqiyah Sbaliyah of the marbat of Turki al-Najriss of the ‘Aqaydat Bedouins, a prestigious strain that goes back to the Rasaalin of Sba’ah. Her sire was the Saqlawi Sh’aifi of Diban al-Ka’r. He traced to the horses of Hajjo Ibn Mahel of the Shammar. I recall that Hazaim Alwair and I spent an entire summer in 2005 making phone calls to multiple Bedouins to verify the authenticity of this horse. I have it all written somewhere.
I used to have a photographic memory. One glance at one of the thousands of pictures in my archives and I could tell you the name of the horse, his owner’s name, his parents, and his entire pedigree. Lately I have been catching myself gazing at a photo and asking myself: “who the hell is this horse?”, before reaching for the back of the photo in the hope of finding a handwritten note. I guess it’s called ageing. I thought it would never happen.
Many readers know of my passion for rare strains. They represent both genetic and cultural diversity. I am encouraged by the many rare lineages still extant in Syria, particularly in the Upper Jazirah area. It is the area where the formerly nomadic Shammar Bedouins chose to settle — at least those who did not go back to Saudi Arabia. It’s also the area where semi-settled tribes like the Tai and the Jubur are to be found. In addition to those registered, I have been able to verify the continued existence of the following stains, some not currently registered: 1/ Wadhnan, not registered, with the Tai. 2/ Mlayhan. One mare registered in Volume 1 of the Syrian Studbook, under K. al-‘Ajuz, and another in the second wave of Volume 7, with her offpsring. A dozen more unregistered, with the Tai. 3/ Kuhaylan Shukayli, which is Kuhaylan al-‘Ushayyir (not “al-‘Asheer” as wrongly spelled in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript). One mare was registered in Volume 1 of the Syrian studbook and another in Volume 1 of the Lebanese studbook, but no offspring from these. With the Tai. 4/ Kuhaylan al-Sa’eedan, which is different from Sa’dan. Not registered. Likely the same strain as the…
Lineages of desert-bred horses are surprisingly resilient. Each time I think a line is lost it seems to reappear somewhere else. I have been following the Shuwayman line of the Jarbah Shaykhs for three decades now. Many mares were lost during the Syrian civil war, and I feared the strain was lost. Yet a branch has survived with a branch of the Shaykhs of Tai in the Upper Jazirah. It is now helping regenerate that strain. It traces to that liver chestnut mare, born in 1986. Sire: a grey Saqlawi Jadran of the strain of Ibn ‘Amud, from the marbat of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of the same marbat. Sire of dam: a grey Saqlawi Jadran Ibn ‘Amud of Farhan al-Nayif al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shakyhs of Tai. His sire a Saqlawi Jadran Ibn Amud of ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. His dam a grey Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah Ibn ‘Amud of Abd al-Hamid al-Talal. Sire of grand-dam: the black Marzaqani stallion of Al-‘Anud, the wife of Faris al-Abd al-Rahman of the Shaykhs of Tai. She had received him from the Maraziq as a colt. His sire I think the famous…
Evidence on the Mlayhan strain about the Gmassah, and the Shammar of both Mesopotamia and the Najd, from her book “Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates”: Wilfrid then inquired about the horses, or rather mares, in Jebel Shammar, and asked if the Arabs there had the same breeds as the Mesopotamian Shammar. “Just the same,” he answered. ” They have Kehilehs, and Jilfehs, and Dakhmehs, and Meleyhas, just as with us. There are not many horses (kheyl) bred there. And here: Several Arabs of the Gomassa have been here, talking principally about horses, for they are the great breeders of horses in the desert. Among others, they spoke of a wonderful mare, a Meleyha, which they said a certain European had once offered 6oo for, when they were in their summer-quarters near Aleppo ; but the manner of his dealing seems to have impressed them with the idea that he was out of his mind, and they would not sell the mare. They made very merry over this. We asked them the usual question about the horses of Nejd, and the existence of separate breeds there, and they gave the usual answers. […] Our horses are the same as those of…