Photo of the day: the old war horse of King Abdallah I of Transjordan
Photo taken when the horse was more than 30 years old, and covered with scars from battles. Gleaned off the internet. Not sure in which book, magazine or article it was originally taken from.
This is how the horses of Arab kings looked like, not like these show….. well, you know what I am going to say here.
Yes, pretrty beat up and tired looking, but he is 30 years old and saw plenty of action in his time. You would have a similar look in our present day Arabian Peneninsula descendents after a 5 day 250 mile endurance ride.
This is from the time that horses were used. And it did not hurt them, or they would not be alive at 30 years old.
Yes over 30 years old- But, with a stronger coupling and lumbar spine than most WAHO horses at age 4…He had to have been a wonderful weight carrier. Yes he is posed with his hindend downhill to level things out- But again ask yourself how often you see a horse this structurally correct at a show. I mean this correct in which the horse has not been fattened up like a pig to be sent to market, the extra body fat of course covers up conformation flaws, and is a well known ploy on the part of some show folk. This is why we need to upgrade our Waho horses with strong bodied Asil and Al Khamsa stock, IMO.
Best Wishes
Bruce Peek
Love this photo! Looks like he certainly could carry out a job… besides just trotting around an arena. And agree with Bruce about the weight. Obviously, they should not be starved to death, but I think that many keep their horses unhealthily (word?) obese. If it’s not good for people, I bet it’s not good for horses.
I would love to have known his personality…
Great image of an old and prized war horse. I can only imagine what he must look like being ridden and animated. Since this horse is from “Transjordan” I wanted to mention for those who may not know, Peter Upton is working on a new book with Princess Alia of Jordan called Royal Heritage, the Story of Jordan’s Arab Horses. I very much enjoy Peter Upton’s wonderful books and have all of them including the current one just out called Out of The Desert, but I am really looking forward to the next one as it will most certainly provide more insight to the background of the Arabian horses of Jordan and perhaps even shed more details about the above pictured horse.
Edouard, are their any special characteristics that would distinguish kings’ horses from the rest of the asils?
of course not, what i meant to say is that arab kings were in a position to choose the best horses for them from among the tribes, so when you see a horse owned by a king, you can safely assume that the is one of the choicest horses..
Thanks, Edouard. What I’m actually trying to get at — and today the meaning may just not be able make it through from my head to this page — is what characteristics would royalty be looking for in their mounts? Is there a common thread linking the kind of horses that kings would select,or was it a more individual sort of decision?
oh, good question, sorry for the dumb answer above.. i don’t know. i would assume it would depend on the purpose.. whether they need war horses or parade horses..
the story of *Mirage provides us with a good window to try and answer this question: king Faisal, who was the brother of king abdallah mentioned above sent Haddad Pasha to look around the desert for a horse for him. I assume he needed some king of horse that would make him look regal. *Mirage was the answer.
I am a big Mirage Fan and over thirty years ago I was reading an Arabian horse World magazine and a ruler from the Middle East… came to visit the US and he stated that he owned a full brother to Mirage… Now I can not remember which Year or month this article was in.. does anyone perhaps remember? Michelle
So would this horse be considered Al KHamsa and or Asil?
certainly asil,he would need to come to the usa or canada to be eligible for AK
I mean the horse photographed above
Jenny, responding two years later to your excellent question: I think the high withers and the strong coupling would be two such features.