Question on *Werdi
Does anyone know how the mare *Werdi made her way to Davenport in 1906?
There is no mention of her in his “Quest”, and her original documentation (hujjah) points towards the central Syrian city of Hama as a place of origin. Hama is not a place Davenport or his friends visited, he only visited Aleppo and its semi-desert surroundings, while his friends visited Damascus and its immediate surroundings, where they bought *Muson, *Antar and a third horse I forget.
Davenport does not describe his acquisition of *Werdi in his book, catalogs, or known correspondence. It must have been during the Aleppo phase, because her pedigree was sealed by Akmet Haffez. In one surviving letter, Davenport says that 8 horses were gifts, but there are not 8 known gift horses from the Aleppo phase, and so because the circumstances of *Werdi’s acquisition are unknown, she apparently was another gift horse. The documented gift horses are *Wadduda, *Haleb, *Gomusa, *Haffia, one for Moore, and a grey for Thompson.
The three horses acquired on the Damascus phase were *Muson, *Masoud, and *Simri. Not *Antar, who was acquired as a foal at side with his dam *Reshan in Aleppo.
This may be off subject, however revelant and may be of interest to some viewers here and Edouard may help in your quest…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1894-Rarest-ARABIAN-HORSE-Book-Breeding-Racing-Equestrian-Arab-Champions-Islam-/350843752173?
This 1894 book was written by Gen. Tweedie and seems to be very informative, just thought I would pass it along-
Homer Davenport did visit Damascus. His letter to his sister of Sept 1, 1906, on stationery of the Grand Hotel Victoria in Damascus says, “I arrived in Beirut day before yesterday and as the steamer leaves there tomorrow we, Jack Thompson and I, came over to Damascus for the day & night.” This letter is transcribed on pages 206-7 of the Annotated Quest, and is also the letter in which he writes that of the 24 horses then on board ship, “16 are purchased and presents from Governors and Shikes bring the number up to 24.”