A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
أم عرقوب ما عليها عدروب” مَثَل كان يردّده أهل حماه سوريا في الزمن القديم والمعني به أن رسن كحيلة أم عرقوب لا شكّ فيه ولا يُطعن به رافقت والدي أطال الله بعمره في إحدى زياراته لمدينة حماه في أواخر الثمانينيات لرؤية الفحل العربي الأصيل طاهر رسنه كحيلان أبو عرقوب لونه أشقر محمّص لصاحبه الحَصّان نور … Read more
A few days ago, I began a thread on the early story of strain of Kuhaylan Abu ‘Arqub, as it was mentioned in the ‘Abbas Pasha Manuscript. The information is reconciled from two slightly different sources: first, my notes from the English translation of the Manuscript (a copy of the book is in my father’s … Read more
When I purchased my first copy of the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, I was surprised not to find a mention of the well-known strain of Kuhalyan Abu ‘Arqub (fem. Umm ‘Arqub). Its absence was particularly puzzling since it was listed as one of the ten favorite strains of the viceroy of Egypt Abbas Pasha Hilmi I. … Read more
Matthias is back from Saudi Arabia from a horse tour organized by Europe’s Asil Club, and he and his wife brought back pictures of Arabians of the desert-bred lines, including one he sent me, below, of the stallion Khaleel Dirab, a Kuhaylan Abu ‘Urqub by by Rezaiq out of Khuzamah, bred and owned by the … Read more
This document recently appeared on one of the discussion threads below. For those of you who know the Abbas Pasha Manuscript in its English edition, this is just the first page in one of the original Arabic editions.. This is a quick and dirty translation (writing from work, gotta go home soon), without the Quran … Read more
By now you know where the photos come from. This is Al-Hazim (Al Wadah x Khuzama) from the King Abd al-Aziz Arabian Horse Center in Dirab, Saudi Arabia. His strain is Kuhaylan Abu Arqub. By the way, the photo of Al-Hazim’s sire Al Wadah, also an Abu Arqub, grace one of the volumes of the Asil … Read more
Another photo coming through “pure man” is that of the beautiful asil Arabian mare Al-‘Aadiyah (Al Wadah x Afaf), from the King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz government stud of Dirab, in Saudi Arabia. Al-‘Aadiyah is a Kuhaylah Umm ‘Arqub by strain. I recall reading somewhere that this particular strain had been owned by the Saud Royal Family … Read more
In 1921-22, W.R. Brown imported a number of Arabian horses from France to the USA, for Army Remount purposes. Two of these horses, the mares *Kola (Latif DB x Destinee by Maksoude DB) and *Balkis II (El Hassan DB x Bedadine by Edhen DB) have left important lines in mainstream US Arabian horse breeding, *Kola through … Read more
Siglavy Bagdady VI, born in 1949, was the last Asil stallion of 100% old Babolna lines (i.e., no Egyptian Arabian lines in his pedigree). His strain was Kuhaylan Abu ‘Arqub, tracing in tail female to the mare Semrie, imported from the desert by Michael Fadlallah El Heddad. Siglavy Bagdady VI left one Asil son, Wahhabit, … Read more