Lizaar today

The second new *Turfa mare, Lizaar Del Siksikas, is four years old. I could not get good body shots of her because she was just beginning to learn to trust new people so she kept hiding behind the other *Turfa mare. Lizaar has 87.5 percent desert blood and 12.5 percent Egyptian blood (*Fadl and *Nasr … Read more

Nejed Cupid today

Today Jenny Krieg and I drove up to Pennsylvania to see my horses and her colt. First time in a year and first time since my return to the US. It was also my first time seeing the two new *Turfa mares, who are very different from each other. I first saw Nejed Cupid, who … Read more

Karak-Kaifa and Chouk

The photos of the two stallions below come from the article, ‘L’Opinion des Arabes sur le cheval’, printed in the 3 March 1900 issue of Le Sport universel illustré. Kapa-Kaifa [sic] (above) was a 1894 bay Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz stallion, purchased in Kaila, Syria. I am not certain that the name of the horse, nor the … Read more

Goodbye Turf

MD Turfairan (“Turf”) left for a new home yesterday. Turf was Jessie Heinrick’s gift to me, in return for my gifting her Wadd Al Arab. I regret that Turf did not have any opportunities at stud in my ownership. He would have nicked especially well with the *Nufoud mares. Despite his short height, he has … Read more

New Badia pictures

I am really liking how the new little filly is shaping up. She is beautiful, three circle, and solidly built. Too early too tell if she features some of the damline’s characteristic legginess and dryness, which I like. What is certain is that Monologue fixed the dam’s short and droopy croup, at least in part, … Read more

New filly this morning!

This morning Barakah delivered a strong, healthy filly by Monologue CF. Mother and baby are doing well. I feel so blessed, and I pray things continue to go well. The vet is coming this afternoon for an IgG blood test and plasma transfusion. This filly is special because she is the first third-generation foal from … Read more

Samir, head stallion in Tunisia

The striking1985 chestnut Kuhaylan al-Ajuz stallion Samir (Sibawaih x Chajaret Eddour by Esmet Ali) was the other chief sire at the government stud of Sidi Thabet, together with Dynamite III. I saw him at Sidi Thabet in 2005. He reminded me of Regency CF at the time. Photo from the social media account of the … Read more

Rhoufi, my 2003 Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz stallion in France

الفحل كحيلان العجوز الازرق من خيلي الاسم الغوفي العمر ٢٠ سنة المنشأ تونس يعود اصله الى كحيلة العجوز فرس خليل بك الاسعد من ال علي الصغير زعماء جبل عامل وقاعدتهم بلدة الطيبة في جنوب لبنان اليوم والمعروف عن ال علي الصغير انهم احفاد محمد ابن هزاع السالمي الوائلي احد اعيان عشيرة السوالمة من عنزة اتى … Read more

When art imitates life..

Above, a famous drawing by French nineteenth century artist Victor Adam. Below, the Kuhaylan Ajuz stallion Rhoufi, my pride and joy, and the lone surviving treasure of the 150 year old Tunisian asil breeding program, bred by Gisela Bergmann in 2003 and photographed in 2023 by Arnault Decroix at his farm in Normandy.

Belle’s 2023 foal

I am so taken with Belle’s new colt by Jamr, born a couple months ago at the farm of their new owner Moira Walker. Moira named him Belisarius. He is a throwback to the USA Arabians of a hundred years ago, those you find in black and white photographs of horse magazines and books. At … Read more

Dosage

Today, my Barakah was bred to Monologue CF. I love this young mare of mine, and I am looking forward to the outcome of that cross. In general, I find that this particular branch of the *Nufoud damline is a diamond in the rough. It has plenty of desert type, but some defects too. Barakah’s … Read more

Belle this afternoon

This is Jadah BelloftheBall (aka “Belle”, and I am going to change this name with the registry). The background is an eyesore, but she otherwise looks good. She is a 2002 Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, tracing to *Nufoud, a mare from the stables of Ibn Saud. Her sire is Invictus Al Krush and her dam is one … Read more

First Roots of Kuhaylan al-Ajuz

Now that I have read the Abbas Pasha Manuscript — the equivalent of the Bible for Arabian horses — from cover to cover a fair number of times, I have learned that all Kuhaylan ‘Ajuz horses originate from two wellsprings: the Sharif of Mecca in the Hijaz, and the major tribe of Qahtan, and more specifically the Qahtan … Read more

Welcome, Belle

I am excited to announce that the Kuhaylat al-Ajuz Jadah BelloftheBall a.ka. “Belle” (Invictus Al Krush x Belladonna CHF by Audobon x LD Rubic by Plantagenet) has joined the Al-Dahdah herd. She is a gift from my friend Jeannie Lieb, who delivered her from Boston to Pennsylvania yesterday! I have been wanting a mare from the … Read more

Jadah Sharuuq, 1995 black Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion

Jeanne Craver sent me this photo of the black Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion Jadah Sharuuq (Lifes Capade LD x Belladonna CHF by Audobon), a Sharp (no Blunt/Crabbet blood) stallion bred by Randall and Mary Sue Harris of Peoria, IL, from lines from Carol Lyons. This rare and precious stallion is just five generations removed from the … Read more

Chahata, 1990 Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion from Tunisia

I took this photo of the Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz Chahata (Hosni xHamida by Soufyan) at the stallion depot of the Tunisian government stud of Sidi Thabet in 2006. He was a great race horse, and I thought he was exceptionally well built, while at the same time displaying good Arab type. I wonder what’s with the … Read more

Hadialeh, desert-bred Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, 1903, Hungary

The family of Adrien Deblaise has one of the largest rare equine books collection in Europe, and certainly in France. From time to time, he sends me scans of precious photos, for which I am very grateful, like this photo of the splendid desert-bred war mare Hadialeh, a Kuhaylat al-Ajuz purchased from the Sba’ah ‘Anazah … Read more

Kuhaylan Abu ‘Arqub in the Abbas Pasha Manuscript

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

Photo of the Day: Ghalion-6, 1973 asil stallion in Germany

The asil stallion Ghalion-6 is by Ghalion (Morafic x Lubna) out of 25 Amurath-Sahib (Amurath Sahib x 221 Kuhaylan Zaid by Kuhaylan Zaid out of 11 Siglavy Bagdady II). He traces to the mare 60-Adjuze, imported from the Arabian desert by Austro-Hungarian Empire official Fadlalla El Hedad. Adjuze was reportedly bred by the Sba’ah Bedouins, her sire … Read more

Photo of the Day: Szeikha, desert-bred Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz, Poland

This is a raelly unique photo, by Carl Raswan, from the Craver photo collection. It shows the mare Szeikha, a chestnut Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz purchased in the Arabian desert in 1931 by Bogdan Zientarski and Carl Raswan on the behalf of Prince Roman Sanguszko for the Gumniska Stud. She was bred i n 1923 by “Sheikh Farhan … Read more

Barely surviving lines: Najd’s Hamdani Simri to *Samirah through Kerasun (1/2)

*Samirah is a Hamdaniyah Simriyah from the stud of the House of Saud in Najd, which was imported to the USA by Albert Harris in 1921. She has a very thin line that was the focus of a number of courageous, almost desperate preservation efforts over the last fourty years. The result is that the … Read more

Jazour, l’etalon oublie

Jazour est né en 1968 chez Mr Robert Mauvy. Ce magnifique bai, par Saadi et Izarra, par David, de lignee Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz (tracant sur Samaria), très athlétique a fait ses preuves sur le terrain, en participant à des raids d’endurance qu’il a souvent gagné. Il fut aussi un excellent géniteur. Il gagna notament une course d’endurance où il … Read more

Photo of the day: Jazour, bred by Robert Mauvy in France

Louis Bauduin just sent me this older photo of the masculine stallion Jazour, a Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz, by Saadi out of Izarra. Jazour was bred in France by Robert Mauvy, and reflects a blend of Tunisian and Algerian breeding.  Too bad Izarra, bred by Admiral Cordonnier at Sidi Bou Hadid in Tunisia, never left a female line. … Read more

Query on French bloodlines in the USA

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

Photos of the day: Moulouki, Saadi, Ourour

The magnificent grey stallion pictured below was bred was Robert Mauvy in 1969 near Tours, in France. Mauvy also bred his sire Amri (Saadi x Zarifa) and Amri’s dam Zarifa (Matuvu x Iaqouta). He sold Amri to Idaho in the USA as a three year old, but not before he used him on a couple … Read more

Menjad Maram al-Baida, a young asil stallion in France (part 1)

Recently I became aware of the existence of a young bay stallion of desert-bred stock that was bred in France, where he is now standing at stud. The name of this young stallion is Menjad Maram al-Baida, and his strain is Saqlawi Jadran (photo below, from his owners website). Menjad was bred by Mrs. Chantal Chekroun, … Read more

Lost asil tail females: *Nedjme

Think of this new “Lost asil tail females” series as an obituary section in a newspaper.. I know there is no point in grieving over what is lost, but it’s a good reminder of how lucky we are to have what we still have. The series starts with *Nedjme, just because “she was given the position … Read more

Photo of the day: 225 Scheherazade

This picture of 225 Scheherezade (Ibn Galal III x 220 Ibn Galal I)is courtesy of her owner Laszlo Kiraly of Hungary. 225 Scheherezade has two crosses to the Babolna mare 25 Amurath-Sahib (Amurath Sahib x 221 Kuhailan Zaid), including one in the tail female. As such she traces to the desert bred 60 Adjuze imported by … Read more

The 1909 desert imports to France

In 1909, a French government commission led by Inspector Quinchez bought 24 desert-bred stallions from the Egyptian racetrack of Sidi Gaber in Alexandria. Of these, 17 went to Algeria (then a part of France), and the remaining 7 were distributed in government studs across mainland France. The seven were: Dahman, Meenak, Farid, Aslani, Hamdany El Samry, Latif and Maarouf. The … Read more

LD Rubic, a ruby in the rough

This is one of my all-time favorite Asil Arabian mares. LD Rubic (Plantagenet x Tarrla) is unique for several reasons: 1) she is a great-grand-daughter of the mare *Nufoud, a Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz mare from Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud born in 1925 and imported to the USA in 1931 by Albert W. Harris. You cannot get any closer to … Read more

What can we do about the last French Asil horses?

The entries on the French Asil Arabian horses continue to generate a lot of interest.  To some, the photos of classic specimen of Arabians horses were like an eye opener, shedding light on Asil breeding in a country that has imported hundreds of desert bred stallions and mares from Arabian, and set up large-scale breeding ventures that go … Read more

More on Rubi de la Mouline

He reminds of a mythological creature, with flowing lines, and a graceful way of carrying himself. The best blood of North Africa flows in this horse’s veins… Rubi de la Mouline (Ilamane x Hamma) is a Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz, tracing to the desert-bred mare Samaria, imported to France in 1887 by M. De Ganay, then exported to Tunisia, where her … Read more

Picture of the Day: His Majesty Dahman

This is one of my favorite old pictures. The horse pictured is Dahman, a dark chestnut stallion bred by the Shammar Bedouin tribe in 1905, and sold to a French horse-buying commission led by Inspecteur Quinchez in 1909.  Dahman was a herd sire for the Shammar prior to his importation to France. He was by a … Read more

Kuhaylan Ibn Jlaidan: a photo and a hujjah

I found a picture of a Kubaylat Ibn Jlaidan to show you, as well as a writtten certificate of origin (hujjah, plural hujaj). The picture, taken in the mid 198os, does not do justice to the mare, and I hesitated a bit before posting it: it shows a chestnut desert-bred mare in rather poor condition, against a … Read more

The mare in the photo quizz..

.. is Naziha, an Asil Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz from Tunisia.  That this small North African country is home to such classic specimen of Asil Arabians as Naziha may come as a surprise to some, yet Tunisia harbors one of the best collections of Asil Arabians anywhere.  Most Tunisian Asils trace to desert-bred horses imported from Arabia by the French. The French? France occupied Tunisia in 1881, but kept … Read more

Kuhaylan Hayfi: What’s in a name?

The previous discussion concluded (for now) that the strain of Kuhaylan Hayfi has developed sometime between 1850 and 1875.  What was it known as before that? and where did it derive its name from? Like many, but not all, Kuhaylan strains, Kuhaylan Hayfi, which by the way is also called Kuhaylan al-Hayf, branched out of Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz. Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz appears to have been … Read more

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