If I want to guess at the looks of a Davenport I only know from their pedigree, I look at their grandparents. This is the 2004 Hamdaniyah Simriyah Lili Marlene SHF, granddaughter of Major Barbara and Trill, of Ibn Alamein and Salutation. She certainly is. Lili Marlene is the work of the hands and hearts of Dr. Fred and Barbara Mimmack, Smoky Hill Farm. Photo by Linda Sherrill.
This photograph, found in the WR Brown Collection (owned by AHOF), is labeled *Urfah, and has the left fore and two white hind feet as described in the studbook. *Urfah is wound around and through the straight Davenports through her son *Hamrah and her daughter Sheria. Says the DAHC pedigree site (which is a bit behind the times): “Total descendants: 1437.” “As we departed the mare was a picture. She walked with the grace of a well-bred woman; her tail would gracefully sway from side to side, her ears were ever in motion, and her eyes sparkled. The very sight of her rested us from the long day’s ride of the day before and then she broke into a gallop and her swinging tassels were soon lost sight of as she disappeared on the horizon.” —Homer Davenport, My Quest of the Arab Horse
Not a straight Davenport this time, but too good to keep to myself: the 1987 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Audition LD (Audobon x Leafs Echo). This is one of Carol Lyons’ “Sharps” (no Blunt breeding). I know very little about him, other than his location (Illinois—these images look like StarWest to me), his pedigree, that he’s been shown in training level Dressage, his registered progeny (none, alas) and that he’s well-loved. Maybe Jeanne or Alice Martin knows him and can fill us in a bit more.
A picture of a new foal for a new year. Hang in there, spring is coming. This is the 2009 Hamdaniyah Simriyah filly, Lirac HD (Shiraz CF x Bint Meringue), shown at two days. The bare patch on Bint Meringue’s cheek is from the Breeder Alert sensor taped to her halter during foal watch.
“It’s been a long December, and there’s reason to believe Maybe this year will be better than the last.” — Counting Crows, “A Long December” Saqlawi al-’Abd Tripoli, a cornerstone of the straight Davenports as they exist today (images in the left column), and his Kuhaylan Hayfi grandson Memoir UF, called Rory by those who loved him (images in the right column). Do click through that last shot of Rory, he’s all there and very admirable to boot. Tripoli is serving as a lesson horse in his under-saddle photo, with Tom Neese up; Rory as a show horse, though I don’t know the rider’s name or the photographer. Thanks to Aida Schreiber for taking the conformation shots of Rory, and for bringing Rababe CF and Neroli CF to him in his old age, producing his two sons Firewater SF and Damascus SF respectively. (You saw his daughter, ADA Recapitulation, earlier in the series.) One last thought for the year to come, from the TB Friends (a Thoroughbred rescue) sort-of blog: Another of my favorite comments from 2010. A family in Davis greeted an older thoroughbred mare from the Wilton feed lot. A young boy, 9 or 10, walked up to…
A father-son pairing this time, both Kuhaylan Hayfi. Atticus (Dharanad x Fairy Queen) is 24 in the first image. Attikos (Atticus x Marigold CF) is three (and, I think, in the middle of a trot-canter transition—). See how Attikos is using his LS joint, “sitting down” in the rear to push off? A quick look found this image showing the ideal LS joint as being over the point of the hip, creating a short, strong loin and a long hip (the illustration says “long croup“). Attikos is pretty close to this ideal.
The 1911 Ma’naghiyah mare Abbess has no remaining descent, and her sire *Abbeian‘s sire line in the straight Davenports died out with Ibn Ralf. Her dam, *Farha, has a thin line remaining (both in straight Davenports, and another family in Al Khamsa more generally) through Ralf. I don’t know if Abbess’ age in this picture is known, but she looks young to me, perhaps two or three. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Craver.
Michael Bowling tells me this historic image, previously published as *Urfah, is now believed to be Freda (the markings don’t match *Urfah’s in any case.) Freda, it is hypothesized, had her identity confused with Saleefy’s when both mares were sold in 1918. Freda descends entirely from the Hamidie Society importation of 1893. The markings of the foal with her do not match any of her registered Arabian produce—per Michael, this is probably the Anglo-Arabian Frecon (by Consider). The modern image is an October 2007 shot of Freda’s presumed tail female descendant, the splendid mare Jonquil CF, producer of Eldar HD (featured yesterday) among others. You can’t see it as well as I could wish, but that beautiful shoulder (and neck, and loin coupling, and…) have come right down the line. Her sire Ibn Alamein had it as well, and was generous with it.
For today, the 1904 Saqlawi al ‘Abd stallion *Hamrah, of whom much has been said previously, and his century-later echo, the 2004 Hamdani Simri stallion Eldar HD, bred by Michael Bowling. In 2003, I wrote of the 22 year old Palisades CF, “I want a magic wand so I can have another twenty years with this horse.” Replied Michael, “I guess that’s what we breed them for.”
It’s Boxing Day, so you get a bonus Davenport. (Actually, I ran across a series of comparisons between historic and modern Davenports that some Davenport people did in email in 2006, and I’ll try to share the ones I can illustrate.) Sotamm, 1919 brown mare (*Hamrah x *Farha) ADA Recapitulation, 2003 chestnut mare (Memoir UF x Capucine), age 2. When I first saw the Sotamm picture, I was initially shocked by the resemblance, then gratified to realize that we really are doing more than just preserving names in pedigrees.
For our faithful readers who may be taking a break from unwrapping, photographing, and/or toasting, I’m offering a Davenport photo a day for the next twelve days. Do you know anyone who needs yet another partridge in a pear tree? Thought not. Rababe CF, 1987 Hamdaniyah Simriyah (Lydian x Fiddledeedee). When not caring for small children, as in this photo, I understand she has a pretty impressive spin and sliding stop.
The very feminine Chablis CF (Sir Marchen x Sauterne by Tripoli), a Hamdaniyah Simriyah of Davenport bloodlines bred by Craver Farms in 1981. The strain goes back in tail female to the Bani Sakhr Bedouins, through the mare Schilla.
Per Jenny Krieg’s suggestion, the Iras full sister Thea Isis, and her daughter, the iconic JAL Athena. Now all we need is a good shot of Portent, HB Octavia’s full brother, and we can complete the set. P.S. I’m sorry about the cropping, but I couldn’t quite get the gallery to do what it said it would do. If you click through each image, you can see the whole thing.
I am excited because I finally found pictures of two asil mares I had never seen before: the two Kuhaylat al-Hayf sisters Iras (El Alamein x Portia by Tripoli) and HB Octavia (Ibn Alamein x Portia), both bred at Craver Farms and the founders of dynasties of their own within Davenport breeding in the USA. The photo of Iras below is reminiscent of a type of horses which some old-timers in Lebanon and Syria referred to as a “mares [suited] for kings” (faras muluk). I cannot find the words to describe this type, but it is usually associated with very long ears, a thin long neck, and a muzzle with very delicate nostrils, among other features, as well as an overall regal “poise” and expression, in which you could read some disdain for the insignificant human being they made you feel like as well as infinite feminity and kindness. We owned a desert-bred mare of the Rabdan strain from the Tai tribe that looked just like that.
Since we have been talking about the Hadban Enzahi strain in “Davenport” breeding in the USA, here is a photo of the 1959 stallion Trian (Tripoli x Ehwat-Ansarlah by Kasar), an earlier representative of this strain. He was the result of a collaboration between Liz Paynter who owned his dam, and Charles Craver who owned his sire. Note the beautiful clean, arched mithbah (throat) so characteristic of this breed, and the perfectly set ears, head and neck. I have rarely seen these three parts join so well in a perfect ensemble.
There are basically two groups of Davenport mares of the Habdan strain. One group traces through the Trisarlah daughter Waddarlah, then to Bint Oberon, then to two daughters who bred on: DDA Hadba and DDA Shalaana. Bint Oberon’s third daughter, ACDS Bonne Jour, has had no foals. DDA Hadba (no longer producing) has one daughter, R L Boomerette. R L Boomerette has one daughter (location unknown), and Boomerette is now with with new Davenport breeders Gene and Chris Pluto. There is hope there. DDA Shalaana has two daughters, but they are in non-breeding homes. I am not certain of Shalaana’s status, but I believe she is deceased. The other branch is where you find the mare and filly from the picture: through the other Trisarlah daughter, Letarlah, and through her to two daughters, Antezzah and Jamila Wahid (descent through a third daughter, who was exported to Jordon, is presumed lost to the group). The daughters of Jamila Wahid may well be lost to the group as they are with an elderly breeder, and the future for those horses is quite uncertain (in my opinion). Several of Antezzah’s offspring also went abroad and are presumed lost to the group. One daughter, RL Kadbat Abril is,…
Few people outside the group of North American Davenport breeders are aware of the existence of a fourth tail female of asil Arabians entirely tracing to the 1906 importation of 27 desert-bred horses from North Arabia. The Kuhaylan Haifis, the Kuhaylan Krush, and the horses tracing to Schilla are well known, but the Hadbans not so much. Homer Davenport imported the mare *Hadba, bred by the Shammar, to the USA in 1906, and bred her daughter Killah, in 1911. Her grand-daughter Anlah by Antez was bred at Kellogg Farms in California, while Anlah’s daughter Ehwat Ansarlah was bred by W.R. Hearst’s stud in 1948, also in California. Ehwat Ansarlah was part of the Second Foundation group of Davenport horses, and produced a daughter, Trisarlah by Tripoli. The line still goes on, but so thinly that it is hanging by a thread. There are still a few mares of breeding age, but they are not being bred, and the entire group risk falling off the radar screen and disappearing entirely in a few years. This is why the Institute for the Desert Arabian Horse thought to place the 1995 grey mare RL Zahra Assahara (Portent x Antezzah by Grand Pass out of Letarlah, by…
This picture is from the Craver photo collection, courtesy of Jeanne Craver. It is another one of my favorite pictures of Arabian stallions of Davenport lines.. Lysander (Sir x Dhalana by Salan), was one of the main stallions at Craver Farms in the 1970s and 1980s.
The first lesson I took from from the success of “Davenport” breeding in the USA is connectedness, and I talked about it in an earlier entry. Another lesson is that it’s a nice story that was also nicely told. The history of every single Arabian horse breeding group is equally fascinating: Egyptian Arabians and the splendor of the kings and pashas, Crabbet Arabians and the travels of Lady Anne Blunt against the backdrop of a British Empire at its zenith, etc. The history of the Davenports as a breeding group ranks among the most inspiring of these for several reasons: first and foremost, because of its extraordinary simplicity: one man, Homer Davenport, falls in love with desert-bred Arabian horses at the 1893 Chicago World Fair; he decides to own some of his own, so he jumps on a ship on the first occasion (in 1906), spends a few weeks in Northern Arabia and comes back to the USA with 27 of these coveted horses, but dies shortly after. Yet a hundred years later, the horses are still there, thanks to the foresight and fortitude of a small number of courageous individuals. It is a quintessentially American story of self-made men…
I am a relatively recent addition to the group of North American-based breeders of the Arabian horses known as “Davenport Arabians”, since I bought Wisteria CF in from Charles and Jeanne Craver in 2006. “Davenports” are a very special group of horses descending from the horses imported by Homer Davenport from the Northern Arabian desert in 1906 (some of them also trace to the horses which the Ottoman Empire sent to the 1893 Chicago World Fair). I am very fond of this group horses (and even more so of their ‘inventors’, the Cravers), although I don’t identify as a ‘Davenport breeder’, nor do I think of my horses as ‘Davenport horses’. I’d rather think of Wisteria CF, her daughter Wadha and the other mare I have an interest in, Javera Chelsea, as asil Kuhaylat mares tracing to the war horses of the Bedouin tribes of the Northern Arabian desert. As such, they are the same kind of “Syrian” horses as those my father and I used to own, before I came to the USA in 2000. That said, I think there are some lessons to be learnt from the group of “Davenport breeders” in recent years, i.e., since I have…
Ambar reminded me of this 1994 video by Carol Mingst, where some of the Davenport Arabian stallions in the North-West USA appear. You will see the magnificent stallions Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Audobon (Iliad x Audacity) and a paternal grandson of Monsoon, SA Apogee (Ascendant x Copper Hill Rysa by Flight Plan), as well as Al Mujiz Jauhara who is Javera Thadrian’s half brother. There are nice shots of the black Kuhaylan al-Krush Sportin Life (Brimstone x Asallah Al Krush), and the bay Mandarin (Regency CF x Lotus), too. There are some non-asils in the middle of the video.
Bon Vivant CF was bred at Craver Farms by Lysander out of Bonne Fortune by Dharanad. He looks splendid in that picture.
Fancy Flight (Tripoli x Ceres by Aramis) was a full sister to Monsoon. Asil Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Craver Farms, and founder of a family of herself. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Craver.
A beautiful head shot of the 1980 asil Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Audobon (Iliad x Audacity by Lysander out of Bint Dharebah by Monsoon), bred by Charles Craver and later owned by Carol Lyons and Marge Smith in Oregon.
Since we were discussing Monsoon, here is his most influential daughter, Bint Dharebah (x Dharebah). The DAHC pedigree database credits her with 7 registered foals and a total of 74 descendants as of the 2006 update. I have heard RJ quoted to the effect that she is the modern echo of *Reshan — perhaps he will expand on that for us. Photos courtesy of Jeanne Craver.
Below is a translation of the Arabic language hujjah of the mare *Abeyah, imported by Homer Davenport from the Northern Arabian (i.e., Syrian) desert to the USA in 1906. It is adapted from the translation of this hujjah which I did in 2005 for the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III. The Al Khamsa Arabians III translation remains the one readers ought to refer to, because it is a word for word translation of the original Arabic, but the one below reads better in English: “I, o Faris al-Jarba, witness that the bay mare which has a blaze on her face and two stockings on her hindlegs is a ‘Ubayyah Sharrakiyah from the marbat of Mit’ab al-Hadb, to be mated in the dark night, purer than milk; we only witness to what we know, and don’t withhold what is unknown. Faris al-Jarba bore witness to this [seal of Faris al-Jarba follows] I testify by God that the witness referred to, Faris Pasha from the tribe of Shammar, is a just man and that his testimony is acceptable. Ahmad al-Hafez [seal of Ahmad al-Hafez follows]” I will be discussing this hujjah in detail in the comments section below, so when you…
This beautiful 1905 desert-bred stallion was imported from Northern Arabia to the USA by Homer Davenport in 1906. He is a son of the mare *Urfa, a Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd from the horses of Didhan al-‘Awaji of the Wuld Sulayman Bedouins’ ruling clan. His sire is the “Great Hamdani” Simri stallion, apparently a major sire among the Bedouin at them time, which also sired the Davenport imports *Haffia, and *Hamrah, the latter being *Euphrates more famous older full brother. None of todays’ asil Arabian horses that trace entirely to Davenport’s original imported Arabians carries the blood of *Euphrates. Indeed, a single asil horse carries *Euphrates’ blood today: an unregistered 1991 mare named Sarita bint Raj, by Rajmoniet RSI out of the Saqlawiyah Jadraniyah mare Nejd Sahra Nisan (*Faleh x Daalnisan by Daaldan), bred and still owned by Helen McClosky in California. Interestingly Sarita bint Raj also carries the single last line to the asil Hamdani Simri stallion *Al-Mashoor, of the famous marbat of Damascus’ Baroudi Pashas. She also carries one of the very last lines to the famous *Mirage, another desert-bred Saqlawi Jadran. This mare dies, and two Al Khamsa Foundation Horses go down the drain, with a third hanging by a thread.
He will remain for ever one of my three favorite Arabian stallions. Nancy Becker is in the photo.
Jeanne Craver scanned the photo of Monsoon (Tripoli x Ceres by Aramis) which some readers have mentioned and which I was so eager to see. She wrote: “I have it as a slide and as a page proof from an Arabian Horse World ad we did years ago. I used the ad page, so there creases in the paper. This actually makes his head look more dished than it was. It was really fairly straight in profile, but very dry and classy. Anita Westfall took the photo, another one of her jewels! She also made the halter.” I don’t know how to put it otherwise, and this is perhaps inappropriate, but he looks … ‘sexy’.
I think this stallion, Monsoon (Tripoli x Ceres) is stunning. I am sorry about the poor quality of the picture. He was born at Craver Farms in 1967 and it is a shame he died young [well not so young, says Joe Ferriss, my memory is failing me] and therefore left little progeny.
Finally, I was able to see a photo of the 1975 asil Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Iliad (Ibn Alamein x Oriole by Sir), bred by Charles Craver of “Davenport” bloodlines. Iliad is the sire of two stallions I really like, Audobon (out of Audacity), and Salil Ibn Iliad (out of LD Rubic. His extremely correct conformation reminds me of some of the asil stallions of Tunisian and Algerian bloodlines that stood at the government studs of France in the 1960s, Iricho in particular. Photo from the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website.
Check out this article from the New York Times archives, dated Oct. 14, 1906, on the importation of 27 horses from Arabia by Homer Davenport. You can actually go to the website of the New York Times, type “Homer Davenport” in the search box, and access a lot of really interesting articles from the archives section. Don’t forget to choose the category “All results since 1851”.
This handsome stallion, Regatta CF (MV Reflection x Frill by Adrian out of Trill by Tripoli) was bred by Craver Farms and is now owned by Mike and Cindy Pollman of Blu Skai Farms.
Mustafa heard this story from ‘Anazah Bedouins, and graciously accepted to let me publish my translation of it; you can also find these stories in Arabic and soon in English, on the website: al-Khuyul al-‘Arabiyah al-Asilah, on Facebook: “Kuhaylat al-Musinnah is originally a Kuhaylah Khdiliyah, in reference to the clan of al-Khdilaat of the Fad’aan tribe of ‘Anazah; some clan members were once safely sitting in their tents, when suddenly one of their mares broke loose and started running around, knocking the ground with her foreleg; then she leaned down and put her ear on the ground, then she rose and ran up to a nearby hill; then she came down and went on to repeat the same actions all over again; the mare’s owner realized something unusual was going on across the hill, and upon checking, he and his fellow tribesmen saw enemies trying to make their way to the came and take its people by surprise; they prepared themselves for a fight and were eventually able to repell the attack thanks to the mare. The mare was henceforth known as “al-Musinnah”, because in the Bedouin dialect of Arabic the verb ‘sanna’ means ‘to listen’, and al-Musinnah means ‘she…
Triermain CF (Javera Thadrian x Demetria by Lysander), a 1988 Kuhaylan Haifi of Davenport bloodlines, with a dam line going back to the mare *Reshan of the Fad’aan Bedouins, is the sire of my mare Wisteria (Triermain x HB Wadduda by Mariner). He is in residence at Craver Farms in Illinois. The photos were sent to me by Jenny Krieg. Not sure who took them.
Robin Weeks sent me more of these, all tracing to the Saqlawiyat al-‘Abd mare Dahriefa (Dahrecho x Zariefa by Zarlan), one of the main progenitors of the *Urfah tail female in asil breeding in the USA. All photos by Sugar Hill Farms, courtesy of Robin Weeks. Below is Dahriefa, still: The young grey one below is Sugar Hill Sassy (Joramir x Dahriefa by Dahrecho), by a Sirecho son out of a mare by another Sirecho son. This is Dahmira (Joramir x Dahriefa by Dahrecho), a full sister of the above and this is Dahmira’s daughter SH Hamira (Abay-Hami x Dahmira by Joramir), with her grand-dam Dahriefa in the background.. The last photo features SH Hamira on the left and her grand-dam Dahriefa, on the right. She looks so special even in old age, and strongly reminds me of the some of the old desert bred mares at Basil Jadaan’s in Damascus.
This handsome horse, very reminiscent of the some of the horses found in Syria today was presented at the 2007 Al Khamsa Convention in California. His name is Bah-Rani LF (Ibn Don Carlos x Persephone CF by Regency CF) and he traces to Shilla (Letan x Freda by Obeyran) and further back to Galfia, the Hamdaniyah Simriyah imported by the Hamidie Hippodrome Society to the USA in 1893. Photo also by Christine Emmert, who is certainly very talented.
This mare, Cataree (Mandarin CF x Minaret CF by Heir Apparent), is a Kuhaylat al-Krush of Davenport bloodlines, tracing to the mare *Werdi imported by Homer Davenport from Syria in 1906. She was presented at the 2007 Al Khamsa Convention in California. Photo by Christine Emmert.
Here is a link to his pedigree: Sportin Life (Brimstone x Asallah Al Krush by Dharanad), bred by Craver Farms.
A nice photo of a son of two desert-bred imports. Letan is by *Muson, a Kuhalyan al-Musinn of the Ruwalah, out of *Jedah, a Hamdaniyah Simriyah of the marbat of Ibn Ghurab. Both *Muson and *Jedah were imported from Northern Arabia by Homer Davenport in 1906. My Wisteria has 25 crosses to him, and her daughter Wadhah 37 crosses. Now compare him with another Hamdani Ibn Ghurab, Mobarak born some 80 years later, at the stud of Abd al-‘Iyadah al-Dar’an Ibn Ghurab of the Shammar Bedouins, and notice the similar body structures:
Jackson Hensley, of Bedouin Arabians Farm, in New Mexico, just sent me pictures of the latest addition to his stud; Sabella Al Krush, an asil Kuhaylat al-Krush filly, tracing in tail female to the mare *Werdi imported from Syria to USA by Homer Davenport in 1906. *Werdi hails from the Krush marbat of the Fad’aan Bedouins. As an aside, the famous stallion Krush Halba, the foundation sire for the Turkish Arabian horse breeding program, hailed from the same Fad’aan marbat as *Werdi. Krush Halba was one of the most prepotent sires of racehorses of his time. He was active in the northern Lebanese town of Halba in the 1920s and 30s, and was purchased in 1933 by a Turkish Government Commission and exported to Turkey where he was known as Baba Kurus. Check out his hujjah here (scroll down to Appendix B). One of Krush Halba’s sons, the grey stallion Kroush (actually a Kuhaylan al-Nawwaq by strain) was bought from the Beirut racetrack in 1936 by Dr. Mabrouk of the Egyptian Royal Agricultural Society (RAS), and was used by the RAS for breeding . Kroush appears in the Egyptian “RAS History” studbook (EAO Vol 1) on page 48. He had three registered offspring in Egypt: the stallion Tamie (1937) out of Nagiya; the mare Bushra…
Tybalt did love to dance as did his son Asar. Asar also had a son named Lente. He could stand at his stall door, dancing as well. I had stall guards installed so the long stallion barn would show all the stallions, waiting and dancing. The day was completly filled with the joy of horses. Odd they never tried to fight, they just show an interest at the others, and what they were doing. Tybalt was ridden here daily, usually for an hour or so. Charles had trained him well. Richard would even come to see him work, I have had several stallions that always made me stand straight, Tybalt was one. My six year old would sometimes hold him, if I had to take a call, Tybalt would simply dance waiting. I always was happy to realize his ability to be kind. His son Asar was taller and even more filled with inner reaction to alive, yes, those were days filled with expection. Next to Tybalt was Rafaar, a Pritzlaff bred Stallion. Rafaar was a little like Tripoly, only, as to type. The farm in those days had visitors from all over the world on a daily bases. One…
This magnificent Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion (Tripoli x Asara by Kasar), bred by Charles Craver in 1962 must have been the kind of horse a tribe would plan a ghazu to take away from another tribe. I wish I was around when that stallion was alive.
[This article, first published on April 16th, 2010, was just updated and expanded, and is being reposted now] The inquiry on the “Davenport Arabian” hujaj begins with *Urfah, who is present in the pedigree of our “case study” mare Jauhar El-Khala 75 times. My own Wisteria has a 151 crosses to *Urfah, and her newborn daughter Wadhah traces to *Urfah a stunning 219 times (!) Click here for what the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III has to say about *Urfah. Most of the information is essentially extracted from the hujjah itself, a translation of which is below (translation mine, adapted from the version I did for Al Khamsa Arabians III in 2005, which was a word-to-word translation): “I, Dhidan, testify by God that she came from [the clan of ] ‘Abdah from the tribe of Shammar; they [i.e, the clan of ‘Abdah] testified to my father Jar Allah al-‘Awaji, the father of Dhidan al-‘Awaji; they testified to my father that she is the Saqlawiah from the horses of al-‘Abd; I testify by God on the testimony of my father that she is Saqlawiah from the horses of al-‘Abd; I swear by God, I o Dhidan al-‘Awaji that she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd; she is to…
In tribute to one of the best stallions in America, the stallion Joe Ferriss says ‘comes out of a 19th century engraving’ … and the sire of my little Wadha (and grandsire of her dam Wisteria). Javera Thadrian, a 1982 asil Kuhaylan Haifi stallion. Photo taken by either Charles Craver or Anita Westfall (photographer supreme).
I just saw this nice photo of Michael Bowlings’ black mare Almohada, a Hamdaniyah Simriyah of ‘Davenport’ bloodlines. I don’t know where the black gene in ‘Davenport’ horses comes from, but I will make I ask Michael next time I talk . Ambar Diaz tells me this mare has a really nice 2009 colt.
As Jeanne Craver sends me and more pictures from Wisteria’s new daughter Wadha, I thought I’d create a new page especially dedicated to her, instead of keeping to bug readers with new pics every other day. Here’s the link, which you can check for updates from time to time.
So the farrier came at his appointed time. With the farrier came the farrier’s apprentice. With the apprentice came her 2yo daughter, Jesse. Now, Jesse has spent a lot of time around horses, and obviously adores them, but she’s still two and needs to be reminded to approach them from the front, not the back. (A photograph that I missed taking: Jesse, in the hay feeder which is a repurposed water trough almost as tall as she is, squealing with delight as Recap ignored the old hay she was being offered in favor of wiggling her upper lip in Jesse’s hair.) And she was pretty good for a while, but there were four mares to trim and Jesse was gaining speed, so we put her on top of Petit Point. Petit Point was perfectly agreeable about balancing the child while her front feet were being done, but Jesse’s wiggling was picking up again, and she was slowly working her way back, until she was nearly sitting on Petit Point’s loins. The farrier’s apprentice asked for a back foot, and Petit Point — refused. She apparently calculated that the child was going to pitch off her back if she didn’t stay…
The series on Barely Surviving Al Khamsa lines continues (and it’s not likely to stop anytime soon given the number of asil lines in dire straits now in the USA). This eighth entry on Barely Surviving Lines comes after earlier entries on the critically endangered tail female asil lines to Safarjal in Austria (Hamdani Simri, to Selma from Abbas Pasha’s stud); to Serije (Saqlawi al-Abd, to *Wadduda, desert-bred, imported by Davenport to the USA); to Dihkenna (Kuhaylan Hayfi, to *Reshan, desert-bred, imported by Davenport to the USA); to Koweyt and Kerasun (Hamdani Simri, to *Samirah, from Ibn Saud); to Rosina in South Africa (Kuhaylan Rodan, to Rosemary and her dam Rodania, desert-bred, imported by Anne Blunt to the UK); and to Rayim in the USA (also to Rosemary). Today’s entry focuses on the Kuhaylan Krush line that goes back to the mare *Werdi, imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906. There are two tail female lines to *Werdi in America today. The first is through *Werdi’s grand-daughter Babe Azab (Letan x Tamarinsk by *Hamrah), it’s continuing in Davenport-only breeding, and it’s essentially doing well (picture below). The second of the lines to *Werdi is hanging by a thread. It is the line through Babe Azab’s sister Kapiti (Harara x…
Charles Craver took the first two this afternoon, and Nancy Becker, who owns Wadha’s full brother Tantris CF took the third.
Jeanne Craver just sent these along. They are the first official pictures of my filly, by Javera Thadrian out of Wisteria CF. She will be named Wadhah (pronounce it WAD-ha), in keeping with the “W” tradition, after which her dam, her older full sister Walladah CF, and her grand-dam HB Wadduda were named, and after Wadhah bint Falah al-Subaylah, a Bedouin princess of the Bani Sakhr tribe, whose romance with Nimr bin ‘Adwan of the rival ‘Adwan tribe was the subject of many beautiful poems by the latter. These poems, some of which you can read in English here (click on the arrows to read the entire article), are still recited today. The popular story of Wadhah and Nimr was also the subject of the first Arab colour TV series in 1975, which was produced in Jordan and aired in several other Arab countries. Wadhah’s sister was named after an Arab princess from Andalusia, Walladah bint al-Mustakfi. I confess liking these princess names, in no small part because of the temper of the Wisteria fillies, which Jeanne Craver refers to as “princess temper”. They’re distant and not easily approachable.
RJ Cadranell and Jeanne Craver are the custodians of the hujaj (original Arabic certification documents) of the horses imported by Homer Davenport from the Arabian desert to the USA in 1906. They kindly gave me the permission to use these hujaj on this blog for educational purposes, and I would like to thank them for doing so. The hujaj are a treasure trove of information which can be readily exploited. As these original desert-bred imports are the ancestors of today’s “Davenport Arabians”, I will first seclect one of today’s Davenport horses at random- say Jauhar El-Khala, whose lovely pictures are below – and look at the hujaj of her desert-bred ancestors, and second link these hujaj to those asil horses living in Syria today, wherever possible. If you take Jauhar El-Khala’s pedigree as displayed on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website, you’ll see that she traces exclusively to the following 11 desert-bred imports, all obtained by Homer Davenport in his 1906 trip to the northern Arabian desert: *HAMRAH, *URFAH, *WADDUDA, *DEYR, *MUSON, *JEDAH, *RESHAN, *HAFFIA, *ABBEIAN, *ABEYAH, and *WERDI. In other words these 11 horses, crossed with each other, constitute all the original imported ancestors of the mare Jauhar El-Khala. It is actually possible to reduce the number of…
This mare, Jauhar El-Khala, is arguably one of the pretties asil Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mares of Davenport bloodlines in the USA. Click on this link and then use the arrows to scroll for more pictures. She is very reminiscent of the prettiest Syrian desert-breds. Photos by C. Emmert, I think. Don’t you think she is just stunning?
Yesterday night, my Wisteria CF delivered a tall grey filly by Javera Thadrian at 11.30 pm, at Craver Farms. “Narrow blaze, nothing on her legs. Reddish coat, grey “goggles” around her eyes”, says Jeanne. Both mother and filly are reportedly doing well. I so wish I was there now. Instead, I am in a Washington corporate office drafting memos (and writing about the filly, from a distance). Oh well.
The other day, I was reflecting back on what is already ten years of interest and involvment in asil breeding in the USA. Ellen May and Jeanne Craver had asked me to provide some answers to questions they had drafted about the experiences and memories of second generation Al Khamsa supporters (i.e., people whose parents had been involved in breeding Al Khamsa horses, in my case desert-bred horses from a similar background). And these answers, which you can read in the next Khamsat magazine, got me thinking further: “of all the horses and bloodlines I was fortunate to become acquainted with in the last ten years, how come I ended up with a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mare of Davenport bloodlines”? Part of the answer is fate. I did some of my studies at the University of Chicago, four hours away from Craver Farms, where there were still some 100 plus Davenport mares and stallions back in 2000. Tzviah Idan put me in touch with Charles and Jeanne Craver, and an ensuing friendship developed that endures until today. Fate again in 2007, when Anita Enander called me and said: “You need to own an Arabian mare, and I think I know which…
I love this old photo of the stallion *Houran, a Kuhaylan Tamri, imported by Homer Davenport to the USA in 1906. The horse is standing so proudly, his neck beutifully arched, and his gaze fixing a far-reaching point on the horizon. Tood bad *Houran only left one daugher in asil USA breeding (the Ma’naghiyah Sbayliyah mare Bint Nimnaarah). *Houran was sired by a Hadban Enzahi stallion of the ‘Anazah tribes, some branches of which were home to many Hadban Enzahi marabit, such as Hadban Mushaytib, the most respected. By the way, have you seen the updated site of the Davenport Conservancy? It has a series of seminal articles by Charles Craver, which I am never tired of re-reading.
This pretty and deserty 17 year old Hamdaniyah mare of Davenport breeding, Artemisia CF (MV Reflection x Artema by Tripoli) “recently completed 70 miles at the El Paso-Las Cruces endurance ride in Texas in fine form and loved every minute of it, and made the list for Top Twenty Limited Distance Endurance Mileage Horses of all time in what is her 12th year in endurance riding” according to her proud owner Linda Sherrill who maintains the Happy Trails Blog. Photo Linda Sherrill.
*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 tail female line still goes on, albeit barely. A first line tracing back to *Samirah through her daughter Koweyt was discussed earlier, here. The second line to *Samirah is through her other daughter Kerasun, by the desert-bred stallion *Sunshine. *Sunshine was also from the Saud studs, and was imported in utero to USA in 1931 by Albert Harris, along with his dam *Nufoud, *Samirah, and two other mares. Kerasun in turn had two daughters, both bred by Albert Harris: Kaleta (by Alcazar) and Karamia (by Kulun, a Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz stallion from really old bloodlines tracing to *Nedjme). Through Kaleta runs a very thin line high in desert bred blood straight from Najd and the Syrian desert, with the arrows indicating a mother-to-daughter link: Kaleta –> her daughter Faleta (by Ibn Fadl, another Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz and a son of the desert, his dam being *Turfa) –> Faleta’s…
ADA Intuition (“Poppy”) is the 2005 chestnut daughter of Atticus and Capucine, a straight Davenport Kuhaylah Hafiyah. This is her third ride after a year in pasture after just three months of under saddle work, so she is quite green still, but well behaved through an arena with jumps (and a neighboring goat pen, and 3 braying miniature donkeys, and let’s not forget the flocks of brightly colored bicyclists whipping down the road past the arena!) If you get tired of watching her balance herself in the arena, skip to about 6:20 and watch her stroll across the little stream and head up into the hills… If you want more, here she is on the longe line, a scant hour after getting off the trailer:
Since we were admiring Fragrance, I thought I’d share this one, taken by Anita Enander this summer, of Fragrance CF in her summer coat . Though unfortunately the shot is not perfectly framed, the mare’s style comes through.