Davenport

Photo of the Day: En Pointe CF

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Edouard’s posting of the mare Afaf reminded me strongly of En Pointe CF. She is a 1998 chestnut Kuhaylah Hayfiyah, by Triermain CF out of Pirouette CF. The first photo gives a better sense of her style; the second of her conformation (although note that she’s not standing on level ground, so don’t be fooled … Read more

Photo of the Day: Satwan

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With thanks to Jeanne Craver, a photo of the 1911 chestnut mare Satwan (*Deyr x *Haffia), a Ubayyan. Satwan persists in the straight Davenports through the Bint Ralf descendants; her full brother Harara is everywhere, most notably as the sire of Antez.

Article: Davenport Arabs: A Return to Authenticity

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Check out this compelling article, by W. Michael Briggs Jr., on the website of the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy. It is graced with the picture of the beautiful Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Audobon LD (Iliad x Audacity by Lysander), ridden by owner Marge Smith, and by the Hamdani Simri stallion Personic LF (Ibn Don Carlos x … Read more

Epiphany: Pirouette CF

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The camels were white and elegant, fast and enduring, as befit the mounts of kings. The mare, tethered to the saddle of the first camel, was as white, as elegant, as enduring, and even faster. Her ancestors had traveled the same way, tethered to camels, waiting for the shock of the rider’s leap and the … Read more

Fresh information on the Davenport mare *Hadba

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Recently, I wrote here about the little-known group of horses from the Hadban strain tracing to the desert-bred mare *Hadba, imported by Homer Davenport from Arabia in 1906. The hujjah (Arabic authentication certificate) of that mare is available, and I did a new translation of it, which appeared in the reference book Al Khamsa Arabians III (2008). … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: *Urfah

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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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports Sharps of Christmas: Audition LD

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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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Lirac HD

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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.

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Tripoli and Memoir UF

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“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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Abbess

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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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Freda and Jonquil CF

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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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Sotamm and ADA Recapitulation

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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 … Read more

Twelve Davenports of Christmas: Rababe CF

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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 … Read more

Iras and Octavia

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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. … Read more

Trian, 1959 asil Hadban Enzahi in the USA

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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 … Read more

An update on the Davenport horses from the Hadban strain

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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 … Read more

The little-known Davenport Habdans

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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 … Read more

Random thoughts on Davenport breeding in the USA (part 2)

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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 … Read more

Random thoughts on Davenport Arabian breeding in the USA (part 1)

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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 … Read more

Photo of the day: Bint Dharebah

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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 … Read more

A detailed discussion of the hujjah of the desert-bred mare *Abeyah

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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 … Read more

Photo of the Day: *Euphrates, Saqlawi al-‘Abd imported to the USA in 1906

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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 … Read more

Monsoon headshot

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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 … Read more

New York Times 1906 feature on Davenport’s horse importation

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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 … Read more

The story of Kuhaylat al-Musinnah, the “listening mare”, from Mustafa al-Jabri

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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 … Read more

Photo of the day: Bah-Rani LF, asil Hamdani Simri stallion in the USA

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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 … Read more

Photo of the Day: Letan (b. 1909), Hamdani ibn Ghurab, USA and Mobarak (b. 1987), Hamdani Ibn Ghurab, Syria

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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 … Read more

New Kuhaylat al-Krush filly at Bedouin Arabians in New Mexico.. and more

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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 … Read more

A detailed look at *Urfah’s hujjah

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[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 be mated and we have mated her; she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd, protected, with us for forty years.

Dhidan al-‘Awaji Sheykh of Wuld Sulayman, the owner of the stud [seal],
Mishrif ibn Huraymis Sheykh of al-‘Ajajirah [seal]

I, Malik ibn Fardh (illegible word, maybe al-Buhi), testify on the testimony of Dhidan al-‘Awaji: I testify by God

The witnesses of the situation: Nahar al-Haj Sheikh of Shammar

We testify on the testimony of Dhidan al-Awaji that she is Saqlawiah al-‘Abd and that she is to be mated: Mohammad Aal Hamad and Uthman Aal Hamad from the village of Khirbat Kayar, Uqlah al-Dhul’ubab, Haj Umar ibn Haj Makki [from] Halab, Haj Ahmad Bat-hish from the village of al-Bab, Mohammad ibn Haj Ahmad (illegible word) Halab

That was the front page of the hujjah document; there is more writing on the back of the hujjah:

As for the two stallions, the first is bay, his age two years and the second is chestnut his age is one year and a half, I swear by God that they are the sons of the bay mare referred to on the inside of this [document] and she is Saqlawiah, protected, her strain was not hit [with accusations of impurity] and I testify that the [persons] referred to are just and that their testimony is acceptable.
Ahmad Hafez [seal]

I will use two methods to read this text: first text analysis, and second, context analysis. The first focuses solely on what is written in the document; the second, on how what is written in the document relates to other things we may know from other sources.

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Photo of the day: Javera Thadrian

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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).

Wadha page

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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.

Another Petit Point story

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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. … Read more

Barely Surviving Lines: Kuhaylan Krush to *Werdi through Kapiti

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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 … Read more

Photo of the day: Jauhar al-Khala, Kuhaylah Hayfiyah in the USA

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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 … Read more

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