I am featuring Thalia CF (Javera Thadrian x Bint Dharebah by Monsoon) on social media. She was one of the best I have owned. She was in my ownership between late 2015 and mid 2017. Sadly, she came in my life at the ripe age of 24 years old, after having had two foals for her previous owner. I was not able to get any foals out of her, but I will always remember her as a true illustration of the real Arabian horse.
On July 27 — my birthday — Wadha foaled a chestnut filly, sired through artificial insemination by the Bahraini stallion of Jenny Lees, Shuwaiman Al Rais (photo below). Further news about this loooong-awaited filly will be shared once she is out of the woods (i.e., the U Penn vet hospital in New Bolton, PA), so no photos just yet. In keeping with the W line back to her granddam Wisteria CF and her great-granddam HB Wadduda, I named her Wujra — which in Arabic means “the one fed or medicated by mouth”. She will pull through.
Below is a photo of the Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Marouf/Maroof, photographed in 2008 at the Pure Syrian show. Picture purchased from In The Focus.
And now a picture of Wadd Al Arab, out of Oregon, from owner Jessie Heinrick. He has never looked so good.
Roxana Star, a very distinguished Kuhaylah Hayifyah of Davenport bloodlines, is the daughter of the timeless Jauhar El Khala by Personic LF. A Christine Emmert photo.
This morning I woke up to a message from Jeanne Craver to the Davenport Owners list serve on Google Groups that Triermain CF had died the night before. Her message, titled “Another end to another era”, was: I went to feed about 30 minutes ago, and Triermain was gone. It looks like he strolled out to the water tank and was heading back to the shed and just dropped. No sign of struggle. He ate his breakfast with his usual gusto, and had seemed well. I am glad he went so quickly. Jeanne The passing of the last senior stallion at Craver Farms indeed marks the end of an era. Triermain was my personal favorite, after his sire Thadrian. He will forever have a special place in my heart. He was just perfect. First photo by Anita Westfall. Second photo from the Craver Farms collection. Of his several sons and successors, Aurene CF (below, photo by owner Hannah Logan) is, in my opinion, the new king. Long live the king! In homage to Triermain, a quote from the poem of Walter Scott “the Bridal of Triermain” after which Charles Craver named him, because only him was worthy of Plantagenet daughters:…
Those Lysander grand-daughters look like they came straight out of Arabia. So special. So stylish. They age well, too. It also helps that this one, Wotans Windancer (Wotan x Danceuse CF by Lysander) is a Wotan daughter. Note the fine mane and muzzle. I love the straight profile.
The two K. Haifi mares Provance CF 2001 (Triermain CF x Anjou CF by Plantagenet x Bint Dharebah), right, and Confetti CF 2000 (Triermain CF x Domina CF by Plantagenet x Bint Dharebah), left, on a hot day last Saturday, at Hazaim Alwair.
The photos Hannah Logan posted on her Facebook page made my day this morning. Hannah is a new breeder who acquired several horses from Marilyn McHallam’s herd in British Columbia, and they seem to be thriving. I was particularly pleased to see this nice photo of the 2004 Kuhaylan Haifi Davenport stallion Aurene CF (Triermain CF x Aureole CF by Fair Sir) after all these years; I had seen him at Craver Farms as a two year old in 2006 — I had mentioned the possibility of exporting a Davenport stallion to Syria, and Charles Craver suggested Aurene. Charles thought highly of him. I saw Aurene again at Pamela Klein’s in Southern Virginia in 2010 (I think) and liked him even better. In 2012, Pamela drove Aurene up to Pennsylvania for breeding to one of my older mares, Bint al-Barra. She took, but then absorbed the pregnancy. Five things amateurs of the old type of Arabian horses would like in this photo of Aurene: first, the long forelocks, a sign of asalah — authenticity, and a favorite feature of the Prophet Muhammad; second, the prominent facial bones between the eyes and the muzzle that make the face look so dry, another sign of asalah; third,…
Wadd left to Oregon last week. He will live with Jessica Heinrick in the High Desert, not far from the Malheur wildlife refuge, and he will be ridden regularly. I retain breeding rights. Jessie has been sending me casual photos of him on the way, and should be picking him up today. It’s sad to see him go, but he leaves behind a promising filly, Barakah (from a rare Kuhaylat al-‘Ajuz line from Najd), and he covered Thalia (a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah like him) right before leaving. I also keep his precious sister Wadha, which I also bred. The filly, a year old in June, inherits his strong, straight short back and his extra deep girth (first picture), both improvements over her dam. She also has his big eye, his long, highly set neck (second picture), and his silk-like skin.
Wadd, who is now five years old, is maturing into a handsome, masculine stallion in the line of the Kuhaylan Hayfi sires of Craver Farms. He is more reminiscent of his grandsire Javera Thadrian than he is of his sire Triermain CF. Large eyes, broad forehead, prickled ears, bony face, arched neck, curved throat, short back, deep girth, broad chest, sloped shoulder, silky hair, fine skin, solid tendons, short cannon bones, high tail carriage, and good movement. I would have preferred a deeper jowl, a longer hip and a straighter croup, but I can live with that, because when moving the slightly droopy quarter does not show. His daughter has both his many qualities and his few shortcomings.
Pirouette CF in the center (and the center of my interest back then), Wisteria to the right, turning her back and acting like the aloof princess she is, and unidentified chestnut mares at Craver Farms in 2002. Click to enlarge.
I am not sure I posted this photo before, but it shows Brassband (Plantagenet x Tyrebah) at Craver Farms, with my father in 2002. Click to enlarge.
The day before yesterday marked a milestone in my breeding career: it was the first time I horse I bred (Wadha in 2010) was ridden by a girl I bred (Solenn in 2012). Solenn was feeling very proud, and it was the first time Wadha was around children, let alone being ridden by someone other than her trainer, Sue. She turned out to be very accepting of young children screaming and running around her. Sue says she will be very reliable as a mount for children.
and an eternal favorite of mine, among Davenport stallions. What class, what style, what carriage, what prancing.. Pedigree here.
So yesterday and today I went up to Pennsylvania to see my horses, and Jeannie Lieb met me there. I learned a lot from Jeannie about proper nutrition and hoof care, and I took hundreds of photos of my horses — with the iPhone unfortunately. Still, many are not that bad. Here are a couple of Wadha. Click on them to enlarge them. Wadha, born in 2010, is by Javera Thadrian out of Wisteria CF, by Triermain CF. They are three of my four favorite Davenport Kuhaylan Hayfis. Wadha is now being trained with the lounge; she has learned to lead, trot and canter, and just had a saddle put on her.
Jeanne Craver just shared this photo of the 2003 Kuhaylan Hayfi Davenport stallion Twickenham (Regency CF x Kiddleywink CF by Regency CF), who is still at Craver Farms. I have always loved that little stallion.
Yet another Hayfiyah, and another Presto CF daughter (it’s never too late) out of Ala Athena Hafiah (Riposte CF x Femina by Ibn Alamein), one of my favorite mares of this strain. She is pretty and looks a lot like her dam.
A photo of the Davenport foundation mare Portia (Tripoli x Dhalana) I had not seen before.
I am in the USA for a few days, for the first time in two years. I am here for work reasons, but you can imagine I took advantage of the weekend to go see my horses. So Saturday, Darlene Summers and Jenny Krieg drove up with me to Pennsylvania to see the 7 (well, 6.5) I have there, and had a wonderful time talking horse on the way. As usual, my camera died on me half-way through the visit, and I have to rely on my friends’ photos. Here is a photo of my Wadd, which Darlene too. He will be 4 years old this September. He is a slow grower, and Charles Craver told me today that the inbred ones are even slower growers than the others. He had just rolled in the mud, and still had a lot of his winter coat. I still think highly of him, and hopefully he will keep improving and taking more after his sire, the glorious Triermain CF (whom I also saw today — what a privilege).
Jackson Hensley sent my this recent photo of his 2002 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion (Davenport lines) Pulcher Ibn Reshan (Triermain CF x Aniq el Bedu by Iliad). There is something of the look of a wild desert animal in his eyes, that same look you see in old photos of desert birds, gazelles and young camels.
In my opinion, this is one of the best up and coming Davenport stallions. He is almost perfect, and very reminiscent of 1960s Davenport stallions. He is by Dubloon CF out of Genuine Tes LD by Tesio CF.
The 27 year old Kuhaylah Hayfiyah Jauhar El Khala (Sporting Life x HB Tiffany by Thane) seems to get more and more and more beautiful with age. Photo by owner Christine Emmert. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
Triermain CF (Javera Thadrian x Demetria by Lysander), born in 1988 is arguably the premier Davenport stallion alive today. He is the regal son of his regal sire, the unforgetable Javera Thadrian. Photo by Anita Westfall (who else?). Another in a long line of Kuhaylan Hayfi horses right out of the stud of the “Queen of Elfland”..
Bonnie Brown Duecker posted this photo on Facebook of her lovely 28 year old Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mare Pretty Special CF (Lysander x Pretty Fancy by Ionian), one of the last Lysander daughters. Photo by Ch. Emmert.
There was a meeting of Davenport and CMK folks and their horses in California last week. Many horses were shown, and many photos were taken. See some of the photos by Carol Mingst, here. Here is one of my favorite Davenport mare Pirouette CF, by Carol Mingst, and another of her daughter, ADA Sareeah (by Dubloon CF), by Christine Emmert. Both are excellent photographers, au naturel.
… a Kuhaylan Hayfi grandson of Portia. This was taken yesterday (22 Sep 2012) at the New Albion Stud in Davis CA. (Also recently confirmed by a repro vet: Porte’s semen should ship well.)
Also from the DAHC website, this gorgeous photo of Portia (Tripoli x Dhalana by Salan), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Charles Craver, and the founder of a dynasty of her own at Craver Farms. I have met a couple of mares in Syria at the stud of Basil Jadaan in the early 1990s that bear a striking resemblance to her. There was in particular an old Kuhaylat Ibn Mizhir mare at Basil’s and a Saqlawiyat Ibn ‘Amud whose heads look almost exactly like Portia’s.
A photo of the Kuhaylan Hayfi Davenport stallion Anchorage (Ibn Alamein x Alaska by Tripoli) bred by Charles Craver. From the DAHC website
Christine Emmert just shared with me this beautiful photo she recently took of the Davenport Kuhaylah Hayifyah mare Wotan’s Winnie (Wotan x Danseuse CF by Lysander) during the Ed Skinner Memorial Trail ride. Thanks Christine!
I like this 2001 picture of the Davenport stallion Telemachus CF (Odysseus x Recherche by Prince Hal). This is the real thing. Everything else, where you detect an inch of artificial features or characteristics, is fake.
Today I am crossing my fingers that Pirouette CF, shown below with her 2012 gray filly ADA Sareeah (by Dubloon CF) will check in foal to the late Palisades CF. Another of Sareeah:
Today Wisteria CF left the care of Craver Frams in the trailer of her proud new owner Kathy Busch. Along with her rode Enchante CF (Zachary x Velveteen by Sir). I am sad to see Wisteria go but I am very happy that Kathy is the one who has her now, because Kathy keeps her horses for a long time and takes great care of them. Wisteria leaves behind a colt and a filly, and I could not wish for more. I am also forever grateful to Charles and Jeanne Craver for having kept her at their place, after selling her to me, and having taken such good care of her over the past five years. The day before, Javera Chelsea (Thane x HB Diandra by Mariner) and Dakhala Sahra (Plantagenet x Soiree by Sir) left Craver Farms to go to Tom and Jess Maiyer in Galion, Ohio, for embryo transfer.
A minute of walk at the end of a nice workout. He’s a work in progress, of course, but I’m enjoying the steady improvement.
My friend Jenny Krieg has suggested the Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Port Angeles CF (Portico x Aureole CF) as a horse I might want to consider breeding from in the spring. He is a brother of Porte CF from his sire, and a brother of Aurene CF from his dam. Here is a photo, gleaned off the website of his owner Randall Abler, at Eden Arabian Farms in Georgia.
I think I may have already written that this mare was one of my favorite living asil mares, on pedigree, on photo, and in real life (I saw her at Carol Lyons in 2003 or was it 2004? I don’t remember): En Pointe CF is a war mare the likes of which seldom exist today. An ‘atiq (antique, ancient in Arabic) mare of the ancient desert type, reminiscent in her style and class of the Old Blunt mares of the Rodania tail female like Risala and Rissla. Her dam Pirouette CF is my all time favorite living Davenport mare, and her sire Triermain CF is my favorite living Davenport stallion. Her double grandsire Javera Thadrian is simply my all time favorite asil Arabian stallion in the West (but you knew that already). By the way, I do believe that linebreeding to Javera Thadrian does produce outstanding horses. En Pointe CF is one example; Tantris CF is another, and my own Wadha (Javera Thadrian x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF, by Javera Thadrian) and Wadd (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF) are not bad at all, either. Not sure who owns her today, but she is lucky.
I really like this small photo of the Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Fair Sair (Sir x Lady Fair by Tripoli), whom I saw at Alice Martin’s in 2005. I find him very reminiscent of his grandson Aurene CF (Triermain CF x Aureole by Fair Sir), who is at Pamela Klein’s.
Recently uploaded on the website of the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this photo of the beautiful 1975 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Irade (Ibn Alamein x Iras), bred at Craver Farms.
Raed Yaken, who lives in London but is originally from Aleppo, Syria, sent me these pictures of his asil mare Zohoor (“Flowers”), a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah bred by Alaa al-Din al-Jabri. Zuhur is by Mahrous (of Mustafa al-Jabri, his nephew) out of the small bay mare Durra whose photo was one of the first ones posted on this blog in 2008. Some time ago I also posted photos of Zohoor I saw both mares at Alaa al-Din Jabri’s back in 1991, and I also saw Durra’s dam Freihat; I remember all three of them very well. They are from the most asil, authenticated marbat of K. Hayfi in Syria, that of Wawi al-Kharfan of the Fad’aan. Theirs is one of the best marabit in Syria, and it is now with the Yakan family. His name is mistakenly spelled “Wadi” (which is not a man’s name, but means ‘valley’ in Arabic) in the Syrian Studbook and the error was picked up by others since. No one seems to remember who that Wawi al-Kharfan was, but he seems to have been one of the men of the Fad’aan Bedouin leaders Muqhim (Mijhim) al-Mayahd close circle. There is a lingering story, which I was…
Kim Davis, who has been breeding Kuhaylan al-Krush horses of Davenport bloodlines for several decades, sent me this picture of her Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Quantum LD (Mandarin CF x Leafs Ivey by Wotan), who was bred by Carol Lyons.
Another photo recently uploaded on the Davenport Arabian Horse Conservancy website is this picture of the 1972 asil Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Ibn Dharantez (Dharantez x Silvia by Sir), bred by Charles Craver. I don’t know why, but I feel that this photo will appeal to a number of Egyptian breeders who read this blog.
Wadha (Javera Thadrian x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF) is now 18 months old and is looking more and more like her sire. I am very happy with how she’s turning out. Jeanne Craver told me she is starting to look like Pirouette CF (Javera Thadrian x Piquante by Plantagenet), which in my opinion as well as that of a number of Davenport breeders, is the best looking of the Kuhaylan Hayfi mares alive today.
An American couple bought the 1993 Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Regalia CF (Regency CF x Taradiddle by Ibn Alamein) from Craver Farms some years ago and took him to the south of France, where he is currently. Not sure whether he still there now.
RJ Cadranell just circulated this picture of the Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Capulet (Lysander x Silvia by Sir) from the Arabian Horse World magazine.
The Kuhaylat al-Hayf mare Enchante CF (Zacharia x Velveteen by Sir) was bred at Craver Farms, and then sold to Shirley Jacobsen who then gave her to Pamela Klein.. She is now at Craver Farms, where this photo was taken last week by Nancy Becker. I saw this mare three times, and she never looked as good as in this picture.. Darlene Summers has the only foal of hers, a daughter by Triermain called Elegance, and everyone in the Davenport breeders community agrees that this grand and precious mare should have more foals.
Jeanne Craver sent me these fresh pictures of my little Wadd (Triermain CF x Wisteria CF by Triermain CF), which Nancy Becker photographed last week. I like the broad, muscled chest. The white around the eyes seems characteristic of Wisteria’s progeny (see Tantris CF as a foal, here, scroll down to the end).
I am thrilled! At 1.00 am this morning, Wisteria foaled a handsome colt, by her own sire Triermain. Jeanne Craver, who brought him to the world, with Charles, wrote: At 11 she was starting to think about it; at 1 she had a nose and one leg out and was lying on her back up against the wall. The hardest part was rolling her down off the wall, and then the other front foot was bent back at the pastern, and once I straightened that out, out he came with Wisteria doing most of the work. At one hour, he is up and walking on his own, he has had a bottle of mom’s best, and the mare has almost finished cleaning, I took a few iPhone photos in the dark. He is a handsome boy, withers at about my waist, legs straight, close coupling, nice neck…. everything looking good! Oh, and he’s grey. Surprise! In keeping with the W pattern of his dam, his granddam HB Wadduda, and his two sisters Walladah and Wadhah, he shall be named Wadd, the name of the ancient (before Islam) Arab god of love, whose sanctuary was located in the oasis town of Dumat al-Jandal…
Black Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion at Mustafa Jabri in 1990. Sire: Mahrous; dam: a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah from the Shammar Bedouins. I don’t remember her name.
El Alamein (Dhareb out of Antarah by Antez), a 1943 Kuhaylan Haifi, and one of four full siblings, who were at the heart of the rebirth of Davenport breeding. Shown here in old age, and blind from an infection (hence the swollen eye). Charles Craver handling.
Grace Note CF (Pericles x Most Fair CF by Fair Sir) was bred by Craver Farms and later owned by Randy Abler of Georgia. Photos Shirin Samiljan. Note the long, tipped ears, the prominent facial bones, the delicate nostrils, and the placement and expression of the eyes. Faras ‘atiq like we say back home.
Bred by Charles Craver, by El Alamein out of Saranah by Salan. I saw him in extreme old age in 2000 shortly before his death. He produced more than 50 get, inclucing his son Regency CF, who is still alive at 30, and who in turn produced 65 offspring for Craver Farms.
I have now officially become infatuated with the desert-bred mare *Wadduda. I am reading and re-reading everything I can find about the mare and her famous descendants (Hanad, Antez, Jadaan, Caravan, Dhareb, Bint Sahara, Bint Sedjur, etc) squinting at fuzzy old photographs, and obsessively making notecards like I used to do when I was ten years old. The pedigree geek in me in back big time, and I am loving it. Below is a photo of the 2003 asil Kuhaylan Haifi stallion Twickenham (Regency x Kiddleywink by Regency) (look at that smart friendly face and these short prickled ears). Twickenham is one of three stallions still pensioned at Craver Farms, along with his sire (and grandsire) Regency, now aged 30, and the grey Triermain. While not a tail female descendant, Twickenham carries the highest percentage of *Wadduda blood in asil breeding: 19.5%, on par with his sire.
Guest blogger and friend Ambar Diaz in California is now the proud owner of the very pertty Kuhaylah Hayfiyah mare Pirouette (Javera Thadrian x Piquante by Plantagenet), one of the jewels of the Craver breeding program.
Ambar Diaz told me that the Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Ascendant (Monsoon X Demetria by Lysander) died last week at Michael Bowling’s in California. He was 32. The only remaining link to the Monsoon sire line is through Ascendant’s son SA Apogee.
This is the Kuhaylah Haifiyah GH Janet (Javera Thadrian’s full sister), welcoming her 2005 gray daughter (by Ascendant), Brighton TAH. I’m not sure who took the photo — probably Tanya Hardin, the breeder. (Because it’s a little bit of an obsession with me lately, I want to point out that Janet’s head has never seen an #40 clipper blade, and doesn’t need it to show off her beautiful eye and fine dark skin.)
Between the photo of Aghal and the one of Audacity, I had to share this one taken of an Audacity granddaughter in 2007, as a long yearling. This is ADA Skylarking, a Kuhaylah Hayfiyah, as photographed by the talented Christine Emmert.