A blog on desert arabian horses, past, present and future
I really like this horse, Saif Al Daraan, a Hamdani Ibn Ghurab from the marbat of Ibn Ghurab. This is my kind of horse. He is reminiscent of his paternal grandsire Al-Ashhab, a.k.a. Krush Al Naem. I don’t know who took the picture. The Facebook page I took it from rarely give photo credits, unfortunately.
Looking back at more than thirty years around Arabian horses, I still remember the grand old Hamdani Simri stallion al-Aawar as one of two or three desert-bred horses I have admired the most in my life. He had this way of looking at you with a hint of disdain, as if he was the king … Read more
I first met this one-of-a-kind stallion in 1991. Before Radwan acquired him, Al-Aawar was one of the herdsires of the Shammar in North Eastern Syria. His then owner was Atallah al-Battu al-Hkaysh, a descendant of the slaves of the Jarba shaykhs of the Shammar. Yesterday Radwan and I were reflecting on his legacy. We remarked … Read more
Both taken by an unknown photographer at the old farm of Basil Jadaan. He had a lot of style, and when ridden, he would prance sideways rather than walk straight. Critics would fault his sinuous, snake-like middle of the body, but he did not transmit that.
The first one was taken at the desert festival of Palmyra in the mid-1990s, so before its destruction by ISIS. You can see Mobarak in Bedouin gear, standing by one of the tower tombs (now destroyed), next to a female performer in traditional Bedouin costume. The second photo was taken at Basil’s old farm in … Read more
The 1987 Hamdani ibn Ghurab Mobarak was Basil Jadaan’s foundation stallion. The photo was taken at Basil’s farm, and first published online by Hazaim Alwair. I first saw Mobarak at the farm of Hisham Ghrayyib in Damascus as a three year old. He had come a few days before from his native Shammar Bedouins, and … Read more
This photo, also from Kina Murray, is from the 2007 WAHO conference in Syria, from the post-conference Tour to North Eastern Syria. In Kina’s words: “[This photo] was taken when we had many horses presented to us when we were hosted by the Tai [Bedouins]. She was a lovely mare.  […] I do remember that the owner … Read more
This photo was also taken in the same place as the one below it, and it shows the same chestnut Hamdaniyat Ibn Ghurab mare as the mare in the center of the photo below, four years later. Jean-Claude Rajot, who I believe took it, and Arnault Decroix, visited the marbat of Ibn Ghurab and several … Read more
Either me or Hazaim al-Wair took this picture of three Hamdani Simri mares at the stud of ‘Abd al-‘Iyadah al-Dar’aan Ibn Ghurab of the Shammar in 2005. There were 15-20 mares all in all. The one in the center was my favorite of the lot, and the one on the right was the sister of … Read more
This mare is a desert-bred Hamdaniyat al-‘Ifri, bred by a Bedouin named Mus’ir Hamad al-Sakran, who also bred her son *Ta’an. *Ta’an was imported to the USA in 1994. Her sire was the grey Kuhaylan al-Wati of Diab al-Sbeih of the Shammar Bedouins, a stallion who was used over a short period of time, but … Read more
This desert-bred mare is a representative of the rare and precious strain of Rishan. She traces to a most ancient and authenticated marbat of the Rishan strain, that of Ibn Hathmi of the ‘Abdah section of the Shammar Bedouin tribe. Her breeder Ayid al-Fnaish obtained the line from Ibn Hathmi a few decades ago. Mustafa … Read more
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
Ghaddar is another desert-bred race-horse mentioned in the newspaper clipping below. He was racing at the same time as Mawj al-Athir. The Aldahdah Index happens to have an entry on him as well, with all of the information coming from old horse merchant Abd al-Qadir Hammami. GHADDAR: a gray desert-bred asil stallion; Â Strain: Hamdani Simri … Read more
Thanks Edouard for posting that picture of Al-Awar. I agree with you that he is much more impressive in person than in photos which explains my difficulty in getting a good photo of him at the Racing club in Aleppo, nearing dark time in November 1996. When a horse makes a good impression on me, … Read more
This venerable, glorious horse, one of my all-time favorite stallions, will be featured in detail in an upcoming post, which I am taking my time to write. Meanwhile, enjoy the picture, which I took at twilight at Radwan Shabareq’s stud in Aleppo, Syria, sometime in the mid 1990s. Al Aawar was in his 20s.
Before I move to discussing the two stallions just imported from Syria to France, and following the posting of Shahm’s photos a couple days ago, I want to share with you a couple pictures of the second stallion, Mahboob Halab, a 4 year old Shuwayman Sabbah from the marbat of the Jarbah leading family of … Read more
This is from a handwritten note which I copied from Lady Wentworth’s “The Authentic Arabian Horse”. I don’t have the book with me (it’s in Lebanon in my father’s library), but I vaguely recall that it is an excerpt from Lady Anne Blunt’s manuscript, which she was working on before her death in 1917, and which … Read more
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
I first saw Mubarak in 1989 when an old truck disembarked a batch of three horses at the farm of Hisham Ghurayyib in Damascus, Syria.  I was told that the truck had just come from the desert area of al-Jazirah, “Upper Mesopotomia”. It was my first encounter with Arabian horses born and raised in the desert. … Read more