Kuhaylan

Photos of the Day: *Ta’an, from Syria to the USA and back to Jordan

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The 1988 grey Hamdani al-‘Ifri stallion *Ta’an (Awaad x al-Efrieh by a Kuhaylan al-Wati) was born in the Jazirah area of North-Eastern Syria. His breeder, Mis’ir al-Hamad is a member of one of the small Arab nomadic tribes that settled in this area in the XXth century. I first saw *Ta’an in 1990 as a … Read more

Dham al-Jarba, Wati al-Ghishm and the ‘Ubayyan story from Mustafa al-Jabri

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Mustafa al-Jabri is a longtime Syrian breeder of desert Arabian horses from Aleppo, Syria, and a beloved family friend.  Mustafa’s stud near Aleppo, which has up to 100 mares and two dozen stallions, is one of the most highly regarded studs in Syria. Over the past decades, Mustafa spent extensive amounts of time with Bedouins … Read more

Frozen semen from Mokhtar soon available for shipping

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It’s all in the title. Mokhtar is the black desert-bred Kuhaylan al-Krush stallion bred by the Shammar, and has been a recent fixture on this blog.. His owner Chantal Chekroun says that professionally frozen semen will be available for him this coming September, to respond to international demand. The horse is turning 24 next year, … 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

Turfa: Rise, fall … and rise again?

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Now if there is one Arabian mare that needs no introduction, it’s *Turfa. Ever since her importation by Henri Babson to the USA in 1941, almost seventy years ago, this pretty Kuhaylah mare has continued to embody the ideal desert-bred Arabian mare. Her famous picture trotting in the snow-covered paddocks of the Babson Farm (below) … Read more

More on Kuhalyan al-Jalala

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I found some of my notes on the subject of the now extinct strain of Kuhaylan al-Jalala. Victor Muller, a French army intelligence officer who had overall responsibility over the Syrian desert area at the time of the French Mandate on this country authored an authoritative book on the Bedouins of Syria. In one chapter, … Read more

Barely Surving Lines: Kesia I, Kesia II, Mameluke

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In 1874 and again in 1875, Captain Roger Upton traveled to the Syrian desert and purchased a number of Arabian horses from the Bedouin tribe of Sba’ah, which he imported to Great Britain. One of the mares he bought for a Mr. Sandeman, was the Ma’naghiyah Sbailiyah Haidee. Another was the mare Kesia (I), which he bough for a certain … Read more

The story of Kuhaylat al-Musinn of Ibn Saud

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[Edouard’s note: the story below was sent to me to Pure Man in Arabic, and is posted here under his name. Translation mine. It was first published a year ago, almost day for day and is being republished now]

These horses, al-Musinnat [plural form of Kuhaylat al-Musinn or al-Musinnah] are very ancient. They are from the horses of ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Faysal ibn Turki Aal Saud, the brother of King ‘Abd al-Aziz Aal Saud.

Prince Abd Allah, the brother of the king, had kept his horses in a private, separate farm. Upon his death, the horses went to his son, Prince Abd al-Rahman, and then to his grandson, Prince Faysal. And Prince Faysal is now aged. Then the horses went to Prince Turki Ibn Fahd Ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Faysal ibn Turki, who is now preserving what remains from the asil horses, per God’s will.

Some of the Musinnat horses of Prince Abdallah, the brother of King Abd al-Aziz, participated in the Hedjaz campaign [i.e., the takover of the Hedjaz region from the Sharif of Mecca by the army of Ibn Saud in 1924].  Two men from Ibn Saud’s army fought particularly well in some episodes of this campaign: the first was Badi ibn Dhubyan from the tribe of Subay’, and he was riding a Musannan stallion that belonged to Prince Abdallah, the king’s brother. The second was Ibn Wareek, a Qahtan Bedouin from an ancient horsebreeding family.

Both fought pitched battles on horseback against one of the Sharif’s toughest warriors: Kharbush al-Dhuwaybi of the Harb tribe, who was riding a black stallion. Badi killed Kharbush in one of the battles, and the Sharif’s troops and Bedouin auxiliaries were defeated.

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Asil Crabbet damlines one hundred years later

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Recently, I have been re-reading a lot of the old articles RJ wrote for Arabian Visions magazine, to refresh my memory as I start working on an Al Khamsa project on rare lines (more on this later). One of my favorite RJ articles is “The Blunts and Crabbet Stud: An Abbreviated History and Description of the … Read more

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

Photo of the Day: desert-bred Kuhaylah Trayfiyyah from Syria

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 This very old mare is a Kuhaylah Trayfiyyah from the Middle Euphrates valley in Syria, near the small town of al-Mayadin. This area general is home to the tribe of al-Aqaydat (Ageydat), a wealthy and powerful semi-nomadic tribe of cultivators and small herders whose Shaykhs obtained a number of really good desert-bred mares in the first … Read more

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

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*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

The strain of Kuhaylan Abu Junub survives in Saudi Arabia

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I have always felt considerable sadness whenever an Arabian horse strain dies out. With it, part of the rich and colorful history of this breed vanishes forever. I can’t really say why, but to me it feels just like losing the last copy of a rare manuscript. Most of the best-known and most important Arabian … Read more

Another picture of the desert-bred Kuhaylan al-Musinn stallion Ra’ad, from Syria

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One more picture of Omar Anbarji’s now deceased desert-bred Kuhaylan al-Musinn stallion Ra’ad, this time by a professional photographer. I think this is the fourth picture of him I post. I would like to familiarize readers with the foundation stock of the Syrian Arabians, because I feel they will become more and more significant in … Read more

Hussam al-Shimal, another son of the desert-bred stallion Raad, in Syria

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Above is a distant photo of another son of the desert-bred Kuhaylan al-Musinn stallion Raad. This is Hussam al-Shimal, a Kuhaylan al-Nawwaq stallion from the marbat of Sa’ed Ameen Yakan, in al-Bad, north of Aleppo. Hussam is going to be sent to France where he will stand at stud with Arnault Decroix. I am no … Read more

Photo of the Day: Raad, desert-bred Kuhaylan al-Musinn from Syria

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Blog reader and friend Omar Anbarji of Aleppo, Syria, sent me the following picture of his foundation stallion Raad, a desert-bred (yes) asil Kuhaylan al-Musinn, born in 1982, and now deceased. Raad was bred by Jamal Turki al-Saw’an, out the mare Nawal al-Kheil, and traces back to the famous marbat of Ibn ‘Amayir of the … Read more

Those who are gone, and those who are left

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In 1952, Charles Craver acquired the asil Crabbet mare *Ringlet (by Astralis x Rudeyna by Daoud), around the same time two other giants, Dr. Joseph L. Doyle, and Richard Pritzlaff were acquiring the asil mares Gulida (by Gulastra x Valida by Ghawi) and Rabanna (Rasik x Banna by *Nasr), respectively, which they bred to the stallion … Read more

Barely Surviving Lines: Kuhaylan Rodan through Rosemary

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In an earlier post, I had written about an asil Kuhaylan Rodan line that seems to have miraculously survived in South Africa. This was the line of Rosina, tracing to Lady Anne Blunt’s Rodania through the latter’s daughter Rosemary. There is another asil line tracing to Rosemary that also survives in the USA. I stumbled … Read more

Another asil line from South Africa: Rosina, a Kuhaylat Rodan

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Some time last year, this blog featured the precious asil Kuhaylan al-Mimrah line to the mare Baraka (Ibn Manial x Gamalat) which has been flourishing in South Africa. The series of postings on Baraka and her descendents attracted a lot of attention from South Africa and Namibia, and is by far the most popular thread on … Read more

Carol Monkhouse and the quest for the last asil Crabbet lines

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I finally got to meet Carol Monkhouse at the Al Khamsa Convention in Oregon. Carol was visiting from the UK, with her husband Terry Lee. She has a couple mares, Maloof Habiba (Maloof Habibi x Maloof Sahara by Subani) and Maloof Hadiya (Parnell x Devlin), and their offspring, which she keeps at the Doyle ranch, in … Read more

How Arabian horse ears should look like

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In a recent comment, Joe Ferriss talked about beautiful Arabian horse ears, as exemplified by the asil stallions’ Brimstone’s short, prickled ears. So Jeanne Craver sent me this photo of Brimstone. A picture worth a thousand words. Aside from the ears, Jeanne tells me  that Brimstone, the sire of the black Sportin Life in the … Read more

Kuhaylan al-Krush asil horses from Syria in Spain

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Clothilde Nollet of Maarena Arabians in France, just sent me this link to the website of a young Syrian lady, Dr. Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun, who moved to Spain and brought with her an asil mare from Syria, Karboujah (Sa’d x Roudeinah by Mas’huj), and her grey asil son Najm Ya’rob, by the stallion Fawwaz (Ayid x … Read more

More on special mares with long eyelashes: Bint Mawj al-Athir

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In the entry below, I wrote about how I liked arabian mares that have long eyelashes, which magnifies the human-like expression many of these mares have anyway. Below is a picture of of such mare. Bint Mawj al-Athir was an asil (heck, she is the mother of all asil) Kuhaylat al-Nawwaq (that’s the right spelling, other spellings include Nowag, … Read more

Wisteria’s long eyelashes

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Jeanne Craver just sent me this headshot of my Wisteria CF (by Triermain x HB Wadduda by Mariner), which Charles Craver took a couple days ago at Craver Farms. They made my day. There is something unique about the eyes of every Arabian horse. Sometimes it’s the shape. Or the size. The darkness. The bulge. The sparkle. The … Read more

The stallion Sergent-Major in the “Al-Dahdah Index”

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I recently shared with you my plan to propose the mare *Lebnaniah for inclusion in the Roster of Al-Khamsa horses as of 2010. The process is very thorough, usually involving several individuals putting their research skills together. It typically takes several years to complete. As part of this process, I will be sending the Al Khamsa … Read more

Photo of the day: Mazfufah, an asil Kuhaylat al-Krush from Saudi Arabia

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… and this is Mazfufah (Haleem x  Ma’zufah), who is Matrubah’s full sister. Matrubah was featured in an another post I wrote earlier today. Pure Man, who sent me Mazfufah’s picture, also told me the two mares are almost total look-alikes. Of course, one needs to recognize that Matrubah’s picture was taken by a professional, … Read more

Photo of the day: Matrubah, an asil Kuhaylat al-Krush from Saudi Arabia

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“Pure Man” sent me this beautiful picture of the desert-bred mare Matrubah (Haleem x Ma’zufah), an asil Kuhaylat al-Krush from Saudi Arabia. Matrubah is owned by Prince ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al-Sudayri and graces his new Aziziyah Stud. More on this original branch of the Kuhaylan al-Krush strain in this earlier post here. I know there is … Read more

Rare picture of 25 Amurath-Sahib

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This is a rarely seen picture of the very pretty asil Babolna mare 25-Amurath Sahib (Amurah Sahib x 221 Kuhaylan Zaid, by Kuhaylan Zaid), courtesy of Jeanne Craver. The blood of legends like Kuhaylan Zaid, Siglavy Bagdady, Kuhaylan IV, Amurath 1881, Jussuf,  Tajar, and Ghadir, to name but a few, flows in the veins of this mare … Read more

Two desert bred Kuhaylan al-Wati stallions with the Shammar in Syria

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Jean-Claude Rajot, who has lately been a frequent visitor of Syria (more on these visits later, including from Jean-Claude himself), sent me these photos of a couple horses in the stud of Hussain al-Ghishm in North Eastern Syria. Both horses are of the Kuhaylan al-Wati strain. The al-Ghishm, a family of ranking shaykhs of the … Read more

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

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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

Photo of the day: desert bred Hamdani horse from Bahrain

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This is a famous photo. The masculine stallion pictured is a Hamdani from the Bahrain Royal Stud, by al-Jallabi al-Mashoosh al-Thani (Specked Jellabi II) and out of “the Hamdaniyah of Fatis”. Fatis was the old “Master of the Horses” (stud manager) who was in charge of the stud from 1942 to 1974, according to this … Read more

Two modern representatives of the Kuhaylan al-Krush strain

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I have written a lot about the Kuhaylan Krush strain recently, more particularly on the branch of that strain that has been associated with the Dawish leaders of the Mutayr tribe. The mares Dafina (to the UK in 1926) and probably El Kahila (to Egypt in 1927) are both representatives of this branch, and so are the three … Read more

Abbas Pasha Manuscript — First page in Arabic

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This document recently appeared on one of the discussion threads below. For those of you who know the Abbas Pasha Manuscript in its English edition, this is just the first page in one of the original Arabic editions.. This is a quick and dirty translation (writing from work, gotta go home soon), without the Quran … Read more

Strain of the Week: Kuhaylan al-Wati — famous relatives

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According to the Abbas Pasha Manuscript, sometime in the first half of the nineteenth century, a Bedouin warrior by the name of Rashid ibn Jarshan, from the tribe of al-Buqum, owned a branch of the strain of Kuhaylan al-‘Ajuz that was known as Kuhaylat Ibn Jarshan, after his name. His marbat was famous, and one of his mares was … Read more

Strain of the Month: Kuhaylan al-Wati

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I don’t know where to start from.. the story of Kuhaylan al-Wati is so long and so rich, and begins way before the strain acquired its current name.. It also encompasses a number of other related, albeit better known strains. While I mull this over, let me leave you with this picture of Falat, a Kuhaylat … Read more

Photo of the day: *Munirah

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As a follow up to the previous post on the quizz mare, Binni II (*Shams x *Munirah), here is a picture of her dam *Munirah, a Kuhaylat ‘Afayr bred by the Saud royal stables, imported in 1962 from Saudi Arabia to the USA by Richard and Laura Cavedo.  Photo courtesy of Jeanne Craver. Thanks Jeanne!

Photos of the day: Moulouki, Saadi, Ourour

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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

Nefisa and her daughters at Crabbet

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I know there were Al Khamsa eligible tail-female descendants of Dajania after Nadirat, although they might not yet be in the Al Khamsa database. One is Nadirat’s 1946 daughter Aalastra, by Gulastra. And of course there was Nadirat’s famous 1935 daughter Aarah, by Ghadaf. Nefisa is one of the most interesting of all the Crabbet … Read more

Lost asil tail females: Dajania

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It seems almost impossible to believe that this line has been lost to asil breeding in the tail female. Where have all the Kuhaylan Da’jani gone? Dajania‘s was the second-most important line in Crabbet breeding, which is one of the preeminent components of today’s mainstream Arabian horse breeding. True, there has never been as many mares … Read more

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

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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

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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

Strain of the Week: Mokhtar, a Krush al-Baida stallion in France

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A previous entry had discussed how the young children of Shammar Shaykh (and prominent Syrian politician) Mayzar Abd al-Muhsin al-Jarba lost the ownership of their father’s prestigious marbat of Kuhaylan Krush al-Baida strain upon the latter’s death (late 1960s? early 1970s?), and how the man Mayzar had entrusted with his assets took the horses for himself.  … Read more

Photo of the day: 205 Farag II

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Another 25 Amurath Sahib tail female, and Asil foundation mare at Laszlo Kiraly, is 205 Farag II (Farag II x 226 Ibn Galal I). 205 Farag II is a grand-daughter of 25 Amurath Sahib through this mare’s son Farag II, and a great-grand-daughter through this mare’s daughter 3 Siglavy Bagdady VI, which adds the precious … Read more

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