Here’s of one of the joys of maintaining a website like Daughters of the Wind: a few weeks Husayn al-Mansur al-Yami of Najran in Saudi Arabia sent me the following message, which I reproduce here in full: Hello Edouard, Under the” Video of the Day” section of your blog, I read something about Najran horses and especially, Khumayssan or Khameesan as we pronounce it. I would like to add what I know about the strain and wish to know more about it and the people who still preserve it. Al-Khameesah horses are bred and preserved for one and only one purpose, the war. In addition to their beauty, they are fast, strong, brave, smart, loyal, and alert. They can carry heavy weights, and run for long distances. They can stand harsh weather and geographic conditions. Their solid hooves and bones, and massive muscles enables them to perform well in the mountains and the desert. So, I guess having Al-Khameesah horse in the old days is like having a modern war vehicle today. Even though it is well known in our area and in the neighboring areas of the country of Yemen, it is not listed among the Arabian horse strains.…
This one has an “artistic” touch to it. Still, the grey horse leading the pack has an impressive tail carriage.
Note the well-built grey horses with the high-tail carriage in the video.
These are some of the horses of the Bedouin tribe of Yam, who lives in the area in and around the famous historical city of Najran, in the province of same, which lies in South-Western Saudi Arabia. Pure Man tells me that the Yam Bedouins in this area of Saudi Arabia, while now settled, are known to have preserved ancient horsemanship traditions. He also tells me that they have preserved Arabian horses pure since the time of their grandfathers, and that they are deeply attached to their horses and very proud of them. They should be. Yam’s horses mostly belong to the two strain of Kubayshan — an ancient strain originating from that area, with the Qahtan tribe, Yam’s northern neighbors — and Khumayssan — a strain I had never heard of before. They are reportedly asil, but have never been registered in WAHO by the Saudi Government authorities in Dirab (and it’s better like this – who is WAHO anyway to tell Bedouins what standards of purity are?). Below is the picture of a sunset in Najran