The entry of the Kuhaylan al-Wati of Diyab al-Sbeih in my Aldahdah Index

KUHAYLAN AL-WATI OF DIYAB AL-SBEIH: a gray (born black, he later turned dark gray) asil desert-bred stallion; born c. 1977 (certainly after 1975 and before 1980); bred by Fawaz Ibn Ghishm, who is a lesser shaykh of a clan of the Northern Shammar;

Strain: Kuhaylan al-Wati of the marbat of Hakim al-Ghishm of the Shammar; one of the sons of Hakem ibn Hsayni ibn Ghishm once told us that the father of their father got this strain from the Anazeh tribe. The Ghishm also mentioned they only bred their horses to each other, and that breeding to an outside horse was an exception.

Sire: a desert bred Kuhaylan al-Wati bred by Fawaz ibn Hakem al-Ghishm of the Shammar tribe;

Dam: a desert-bred Kuhayla al-Wati also bred by Fawaz ibn Ghishm;

Comments: Fawaz gifted the horse, who was between one and a half and three years old to his inlaws al-Sbeih. A sister of Fawaz had married Mohammad, the eldest son of Diyab al-Sbeih. Diyab was a Mukhtar of the Shammar, a non Shaykh notable; Muhammad ibn Diyab al-Sbeih died in the uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood in the beginning of the 1980s). There is some disagreement between the four Ghishm brothers Tamer, Ali, Mohammad and Fawaz al-Ghishm, and also between the Ghishm and the Sbeih, about the date when this gift took place; some say 1979, others say it’s closer to 1975.

Breeding career: That Kuhaylan al-Wati of Diyab al-Sbeih bred several mares in the Jazirah area of Syria, producing the following horses registered in Volume 1 of the Syrian Arabian Horse Studbook: Mahrous, Tairah, Efrieh, and al-Simrieh. He also sired the pretty Ubayyan Suhaili of ‘Atnan al-Shazi of Shammar, who in turn sired the mares al-Jazi and Reem al-Oud (a.k.a. the “mare of Mattori”). Some versions of his story mention that his Kuhaylat al-Wati dam went along with him to the Sbeih where she remained for a short time (less than a year). He is the only Kuhaylan al-Wati the Sbeih ever owned. The Sbeih also bred the strains of Hamdani Simri (from the marbat of Ibn Ghurab) and Saglawi Ibn Bisra (an offshoot of Saglawi Shaifi).

In 1981, all or almost all the Sbeih horses inadvertantly crossed the border into Iraq and were lost (some people say they were turned loose on purpose). According to the Sbeih, the reason why this occurred was that their lands (more than 30,000 dunums) were near the Syrian-Iraqi border and were unfenced. About fifteen horses were lost, and among these was the Kuhaylan al-Wati stallion. Only a couple Saglawi Ibn Bisra mares and one Hamdaniyah Simri mare were caught back a year later. One of these mares was in foal. Diyab al-Sbeih, who had the reputation of a very honest man, sold the resulting colt as Kadish, despite the possibility that the Kuhaylan al-Wati was his sire.

For years, the story of wild feral horses roaming the desert was circulating among Syrian horsebreeder far and wide, and some safaris were even organized to the see these ‘wild horses’ and photograph them. Radwan Shabariq told me of reports of a herd of mares protected by a stallion, who was probably the Kuhaylan al-Wati stallion. The stallion was apparently very possessive of the mares and prevented any human being from approaching them.

The Ghishm brothers also mentioned that the horse of Diyab al-Sbeih was very closely related to the line of the Kuhaylat al-Wati mare the Ghishm sold to Mustapha al-Jabiri (Dawhah).

The Kuhaylan al-Watis of Talal al-Mithqal al-Jarba are from the mare that came to Diab al-Sbayh from the Ghishm.

Diyab al-Sbeih was 75 when his son Muhammad was born. He died in 1987. Hakim al-Ghishm the father of Fawaz died in 1964. Hsayni, the father of Hakim, is the one who got the Watis from the ‘Anazah.