The Hamdani Simri line of *Samirah through Koweyt in pictures
What follows are pictures of horses from a little known and much underlooked asil line in the USA, that of the Saud Royal Stud’s Hamdaniyah Simriyah mare *Samirah, through her daughter Koweyt by Alcazar, Koweyt’s daughter Konight by Kaniht (all from Albert Harris’ breeding) and Konight’s 1963 daughter Ameera Moda by Fa-Turf (so lots of desert horses upclose). Two pictures of Konight are below. All the pictures are from Carrie Slayton, a long time breeder of this line, to whom the credit goes for saving it from extinction. I had written about this branch of the *Samirah line back in 2009 (click here) but did not learn of its current status until Carrie contacted me recently, and we started a conversation about these horses, which led her to send me these pictures.
Carrie leased two daughters of Ameera Moda (Fa-Turf x Konight by Kaniht) from the original breeders — the Bancrofts — and bred them to asil stallions over the years. One such daughter is Sha Bint Ameera (below) by the Hamdani Simri stallion Fa Charlamar, of old Davenport/Babson/Saud lines. From the photos, Sha Bint Ameera looks like a mare of old desert type, the like of which you saw in Syria until a few years ago.
Below are Sha Bint Ameera’s three daughters, the 1986 Sha Princess by the Saqlawi al-Abd Davenport stallion Kamil Ibn Sahanad (pictured here as a yearling) which was also leased by Carrie from the Bancrofts, and the 1987 Kalima Ma EEE by Cerulean CF, which was bred by Carrie (second photo), as well as thr 1983 “Undine” also by Kamil Ibn Sahanad, but she never got registered. Kali Ma EEE lost a foal by Kuhaylan Hayfi Wotan (Said Abdallah/Tyrebah by Tybalt) at 9 months gestation, and produced “Khazad”, a colt that was never registered (not for lack of trying, says Carrie but because of the lack of transfer of his sire’s papers by a previous owner) by the Kuhaylan Hayfi stallion Zfidl Fadl (Fidl Fadl x Danah by Hanad x Dhareysa by Dhareb x Aneysa by Farana x Antarah), who is just another time capsule, with very old American Arabian blood very close in the pedigree.
The 1995 “Khazad” (Zfidl Fadl x Kali Ma EEE by Cerulean CF) is a horse I would have used on my mares today, if he were still a stallion. Carrie sent me photos of him as a foal by his dam’s side and as a young stallion. Take a good look at this horse, please, because this is what Bedouins and early travelers to Arabia meant by triangular head, fine muzzle, and big jowls.
The second Ameera Moda daughter Carrie leased from the Bancrofts was Sha Ghazya (also by Fa Charlamar), picture below. An 18 year old unregistered daughter of hers, “Kristabelle”, by Kamil Ibn Sahanad, is the last hope of this branch of the *Samirah line, and a registration effort is currently ongoing. Of course, the tail female line to *Samirah still survives in Al Khamsa through Samirah’s daughter Kerasun, and I have written about this branch of the family before. So many good horses produced after so many efforts, yet so few still living!
Finally, among Carrie’s treasure trove of photos is this one of Kamil Ibn Sahanad (Kamil Ibn Salan x Sahanad by Abu Hanad) in 1991, whom she used on her *Samirah mares.
Edouard, Thank you for such a wonderful post about these horses that occupied a lot of my heart! I can only take credit for the breeding of Kali Ma EEE and her son “Khazad.” The rest of the mares mentioned here were bred by Richard and Maryellen Bancroft of Riverside, CA. The Bancrofts bred many Arabians throughout the 60’s to early 90’s. Most were 99% Al Khamsa by pedigree, with one line to Sidi (El Emir) being, “the fly in the ointment.” So many disappointments along with the joys in breeding these horses. A microcosm of horse breeding in general.
… and a story that will hopefully continue. The last chapter hasn’t been written yet. We have to try registering that last mare.
I thought these pictures looked familiar. Billy Sheets wrote an article in Khamsat Vol. 8, No. 4, Fall 1991 about the Saud ancestral element and Carrie Slayton sent me some of the above photos to include in the section about the tail female Samirah descendants. Randall and Mary Harris also sent some photos for the article showing ASF Raphael, as well as ASF Ubeidia, ASF Ismalia and ASF Euodia. These last 3 trace to the old mare Kenkara (dam of Euodia) who was still alive when I visited in Canada in the 1970s. She was a grand old mare. Her half sister ASF Kera (Julyan x Karamia) was also there and one of the most beautiful daughters of Julyan I had seen. Unfortunately on that trip I did not have a movie camera with me and these mares died shortly after that visit. But this was an excellent family.
Joe, You said you did not have your movie camera but might you have had a still camera with you when you saw Kenkara and ASF Kera?
Hamdani Simri
My mare’s grandmother is somara that comes from silver Fire her name is silsillia and has a foal of a stallion thas mother is vidiko shaista also in the family of silver Fire …her baby will be born next year hoping for it to be a mare …