Monthly Archives: November 2008

Leopard the Arab and Linden Tree the Barb (Part I)

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Leopard and Linden Tree

by Michael Bowling
from Arabian Horse World July 1979
copyright by MICHAEL BOWLING
used by permission of Michael Bowling
first published in the Arabian Horse World July 1979

*Leopard

*Linden Tree Engravings of *Leopard and *Linden Tree from Randolph Huntington’s 1885 book, General Grant’s Arabian Stallions

“Wonderful Arabian Horses Presented to General Grant by the Sultan of Turkey”—note that this is the same pose of *Linden Tree (in background), with same pyramids and palm trees, as in another photo which follows. (Courtesy Linda Sale)

The story of the Arabian breed in North America is a long and complicated one, and could be approached from any number of perspectives. We are centering on the arrival of the Grant stallions simply because 1979 marks the centennial of their setting foot here—and one of them, *Leopard 233, became the first imported and registered Arabian to leave descent in our studbooks.

*Leopard was by no means the most important stallion ever imported to this part of the world, but he does hold chronological pride of place, and he is not without strategic importance. With the passage of time it is no longer entirely clear just who got whom started in breeding Arabian horses in America, but certainly, just as *Leopard arrived first, Randolph Huntington’s program was the first of the American historical groups to produce horses that bred on into modern pedigrees. It is quite certain that it was *Leopard that started Huntington on his career with purebred Arabians, so any influence Huntington has had, on breeding stock or on ideas of the breed, is owed in fact to *Leopard as first cause. It may well be that, Huntington or no, American Arabian breeding would have had a start in 1893 with the Hamidie Society horses from the Chicago’s World’s Fair—but how do we know that Huntington’s beginnings with the breed did not prepare the way for that group and its barbaric showmanship to make an impression?

In another intriguing sense, which has come clear to me gradually over the course of the pedigree research into *Leopard’s descent, this line of horses is a marker for the “American” breeding groups. Whether they were key individuals of a given line or not, *Leopard’s descendants turn out to have been owned, and bred from, by almost all of the important early-day American breeders—and thus in all but a few of the pedigree-defined “breeding groups” of today, lines to *Leopard will be encountered.

My search for photos of, and references to, the Grant stallions and their get and immediate descendants, has made another indelible impression on me: I now understand, in a way I never had before, that a hundred years ago the horse was a fact of life, a given, so basic and so commonplace to daily existence that next to no notice of it was taken by most people. Witnesses of the time are maddeningly casual in their accounts of the doings and activities of horsemen as related to the horses. Photography was an infant technology and was seldom applied to recording images of horses. A great deal of frustration has been the result, for from a 1979 perspective it seems impossible that horse ownership and the pursuit of a breeding program could be taken so much for granted. (I suppose from the perspective of 1879 the fact that most people today own and drive automobiles and give them little or no thought would seem just as outlandish—and the way things seem headed, our successors of 2079 may find today’s automobile-oriented society just as farfetched.)

At any rate, in the days of the practical horse, history at large is recorded on a basis of horsepower. It seems not to have been thought necessary to record the details of how that power was generated and applied, and the details of individual power units were recorded very seldom. Much of what we do know of the careers of the Grant stallions, we owe to Randolph Huntington’s passion for detail and documentation of horse breeding information. Huntington had a feeling for the existence of a gene pool (a concept no one in 1879 could have defined, but which Huntington understood intuitively) in which individual animals are merely temporary combinations of elements which may be eternal if man allows them to breed on—but which are lost forever without man’s cooperation. Huntington devoted a lifetime to the cause of breeding better horses, and it is most fitting that he be remembered in connection with the centennial of the Arabian in America. An excellent article on his career appeared in the June 1978 issue of this magazine, originating with the Arabian Horse Owner’s Foundation; this is recent enough that is should be pretty widely available, so I will not go into too much detail except as he relates to the Grant stallions.

Our story properly begins with the world tour taken by General Ulysses S. Grant after he served as president of this country. In the late 70’s of the last century it was not a casual project to travel around the world, and the details of the trip would be most instructive. What matters to us in this context is that in March of 1878 the general and his son Jesse arrived in Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

The published accounts of what actually took place on the day the Grants toured the private stables of Sultan Abdul Hamid II are distinctly contradictory. This is the first instance we encounter in the course of our narrative, of the misty insubstantiality of “fact” given the passage of sufficient time. This is especially true in a case like this, where the subject, a tour of a stable of horses, is of interest to specialists today but was scarcely a major event at the time.

In his memoirs published in 1925, Jesse Grant does not make it clear whether the Sultan was even present when the horses were displayed. He presents his father as asked to pick his favorites of the stallions paraded and naming a pair of bays; when asked his second choice, the general indicated a pair of greys. In his narrative Grant is shown as embarrassed on being told that the grey horses were his as a gift from the Sultan.

Thorton Chard, in a 1937 Western Horseman article drawing on Randolph Huntington’s private papers, quotes Grant’s friend and comrade in arms, General G.E. Bryant, as remembering a rather different story told him by Grant himself. Bryant’s version has the general told, by the Sultan speaking through an interpretor, that he was to be given his choice of the stallions, Grant naming *Leopard. Abdul Hamid II then presented *Linden Tree to make a pair.

CHRONOLOGY

1873 – *Leopard foaled in the desert
1874 – *Linden Tree foaled in Abdul Hamid II’s stables, Constantinople
Before 1878 – *Leopard presented by Jedaan Ibn Mheyd to Turkish governor of Syria
March 1878 – General U.S.Grant visits stables of Abdul Hamid II and is presented with *Leopard and *Linden Tree.
May 31, 1879 – Stallions arrive New Haven, Connecticut
Summer and Fall 1879 – Stallions exhibited at fairs
Late Fall 1879 – Stallions stabled at Gen. E.F. Beale’s Ash Hill Farm, Washington DC.
1889-1883 – Randolph Huntington breeds Clay mares to stallions.
1883 – *Leopard registered to J.B.Houston, New York, NY
*Linden Tree registered to U.S. Grant, Jr., New York, NY
Stallions shown at New York Horse Show, *Leopard placing first
1884 – Stallions again shown at New York Show, *Leopard again first.
1888 *Naomi imported by Huntington
*Linden Tree sold to General L.W. Colby and taken to Beatrice, Nebraska
1890 – ANAZEH foaled
Linden Tree Park founded in Beatrice
1893 or 1894 – *Leopard ridden in militia parade by General Colby, probably in or around Diller, Nebraska

An addition to this version of the story has the original “Linden Tree,” chosen by the Sultan, injured before he could be shipped, and replaced without the Sultan’s knowledge with our registered *Linden Tree.

In any event, Chard published a facsimile of a letter from Grant to Huntington documenting that he was given two stallions from the Sultan’s stables, and Huntington himself eventually tracked down their origin in more detail. In his 1885 book on the subject of the Grant horses, Huntington says that “I believed, as will any American, that they must be of the highest possible type. No empire or nation would insult herself by presenting to so great a man, also the one representative man of so great a nation as ours, an inferior gift from its native animal life. General Grant’s Arabs had to be the purest and best.” According to Chard, “breeding the two horses to the same mares produced offspring with such different characteristics that Mr. Huntington was convinced that there was a blood difference, so he began a deliberate search, which after eight years, resulted in information that confirmed him in his convictions and established the facts that Leopard was a purebred Arabian and Linden Tree a purebred Barb.”

*Leopard was a Seglawi Jedran, desertbred by the Anazeh, foaled in 1873 and presented by Jedaan Ibn Mheyd of the Fedaan Anazeh to the Turkish governor of Syria. (Some accounts list Ibn Mheyd as the breeder, but Carol Mulder, with typical caution, makes the distinction that we only know he presented the horse.) This governor then presented the horse to Abdul Hamid II, who in turn gave him to General Grant.

Recall that in the same year of 1878, the Blunts were traveling within the Ottoman Empire, and found that they could not gain access to the best horses of the desert Bedouin while in company with Turkish officials, as the Bedouin feared confiscation of their stock in the name of the Sultan. Presenting that potentate with an inferior specimen would have been a most risky course of action—he owned his subjects’ lives as well as their horses—so we may safely assume that *Leopard was accounted a high-class example of Anazeh breeding.

Other Seglawis of the Fedaan Anazeh figure in modern pedigrees; surely the most distinguished of them is the great ZOBEYNI, the most important breeding horse in the fabulous collection of Abbas Pasha I (another potentate with an eye, and a yen, for the best and rarest, so his possession of Seglawis from the Fedaan is high recommendation). The Blunts’ desertbred KARS, a high-quality individual and the original head sire at the Crabbet Stud, was a Seglawi bred by Jedaan Ibn Mheyd and foaled just a year after *Leopard.

A hundred years ago in the desert, strains were not just name tags—the horses of a tribe were by and large interrelated, and those of the same strain and tribe almost certainly so. *Leopard’s origin is thus in common with that of some of the breed’s most unimpeachable breeding animals. It is most unfortunate that a widely-read 1965 Western Horseman article made a sidelong reference to *Leopard and *Linden Tree and lumped them together as “not, however, purebreds.” In the nature of things, people who would never be tempted to do any pedigree research remember statements like this one, without realizing they have no documentation, and an astonishing number still recall this “fact.” People, it ain’t so!

*Linden Tree was apparently bred by Sultan Abdul Hamid II and foaled in Constantinople in 1874. His Barb ancestors were associated with Abdul Hamid’s family for generations. It seems quite likely—and would support the Bryant version of the presentation story—that the Sultan would like to see a horse of his family’s breeding ranked at least as highly as one he had been given. Thus his singling out of *Linden Tree and sending him along.

These names, incidentally, are purportedly translations of the original Arabic names of the horses, not bestowed by General Grant. *Leopard seems to have been named with reference to his dappling; the origin of the other title has puzzled me since I first heard it.

Leopard the Arab and Linden Tree the Barb (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Leopard and Linden Tree

by Michael Bowling
from Arabian Horse World July 1979
copyright by MICHAEL BOWLING, used by permission

STUMP’S GUY 1081-R
the horse recommended to me to represent the Colorado Ranger Horse Association by its executive officer, Mr. John Morris. I was very favorably impressed with the CRHA’s attitude, typified perhaps by this choice: STUMP’S GUY is not the horse siring the most foals in 1978, or the leading halter horse of their circuit—but the high point performance horse of the 1978 CRHA National Show. He is incidentally six generations removed from the foundation, Colby-derived linebred CRHA sire FOX II.

This band of Nebraska horses left influential and highly-regarded descent in Colorado, and over the years other horses of similar quality, some with reputed Arab or Barb crosses as well, were added. This resulted in tough, hardy, very able cowhorses which were recognized in 1934 with the name “Colorado Rangers.”

The Colorado Ranger Horse Association, Inc., was founded in 1938, with a charter limitation to 50 active member at a time. This of course made it impossible for CRHA to take part in the tremendous growth experienced by the horse industry at large in the 1960’s, but a belated growth phase is now under way with the lifting of the membership limitation and the institution of a National show.

“Barbaric” colors appeared as the Colby stock and its descendants were linebred and combined with other colorful range stock, and in fact most Rangerbreds today are of Appaloosa patterns and are double-registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club. CRHA itself has never been a breed founded on color, looking on this trait, quite rightly, as unfixable and unrelated to using qualities. In a sense the Appalooa breeders rather took advantage of this, seeing CRHA horses as ready-made foundation stock for their programs, since better color-odds resulted from CRHA crosses compared to solid-colored grade horses. Through their Appaloosa connection, most CRHA-registered horses today trace to horses of different sources from the foundation Rangerbreds—in fact CRHA is probably unique as a non-color breed which is also devoted to outcrossing as a policy, requiring only one line back to a foundation sire to qualify for registration.

The word “leopard” has caused some confusion over the years, since it enters into the CRHA record in two different ways. There are “leopard” Appaloosa-patterned CRHA horses, and then there are those among the early registrations, which seem to have been named for their relationship to “our” *Leopard. In fact as far as is known, *Leopard was a typical dapple grey who turned white in his later years; the “leopard” Appaloosa pattern was introduced into early CRHA pedigrees by a son of WALDRON Leopard, an Appaloosa horse of unknown background sometimes said to be derived from the nearly-legendary STARBUCK Leopard.

The double *Leopard grandson TONY was described as “snow white with black ears” which is also rather intriguing. This sounds like a description of a black-and-white “medicine hat” overo spotted horse, as much as it does anything. A medicine hat Anglo-Arab does not really seem very probable (though it is assuredly possible: some of the “white TB” foals could be called medicine hat patterned, and I have seen photos of an Arabian foal that also would qualify — though come to think of it, all of these I know of would be “white with red ears”). American horsemen have always had trouble understanding the continuity of the grey phases and their changes and interactions, however, and my personal nomination for “simplest explanation of the description” is that TONY was a grey horse who turned nearly white before he went to Colorado, retaining black pigment on his ears and perhaps his knees and hocks for a while, as sometimes happens.

At this distant remove, it is hard to know what to say about *Leopard and *Linden Tree as individuals, let alone as breeding forces. It would surely not be amiss to quote Randolph Huntington’s descriptions of them, as quoted by Thornton Chard: On *Leopard —

“He was a beautiful dapple-grey (in 1880), fourteen and three quarters hands high; his symmetry and perfectness making him appear much taller. As he stood looking loftily over the meadows below, I thought him the most beautiful horse I had ever seen. With nostrils distended and eye full of fire, I could imagine he longed for a run upon his desert home. Addison (the groom) gave him a play at the halter, showing movements no horse in the world can equal but the (pure bred) Arabian. He needed no quarter-boots, shin-boot, ankle-boots, scalping boot or protection of any kind; and yet the same movements this Arabian went through would have blemished every leg and joint upon an American trotting horse, even though he had been able to attempt the, to him, impossible activity… the knee action was beautiful; not too much, as in toe weighted horses, nor stiff and staky, as in the english race horse, but graceful and elastic, beautifully balanced by movement in the hock and stifle.”

As to *Linden Tree —

“At that time, the spring of 1880, Linden was a beautiful smooth, blue gray, which this summer of 1885 has changed to a white-gray. In height he is the same as Leopard, fourteen and three quarters hands…in build he was more compact than Leopard, being deeper and broader; of more substance but with just as clean and fine limb as Leopard had. The limbs, joints and feet of both horses were perfect. The fetlocks could not be found; there were none. The warts at point of ankle were wanting, and the osselets were very small. Large coarse osselets show cold blood, mongrel blood. The crest of the neck in Linden was thick and hard, the same as in Leopard. This fact will astonish some fancy horsemen, who are led to believe that a thin crest is evidence of fine breeding. My experience of late years is that a thin crest belongs to a long-bodied, flat horse, of soft constitution. The mane in both horse was very fine and silky, falling over so as to cause one to believe that the crest was a knife blade with blade up for thinness. The head of Linden was the counterpart of Leopard in all ways; as in fine, thin muzzle, lip and nostril; also small, fine, beautiful ears, thin eyelids; deep wide jowls,etc.”

Photogravure of *Leopard, age 16. (Courtesy Carol W. Mulder)

A “photograph of a drawing”of *Linden Tree, age 6 or 7, (Courtesy Carol W. Mulder)

We have several images of one kind or another of *Leopard and *Linden Tree. Most frequently seen, of course, are the two “engravings from paintings done from life” which appeared in Huntington’s book on the horses. These rather stolid, lifeless visions differ chiefly in color — one shows dapples and the other is indeed a “smooth” grey — and as old “Ben Hur” (the late H.V. Tormohlen) said in one of his Western Horsemen articles, they could easily pass for harness store dummies. The rather scratchy “Wonderful Arabian Horses” with its imaginary, and highly inappropriate, Egyptian background, does make some distinction between the horses — *Leopard is a bit sickle hocked while *Linden Tree’s hind legs are distinctly too straight, for example — but still is not anything one would like to judge a horse from.

The other two pictures have been called photogravures (a process involving a sensitized metal plate and a photographic negative, which would render a “photographic” likeness) and indeed, that of *Leopard is called such, in the Thornton Chard article in which it appears. This *Linden Tree picture is referred to in that article, however, as “photograph of a drawing” and on closer inspection this proves to be the same image as that of *Linden Tree in “Wonderful Arabian horses,” with the same silly pyramids and palm trees in the background (more visibly present in other prints than in the present version). A photograph with a painted background would not be an impossibility, of course, but it is difficult to make this fit with Chard’s “photograph of a drawing” designation. It is also unlikely that a repainted negative would produce a satisfactory photogravure, and I am not sure the techniques for photographing a retouched photograph (to produce the photogravure from the second negative) were available in the early 80’s when this is dated.

The clincher for me is the fact that *Linden Tree is shown without a bit or headstall. The clumsy photographic gear of the time, let alone the slow plates then available, would not be suited to photographing horses at liberty. I suspect there was a pair of drawings of the stallions and that the *Leopard one was lost, but not before the “Wonderful Arabian Horses” print was derived from them, while a photograph of the *Linden Tree drawing survived.

At any rate, we do have what appear to be a reliable likeness of *Leopard and he is the one we’re interested in—he was the Arab and he appears in our pedigrees today.

*Leopard’s picture speaks for him and as compiler of this review I don’t feel called upon to add to this, except to say that *Leopard probably compared quite well with the foundation desertbred sire of any Arabian breeding company—and that his high-class origin and the repeated references to his air of quality and breeding and his excellent trot suggest that we may wish we had more of his genes in our modern Arabian population than we do. In any event he seems to have had one of the finest, most proper necks ever to come out of the desert.

Evaluating *Leopard as a sire is difficult, since his purebred descendants of the first few generations all had much more of *Naomi in their pedigrees than of *Leopard, and all seem to show her very strong influence. Fortunately we do have photos of ABDUL HAMID II and two of his sons, the result of crossing *Leopard into a distinctly different breeding group. The photos of *Leopard’s two sons and three grandsons (see the crossbreds with this article, and the purebreds in the article on the descent from ANAZEH) are a very attractive group indeed. The weak loin seems to have bred on, and the calf knees (but not through ANAZEH), but so has the fine reach of neck. ANAZEH’s son seems to have slightly soft pasterns, which I had not noticed before—interesting since a lady from Oregon wrote and sent photos of “a granddaughter of a linebred *Leopard mare” with the most extreme case of soft pasterns I think I’ve ever seen. This is not the line from the ANAZEH son however, going back to EL SABOK instead, and his pastern, while a bit short, do not seem soft at all.

There are a good many animals back in our pedigrees with soft pasterns, and many of them are closer to today’s horses, and appear through more sources, than *Leopard—so I find it hard to invoke him as a cause of this fault today.

Well—there you have them—”*Leopard the Arab and *Linden Tree the Barb,” in Huntington’s phrase. *Leopard has Arabian descendants in large numbers today; both seem to have influenced the Colorado Rangers and through them the Appaloosas; and if truth be known it’s likely that both are unrecorded far back in many Standardbred pedigrees.

The fact that you have just read this indicates that they’ve had an intellectual and historical impact in the course of a hundred years, quite likely beyond what anyone ever expected.

Leopard the Arab and Linden Tree the Barb (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Leopard and Linden Tree

by Michael Bowling
from Arabian Horse World July 1979
copyright by MICHAEL BOWLING, used by permission

The Grant stallions arrived in Connecticut on 31 May 1879 aboard the steamer Norman Monarch—14 months after their presentation in Constantinople. They were exhibited at fairs in the mid-Atlantic states through the summer and early fall and then stabled just outside Washington, D.C., at General E.F. Beale’s Ash Hill Farm.

There is no record of General Grant’s ever having paid any attention to the horses after he was given them, and his only documented reference to them appears to be the letter to Huntington. In 1883, Volume IV of The American Stud Book, registering thoroughbreds (and sporadically the occasional Arabian), listed both stallions as in New York. *Leopard was owned by J.B.Houston and *Linden Tree by U.S.Grant,Jr. In 1883 and again in 1884 they were exhibited at the New York Horse Show (apparently, quite literally, “in a class by themselves“) with *Leopard placed first both times.

Fig. 2 Leopard.
Fourteen hands 3/8 inches. Apparently a tracing of a lost photograph of *Leopard. This illustration is from a 1911 article by H.K.Bush-Brown which outlined an innovated, “objective” system of measurement of the proportions of the horse. Fortunately this did not catch on. *Leopard’s height is given as 14:0 and 3/8, which contradicts Huntington’s description and seems awfully small for anything to be siring harness racers.

Randolph Huntington was not idle while all this was happening. He was an active breeder and trader of harness horses at the time, and would have heard of the exotic imports soon after their arrival. As soon as he heard of the horses and their origin he determined to make use of them in his trotting horse breeding program. He held the entirely reasonable theory that the Thoroughbred, product of many generations even then, of selection for specialization at the gallop, was not necessarily the ideal cross to use to increase speed at the trot. His belief was that it was the methods the developers of the TB employed, that trotting horse breeders should make use of—not the horses themselves, which were the product of selection in the wrong direction for trotting speed. He saw the Arabian as the unspecialized, adaptable desert origin of speed, whether at the trot or at the gallop, and all his future breeding activities were directed toward the long-term goal of producing a linebred, predictable national breed of fast hardy harness horses.

In a time when horses were transportation, transporting mares away to stud was all but unheard of. Stallions traveled from one district to another; a horse would be used in a locality until the demand for his get declined, then would move on to a new station in keeping with whatever reputation he had achieved.

Huntington determined to make use of the Henry Clay family of horses, already well proven and linebred with Arab and Barb ancestry. Based in New York, he bought mares from as far away as Michigan and Tennessee to send to stallions which were standing just outside Washington D.C. This did not entail more pedigree-shopping, sight-unseen: he traveled himself to find the best representatives of the Clay breeding, selecting animals showing the traits he wanted them bred for. This occupied him during the fall and winter of 1879-1880, giving him, in the spring of the latter year, “five young, sound, healthy virgin mares by Henry Clay or by his sons, three being inbred, and all were choice; four being very fast natural trotters, and the fifth one would be were she not mixed at times in her gait.” That has an almost Biblical ring; one gathers that the emphasis on maiden mares was due to a belief in telegony (“the influence [on the foal] of the previous sire [to which the mare was bred]”), a false but widespread notion to which Lady Anne Blunt also appears to have subscribed, and which was not scientifically disproven until early in this century. At any rate Huntington clearly had no prejudice against “first foals.”

The Arab/Clay (and Barb/Clay) foals began appearing in June and July, 1881, and Huntington was enough encouraged to continue using *Leopard and *LINDEN TREE (still standing at Ash Hill) until his first crossbred colts were old enough for breeding. The backcross of these young horses to linebred Clay mares was sufficiently exciting to enable Huntington to obtain backing for a corporation which would develop and promote an “Americo-Arab” breed. This was envisioned along the lines of the Russian Orloff, linebred for consistency, and was expected to take over from the (to Huntington) random-bred and genetically unpredictable horses which were then founding the Standardbred breed.

Horsemen of the time were sufficiently impressed with the type of stock Huntington’s program was producing, that ABDUL HAMID II (*Leopard x a double Henry Clay granddaughter) was awarded a gold medal in 1889 at the Buffalo International Horse Show. Reportedly $10,000 offers were turned down for this horse and one of his sons about this time.

All this makes an interesting story, but has nothing to do with us today. Fortunately, Huntington imported the Arabian mare *Naomi from Reverend F.F.Vidal in England in 1888, specifically for breeding to *Leopard to maintain Arab stock analogous to his linebred Clays, for future crosses. Unfortunately for *Leopard’s own interests, this developed into a project to inbreed the “Maneghi racing type” which had very little room for the Seglawi *Leopard. Huntington imported the supposed Maneghi *KISMET (strain actually unknown) in 1891, but this horse contracted pneumonia on shipboard and died shortly after landing. Nothing daunted, Huntington purchased Vidal’s last three horses in 1893 (*Naomi’s daughter *NAZLI, and two *KISMET colts out of *Naomi daughters) and embarked, with these and *Naomi and her *Leopard son ANAZEH, on his inbreeding program. *Leopard does not seem to have played a part in Huntington’s program after 1889; in 1890 he was represented by ANAZEH and the Americo-Arab filly LEOPARDESS, out of his own granddaughter, COQUETTE by ABDUL HAMID II.

In 1894 the Americo-Arab consortium went into receivership, as a result of Huntington’s misplaced trust in its secretary. This gentleman absconded with all the ready cash of the corporation, leaving no option but auction sale of the hundred and more horses involved. According to a stocklist Huntington published in 1895, he was left with a few of each category (Arab, Clay, and crossed), including five pure Arabians: *Naomi, *NAZLI, ANAZEH, *NIMR and NEJD. *Naomi was then carrying her second influential son, Khaled, by her grandson *NIMR.

ABDUL HAMID II (*Leopard x Mary Shepard), also known as General Berle, gold medal winner, Buffalo 1889.

CLAY KISMET, “Grandson of Kismet and Linden Tree.” was one of the horses sold at auction in 1906; by reconstruction from Huntington’s 1895 stock list, he must have been a son of *NIMR out of CLAYRABIA.

KASIM, a *Leopard grandson sired by ABDUL HAMID II.

FEZ (gold medal winner, Chicago world’s Fair), a *Leopard grandson sired by ABDUL HAMID II.

Photos this page courtesy of the American Genetic Foundation.

Some vindication of Huntington’s beliefs came in 1901, when eight head of Clay-Arab stock, not owned by him but based on his breeding, sold at auction for an average of over $1,800, topped by ABDUL HAMID II’s daughter LARISSA at $3,500. Huntington was an old man by this time, worn down by the pursuit of his lifelong devotion to excellence in horseflesh. His herd seems to have been dispersed by auctions in 1906 and 1907, many going for a few dollars due to being in poor condition, as his finances finally failed. The Arab legacy of Randolph Huntington is still with us; his efforts on behalf of the trotting horse did not have the success he envisioned, though it is difficult to believe that his highly-selected stock is not the unrecorded foundation at base of a lot of Standardbred pedigrees. Sadly, by 1947, when Hervey’s standard work The American Trotter was published, it was possible to sketch the history of the Henry Clay breeding in a few paragraphs—and Randolph Huntington’s name was not even mentioned.

Back to the Grant stallions. In 1888, *Linden Tree was bought from U.S.Grant, Jr. by another fascinating character, General Leonard W.Colby of Beatrice, Nebraska. One account has it that Colby paid a pre-inflation $10,000 for the horse and later “politely” refused $50,000 for him. Another version merely says $10,000 was later refused for him, with no original purchase price given.

Beatrice, Nebraska was not a place to let this exotic and historically-associated beast go unrecognized, and in 1890 when a harness racing track was opened by the Beatrice Trotting Association, it was named Linden Tree Park. When the time came, *Linden Tree was buried in the infield of the oval, “in a straw-lined grave.”

General Colby was born in Ohio in 1846, grew up in Illinois, served the Union with distinction in the Civil War, and returned home to finish high school and college with honors, eventually taking to the law. He moved to Beatrice in 1872, was commissioned first lieutenant of the state militia on its founding in 1875, and served in the Indian conflicts of the time, eventually being promoted to brigadier general in 1890. Although I am speculating from limited data, I gather he was deeply affected by the now-infamous Wounded Knee Massacre of 1891; he brought home an orphaned Indian baby girl, and he and his wife raised her in their home. In 1895 he presented a paper on “The Ghost Dance of the Sioux Indians” to the State Historical Society; he served in Nebraska state office and in the U.S. Justice Department where he was involved in defense against claims for damage against the U.S. Government and the Indian tribes; on his retirement from the Justice Department he was employed by the Creek, Cherokee and Seminole tribes as their attorney in Washington, D.C. He was active during the Spanish-American War and “on call” during World War I; he died in 1925 in Beatrice.

Again, we are interested in an aspect of his career which was not considered worthy of detailed documentation. He and his friends made use of *Linden Tree on local mares to such good effect that the reputation of the using horses on the cattle operations around Beatrice spread through the midwest and as far as Colorado. One version has it that Colby “persuaded his old friend” Grant to let him bring “Leopard and *Linden Tree to Nebraska “for just one season” in 1894, but as Grant no longer owned the horses as early as 1883, and as Linden Tree Park was named in 1890, that doesn’t hold up too well. At any rate it does appear that *Leopard had joined the Colby menage by 1894—this in spite of a 1941 publication to the effect that Colby’s second Arabian was named “Don” rather than *Leopard and had no connection with Grant. There is a strong local tradition, to which we will refer again, that *Leopard did reach Beatrice, and another account corroborates this.

Mrs. Norma Smith of Kent, Washington tells us that her late father-in-law, who was born in 1878 and lived to be 100, reported one of the most vivid memories of his boyhood as seeing *Leopard ridden in a militia parade by General Colby. He told her the horse was ridden only on special occasion due to his age, and that this was “around 1893” when *Leopard would have been 20. Mr. Smith recalled the extremely fine hair of *Leopard’s coat, through which his skin was visibly spotted. This is, of course, another indication of advanced age—not the fine hair coat, which merely shows “breeding,” but the mottling and speckling of the skin typical of many aged grey horses. *LINDEN TREE was dismissed with “Colby had two Arabians“—*Leopard was the impressive one. (*Linden Tree was a year younger than *Leopard but may have showed his age more, especially as *Leopard stayed longer in New York and probably had led a more sheltered life. On the other hand, *Leopard was described from the beginning as the “handsomer and more graceful” of the two, which I suppose is reasonable for an Arab compared to a Barb.)

In the late 1890’s a group of Colorado ranchers got together to finance a trip to Nebraska by the respected rancher A.C. Whipple, to bring back one of the superior Colby-related horses from Beatrice. Whipple selected a band of young mares of *Leopard and *Linden Tree breeding, and to head them, the stallion TONY. TONY’s sire and dam are not named in any existing account, but their parentage is given—both were by *Leopard out of “Army TB” mares, which presumably refers to mares used as, or derived from, cavalry mounts. TONY was thus an Anglo-Arab by modern definition, if “TB” refers to full Thoroughbred mares.

This band of Nebraska horses left influential and highly-regarded descent in Colorado, and over the years other horse of similar quality, some with reputed Arab or Barb crosses as well, were added. This resulted in tough, hardy, very able cowhorses which were recognized in 1934 with the name “Colorado Rangers.”

The Arabians of Ben Hur Farm

by Joseph N. White, Arabian Horse World 1981.

When we talk about the “greatness” of something, we are usually referring to its impact over a number of years. In this sense of the word, “greatness” aptly defines the influence the old Ben Hur Farms of Portland, Indiana, has had on Arabian breeding in this country.

Mr. Herbert Tormohlen, owner of Ben Hur Farms, Portland, Indiana, at his turkey farm the Christmas before his death in July, 1968.

Ben Hur Farms was owned by Herbert and Blanche Tormohlen, both extremely knowledgeable breeders. Its program, which lasted for over 35 years, combined the breeding of two of the most successful programs existing at that time — that of the Davenport horses and Crabbet Stud in England.

The first registered foal from Ben Hur was the mare Valencia 587, foaled in 1926, by Hanad 489, and out of the prolific mare Dahura 90. Valencia and her full brother Ameer Ali 644 (foaled in 1927) were sold, along with Hanad, to the Kellogg Ranch in California. In 1930, Hanad and Valencia were named Champion Stallion and Mare at the Los Angeles County Fair and thus, according to an early Ben Hur brochure, they became the first champion Arabian stallion and mare in the United States.

The mare Dahura continued to produce steadily for Ben Hur. In 1929 and 1930, she produced Aabann 736 and Aabab 741, respectively, both by Hanad. Next she was bred to Hanad’s half-brother Tabab 441 (*Deyr 33 x Domow 267), and produced Aabazem 874 in 1931. Her last foal, Aabella 1014 by Mahomet 729 (Hanad x Domow) was foaled in 1933. Aabella, along with Aabann and Aabab, played an important part in the early Ben Hur program.

In 1935, at the first National Arabian Show, Aabann and Aabab won Champion and Reserve in three-gaited performance, now known as park, a feat which matched the record of their sister Valencia.

Besides Dahura, there were two other foundation mares at Ben Hur — Hayah 385 (Harara 122 x Dehahah), a Davenport mare, and Nadirat 619 (*Rizvan 381 x Nusara 371), a Crabbet mare.

Hayah possessed a rather erratic foaling record, with time lapses ranging from two to nine years. While at Ben Hur she produced three foals. The first, by Aabab, was Aahar 1734 in 1939, followed in 1943 by Aahmad 2747, sired by Aanad 1735 (Aabab x Nadirat), and finally, in 1944, Hayah produced her last, and according to some, her best foal, Aah Abu 3060, by Indraff 1575 (*Raffles 952 x *Indaia 813). Aah Abu, by the way, was her only grey foal. All the others were chestnuts.

Nadirat also played an important part throughout the entire Ben Hur program. She produced at least three foals there, beginning in 1938 with Aanad 1735, and Aalita 2746 in 1943, both by Aabab. She produced at least one other foal for the Tormohlens, the filly Aalastra 3716, foaled in 1946. Aalastra was one of two Gulastra 521 (*Astraled 238 x Gulnare 278) daughters at Ben Hur. The other was Aastra 3712, out of Aadraffa 2075 (Indraff x Aadah 1857). Both of these mares figured prominently in the Ben Hur program.

Herbert Tormohlen was a firm believer in Gulastra blood. He felt that although it wasn’t necessary to have a lot of this blood, it was important to have at least a little of it. A friend of Mr. Tormohlen, after seeing these mares, once asked why he was keeping them, as she felt they were only average. Tormohlen told the lady to take a closer look at their heads. When she did, she saw some of the most beautiful heads she had ever seen on a horse. Tormohlen then went on to explain that was the reason Gulastra blood was so important in a breeding program — incorporating even a small amount of this blood would add to the beauty and refinement of the heads on the horses produced.

Of the three early mares at the farm, only Dahura and Nadirat were to play a key role in its later program. Dahura is remembered most through her double granddaughter, Aadah 1857 (Aabab x Aabella), who later became one of Ben Hur’s two premier mares. She produced eleven foals in twelve years, ten of which were fillies. Nadirat became more influential through a daughter that was not bred at Ben Hur, the mare Aarah 1184.

Aarah, 1935 chestnut mare (Ghadaf x Nadirat)

Bred by C. P. Knight, Jr., of Providence, Rhode Island, and foaled in 1935, Aarah was by Ghadaf 694, a half-brother to Gulastra. Aarah was the only horse ever at Ben Hur to be given a formal burial and a commemorative monument on her grave. Her ten foals were directly responsible for some of the most illustrious champions and producers of her day.

An almost immediate reaction by older breeders to the “double A”-named horses is to think that they trace back to Aarah, and to a certain extent they are right. Aarah was acquired by Ben Hur in the early 1940’s, and she foaled her first for them in 1942, a colt named Aaronek 2249 by Indraff. That year she was bred back to *Raffles 952 (Skowronek x *Rifala 815), and the following year she produced the beautiful chestnut colt, Aaraf 2748.

Had Aarah produced only this foal, her place in Arabian history would have been assured, for Aaraf sired over 125 foals in his lifetime. That may be a small number by today’s standards, but considering the times then, and the fact that many of these foals became champions and went on to produce champions, the record is impressive.

Aaraf was not, however, Aarah’s last foal. In 1944 she produced the mare Aarafa 2872, followed by Aaraq 3371 in 1945, Aarief 3717 in 1946, and Aarafla 4344 in 1947, all by *Raffles. Aaraq was the only one of these five to be sold — as a colt he went to Tom Sheppard of Colorado. There are still many foals by him in the Midwest. The other four *Raffles/Aarah foals were retained by Ben Hur and used heavily in their program — in fact Aaraf, Aarafa, and Aarafla were three of Mr. Tormohlen’s favorite horses. He felt that they were three of the finest Arabs in the country at that time, and that was quite an honor, considering Tormohlen’s fine eye for horses.

Aaraf, 1943 chestnut stallion, (*Raffles x Aarah). Sired 125 purebreds.

Aarief, 1946 grey stallion, full brother to Aaraf above.

*Raffles was not the only stallion to which Aarah was bred. She also produced several outstanding foals by Azkar 1109.

Azkar was by Rahas 651 (Gulastra x Raad 474) and out of the imported Egyptian mare *Aziza 888 (Jamil x Negma). At one time, *Aziza was considered to be the most beautiful mare to come from Egypt and was of what is now referred to as Old Egyptian breeding (bred very closely to the Babson Egyptians). This cross to *Aziza blended well with the *Raffles/Aarah horses. *Aziza herself was a half-sister to *Roda 886, who crossed extremely well with *Raffles (producing Tut Ankh Amen 3830 and Star Of Egypt 4167, among others).

The cross to Rahas brought in another line to Gulastra, of which Mr. Tormohlen was so fond, while the cross to Raad (Sidi 223 x *Rijma 346) brought in yet another vital line. While *Rijma, who was imported from the Crabbet Stud, possessed a pedigree which read like a “Who’s Who” of Arabian horses from the studs of Abbas Pasha I and Ali Pasha Sherif, as well as from the Crabbet desert imports, Sidi’s pedigree represented some of the finest individuals of the early domestic programs.

Azkar sired many foals for Ben Hur, including Aazrar 10429, Aazhar 6145, and Aazkara 4879, out of Aarah; Aalzar 7984, out of Aahlwe 3403 (Khaleb 1168 x *Hilwe 810); Karada, out of Aadelfa 7983 (Aaraf x Aadah); Aaziza and Aazalia, both out of Aarafa; Aazdura 6146, out of Aadura 2744 (Indraff x Aadah); and Aazfar 13627, out of Aarafla. Many of these horses can still be found in modern pedigrees.

Produce of the *Raffles/Aarah cross became the mainstay of the Ben Hur program. Aaraf was head stallion, siring foals from mares who were daughters and granddaughters of their original foundation mares. The first Aaraf foals were born in 1946. Aakafa 3713 (x Aakala) was Aaraf’s first foal, followed by Aalurah 3714 (x Aadah) and finally Aarita 3715 out of Aalita 2746 (Aabab x Nadirat). Aaraf also blended well with the Azkar daughters, in particular Aazkara. Aaraf sired four sons and six daughters from Aazkara, and four sons and one daughter from Aazdura. Aaraf sired three foals from his full sister Aarafa — Aarafaa 10426, foaled in 1955, Lewisfield Sun God 21194 in 1962, and Lewisfield Sun Gal 27582 in 1964. From his full sister, Aarafla, Aaraf sired one daughter — Aafala 15522 in 1959.

Aarafa was one of the loveliest mares to come from Ben Hur, and another of Tormohlen’s favorites. She was a strong show horse, and won numerous championships. She also produced many champions, including U.S. National Reserve Champion Stallion, Lewisfield Bold Hawk by Aalzar; Lewisfield Nizrif 41760 by *Nizzam; Aaziza and Aazalia, by Azkar; Lewisfield Lovely by Lewisfield Nizzamo; as well as the three Aaraf foals, and many others.

Aarafla was also a consistent show champion and added many awards to the Ben Hur collection, most in what we now refer to as Park. In Tormohlen’s opinion, she exemplified what the “ideal” Arabian should be, as she possessed “the natural, uninhibited gaits and action of the exquisite beauty of the ancient or classic type of Arabian.” Carl Raswan was quick to verify this, and photos of Aarafla were added to his already famous collection. Aarafla, unfortunately, produced only two foals. The first was Aazfar 13627, by Azkar, who followed in his mother’s footsteps and won many park championships. Not only was Aazfar Aarafla’s only son, but he was Azkar’s youngest son as well. The second of Aarafla’s foals was Aafala, by Aaraf. Aafala was Aarafla’s only daughter, and at 21 years of age is still producing.

While Aaraf, Aarafa, and Aarafla were winning at shows in the East, Aarief was making an equally impressive name for himself on the west coast, while he was on lease to Lasma Arabians. While there he sired many foals, including Aadrief 12380 and Aalrief 14233, a National Top Ten horse. Aarief also played an important part in the breeding program at McCoy Arabians. He sired The Real McCoy, out of Fersara (dam of Ferzon), who influenced the breeding program at Lewisfield Arabians during the Sixties. Photos of Aarief were also added to the Raswan collection.

Ben Hur Farms acquired quite an impressive collection of trophies over the years, including numerous halter and park awards. The most prestigious, however, was the Egyptian Challenge Trophy, donated by King Farouk of Egypt. In order to retire the trophy permanently, Ben Hur had to win it three times at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, in Harrisburg. The winners were selected for “perfection of breed type, and performance.” The first horse ever to win this trophy, and the first horse to win it for Ben Hur, was Aarafa in 1950. Later the trophy was awarded to Aalzar, and finally, in 1963, it was won by Raffarana 12401, by Handeyraff 3940 (*Raffles x Hanadin 2575), out of Yatana 1232 (Farana 708 x Ghazayat 584).

Ben Hur Farms produced a number of other excellent horses during its existence, many of whom were not only champions themselves, but also the sires and dams of champions, including Aadeara 10823 (Aaraf x Aadura), Aalurah 3714 (Aaraf x Aadah), Aabona 12277 (Aaraf x Aaba) and Aahfour 10820 (Aaraf x Aastra 3712).

*Raffles, 1926 gray stallion (Skowronek x *Rifala)

Around 1960 the bulk of Ben Hur stock, some 40 horses, was sold to James F. Lewis, Jr., to become part of the foundation for his Lewisfield Arabians. Lewis had also imported a large number of horses from Lady Wentworth’s Crabbet Stud in England, and had purchased several horses of the *Raseyn/*Raffles cross. Lewisfield’s main stallion was *Nizzam 16070, and Ben Hur mares, when bred to him, consistently produced exquisite foals — perhaps his finest. Numbered among the champions from this cross are Lewisfield Nizziza, Lewisfield Nizzarafa, Lewisfield Nizzaza, Lewisfield Nizzara, Lewisfield Nizzoro, Lewisfield Nizzamo, Lewisfield Nizrif, and Lewisfield Legacy.

Lewisfield also bred a few “straight Ben Hur” horses, most of whom were sired by Aaraf. Most noted among these are Lewisfield Serenade 13633 (also called Aadaia) and Rafhanna formerly Lewisfield Dixie), out of Aadah; Lewisfield Royal Flush 21195, Lewisfield Caress 23656, and Lewisfield Bahama 27580, out of Aazkara; and Lewisfield Sun God 21194 and Lewisfield Sun Gal out of Aarafa. Aarafa’s son Lewisfield Bold Hawk (by Aalzar) was also “straight Ben Hur.”

When Lewisfield was dispersed in 1973, these Ben Hur horses were sold to various farms throughout the country, where they were incorporated into already existing programs. Gradually the percentage of Ben Hur blood decreased and appeared farther back in the pedigrees. However, no matter in what type of program these horses were used, they always helped to improve it, thus proving their versatility as breeding stock by mixing well with various bloodlines and becoming ideal outcrosses.

Today there are a number of dedicated breeders throughout the country, mostly in the central part, who maintain small herds of Ben Hur-bred horses, including Mary Manor Farm in Troy, Ohio; Phara Farm in Hartford, Wisconsin; and Marcy Arabians in Dyersville, Iowa. The quality of the horses at these farms and many others is comparable to that of the horses produced ten years ago at Lewisfield, and twenty or thirty years ago at Ben Hur Farms. The stallion B.H. Bold Decision 71851 (Lewisfield Bold Hawk x Burr-Hill Gindara), owned by Judy Williams of Nobelsville, Indiana, bears a strong likeness to his great-grandfather, Aaraf, and especially to his father’s half-brother, Lewisfield Sun God, as well as a striking resemblance to his distant cousins Sun God Reflection and The Midnight Sun, both owned by Annette Patti of Phara Farm.

The quality of these horses has remained constant, yet the prices have stayed relatively low. Still, it’s nice to know that in these days when so many people are determined to latch onto the latest imported fad, there are still a few breeders following a proven domestic program, like that of Ben Hur Farms, which has rightfully earned the title, “American-Bred.”

Son of the Nobly Bred… Ibn Tirf

Upland Farm

Holliston, Massachusetts

Back in the mid 1980’s, the proportion of Al Khamsa horses in my herd was not so high as it is today. I started horse-breeding in the early 1970’s, with Welsh Ponies, and bought my first Arabian mare in 1975 with the royalties from my first novel. She was a dandy animal with much good blood in her, despite the non-Al Khamsa elements in her pedigree; she was a Saklawi descended from Bint Helwa the Broken-legged mare, and her sire, Zumirz, was a Kuhaylan-Haifi tracing to the Davenport mare, *Reshan. I treasure her blood still.

My first pure Al Khamsa horse was the 1960 Tripoli-Dharebah Davenport stallion, Janan Abinoam, who joined my family in 1978, and runs the farm to this day. One might say he opened the floodgates, since now at Upland Farm there are 41 Al Khamsa horses. 36 of whom are Davenports. The other five owe their presence to the influence of Ibn Tirf.

It must have been back around 1984, when I was trying to place my stallion, HMR Phario, in a new home, that I first heard of Tirf. Phario was one of those lovely dark bay horses bred by Howard Marks, who combined the blood of Gulustra and Hallany Mistanny with non-Al Khamsa elements, such as Tobruk. Phario had sired some nice foals for me, but I really wanted to find an Al Khamsa horse that would have, like him, a marked Saklawi appearance and that expressive “Gulastra” look. One afternoon, a lady called me from Virginia to discuss Phario’s availability, record and price; at the end of the conversation, in a very casual way, she said, “You know, we’ve got one of those ‘Doyle’ stallions down here.”

That lady never did buy anything from me, but I owe her a debt of gratitude, because she gave me the name and telephone number of the lady in West Virginia with “that Doyle stallion”. When she told me that his name was Ibn Tirf, I was able to look him up in the 1983 Al Khamsa directory, and my interest immediately blossomed.

In the 1983 Directory of Al Khamsa Arabians, Ibn Tirf was listed as ‘whereabouts unknown’. For my purposes, he was better than a straight “Doyle”, since his sire, bred by Charles Craver, was Sultan (a cross of the noted Egypt/Blunt stallion, Subani, on the beautiful Davenport Antez daughter, Antan). His dam was one of the great straight Egypt/Blunt brood-matrons bred by Dr. Doyle, Shillala, by Gulson out of Gulnara. I immediately asked his owner for pictures and in due course, I received a few fuzzy shots of a tough-looking chestnut stallion, with cute little ears and a wary expression. He had that Gulastra neck, however, the smooth curve from wither to throatlatch was accented by the typically heavy straight fall of silky mane.

I bought Tirf sight unseen and arranged for his pick up. His owner was gracious, but if a buyer had suddenly appeared from outer space, I do not think she could have been more amazed. She did inform me that the horse had received very little handling in his 12 years, and suffered from heaves. He lived outside year-round, and mares were put in with him for breeding.

At this same time I was buying a Davenport mare in Virginia, a young Oberon daughter, so I arranged with a good friend to use my brand-new truck to collect the two new acquisitions. My trailer was a step-up aluminum 2-horse, on which the first of 48 monthly payments had just been made. It was expensive and certainly looked well made.

Tirf was picked up first, and it was soon clear that his knowledge of handling was minimal. He couldn’t, or wouldn’t be touched on his sides. Brushing against the trailer partitions made him squeal and kick. By the time we had reached Richmond, the back door on his side was bowed out enough so that one could slip a few fingers between it and the jamb. But it still held.

Katja, the filly, was somewhat alarmed by her traveling companion (as well she might be), but they settled in well for the drive home. Tirf’s emphysema had caught up with him by the time we arrived; he practically fell out of the trailer onto his knees, coughing up heavy green mucus. My vet was not impressed by his condition. In fact, she advised me that he might not survive.

It took Tirf about a year to settle in and adjust to his new hayless diet of bran mash and alfalfa cubes. His breathing became regular and he put on weight; his coat slowly achieved the gloss it has never lost, a deeply burnished dark copper with discrete dapples. As his health returned, his vitality increased, and soon he was one of the stallions on every visitor’s ‘must see’ list.

I should point out that standing in his stall he is not especially impressive, curvy, muscular and usually wearing an expression of extreme disgust. (He lives in a row with ten stallions, none of whom are the least bit taken in by his posturing. Two, in fact, are considerably older than he and flaunt their seniority by virtually ignoring his rude remarks.) Tirf has exeptionally large nostrils, and his favorite way of looking annoyed is to draw them up so they seem to reach just below his eyes. This expression, coupled with flattened ears, gives him an “heraldic dragon” sort of look. The effort is ruined, however, when one of us grabs his strong little ears, levers them forward, pushes his nostrils back into shape and tells him to be nice.

The truth, of course, is that he is nice, easy to handle and is a gentleman to breed. It’s just that he wants so desperately to be considered wild and tough. Turned out, he puts on the best show on the place, standing up absolutely vertical, then launching into a powerful springy trot with the curve of his neck and that of his tail in exact harmony with each other. He is breathtaking.

Before Ibn Tirf came to live at Upland, he had sired one registered foal and several part-breds. I was told (but have not received confirmation of the fact), that one of his West Virginia babies is a winning Endurance horse. Given his bloodlines and personal vitality, I do not find this at all unlikely. The first mare Tirf bred at Upland, was Fred Mimmack‘s lovely Saklawi Davenport, Mae West (Kamil Ibn Salan x Maefah). His 1987 filly, Daisy Mae UF, is therefore bred in the Saklawi strain more than five generations.

Ibn Tirf had two more daughters born in 1989, the Al Khamsa filly, Iolanthe UF (x CH Fairy Flight, a Kuhaylan Davenport of pronounced Saklawi characteristics), and the CMK filly, Araba Chimera, (whose dam Kataali, one of my first and most beloved mares, is a non-Al Khamsa mare bred Saklawi in the strain; her sire Aalzar tracing to Bint Helwa and her dam Tsarou to Basilisk). Iolanthe greatly resembles Daisy Mae, like her a bold, strapping chestnut; wheras Chimera is a petite and winsome bay.

While my first loyalty is to my Davenport program, Ibn Tirf has had influence on my buying as well as on my breeding. The Saqlawi al-Abd (*Wadduda) filly, Jadiba (Dib x Jabinta), was bought for his future harem; an Al Khamsa filly combining “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt, Davenport and Hamidie Society bloodlines.

Tirf’s biggest adventure recently has been learning to be a riding horse. Because of his age, heaves, and lack of handling, I had not thought it worthwhile to bother him with training; but one of the girls who works for me fell in love with Tirf and began giving him special attention. After a few weeks she threw on an old western saddle, and started riding him around in a halter with reins attached. He was absolutely delighted. Now he has learned to carry a bit too, but even with just the halter he was perfectly obedient (if a little bouncy), when ridden in company with other stallions and mares.

It is hard to say what the future holds for Ibn Tirf. Physically, he is a springy, handsome 18-year-old stallion, green broke to ride with a few lovely fillies to his credit. In strain and pedigree he is a felicitous example of the complementary blend inherent in “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt and Davenport lines, a combination suggested by Carl Raswan both in The Arab and His Horse, and in The Index. His problem is that he lives on a farm filled with Davenport horses and dedicated to their breeding. In short, there is too much competition for Ibn Tirf to be showcased in the way he deserves.

Still, at Upland we are all grateful for his presence. His beauty and nobility have won many new friends for the Al Khamsa horse, and in the years to come the “Doyle” Egypt/Blunt component in our breeding, as it slowly increases, will be Ibn Tirf’s ultimate legacy.

Despite any past or present offices held in Al Khamsa, Inc., by the authors, the views expressed in this article are the personal views of the present authors, and do not represent any offical policy of Al Khamsa, Inc..

Web cmkarabians.com

Davenport Bloodlines in CMK Breeding

by Charles Craver
All rights reserved
(Copied to this web page by permission of Charles Craver)

Letan (*Muson x *Jedah) Foaled 1909. Bred by the Davenport Desert Arabian Stud. Both sire and dam were original imports.

Hanad (*Deyr x Sankirah) Foaled 1922. Bred by the Hingham Stock Farm. The most influential Davenport at the Kellogg Ranch.

*Wadduda, a famed war mare, imported by Homer Davenport in 1906, founded one of the greatest mare lines of the twentieth century. She was indeed the Queen Mother from whom many of the best Arabians of today descend. (from the back inside cover of the CMK Heritage Catalogue 1982)

*Hamrah, a desert-bred stallion and major progenitor of the Davenport legacy.

Lysander (Sir x Dhalana), foaled 1966. Bred by Charles C Craver III. A straight Davenport Arabian stallion still gracing Craver Farms with his presence in 1997.

By long-standing usage in the United States, the term “Davenport,” as applied to Arabian horses, is used to describe the horses registered by the Arabian Horse Registry of this country as having been imported in 1906 from the Arabian desert by Homer Davenport. By extension, the term is also applied to those horses which are entirely descended from those horses. The original importation consisted of twenty-seven head, of which twenty-five were registered. When they arrived in the United States, there were few other Arabian horses here. As the years went by, crosses were made with other bloodlines as they were imported. At present, almost all Arabians having several generations of American breeding trace to the Davenports to the extent that probably 90 percent of Arabian horses in the U.S. have in the neighborhood of 10 percent Davenport ancestry.

At the same time as this dissemination of Davenport bloodlines has gone on, a few Arabians have continued to be bred exclusively within the bloodlines of the Davenport importation. These horses are almost entirely of breeding stock which passed through the Kellogg Ranch. There are presently (1982) about 325 living Arabian horses of this sort in the ownership of about 75 individuals. This group of horses is one of the oldest breeding groups of Arabians anywhere to have been maintained on a closed pedigree basis: that is, without outcrossing to other bloodlines. As a group, their major distinctive feature is the similarity in type which they bear to the pictures and descriptions which we have of their imported, desert-bred ancestors of 1906. A few of them even bear marked resemblance to specific individuals in the importation. This is particularly noticeable in some descendants of *Muson #27, but people who know these bloodlines are also able to recognize features from others of the imported horses such as *Abeyah #39, *Deyr #33, *Farha #42, and *Hamrah #28.

The horses registered as imported by Davenport were as follows: *Haleb #25, *Houran #26, *Muson #27, *Hamrah #28, *El Bulad #29, *Wadduda #30, *Gomusa #31, *Azra #32, *Deyr # 33, *Mowarda #34, *Kusof #35, *Euphrates #36, *Antar # 37, *Reshan #38, *Abeyah #39, *Urfah #40, *Werdi #41, *Farha #42, *Hadba #43, *Jedah #44, *Haffia #45, *Enzahi #46, *Moharra #47, *Masoud #64, *Abbeian #111. All of these horses, having living descendants, are represented in pedigrees from Maynesboro (*Euphrates #36) or the Kellogg Ranch. The “Davenport” Arabians were personally obtained by Davenport through direct purchase from their bedouin owners who were required to establish their purebred status by oath taken before their sheikhs and fellow tribesmen. Davenport was proud that these horses were representative of the animals which were used in daily bedouin life.

The Davenport influence came into the CMK context with the stallion Jerrede #84 who was out of the Hamidie mare *Nejdme #1 and by the Davenport stallion *Euphrates #36. W. R. Brown was interested in using this horse as a sire at Maynesboro, but initially he was disinclined to do so because the sire, *Euphrates, like the other Davenports, was not registered with the Jockey Club, although he was, of course, registered with the Arabian Horse Club of America. Brown was able to arrange acceptance of *Euphrates by the Jockey Club through statements by Lady Anne Blunt of the Crabbet Arabian Stud authenticating his pedigree. This opened the way for registration by the Jockey Club of Jerrede and for use of that horse at Maynesboro by W. R. Brown. Jerrede’s role there is minor, and it is difficult to evaluate how successful he was as a sire.

In living CMK horses, practically all Davenport influence derives from the extensive use of Davenport related breeding stock at the Kellogg Ranch, where in early years, the Davenport bloodlines were very strongly represented.

Among the Davenports which were especially known as Kellogg breeding stock were the stallions Hanad #489, Antez #448, Letan #86, Jadaan #196, and *Deyr #33. Well-known mares were Adouba #270, Babe Azab #567, Fasal #330, Hasiker #268, Poka #438, Saba #437, Sankirah #149, Sherlet #339, and Schilla #419.

The Kellogg Ranch bred a few horses which were entirely Davenport in pedigree. The more frequent utilizations of the bloodlines, however, were in combination with horses of other background. Quite a number of these crosses were of foundation quality and provided the bases from which some of the most popular current American Arabians derive. Horses such as Khemosabi, Ferzon, The Judge, Fame, Ibn Hanrah, Fadjur, Galan, Garaff, and Saki all have strong Davenport elements in their pedigrees and would not be the same if there were to be replacement by ancestors of a different background.

When their numerical representation at the Kellogg Ranch was substantial, the Davenport bloodlines appear to have been well appreciated. From pictures of public record, foals produced by them were of excellent quality and helped to establish the reputation of the ranch as an Arabian horse nursery. In presentations at the Kellogg exhibitions, the Davenports were among the noted performers, with Hanad doing a trick and dressage routine he had learned as an older horse, Pep performing as a trick horse, and Jadaan being exhibited in costume. They were used successfully in a number of movies. In competition at public horse shows, they did well against other Arabians in California, including some of the most attractive and highly publicized of the Kellogg Crabbet imports.

As time has passed, a certain amount of partisanship had developed both towards and against the Kellogg Davenport bloodlines. From a distance in time it is difficult to understand the reasons for this, but partly, they may have had origins in the fact that the Davenports sometimes represented a different tradition in Arabian breeding from some of the other Kellogg bloodlines. These traditions were and still are reflected in the horses themselves. The Davenports were close to their desert origins. *Deyr #33 was actually a desert import. Others were only one or two generations removed. Such horses represented Bedouin values in Arabian breeding. Other fine bloodlines at Kellogg’s were quite different in their origins, some of them descending from long lines of Arabian breeding in Europe, England, and Egypt: perhaps these bloodlines tended to show the influences of the countries which had served as intermediate hosts for the several generations which transited the distance from Arabia to the Kellogg Ranch.

Actually, there was no good reason why one bloodline should be valued and another ignored among the Kellogg Ranch bloodlines, of which the Davenports were one. There was sufficient good in each that a lover of horses could be grateful they had been brought into a juxtaposition of some harmony and then passed on to private breeders as a contribution to the development of the Arabian horse in America.

The question naturally comes up as to what Davenport bloodlines added to CMK breeding. The answer breaks down into two parts, the first concerning those horses which are entirely Davenport in origin. This is a group of horses which is still quite representative of the desert imports of 1906. They tend to be of moderate size, athletic inclination, fine-skinned, large of eye, and wide between the jaws. Dispositions are comparatively quiet, and they adapt well to the owner who wants to give plenty of personal attention to his horse. Out of the small number which have been shown in recent years, there have been good successes in dressage, distance riding, halter, pleasure, costume, and park exhibition. One of the interesting things about this group of horses is that certain of them preserve the identity in type and strain of two of the major bedouin strains among the horses imported by Davenport, which were the Seglawi and the Kuhaylan. In recent years, the effort has been made to intensify this aspect of their breeding.

The other aspect of the contribution of Davenport bloodlines to CMK breeding has to do with how they have blended with bloodlines other than their own. For the most part, Davenport elements in CMK pedigrees are significant but certainly not overwhelming in terms of the percentage of total ancestry represented. In many instances their main contribution is probably in the form of background influences which facilitate the expression of desirable characteristics from other, more immediate pedigree sources. Where the percentage of Davenport ancestry becomes higher, of course, the influence of specific Davenport horses becomes more recognizable, and the vitality and muscularity of Letan, the long, upright neck of Hanad, the fine coat of Hasiker and the other identifiable characteristics can sometimes be picked out. Some years ago a study was done of the pedigrees of horses competing at our national show. It turned out that the more successful horses being exhibited in performance categories tended to have higher percentages of Davenport ancestry than the average horse winning at that show in halter classes. A frequent comment of trainers is that their horses having higher percentages of Davenport blood tend to be more easily trained. Usually the overall influence of Davenport blood in a horse is towards a smoother, more harmoniously built individual. This may be traceable to *Hamrah #28 who was a great brood mare sire and whose blood was very strongly present in the Kellogg Davenports.

The CMK movement offers an opportunity for increased appreciation of some of the older values in Arabian breeding. Davenport bloodlines have contributed very strongly to the expression of these values.

Randolph Huntington: American Horse Breeder

by George H. Conn, D.V.M.
(Western Horseman Apr ’49)

Leopard, the Arabian stallion imported into the United States in 1879 as a gift to Gen. U.S.Grant. (Bottom of image: “The Arabian Stallion presented to Gen. U.S.Grant by the sultan of Turkey. Foaled in 1873 height 15 hands; now owned by Gen. L. Colby, Beatrice, Nebr.”)

Linden Tree, a Barb-Arabian sent to U.S. Grant in 1879

RANDOLPH HUNTINGTON was born in Springfield, Mass., in 1828. It was he who demonstrated the possibilities inherent in the Arab horse for the purpose of developing a new breed of saddle and road horses. He was related to some of the most influential people of his age, yet he preferred the breeding of horses to any other business.

Randolph Huntington married a country girl who later inherited a farm near Bloomfield, Ontario country, N.Y., and it was on this farm that Huntington began to breed horses soon after the Civil War.

During his first years on the farm he bought and sold many colts and fillies as coach horses in New York City. He soon came to recognize the value of the Clay stock in that community which was largely the result of the breeding of a horse called Henry Clay which was brought to the nearby Genesee valley and whose stock was distributed through the valley.

Huntington soon realized that the Clay blood was fast disappearing and he set about buying up the most desirable daughters, granddaughters and sons of the old Henry Clay breeding. The Clays were an especially fine trotting breed for their day. He attributed the excellence of the Clay blood to the amount of Arab blood through Grand Bashaw, Young Bashaw, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay.

Before Huntington began to build up the Clay breed he sold all his horses of Hambletonian and other families. He began to collect the Clays in 1877. He states that he was in good position to know about the value of Clay blood as the first stud season made by this famous horse was in western New York at the farm of Francis Neason, an uncle of his wife.

Writing to a friend on Nov. 2, 1888, he said,

“I know the horse [Henry Clay] thoroughly well and also his get. Residing in Brooklyn I knew also the horses there and on Long Island … practical experience in handling and driving as a young man, as a matured man and as a dealer during and after the [Civil] war, I found my opinions in favor of the blood advocated. My investment was between $40,000 and $50,000.”

On May 31, 1879, there arrived in America two very fine stallions which were presented to Gen. U.S.Grant by the Sultan of Turkey. These stallions were Leopard and Linden Tree. It is generally acknowledged that Linden Tree was a Barb-Arabian while Leopard was a pure Arabian. Prior to the time that these horses arrived in America, the very favorable results from inbreeding to produce typical Clay horses was shown to be practical. After seeing the stallions, Leopard and Linden Tree, Randolph Huntington at once started negotiations to breed three virgin Clay mares to each of these stallions. He hoped thereby to improve the roadhorse quality of his horses. In later years he called them Clay-Arabs. Since Huntington wanted to breed only virgin mares it was not until 1880 or 1881 that he was able to breed and raise just what he wanted.

The offspring secured from these matings were good and the results secured by breeding these offsprings later to each other were outstanding. Within a few years many prominent men in the New York area were beginning to see the advantages of breeding these Clay-Arabs. A company was formed and Mr. Huntington moved his horses to Long Island where the project was to be carried on.

Just before moving to Long Island, Huntington purchased Naomi, the only Arab that remained of an importation to England of three Arabians. These Arabians were the mares Haidee and Zuleike and the stallion Yataghan, which cost Sanderman $62,500 in gold. Haidee was bred to Yataghan, her full brother, and produced Naomi, one of the finest and largest Arabian mares of her day. In 1888 Mr. Huntington bought Naomi and she was brought to America. In England, Naomi had been bred to Kismet and had a six months old horse colt at foot named Nimr. While Naomi was owned in England by the Rev. F. F. Vidal she foaled a chestnut filly which was sired by a famous Arabian racer, Maidan.

Randolph Huntington from his study and observation of the Arabian horse was determined if at all possible to get Kismet-bred Arabs for his breeding operation. He was unable to buy Kismet, but did succeed in leasing him for a two year period at a reported price of $20,000 plus the insurance fee on Kismet for this amount to be kept on the stallion until his return to England. Kismet arrived Nov. 10, 1891, but was very sick with pneumonia, and died a few hours after being unloaded.

Since Huntington was to be denied the use of Kismet for breeding purposes, his next move was to purchase Nazli (the daughter of Naomi) and her horse foal Nimr. These two Arabians figure prominently in many old pedigrees of Arabian horses.

These importations did not have a direct influence on the Clay-Arabian horses, but it proves that Randolph Huntington knew the value of the Arabian horse. Huntington’s treasurer, a man named Weeks, embezzled and disappeared with a sum reported to be nearly $100,000. This money was to have been used in the development of the Clay-Arabian horse and for the preparation of a history of the Clay horse. Had this not occurred it is possible that there would have been a different history of the light horse in America.

Due to the depression of 1893 and to the lack of finances to feed, care and breed about 100 head of horses, Randolph Huntington’s breeding venture of Clay-Arabs (sometimes called Americo-Arabs) was forced into receivership. Eighty-five horses were offered for sale February 22 and 23, 1894, at American Institute Buildings. They were sold by Peter C. Kellogg and Co., the leading auction firm of the day.

The following quotation is from The Horseman, published right after the sale.

“After many years of trials and discussions in the horse papers, something practical and substantial has been shown by the advocates of the Arab blood. The sale in New York last week of a number of Americo-Arabs at an average price of over $1,800 per head demonstrates the fact that the Americo-Arab is already an established type. Although the sale was made by Theodore C. Patterson, Chestnut Hill, Pa., the whole credit is due to Mr. Randolph Huntington, Oyster Bay, as the founder of the type. The horses sold last Tuesday were mostly by Abdul Hamid II, a son of General Grant’s Arabian Leopard, and out of Mary Sheppard, by Jack Sheppard, by Henry Clay; second dam Galusha mare, by Jack Sheppard. When the two stallions presented by the Sultan to General Grant arrived in this country in 1879, Mr. Huntington was the only person to appreciate their value by breeding to them six of his best Clay mares, thus laying the foundation of a most desirable type of horses. More Arabian blood was infused into the type later by the importation of the pure bred Arab mares from England, Naomi and her daughter Nazli. It was mainly through influential friends in England and at great expense that Mr. Huntington succeeded in bringing these mares to this country, both of which proved great additions in establishing the Americo-Arab type.

“The gathering at the sale was unusually large, and much curiosity was evinced as to how the horses with Arabian blood would sell, and to say that a majority of the crowd was astonished at the sums bid is drawing it but mildly, and wonder was added to astonishment when it was learned that a majority of the offerings were withdrawn because the owner and consignor, Mr. Patterson of Erdenheim Farm, did not think the bids were high enough to justify him in letting his pets go. For instance, the 15-2 hand stallion Omar was bid up to $1,550 and the owner would not let him go. The little black pony bred gelding Blackbird, 13-3 hands, was run up to $700 and withdrawn. Several others were taken out after what most of the horsemen present considered extraordinary high prices were bid for them. The 13-2 hand chestnut mare Gulnare was bid up to $875, and Mr. Grand turned to Mr. Patterson, saying: ‘Let me sell her.’ Mr. Patterson looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded his head, and the mare was knocked down to M. Evarts, New York.”

The following quotation is from The American Horse Breeders:

“Those who have ridiculed Randolph Huntington’s methods of breeding from Arabian stock received an eyeopener at the W.D.Grand sale in New York on the 21st inst. Six head of what Mr. Huntington calls Americo-Arabs brought $11,225 under the hammer, an average of $1,870.83 per head, Larissa, a four-year-old, 15.2 1/2 hand mare by Abdul Hamid II, son of the imported Arabian Leopard, owned at one time by General Grant, brought the top price, $3,500. She went to the bid of Ed de Cernea, who also paid $2,050 for Manila, a 15.3 hand, three-year-old full sister of Larissa. It is announced that these mares will be put in shape for exhibition next Fall at the annual National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden. It is Mr. Huntington’s turn to laugh now.”

The following quotation is also taken from the Oyster Bay Pilot and we quote as follows:

“We have the effort of Mr. Randolph Huntington to establish a type by mixing the blood of General Grant’s Arab stallions with the mares of the Clay family. It will be recalled that when General Grant made his famous tour of the world he stopped at Constantinople, and was entertained by the Sultan, who gave the American soldier, as a souvenir of his visit, two stallions, Leopard and Linden Tree. These horses were landed in 1879, and Mr. Huntington at once began making arrangements to breed to them. Mr. Huntington has theories as to in-breeding, or close breeding, as he prefers to call it, that are more in consonance with the ideas that prevail abroad than here.”

CMK Sire Lines

(an abstract of “The CMK Sire Lines in the 21st Century” in CMK Heritage Catalogue III)

The subject of sire lines is an interesting one. In a sense they can be taken as canaries in the genetic coal mine–where traditional sire lines persist, it usually (though not always) means someone is selecting for a traditional stamp of horse, or at least paying attention to something other than the dictates of current fashion. The historical trend in most breeds is for the overall population to be grafted over to fashionable new male lines every few years.

There are surprisingly few sire lines in the Arabian breed, and the pre-1950 North American ones almost all trace ultimately to Ibrahim (Skowronek) or Zobeyni (Mesaoud, whose strongest branch is *Astraled to Gulastra; and Mahruss to Rijm). Among the Davenport lines, *Deyr and *Muson are pretty solid; all straight Davenports now trace to one or the other, and they also have representatives in combined-source breeding. I am not sure *Muson persists except through Kimfa, outside the modern straight Davenports and a few of their close derivatives. The lines of Las Trad and Ibn Hanrah for example descend from *Deyr.

Most of the other long-term survivors have to be classed as “trace” sire lines, and if any of these is to continue in existence, still less to prosper, someone has to make an effort to find the horses and get them used. The Old English *Kismet line is still available, and potentially so is the Davenport one of *Abbeian through Ralf. Davenport also brought in, before his own desert importation, *Nejdran DB who may be hanging on as well.

The old Midwest sire lines from *Saoud and *Al-Mashoor are getting very thin on the ground, I do not expect them to carry on. Ironically the other sire in this category, *Mirage, who was fading out a few years ago, illustrates how these things can be turned around: this is now a candidate for the world’s most widespread sire line, thanks to Bay-Abi and especially to his grandsons Bey Shah, Huckleberry Bey and Barbary. Those horses are not generally operating in the context of CMK breeding (Bey Shah is over half Polish, and Barbary over 75%), and the *Mirage sire line outside this branch still needs some attention.

Our other Old English sire line is that of *Aldebar to Dwarka, and although this line has died out in England it’s experienced a resurgence lately here: *Aldebar’s grandson Bezatal was widely used by endurance breeders, so his branch looks like remaining a strong one for a while. There are other branches of the *Aldebar line which were fairly widespread a few years ago and may still be available.

The other CMK sire lines which are potentially active are *Mounwer and *Zamal of the Hearst importation (the line of *Ghamil has just died out); these horses have grandsons active but again, there needs to be some attention paid to the sire lines if they are to hang on.

Sire lines are markers for breed history but they also have a biological reality: recall that the Y chromosome is transmitted only from sire to son, and if a sire line dies out, a particular Y chromosome is gone. Genetic variation has been demonstrated in the Y chromosomes of other species (including humans) so there is no reason to think it does not exist in the horse as well.

CMK Mare Families

The original Crabbet/Maynesboro/Kellogg mare families: Foundation of a unique North American gene pool one hundred years in the making

Used by permission of Rick Synowski. First published in the CMK Heritage Catalogue Volume III

This treatment reflects the CMK dam line picture before the 1993 revision of the CMK Definition. — MB

While CMK Arabian horses have come to represent a minority breeding group today, CMK foundation mare lines hold fast to their international domination of lists of leading dams of champions. Their production records, some accomplished by mares now deceased, may never be equalled. The character, type and breeding of such celebrated mares must inevitably be diminished and disappear when outcrossing to stallions of other breeding groups predominates.

Veteran horsewoman Faye Thompson, whose father Claude Thompson introduced the Arabian horse into Oregon nearly 60 years ago, observes that “modern Arabian horses are good horses, but they’ve lost that classic, desert look that used to excite me so. Modern horses don’t get me excited the way the old ones did” [CMK Record, Spring 1989].

It is to be hoped the classic desert look which so excited the observer does not disappear, but may be perpetuated on some scale as CMK mares produce within the CMK breeding group. Perhaps the realization of the unique history behind these mares will contribute to this end.

Imported in 1888: *Naomi

THE FIRST ARABIAN MARE TO come to North America and leave modern descent, and the oldest mare in the Arabian Horse Registry of America, is *Naomi, foaled in England in 1877. Her sire and dam YATAGHAN and HAIDEE were brought from the desert by Capt. Roger Upton. Randolph Huntington, America’s earliest breeder of Arabian horses still represented in modern lines, imported *Naomi in 1888. In 1890 *Naomi foaled the fine chestnut colt ANAZEH, the first Arabian bred and born on American soil to leave modern descent. ANAZEH was sired by *Leopard, the grey Arabian stallion presented by Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey to General U.S. Grant in 1878.

A mare with many firsts to her credit, though perhaps not of the show ring variety, *Naomi was photographed here at age 18, standing behind the strapping 13-day-old Khaled, her eighth of ten foals. As an individual *Naomi must have pleased Randolph Huntington, who by this time was enjoying no small recognition as one of America’s leading breeders of light horses. Huntington would build his entire Arabian program around this single mare, and thus *Naomi would make a far-reaching contribution to the development of a North American Arabian gene pool via her high-quality descendants.

Perhaps the most important of *Naomi’s tail-female descendants was to be the Manion-bred IMAGIDA, dam of the illustrious *Raffles daughters GIDA and RAFGIDA and two sons also by *Raffles, IMARAFF and RAFFI. Another distinguished female line was founded by the straight Maynesboro MADAHA. *Naomi’s descent from both sons and daughters also included the likes of RAHAS, GHAZI, RABIYAT, GHAZAYAT, Abu Farwa, ALLA AMARWARD and Aurab, just to name a few of the famous ones. *Naomi’s sons and daughters were among the finest horses of their time, and their descendants continue to be so regarded.

1893: *GALFIA and *NEJDME

IN 1893, BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT with Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 45 Arabian horses were brought from Syria for exhibition at the Chicago World’s Fair. The Hamidie horses, so named for the Hamidie Hippodrome Company which sponsored the exhibition, were beset by a series of disasters. Financial ruin of the company and a fire left 28 horses to be auctioned off.

Only three mares of the entire group would be given the opportunity to breed on. In 1894 Peter Bradley purchased the mares *GALFIA and *PRIDE. The third mare, *NEJDME, was purchased by J.A.P. Ramsdell. *GALFIA would be the first of the three to produce with her 1895 colt, MANNAKY JR. by the Hamidie stallion *MANNAKY. The following year *GALFIA again foaled to *MANNAKY and the filly ZITRA was to establish *GALFIA’s tail female line into modern descent.

In 1898 *NEJDME established the third American mare line with the birth of NONLIKER, sired by Ramsdell’s Ali Pasha Sherif stallion *SHAHWAN. Unfortunately NONLIKER was the only foal of the magnificent *SHAHWAN to breed on in America. That *SHAHWAN left scant descent at Crabbet prior to his importation was to be regretted by the Blunts as well, given the breeding performance of his daughter YASHMAK. NONLIKER was joined by younger half-sisters NANSHAN (1902) and NANDA (1905); the *NEJDME lines of DAHURA and LARKSPUR came to be particularly highly prized.

The third Hamidie mare bred on but not in tail female. *PRIDE produced just one registered foal, the 1902 mare SHEBA sired by MANNAKY JR. SHEBA would leave an important mark on the breeding program of Albert W. Harris in her sons NEJDRAN JR (by *NEJDRAN) and EL JAFIL (by *IBN MAHRUSS), sire of Harris’ noteworthy EL SABOK.

Much of the identifying information on the Hamidie horses, including the original authentication, has been lost, presumably in the fire. Bits and pieces of information from letters and newspaper articles have surfaced over the years. Some of the information coming down is conflicting regarding strains and birthdates, if not the outright identities of some of the horses. What we do know is that the horses which bred on did so extremely well.

1900: BASILISK

IN 1900 THE FIRST CRABBET MARE came to America in the person of the BASILISK granddaughter *BUSHRA. She is registered as imported from the Crabbet Stud by “Mr. Eustis” but almost certainly went directly to Randolph Huntington’s ownership and produced her American offspring for Homer Davenport.

Wilfrid Blunt considered the family of BASILISK to be one of the best of their early desert importations. Later, the American breeder Spencer Borden noted the BASILISK mare line as the “best blood in the world.” The BASILISK family would be well represented among the early imports. *BUTHEYNA, *BARAZA and *BATTLA followed *BUSHRA.

The BASILISK female line died out at Crabbet, though it continued to England from the line established by BELKA at the Courthouse Stud. In America the line flourished notably from the Maynesboro mare BAZRAH.

1905: WILD THYME and RODANIA

SPENCER BORDEN CAME UPON the scene at the turn of the century. His contribution to the Arabian horse in America as an importer, breeder and author during these early days was to be monumental. In 1898 Borden had imported *SHABAKA from England, a mare by the desertbred MAMELUKE and out of KESIA II, imported en utero from the desert. *SHABAKA was not to establish a female line but her influence was realized in a highly valued son, SEGARIO. The KESIA mare line would in fact never become established here, but was represented again in Borden’s 1905 import, *SHABAKA’s half-brother *IMAMZADA, and in the 1924 Harris import *NURI PASHA [ex RUTH KESIA].

In 1905 Borden imported two fillies from the Hon. Miss Ethelred Dillon and introduced the WILD THYME mare line to breed on in America. Borden’s yearling *MAHAL and weanling *NESSA were both daughters of the Crabbet mare RASCHIDA (Kars x Wild Thyme). Like BASILISK’s, WILD THYME’s family died out early at Crabbet, but it was ably perpetuated by both *MAHAL and *NESSA in this country.

It was a stroke of genius that, also in 1905, Borden introduced the RODANIA female line to America with his importation of the dowager queen mother of Crabbet, *ROSE OF SHARON. Borden’s coup in obtaining the most celebrated of Crabbet’s early matrons must be considered in light of her unparalleled international influence.

The RODANIA daughters spread the influence of Crabbet breeding to virtually every other Arabian horse breeding base in the world. *ROSE OF SHARON’s mare line would carry forward in American breeding by her tail female descendants imported later from Crabbet. Her uniquely American contributions to the breed came via her son *RODAN and daughter ROSA RUGOSA, dam of the important Maynesboro sire SIDI.

The two remaining branches of RODANIA’s family were brought to America later and also became firmly established here. The RODANIA daughter ROSEMARY is represented by *ROKHSA, imported in 1918 by W.R.Brown, *RAIDA, imported in 1926 by Kellogg, *RISHAFIEH, imported in 1932 by Selby, and *KADIRA, imported 1939 by J.M. Dickinson. The ROSE OF JERICHO branch was established by the 1926 Kellogg imports *ROSSANA, *RASIMA and *RASAFA, and the 1930 Selby ones *RASMINA and *ROSE OF FRANCE.

1906: *WADDUDA, *RESHAN, *ABEYAH, *URFAH, *WERDI, *HADBA

IN 1906 HOMER DAVENPORT imported 27 Arabian horses directly from the desert. This importation would be the largest genetic contribution unique to American Arabian horse breeding. Six of Davenport’s desert mares would establish mare lines, and each would be represented on the leading dams of champions lists. For many years the leading dam of champions, BINT SAHARA, and her runner-up daughter FERSARA, are of *WADDUDA’s line. SAKI, whose champion produce record would come to equal BINT SAHARA’s, was of *WERDI’s family.

As in the case of each of these mares, Davenport breeding blended wonderfully well with that of other early CMK sourcess, the result being realized in some of the best representatives of the breed in history. Interestingly, some of Davenport’s desert sources were the same breeders from whom the Blunts had purchased foundation stock nearly 30 years earlier. The success Davenport, and later W.R.Brown, Harris, Kellogg, Hearst and Selby realized in combining Davenport and Crabbet breeding represented in some cases a recombining of lines derived from the same desert sources.

Davenport mare lines survive both in straight Davenport breeding programs and inextricably within the larger CMK breeding group. Their contribution of classic desert type and quality can still readily be identified.

1909: BINT HELWA

APART FROM HOMER DAVENPORT, there was no one to compare to the spirited patronage of Spencer Borden for the Arabian horse in America at the turn of the century. Borden’s visits to the Crabbet Stud and his lively correspondence with Lady Anne Blunt were to gain him respect and favor in securing some of the best individuals of that Stud. And so in 1909 Borden would again bring a grande dame of Crabbet to American shores, the Ali Pasha Sherif bred *GHAZALA, daughter of the Crabbet family foundress BINT HELWA.

BINT HELWA’s line was a third to take hold in America but die out at Crabbet. And take hold it did in the two illustrious *GHAZALA daughters, GULNARE and GUEMURA. Two other branches of the BINT HELWA family would later provide foundation mares to American CMK breeding in *HAMIDA, *HAZNA and *HILWE.

1910: DAJANIA and *LISA

THE NEXT YEAR A FIFTH Crabbet family line would reach America in the DAJANIA mare *NARDA II, imported by F. Lothrop Ames. *NARDA II, a daughter of NARGHILEH, was purchased in foal to RIJM and the next year foaled *NOAM, a three-quarters sister to *NASIK, *Nureddin II and NESSIMA.

The DAJANIA family would be greatly distinguished at Crabbet and in America as producers of some of the greatest sires in the history of the breed: the aforementioned *NASIK and *Nureddin II, and NASEEM, INDIAN GOLD, *NIZZAM, INDIAN MAGIC, *SERAFIX, ELECTRIC SILVER and *SILVER DRIFT. In America the DAJANIA line sires included INDRAFF, RAPTURE and AARAF.

Later *INDAIA was imported by Roger Selby and *INCORONATA by Kellogg, bringing the imported family of DAJANIA mares to just four.

Also in 1910, the mare *LISA was imported by C.P.Hatch. She was listed as having been “bred in the desert” and registered as black. *LISA’s family line survives via one daughter, ALIXE by *HAURAN. ALIXE’s breeder was Warren Delano of Barrytown, NY. ALIXE in turn produced three daughters by JERREDE (*Euphrates x *Nejdme), and of these JERAL and NARADA bred on.

1918: FERIDA and SOBHA

THE MAYNESBORO STUD IN Berlin, NH was founded in 1912 by William Robinson Brown. Brown’s foundation stock was acquired in the beginning from other American breeders. It was, in fact, via Maynesboro that key links with some of the earliest CMK bloodlines were to be carried forward.

In 1918 Brown made an importation of 17 horses from the Crabbet Stud. Brown’s purchase would be a timely one for CMK breeding in that advantage was taken, purposely or not, of the legal feud between Lady Wentworth and her father Wilfrid Blunt, after Lady Anne Blunt’s death. Certain Crabbet horses were acquired by Brown which might otherwise never have left the Stud. This was especially true of the phenomenal *BERK.

The 1918 Maynesboro importation introduced the FERIDA family to North America in the two-yr-old chestnut filly *FELESTIN. *FELESTIN’s dam FEJR (Rijm x Feluka) also produced the stallions FARIS and FERHAN, sires in turn of the important English breeding horses RISSALIX and INDIAN GOLD.

A second, more prolific, branch of the FERIDA family was established eight years later with the importation of the celebrated FELUKA daughter, *FERDA, by W.K.Kellogg. Ten years after her importation, half the horses at the Kellogg Ranch would be descended from *FERDA, such was the value of this FERIDA line mare.

The 1918 Maynesboro importation also brought a seventh Crabbet family to America in the SOBHA representative, *SIMAWA, a mare who would later become important to the breeding program of Albert Harris. Selby and Kellogg would each make astute importations of SOBHA line mares in *SELMNAB (imported 1930) and *CRABBET SURA (imported 1936).

The most acclaimed branch of the SOBHA family did not reach America until the 1950s. This was the line of Lady Wentworth’s unforgettable SILVER FIRE.

1921 and 1922: *BALKIS II and *KOLA

W.R. BROWN WAS A U.S. ARMY Remount agent, and it was a major purpose of his breeding program that Arabians be bred as suitable mounts for cavalry. It was probably with this in mind that in 1921 and ’22 he imported Arabian horses from France, a country long esteemed for breeding cavalry horses.

Brown’s French importation was in keeping with the tradition of Huntington, Borden, Bradley and Davenport, who touted the utilitarian supremacy of the Arabian horse, promoting the Arabian for American cavalry use.

Two of the French mares would establish mare lines at Maynesboro. The *BALKIS II granddaughter FOLLYAT and the *KOLA daughters FADIH and FATH were broodmatrons which especially earned respect for the contribution of French breeding to the CMK foundation.

1924: QUEEN OF SHEBA

THE SOLE REPRESENTATIVE of the Crabbet family of QUEEN OF SHEBA to breed on in CMK founder lines was *ANA (Dwarka x Amida), imported to America in 1924. *ANA would produce two daughters for her importer Albert Harris. She was later sold to Philip Wrigley for whom she was to produce four more daughters including the notable ADIBIYEH.

*ANA was full sister to *ALDEBAR, bred by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales and imported by Henry Babson.

1928: *NOURA and MAKBULA

AMEEN RIHANI OF NEW YORK imported three Arabians from the desert in 1928, a stallion *SAOUD and two mares, *NOURA and her daughter *MUHA. A thin but well-regarded line was to come from these mares. *NOURA’s family would be famously represented by Margaret Shuey’s elegant matron MY BONNIE NYLON.

Roger Selby’s Crabbet importation of 1928 introduced the MAKBULA family to America in the small-statured, exquiste *KAREYMA. *KAREYMA would prove to be one of Selby’s best purchases from Crabbet, judging by the excellence of her produce. Selby would bring three more representatives of the MAKBULA line to Ohio in 1930 with the importation of *KIYAMA, *JERAMA and *NAMILLA.

1929: *MALOUMA

IN 1929 HERMAN FRANK of Los Angeles imported *MALOUMA, the first of two Egyptian lines to be incorporated into the foundation of CMK breeding. *MALOUMA was purchased by Kellogg for whom she produced the four daughters which carry on her line.

1931: *LA TISA

IN 1931 THE CHICAGO INDUSTRIALIST and philanthropist Charles Crane made a trip to the Middle East and came back with some Arabian horses, gifts from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz, who had not met an American before Crane. Crane dispatched a geologist engineer to Arabia in search of oil and water.

This exchange of favors between Crane and the Saudi ruler resulted in ARAMCO’s being established as Saudi Arabia’s petroleum exploration and development partner–a partnership which only too obviously has shaped American foreign policy to this day.

Crane’s two fillies, *LA TISA and *MAHSUDHA, reportedly were of quality and beauty in keeping with the rest of his venture. *LA TISA would establish a family which has carried forward into CMK breeding.

1932: BINT YAMAMA

W.R.BROWN INTRODUCED A second Egyptian mare line to CMK breeding with the 1932 importation of seven Arabians bred by Prince Mohammed Ali of Cairo. All were of the BINT YAMAMA family line, which was perpetuated by the four mares: *RODA and *AZIZA, daughters of NEGMA; *H.H. MOHAMMED ALI’S HAMAMA and *H.H. MOHAMMED ALI’S HAMIDA, both out of the famed NEGMA daughter MAHROUSSA. The Maynesboro Egyptian importation had been made at the same time as Henry Babson’s importation of six horses also from Egypt.

Interestingly, the origins of the Egyptian horses can be traced back in part to Abbas Pasha/Ali Pasha Sherif stock of the Blunt’s day. The exact origin of BINT YAMAMA and her relationship to early Blunt horses is a mystery yet to be solved.

1934: ZULIMA

IN 1934, JIM AND EDNA Draper of Richmond, California brought home five Arabians from Spain. Four of the five were mares, and all of the same female line, that of the Spanish ZULIMA through SIRIA. The elegant grey *NAKKLA was purchased by Kellogg’s and incorporated into that breeding program. The Drapers retained the SIRIA daughters *MECA and *MENFIS (dam of *NAKKLA) and *MECA’s daughter *BARAKAT, breeding them to CMK stallions.

The Draper Spanish mares produced admirably, gaining a place of pride within the CMK tradition. Edna Draper holds the distinction of being the last importer of CMK foundation stock still living.

1947: *NAJWA, *LAYYA, *KOUHAILANE, *LEBNANIAH, *RAJWA, *NOUWAYRA

THE LAST DESERT CONTRIBUTION considered a part of CMK foundation breeding was the Hearst importation of 1947. This was the largest group of Arabians brought directly from the Arabian desert countries since that of Homer Davenport.

The Hearst Ranch had been established with the purchase of Maynesboro stock upon that farm’s dispersal, which included the Maynesboro sires RAHAS, REHAL, GHAZI and GULASTRA. Hearst had also purchased Kellogg stock, bring about a parallel breeding program to that Stud’s.

The Hearst importation included eight mares (*RAJWA was accompanied by her daughter *BINT RAJWA), all but one of which contributed to the CMK breeding tradition.

1953: HAGAR

HAGAR, THE “JOURNEY MARE,” was the Blunts’ second acquisition in the desert, but it took 75 years before her female line reached America to stay. HAGAR was purchased to carry Wilfrid Blunt from Aleppo to Baghdad and back to Damascus on the Blunts’ 1878 journey. She proved admirably up to the task and earned praise from Lady Anne in her journals.

HAGAR was sent to England as part of the foundation of the Crabbet Stud. She was sold to the Hon. Ethelred Dillon for whose Puddlicote Stud HAGAR proved a foundress. The first HAGAR breeding reached America in 1905 via the important Dillon-bred *NESSA’s sire *HAURAN and another HAGAR son, HAIL.

There was still no HAGAR female line in America when hers became another family lost to Crabbet. The line persisted through Miss Dillon’s ZEM ZEM and through HOWA, foundation mare of the Harwood Stud. ZEM ZEM and her daughter ZOBEIDE were left to Borden by Miss Dillon’s will, but left no further registered progeny.

It was not until 1953 that the HAGAR family would reach American shores and be carried on into CMK breeding. This came about when seven mares from Holland’s Rodania Stud (Dr. H.C.E.M. Houtappel) were imported to New York by T. Cremer. The mares were *CHADIGA, *FAIKA, *LATIFAA, *FATIMAA, *RITLA, *LEILA NAKHLA and *MISHKA.

With HAGAR’s line, American breeders had 10 mare families to carry on the Crabbet breeding base.

THESE, THEN, ARE THE ORIGINAL CMK MARE FAMILIES. They have been combined in American horse breeding history to form one genetic legacy uniquely American–CMK. The timeless quality of CMK mares should be obvious to all fanciers of the Arabian horse, but it would appear to fall to a few to recognize that an effort must be made to conserve the identity of these irreplaceable lines for posterity.

This treatment reflected the CMK dam line picture before the 1993 revision of the CMK Definition. — MB

A Review of A Catalogue of GSB Arabians Registered in the United States

A Catalogue of GSB Arabians Registered in the United States

compiled and with an introduction and additional notes by Robert J. Cadranell

Review by Michael Bowling

One of the genuine scholars operating in the Arabian horse field has researched all the GSB-eligible Arabians registered in AHR, from AHR #’s 4 through 519442. This represents an unequalled source of information on one of the most prevalent and influential sets of horses in any stud book. The modern GSB-eligible horses in AHR are not very numerous (probably well under 500 living animals, few of which are in replacement breeding programs) but their ancestors, as close in many cases as their parents or grandparents, are widespread in modern pedigrees.

The GSB Catalogue includes imports and their descendants, WITH ALL THEIR ANCESTORS back to the GSB founders (in other words, including the foreign pedigrees, not just the AHR part of the pedigree, from the imports down), with the original GSB registrations of the founders as they were imported to England. Breeders and importers are given. Name changes are reflected.

Those who are not familiar with the GSB concept should understand that this covers nearly all the foundation stock of the world-wide Crabbet tradition, along with other influential early British Arabian programs. There are two founders represented only in Australia, but nearly all the Crabbet and GSB lines which exist, are well represented in AHR pedigrees, and therefore are in this Catalogue. (This includes lines not represented in England unless through horses sent back from this side.)

Lines are brought down to current registrations only in those horses which still are GSB eligible, but the Catalogue includes ALL such which have EVER been registered here (and I cannot over-emphasize how many of them still are at the backs of influential pedigrees of combined-source breeding).

This Catalogue has much greater scope than the similarly-titled British publication; that one is essential for knowing what is now breeding in UK in GSB-eligible form, but not so helpful for Crabbet background research.

THINK of it! It’s all here:

All the straight Crabbets, and all their ancestors! (well, except for *Mirage and Dafina–as of my study last summer there has not been a new *Mirage straight Crabbet since 1980 anyway)

All the GSBs, and all their ancestors!

Therefore, all the Doyle horses and all their ancestors!

A substantial segment of the Jockey Club horses! (a starting point, if anyone wanted to research that other very interesting old “double registered” group; non-GSB Jockey Clubs include such prized horses of the recent past as Islam, Lutaf and Aurab)

And think of this: all the Crabbet ancestry in modern Arabians comes originally through GSB-registered horses. Therefore this new book enables one to trace practically ALL the Crabbet ancestry! of almost ANY Arabian horse.

The production is not deluxe but it is substantial and quite usable. The information is summarized in concise, handy format and there are several ways to look for each horse (numerical order, alphabetical order and ancestors in alpha order). You won’t have to wonder now “is this a straight Crabbet?”–you will a) see how few of those there really are; and b) have the information to trace the pedigrees yourself, to find the non-Crabbet ancestors behind those GSB horses which qualify as Crabbet-old English.

Life is always complicated when you get into the closed groups; I have already noted that a few straight Crabbets are not GSB-eligible. May as well make it clear, too, that not all GSB horses are straight Crabbet. Not all Crabbet-old English horses are GSB eligible–but the pedigree overlap is considerable, you’d still find a lot of the background here to extend a pedigree on such animals. None of this is meant to imply a hierarchical or “better than” or “nobler” ranking. These divisions are simply ways of organizing a tremendous lot of information, into defined bites that can be analyzed a little more efficiently.

You will find many, though I have not checked and so cannot guarantee all, of the ancestors of the Crabbet and GSB horses that are behind Polish, Egyptian, Tersk (Russian) and Spanish pedigrees; not the individual horses sold to those countries, unless they left GSB offspring in England which came to be represented here; but many if not all of their parents. At very least, in such a situation, it will narrow down what you still have to look for.

I realize I keep qualifying this with things like “many if not all” but that is an attempt to maintain a careful outlook, and not claim more than I’m sure about.

Really, you could spend half a lifetime going through books and old adverts and never find all the information that’s in the GSB Catalogue, and at least half of what you found that way would be misspelled or flat incorrect anyway. (Believe me, I tried; the other alternative is to spend a small fortune on studbooks.)

There is a lot more to A Catalogue of GSB Arabians than the title might suggest to anyone not personally familiar with Crabbet and GSB pedigrees. This is a book you have been waiting for, even if you haven’t realized it.

Current price: $18.00 ppd, US funds